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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 20.10 - Between the Wars: Read a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913).

Evelyn Waugh
Born: October 28, 1903
Died: April 10, 1966

Men at Arms (Sword of Honour #1) (1952) by Evelyn Waugh (Paperback, 342 pages)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (1952)
Review:This novel is the first of a trilogy. The trilogy follows a 30ish divorced proper Catholic British man from the start of World War II (1939) through the end of World War II (1945). This novel covers 1939 – 1940. Our hero’s determination to do his duty in the fight against the Nazis is chronicled with wry amusement. Numerous examples of the bureaucratic idiocy involved in the British War Effort are described. Numerous examples of the quirks (both noble and ignoble) of the British Ruling Class are described. Sometimes I wanted to just sit the characters down in an enclosed room and have a group therapy session ---- the goal: get all of their issues aired and resolved (So American of me to want to do that! So British of the characters in this novel that they never even considered doing that!) Towards the end there is one incident that is only funny if the reader feels that non-white humans are not *really* human and so moral treatment of such non-white humans is unnecessary. Because of that, I ended reading the novel with a cringe rather than a smile. I’d probably pick up the sequel one of these days.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1939-1989)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 90 + 35 = 125

Task 10.6 - Beginnings/Endings: Read an author's debut book or most recently published book as of December 1, 2013.

The author explains in an Author’s Note that this was his first novel, first published in 1983; and, how in this reprinting, he’s resisted the urge to revise the novel except for “fixing some truly egregious grammatical or plot error”. Specifically, (mild (view spoiler)[he left untouched the scenes set at the World Trade Center in New York City. (hide spoiler)]).


Ariel (Change #1) (1983) by Steven R. Boyett
Review: From the cover, I was expecting a post-apocalypse novel; or, maybe, a gritty urban fantasy novel. It was NOT. The first clue that it wasn’t such a novel was the first sentence: "I was bathing in the lake when I saw the unicorn.". Nope, not a gritty novel. Instead, this is a straightforward fantasy novel, begun (so the author’s note said) whilst he was still in college in the late 1970s. The premise of the novel is that, one fine day, for no apparent reason, the physical rules of the planet change – Physics out, Magic in. Our hero, a teenaged boy living in the suburbs of an unnamed Floridian city, survives the transition from physics to magic. Two years after “the change” he meets up with a unicorn (see: first sentence). The novel then becomes an extended road trip made by teenaged boy and unicorn (who talks!), travelling from Florida to New York City. The pair encounters diverse and exotic people and magical beings along the way. The author was a martial arts student at the time he was writing the novel (according to the afterwards), and so some of the encounters involved situations resolved using the martial arts. The action-packed ending flowed naturally from the novel. Overall, I had a positive impression of the novel, and I would pick up the author’s other novels if I were to come across them. Recommended: Fans of fantasy ONLY.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1939-1989)

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 65 + 25 = 90

The original cover of this novel would have been more accurate as to its contents:

Task 10.5 - Goodreads authorized: Read a book written by a goodreads author.

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) (2013) by Maggie Stiefvater
(low lexile, so no combo points) Recommended for those who read and enjoyed book one in the series, The Raven Boys.

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 55 + 10 = 65

Task 20.1 - Book first published in 1964

Louis L'Amour
Born: March 22, 1908
Died: June 10, 1988

Kiowa Trail (1964) by Louis L'Amour (Hardcover, 208 pages)
Review:Louis L’Amour is justly famous for his Western novels. In his novels, there are men (and, occasionally women) who are the good guys – hard-working, unpretentious, honest men (and, occasionally women) who ride a horse, use a gun (but only in 1) self-defense or 2) defense of the innocent) and tamed the West. There are also men (and, occasionally women) who are the bad guys – thieves who take rather than make. Bad guys are either scuzzy outlaws or pretentious money men from East of the Mississippi. There is always action, and, (not a spoiler!) the good guys always win. Native Americans are present – and mentioned by tribal name (Apaches are in this one); they are presented as mysterious and “worthy adversaries” who need to be defeated. Through remembrances of various characters, he includes several iconic Western short stories in between action sequences of the overarching story. I’d say that this is one of the best Western novels L’Amour wrote. Recommended for when you want to read a Western.

+20 Task
+05 Combination (#20.10 born (1866-1913))
+10 Review
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1939-1989)

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

Grand Total: 15 + 40 = 55

Task 15.1 - Travel the Pacific Rim - "Seafarer"
First Stop

Australia
A/ Author born in Australia
C/ Novel set in Australia

The Paperbark Shoe (2009) by Goldie Goldbloom

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 00 + 15 = 15

Task 20.2 - Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

John O'Hara :
Born: January 31, 1905
Died: April 11, 1970
The Big Laugh (1962) by John O'Hara

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.6 Died in 1970)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 1010 + 15 = 1025

15.4 C6 400-500 pages

The Crystal Cave (Merlin, #1) (Arthurian Saga #1) (1970) by Mary Stewart (most popular edition: Paperback, 494 pages)
(winner Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (1971))


Grand Total: 995 + 15 = 1010

Task 20.2 - Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

Clifford D. Simak
Born: in Millville, Wisconsin, The United States On: August 03, 1904
Died: April 25, 1988

Project Pope (1981) by Clifford D. Simak (Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages)
Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel (1982)

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.6 Died in 1988; #20.8 a non-human MAJOR character)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 965 + 30 = 995

Task 10.1 - Square peg:

Bird of Another Heaven (2007) by James D. Houston (Hardcover, 337 pages)

+10 Task

Grand Total: 955 + 10 = 965

Jama wrote: "Regarding Samoa, I have been looking at two highly reviewed novels:

Leaves of the Banyan Tree
and Where We Once Belonged

I haven't read either one, but they look good."


Yes, they do look good. I've put them both on hold at the library so I can take a closer look at them :0)

Planning to be a Seafarer. I have extra countries listed in case the book I've listed I want to change out.

Posted
1. Australia
The Paperbark Shoe (2009) by Goldie Goldbloom (A & C)
2. Malaysia
Evening Is the Whole Day (2008) Preeta Samarasan (A & C)
3. Cambodia
In the Shadow of the Banyan (2010) by Vaddey Ratner (A & C)
4. China
Waiting (1999) by Ha Jin (A & C)
5. Japan
after the quake: Stories (2000) by Haruki Murakami (A & B & C)

Planned


6. Canada
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (2014)by Alan Bradley Or
Indigo Springs (Astrid Lethewood #1) (2009) by A.M. Dellamonica Or
something by Canadian SF writer Robert J Sawyer
7. United States
*numerous choices*
8. Mexico
The Hummingbird's Daughter (2005) by Luis Alberto Urrea
9. Nicaragua
The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War (2000) by Gioconda Belli
10. Columbia
The Sound of Things Falling (2011) by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
11. Peru
something by Mario Vargas Llosa
12. New Zealand
something by Ngaio Marsh or
The Bone People (1984) by Keri Hulme or
The Luminaries (2013) Eleanor Catton

I'm trying to find books set in one or more of:

Vanuatu
Fiji
Tonga
Samoa/American Samoa
Solomon Islands/Marshall Islands
Papua New Guinea
Federated States of Micronesia

that also fit:
A) Author born in said country
B) Author's nationality is of said country

Someone had listed The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara for Federated States of Micronesia -- looks good -- but when I searched for Hanya Yanagihara everything I found suggests that she's American, born and raised, and currently living in New York City.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "D wrote: "If Detective Author wins poll #2, will any book by an author on the linked list count? For example, Joyce Carol Oates is on the list, but many of her books are not detectiv..."

Well, that's convinced me to switch my vote to Detective Author in poll #2, since I'm getting ready to read Joyce Carol Oates's novels :0)

15.3 C2 100-200 pages

Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson (Mass Market Paperback, 164 pages)

Grand Total: 940 + 15 = 955

15.2 E3 short stories/poetry
Short Stories

All Set About With Fever Trees and Other Stories (1985) by Pam Durban (Hardcover, 211 pages)

Grand Total: 925 + 15 = 940

15.1 E1 sci-fi/fantasy/graphic novel

Old Mars (2013) edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (Hardcover, 512 pages)

Grand Total: 910 + 15 = 925

15.10 A6 Australia/etc

Set in Australia:
Theft: A Love Story (2006) by Peter Carey (Hardcover, 272 pages)


+30 Task
+ 100 points = Completion bonus

Task Total: 30 + 100 = 130

Grand Total: 780 + 130 = 910

15.9 F5 French/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Romanian/Catalan

written in Portuguese

Codex 632: The Secret Identity of Christopher Columbus (Tomás Noronha #1) (2005) by José Rodrigues dos Santos (translated from the Portuguese by Alison Entrekin) (Hardcover, 336 pages)

Grand Total: 750 + 30 = 780

15.8 D6 Female 60+ or posthumous

A Dangerous Affair (Liberty Lane #2) (2008) by Caro Peacock (Paperback, 320 pages)
Born: in Richmond, Yorkshire, The United Kingdom : On: January 01, 1944
2008 – 1944 = 64

Grand Total: 730 + 20 = 750

Task 20.09 - Read one of top 100 books on this WWII fiction list.

#32 on list as of November 8, 2013

John Knowles
Born: in Fairmont, West Virginia, The United States: On: September 16, 1926
Died: November 29, 2001

A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles (Paperback, 196 pages)
Lexile: 1110
Review:This book is often assigned in high school. Somehow, the class I was in never read it, so when I read it yesterday & today it was the first time ever. The novel is about a 16 year old boy living in a New England boarding school during the years of 1942-1943. World War II is a presence in the background. The focus is on the boy’s hijinks and also on the relationship of the quiet, studious hero with his outgoing, boistorous, academically challenged but goodnatured roommate. There is one female in the novel: she’s present for part of one paragraph of plot. The author writes well but the story was lame. (view spoiler)[ The shock ending of a surprise death didn’t fit the rest of the novel; maybe the author was just making sure that his readers hadn’t fallen asleep yet? (hide spoiler)] Recommended for those who need to write a high school English paper on an novel.

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.6 Died in 2001)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 695 + 35 = 730