Connie ’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 11, 2013)
Connie ’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 221-240 of 1,904
I would like to lock in:A Bigamist's Daughter for a rating of 2.96
The Frozen River for a rating of 4.45
Family Family for a page count of 400 pages
20.3 The Madonna of the CatFar From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Bathsheba Everdene, an independent beautiful young woman, inherited her uncle's farm in rural southwestern England. Complications arise between Bathsheba and her three very different suitors. Gabriel Oaks is as solid and strong in character as his name suggests. Sergeant Troy, who lives for the moment, is a seductive cad. Bathsheba's neighbor, Mr Boldwood, is a middle-aged, serious man who is becoming alarmingly obsessed in his quest to win her hand in marriage. The scene is set for an explosive confrontation.
The book has vibrant characters including the chorus of farm hands who make humorous and honest comments in the local dialect. Thomas Hardy's descriptions of the landscape show his love of rural England and the natural world. The book follows the seasonal activities on the farm from sheep shearing to drying the hay. Nature and Chance are not always kind. However, the characters who respect and adjust to Nature are the ones who survive. "Far From the Madding Crowd" was a very enjoyable Victorian novel.
+20 task (Bathsheba has a cat, pages 5 and 23 of Penguin version.)
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 685
Round 215.1 HDYGG
The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins
No Flowers
Vegetables:
Canada - CUCUMBER
Herbs - 106 pages
1 - HORSERADISH
2 - PEPPERMINT
Plants this post: 3
Task total: 15
Season total: 655
Round 115.10 HDYGG
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Flowers:
thE haUntING of Maddy clARe - GERANIUM, +5
Vegetables:
Waringstoke -WATERCRESS
England - ENDIVE
Herbs - 318 pages
8 - ROSEMARY
1 - HORSERADISH
Plants this post: 5
Total plants: 35
+15 points
+ 5 flower bonus
Task total: 20
Finisher bonus for 35 plants: 100
Season total: 640
15.9 HDYGGThese Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
Flowers:
these precIous DAYS essays - DAISY
Vegetables:
Nashville - NAPA CABBAGE
Herbs: 320 pages
2 - LEMON VERBENA
0 - PEPPERMINT
Plants this post: 4
Total plants: 30
Task total points: 15
Season total: 520
Plans for summerDecathlon
Round 1 Completed:
✓ 10.1 100 metres - Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher 181 pg own
✓ 10.2 Long Jump - Miss Mole by E.H. Young (historical fiction) own
✓ 10.3 Shot Put - A Bigamist's Daughter by Alice McDermott rating 2.96
✓ 10.4 High Jump - The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon rating 4.45
✓ 10.5 400 metres - Dracula by Bram Stoker 488 pages
✓ 10.6 Hurdles - After Annie by Anna Quindlen (contemporary fiction)
✓ 10.7 Discus Throw - Remembering by Wendell Berry (ring)
✓ 10.8 Pole Vault - Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett National Book Award own
✓ 10.9 Javelin Throw - Within Arm's Reach by Ann Napolitano
✓ 10.10 1500 metres - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (560 pages),own
Round 2 Completed:
✓ 10.1 100 metres No Thoroughfare by Charles Dickens 132 pg own
✓ 10.2 Long Jump - A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano (historical fiction)
✓ 10.3 Shot Put A Paris Affair by Tatiana de Rosnay 2.81
✓ 10.4 High Jump - James by Percival Everett rating 4.57
✓ 10.5 400 Metres Table for Two by Amor Towles 464 pg
✓ 10.6 Hurdles - Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult 477 pgs (contemporary fiction) own
✓ 10.7 Discus Throw - Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (ring)
✓ 10.8 Pole Vault The Sea by John Banville Booker Prize own.
✓ 10.9 Javelin Throw - The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton own
✓ 10.10 1500 Metres Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray (528 pages)
Olympic Scavenger Completed:
✓ 15.8 Canoe - The Willows by Algernon Blackwood own Option A
✓ 15.5 Dive - The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer Option A
✓ 15.9 Dive - The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl Option B pg 9
✓ 15.4 Football - The Coast Road by Alan Murrin word "football" in text, p 207
✓ 15.7 Horse-riding- On Agate Hill by Lee Smith pages 262, 269, 336 and more
✓ 15.1 Horse - The Dark Horse by Rumer Godden word "horse" in text pg 11
✓ 15.2 Rowing - Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell word "rowing" in text p 294, own
✓ 15.3 Basketball - Family Family by Laurie Frankel word "basketball" in text p 267
✓ 15.6 Rowing - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame option A
✓ 15.10 Volleyball - Never Change by Elizabeth Berg Option B, word on pg 4
Athletic - The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach Option B word "athletic" pg 101 own
Canoe - Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, Option B, word "canoe" pg 110 own
Swim - Atonement by Ian McEwan word "swim" in text own
Surfing - Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid own
Hockey - Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Hockey - Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Boxing - The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones
Horse-riding - Whip Hand by Dick Francis, own
Wrestle - Sunset Park by Paul Auster pg 300 own
Basketball - Willnot by James Sallis pg 164 own
Elizabeth, thanks for the great resource. It looks especially useful if we want to read some international titles to have some variety in our reading.
10.2 The DispossessedThe Women by Kristin Hannah
"The Women" is a compelling novel about the American nurses in the Vietnam War. In 1966, Frankie McGrath made a quick decision to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps with only a few months of nursing experience. There were generations of male ancestors who were honored as military heroes in her family. However, her parents were horrified that their sheltered daughter would join the military. Frankie was going from a Catholic women's college and lunches at the country club to a wartime environment.
Frankie was idealistic, but she soon got hit with the reality of the horrific injuries she would be treating. She slowly learned to be a very skilled surgical nurse. Her two roommates offered emotional support when things seemed too overwhelming and heartbreaking.
Frankie's final year in the military was especially traumatic since she had suffered too many losses of people she loved, and suffered from post-traumatic stress. When she returned home, she didn't get a hero's welcome, even though she had spent years saving lives. Many Americans opposed the war, and they could not separate the sacrifices of the service members from the questionable government decisions and lies to the public.
Kristin Hannah wrote a riveting book based on historical events, and incorporating fictional characters that readers could care about. Although I was younger than Frankie, I remember the 1960s and 1970s. The author transports us to the era with the classic rock hits, expressions, fashions, cars, newscasters, protests, and the more casual lifestyle. The book has an important message that women can be heroes too, and should be recognized for their sacrifices. They also deserve help with any physical, emotional, and mental health issues that develop from their service. This is a story that will have readers laughing and crying on an emotional rollercoaster with Frankie and her fellow nurses.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.9 (480 pages)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 505
10.3 St Patrick's DayThe Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
"We looked for Ruthie for six straight weeks, right up until it was time to go home, after the berry fields were empty and we'd pulled the potatoes from the ground . . . No one spoke about her, but when we passed the small stone where I saw her last, a sandwich in her hand, I just knew we were leaving Ruthie behind."
Every summer, Joe's Mi'kmaq family traveled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick berries at a farm. Joe was the last person to see his four-year-old sister, and he was left with a lifelong guilt that she disappeared without him noticing. Had she walked away, or was she kidnapped? The local police couldn't be bothered helping an indigenous family from another country.
Norma grew up as the only child of a judge and his troubled, overprotective wife. She sometimes has dreams of a different past. Norma wonders why there are no baby pictures of her, and why her skin has darker tones than her parents. Her mother suffers from depression from past losses, and spends hours in bed with headaches.
Author Amanda Peters is of both Mi'kmaq and European heritage. She included elements related to her Mi'kmaq background such as some of Joe's siblings being forced to attend white boarding schools in Canada. Other things such as the loss of a child, damaged marriages, and deaths of family members are problems that could occur in any culture.
The story is told with alternating chapters about Joe and Norma. The disappearance of Ruthie had never-ending repercussions in her remaining birth family members. The book covers fifty years since that fateful day in 1962. How does one forgive after learning the truth, heal emotionally, and move forward in their life? This is a book that will pull at your heart with empathy for all that were hurting.
+10 task (pub 2023)
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 480
Thanks, Rosemary.
20.6 Fruit, Dish, Bottle, and ViolinThe Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
All the windows are boarded up on the last house on Needless Street with small circles cut out for peering out into the neighborhood. The rundown neighborhood is next to a large wooded area in the Pacific Northwest. The house belongs to an overweight loner, Ted, who drowns his troubles in beer. A teenage girl, Lauren, also resides there, but no one in the neighborhood has ever met her. When Ted gets upset, Olivia the cat helps him relax with her purring and affectionate ways.
Dee has been searching for her missing sister who was kidnapped years ago. She moves into the abandoned house next door and starts spying on Ted, wondering if there's a connection.
Three locks on the door of Ted's dilapidated house isolate him from the rest of the world. He only goes out to the Seven-Eleven, to his therapist's office, and to the woods at night.
In this beautifully crafted book, the shocking truth about Ted, Lauren, Olivia, and Dee is revealed through chapters written from their individual points of view. Although author Catriona Ward plants some clues, it takes a while to put it all together. Don't read the notes in the back of the book because you don't want to spoil the brilliant unraveling in this dark psychological thriller. Five shiny stars!
+20 task (told from the POVs of Ted, Lauren, Olivia, and Dee)
+ 5 combo 20.3 The Madonna of the Cat (Ted's cat Olivia plus a stray tabby cat and a white neighborhood cat)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 455
15.8 HDYGGShelterwood by Lisa Wingate
Flowers:
ShElteRwOod - ROSE
Vegetables:
Talihina - TOMATO
Oklahoma - ONION
No Herbs
Plants this post: 3
Total plants: 26
Task total: 15
Season total: 420
15.7 HDYGGThe Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
No flowers
Vegetables:
Italy - ICEBERG LETTUCE
Herbs: 144 pages
4 - DILL
Plants this post: 2
Total plants: 23
Task points: 15
Season points: 405
15.6 HDYGGThe Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
Flowers:
the forest of vanIShIng staRs - IRIS
No Vegetables
Herbs: 376 pages
7 - PARSLEY
Plants this post: 2
Total plants this season: 21
Task total: 15
Season total: 390
15.5 HDYGGLady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Flowers:
LadY tans cIrcLe of women - LILY
Vegetables:
China - CUCUMBER
Herbs -368 pages
3 - RUE
Plants this post: 3
Total plants this season: 19
Task total: 15
Season total: 375
10.1 Rewind to WinterKing Hedley II by August Wilson
"King Hedley II" is August Wilson's play set in the 1980s in the Century Cycle of ten plays. Many of the characters are from the play "Seven Guitars" (set in the 1940s), so it would be more meaningful to see or read that play first.
"King Hedley II" is one of the most tragic of Wilson's plays. Aunt Ester, the matriarch who represents the black women who have dispensed wisdom for centuries, dies. Her name sounds like the word "ancester." This death is a huge loss for the black community in the Hill District of Pittsburgh who depend on her for guidance.
The play centers around King Hedley II, a black man in his thirties. He has spent time in prison, has a hot temper, and wants to get ahead financially. He and Mister come up with illegal schemes, such as selling stolen goods, to get some quick cash so they can open a video store. His wife, Tonya, is pregnant and she does not want her child to have a father in prison, or in a coffin as the victim of violence. She wants King to be present in their lives, and doesn't care about material possessions.
The play is set up like a Greek tragedy with Stool Pigeon acting as the leader of a Greek chorus and providing commentary on the important moments in the play. The cycle of poverty, lack of opportunity, violence, and incarceration are all elements leading to terrible tragedy in this neighborhood.
+10 task (author August Wilson from winter tasks)
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 360
20.1 The National GalleryLet Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans
In 1936, James Agee was sent to Alabama by Fortune magazine to write a story about the plight of tenant farmers during the Great Depression. His friend, photographer Walker Evans, traveled with him to photograph three families of impoverished tenant farmers in a rural area. The magazine article was not published, but the material was turned into a book in 1941.
"Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" opens with sixty-two of Evan's stark black and white photographs in unnumbered pages. Evans documents their gaunt, weary faces, their ragged clothing, and their rundown shelters. There is a feeling of strength and resilience in the eyes of the tenant families who are portrayed with dignity.
James Agee, who was also a poet, wrote the text of the book in several styles. There are beautiful lyrical passages, journalistic descriptions, and stream of consciousness chapters where he often goes off topic. Agee was quite experimental and creative in his presentation with some parts of the book working better than others.
In addition to writing about the tenant farmers, Agee also wrote about how the experience was making him feel. He struggled with the fact that he and Evans were spying on and possibly exploiting these tenant families for their own personal gain. It may have been good journalism, but Agee was revealing the intimate details of their lives to the general public.
The tenant farmer has no land, no house, and sometimes lacks a mule and farming implements. The landlord gives him these in return for his share of cotton and corn. The tenant farmer will also owe the landlord for seed, fertilizer, and ration money that was advanced during the four months of March through June. The ration money usually runs out before the new crops are harvested so they go through some lean, hungry times unless they can find supplemental work at the sawmill or other employment. "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" is an important work documenting both the 1930s and the struggle of the tenant families.
+20 task (photography)
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 340
