Kim’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 20, 2020)
Kim’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 221-240 of 438
15.2 CoA10 letters
Mayhem at the Orient Express. Kylie Logan. 9.15.21
+15 - task
Total task: 15
Total Season: 285 pts.
… ... 10.3 10.4 10.5 ... ... ... ... 10.10
15.1 15.2 ... ... .... ... ... ... ... ...
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15.1 CoA9 letters
Paradise Valley. Robyn Carr. 10.7.21
+15 - task
Total task: 15
Total Season: 270 pts.
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15.1 ... ... ... .... ... ... ... ... ...
... 20.2 ... ... ... ... ... ... 20.9 ...
20.9 Anniversary (Kate S's Task)500 Miles from You. Jenny Colgan
even as an incredibly beautiful brunette ...handed him a glass of champagne. 43%
4.0/5.0 - I have read 7 books by this author, and this is my favorite one. It is the 3rd book in the Scottish Bookshop series, and the previous characters are worked into this book, as well. I love the description of the small Scottish town as well as the way London is contrasted to it. The characters are well written, the romance is believable. Jenny Colgan is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
+20 - task
+10 - Review
+5 - combo (10.7, Cormac was a medic in the Army)
Total task: 35
Total Season: 255 pts.
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Kate S wrote: "From Post 2274.0 stars - I first interacted with this..."
I'm having issues searching the list, they all come up. Sorry.
10.10 Group ReadsBraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Robin Wall Kimmerer. 9.28.21
3.5/5.0 - It's hard for me to review this book. I am surprised at how high a rating it has after >39K people have read it. I'm not saying that it's bad, just that it might be the highest rated book (4.56) I've read (with that many ratings). What I liked: the philosophy of the indigenous people, their history, stories about the plants and the respect for the earth. What I didn't care for was the way the book jumped around, both in subject matter and timeline.
Compared to The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, this book had more plant lore - that part was fascinating, but The Seed Keeper told a similar story in a more readable manner. True, Braiding Sweetgrass is a non-fiction book, but The Seed Keeper is the one I will remember longer and moved me more. Both books told of the tragedy of children removed from their families and their cultures and the long term effect it had on their people, and also the indigenous philosophy of honoring and stewarding the land.
This author will be speaking at the Writers Forum at Brockport in October, and this title is the October reading for the college book club, so I expect there will be some good discussions forthcoming.
+10 - task
+10 - Review
+25 - combo (10.3, 10.4, 20.3, 20.5: 1953, 20.6: Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award (2013), Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Award for Nonfiction (2015))
+10 - Not a novel
Total task: 55
Total Season: 230 pts.
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Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 227 Kim wrote: "10.3 Back to SchoolThe Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. Peter Singer. 9.22.21
4.0 stars - I first interacted with this autho..."
Lol- yes, I believe you're right
10.3 Back to SchoolThe Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. Peter Singer. 9.22.21
4.0 stars - I first interacted with this author when I was an academic librarian, and an article he had written (years ago) was featured in our institutional repository. I tweeted it, and to my surprise, he saw and retweeted it. Hundreds of people saw and downloaded that article that day. When I spoke to him about it, I found him to be a generous and gracious person. It's no surprise to me that this book was available as a free download, and that the subject matter was helping others.
+10 - task
+10 - Review
+10 - combo (20.2, 20.5 - 7.6.1946)
+10 - Not a novel
+10 - 1001 list
Total task: 50
Total Season: 175 pts.
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20.2 Anti-heroThe Stranger. Albert Camus
#45 on The Best Antiheroes list
4.0 stars - I'm surprised I never read this book before, and I'm sure I will read it again. It seems like a book that you get more from each time you pick it up. Mersault was a very difficult character for me to relate to, he showed no emotion even when his mother died, and seemed very detached from the world. Mersault lives only in the present moment, and lacks empathy for others. In part, this leads to the jury being so bothered by his lack of remorse that he is given a death sentence. Mersault is a stranger, to himself and others, seeming to lack a basic level of humanity.
+20 - task
+10 - Review
+15 - combo (10.5, 10.6 (11/7/1913), 10.8 - Algeria)
+10 - 1001 list
Total task: 55
Total Season: 125 pts.
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10.5 Classics (Ed's Task)Read a book that has been classified as "Classics" by at least 100 readers on GR.
To Sir, with Love. E.R. Braithwaite
4.0 stars - I'm surprised I never read this book before, it was an interesting depiction of life in the east end of London, just after World War II. E.R. Braithwaite led a very storied life, born a British citizen in Georgetown, Guyana, highly educated, a pilot in the R.A.F. during World War II. While he didn't face racism during the war, he was turned down for job after job afterwards, even though he was trained in electronics, a field with many openings. Finally, he turned to teaching in desperation, and was sent to a school where the students lived in poverty and life was a daily struggle for many of them. Despite his lack of experience, he decision to treat the students as adults, demand and give respect, and hold them to a high standard of conduct soon won them over. It was interesting to see this side of life, having read all the Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s books, which takes place during the same time and location.
+10 - task
+10 - Review
+15 - combo (10.3, 10.7, 20.3)
Total task: 35
Total Season: 70 pts.
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10.4 Truth and Reconciliation (Valerie's Task)The Seed Keeper. Diane Wilson
5.0 stars - I loved this book. It was thoughtfully written, told a sad but hopeful story, through a non-linear timeline which covered 1862 to early 2000s, and touched on many issues, from the wrenching of native children from their families to the rise of agri-business and the death knoll of the small family farm. The title refers to practice of the indigenous women to save the best seeds every year, and to pass those on to the next generation. It is a beautiful story and one I would not hesitate to recommend to others.
+10 - task
+10 - Review
+10 - combo (20.3 - 4.41, 20.4) *(Edit per M:51) 20.5
Total task: 30 pts +5*
Total Season: 30 pts. +5*
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Am I understanding non-linear correctly? The Seed Keeper begins each chapter with who the speaker is, usually Rosalie Iron Wing, and what year it takes place. Sometimes it's 2002, other 1979, etc. Would this indicate the book qualifies?
Is anyone else anxiously awaiting the Fall Challenge tasks? I've recently been doing a second seasonal challenge, but man there are so many tasks, and so many hoops to jump through. This one is much more enjoyable.
15.1 9 or less - J.D. Robb15.2 10 letters - A Night to Remember. Walter Lord
15.3 11 letters - The Second Chance Supper Club. Nicole Meier
15.4 12 letters - The Light of Paris. Eleanor Brown
15.5 13 letters - It's Not All Downhill from Here. Terry McMillan
15.6 14 letters - Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies. Vicky Zimmerman or - A River Runs Through it and Other Stories. Norman Maclean
15.7 15 letters - The Wright Brothers. David McCullough
15.8 16-17 letters - House Lessons: Renovating a Life. Erica Bauermeister
15.9 18-19 letters - A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams
15.10 20 or more letters - Alexander McCall Smith
Riding the Metro - 20.10The Rosie Project. Graeme Simsion
Melbourne, Australia
Oceania
3.0/5.0 - Don wants to find a life mate, and Rosie her true father. They get together and impact each other's life, growing as individuals in the process. The book had some funny parts, but mostly, it fell flat for me. It was okay, but it doesn't inspire me to go out and read the rest of the series.
Task: 35
Review: 5
Task Total: 40
Finisher bonus: 100
4 Continents: 50
Season Total: 540
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6;20.7;20.8;20.9;20.10
Riding the Metro - 20.9The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba. Chanel Cleeton. 7.16.21
Havana, Cuba
South America
4.0/5.0 - By the author of Next Year in Havana, this book sets the stage for it. It takes place during the late 1890s, while Cuba is fighting against Spanish rule. There are three main characters, in the US - Grace is a young woman trying to make a name for herself as a reporter. In Cuba, we have Evangelina Cisneros, a real person, who is imprisoned after being accused of insurrection, and Marina, a young wife, also imprisoned, who works as a courier and helps to free Evangelina. Evangelina is very beautiful, and attracts the attention of some American journalists, including William Randolph Hearst, who uses the power of his paper to raise support to get her released. This book gave me a glimpse into a culture and time that I was unfamiliar with, and is sure to interest historical fiction buffs.
Task: 25
Review: 5
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 350
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6;20.7;20.8;20.9
Riding the Metro - 20.8Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Philip K. Dick
San Francisco, CA
North America
4.0/5.0 - Wow, this was so good! I'm am not normally a fan of science fiction, but Philip K. Dick writes books that really intrigue me. There are so many layers, so much to think about, and such great detail. One thing that makes it especially interesting is that it was written in 1968, but takes place in 2021!
Task: 25
Review: 5
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 320
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6;20.7;20.8
Riding the Metro - 20.7A Moveable Feast. Ernest Hemingway. 7.10.21
Paris, France
Europe
4.0/5.0 - It has probably been 50 years since I've read a book by Ernest Hemingway, so this short memoir about his time in Paris in the early 1920s was interesting to me. He talks about his friendships with Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Scott Fitzgerald and others. Throughout the book, he speaks of his great love for his wife, Hadley, all the while foreshadowing their eventual breakup. All in all, this book has encouraged me to seek out more of his writing.
Task: 25
Review: 5
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 290
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6;20.7
Riding the Metro - 20.6Murder in the White House. Margaret Truman. 7.9.21
Washington, DC
North America
2.5 rounded to 3 stars - I previously read and enjoyed Murder at the Library of Congress, and expected this to have some of the same characters (being in the same series), but it did not. It was interesting to see the White House from an insider's view, but that was the best part of the book for me. The rest fell short.
Task: 25
Review: 5
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 260
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6
Riding the Metro - 20.5Women in Sunlight. Frances Mayes
Tuscany, Italy
Europe
3.0/5.0 - I wanted to like this more than I did. I liked the idea of the book, three mature women on the cusp of the next step in their lives meet at a retirement home visit, become friends and move to a villa in Tuscany. The story has two major plot lines, one involving the three women and their adventures, and a parallel line involving their next door neighbor, the narrator, Kit Raines. Her story, though it drove the narrative, seemed extraneous to me, and frankly, not very interesting.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 230
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5
Riding the Metro - 20.4Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End. Jennifer Worth
London, England
Europe
3.0/5.0 - This closing book of the Midwife trilogy was grittier and darker than the previous ones. Pulling no punches, the author shares true stories of incest, abortion, abject poverty, and mental health issues. There is little of the lightness and joy found in the other books.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 205
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4
