Kate S’s Comments (group member since Sep 13, 2010)

Kate S’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.1 Series

Read a book from a series you have already started. This book may not be used for combo. This task may be used only once.

10.2 Pronouns

January is Yours, Mine and Ours Month-Read a book with a pronoun in the title, excluding forms of "it": I, we, you, he, she, they, me, him, her, us, them, myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves, mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

10.3 Police

In honor of Peter Robinson, who wrote police procedurals, read any book whose main character is the police. No private eyes, civilian detectives or government spies for this

10.4 Twelve

December = 12; January plus February = 12 (1, 2). Read a book that has 12 or fewer letters in its title, including leading article if any. Task applies to title only, but your book may have a subtitle.

10.5 Journey

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Around the World in Eighty Days, read a book about a journey or voyage.

10.6 Map

In honor of Patricia A. McKillip, P.J. O'Rourke, and Nicholas Evans, read a book by one of the authors on their literature map:

McKillip: https://www.literature-map.com/patric...
O'Rourke: https://www.literature-map.com/p.+j.+...
Evans: https://www.literature-map.com/nichol...

10.7 Out of this World (Joanna's Task)

Read a book set 75% or more in a fictional setting. A fictional country, planet, space, or fantasy world works; a fictional city in a real state/country does not work.

10.8 The Threes (Rosemary's Task)

Read a book with a three-word title whose first word is ‘The’ (or equivalent if reading in another language). If there is a subtitle, it doesn’t count towards the number of words.

10.9 Covid 19 Hits (Rebekah's Task)

Fingers crossed, we’re over the hump of isolation, closed libraries, and virtual schooling.

For this task, read any nominated book from the Goodreads Choice Award Polls for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 in these genres: Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Horror, Humor, Non-Fiction, Memoir/Autobiography, History/Biography, Poetry and Debut. (2022 list has been removed until Dec 8 when winners announced.)
Go to https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward... previous years are listed in the sidebar. Click on any genre to see nominated books. Again, side bar will have links to other genres. To lighten the load for the mods, when posting please include the year and the genre of the book you read.

10.10 Group Reads

Read one of the following books recommended by fellow RwS readers:

Kate: To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
Elizabeth: The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Denise: Dark Passage by David Goodis
Kathleen (itpdx): Honor by Thrity Umrigar
Coralie: The Thing About December by Donal Ryan
Tawallah: The Trees by Percival Everett
Joanne: Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin
Kim: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
Tien: All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
Anika: The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Karen Michele: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
Bucket: How to Be Both by Ali Smith
Deedee: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Katy: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Ed: Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
Ann: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Mary: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson
Norma: A Silent Death by Peter May

Please feel free to ask questions or make comments about our winter sub-challenge in this thread.

Alpha Omega

It is the beginning of the year and the end of the year.

Read 10 books where the first letter of the author name and the last letter of the author name each uses a different letter of the alphabet. When an author name ends in an initial, the period will be ignored. There are 13 possible pairs of letters. You may not re-use letters.

Books may be read in any order. You may repeat Alpha Omega 3 times. You will always start with a complete alphabet. Authors may be repeated in subsequent rounds.

Examples:
C-L: The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
E-W: Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
H-R: The Odyssey by Homer


Scoring:

15.1 - 15.5 = 15 points
15.6 - 15.8 = 20 points
15.9 = 25 points
15.10 = 30 points

Alpha Omega Finish: 100 points

A few notes:
I. You cannot claim regular style points for any book you read for Alpha Omega (nor do the AO tasks count as combo style points for Reading with Style's 10 and 20 point tasks).

II. All books read for this sub-challenge must be at least 100 pages, based on the most popular edition.

III. Please be aware that cookbooks, illustrated guides, graphic novels are not allowed. Also, books designated as "YA", "Assignment", or "Juv" by the Brooklyn Public Library with a Lexile score less than 700 are not allowed.

Top Scoring Books

80 Points in PostNbr 120 - The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker - 20.06 ( Combo 40, Lost in Translation, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 200 - Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte - 20.05 ( Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 433 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - 20.10 ( Combo 35, Jumbo 10, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 578 - The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - 20.03 ( Combo 35, Oldies 10, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 582 - The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - 20.07 ( Combo 20, Jumbo 15, Lost in Translation, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 587 - The Witching Hour by Anne Rice - 10.08 ( Combo 25, Jumbo 25, Oldies 05, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 688 - Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon - 20.04 ( Combo 20, Jumbo 20, Oldies 05, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 720 - The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende - 20.07 ( Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

75 Points in PostNbr 777 - Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte - 20.08 ( Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 52 - The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte - 20.02 ( Combo 25, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 281 - The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago - 20.09 ( Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 356 - Our Lady of the Assassins by Fernando Vallejo - 20.10 ( Combo 25, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 378 - Ru by Kim Thuy - 20.01 ( Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 391 - I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Kim Young-ha - 20.01 ( Combo 25, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 524 - Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely - 20.01 ( Combo 35, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 664 - The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - 20.07 ( Combo 35, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05 )

70 Points in PostNbr 674 - Anniversaries, Volume 2: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl by Uwe Johnson - 20.05 ( Combo 15, Jumbo 10, Lost in Translation, Oldies 05, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 844 - Felicie by Georges Simenon - 20.05 ( Combo 20, Lost in Translation, Oldies 10, Review )

70 Points in PostNbr 928 - Lysistrata by Aristophanes - 20.03 ( Combo 05, Lost in Translation, Oldies 25, Review )

Most Strategic Reader
Through Post 933


Elizabeth (Alaska) - 53.1, for 26 Books
Rebekah - 45.3, for 59 Books
Anika - 44.9, for 35 Books
Connie - 44.8, for 24 Books
Rosemary - 43.4, for 60 Books
Bucket - 43.3, for 21 Books
Joanne - 42.3, for 31 Books
Denise - 41.4, for 7 Books
Ed - 41.4, for 21 Books
Joanna - 41.4, for 37 Books
Kim - 41.2, for 37 Books
Katy - 37.7, for 13 Books
Valerie - 37.7, for 26 Books
Mary - 37.2, for 25 Books
Karen Michele - 35.4, for 25 Books
Apple - 35.2, for 40 Books
Tien - 34.6, for 37 Books
Coralie - 34.4, for 44 Books
Rachel - 33.7, for 15 Books
Nancy - 32.7, for 11 Books
Kathleen (itpdx) - 31.7, for 12 Books
Ann - 31.1, for 19 Books
Nick - 30.5, for 10 Books
Deedee - 29.3, for 21 Books
Jayme (the ghost reader) - 28.2, for 19 Books
Norma - 27.4, for 37 Books
Sue - 26.7, for 15 Books
Bea - 26.0, for 5 Books
Tawallah - 22.9, for 17 Books
Marie - 21.8, for 28 Books

From Post 295

Joanne wrote: " 20.10-Publication year is 2 consecutive digits.

Oath of Loyalty by Kyle Mills/Vince Flynn- published September, 2022

Book # 21 in the series that Vince Flynn started, Kyle Mills ..."

+10 combo 10.3, 20.9

"Season Total ??? 490 ??? ( Elizabeth I got lost with the added style points, so if I am wrong here I won't be surprised"

I show a total of 505 for you through post 300

From Post 285

Jayme wrote: "10.2 Octoberfest
So Far From Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847by Barry Denenberg
Author lives in US

Task + 10
combo 10...."

+10 Combo 20.9, 20.10

From Post 281

Bucket wrote: "20.9 ABCs

The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago

Review: The story is Saramago’s imagining of a historical event - when an elephant was transported from Portugal ..."

+10 Combo 20.2, 20.7

From Post 277

Bucket wrote: "20.2 King

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

Review: This is an extremely impressive debut. The characters are everything here. As a reader, I could picture ..."

+5 Combo 10.2

From Post 272

Karen Michele wrote: "20.3 Vonnegut

Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien

+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.10 Group Reads / 20.8 Soup's On! (Sarkin Aung Wan was feeding him soup.)
+ 5 Oldies (1978)

Post..."

+5 Combo 10.2

From Post 271

Karen Michele wrote: "20.1 Jemisin

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

+20 Task
+15 Combo: 10.3 9, 10, 11 / 10.4 Series / 20.8 Soup's On! (meat stew)

Post Total: 35
Season Total: 235"

+5 Combo 10.2

From Post 252

Deedee wrote: "Task 10.9 NFL (Anika's Task)
Read a book set at least 75% in any of these cities which have a professional football team.

Novel set entirely in New York City.

The Rainbow (1974) by ..."

+5 Combo 10.2

From Post 246

Mary wrote: "20.1 Jemisin

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic by Eugenie Tsai

20 pts 20.1 Jemisin

Task Total: 20 pts
Season Total: 20 pts

… … … … … … … … … …
20.1 … … … … … … … … …..."

+5 Combo 20.9

From Post 244

Tawallah wrote: "10.1- TBR

Sitting on my TBR since April 2014

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Task : 10
Oldies: 10(first published in 1919)

Post total : 20
Season total: 120"

+5 Combo 10.4

From Post 221

Connie wrote: "20.10 Birthday

The Dinner by Herman Koch

"The Dinner" started with satirical social humor as two brothers and their wives dine at a posh restaurant. But the distu..."

+10 Lost in Translation

From Post 213

Joanna wrote: "20.10 Birthday

Free Food for Millionaires by Lee Min-jin

I've been wanting to read this book forever. I actually had an ARC copy at one point and I remember discus..."

+5 Combo 20.9

From Post 209

Deedee wrote: "Task 20.10 Birthday (Elizabeth (Alaska's) Task
Read any book whose original publication year is 2 consecutive digits.

Publication year: 2006

Heroine Eden Moore is described as ‘biracial’. It was ..."

+5 Combo 10.2

From Post 208

Deedee wrote: "Task 10.9 NFL (Anika's Task)

Chrysta was born and raised in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.

Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings (2022) by [author:Chryst..."

+10 Combo 10.2, 20.10

From Post 204

Joanne wrote: "20.9 ABC's

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

I first read this book as teenager (found it in the attic and smuggled it into my room, and read it with a dictionary and ..."

+5 Jumbo

From Post 199

Jayme wrote: "10.4 Series
Shopaholic Takes Manhattanby Sophie Kinsella

Task +10
Grand Total: 120"

+5 Combo 10.3