Denise’s Comments (group member since Dec 26, 2011)

Denise’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.3 Chemistry

48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oat es

+20 Task (CE-Cerium; Ca-calcium; AT-astatine; ES-Einsteinium)
+10 Combo (10.6-Iron “The shovel in my hands, one of those heavy iron shovels with a wooden handle worn smooth by decades, to defend myself I struck…” pg. 89; 20.1 professor at Princeton as noted on GR author page

Task total=30
Season total=30

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Sunday, August 25, Ketchikan had a couple of landslides. In the larger one, a man was killed and ... We live a little over a mile from any of this and no damage or injuries here."

A mile is too close for comfort. I hope things stabilize, literally, and there is no more damage. I’m happy your library wasn’t damaged. I think I remember pictures you posted a few years ago, and the building was beautiful with breathtaking views. Was it caused by heavy rains, or is the cause known?

Thanks Apple for stepping up as a mod.

Valerie wrote: "Also - I love 10.1 - this just proves that if you hang on to a book long enough eventually it will fit a RwS task! ha, ha......"

Yes, thanks for this task mods! I would be happy to see it repeated occasionally. It's embarrassing how often I neglect to read a book because it won't earn RWS points.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Anagram solver? This is the one I have bookmarked.

https://www.wordfinders.com/"

Thank you Elizabeth! I figured you would know a good one. And I bookmarked it.

I used to have a link to a good anagram solver but can't find it now. In addition to words already suggested, I found chip, echo, chest, cheer, pitch, porch, and tropic on one site I checked, plus a lot of words that aren't likely to show up in a book title.

I think the first scavenger type task we had was a few years back when we needed to find an occurrence of someone drinking tea. I love tea and loved that task and now am a big fan of the scavenger tasks. I’ve found three elements already in the Joyce Carol Oates book I’m reading now. Next up for me after that is Telephone by Percival Everett, and taking a quick peek I've already found gold, silver, and aluminum.

Joanna wrote: "Denise wrote: "It looks like lots of combos this season. And I like the new rule about group reads. Will that be a permanent change or just for this season?"

I don't think we've decided for sure y..."

Thanks Joanna, nice to learn what inspired the change. I’m hoping it will be popular. Elizabeth mentioned some positive things about it. Also, I like the incentive to investigate other books by the Group Read authors. It seems like many times most of the authors are ones I’ve never read.

Joanna wrote: "Note the slight change to Group Reads for this season -- you can read the specific book or ANY BOOK BY THE SAME AUTHOR."

I really like this change!

Rosemary wrote: "Denise wrote: "I’m currently reading this, and the question is for combo points:

Do the numerals 48..."I would count '48' as a word, so this is eight words... sorry :(

Okay and thanks! I saw it that way too but thought it was worth asking.

I’m currently reading this, and the question is for combo points:

48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates

Do the numerals 48 count, i.e. 7 words or 8 in this title?

It looks like lots of combos this season. And I like the new rule about group reads. Will that be a permanent change or just for this season?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have updated the spreadsheet to include authors born in 1974:..."

And that added 118 authors. Thank you!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "No, I set it to the wrong year. :-("3

Aha! That explains it. Thanks!

Joanna wrote: "Denise wrote: "Joanna wrote: ". Yes, we will count authors born in 1974."

Thank you. I had noticed there weren’t any authors on the spreadsheet born in 1974, and wanted to verify. Just a coincidence I guess.

Joanna wrote: "Owlette wrote: "For Young, are we using the age at death, that is the author lived to 50 years of age or less?"

Yep. If the author is still living, they must be born no earlier than 1974. If the a..."

Darktown by Thomas Mullen

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoma...

Do authors born in 1974 qualify for Young points?

15.10 Olympic Scavenger Round 2

Traces of Mercury by Clark Howard

Basketball-Option B: “Keep in mind that this is a legal proceeding, not a basketball game.” pg. 237

+15 Task
+ 5 Before 1999
+100 Finisher bonus

Post total=120
Season total=570

Thanks to the mods for yet another fun season.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Here is a list of authors from the most recent database I have (late May 2024) who were born after 1974 and are still living. There are over 1000 of them. This list does not include authors who die..."

Thanks for sharing those databases, Elizabeth (Alaska). I would never have thought of Curtis Sittenfeld, who works for the Elements task. Maybe I’ll get some Young points after all.

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "This is a good list of science books. The vast majority have an MPG of science but not all
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books..."

Lots of interesting titles! A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie and Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams caught my eye.

Apple wrote: "Hahahaha! I am going to *ahem* claim middle age ;), and I have actually found myself reading more younger writers this year, because their books are the ones attracting my attention, but I still ha..."

It’s great that you can connect with both age groups!