Katy’s Comments (group member since Aug 04, 2010)

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.7 Buy Nothing Christmas

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

+10 Task (published in Feb. 2012 and gotten from the library)

Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 105

20.6 The Winter of Our Discontent

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

+20 Task (on the list, #71)
+5 Combo (10.2 - them)
+10 non-Western (Nigerian)
+10 not-a-novel (stories)

Task Total: 45

Grand Total: 95

10.1 Year in Review

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

+10 Task (claimed in Fall 2012 by Jenifer, among others)
Task Total: 10

Grand Total = 50

20.4 Winter Trees

The Geneva Trap by Stella Rimington

+20 Task (born 1935)
Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 40

20.4 Winter Trees

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

+20 Task (born 1958)

Grand Total: 20

Well, I was semi-hoping to finish one more book before midnight...but I made the utterly foolish decision to go out with friends. What was I thinking -- and on the last night of a challenge?!?! :)

Great challenge, and thank you moderators for running it so smoothly.

20.8 - Veteran's Day

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

+20 task (DuPrau published Adoption: The Facts, Feelings, and Issues of a Double Heritage in 1981 and The Diamond of Darkhold in 2008)

Task Total: 20 points
Grand total 620

15.8 - 8th book - letter H

The Goodbye Body by Joan Hess -- published 2005 (this listing doesn't include the original pub date for some reason but this one The Goodbye Body does)

+30 Task

Grand Total: 600 points

10.9 To Be Continued...
Broken Harbor by Tana French

Somehow I always forget that I like Tana French's mysteries so much. This is the fourth in the series, and each time I have to ask myself if I want to get it. And yet every time, I'm impressed. (Maybe by book 5 I will just pick it up without the dithering!). This is a new set of characters for French, though still in the Dublin murder squadroom. Scorcher Kennedy and his rookie partner Ritchie are working on a murdered family case in the place Kennedy's family used to vacation in happier times. Both main characters were drawn very well, I thought; even when sometimes both had attitudes that annoyed me, they seemed realistically annoying! The plot kept me intrigued, too -- there were some twists (one big one) that I truly did not see coming and actually prompted me to gasp. French's pattern here is to connect the current cases with her characters' pasts and I think she does this really well here, allowing you to see how hard it is for any of us to truly separate our perspectives and histories and see anything with perfect neutrality.

+10 task (#4 in Dublin Murder Squad series -- I've read the others)
+5 combo (10.2 - Tana French is from Ireland)
+10 review
+5 jumbo (533 pgs)

Task Total: 30 points
Grand total 570

I love it! I know this is the group to turn to for questions like this...but it was good feedback. She's just one of those canonical authors I've never happened to read or be assigned...so I may give her a try since it fits so neatly here! Thanks for all the advice! I will keep you all posted. :)

I noticed that there are 3 Willa Cathers in the top 50 -- I've never read any! Anyone, any suggestions on which you think are the best? (The 3 are My Antonia, O Pioneers, and Death Comes for the Archbishop)

20.8 - Veteran's Day

Enigma by Robert Harris

Enigma is set during WWII in Bletchley Park, England, where cryptanalysts worked to crack the Nazi codes. The book made me really interested to read more nonfiction about Bletchley Park -- assuming that this book contains mostly accurate information, I learned a lot of "teaser" info. For instance, I didn't know how big the infrastructure was on this project -- there were sites all over England dedicated to intercepting signals and trying to crack the code. I didn't know about the tenuous American/British cooperation on the project and the tensions when the Americans could produce more machines than the British could.

Overall, the writing was decent but not amazing, but the story was fast and engaging. To me, it was worth it regardless because of the fascinating topic.

+20 task (published Selling Hitler in 1986, most recent in 2011)
+5 combo (20.5 - Lab Lit list)
+5 multiple (4th book for this task)
+10 review

Task Total: 40 points
Grand total: 540

15.7 - 7th book - letter G

The Magicians by Lev Grossman -- published 2009

+30 Task

Grand Total: 500 points

15.6 - 6th book - letter F

City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin -- published 2006

+20 Task

Grand Total: 470 points

20.7 Women of Achievement Month
Rip Tide by Stella Rimington

This is the sixth book in the Liz Carlyle series, which is written by a former MI5 director in England. I of course don't REALLY know, but a lot of the details of life in an intelligence organization seem true to life, and that sort of detail is presumably where the author's life experience really helps her. I think what rings true is the way she depicts life in MI5 as a blend of annoying bureaucracy and intriguing clue-following. The stories are always interesting, if like me you enjoy spy thrillers. I also appreciate that although Liz does have romantic attachments during the books, she doesn't obsess about them overmuch -- I don't like when a good mystery gets interrupted by too many pages of angst about whether so and so loves you. Liz's angst is nicely contained. I'm looking forward to Stella Rimington's next installment!

+20 Task (The main character, Liz, talks to her colleague Peggy on a regular basis about the case they're working on. She also talks to Tahira, an agent, about her life at home.)
+5 Multiple (3rd book for this task)
+10 Review

Task Total: 35 points
Grand Total: 445

Thinking of you, Bea...

20.3 -- Poe's Tales
Fire Watch by Connie Willis

I had high hopes for this book, because I typically love Connie Willis. And it didn't disappoint, exactly. I was intrigued by a lot of the stories, and the title story was terrific (and the main reason I picked up the book). "Blued Moon" was funny and showed off Willis' wit. "Service for the Burial of the Dead" was REALLY creepy, as was "Lost and Found" in a different way. A few stories I liked less, finding them a little confusing. And that I think is the biggest issue I had with the book -- many of the stories felt like they could have been longer, even whole novels, and might have been better off that way, since then some of the interesting angles could have gone a bit further. Maybe Connie Willis is better as a novelist than a short story writer, because I've really enjoyed all her novels. But this was definitely not a *bad* read...just not quite as good as I had hoped.

+20 task (collection of short stories)
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub. 1985)

Task Total: 35 points
Grand total 410

Just dropping in to say hi and that I'm excited to have power back after Sandy came through my city in NJ. I luckily had no flooding or damage to my apartment; it was just a little cold and dark with no power on! But really, losing power for 2.5 days is not much, all things considered. And I can read just as well with a flashlight :) I'm hoping all the other RWS East Coasters are doing well!

20.1 Frankenstein

Chiefs by Stuart Woods

I actually intended to read this in the summer, since Rebekah had chosen it as a group read. And then, of course, it just slipped off the radar and down the pile, leaving me a very pleasant surprise this fall. I really liked this book. It was not what I expected -- I enjoy thoughtful mysteries as well as thrillers, but I found this to be pretty unique. It's told in three parts, separated in 20-some year increments, all centered around the police business of a small Georgia town. The setting was established beautifully and it was interesting to watch the town shift ever so slightly, especially on the issues like racism and segregation that frame the book as much or more than the series of unsolved murders. I loved the connections woven throughout the three parts. The fact that you know who the murderer is from early in the book didn't detract from it at all, for me. I was fascinated, rather than frustrated, to see how various forces conspired to keep the murderer free.

+20 task (won the 1982 Edgar Allen Poe First Novel award)
+5 Combo (20.8 - Woods published from 1969 to 2012)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published in 1981)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 375

20.7 Women of Achievement Month

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

+20 task (2 main characters, female friends, talk at length about art, their futures, and technology)

(no style points; low lexile)

Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 335 points