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

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 15.03 HDYGG?

Now Is Not the Time to Panic (2022) by Kevin Wilson (Hardcover 246 pages)

Flowers:
NOw is not thE tiME to pANic = ANEMONE

Vegetables:
Tennessee = Tomato

2 Plants this post
14 Total plants in the garden

+15 task

Grand Total: 95 + 15 = 110

Task 20.3 The Madonna of the Cat
Read a book where a character has a pet cat. Tell us the name of the character (and if you like, the name of the cat).

Mariana Pineda agreed to take care of her beloved step-sister Shay’s pet cat Maggie. Then Shay disappeared. Over the course of the novel, Maggie identifies as Mariana’s cat.

A Quantum Love Story (2024) by Mike Chen
Review: A Quantum Love Story is a time loop science fiction novel. Our two main characters, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda, and technician Carter Cho, become stuck in a time loop, re-living the same 4 days over and over again. Mike Chen is a science fiction writer, so the emphasis is on how our protagonist pair figure out (1) why the time loop is happening and (2) how to get out of the loop and return to regular time. Along the way they experience a slow-burn, friendship-based romance, which is nice to read about after so many insta-love novels. Pet cat Maggie makes her presence known, as she needs to be fed and played with inside of each and every time loop. I enjoyed the novel, but then, I enjoy reading about scientists and science fiction. Most of the novel is set in the San Francisco, California metropolitan area (which is a plus for me as I enjoy reading novels set in California). It’s obvious that the author has spent a lot of time there. Recommended for science fiction readers.

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.5 Broadway Show #15: “Love for Love”)
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25

Grand Total: 60 + 25 = 85

Task 15.02 HDYGG?

A Sprinkling of Murder (A Fairy Garden Mystery #1) (2020) by Daryl Wood Gerber (Paperback 338 pages)

Flowers:
A SPRinKLing of mURder – LARKSPUR, +5

Vegetables:
California = Cucumber

Herbs: pagecount = 338

3 = thyme
8 = rosemary

4 Plants this post
12 Total plants in the garden

+15 task
+05 flower bonus

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 40 + 20 = 60

Task 10.5 Golden Broadway Shows

Broadway Show:

49. Same TIME, Next Year

The Caltraps of Time (1968) by David I. Masson (Paperback 224 pages)
Review: SF Masterworks is a collection of about 200 books reprinted by Gollancz. They chose books that are ‘important’ in science fiction over the past century or so, mainly books that are out-of-print or not widely known (although they do include The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and Dune by Frank Herbert). Here are two different links with the lists of what has been published by SF Masterworks:
https://sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/list...
I love the covers for all these books! Kudos to whomever designed the covers.

The Caltraps of Time is one of the SF Masterworks books. David Masson (see: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?... ) (b. 1915 d. 2007) ) wrote ten novelettes / short stories in his lifetime. The first seven stories, published 1965-1967 in New Worlds SF magazine (edited byMichael Moorcock) were collected in The Caltraps of Time. He was an active participant in the late 1960s “New Wave” style of science fiction (see: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ), wherein writers ‘experimented’ with literary forms. Experimenting included non-linear storytelling, non-heroic protaganists, and plots that were wildly different from 1950s action-adventure stories. The seven stories all reflect the 1960s “New Wave” style. I particularly enjoyed the stories featuring time travel. Recommended for science fiction fans only.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 20 + 20 = 40

Task 15.1 HDYGG?

Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story (2023) by Terri-Lynne DeFino (Goodreads Author) (Hardback 416 pages)

Flowers:
VAriNa pallaDino’s jERsEy itaLian love story – LAVENDER, +5
varIna palladino’s jersey italian LOVE sTory – VIOLET
varina PAlladiNo’s jerSeY italian love story – PANSY
varina paLLadIno’s jersey italian love storY – LILY

Vegetables:
New Jersey = Napa Cabbage

Herbs: page count = 416
1 = Horseradish
4 = Dill
6 = Chives

8 Plants this post
8 Total plants in the garden

+15 task
+05 flower bonus

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

Do short words, like "Jo" or "to" count?

Is English an official language of India??

Task 10.1 Square Peg
Read a book that does not qualify for any other RwS task. This task may not be used for combos. You may only use this task once in the season.

The Party Crasher (2021) by Sophie Kinsella (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover 349 pages)

+10 Task
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 475 + 20 = 495

Task 10.2 Singular Mystery
Read a book with MPG mystery that is NOT part of a series.

The Santa Klaus Murder (1936) by Mavis Doriel Hay

+10 Task
+10 Female Author
+10 Oldies: -76 to 150 years old: (1874-1948)

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 445 + 30 = 475

Task 20.9 Fresh Start (Joanna's task)
Read a book in which a character moves to a new city, a new house, or a new job. The move should be an important part of the story. Please explain how your book fits the task when you post.

Note: novel uses the term “colored” more often than “black” to describe African Americans, so I kept with the term.

What follows is not really a spoiler, as it is mentioned in the blurb of the novel. Identical twin sisters grow up together in the 1950s and 1960s. They are both light-skinned African Americans. One of the sisters chooses to “Pass” as white. To be successful at this, she moves to Los Angeles, California, 2,000 miles away from her hometown. Everyone she knows in California thinks she is white.

For Combo #20.4: the twin that “passes” as white is hiding her “true identity” as a “colored” woman.

The Vanishing Half (2020) by Brit Bennett

+20 Task
+10 Female Author
+05 Combo (#20.4)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 410 + 35 = 445

Task 15.4 Ticket to Ride – Circular

MonTreal

Pudd'nhead Wilson/Those Extraordinary Twins (1894) by Mark Twain (Paperback 256 pages)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 395 + 15 = 410


15.1 Washington post #0187
15.2 New York post #0343
15.3 Boston post #0419

Task 15.3 Ticket to Ride – Circular

BosTon

Dream London (The Dream World #1) (2013) by Tony Ballantyne

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 380 + 15 = 395

The Route:
15.1 Washington post #0187
15.2 New York post #0343

Task 20.6 The Sonnets
Read a book of poetry.

How to Fly in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons (2020) by Barbara Kingsolver (Hardcover 111 pages) [811.54]

+20 Task
+10 Female Author
+10 Not-a-Novel (poetry)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 340 + 40 = 380

Task 15.2 Ticket to Ride – Circular

nEw York

Diary of a Void (2020) by Emi Yagi

+15 Task

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 320 + 15 = 335


15.1 Washington post #0187
15.2 New York post #0343

Task 20.7 The Wild Life (Mary's Task)
Read a book with a word for a type of animal in the title or subtitle.

Type of Animal: BUNNY

Cursed Bunny: Stories (2017) by Bora Chung (female); translated from Korean by Anton Hur (Paperback 256 pages)

+20 Task
+10 Female Author
+10 Not-a-Novel (short story collections)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 280 + 40 = 320

Updated Post #328
Uprooted is #95 on the Listopia Wise Women, Witches, Midwives, Healers, and Strong Girls!

Task 20.3 The Tempest
Read any winning book (not nominees) from the British Fantasy Award.

WINNER: British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award) (2016)

For Combo #20.9: Our teenaged heroine, Agnieszka, moves from her parent’s house in the village, to the Tower. The Tower is outside the town, and is occupied by a powerful Wizard.

Uprooted (2015) by Naomi Novik (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover 438 pages)

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#20.2, #20.9)
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 240 + 40 = 280

Task 20.9 Fresh Start (Joanna's task)
Read a book in which a character moves to a new city, a new house, or a new job. The move should be an important part of the story. Please explain how your book fits the task when you post.

Our narrator, Phillipa Maakestad, moves out of the home/house she shares with her husband of 25 years – first to a motel room, then to couch surfing with friends, and finally to a small rental house. She moves out because she is leaving the marriage.

Our Lady Of The Prairie (2018) by Thisbe Nissen

+20 Task
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 210 + 30 = 240

Task 10.6 Winter Birthdays
Our new moderators, Anika, Joanna, and Rosemary, all have their birthdays this season. To help celebrate them, read a book whose title begins with A, J, or R.

Read and Gone (The Haunted Library Mysteries #2) (2018) by Allison Brook

+10 Task
+10 Female Author

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 190 + 20 = 210

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!