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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

I'm going to finish PnM for sure -- RWS I *might* finish, if not I'll get close.

Task 15.6 PnM2 D-6

Main Page Genre: Classics

Less Than Angels (1955) by Barbara Pym (Paperback, 256 pages)

D-6. Genre: contemporary, realism, literary fiction, classics

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 325 + 20 = 345

Task 10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y (Anika's Task)

silvia mOrEno-garcIA

Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Review: This fast-paced fantasy novel is set in 1920s Mexico. Our heroine is a half-Mayan 18 year old ‘poor relation’ in a wealthy ‘Spanish’ family, named Casiopea Tun. (Entertainingly, the physical description of Casiopea matches the author photograph on the back cover of the book.) She is treated as a servant and is resentful as a result. One day, she opens a forbidden, locked chest and frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, Hun-Kame. Through trickery, he was imprisoned in the chest. Now he needs Casiopea’s help to restore him to his position in the Mayan Underworld, Xibalba. The author assumes that her readers are unknowledgeable about the Mayan religions/myths, and so takes the time to do an excellent job of explaining that Mayan background. The events are internally consistent, the pacing is brisk, and the ending fits the novel. Recommended for readers of fantasy who are looking for something fantastical but completely different from the usual fantasy novel.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 305 + 20 = 325

Task 15.5 PnM2 A-3

Apartment in Athens (1945) by Glenway Wescott (Paperback, 268 pages)
Set 100% in Athens, Greece

+20 A-3. Europe (at least 75%)

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 285 + 20 = 305

Task 15.4 PnM2 B-1

Johannes Cabal the Detective (Johannes Cabal #2) (2010) by Jonathan L. Howard (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 289 pages)

+15 B-1. 2001 or later

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 270 + 15 = 285

Kate S wrote: "From Post 289

Deedee wrote: "Task 20.5 Non-Linear
Read a book with a non-linear narrative.

Lost Children Archive (2019) by Valeria Luiselli (Hardcover, 385 pages)..."

Kate S wrote: "From Post 289

Deedee wrote: "Task 20.5 Non-Linear
Read a book with a non-linear narrative.

Lost Children Archive (2019) by Valeria Luiselli (Hardcover, 385 pages)...

While this does not work for 20.8 (initials in reverse order), it does work for 20.1. No change in points.

"

A touch of dyslexia -- sorry about that

Task 10.1 Sub-Sandwich
Read a book that one of our members read for a sub-challenge within the last year (Fall 2018-Summer 2019).

Double Star (1956) by Robert A. Heinlein (Paperback, 224 pages)
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1956)
Locus Award Nominee for All-Time Best SF Novel (1987)
Review: I last read Robert A. Heinlein when I was a young adult, late 1970s-early 1980s. I started and did-not-finish two of his novels: Friday (a young adult female ENJOYS being raped); and Time Enough for Love (PRAISES father-daughter incest). I had also read, as a teenager, Stranger in a Strange Land, and found it confusing. I decided that I’d rather re-read Dune or my favorite Russian novel War and Peace than read any more of Robert A. Heinlein. And yet, I’m a big fan of science fiction / fantasy, and many people who are fans of science fiction / fantasy praise Robert A. Heinlein’s work. So I’m thinking, maybe his earlier stories are good, before he decided to get into male fantasies about compliant females. Double Star won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1956, and it was short, and my local library had a copy AND it fits #10.1 for Reading With Style this season, so I decided to give it a try. If offensive, I can always ‘did-not-finish’ it and return it to the library.

The novel does not pass the Bechtel test (but then, almost no 1950s science fiction does). The women are all younger than the men, all very emotional but fundamentally moral actors, and all chaste (again, 1950s science fiction standard). Getting past the ‘female’ issue, the story was entertaining. Our first-person narrator is a middle-aged, unemployed male actor who is hired to impersonate an important politician who had been kidnapped. The events were plausible. The characters were 1950s standard (the loyal (female) secretary – the (male) politicians – the (male) scientists). And – interplanetary space travel – to Mars and other locales. There were a handful of unintentionally humorous passages (slide rulers!). Overall, I’d recommend this for readers of science fiction who can overlook the 1950s sexism.

I will read more of Robert A. Heinlein’s stories from the 1950s and early 1960s – but not his later ones.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+05 Combo (#10.7 Vowels: A, E, I, O)
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1944-1994)

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

Grand Total: 240 + 30 = 270

As of October 4, 2019 -- and possibly before now -- American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race has 30 users listing the genre as SPACE. Yeah!

Task 15.3 PnM2 C3

The Stuff of Nightmares (Sherlock Holmes) (2013) by James Lovegrove

+15 C-3 First Person Narrator

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 225 + 15 = 240

Task 20.5 Non-Linear
Read a book with a non-linear narrative.

Lost Children Archive (2019) by Valeria Luiselli (Hardcover, 385 pages)

+20 Task
+15 Combo (#10.7(a,e,i,u), #10.10(group reads), #20.8(LV= Livermorium (atomic number 116))

Task Total: 20 + 15 = 35

Grand Total: 190 + 35 = 225

Task 15.2 PnM2 E4

Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World (2009) by Claire Harman [823.7]

+15 E-4. Title has a non-generic sub-title

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 175 + 15 = 190

Task 10.10 Group Reads

A Month in the Country (1980) by J.L. Carr (male) (Paperback, 135 pages)
Booker Prize Nominee (1980)
Guardian Fiction Award (1980)
Review: A Month in the Country is a gentle, nostalgic, short novel, told in first person by Tom Birkin. He’s a World War I veteran, suffering from the effects of the war. In the summer of 1920 Birkin is hired to clean and restore a religious mural located in a small chapel in the small town of Oxgodby, Yorkshire. Birkin grows to appreciate the beauty of the physical world that surrounds him which helps him heal from the horrors of war. He gets to know the townspeople, kind, upstanding men, women and children. The overall impression is very mellow, peaceful, and kind. Very little conflict in the story but plot and conflict are not what the story is about. Recommended.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+05 Combo (#20.1 Booker Prize Longlist 1980)
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1944-1994)

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

Grand Total: 145 + 30 = 175

Would Lost Children Archive count as non-linear? It has lengthy remembrances of events in the past. Since it also fits 10.10, hopefully someone has read it and can answer the question.

Task 10.2 Book Lover's Day
Read a book shelved at least 15 times as Books about Books.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep (2019) by H.G. Parry
Review: I really enjoyed this novel. The first line of the goodreads description states the premise: The ultimate book-lover's fantasy, featuring a young scholar with the power to bring literary characters into the world. Almost all of the literary characters are from classics covered in High School English class. (Uriah Heep is from David Copperfield.) I was very entertained by the interactions with the literary characters. The ‘real life’ characters have family dynamics to deal with as well as the complications from literary characters. While eventful, the plot is primarily character-driven, focusing on the literary characters as well as ‘real life’ characters. I don’t want to say more about the plot because I don’t want to spoil the fun.

I’d recommend this book for people who read a lot (like the people in this group!).

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 125 + 20 = 145

Task 20.7 Spec Fic
Read a book shelved as speculative fiction by at least 20 GR users.

Severance (2018) by Ling Ma
Review: The premise of Severance is that there is a global pandemic (the Shen Fever) which brings an abrupt halt to civilization as we know it. The novel follows a millennial aged American woman (of Chinese descent) named Candace. Circumstances have left her an orphan, her barely-known extended family living back in China. Candace has moved to New York City, eventually landing a job with a book publishing firm. She has lived in New York City for 5 years when the Shen Fever hits. The story is told in a non-linear fashion – mixing chapters of Candace’s childhood with chapters on pre-Shen Fever New York City life and post-Shen Fever life. The individual chapters are quite entertaining (A millennial NYC party! Work life in an office! Life as a child in China! Survival techniques post-apocylpse! Etc.). However, the chapters don’t really connect well together to tell one story. And the ending …. well … is weak. I’d recommend Station Eleven over this one for a literary apocalyptic novel.

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.5 non-linear)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 85 + 35 = 120

Task 15.1 PnM2 F5

The Library of Lost and Found (2019) by Phaedra Patrick

+15 F-5 First letter of Author’s name: P-S

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 70 + 15 = 85

Task 10.1 Sub-Sandwich
Read a book that one of our members read for a sub-challenge within the last year (Fall 2018-Summer 2019).

Convenience Store Woman (2016) by Sayaka Murata; translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori
BTBA Best Translated Book Award Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2019)
Akutagawa Prize 芥川龍之介賞 (2016)
本屋大賞 for 9th place (2017)
Review: This short translated novel has been longlisted for English-language prizes. It is told in first person by Keiko Furukura. She is a 36 year old Japanese woman who has worked in a convenience store in Japan all of her adult life – and she LIKES it. Her problem: family and friends want her to move on, find a better job, get married, have babies. Keiko is happy where she is and does not see the point of moving on to new situations.

Keiko’s character reminds me of Murderbot from The Murderbot Diaries. Both have difficulty in deciphering human behavior. In Convenience Store Woman, this gives the author the opportunity to slip in social commentary on Japanese society. The details of the Convenience Store workplace seem authentic. Overall, a quirky, literary fiction short novel. Recommended.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 50 + 20 = 70

Welcome back, Don! The place hasn't been the same without you. And ... this season, bonus points for reviews :)

Task 20.9 Shipwrecked! (Kate S's Task)
Read a book about a shipwreck.

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (1970) by Gabriel García Márquez; translated by Randolf Hogan (Paperback, 128 pages) [910]
Review: In 1955, several crew members of a Colombian destroyer were washed overboard and disappeared. They were presumed to be dead. One man, Luis Alejandro Velasco, survived. In 1955, Gabriel García Márquez worked for a newspaper in Bogota, Colombia. He gained Luis’s trust, and wrote a series of articles for the newspaper about Luis’ experience. In 1970, Gabriel García Márquez collected the newspaper pieces, reworked them somewhat, and published the result as The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor. In 1986 Randolph Hogan translated the book into English. This is the book I read. Luis talks about his shipmates (only positive recollections), about how he became the only man on the life raft, about his ten days at sea (Sea Gulls! And Sharks!), and ending with his rescue and recovery. Some of the details in this book I have a hard time believing – prominently, the idea that Luis went 10 days without food, and drank only salty sea water, and still survived. I do believe that this is what Luis told Gabriel García Márquez.

I’m undecided over whether I’d recommend this or not. I think it would be of interest for people who like Gabriel García Márquez; for people who are interested in the nation Colombia; and for being a tale of a real life shipwrecked sailor.

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.7 – author vowels A, E, I, U)
+10 Not-a-Novel: non-fiction
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1944-1994)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 + 05 + 10 = 50

Grand Total: 00 + 50 = 50

Well, I finished the sub-challenge for Summer :) Thanks to the moderators for running this challenge! Now onto Fall