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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)
Read a novel in which a character drinks or brews a cup of hot tea. Please include the sentence when claiming the book for points. See help thread for ideas.

p. 183: “After getting Seraphima a cup of tea and settling her in a chair with a blanket around her shoulders and a box of tissues in her lap, Delilah and I carried Frump into the yard to find him a final resting place.”

Off the Page (Between the Lines #2) (2015) by Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author) and Samantha van Leer
Lexile HL720L

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 65 + 20 = 85

Task 10.2 Letters
Read a book with more than 20 letters in the title.

Into the Beautiful North (2009) by Luis Alberto Urrea (Goodreads Author) (Paperback, 343 pages)

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 55 + 10 = 65

Here's another list: behind bars: 12 famous authors who spent time in jails and prison

Includes
Jack London: spent thirty days in the Eric County Penitentiary for being homeless

Task 15.1 Blackjack

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Albino's Treasure (The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) (2015) by Stuart Douglas (Goodreads Author) (Paperback, 245 pages)

+10 = 10 of hearts (history/historical fiction set 100 or more years before orig pub year) (published 2015, story set in 1896)

+10 = Queen of diamonds (set (75%) in any Western European country) (set entirely in England)

Sum Total = 20

Task Points:
+15


Grand Total: 40 + 15 = 55

So far my library is still open. The city manager in the suburban Atlanta town where I live says we have one confirmed case of coronavirus.

I went to the grocery store yesterday -- along with everyone else who lives here! Ran into my youngest daughter's father-in-law, had a nice chat. Some store shelves are completely empty: milk, eggs, fresh meat (beef - chicken - pork), and, of course, toilet paper. That grocery store is closing early today, to re-disinfect the entire store and to "restock store shelves".

Thankfully my husband has a job as a software engineer, and he works from home 95% of the time. We'll be able to ride through March as long as we have electricity.

Karen Michele wrote: "Another group I am in just recently and coincidentally brought up other Arthur Conan Doyle books (Catching Up On Classics). I have The Lost World (Crichton based his book on this one) and also another, The White Company ...."

I've read both The Lost World and The White Company and liked them better than Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

I've enjoyed the 21st Century written "Sherlock Holmes" stories more than Arthur Conan Doyle's. Of course, without Doyle's stories establishing the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson there would not be any 21st Century Sherlock Holmes.

Task 20.4 Robert Penn Warren
Read one of the top 175 books from this list of this list of The Great American Novel.
On March 1, 2020: Page Two, #162

Appointment in Samarra (1934) by John O'Hara (Paperback, 240 pages)
Review: Appointment in Samarra was John O’Hara’s debut novel. The characters are white middle class suburban Americans living in a small eastern Pennsylvanian town. The events take place over three consecutive days in late December of 1930. Prohibition still exists, but it doesn’t impede excessive drinking of alcohol by the various characters. The writing style is clear and straightforward, easy to understand. John O’Hara writes very believable dialog – he is willing to let the dialog convey the story, a rare trait in writers. The story he tells, though, is about a group of unpleasant and unhappy people living an alcohol-soaked middle class life. As the novel progressed, I kept thinking: there must be SOMEONE who is happy here! (view spoiler)[Nope, everyone is in despair. (hide spoiler)] Recommended as a cleverly written novel about unhappy people.

+20 Task
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1870-1944)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 00 + 40 = 40

Task 20.2 Freedom Season
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Sept. 22, 1863. Read a book related to the American Civil War

Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South (2015) by Christopher Dickey (Hardcover, 388 pages) [921]

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.5 most recently published book, #10.9 pub. 2015)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 705 + 30 = 735

Task 20.7 Island Dreams
Read a book that takes place (at least 75%) on an island country
JAPAN

Men Without Women (2014) by Haruki Murakami; translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen (Hardcover, 228 pages)

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.9 pub. 2014)
+10 Lost In Translation

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 670 + 35 = 705

Task 20.10 A Winning Decade
Read a book that has received one of the following literary awards during the years 2010-2019.

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2010)

War Dances (2009) by Sherman Alexie (Hardcover, 209 pages)

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 650 + 20 = 670

Task 10.7 Alphabet Soup
This task is about matching two different letters of the alphabet between title and author. Here's the list of letters that "match": A - N, B - O, C - P, D - Q, E - R, F - S, G - T, H - U, I - V, J - W, K - X, L - Y, M - Z.

F (Full) – S (Smith)

The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #5) (2003) by Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 198 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.1 Cindy has it as a 5-star read)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 635 + 15 = 650

Task 20.8 Unification Season
Read a book first published 1961-1989 inclusively.

The Man Who Rode Midnight (1987) by Elmer Kelton

+20 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1945-1995)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 610 + 25 = 635

Task 10.9 Play the Numbers
Read a book that was originally published in a year which contains the numerals 1 and 2, such as 2011, 1925, 1862, etc.

How to Read the Air (2010) by Dinaw Mengestu (male) (Hardcover, 305 pages)

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 605 + 10 = 615

Task 10.8 Single Word Title

Dakota (2005) by Matt Braun (Paperback, 306 pages)
Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel (2006)

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 595 + 10 = 605

Task 10.2 ANNIVERSARY
Read a book in which the first word of title starts with one of the letters in anniversary (leading articles can be used or ignored as benefits the reader).

In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4) (2019) by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 204 pages)

+10 Task
+15 Combo (#10.1 Joanna, Foxy Grandma, Kimberly / #10.9 (pub. 2019) / #20.1 (She Writes)
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 10 + 15 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 560 + 35 = 595

Task 10.1 5-Star Reads
Read a book another RwS member has rated 5 stars.

Dec 16, 2017 Tobias ·
Oct 22, 2015 Ariel ·

The Last Wish (The Witcher 0.5) (1993) by Andrzej Sapkowski; translated from Polish by Danusia Stok (Mass Market Paperback, 359 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1945-1995)
+10 Lost In Translation

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25

Grand Total: 535 + 25 = 560

Task 10.5 Debut (or most recently published book)
Read an author's most recently published book as of December 1, 2019.

More Walls Broken (2019) by Tim Powers (Hardcover, 136 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.9 pub. 2019)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 510 + 15 = 525

Task 15.4 CYOA – A4. Author's first or last name contains a double letter

Molly MacRae

Last Wool and Testament (Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery #1) (2012) by Molly MacRae (Goodreads Author) (Paperback, 320 pages)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 495 + 15 = 510

Task 10.9 Play the Numbers
Read a book that was originally published in a year which contains the numerals 1 and 2, such as 2011, 1925, 1862, etc.

The Last Tsar's Dragons (2019) by Jane Yolen (Goodreads Author) and Adam Stemple (Goodreads Author); (Paperback, 192 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.5 most recently published book)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 480 + 15 = 495

Task 20.4 Poet's Non-Poetry
Read a work of prose by an author more commonly known as a poet.

Changing Planes (2003) by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hardcover, 246 pages)

+20 Task
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 450 + 30 = 480