Connie ’s Comments (group member since Nov 11, 2013)

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Round 3
10.7 Page Count (350-399 pages)

Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads by David Morrell

Thrillers create suspense and get the adrenaline flowing. The genre has changed over the years, and the essays in "Thrillers: 100 Must Reads" present some of the most notable works in chronological order. The book begins with classic adventure tales such as "The Odyssey" and "Beowulf," and soon moves on to 20th Century works.

The essays present short biographies of the thriller authors and the essayists. The discussion of each thriller puts the story in its historical context. The essayists often mentioned what the book meant to them, and how it influenced their own work and the output of others that wrote similar books. Many of the works were chosen because they took thrillers into new directions. The authors' original professions often influenced the type of works they wrote--such as espionage thrillers, medical thrillers, legal thrillers, naval thrillers, etc. World Wars, the Nazis hiding in South America, the Cold War, the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam vets with post-traumatic stress, racial conflicts, and other world problems influenced the authors' choice of characters and themes during certain eras. Other works were psychological thrillers or set on the horror/thriller fence.

The essays were enthusiastic and well-written. Most of the thrillers chosen were written by male authors so some of the choices were too high testosterone for my taste. Some of the essays went into spoiler territory as the essayist explained why the thriller was such an exceptional or groundbreaking story. Of course, I'll be adding more suspenseful books to my overflowing TBR list.

+10 task (378 pages)
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 795

Round 2
10.5 Page Count (250-299 pages)

The Paris Hours by Alex George

Author Alex George transports us to Paris for 24 hours to explore how losses and secrets can have a profound effect on the lives of four ordinary Parisians. Souren, an Armenian refugee, is lonely and suffering from survivor's guilt after losing his family to Turkish soldiers. Guillaume, an impoverished painter, has to leave Paris to avoid being killed by loan sharks. Journalist Jean-Paul has written a book to keep the memory of his infant daughter alive. Camille, a housekeeper for Marcel Proust, is holding on to a terrible secret and is afraid that it may be revealed someday.

The lives of these four characters also intersect with some famous celebrities--Maurice Ravel, Sylvia Beach, Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Gertrude Stein, and more. The novel sometimes brought Woody Allen's movie, "Midnight in Paris," to mind, especially when the various character threads merge at the jazz club, Le Chat Blanc.

There are numerous coincidences that bring the characters together, but I was intrigued by each of their stories. The novel showed how the Great War brought lifelong difficulties into some characters' lives. Post-war Paris was being reborn as an exciting city full of people on the artistic, musical, and literary cutting edge. I've always been fascinated by both Paris and the Twenties so I found this to be an enjoyable book.

+10 task (272 pages)
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Completion bonus: 100
Season total: 780

I would like to lock in some ratings:

Laura by Vera Caspary 4.00

The Hanging of Margaret Dickson by Alison J. Butler 4.01

The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah 4.03

Trouble Is What I Do by Walter Mosley 4.02

Thy Children's Children: A Novel by Diana Ross McCain 4.00

Round 2
10.6 Page Count 300-349 pages

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

"They could call what they were seeking justice, but that didn't make it true. It was unquenchable, implacable vengeance. And life, inside the graybar and out, had taught him that vengeance came with consequences."

Two grieving ex-con fathers, one black and one white, join together to determine who killed their sons. It looked like their married gay sons had been gunned down by professional killers in rural Virginia. The fathers had not been very accepting of their sons' sexuality. Feeling guilt and regret, they want to make up for it by avenging their deaths.

The book is suspenseful with a large body count. But it also tackles important social issues like homophobia, racism, classism, and poverty. The dialogue is snappy and sometimes humorous. The characters of the two fathers are very well developed. "Razorblade Tears" is a gritty page-turner with stellar writing and fantastic characterization. 5 stars!

+10 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 665

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I'm seeing some wonderful titles in the Counting on Authors plans.

Rosemary has The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence. I was lucky enough to stumble on this title many years ago - m..."

I'm happy to know that you've enjoyed some of the books on my list. I own a book from the Library of America with 4 mystery/thriller novels of the 1950s written by women, and a local library has one from the 1940s. Anyone working on the mystery challenge might find them useful.

Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1950s: Mischief / The Blunderer / Beast in View / Fools' Gold

Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s: Laura / The Horizontal Man / In a Lonely Place / The Blank Wall

Counting on Authors Plan

✓ 15.1 9 or fewer letters Lee Smith -- Oral History

15.2 10 letters Magda Szabó--Iza's Ballad
✓ or Rebecca Lee--Bobcat and Other Stories

✓ 15.3 11 letters Darci Hannah--Exile of Sara Stevenson: A Historical Novel

✓ 15.4 12 letters Shona MacLean--The Redemption of Alexander Seaton

15.5 13 letters Kristin Hannah--The Four Winds
or Susan Fletcher--Corrag
or Jeanette Baker--Legacy
✓ or Paulette Jiles--The Color Of Lightning

✓ 15.6 14 letters Margaret Millar--Beast In View
or Françoise Sagan--Bonjour tristesse

15.7 15 letters Susan Fraser King--Lady Macbeth
✓ or Elizabeth Strout--Abide with Me

15.8 16-17 letters Patricia Highsmith--The Blunderer
or Rosamunde Pilcher--September

✓ 15.9 18-19 letters Anna Katharine Green--The House in the Mist

✓ 15.10 20 or more letters Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni--One Amazing Thing

Round 2
10.9 Page Count (450-499 pages)

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Alice fell and hit her head at the gym. When she woke up, she had lost ten years of her memory. She thought she was twenty-nine, expecting her first baby, and blissfully in love with her husband. The reality was quite different--she was the mother of three young children and their marriage was on the rocks.

As her memory returns, Alice realizes that she doesn't like some of the qualities she's acquired over the past ten years. In addition to Alice's point of view, we also see the relationship difficulties between Alice and her sister, Elizabeth, from the journal that Elizabeth writes for her therapist. Their honorary grandmother also writes letters with news about the extended family.

Like the other Alice who goes down the rabbit hole, this Alice has to figure out what's real and what's imaginary. "What Alice Forgot" is humorous, engaging light fiction that shows the joys and challenges of marriage and parenting.

+10 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 650

Round 2 10.8 Page Count 400-449 pages

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

Thirty years ago, six-year-old Joanna was able to run away and hide while a deranged man knifed her mother and her two siblings. Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe warns Joanna that the convict is going to be released from prison. Joanna is now a doctor, the mother of a baby boy, and the wife of a man who is involved in some questionable business dealings. She has hired a teenager, Reggie, to be a mother's helper. Reggie's mother had recently died, and Joanna helps fill the void with her warm, maternal personality.

Meanwhile, detective Jackson Brodie boarded the wrong train, and is traveling to Edinburgh instead of London. The lives of the characters intersect by the railroad tracks. Jackson and Louise were almost lovers years ago, still feel an attraction, but now are married to other people. When Joanna and the baby go away unexpectedly, Reggie is upset and contacts Louise. Why did Joanna leave her purse and phone behind? Several other plot lines also intertwine with the main story.

Kate Atkinson has created complex characters that the reader will care about. There's some wonderful humor about life, marriage, family, and class differences woven into the story. The author surprised me with and unexpected twist that I did not see coming. This entertaining crime read is the third book in the Jackson Brodie series, but can be enjoyed even if you have not read the previous two books.

+10 task (400 pages)
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 635

20.8 Riding the Metro

The Silence by Don DeLillo

City: New York City
Country: United States
Continent: North America

The TV screen on Superbowl Sunday 2022 goes silent in a Manhattan apartment. A plane has to crash land as its electronics suddenly won't work. All technology has been silenced in an unknown apocalyptic event. The reader is experiencing this along with the five people in the New York apartment.

The dialogue has an emotionless, almost robotic, feeling to it so I could not feel connected to any of the characters. However, the book has many interesting ideas to think about as our world becomes so reliant on technology.

+25 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 620

20.7 Riding the Metro

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

City: Rome
Country: Italy
Continent: Europe

+25 task
+ 5 before 1996 (published 1599)

Task total: 30
Season total: 590

10.10 Page Count 500 pages or more

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

Martha Hall Kelly has gone further back in time to the Civil War for the third book in her Lilac Girls trilogy. Each of the three books has a flower name in the title, and can be read as a stand-alone fictional book about the real women in the Ferriday-Woolsey family. "Sunflower Sisters" tells the stories of three women, each who has an important relationship with her sister(s).

Georgy Woolsey is one of the middle sisters of a wealthy New York family who volunteers for the abolitionist cause, and gathers supplies for the Union army. Georgy is trained by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell as a nurse, and is sent to treat soldiers in Washington DC, Gettysburg, and Maryland. Georgy is strong, intelligent, and shows that a woman is capable of assisting the doctors in surgery.

Jemma and her parents are slaves on a Maryland plantation while her sister is enslaved nearby. Jemma has been educated to read and write by her previous owner. She's now working for Anne-May, a self-centered, cruel woman who is running the plantation financially into the ground as she indulges her appetite for luxury items. Jemma's family live in fear of being whipped, raped, or hung by the abusive overseer. They hope someday to escape to freedom.

Maryland was a neutral border state during the Civil War so families and neighbors were torn apart as some fought for the Confederate Army while others joined the Union war effort. In New York City there was significant fundraising for the Union Army and for the abolitionist movement. There were also New York draft riots by the poor Irish who were being forced to fight in the Army while many rich men paid someone to take their place. The book starts off slowly, but picks up pace as Georgy and Jemma's stories converge at Gettysburg. "Sunflower Sisters" shows us a troubled, divided country through the alternating voices of three very different women. The author's notes give lots of interesting historical information about the Woolsey family and the era.

+10 task (516 pages)
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 560

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "It's been just over a year since we started this personal challenge. How is everyone doing?"

I've been trying to read one, and sometimes two, mysteries each month. It's been a good change from the classics and historical fiction I'm reading for other groups.

Round 2
10.4 Page Count 200-249 pages

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

Mick Hardin, an Army CID agent, is home in Eastern Kentucky to work out problems with his wife. His sister, a novice sheriff, encounters her first homicide investigation and enlists Mick's help. She's getting political pressure from a prominent politician who is trying to steer the investigation to protect someone. Mick is familiar with the town and the family loyalty of the various clans living there. He heads out in his grandfather's old pickup to question people in the hidden hollers. The Appalachian families have a history of taking revenge for killings and other affronts, and they have memories that go back generations.

Eastern Kentucky is a rural area of natural beauty, extreme poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Author Chris Offut has his roots there, and turns the setting into a strong presence throughout the book. Offut also writes for TV series, and is a master of snappy dialogue. Bits of humor lighten up the darkness of the story. "The Killing Hills" is such an engaging book that I hope there will be a sequel.

+10 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 545

20.6 Riding the Metro

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

City: Gaborone
Country: Botswana
Continent: Africa

Precious Ramotswe has several more cases to work on in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana. Her good people skills lead to satisfactory outcomes for everyone.

Her assistant, Mma. Makutsi, opens an evening typing school for men. In addition to bringing in extra income to help support her relatives, she's hoping for an opportunity to meet an eligible man.

This charming cozy series has a good sense of place since the author lived in Botswana for many years. Mma. Ramotswe again treats her friends and her clients with warmth and fairness.

+25 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 530

20.5 Riding the Metro

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

City: Stratford-on-Avon
Country: England
Continent: Europe

Author Maggie O'Farrell has imagined the meeting of William Shakespeare (unnamed in the book) and his future wife Agnes (also called Anne). He is working as a young Latin tutor when he notices the unusual Agnes. She is a herbalist and a healer with a strong connection to nature. She has the gift of seeing into the spirit world, and can look into the minds of other people which is both a blessing and a curse.

The book pays homage to their son, Hamnet, who is struck with the bubonic plague. The grief of the family is enormous when this eleven-year-old succumbs to the Black Death. Every time they look into the face of his twin sister, Judith, they are reminded of their son. Agnes expresses her grief by becoming more introspective. Her husband expresses his feelings by writing his masterpiece, "Hamlet."

The story also devotes a chapter tracing the spread of the plague from the Mediterranean ports to England in the late 16th Century. Although the book was written before our Covid pandemic, comparisons can be made between the two tragic situations.

"Hamnet" is a beautifully written book of literary fiction. Losing a child is any parent's worst nightmare. The story expressed the love, the fear, the guilt, and the grief that any parent would feel in lovely prose.

+20 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 500

20.4 Riding the Metro

The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown

City: Toronto
Country: Canada
Continent: North America

Lucy woke up from a coma after falling on the ice and hitting her head. Not only had she lost some real memories, but Lucy also had fantastical made-up memories after her accident. She remembered events that never happened with an ex-boyfriend who she had not seen in four years. She only remembered her current boyfriend as a work buddy, although they had been living together.

Lucy had a condition called confabulated memory disorder where false memories seem totally real. As she narrates the story, we witness the confusion and frustration she feels in her mind. It's a difficult emotional journey for this Toronto woman to learn who she is, and what she wants in her future. The author writes with empathy for Lucy and the people who love her. The ending was a bit rushed, but it was a compelling fictional story overall.

+20 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 475

20.3 Riding the Metro

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

City: Lagos
Country: Nigeria
Continent: Africa

"My Sister, the Serial Killer" is a dark comedy, set in Nigeria, that is hard to put down. Korede, the practical plain older sister, has been told since childhood that she must help and protect her beautiful younger sister, Ayoola. The problem is that Ayoola is a sociopath who kills her suitors when she tires of them. Kolede has felt an obligation to help Ayoola clean up the crime sites and dispose of the bodies.

Korede has been secretly in love with Tade, a personable doctor who works at the hospital where she is a nurse. When he falls for her gorgeous sister, Ayoola, she can see the writing on the wall--Tade's life will be in danger. What is stronger--Korede's family loyalty, or her concern for Tade?

The book also tells the backstory about the childhood of the two women as they grew up with an abusive father, and a mother who catered to Ayoola's every wish. Life in Nigeria is also worked into the story, especially the corruption of the Lagos police.

This is a riveting tale that can be read in one sitting. It's an entertaining book if you're in the mood for a book that's a little different and filled with offbeat, dark humor.

+20 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 450

15.1 TDoS

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera

5 * Dot--Kim

The early 1920s were desperate times in South Carolina after a multiyear boll weevil infestation destroyed the cotton crops. Then the farmers planted tobacco, but it did not fetch a good price. Hurricanes also ravaged the area.

Three women from different classes and races are trying to hold their lives together in this novel. Gertrude is an impoverished and abused wife trying to keep her four daughters fed and sheltered. Annie is estranged from her daughters, and has recently discovered a devastating family secret. Retta works as a cook for Annie at the plantation where her ancestors were slaves. Retta is a healer, has the gift of sight, loves her husband, and grieves for her daughter who died young.

The lives of these three women intersect during the summer of 1924. Deb Spera's writing is vivid and dramatic. Spirits of the dead haunt the living. The book is worth reading if only to be introduced to Retta with her store of wisdom and caring heart. Lovers of Southern Gothic will especially enjoy this novel.

+15 task
+ 5 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 425

Round 2
10.2 Page Count 100-140 pages

Sounder by William H. Armstrong

The father of a poor African-American sharecropping family steals a ham to feed his hungry family in the late 19th Century. He had been hunting every night with his coon dog, Sounder, but had no luck. The sheriff and his deputies arrest the father, and seriously wound Sounder when they shoot him. The son helps his mother with the work, and searches the chain gangs for his father. Along the way, he meets a schoolteacher who helps him learn to read, and tells him stories about life.

"Sounder" is a beautifully written story about a sad situation. The book is written from the point of view of the boy who is coming of age in a prejudiced world during hard times. Many of the characters, including the dog Sounder, display courage in a quiet, dignified manner. This Newbery Award winner can be enjoyed by both older children and adults.

+10 task
+ 5 review
+ 5 before 1996 (published 1969)

Task total: 20
Season total: 405

Round 2
10.7 Page Count 350-399 pages

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

In 1939, Odile was hired for the job of her dreams--a librarian at the American Library in Paris. It was an English-language lending library with subscribers from many countries. Adding to her happiness, Odile was falling in love with a young police officer.

Life changed when the Nazis invaded France. The library shipped books to soldiers to keep up their spirits. A family member joined the military. Odile's father and boyfriend had to follow the orders of the Nazi leaders. There was a list of banned books that the library could not circulate. Jews were not permitted in the library so the librarians secretly carried books to their homes--until the Jews disappeared from their residences. Some of their other library patrons, such as English citizens, were also rounded up.

A secondary time line is set in Montana in 1983. Odile is now a lonely widow. Lily is a teenage neighbor who needs a shoulder to lean on during her mother's illness. Odile and Lily find that they both enjoy languages and literature. Each of them also possesses a jealous streak, and a tendency to act impulsively. Odile helps Lily through some difficult times, and also examines some things that occurred during the Nazi Occupation that have weighed on her conscience.

"The Paris Library" is an enjoyable historical fiction novel that looks at World War II from a different perspective. The author, Janet Skeslien Charles, created characters that were often put in difficult ethical situations during the Nazi Occupation. Nobody gets through a war without regrets. She also shares her love of libraries and literature. The author learned about the history of the American Library when she worked there as a program manager, and came to admire the courage of the World War II librarians. The American Library in Paris was more than a place that shelved books. It was also a community of people from many countries that shared ideas and friendship.

+10 task 351 pages
+ 5 review

Task total: 15
Season total: 385