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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

I don't normally ask for exceptions, but I will this one time:
Newly published American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race has genre space with 22 users. In time I'm confident it will have >30 users for genre space, but it's not there yet. Any possibility it can be used to fit this task?

Task 15.4 The Ratings Game

75,000 - 99,999 (locked into this range, thanks Kate S!)

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) by Walter Isaacson

+15 Task
+05 Non-fiction
+05 Big

Task Total: 15 + 05 +05 = 25

Grand Total: 195 + 25 = 220

Task 20.1 Iris Murdoch
Read a book published during Iris Murdoch's lifetime (1919-1999)

The Brave Bostonians: Hutchinson, Quincy, Franklin, and the Coming of the American Revolution (1998) by Philip McFarland (Hardcover, 304 pages) [973.311]

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.6(nine or more characters))

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 170 + 25 = 195

Task 15.3 The Ratings Game

1,000 - 4,999

Exhalation (2019) by Ted Chiang (Hardcover, 351 pages)
(one novella in the book is 111 pages long)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 155 + 15 = 170

Task 15.2 The Ratings Game

fewer than 250 ratings

Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile (2011) by Ariel Dorfman [863.092]

+15 Task
+05 Non-fiction

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 120 + 20 = 140

My top 3:

1. Oldies
2. Lost in Translation
3. Prize Worthy

And, as an alternate,
Review -- like Bea, I like reading them even when I don't write them for every book I read

Task 10.7 Summer Shorts

A Book of Essays:

Eating the Dinosaur (2009) by Chuck Klosterman (Hardcover, 245 pages) [306.0973]

+10 Task
+05 In-depth
+10 Young Authors

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25

Grand Total: 95 + 25 = 120

Task 10.3 Summer 2017 (No I)

Sherlock Holmes: The Patchwork Devil (Sherlock) (2016) by Cavan Scott

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 85 + 10 = 95

Task 20.6 Characters

Read a book with at least 9 named characters.

Million Mile Road Trip (2019) by Rudy Rucker (Paperback, 476 pages)

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.3 (author name no “I”))

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 60 + 25 = 85

I'd like to "lock in" Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Right now it's at 97,472, but last week it was 96,999 and I was hoping to use it for the 75,000 - 99,999 task. Thanks!

Task 10.7 Summer Shorts

A Book of Essays:

Thick: And Other Essays (2019) by Tressie McMillan Cottom (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 248 pages) [301.092]

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 50 + 10 = 60

Task 15.1 The Ratings Game

10,000 - 14,999

Paris in Love (2012) by Eloisa James (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 272 pages) [813.54]
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Memoir & Autobiography (2012)

+15 Task
+05 Non-fiction

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 30 + 20 = 50

Task 10.5 D-Day
Read one of the top 100 from the list Best Beginning or one of the top 200 from the list Best Ending .

As of June 5, 2019:
Best Beginning : #52
Best Ending : #185


Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) and Terry Pratchett (Paperback, TV Tie-In, 384 pages)
Locus Award Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel (1991)
World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (1991)

+10 Task
+10 Combo (#20.1(pub. 1919-1999), #20.6(>=9 named characters))
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1944-1994)

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 00 + 25 = 25

With difficulty I picked two for the list .... I picked two of the "literary fiction" novels, rather than fantasy & science fiction.

Best short story ever:
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin - I read it when I was young, in the 1970s, and it turned into one of those stories that stays with you over time.

Rebekah wrote: "Anika wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "Love the idea but Anika! That is so hard! I have a hard time picking my favorites out of such narrow categories as Mystery Detective novel based in London with a femal..."

I also have a shelf of favorites, called 6 star books
-- contains fantasy&science fiction, classics, the *best* romantic fluff, well-explained non-fiction, and my go-to cookbooks, plus random other excellent reads

Task 10.3 Scrabble
In honor of National Scrabble Day on April 13th, read a book with a 7-letter word in the title.
MIR ROR S

Island of a Thousand Mirrors (2012) by Nayomi Munaweera (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 242 pages)
Man Asian Literary Prize Nominee (2012)
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Asia (2013)
DSC Prize Nominee for South Asian Literature (2014)
Review: For 25 years – 1983 to 2008 – there was a civil war on the island of Sri Lanka (located just south of India). The author, Nayomi Munaweera, was born on Sri Lanka but left with her family because of the war. This novel, her debut novel, focusses on two young women, one from the wealthy ruling Sinhala group, the other from the poverty-stricken Tamil group. The first part of the novel describes their life on Sri Lanka, and their coming-of-age from childhood to young adulthood. They have a lot in common, despite their differing economic situation: each one has a younger sister she is close to, each one aspires to become a teacher. The second part of the novel records the destruction of war, especially as it affects the two young women (and their sisters!) that the first part of the novel introduced us to. The writing style is clear and poetic. I can see why this novel was nominated for so many prizes; I’d have nominated it also, if I had a vote. Recommended.

I was going to use this book for 20.10; however, I added up the pages, and it is set in Sri Lanka for 73% of the novel.

+10 Task
+10 Combo (#10.8 “I”, #10.9 “sisters”)
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 435 + 30 = 465

Task 10.4 Animal
Read a book with the name of an animal in the title.

Tigers in Red Weather (2012) by Liza Klaussmann
Review: I was disappointed in this book. I had expected a historical novel set in post-World-War-II America. The setting was correct but the focus of the novel was in detailing the interactions of a woman “Nick” and her cousin / daughter / husband / social group. They are an upper-class family with an inherited beach home located somewhat vaguely on Martha’s Vineyard / Chappaquiddick Island group. The story begins right after the end of World War II, when Nick’s husband Hughes returns from the war, and ends in 1969. The style of writing is suitable for a beach read, light and breezy, and focused on the author telling the reader what is happening (as opposed to showing the reader what is happening). My main complaint about the novel: all of the characters are unlikeable and mean people, with one exception; and even that one exception is a teenaged girl who is willfully ignorant of the events swirling around her. I found the perfect word for the experience of reading this novel: Schadenfreude , defined as “the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another”. Not recommended.

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.3 “wea the r”)
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25

Grand Total: 420 + 25 = 445

Karen Michele wrote: "Ed wrote: "An advertisement for myself.... I have a review for A Lost Lady by Willa Cather contending for Best Review on one of the SRC polls. https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/..."

I already did:)
"

Me too!

Rebekah wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Well, I didn't do as well in the Spring Challenge as I usually do. These three months have been unusually dramatic in Real Life, including the happy (my youngest daughter has graduat...Which subject did your daughter take her degree in? "

She got her degree in Business--Accounting (and she already is working at a job using her degree :) )

Rebekah wrote: "This is not to talk about politics but just the book. The Mueller Report is out now but I am so confused. I bought a copy but it is not THE Mueller Report. Apparently there is not one official Muel..."

We got The Washington Post version of The Mueller Report. The report itself is the same from version to version. The Washington Post's version includes additional official documents related to the report, a glossary explaining legal terms for the non-lawyers reading the report, and their analysis of various topics related to the report. The analysis is in a completely different section and very skip-able. The report itself has big chunks blacked out, which makes it entertaining to guess what is under the black marks (or so my son tells me).