Kim’s Comments (group member since Nov 20, 2020)

Kim’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

15.4 Name of the Game

It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn

Square 2E - letter R– Series name includes the letter R (Bridgertons)
Square 6C - letter I– IN in title
Square 8C - letter G– Goodreads Author

Word = Rig
Task: 15
Season Total: 1385

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; .... (3x)
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; .....; .20.10

I'm a little unclear what is meant by Title has a number (all forms). Do either of these examples fit?
What Once Was True (Robinswood #1) or First Comes Scandal.
If not, can you give me an example that does?

20.8 Travel

Hawaii by James A. Michener

4.0/5.0 - This epic book by James Michener covers the history of Hawai'i from its formation as an island, to the migration of the original Hawai'ians from Bora Bora, through the time of the missionaries, the plantation era, World War II and ending just before statehood. It traces many different races and nationalities who came to Hawai'i, changed it in significant ways, and created the culture it is today. Sometimes it's hard for me to read books that show examples of racism and misogyny, and I have to tell myself that it is reflective of the truth of the time in which it takes place. The missionaries came to save the Hawai'ians from themselves, and there were both examples of their superiority mindset and of their generosity towards others. Women were not held in high regard for most of the book, but they were often the people who were the strongest, most generous, and best decision makers. I now have family who live in Hawai'i, including my little Hawai'ian princess granddaughter, so that made the book all the more interesting to me.

Task: 20
Combo: 15 (10.3(J), 10.4(H), 10.5 (Hoxworth Hale)
Review: 10
Jumbo: 20 (937 pages)
Task total: 65

Season Total: 1370

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; .... (3x)
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; .....; .20.10

15.3 Name of the Game

About a Boy by Nick Hornby

15C- Letter Y - One of author's names ends in Y
17B - Letter E - Author born in Europe
7E - Letter N - New to you author.

Word: YEN
Task: 15
Season Total: 1305

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; .... (3x)
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

15.2 Name of the Game

When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons #6) by Julia Quinn

10C- Letter W - Title has Who, What, When, Where, or Why
9B - Letter I - Set on an island (UK)
11E - Letter T - Title has no "The"

Word: WIT
Task: 15
Season Total: 1290

10.6 Notable
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Review ** spoiler alert **
4.0/5.0 - Wow, this was a powerful, beautifully written, but brutal book that looked at a poor African American family living in Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. The family of five lost the mother at the birth of the youngest child, Junior, who is now 8. The other three children are Esch-14, Skeetah- 16, and Randall- 17. The father is an alcoholic, who tries his best, but the family lives in extreme poverty. The story takes place over 12 days, those leading up to, during and right after Katrina.(view spoiler)[ Esch discovers she's pregnant, her father loses 3 fingers while trying to prepare for the hurricane, there is a major fighting pit bull plot that I won't go into, and the family's house is destroyed. (hide spoiler)] In the end, the only thing that matters is that they're a family, prepared to go forward together.
Task - 10 (2012 Notable book)
Review - 10
Combo -15 (10.3 - J, 10.4 - S, 10.7 - Hurricane),
Prizeworthy - 10 (National Book Award for Fiction (2011), ALA Alex Award)
Total: 45
Season Total: 1275

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; .... (3x)
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

15.1 Name of the Game (round 3)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Square 2B - letter R - Ratings: 10K plus
Square 6E - letter I - Initially: Author publishes with 2 or more initials.
Square 7B - letter N - Not a Novel
Square 8B - letter G - Author name has no letter G
Word: RING
Task: 15
NaN: 5
Task total: 20

Season Total: 1230

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; ....; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; ....; .... (3x)
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

10.7 La Nina (Valerie's Task)
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

4.5 rounded to 5 stars - For most of us, weather is a blessing or an inconvenience, but when you live in Alaska, it is life or death. The Great Alone is a phrase used to describe Alaska, the vast wild area where a man can get lost and can die for his second mistake. In 1972, Leni, then 13, comes to Alaska with her parents, Ernt and Coraline, when her father inherits some property from an Army buddy who died in Vietnam. Ernt is damaged beyond repair from his years in the war and as a POW, but Cora has never quit loving him, even when his demons result in him damaging her. They see this as an opportunity to have a new beginning, unaware of the toll that the long months of darkness and cold will take on them. Cramped together in a small cabin, Leni sees for the first time the beatings her mother has tried to hide from her. She lives her life in fear and anger and in the hope that one day they will escape.
This book is many things, it is a love story for a state that challenges many, it is a tribute to the strong people who manage to survive and help others, it is about how love can go wrong but be hard to walk away from, and it is about second chances. Another great book by Kristin Hannah!

Task +10
Review +10
Prize +5 (Goodreads Choice Award for Historical Fiction 2018)
Task total: 25
Season Total: 1210


...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; ....; 10.7; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

Thank you!

Two questions:
1. For subtitles, can you choose to use or not use it? For example - The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times - using the subtitle would be helpful for "A book with an 8 (or better) word title", but detrimental if trying to use it for "Title: The Plus (The and one other word, no subtitles for this one)". I'm not sure if the parentheses mean you can't use a book that has a subtitle, or that the subtitle won't be held against you.
2. If the book your using is non-fiction, can you use both 7B - Not a Novel for a letter, and the task bonus for Not a Novel?
Thanks so much!

15.10 Name of the Game
The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

Square 7B - letter N– Not a Novel
Square 9D - letter E – Wild Card! (Can be used for any letter of the alphabet)
Square 9B - letter W– Author first or last name begins with W
Square 14B - letter T - Author born in the thirties - any century (September 25, 1935)

Word = NEWT

+45 Task
+5 - Not a Novel
+100 - Completion
+100 - Using 3 or more 4 letter words (Gent, Here, Herd, Newt)

Post Total: 250
Season Total: 1185


...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

10.4 Valentine's
B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

3.0/5.0 - The second book in the Kinsey Millhone series was written more than 35 years ago. Does it stand the test of time? Part of what kept me reading this was compiling a list of at least 20 things that existed back then that we no longer do, use or deem acceptable behavior. For example, Kinsey, a Private Eye, keeps her case notes on index cards, and writes her reports on a typewriter. All of her clients smoke in public buildings, and some even wear real fur coats. She uses paper maps to navigate when she drives and a travel agent to book a routine flight. A big portable tv is one with a 25" screen, and telephone books and credit files on microfiche are essential tools to get information. To be honest, the mystery almost took a backseat to revisiting this blast from the past.

Task +10
Review +10
Combo (10.8 & 20.10) +10
Prize - Anthony Award for Best Novel (1986), Shamus Award for Best PI Hardcover (1986) +10
Task total - 40
Season total - 935

...; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

**15.9 Name of the Game

Downton Abbey: The Complete Scripts, Season Three by Julian Fellowes

7D - Letter N - Title has a number (all forms)
10B- Letter I - Set on an island (United Kingdom)
16C - Letter L - Page count over 400 (558)

Word: NIL
Task: 30
Season Total: 865 (currently 895)

**This is an edit of the original message 507. I discovered I didn't need to use my wildcard, since I could form a 3 letter word without it.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'd like to edit message 507: by Kim, where I used my wildcard and now I see I could have made a 3 letter word without it. It won't affect my total in any way (I already have 3 other 4 ..."

OK, thanks!

I'd like to edit message 507: by Kim, where I used my wildcard and now I see I could have made a 3 letter word without it. It won't affect my total in any way (I already have 3 other 4 letter words). Do I just go in and edit it, or do I need to ask here first?

20.10 Grand Master (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)
Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie

4.0/5.0 - An Agatha Christie mystery set in ancient Egypt with no detective, so a departure from her normal style, yet it was quite fascinating and well written. I admit I didn't suspect the killer, with all the red herrings thrown in. This standalone mystery offers historical details into everyday life in Egypt, in the household of a ka priest and his family. There are three sons and a daughter, along with a new concubine, his mother, a faithful servant and some scribes; half of this cast will be dead by the end of the novel. Who is the killer? One by one, each suspect is killed, until at the end, only the killer remains.

+20 - task
+10 - review
Task total - 30
Season total - 895

...; 10.2; 10.3; ....;10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .20.10

15.9 Name of the Game
Please see message 534 where I changed the word. Thanks.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Scripts, Season Three by Julian Fellowes

7D - Letter N - Title has a number (all forms)
10B- Letter I - Set on an island (United Kingdom)
16C - Letter L - Page count over 400 (558)
9D - Letter E - Wild Card! (Can be used for any letter of the alphabet)
Word: NILE
Task: 30
Season Total: 865

10.2 Christmas

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Lexile 1310)

I have to pass on a rating of this for now. Though the book was well written, the content - from the violence, robbery and rape done by the juvenile criminals, to the brainwashing done by the state in retribution, this was a very uncomfortable read. I found the Introduction to be a very interesting part of the book. In it, Burgess explains that he doesn't care for the book, especially the American version which Stanley Kubrick turned into a famous film. That was an incomplete version, only being 20 chapters. He felt the symbolism of 21 was important, being the accepted age of adult responsibility. (Also reading this in 2021 seems significant to me.) It is in this last chapter that Alex, having been a terrible person as a teen, then "rehabilitated" by the government while in prison, then let out where both former friends and victims turn against him, to finally be deprogrammed and given the power of choice.

task +10
review +10
combo 10.4 +5
prize +5 (2008 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award
Task: 30
Season total: 865

...; 10.2; 10.3; ....;10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .....

15.8 Name of the Game
How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith

11E - Letter T - Title has no "The"
3B - Letter E - Author entire published name has 2 or more E's
4C - Letter A - Author born in August (August 24)
Word: TEA
Task: 30
Season Total: 835

....; ....; 10.3; ....;10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .....

15.7 Name of the Game

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

13B - Letter S - Page count 75-199 (198)
14E - Letter T - Title includes the name of a character. (Nikki Heat)
15D - Letter Y - MPG: Mystery
Word: STY
Task: 20
Season total: 805

....; ....; 10.3; ....;10.5; ....; ....; ....; .....; .....
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7
20.1; 20.2; .....; 20.4; .....; 20.6; 20.7;.....; .....; .....