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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 20.3 POV
Read a book told through multiple point of views (POVs).

Half the novel is told from the point of view of the ghost, the other half of the novel is told from the point of view of the goth.

The Ghost and the Goth (The Ghost and the Goth #1) (2010) by Stacey Kade
Lexile 770L

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 160 + 20 = 180

Task 15.01 Growing Genres

MYSTERY

And, with the further requirement, that the books also have a MPG of
SCIENCE FICTION

YEAR: 2022

Tell Me an Ending (2022) by Jo Harkin

+15 Task Mystery 2022

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 145 + 15 = 160

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Does a 2-book series (sometimes called a duology) count as a Series for series points? And .... if (when) I read books from different series, are they +5 Series points for each book,..."

Clears it all up!

Does a 2-book series (sometimes called a duology) count as a Series for series points? And .... if (when) I read books from different series, are they +5 Series points for each book, or +5 +10 + 15 etc.?
Thanks

Task 10.7 20th Century Bookends (Rosemary's Task)
Read a book by an author who was born in the decade 1901-1910 or died in the decade 1991-2000.

John Hersey died on March 24, 1993

A Single Pebble (1956) by John Hersey

+10 Task
+05 (#10.4 – three-word title)
+05 Oldies: -25 to 75 years old: (1948-1998)

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 115 + 20 = 135

Task 20.5 Female
Read a book in the top 300 from the Best Female Leads List.

On March 30, 2023:
Page 3, #227

Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga, #1) (1986) by Lois McMaster Bujold

+20 Task
+05 (#10.4 – three-word title)
+05 Series
+05 Oldies: -25 to 75 years old: (1948-1998)

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 80 + 35 = 115

Task 10.8 Gilmore Girls (Anika's Task)
Read one of the books from the Rory Gilmore Reading List

#209 of list: The Manticore by Robertson Davies

The Manticore (The Deptford Trilogy #2) (1972) by Robertson Davies (Paperback 310 pages)

+10 Task
+10 Combo (#10.5 initials: RD, #10.7 author died in 1995)
+05 Oldies: -25 to 75 years old: (1948-1998)
+05 Series (second book in a trilogy)

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 05 + 05 = 30

Grand Total: 50 + 30 = 80

Task 20.6 Award
Read a book written by an award winning author. The award in this case should be for an author's body of work.

Robert A Heinlein Award
Here is a link to the award:

http://www.sfadb.com/Robert_A_Heinlei...

The award is not for a specific novel or story but instead for "outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space".

Year 2015 was when it was awarded to Jack McDevitt.

Village in the Sky (Alex Benedict #9) (2023) by Jack McDevitt

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.4 – 4 word title; #20.10 major character is Alex Benedict)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 20 + 30 = 50

Would Robert A Heinlein Award qualify?
Here are three links about the award:

http://www.sfadb.com/Robert_A_Heinlei...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...

https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/rob...

The award is not for a specific novel or story but instead for "outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space". No mention of "lifetime achievement" but maybe that's implied?

I'm thinking of the year 2015 when it was awarded to Jack McDevitt

Task 20.10 Uncommon Letter (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)
Read any book where the name of a major character - main or supporting - has a Q, X, or Z. The letter can appear anywhere in the name. Please post the name of the character when claiming this task.

The college roommate of our protagonist Caroline is named Lexi. Lexi is a major character in the novel.

Finding Felicity (2018) by Stacey Kade (Young Adult) Lexile HL690L

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

MPG of Mysteries AND Science Fiction

✔ 1) 2022 Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin

✔ 2) 2017 Sweet Dreams by Tricia Sullivan

✔ 3) 2012 Doktor Glass by Thomas Brennan

4) One of:
2006 Majestrum (Henghis Hapthorn #1) by Matthew Hughes
2006 Farthing (Small Change #1) by Jo Walton

5) One of:
2000 Marrow by Robert Reed
1999 The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

6) 1994 One of:
1994 Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
1994 Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson

7) 1987 The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

8) 1980 Sundiver (The Uplift Saga #1) by David Brin

9) 1969 The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

10) 1958 The Big Time by Fritz Leiber

Task 15.6 Alpha Omega

E – N

The Good Old Boys (Hewey Calloway #1) (1978) by Elmer Kelton (Hardcover 253 pages)

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 560 + 20 = 580

MPG of Science Fiction and STEAMPUNK

1) 1971 The Warlord of the Air (#1) by Michael Moorcock

2) 1976 The Space Machine by Christopher Priest

3) 1983 The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

4) 1990 The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

5) 1995 The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

6) 2000 One of:
Empire of Unreason (#3) by Greg Keyes
The Miocene Arrow (#2) by Sean McMullen

7) 2005 One of:
A Secret Atlas (#1) by Michael A. Stackpole
The Hidden Family (#2) by Charles Stross

8) 2011 One of:
2011 Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #1) by Pip Ballantine
2011 The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (#2) of Mark Hodder

9) 2016 Arabella of Mars (#1) by David D. Levine

10) 2022 The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk

MPG Westerns

1) 1902 The Virginian by Owen Wister

2) 1912 Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

3) 1929 Cimarron by Edna Ferber

4) 1940 The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

5) 1947 The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr.

6) 1960 Butcher's Crossing by John Williams

6.5) The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton Spur Award for Best Novel (1973)

7) 1976 The Kincaids by Matt Braun Spur Award for Best Historical Novel (1976)

8) 1983 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Nominee (1984)

9) One of:
1988 Anything for Billy by Larry McMurtry
1988 The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout Spur Award for Best Novel of the West (1988)

10) One of:
1997 Billy Gashade: An American Epic by Loren D. Estleman
1998 Journey of the Dead by Loren D. Estleman Spur Award for Best Western Novel (1999)
1998 The Smiling Country by Elmer Kelton

plus a half a dozen 21st century westerns that I'll add later

Task 20.5 Books
Read a book whose MPG is Books About Books.

Dead and Gondola (Christie Bookshop #1) (2022) by Ann Claire

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#20.7 ratings < 1,000; #20.10 MGP Mystery)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 530 + 30 = 560

MPG of Science Fiction AND Time Travel

1) 1924 The Dream: A Novel by H.G. Wells

2) One of:
1955 The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
1958 The Big Time by Fritz Leiber

3) One of:
1964 Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick

1967 The Masks of Time by Robert Silverberg

So 1964 with 1969 & 1970 & 1974 & 1976
OR 1967 with 1974 & 1976

4) One of:
1969 The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
1970 Tau Zero by Poul Anderson

1974 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
1976The Space Machine by Christopher Priest

5) One of:
1982 The Golden Torc by Julian May
1983 The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
1983 Special Deliverance by Clifford D. Simak
1984 The Tides of Time by John Brunner

One of these would replace 5) AND 6) -- and so would need another book above 1)
*maybe* 1986 Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter
*maybe* 1987 Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis
*maybe* 1987 Time Pressure by Spider Robinson

6) One of:
1989 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
1991 A Bridge of Years by Robert Charles Wilson
1992 The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove
1992 Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

7) One of:
1997 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
1997 The Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper
1997 Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Charles Sheffield
1998 The Iron Bridge by David E. Morse

2000 The Depths of Time by Roger MacBride Allen
2000 The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

If The Life of the World to Come then 7) must be 1999 or before

8) One of:
*maybe* 2004 The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker

2005 Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
2005 Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
2007 The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski
2008 The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma

*maybe* 2010 Blackout by Connie Willis

so: One Only of
Blackout OR Time and Time Again OR The River of No Return

9) One of:
*maybe* 2013 The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
*maybe* 2014 Time and Time Again by Ben Elton

2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
2015 What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Jodi Taylor
2016 Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan

2017 The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer
2017 The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson

If 2017 then no The Kingdoms

10) One of:
2021 The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

2022 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
2022 End of the World House by Adrienne Celt
2022 A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards
2022 The Night Shift by Natalka Burian
2022 This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Task 20.5 Books
Read a book whose MPG is Books About Books.

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius (2022) by Nick Hornby [823]
Review: Dickens and Prince is a 169 page essay focused on Nick Hornby comparing Charles Dickens and the late singer Prince (the guy who created the song “Purple Rain”). A few points he makes were mildly interesting. Hornby thinks the two men are linked by similar childhood troubles (poverty stricken, absentee father) and by career success at relatively young age, amongst other matters.

The essay feels s-t-r-e-c-h-e-d to get the required word count, mainly by namedropping the names of authors and musicians. I would have been okay with the name dropping, except that I didn’t recognize half of the names. Probably would have been better as a long magazine article with 90% of the namedropping removed.

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 495 + 30 = 525

Task 20.7 Ratings
Read an extremely underrated book with fewer than 1000 ratings on GoodReads, or a popular book with over 75,000 ratings.

Great Maria (1974) by Cecelia Holland (Paperback 553 pages)
Review: The Great Maria is a historical fiction novel set in eleventh century Sicily. Our (fictional) heroine, Maria, is the only child of a local baron in Sicily. At age 14 her father enters her into a marriage with a local knight, Richard (he’s just a couple of years older than her). The novel follows Maria from that point until the time when she is elderly. The writing style is brusque and unflinching. Here's the first line of chapter two:
“At first, Maria’s father took charge of everything and wanted the wedding on Assumption Day, but on the night before that, a caravan came down the road from the Saracen port of Mana’a, and Richard and Roger went off to attack it.”
The descriptions of bloodshed reflect the brutality of battle.

Medieval life was cruel and lawless, and the plot of Holland’s book reflects that. That means – no chivalry, no knights in shining armor! [Also, for those who are triggered by it, (view spoiler)[high infant mortality. (hide spoiler)]] The author includes a lot of detail which indicates that she did a lot of historical research. Recommended for readers of non-romantic historical fiction.

+20 Task
+ 05 Combo (#10.4 title has 10 letters)
+10 Aged (75+years old)
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages:
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 + 05 +10 = 50

Grand Total: 440 + 50 = 490

Task 20.6 Industry
Read any book about either the fashion industry or the film industry.

This novel is about the early film industry: Hollywood, 1913, silent films.

The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association (1999) by Loren D. Estleman

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.7 ratings < 1,000)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 415 + 25 = 440

Task 20.7 Ratings
Read an extremely underrated book with fewer than 1000 ratings on GoodReads, or a popular book with over 75,000 ratings.

"Spare" has more than 75,000 ratings

Spare (2023) by Prince Harry [Biography / 921]
Review:Prince Harry’s controversial memoir is well written and very interesting. The reader’s reactions would depend on his/her opinion of Prince Harry. If you like Prince Harry (and his wife, Meghan), you will like this memoir. If you dislike Prince Harry and HATE his wife Meghan, then skip this memoir, as reading it will just annoy you (or make you want to throw the hardback across the room LOL). If you are indifferent to the couple, or are in the category of ‘who the heck are Harry and Meghan?’, and like to read about other people’s lived experiences from the point of view of the person who actually experienced it, this memoir is a good read.

Harry hired a ghostwriter, a good one. To show the writing style, here’s the start of Chapter One:
“There were always stories. People would whisper now and then about folks who hadn’t fared well at Balmoral. The long-ago Queen, for instance. Mad with grief, she’d locked herself inside Balmoral Castle and vowed never to come out.”

The text includes many details of what Harry saw, what Harry felt, what Harry heard (bird calls, etc.) and what smells Harry smelt. The result is a very you-are-there sensation to the reading.

Most of the memoir is a collection of anecdotes told in this order: this is what the tabloid press printed; this is what the truth actually is (something completely different, or something with only 1 or 2 small details correct) and here are the receipts that prove that what I (Harry) is saying is true. At one point he includes text messages from his sister-in-law as a proof, which has generated some online controversy.

The villain of Harry’s memoir is the tabloid press. P. 107 Harry (in his 20s) looks at the police file on his mother’s death. “I hadn’t been aware, before this moment, that the last thing Mummy saw on this earth was a flashbulb.” Banning the tabloid press from his life is something Harry has wanted to do for decades, and is the prime reason he now resides in California rather than London.

Camilla is portrayed as cynical and selfish rather than evil. Probably the best that ‘the other woman’ who broke up the parent’s marriage could hope for.

I enjoyed reading this memoir. Recommendations: not for those who hate Harry and/or his wife Meghan; a good read for everyone else.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+05 Combo (#10.4 title: “Spare”)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 380 + 35 = 415