Deedee’s
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(group member since Aug 04, 2010)
Deedee’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
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Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_D...
Also fits: Task 10.3 Art Garfukel’s books he has read
#142, August 1978
The Idiot (1869) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Paperback, 615 pages) (edition I read)
Most popular edition:
The Idiot
Paperback, 720 pages
+20 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (10.3 Art Garfukel’s books)
+05 Style: 2. Multiple (5 points): Each time you repeat a task
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
+10 Style:4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -76 to 150 years old: 10 points (1862-1936)
+10 Style: 5. Jumbo (5 to 25 points): -700 Pages: 10 Points
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 +10 + 10 + 10 = 60
Grand Total: 625 + 60 = 685
Review: Dostoevsky's definition of an “idiot” is someone who naively believes that everyone is good and honest and straightforward. Dostoevsky thinks that attitude is idiotic, because people are inherently selfish, greedy, lazy and dishonest. Our hero, the “idiot” (who also, like Dostoevsky, has epilepsy) trusts those around him, even when he really shouldn’t. The plot of the novel revolves around the romantic adventures and misadventures of the individual known as “The Idiot” and a handful of wealthy characters in the novel. The characters in The Idiot mostly act without thinking, just pure emotional responses to whatever current situation they are in (especially after consuming alcohol!). This makes their actions unpredictable.
Recommended for those who like sprawling Russian novels. (That said ….. War and Peace is a better choice if you only have time to read one sprawling Russian novel!!!)
Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years.http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/m...
Also fits:
20.7 Bechdel Test: the work must (i) have at least 2 female characters who (ii) talk to each other about (iii) something other than a man/men
Lead character Diana has conversation with Annie, the very pregnant small business owner of the occult supply store “Bell, Book and Candle”, about various customers to the store (including "mundane" teenaged females and "magical" loner males);
Even though this is the second of a series, it is the first book in the series that I’ve read, so no 10.9 combo
Children of the Night (Diana Tregarde #2) (1990) by Mercedes Lackey
+20 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.7 Bechdel Test)
+05 Style: 2. Multiple (5 points): Each time you repeat a task.
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 585+ 40 = 625
Review: This novel is an early entry in the sub-genre of “a group of friends, some with special abilities, fighting demons/monsters who feed on humans”. I was going to say it was inspired by the TV show “Buffy”, except, the TV show aired 1997-2003, and this novel was published in 1990. The novel is set in New York City, in 1972-1973 timeframe. Our heroine is a witch, and a Guardian pledged to protect the innocents in the city being attacked by a variety of monster (mild spoiler) (view spoiler). The heroine has the standard “gay male best friend” that so many novels written around 1990 included. The action was lively and the ending was satisfactory. Recommended for fans of “Buffy” and for fans of Mercedes Lackey.
Kate S wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Task 10.8 (B) with 7 letters in the author’s first name ANTHONY
My records show me with 505 points -- the Readerboard says 515 -- not sure where the extra 10 points came from --
Did you see post 431? +10 Combo points for your post 384. ..."
I missed post 431 --- Now we're in agreement!
Task 20.7 book written by a feminist author.Isabel Allende
Island Beneath the Sea (2010) by Isabel Allende (Hardcover, 457 pages)
Also fits: Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_A...
+20 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.8 “veteran” author)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 540 + 35 = 575
OR
Grand Total: 550 + 35 = 585
Review Island Beneath the Sea is a historical novel which begins in 1790 on a sugar plantation on the island of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). The novel describes the life of a mulatto woman, born a slave, beginning in 1790 and continuing on 20+ years to the 1800s. She has people she loves, and family she cares about, and all are affected by the historical events of the time (the successful Haitian Slave Revolts, the French Revolution, life in New Orleans as it switched from country to country, etc.) The characters (even the slaveholders) are all presented as a mixture of good and evil. The writing style is poetical; since I read this novel in translation, I guess I should thank the translator as well as the author! Recommended for fans of historical novels and for fans of literary fiction.
And …. As an aside … I agree with by Elizabeth (Alaska)’s review (message 497) of Cranford. I gave it 2* because (1) I was able to finish it; and (2) I thought it was pointless, not offensive.
Task 10.8 (B) with 7 letters in the author’s first name ANTHONY
And, Anthony Horowitz qualifies for combo points 20.8 as a"veteran" author:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz
+10 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.8 “veteran” author)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Total: 10 + 05 +10 = 25
My records show me with 505 points -- the Readerboard says 515 -- not sure where the extra 10 points came from --
Grand Total: 505 + 25 = 530
or
Grand Total: 515 + 25 = 540
Review: The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate chose Anthony Horowitz to write an "authorized" Sherlock Holmes novel; The House of Silk was the result. The novel stays true to the standard Holmes story, full of Sherlock Holmes’s deductive analysis, mysterious individuals acting in mysterious ways, Holmes catch-phrases (the game’s afoot!) and Dr. Watson around to record it all. Various individuals from Doyle’s original stories make appearances in this novel (it would be spoilers to include exactly who!) The resolution of the mystery is (mild spoiler) (view spoiler), and it is not an ending that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could have written in the 1890s. Overall,this book is an entertaining Sherlock Holmes mystery. Recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes.
Task 10.10 Group readsTriangle: The Fire That Changed America by David von Drehle
+10 Task
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 485 + 20 = 505
Review: Journalist David Von Drehle’s book focuses on the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which occurred on March 25, 1911 in New York City. (We use the word “blouse” now instead of “shirtwaist”.) The first third of the book focuses on immigration in the 1910s, Tammany Hall politics, and garment union activities. The second third consists of a minute-by-minute description of the fire and how the workers tried to survive (some did, 146 did not). The last third focused on the “aftermath”: law changes, court trials, and political/union winners and losers. The appendix lists the names, ages, and a few details of those victims positively identified (140 of the 146). Overall, the style is very readable. Recommended for anyone interested in reading a non-fiction book about disasters, fires, union politics and/or New York City.
Task 15.4 - 4th book - letter R (1991)The White Mists of Power (1991) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 465 + 20 = 485
Review: This was Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s first published novel. The White Mists of Power is a stand alone fantasy novel. It has all the standard fantasy elements – pseudo-medieval society, a focus on royalty and aristocrats, palace intrigue, a magician or few. The character’s thoughts and feelings are better described here than in most fantasy novels. Recommended for fantasy fans (and her later novels highly recommended for fantasy fans).
Task 10.1 Square PegVictor Sebestyen was born in Budapest, Hungary. He has two books published, one in 2006 and the one in 2009 (so no veteran writer). He was “only an infant” when he left Hungary, which happened around the time of the 1956 Revolution, so he probably was younger than 60 when this non-fiction book was published.
The only other task besides “Square Peg” that this book might fit is 10.6 “a nonfiction book about an elected official” because the book focuses on the actions of the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbechev, elected officials of the West (American Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush), and the leaders of the Eastern Europen nations who were eventually elected in free elections during/after 1989 (Poland’s Lech Wałęsa, Czechoslovakia’s Gustáv Husák). If the moderators think it fits 10.6 then fine, put it there. I suspect 10.1 is a better fit because very little in this book is about the personal lives of the leaders; the focus, instead, is on the policy decisions these leaders made that resulted in the transition of Eastern Europe from Soviet satellite communism to a freer, more independent state of being.
Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire (2009) by Victor Sebestyen
+10 Task
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 445 + 20 = 465
Review: Journalist Victor Sebestyen has written a book aimed at the educated layman describing how Eastern Europe (Poland, East Germany, Czecholslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria) changed from being Communist countries beholden to the Soviet Union to being the more independent, freer, somewhat free market countries they became in the 1990s. He was able to interview some of the participants; additionally, he had access to recently declassified documents from Eastern Europe. I remembered some of the events he described (especially Chernobyl’s toxic cloud floating over Scandanavia!); other events (the expulsion of Turks from Bulgaria) somehow passed me by at the time. Gorbachev is described as having had exactly one response to the events of Eastern Europe: disengage. I suspect that reality was more complex than that, but going into that complexity is beyond the scope of the book. President George H. W. Bush deserved more credit for the successful transition than the author describes (IMHO). But those are small criticisms to a book that succeeds as an introductory overview of the events of the time. Recommended as an introduction to 1980s East European / Soviet Union history.
Task 20.6 Read a book from the top 100 Gothic Novels#23 on list as of September 29, 2012
Northanger Abbey (Barnes & Noble Classics)(1817) by Jane Austen
+20 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.7 feminist author list)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
+15 Style:4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -151 to 250 years old: 15 points (1762-1861)
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 + 15 = 50
Grand Total: 395 + 50 = 445
Review: This was Jane Austen’s first written novel, although it was published post-humously. The majority of the book was making fun of silly teenaged girls who take as a guide to life the Gothic novels that were popular at the time. The last third of the novel changes focus to more conventional Jane Austen concerns (characters navigating the marriage mart). Well-written, as always, and reading this novel is a pleasant way to pass the time. I would recommend her other novels (especially Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility) unless you were planning to read ALL of Austen’s novels. (I’ve read all of Austen’s completed novels now except for Emma.)
Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years. Karen Robards
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/k...
Shameless by Karen Robards
+20 Task
+05 Style: 2. Multiple (5 points): Each time you repeat a task.
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 360 + 35 = 395
Review: This was the perfect escapist romance novel! This frothy historical romance was set in England a few years after the Battle of Waterloo, and the principal male characters are all described as having fought in that battle. Elements that make this the perfect romance novel: The heroine, the youngest of three sisters, is “resolute rather than afraid”; the hero, tall & handsome, is a reformed bad boy aristocrat; features several PG-13 romantic scenes between the hero and heroine; mix in supportive sisters and disapproving aunts; and have it all driven by a plot involving peril from past associates of the hero (and also the heroine). I enjoyed it. Recommended for when you want to read a pure escapist romance novel.
Task 10.4 book with a color in the titleBlack Dahlia & White Rose: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates
+10 Task
+10 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (#20.3 short stories, #20.7 feminist author)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 330 + 30 = 360
Review: This is a collection of 11 stories, all written by Joyce Carol Oates, and all recently published elsewhere first. Eight of the stories features physical violence against a woman; and, all of the stories are depressing. (I’m wondering if these stories were all written after the death of her beloved husband – that would explain the depressed air they all had.) All of the stories are also well-written, with clever, poetical phrasing and realistic people. The lead story, “Black Dahlia & White Rose”, was the strongest of the collection. It was based on a real murder case in the 1950s (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Da... ) . I’d also recommend the ironical 6-page story “Hey Dad”. Overall, recommended for when you want to read depressing but well-written literary short fiction.
15.1 “O” 1984Mysteries of Winterthurn (1984) by Joyce Carol Oates
15.2”P” 1987
Equal Rites (1987) by Terry Pratchett
15.3 “Q” 1990
Northern Edge (1990) by Barbara Quick (Goodreads Author)
15.4 “R” 1991
The White Mists of Power (1991) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
15.5 “S” 1994
Hot Sky at Midnight (1994) by Robert Silverberg
15.6 “T” 1998
Night of Many Dreams: A Novel (1998) by Gail Tsukiyama
15.7 “U” 1999
Losing Nelson (1999)Barry Unsworth
15.8 “V” 2000
Stardoc (Stardoc #1) (2000) by S.L. Viehl
15.9 “W” 2003
Death Gets a Time-Out (A Mommy-Track Mystery #4) (2003) by Ayelet Waldman
15.10 “X” 2007
Miss Chopsticks (2007) by Xinran
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Would The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick fit? My library had it at DD 509.409 . However, BPL has it as Bio..."Ah, well, Edward Dolnick is an American who lives near Washington, D.C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_D...
so I can use it for 10.2
Would The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick fit? My library had it at DD 509.409 . However, BPL has it as Biography - Sir Isaac Newton. At first I thought that meant it wouldn't fit. Then I started thinking --- Sir Isaac Newton was a real scientist (apples, gravity), maybe it will still fit? Thanks all!
Congratulations Kate!Task 15.3 - 3rd book - letter Q (1990)
Northern Edge (1990) by Barbara Quick
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 315 + 15 = 330
Review: Barbara Quick’s first novel, loosely based on her summers spent in Alaska. The positives: women doing scientific research (and not just man-hunting); descriptions of Alaska. The negatives: unlikeable heroine (and the story is told solely from her viewpoint); male characters acting in unlikely ways. I don’t recommend this one.
Task 15.2 - 2nd book - letter P (1987)Equal Rites (Discworld #3) (1987) by Terry Pratchett
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 300 + 15 = 315
Review: This is the third of the Discworld novels. Discworld is a fantasy world, flat as a disk, a world that is carried by four elephants standing on the back of a huge turtle who is swimming through space. This installment introduces new characters. A wizard on the brink of death attempts to pass on his powers to a baby who is the eighth son of an eighth son (traditionally, the eighth son of an eighth son is destined to be a wizard). They should have checked the diaper first – this family had seven sons, then, baby #8 was a daughter! So the daughter absorbs the powers. Pratchett pokes fun at the standard fantasy coming-of-age of a magic-user novel. The character DEATH makes a cameo (I believe he is in every Discworld novel).
Recommended: for those who like fantasy and are in the mood for a lighthearted, humorous fantasy novel; also recommended for fans of Douglas Adams.
Task 10.3 Art Garfukel’s books he has readArt Garfukel’s books he has read
#151, June 1979
Also fits: Task 20.8 "veteran" author
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bowles
The Sheltering Sky (1949) by Paul Bowles
+10 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (#20.8 Veteran)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
+05 Style:4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1937-1987)
Total: 10 + 05 + 10 + 05 = 30
Grand Total: 270 + 30 = 300
Review: The Sheltering Sky made it to a lot of “best of” lists: #97 on The Modern Library 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century; and, #58 of Time Magazine’s “All-Time 100 Novels”. The novel is set in Morocco, in the years just after the end of World War II. A married American couple is travelling the world. They decide to skip the devastation in Europe and travel around North Africa instead. They meet up with a handful of English speakers who are also travelling around. The motive for all that travelling is weak. Once the reader gets past that, the rest of the story is absorbing and foreign, taking the reader from the problems of today into a totally different world. The ending was strange, maybe I didn't get it? Anyways, recommended for those who like literary fiction.
Task 15.1 - 1st book - letter O (1984)Mysteries of Winterthurn (The Gothic Saga #3) (1984) by Joyce Carol Oates
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 255 + 15 = 270
Review: This book contains three novellas, all starring the same detective, set in a small American town in the early 1900s. The novellas are separated in time: the detective as teenager, as 30ish, and near retirement. She writes in the style of “sensation” writers of the 19th Century, complete with the beliefs and prejudices of that time. Oates doesn’t feel the need to wrap up her mysteries with a solution, since the point of the stories is to evoke atmosphere rather than to solve mysteries. Recommended for those who like “literary fiction”.
Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years. Thomas Mallon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M...
Also fits: Task 10.2– an author born in one of countries hosting Oktoberfest festivities: United States
Thomas Mallon Born: November 02, 1951 in Glen Cove, New York, The United States
Watergate: A Novel (2012) by Thomas Mallon (Hardcover, 434 pages)
+20 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.2 Oktoberfest - USA)
+05 Style: 2. Multiple (5 points): Each time you repeat a task
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
Total: 20 + 05 + 05 +10 = 40
Grand Total: 215 + 40 = 255
Review: The novel covers events from the day of the Watergate break-in until the day of Nixon’s resignation. Mallon expects readers to have a well-rounded knowledge of the main characters, as well as the lesser knows in the Watergate fiasco. I do . Many well-known names from the early 1970s appear briefly throughout the novel, which I find entertaining. Historical characters are introduced by their name alone: “Kissinger”, “H. R.Haldeman”, since it is assumed the reader can fill in the background on their own. Mallon mixes real-life events with invented conversations by historical figures, and with the lives of a handful of fictional characters affected by the events of Watergate. Recommended for readers who remember the ins and outs of the Watergate scandal and are OK with a sometimes fictional, sometimes real rendition of those events.
Task 10.5 a main character who is over the age of 60Heroine Mrs. Palfrey is well over 60 years old.
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (1971) by Elizabeth Taylor (Paperback, 224 pages)
Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize Nominee (1971)
Also fits: Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabet...
+10 Task
+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.8 "veteran" author)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
+05 Style:4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1937-1987)
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 + 05 = 30
Grand Total: 185 + 30 = 215
Review: Mrs. Palfrey, an elderly lady, moves to a hotel in SW London, England, to live until she needs to move into a nursing home. There are a handful of longtime residents at the hotel, combined with people who come and stay for short durations (a night, a week). Mrs. Palfrey expects visits from family and friends --- and is disappointed when the visits don’t occur. By chance, she meets an aspiring young male writer and her life changes in unexpected ways. I liked the way the author told the story – just enough details to tell the story, with the focus only on two main characters (no George R. R. Martin cast of hundreds to keep track of!) Apparently this novel was made into a movie (I haven’t seen the movie). Recommended for fans of literary fiction.
