Tobey’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 02, 2010)
Tobey’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 121-140 of 241
Liz M wrote: "Rosemary wrote: "10.2 NYE CountdownLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Combo (10.6 "Z" in author name, 20.3 exceeded expectations #64, 20.4 pub..."
Liz, I went back to add these to my score so just want to verify what my score is. I have it at 275, do you have same? I don't know how you keep up with this, big huge kudos to you!
RwSTask 20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside - Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Although this book has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite some time, it really wasn’t on my immediate radar to read anytime soon. I knew there would some emotion involved and that there would likely be tears so when my husband read it and said it was in his Top 10, I moved it up to the top of my TBR.
This story is told from Enzo’s point of view. Enzo is a dog and I’m not quite sure I’ll ever look at my dog in the same way again. The story was beautifully told with a lot of humorous moments and even more poignant ones. I highly recommend this one to anyone who is a dog lover and even for those who aren’t.
+20 Task (Stein is an American author)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.3 - #75 on Exceeded Expectations List)
Task Total=35
Task 20.4 A Christmas Carol - Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb
I really enjoy Robb’s futuristic In Death series and I’d have to say that so far, this has been my favorite! There was lots going on and the one liners were well placed and timed just right. I love how we learn more about Roarke in this one and also more about Summerset who Eve loves to hate! I’m constantly fascinated by Robb’s “future” and the many gadgets and gizmo’s accessible to society and I can’t help but wonder if our future will be that way. This is a series that I will go back to again and again for the excellent storylines and character development!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.2 - story takes place in New York and Dublin as listed on GR)
Task Total=35
Post Total=70
Grand Total=275
RwS10.2 NYE Countdown - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
It was with a little trepidation that I decided to read this book. I read his One Hundred Years of Solitude last year and found it to be just okay, not as amazing as has been raved about, and somewhat confusing. To that end, I found Cholera to be better. It’s not a fast book to read as there is not a lot of dialogue taking place and there is some jumping around within the story but overall, it moved along fairly well. Was it an amazing love story? I’m not sure that it was totally amazing but I did find that I did feel for Florentino Ariza even when at times his actions kind of grossed me out. In the end, I was satisfied for the most part with the ending but admit to feeling happy that the book was finished.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Lost in Translation
+15 Combo (10.6 - Uncommon Letter, 20.3 - #64 on Exceeded Expectations list and 20.4 (takes place early 20th century and published in 1985))
+5 Oldies (Published in 1985)
Task Total=50
Grand Total=205
20.10 Play the Numbers - The Fall by Guillermo del ToroI really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy and had high hopes for this second book, The Fall and knowing of course that there is a third. This novel starts off pretty much where the first story ends and along the way some new characters join us. Alas midway through, not that this had nothing to do with my review, but I, for the first time ever, dropped this book into the tub. Not just lightly but totally submerged. Yes, Merry Christmas to me. So needless to say, I had to take a break from said book and make way for something else but I finally got back to it before the end of the year. The story was well written and ended off with questions that were answered and more questions asked. Looking forward to the third to tie up this riveting series!
+20 Task (published in 2010)
+10 Review
Task Total=30
Grand Total=135 pts
10.1 Square Peg - The Strain by Guillermo del ToroOkay, I don’t know why but I love these plague stricken world emergency type books and this one drew me right in immediately. It’s not just a plague loose in New York City but there’s so much much more involved than that and it’s creepy and spooky and gross all at the same time. And while the character’s don’t necessarily get great development in this first novel of the trilogy, I think there’s some strong potential there because the main character’s are fairly likeable, strong people. The mystery and intrigue that surround the plot kept me riveted throughout the book and left me with a strong desire to dive right into the next one. Highly recommended!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=125pts
Liz M wrote: "Tobey wrote: "20.8 Fictional Fiction - The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.10, 10.9) ..."
The original publication date for this book is ..."
Crap! How'd I miss that stupid mistake?
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I don't know if this helps, but I have a book that starts a series I've been wanting to read for awhile. I'm going to wait until toward the end of the challenge to read it, hoping that others will ..."The next book has a publication date of 2010 - bonus!! I wish you luck with yours!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Tobey wrote: "Need clarification on a book and whether it will fit into the Square Peg task. I'm reading The Strain by Guillermo del Toro. It was published in 2009,..."Suh-weet, thanks! Been waiting to read this for quite some time. Now if only I'll be able to make the second one fit somewhere...
Task 20.9 Take the High Road - The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz ZafónSo when this book began, I noticed some similarites between it and The Shadow of the Wind, his first novel. Those similarities ended quickly and I was caught up with the story and enjoying it immensely…until I’d say about 100 pages left where I started to get confused. The plot was intricately woven with many characters from both the past and the present but somewhere along the way I got lost and I’m still looking for the way out. I’m not quite sure that I “got” the ending and maybe it’s because I missed something, I’m not sure. Don’t let that dissuade you from reading this book however. Enjoyable and entertaining full of mystery and intrigue.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.4 - book set in early 1900's, 10.6)
+10 Review
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Jumbo (over 500 pages)
Task Total=55
Grand Total=105
Need clarification on a book and whether it will fit into the Square Peg task. I'm reading The Strain by Guillermo del Toro. It was published in 2009, the author is from Mexico, there's no "saintly" word in the title. Will it fit or am I missing something?
CiV15.1 - Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb 309 pgs, pub 1997, P,Q,R, 301-340/701-740, 1989-2000
+15 Task
Task total=15
Grand Total=50
Because I've reviewed every book so far, I better stick with that, points or not! :-)
Okay,okay, I know many consider Nora Roberts/J.D.Robb to be "fluffy" fiction but fluffy has its place, just like every genre. And Roberts sure has a way with character development and making them oh so believable. Not necessarily always likeable but definitely believable. Whether you like a character or not, you want to feel that they are good people, or evil people or whatever. In this way, she sucks me in each time. One of the things I didn’t care for in this novel was the fast turn of emotion from cold harded killing to mind numbing sex. For me, it didn’t always seem to fit but otherwise, an enjoyable read in this continuing series!
Dumb Question - can I still get review points for a CiV book that I'm claiming or is that only for the 10 & 20 point tasks? Thx.
20.8 Fictional Fiction - The Eyre Affair by Jasper FfordeRight from the start, you know there’s more going on in this story than meets the eye. I just couldn’t figure out what it was for the longest time and truthfully, I still can’t. Oh I enjoyed it for the most part. It was entertaining in an oddball-ish way, that’s for sure and my favorite parts didn’t happen until near the end of the book. So I want more! Fforde has some explaining to do and I look forward to finding out all the little quirks about this story and the characters involved in it. Many fascinating concepts jam packed into one story!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total=35
Grand Total=35
I've over 400 books with less than 1000 ratings. Major combo points! The best part is that I even have some of them at home on my physical TBR as opposed to my virtual TBR! :o)
I want to put out huge props and big shout outs to those wonderul moderators of this group for constantly putting together such great challenges! I belong to a few groups on GR but this is the one I frequent the most. Thanks and keep up the great work to you and everyone who makes this group a great place to visit!!
Does it need to be a different author each time you complete this task or can it be the same author?
This'll be fairly easy as I've only ever lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.
10.2 Highly Rated - One for the Money by Janet EvanovichThis series has been on my radar for quite some time and after GWTW, I needed a quick fun read, which is what I’m told the Plum series is all about. I wasn’t disappointed in that regard. What I liked best about this introduction novel is that Stephanie says things that I would say and I just loved that – hey, I’ve said that!! I was highly entertained and it was exactly what I was looking for out of a book at this point in time, so much so that I picked up the next book in the series immediately to carry on with the Plum world!
+10 Task (Rated 5 by a few members)
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=395
10.1 List Lovers - Gone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellI'm using the GR BBC 100 list which can be found here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
My first attempt at a roll gave me a number for something I'd already read then I rolled a 21 so it was finally my push to read this book.
Let me preface this review by saying I've never read this yet or seen the movie!
I’m not sure what I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said. I will say the first 150 pages or so were very slow moving for me and about halfway through I wondered if the reason Mitchell made this such a long novel was to give the reader an idea of just how long the war was for those involved in it because it sure did seem to go on forever!
Being from Canada, I sure don’t know a lot about this period in American history and I learnt a few new words along the way. I have a desire now to take some American history courses so I can understand some things better. A few words that came to my mind during the reading of this novel: selfish, spoiled, conceited, aghast, hard working, inconsiderate, unforgiving, miscommunication and a whole host of others.
In the end, I’m sure glad that I finally took the time to read this classic, and a classic it is to be sure! I thoroughly enjoyed the story even if I didn’t always understand the time it was set in.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published 1936)
+25 Jumbo (my kindle edition was 1448 pages)
+5 Combo (10.2 - Rebekah gave it 5 stars)
Task Total=55
Grand Total=375
Now let's see if I've scored this correctly as I seem to be having some issues with that this challenge! :-)
