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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 10.4 - 9, 10, 11:

9= Clockwork

Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fables (2013) edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett (Paperback, 326 pages)
Review:This book was published in 2013. It contains 9 brand new stories by different authors. Each story begins with a traditional story (like “Sleeping Beauty” or “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”) and gives a creative, steampunk twist to it. The introduction to each story tells which traditional story the author was using. Several "traditional stories" were stories I had never heard of – the Internet was very helpful to me as I read the summary online before reading the story. Inevitably in an anthology with different authors, some stories work well (“Fair Vasyl” by Steven Harper) and others not so well (the sleeping beauty one -- “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens” by Jay Lake). Recommended for fans of Steampunk fiction.

+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel: short story collections
+10 Review

Task Total: 10+10+10=30

Grand Total: 160 + 30 = 190

And now -- I'm reading The Strain (first book in a trilogy) with my son. He tells me it is inspired by Dracula, with vampires that are horrific and monstrous rather than vampires as boyfriends (like in Twilight). There is also a TV show based on the novel (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stra... ), with the authors of the trilogy of books writing the episodes of the TV show. Until I read it, I won't know how much vampire is in the novel (though it DOES begin in the forests of Romania). It would be nice if I could claim it here but I'll await the moderator's ruling.

Added:
del Toro in an interview quoted in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stra... says: "When Stoker wrote Dracula, it was very modern, a CSI sort of novel. I wanted to give The Strain a procedural feel, where everything seems real."

Task 20.4 - Realism:

Leo Tolstoy

Hadji Murat (1912) by Leo Tolstoy; translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Review:Leo Tolstoy died in 1910. His executors found the manuscript for Hadji Murat in his papers afterwards. They prepared the manuscript for publication and it was first published in 1912. Sections of the novel are excellent Tolstoy – in particular, the sketches of common soldiers and their various reactions to battle, or the emotionally chilling scenes with Tsar Nicholas I. I suspect that if Tolstoy had lived longer, he would have added more scenes to the novel, and perhaps polished up some of the awkward bits.

The subject of the novel is real-life Hadji Murat (d. 1852). The plot is driven by the defection of Hadji Murat from his Chechen Muslim warrior tribe to the Russians (something that did happen in real-life), and what happened to Hadji Murat afterwards. Recommended for fans of 19th Century Russian literature.

+20 Task
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1864-1938)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 120 + 40 = 160

Today (Sept. 13, 2014):
150. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
151. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
151. Next by Michael Crichton

Question: would all 3 of the above novels count for this task?

I was looking at Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times but then I realized that it is a memoir of a midwife and not a medical doctor so I'm assuming it wouldn't fit.

Karen Michele wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Hi all -- not sure which books would fit besides the ones specifically approved -- would books like Dreams Underfoot (Newford #1) (1993) by [author:Charles de Lint|8185..."

Yeah! I like Charles de Lint and I've been meaning to read Dreams Underfood for awhile now.

Task 20.5 - Politics:
From: Main page "Political novels"


Headlong (1980) by Emlyn Williams (Hardcover, 287 pages)
Review: This is the book that inspired the 1991 movie “King Ralph” (see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102216/?... ). The premise: a freak accident kills the entire British Royal Family. Genealogists track down the next in line to the throne. In the movie, set in the 1980s, next-in-line is a working class American named Ralph (and played by John Goodman). The novel was published in 1980. In the novel, the tragedy that removed the British family occurred in 1935. The next-in-line is “Jack Green”, a working class lad who has found steady work in the theatre, working as an assistant stage manager and as a “bit” actor doing a bit of singing, a bit of dancing, a bit of acting (1-3 lines per play). Jack Green is discovered by the Palace, taken to the Palace, and trained to be King. There is a lot of detail about the “training to be King”. There is a lot of detail about life as a theatre worker. The theatre scenes have the feel of reality about it; and, indeed, the goodreads biography of Mr. Williams says: “As an actor, he had appeared in 41 films and teleplays, plus made numerous appearances on stage.”

Even though this book is listed under “Political novels” there is not much political in it – unless – maybe it’s political to think that a working class guy can do as good a job as “King of England” as someone born to the role? Recommended for those whose guilty pleasure is reading the “life of the royals” articles in magazines.

+20 Task (#20.5 Politics)
+05 Combo (#20.6 Underrated)
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1939-1989)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 80 + 40 = 120

Hi all -- not sure which books would fit besides the ones specifically approved -- would books like Dreams Underfoot (Newford #1) (1993) by Charles de Lint fit?

Goodreads says the book is:

"where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world"

from http://io9.com/5512850/mythology-musi...

"Irish and folk music, art, and nature — all things that he has a personal interest in — feature prominently in de Lint's Newford stories"

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "

Post 29 Deedee wrote: "Task 10.4 - 9, 10, 11:

9=Awakening

Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakened #1) (2014) by Jane Lindskold (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 304 pages)
Review:Jane Lindskold..."

+5 Combo 20.6 Underrated (240 ratings)

I feel I must point out that Artemis Awakening was published in May 2014

Task 20.3 - Thieves & Mysteries:

List: Victorian Mysteries.
#38 on September 06, 2014

Combo:
10.4 9-letter “Cracksman”

The Amateur Cracksman (A.J. Raffles, The Gentleman Thief #1) (1899) by E.W. Hornung (Paperback, 156 pages)
Review:E.W. Hornung was the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle. After the success of the “Sherlock Holmes” stories of Doyle’s, many authors wrote and published their own eccentric detective stories. Hornung inverted the concept, and wrote a series of stories starring an accomplished cricket-playing gentleman burgler (Mr. Raffles) and his sometime accomplice (who also, like Watson, wrote up stories about their escapades afterwards). The Amateur Cracksman is a collection of the first 8 stories in the Mr. Raffle Gentleman Thief series. The writing is smooth and involving, and the reader gets to learn a lot about our narrator’s thoughts and feelings about himself, about Mr. Raffles, and about the events of the stories. However, the stories have a dated feel to them. In the “Ides of March” our protagonists leave fingerprints in the dust without worry; “A Costume Piece” had racist language not considered acceptable in the 21st century; and so on. Overall, recommended for those who want to read Victorian Mysteries written by actual Victorians (and who are willing to overlook the 19th century attitudes in the stories).

+20 Task (#20.3 Thieves)
+10 Combo (#10.4 9-letter-word, #20.6 underrated)
+10 Not-a-Novel: short story collections, non-fiction, plays, and poetry collections.
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1864-1938)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 60


Grand Total: 20 + 60 = 80

Task 10.4 - 9, 10, 11:

9=Awakening

Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakened #1) (2014) by Jane Lindskold (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 304 pages)
Review:Jane Lindskold has published a 7-book series (“The Firekeeper Saga”) and a 3-book series (“Breaking the Wall”), both series labeled “complete” by the author. Artemis Awakening is the first book in a new series “Artemis Awakened”. In this book, she spends a long and leisurely time building the world of Artemis --- the environment, what happened 500 years ago, the various groups of people living on the world. She does it mainly by “showing” rather than “telling”, which is hard to do in a science fiction novel, so I appreciate that she was able to do so. The plot moves at a slow pace, which is OK because further books in the series are planned. A sub-plot of the multi-book story is resolved at the end of this novel; the main plot is left with a big TO BE CONTINUED appended after it. Artemis Awakening was published May 27, 2014 so it will be awhile before the next book in the series is published. (Her other two series published a book per year so 2015 is a reasonable guess for #2 of this series.) Overall, recommended for science fiction fans who like world-building in their novels, and who are content to wait a year for the next book in the series.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10+10=20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

Cory Day wrote: "I agree with Liz, and am inclined to say no to the first and yes to the second. A pen name is very often used to distinguish between writing styles, so a Rowling book and a Galbraith book would be different. However, you can often follow editors of collections expecting a similar vibe. So, 1) No, 2) Yes, 3) No. ..."

Thanks for the clarification!

Liz M wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Does the Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Award for Literature count for this task?..."

Yes"

Yeah!

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Award for Literature

Does the Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Award for Literature count for this task?

Here's a couple of links referencing the award:

http://www.sfawardswatch.com/?p=3193
http://www.imcpl.org/about/news/2011/...

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library’s Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Award for Literature was established in 2007 for Indianapolis' favorite son author whose innovative writing style broke new ground in fiction and influenced both the literary world and mainstream America.

I like this task! I've been looking at my 5-star books and remembering. I do have a few questions:

(1) J.K. Rowling also writes as Robert Galbraith. Would books by Rowling and books by Galbraith count for this task?

(2) edited collections of short stories -- I gave Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love edited by George R.R. Martin 5-stars. Would other collections edited by Martin count for this task?

(3) related to (2) -- some authors have novels and also edit collections -- I gave Nebula Awards 30:: SFWA's Choices For The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year edited by Pamela Sargent 5-stars. Sargent has also written novels. Would those novels count for this task? (and, of course, the inverse -- if I've 5-starred a novel by an author who later went on to edit a collection of short stories, like Catherine Asaro has, would that collection count?)

and by collection of stories I mean a collection wherein each story in the collection was by a different author

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Task 15.10 Author to Author

15.10 Rabindranath Tagore


+030 Task
+100 Completion Bonus: all ten authors are new to you

Task Total: 30 + 100 = 130

Grand Total: 790..."

whoops!

The Home and the World (1916) by Rabindranath Tagore; translated Surendranath Tagore

I've edited the original post as well. sorry!

Task 10.9 - Hot Off the Press

Pioneer Girl (2014) by Bich Minh Nguyen (Hardcover, 296 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Multiple

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 920 + 15 = 935

This is it for me. See ya in the Fall!

Task 15.10 Author to Author

15.10 Rabindranath Tagore

The Home and the World (1916) by Rabindranath Tagore; translated Surendranath Tagore
+030 Task
+100 Completion Bonus: all ten authors are new to you

Task Total: 30 + 100 = 130

Grand Total: 790 + 130 = 920


Whoo-hoo! I've completed Author-to-Author!

Task 15.9 Author to Author

15.9 Maxim Gorky

My Childhood (1913) by Maxim Gorky; translated by Ronald Wilks (Paperback, 234 pages)

+30 Task

Task Total: 30

Grand Total: 760 + 30 = 790


One more book to go to finish the mini-challenge!!!

from http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Adrienne Martine-Barnes 1942
Alan F. Troop 1945
Alexei Panshin 1940
Alice Borchardt 1939
Barbara Erskine 1944 (“Lady of Hay” 1986)
Barbara Metzger 1944 (aka Elizabeth Peters)
Barry N. Malzberg 1939
Bernard Cornwell 1944
Carole Nelson Douglas 1944
Cecelia Holland 1943
Charles L. Harness 1915 (“The Paradox Men” 1955)
Christopher Priest 1943
C. J. Cherryh 1942
David Gerrold 1944
Diana L. Paxson 1943
Dorothy Edwards 1914
Eileen Gunn 1945
Eric Idle 1943
Gary L. Blackwood 1945
Geoffrey Hoyle 1941
George Zebrowski 1945
Glen Cook 1944 (the Black Company)
Henry Kuttner 1915
Homer H. Hickman Jr. 1943
Ian Watson 1943
Jack Dann 1945
Jack Vance 1916
James Mallory 1945
Jane Yolen 1939
J. M. Coetzee 1940
Jack L. Chalker 1944
Jack Whyte 1940
Jo Clayton 1939
John D. MacDonald 1916
John Saul 1942
Jonathan Barnes 1942
Joy Chant 1945
Judith Merkle Riley 1942
Judith Moffett 1942
Katharine Kerr 1944
Katherine Kurtz 1944
Katherine Neville 1945
Ken Grimwood 1944 (“Replay” 1987)
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. 1943
Leigh Brackett 1915
Lester del Rey 1915
Lucia St. Clair Robson 1942
Lucius Shepard 1943
Michael Moorcock 1939
Michael Palin 1943
Mike Resnick 1942
Newt Gingrich 1943
Norman Spinrad 1940
Peter Heck 1941 aka Peter J. Heck (”Death on the Mississippi”)
Peter S. Beagle 1939
Peter Straub 1943
Peter Tremayne 1943
Philip José Farmer 1918
R. A. Lafferty 1914
Rachel Pollack 1945
Raymond E. Feist 1945
Rebecca York 1942
Robert Aickman 1914 (“Cold Hand in Mine” 1975)
Stella Cameron 1943
Susan Howatch 1940
Vernor Vinge 1944
William Pène du Bois 1916 (“The Twenty-One Balloons” 1947)
Zenna Henderson 1917

Task 10.3 Baby Boomer:

S. L Viehl
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1921
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Birthdate: 1961

Beyond Varallan (Stardoc #2) (2000) by S.L. Viehl (Paperback, 407 pages)

+10 Task
+05 Multiple

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 745 + 15 = 760