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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 15.1 Summer 2024 Olympic Scavenger

BASKETBALL
Option B

The Strange Case of Jane O. (2025) by Karen Thompson Walker (Hardback 278 pages)

p. 173: “A group of kids raced by, BASKETBALLS in their arms.”

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 20 + 15 = 35

Task 15.01 Fall 2012 Know Your ABC’s

1st book: Letter K

Kim (1901) by Rudyard Kipling

+15 Task
+05 Old (Published in 1901

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

Task 20.1 Adaptation and Resilience:
Read a book which has been made into a movie, miniseries, TV series, or which is a retelling of a previous book or story.

The novel was made into a 2012 film starring Robert Redford. Here’s the IMDB link:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1381404/...

Combo: 20.8 Temple Bar Pub
p. 249: “At last Friday night came around, and I – now with Kai Bird’s Color of Truth, William O’Neill’s Coming Apart, and Fredric Jameson’s Sixties without Apology under my belt, was back at the Del, standing at the bar, leaning over an ashtray, drinking BEER and BOURBON…..”

The Company You Keep (2003) by Neil Gordon (Paperback 406 pages)

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.8 bourbon & beer)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 295 + 25 = 320

Subchallenge Summer sounds like fun!

I've already picked one subchallenge to do:
WI 18-19 Backpacking through Europe
As an 'Air Traveler'

Not sure what my second subchallenge will be .....

Task 15.3 Create Your Own Adventure

Path: MYSTERY=>Poirot=> TEA (a 3 in publication year) =>

Publication Year: 2023

The Little Italian Hotel (2023) by Phaedra Patrick

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Task 20.8 Temple Bar Pub (Anika's task):
In recognition of my favorite Irish exports, Guinness and Jameson, read a book where a character drinks either beer or whiskey.

A family visits Cambridge from the Future. The father of the family takes the opportunity to drink both BEER and WHISKEY.
Chapter Eight: “’I have spent the evening in a pub,’ he announced. ‘A genuine old English pub. It felt like home away from home. They were nice people there. Very nice people. I drank BEER and WHISKEY.’”

The Xanadu Manuscript (1977) by John Rowe Townsend
Review: The Xanadu Manuscript is a time travel novel written by a British writer and set in Cambridge, England, near King’s College. The variant of time travel is that of local teenaged students who meet a family that have travelled to Cambridge from the Future. There’s a nice blend of the Future Family’s amazement at everyday objects, relationships forming with the locals, and the locals trying to figure out the mysteries that surround the future family, The novel would fit into the category of “cozy time travel” as everybody is likeable. I greatly enjoy time travel novels, and I enjoyed reading this one. However, someone who isn’t into time travel novels may have a ~meh~ reaction. Recommended for fans of time travel.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1950-2000)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 245 + 35 = 280

Task 10.1 Member Lotto Kathleen (itpdx), "Back to Basics":
Read a book which features a trip on foot or horseback (or other beast of burden that does not fly). A trip for this task means a visit to another town, city, or area that involves at least one overnight stay. Please describe the trip briefly when you post.

Iceworld has two set of protagonists for the first portion of the novel. One set of protagonists consists of the Wing family – Father, Mother, and their 5 children. We meet them in Chapter Two as they travel from Spokane, Washington, to a remote cabin on a mountain in the woods of NW Montana. The last leg of their journey to the cabin is via horseback. Each member of the family rides a horse, plus they have several packhorses carrying supplies.

Iceworld (1951) by Hal Clement

+10 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1950-2000)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 230 + 15 = 245

Task 20.2 Carbon Removal:
In honor of the XPrize for Carbon Removal, read a book that has won at least two prizes.

Awards won:
NAIBA Book of the Year for Nonfiction (2021)
Goodreads Choice Award for Memoir & Autobiography (2021)

Combo for 20.8 (beer/whiskey):
Talking about her father, the author writes:
p. 72: “After work, he’d hold court at the Highlands, a local bar across from his office. He could knock back shots of tequila and a half-dozen BEERS like it was nothing and the next morning appear completely unscathed.”


Crying in H Mart (2021) by Michelle Zauner (Hardback 243 pages) [Biography/921]

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.8 “beer”)
+10 Not-a-Novel

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 195 + 35 = 230

Task 15.2 Create Your Own Adventure

Path: MYSTERY=>Poirot

POIROT = meTROPOlIs

Metropolis (2022) by B.A. Shapiro (Hardback 358 pages)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 180 + 15 = 195

Task 20.8 Temple Bar Pub (Anika's task):
In recognition of my favorite Irish exports, Guinness and Jameson, read a book where a character drinks either beer or whiskey.

The courtship of baby Bonaventure Arrow’s parents is described. William (his father) (p. 10) “He ate dinner at Papa’s for several nights running, taking four hours to drink three BEERS.” (Papa’s is the greasy spoon restaurant where Bonaventure Arrow’s mother worked as a waitress.)

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow (2013) by Rita Leganski (Paperback 378 pages)

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 160 + 20 = 180

Task 20.3 Climate Policy:
Read a book that features a politician or political event. A political event refers to a moment or occurrence in history that has a profound impact on the political landscape, shaping policies, ideologies, and the overall direction of governance. This generally includes wars, elections, assassinations, landmark court decisions, political protests or protest movements (e.g., the civil rights protests in the United States), and military actions (e.g., the 1973 Chilean Coup d'état).

Narrative non-fiction about the years in America leading to the American Revolution. This book covers 1765-1775. It focuses on a loosely organized group known as the Sons of Liberty. They engaged in activities aimed at resisting rule by the English government. This book fits this task because the actions of the Sons of Liberty had a “profound impact on the political landscape”.

Desperate Sons: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War (2012) by Les Standiford (Hardback 336 pages) [973.3]
Review:Desperate Sons is a narrative non-fiction account of the group known as the Sons of Liberty from 1766-1775, and how their actions contributed to the start of the American Revolution. Standiford’s target audience are readers who remember the history of the American Revolution from elementary school, and haven’t really thought about that history since elementary school. Now this target audience are adults and will read this book to learn a bit more about that history. Pluses: a lot of quotes from primary sources (contemporary news pamphlets, legal records); a bit of sympathy for British soldiers having been given an impossible task; clarity that the British government really did want to rule over the Americans regardless of the opinions of the Americans themselves. Negatives: I was hoping for more information about the members of the Sons of Liberty themselves. Also, for puzzling reasons, the author kept inserting mostly positive comments about the American Tea Party of the 2010s. Those comments give the book a very ‘dated’ feel.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#20.6, #20.10 “narrative non-fiction”)
+10 Not-a-Novel (Non-fiction)
+10 Review

Task total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 50

Grand Total: 110 + 50 = 160

Task 20.8 Temple Bar Pub (Anika's task):
In recognition of my favorite Irish exports, Guinness and Jameson, read a book where a character drinks either beer or whiskey.

Towards the end of the novel, there is birthday party at which mainly alcohol is served. The author doesn’t reference beer in the setup to the party; instead, p. 309, “’I think enthusiasm is waning,’ Charles said. ‘The BEER is gone again.” This implies that the party attendees were drinking beer (among other beverages). Later, Charles leaves the party with teenaged Bertram (Charles is accompanying an inebriated Bertram back to Bertram’s house). On p. 314: Bertram coughed and burped up a vent of BEERY breath that scented the coach. Presumably, Bertram acquired the “beery breath” from the beer he’d drank at the birthday party.

A Tale of Two Murders (A Dickens of a Crime #1) (2018) by Heather Redmond
REVIEW:I picked up this novel because it is a historical mystery starring Charles Dickens. It’s set in 1835. Dickens is a journalist. He’s courting his boss’s teenaged daughter, Kate Hogarth. The historical Dickens did indeed court his boss’s daughter, Kate, and married her. I was disappointed because the characters didn’t seem like real people (even though some were based on real people), and the solution to the mystery was not well supported by the events of the novel. Novelists are advised to show, not tell, the story. Helen Redmond did the opposite: she told the story, either by having the characters tell each other the plot points, or by having Charles Dickens thinking about why the other characters are acting the way they are. The author also couldn’t decide if the 1830s English class system was a good thing or a bad thing. The perspective on that changed from chapter to chapter, partly for plot purposes, and partly because (I suspect) the chapters were written on different days. Overall, the novel was OK, but I wouldn’t recommend it because there are so many better mysteries in print that are available to read.

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 75 + 30 = 105

Joanna wrote: "Yes!"

Thanks for the quick reply! :)

Do two-word titles work for this task?
Desperate Sons: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War

Task 15.1 Create Your Own Adventure

Path: MYSTERY

Anatomy of Murder (Crowther and Westerman #2) (2010) by Imogen Robertson (Hardback 382 pages)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 60 + 15 = 75

Task 10.1 Member Lotto Kathleen (itpdx), "Back to Basics":
Read a book which features a trip on foot or horseback (or other beast of burden that does not fly). A trip for this task means a visit to another town, city, or area that involves at least one overnight stay. Please describe the trip briefly when you post.

Our hero, Daniel, has traveled back in time to 1066. He joins the housecarls and warriors in King Harold’s army. In a duel, he acquires a horse. He rides his horse from York to London with the army.

There’s no Lexile score. My local library shelves the novel in the YA section.

The Last Saxon King (A Jump in Time #1) (2023) by Andrew Varga (Hardback 316 pages) (Young Adult)

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 50 + 10 = 60

Task 20.8 Temple Bar Pub (Anika's task):
In recognition of my favorite Irish exports, Guinness and Jameson, read a book where a character drinks either beer or whiskey.
Our heroine, Sage, is on a date with handsome guy Bax.
p. 142: “As we talked and sipped our BEERS, the bar heated up.”

Fresh Brewed Murder (A Ground Rules Mystery #1) (2021) by Emmeline Duncan (Paperback 233 pages)
Review: Fresh Brewed Murder is a cozy mystery set in Portland, Oregon. Our heroine, Sage, has started a small business. Sage and her best friend Harper have a food cart located in an outdoor area known as ‘The Raily yard’. Their product: specialty coffee. I found it entertaining to read coffee described in the same way fine wine is described – aromas, how long it was brewed, where the beans were grown, etc. Sage has that 60s vibe about her – she recycles, travels by bicycle (not by car), and has spent a year in Asia with the Peace Corps. The murder victim is meant to be unsympathetic – he’s a developer bulldozing historic buildings to build condominiums. The mystery takes a backseat to descriptions of living life with hippie-ish values (money is still important, and the novel is agnostic about vegetarianism). The ending wraps up the murder investigation satisfactorily while simultaneously setting up the continuation of a cozy mystery series. Recommended for cozy mystery readers.

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 20 + 30 = 50

Task 10.7 Singing Season (Karen Michele's task):
Read a book about music or a musician(s) or a book with any word related to music in the title.

Our hero is Kevin, an apprentice Bard. He plays the lute when he sings. As a bonus, Bard’s can weild magic with the appropriate songs.

Castle of Deception (The Bard's Tale: Naitachal #1) (1992) by Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman; (Paperback 266 pages)
Review: Mercedes Lackey is the queen of coming-of-age fantasy novels. Castle of Deception is one of her early ones. Our coming-of-age character is 15-year-old Kevin, an apprentice Bard. This novel was inspired by a video game, so there are battles and magic and elves and monsters and a scantily dressed female. (In a twist, the scantily dressed female is a fierce warrior and also a matronly influence in the story.) Surprisingly, the story DOES pass the Bechtel Test, with our warrior female (Lydia) discussing battle strategy with a female shapeshifter (Tich’ki). The two women are part of the gang of five that go on the quest together. The story ends satisfactorily, good wins and evil loses. The ending leaves room for sequels (and, I looked, there are sequels.) Recommended for when you want a light-hearted romp through a pseudo-medieval fantasy land.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

Task 20.3 Francine Pascal and Nelson DeMille:
Read any book by any author who has published more than 20 books

Here’s the bibliography:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/ja...

Combos:
20.2 Bechdel Test
Our heroine, Tessa “Teg” Brown (age 50ish) goes on an adventure with female friends Peg (age 60ish) and Meg (age 70ish). They discuss many things throughout the novel, but almost never about romance.

20.7 Best Friends Forever
Read a novel with a cat or dog as character with a beneficial role such as companion, health supporter, or mystery solving-assistant. Please give the name of the cat or dog and a short description.
Our heroine, Tessa “Teg” Brown, has two cats, named Memory and Thought. She interrupts her otherworldly adventure to return home to feed her cats.

Library of the Sapphire Wind (Over Where #1) (2022) by Jane Lindskold

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#20.3, #20.7)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 470 + 30 = 500

Task 10.1 Stylish Sci-Fi (Deedee's task):
Read a book that has the MPGs of both:
A--"Literature," "Literary," "Literary Fiction," or "Classics;
AND
B--"Fantasy," "Science Fiction," or "Speculative Fiction."

Book includes the following MPG’s:
Literary Fiction
Science Fiction

The Intuitionist (1999) by Colson Whitehead

+10 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1950-2000)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 455 + 15 = 470