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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

I've finished 11 RWS and 3 BtE. I have a good shot at finishing one or the other, but probably not both (even though I've picked out books to finish BtE)

Task 10.1 Square Peg

Late Nights on Air (2007) by Elizabeth Hay
Scotiabank Giller Prize (2007)
Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book (2008)

+10 Task
+10 Prizeworthy

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 455 + 20 = 475

Laura Lippman was born on (January 31, 1959)

Task 20.10 Over and Under (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)
Read any book with an average rating over 3.74 AND under 1001 ratings. (3.75/1000)

The Wicked Pavilion (1954) by Dawn Powell

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.3 pub.1954, #10.8 New Author)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 425 + 30 = 455

Deedee wrote: "Dawn Powell was born December 13, 1901 according to goodreads"

And now, goodreads has been updated, and Dawn Powell's birthday is now listed as both November 28, 1896 and December 13, 1901. Elsewhere on the internet her birthday is listed as the November one. So I'm not going to use this task for Dawn Powell.

Dawn Powell was born December 13, 1901 according to goodreads

Task 15.3 BtE2 Land and Sea

Belgium: A and B

Pétronille (2015) by Amélie Nothomb

Task Total: 25

Grand Total: 390 + 25 = 415

Task 20.5 Nevil Shute
Read a book shelved at least 600 times as historical fiction.

Pre-approved in the Help Thread. Thanks, Elizabeth (Alaska)!

Memoirs of Hadrian (1951) by Marguerite Yourcenar; translated from the French by Grace Frick

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.3(pub.1951), #20.6(wealthy))
+10 Aged (age 75+)
+05 Prizeworthy (winner: Prix Femina Vacaresco (1952))

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 05 = 45

Grand Total: 345 + 45 = 390

Yeah! Memoirs of Hadrian has the following genres:


Historical > Historical Fiction 563 users
Historical 113 users

From what Elizabeth (Alaska) said, I can add together
563 + 113 = 676 > 600

So I'm assuming I can claim this under 20.5 :)

I have another book that I think would fit here: Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. It's the invented Memoirs of Hadrian, a Roman emperor from 117 to 138. What makes me hesitate is that Hadrian did not live a life of leisure, even though he was at the top of the food chain.

Task 20.7 Charles Darwin
Read a work that involves a grand adventure. The book must involve travel.

Hippie (2018) by Paulo Coelho (Goodreads Author); translated from the Portugese by Eric M. B. Becker
book pre-approved in the 20.7 task thread

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.2 Goodreads Author)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 320 + 25 = 345

Task 20.1 Winter Birthdays
Read any book by an author born in December, January or February.

Time Out of Joint (1959) by Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick was born on December 16, 1928

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.3 pub. 1959)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 290 + 25 = 315

Task 10.3 Gerald Durrell
Read a book first published during Gerald Durrell's lifetime (1925-1995).

In the Country of the Blind (1990) by Michael F. Flynn (Paperback, 549 pages)
Locus Award for Best First Novel (1991)
Compton Crook Award (1991)
Prometheus Award for Best Novel (1991)

+10 Task
+10 Combo (#10.4 Debut, #10.8)
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages
+15 Prizeworthy

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 05 + 15 = 40

Grand Total: 250 + 40 = 290

Would Hippie by Paulo Coelho fit this task? The blurb says that the novel is loosely based on the author's recollections of the 1960s. The protaganist travels through Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, then later, Amsterdam and even Central Asia.

Task 20.6 Edith Wharton
Read a book about the super wealthy, leisure class.

Approved in the help thread:
The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight (1905) by Elizabeth von Arnim (Paperback, 228 pages)

+20 Task
+10 Aged (age 75+)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 215 + 30 = 245

Rebekah wrote: "Deedee wrote: "I'm working on the "Backpacking Through Europe" challenge and I need a book from Germany. I'm very impressed by Erich Maria Remarque and had planned to read.... "

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions! I wound up reading Me and Kaminski by Daniel Kehlmann, a dark humor short novel that would have fit Summer 2018 Task 20.10 Art World: Read any book where a painting or sculpture or an artist (painter or sculptor) is central. (In case that task is ever repeated :) ). Next up: Belgium. Or France. Depends on how much I like my Belgium book.

Task 15.2 BtE2 Land and Sea

Germany: A, B and C

Me and Kaminski (2003) by Daniel Kehlmann; translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway

Task Total: 25

Grand Total: 190 + 25 = 215

I'm working on the "Backpacking Through Europe" challenge and I need a book from Germany. I'm very impressed by Erich Maria Remarque and had planned to read A Time to Love and a Time to Die. I started it and it is just sooo depressing, like All Quiet on the Western Front but more violent and gruesome. I've decided to switch to a modern German writer, someone who isn't writing about World War 2. I'd skip Germany altogether but Germany is so centrally located it would be difficult to go around it (especially since I started with Denmark)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "I am reading The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim From Goodreads description: It tells the story of Priscilla, a hugely popular Germ...

We will accept it for this task."

Oh good! Thanks for the quick reply :)

Task 15.1 BtE2 Land and Sea

Denmark: A, B and C

We, the Drowned (2006) by Carsten Jensen; translated by Charlotte Barslund, Liz Jensen and Emma Ryder (Hardcover, 688 pages)

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 175 + 15 = 190