Deedee’s
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(group member since Aug 04, 2010)
Deedee’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,101-1,120 of 2,283
Task 10.2 3, 4, or 5Louisiana Saves the Library (2016) by Emily Beck Cogburn
Review: Louisiana Saves the Library is a gentle contemporary romance novel. The first third of the novel introduces our heroine, a young woman named Louisiana. She is having a very bad time. She loses her job as a college professor; her ex is preparing to marry the woman he left her for; and her two preschool children are unmanageable. (I blamed Louisiana, though. Most parents are better at taking care of their children than the novel’s Louisiana.) The only thing Louisiana has going for her is her friendship with the very pregnant Sylvia. I think the novel would have been better if the first third were shortened – it’s depressing to read about life defeat after life defeat landing on our heroine! The second third of the novel is when life starts to get better for Louisiana. In the third third of the novel, the author pursues a happy ending for our heroine, even if it requires a stiff dose of never would happen in real life “wishing-makes-it-so”. Overall, the novel was OK, but there are plenty of better books out there.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 410 + 20 = 430
itpdx wrote: "For those of you who are reading a single award for the AotD: what do you think of the award you chose? Did the judges do a good job? Did you run into a dud year or years?"I'm reading Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981 for AotD. The Spur Awards are awarded by the Western Writers of America. I'm currently reading the 6th book in the award series. So far, I'd say the judges did a good job. I've been pleased to see that the focus of the books is on western life, and NOT on violence; the death toll is very low or non-existent, and most deaths happen "off-screen" in the novels I've read so far. Many western novels have gunfights as the main focus, with the deaths happening on-screen, and a higher death toll than the Spur Award books I've read so far. Maybe because the Spur Awards books I'm reading are from the 1970?
I picked Spur Awards because I had read a few "literary" western novels, and a few "weird west" western/steampunk novels, and I thought the Spur Awards would be interesting, different from my usual novels, and not be "body count" books. So far I've been pleased with the choices.
Task 10.07 Dead Poet's SocietyWaymarking’s Dead Poet Society – Arnold Bennett
Buried Alive (1908) by Arnold Bennett
Review:Buried Alive is a short lighthearted Edwardian novel set in London around 1908 (the year it was published). Our hero is the painfully shy gifted painter. Through happenstance, our hero trades places with his valet. The gentle humor results from the tradeoff. I liked reading a calm, pleasant, well-told novel. I also greatly enjoyed the descriptions Arnold Bennett includes to signal just how modern London is in 1908. Why there are “electric lights” and gramophones and telephones and even those peculiar horse-free vehicles! The description of how a housewife makes toast was interesting --- I appreciate my electric toaster more now! The author has disdain for what we would call ‘celebrity culture’ and he satirizes it mightily. The negative comment about ‘the Hebrew tribe’ was unnecessary to the story but is consistent with how people thought and wrote in Edwardian times. Recommended.
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.3)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 385 + 25 = 410
Task 20.8 Yours, Mine, and Ours (Amanda)Read a book where a character is taken up by a new author.
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit (1995) edited by Mike Resnick (Hardcover, 374 pages)
Review:The editor “assigned” stories to science fiction/fantasy authors working in the mid-1990s. pp. 3-4: “….the authors were told that they could place Holmes in any era or any setting they chose, as long as each story had a science fiction or fantasy element and Holmes remained recognizably Holmes.” The title page states: “Authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle”. The result was this anthology of 26 short stories, all by different authors, all published for the first time in this book in 1995. The editor divides the stories into four sections: past, present, future, and after death. Various people and elements included in one or more of the 26 stories include: Dr. Watson; Moriarty; Dr. Fu Manchu; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (as a character in the story); Alice from Alice in Wonderland (as a character in the story); Charles Babbage (real life 19th century inventor of the first mechanical computer); vampires; time travel; and the British Museum (located in London, England). H. G. Wells is mentioned frequently but never makes an appearance. Recommended for fans of short fiction starring Sherlock Holmes.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.2, #10.8 “anthologies”)
+10 Review
Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 345 + 40 = 385
I think Arnold Bennett qualifies:http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM...
First line at top:
Arnold Bennett - Cadogan Square, London, UK - Dead Poets' Society Memorials on Waymarking.com
Task 15.5 Spur Award for Best Novel (1976)
(note: I'm going to be doing all Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981)
The Spirit Horses (1976) by Lou Cameron (Mass Market Paperback, 183 pages)
Within the first few pages we learn that “spirit horses” is the name Native Americans gave to camels.
+15 Task
+05 Oldies (published before 1992)
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 325 + 20 = 345
Task 10.6 Spring EquinoxCARRIE
VAUGHN
Martians Abroad (2017) by Carrie Vaughn (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 288 pages)
Review: Martians Abroad is an adult book about a young adult college-aged woman named Polly. Polly and her twin brother, Charles, were born and raised on Mars. Their mother sends them to an elite college on Earth to complete their education. Most of the novel is set on Earth at the elite college. It has the boarding school Harry Potter feel to it, with classes, and cliques, and potential romantic interests, all while our POV characters are studying esoteric subjects. The twist here is detailing how Mars-raised teens adjust to Earth, with its dome-free outdoors, freestanding water, and higher gravity (among other things). There’s an overarching plot, a mystery to be solved by our intrepid twins –
(view spoiler)
The author does an excellent job of showing how a teen raised on Mars would view life on Earth. Additionally, I enjoyed reading about a young woman for whom romance is low on her list of priorities.
JPL and my local library shelve this book in the Adult section. I can see the librarian holding this book in his/her hands, saying to themselves: Young Adult? Adult? Young Adult? Adult? And then deciding to shelve it in Adult because of one or two intense scenes in the novel.
Recommended for those looking for coming-of-age novels and for those interested in fiction about Mars.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 305 + 20 = 325
Task 15.4 Spur Award for Best Novel (1975)
(note: I'm going to be doing all Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981)
The Shootist (1975) by Glendon Swarthout (Paperback, 248 pages)
This novel was the basis for the film The Shootist (1976) starring John Wayne
+15 Task
+05 Oldies (published before 1992)
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 285 + 20 = 305
Task 10.1 Square PegYour Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist (2016) by Sunil Yapa (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 314 pages)
Review: The WTO Conference met in Seattle, Washington State during November 30, 1999 – December 01, 1999. This novel is centered on the protests against the WTO that occurred on those days. (This really happened – how did I miss it? Busy with real life, I guess.) The author tells the events through the eyes of various people present in Seattle, including several police officers, several protestors, and a WTO delegate from Sri Lanka. The author’s sympathies are 90% with the protestors, 8-9% with the WTO delegate, and occasionally he has a kind word for the police. No ambiguous, “they both have good points” sentiments here! Some of the most shocking events in the novel actually happened – I looked at youtube videos and sure enough, there is video of an event in the novel: (view spoiler). Overall, an interesting, briskly told novel, which does get heavy-handed in favor of the author’s pro-protestors political viewpoint.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 260 + 20 = 280
Task 10.3 English LanguageRead a book by an author born in one of these English Language Countries: UK, South Africa or New Zealand.
Tanith Lee was born in London, England
Tamastara, or The Indian Nights (1984) by Tanith Lee (Paperback, 174 pages)
Review: Tamastara is a collection of 7 short stories/novelettes, all written by Tanith Lee. The first three stories were originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine; the four other stories were originally published in this book. All 7 stories are set in India; all 7 stories have a fantastical element to them. Elements include mystical cobras, tigers, Bollywood, arranged marriages and reincarnation. One of the stories, “The Ivory Merchants”, was difficult to follow (maybe it’s related to a Hindu god? So I miss the references.) The other six stories were good reads. Tanith Lee’s writing style has a sharp edge, a “bite” to it, that other authors do not have. These earlier stories are not particularly “dark”, so I’d call them “fantasy” rather than “horror”. Recommended for those who want to read something different and original.
+10 Task
+05 Comb (#10.2)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 235 + 25 = 260
Task 10.8 AnthologyThe Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection (1985) edited by Gardner R. Dozois (Kindle Edition, 577 pages)
Review: Beginning in 1984 and continuing to today, Gardner Dozois edits a book of the previous year’s “best” science fiction (short stories, novelettes, and novellas). He includes a rather lengthy essay at the beginning about the “state of science fiction” during the previous year. This anthology was the second of the series. It was published in1985 and contained 26 stories first published in 1984. I found the story quality rather high. The stories aren’t “dated” either, as can happen in older science fiction stories. Yes, there were a couple about PTSD soldiers in a jungle war (inspired by Vietnam), but the majority of stories could be published new today and be accepted as brand-new 21st century stories. There are stories by Jack McDevitt, Connie Willis, Frederik Pohl, Nancy Kress, Tanith Lee, and Kim Stanley Robinson. I didn’t care for the couple of “cyberpunk” stories included in the anthology, but then, I generally don’t care for “cyberpunk”.
I was happy to be able to find a copy of this collection. For some unknown to me reason, the print copy of the Second Annual Collection is now very rare and very (hundreds of dollars) expensive. Hurray for modern technology, today this book is available for under $10 on Kindle. I’d recommend the Kindle version to fans of science fiction.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages: 5 Points
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 210 + 25 = 235
Task 10.2 3, 4, or 5Good Morning, Midnight (2016) by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Review: Lily Brooks-Dalton’s debut novel Good Morning, Midnight is a character study of how isolation on Earth and in space affects people. It was obviously inspired by the excellent award-winning book Station Eleven. The difference is that Stations Eleven has a plot and has believable characters. Good Morning, Midnight leisurely sets up the situation, dividing the focus between a research station in the Arctic Circle and a research space shuttle returning from Jupiter. After the setup, the focus is on how each and every character is reacting to the situation, and then on the background of each and every character. The characters are divided between the ones that are stereotypes found in science fiction novels from the 1950s to today, and the ones that reflect what is trendy today. Overall, an unobjectionable, very slow-paced, derivative science fiction-y novel. (Also the ending was unsatisfactory.)
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 190 + 20 = 210
Task 15.3 Spur Award for Best Novel (1974)
(note: I'm going to be doing all Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981)
A Hanging in Sweetwater (1974) by Stephen Overholser
+15 Task
+5 Oldies (published before 1992)
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 170 + 20 = 190
Task 10.2 3, 4, or 5The Tin Lizzie Troop (1972) by Glendon Swarthout (Hardcover, First Edition, 223 pages)
Review: According to Wikipedia, Swarthout was twice nominated by his publishers for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (for They Came To Cordura by Random House and Bless The Beasts & Children by Doubleday). Several of his novels have been turned into movies (pre-1980), including one starring John Wayne. Supposedly The Tin Lizzie Troop was optioned for a film to star Paul Newman, but it was never made.
The Tin Lizzie Troop is a slapstick comedy about a 32-year-old Lt. Stanley Dinkle of the U. S. Cavalry in 1916. He’s stationed on the Texas-Mexican border. U.S. Army General John J. Pershing is chasing Pancho Villa along the borderline. And so, Lt. Dinkle and his 6 troops get involved. The 6 troops are from wealthy Philadelphia families – their origin is the subject of much humor. Despite being a cavalry unit, the troops wind up using ….. Model T’s! (also known as “tin lizzies”). The humor is slapstick, which works better on screen than on paper. Alas, the ending took a sudden turn for the serious, which didn’t fit the rest of the novel. (I’m sure they would have changed the ending if it had been made into a movie.) Still and all, a good book to read in a waiting room.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 150 + 20 = 170
Task 15.2 Spur Award for Best Novel (1973)
(note: I'm going to be doing all Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981)
The Time It Never Rained (1973) by Elmer Kelton
+15 Task
+5 Oldies (published before 1992)
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 125 + 20 = 145
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Apparently we were confused by the "memorials" part. ;-)"Yeah, I was confused. I think I get it now though :)
Task 10.3 English LanguageRead a book by an author born in one of these English Language Countries: UK, South Africa or New Zealand.
Tanith Lee was born in London, England
Companions on the Road (1975) by Tanith Lee (Hardcover, 122 pages)
Review: Companions on the Road is a high fantasy tale set in the standard pseudo-medieval fantasy world, Our young male hero is a soldier, a captain in charge of 30 men, part of the King’s forces besieging a castle of a rebellious Lord. The novella starts off gritty and real, and then segues into something dreamy and fantastical. Like all of Tanith Lee’s books that I’ve read, this one is original, fantastical, and includes all the details the reader needs for the story without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details. This is one of her earlier works. I’d say her early works are fantasy with an edge, while her later ones are dark fantasy and/or horror. Recommended for those who enjoy “high” fantasy stories that are told without the “padding”.
+10 Task
+05 Comb (#10.2)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 100 + 25 = 125
Task 10.2 3, 4, or 5Read a book whose title has exactly 3, 4, or 5 words. Sub-titles can be counted or ignored.
All Our Wrong Todays (2017) by Elan Mastai
Review: The first line of Elan Mastai’s goodreads biography states: “All Our Wrong Todays” is my first novel, but I’ve been working for the past 15 years as a screenwriter.” He does know how to tell a story. The premise is that our first-person young male narrator became involved in a time travel project gone awry. I had expected the story to travel the “alternate time” commentary on society, with some adventure thrown in for fun. Instead, the novel focuses on relationships, and what makes relationships healthy, and what makes relationships unhealthy. Our first person narrator is very insecure, which is present on every page of the novel. There is personal growth as the novel progresses. The ending is very satisfactory and fits the novel.
Recommended for those interested in off-beat novels about relationships.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 80 + 20 = 100
Louise Bro wrote: "Deedee: Have you already posted that one?"Nope, just checked it out from the library. I was looking to be helpful for one of the quicker readers.
Looks like you got 10.5 for the group, yeah!
And so we're done??
