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

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.4 New Year's Day

Hum If You Don’t Know the Words by Bianca Marais

+10 task debut author
+15 combo 10.2, 10.8, 10.9 (MB=Manitoba)

Task total: 25
Season total: 155

20.8 Appalachia

What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte

+10 task
+5 combo 20.10

Task total: 25
Season total: 130

Sending warm wishes for a wonderful holiday!

15.1 BtE Land and Sea

The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel

France: A, B, C

Task total: 15
Season total: 105

10.1 Square Peg

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward

+10 task
+10 aged (born in 1943)

Task total: 20
Season total: 90

Have a wonderful trip, Elizabeth, and enjoy the baby!

10.7 Conjunctions

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

+10 task
+10 combo 10.2, 10.4

Task total: 20
Season total: 70

10.2 Goodreads Authorized

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

Task total: 10
Season total: 50

10.8 New Author

Becoming by Michelle Obama

+10 task
+10 combo 10.9 (MO=Missouri), 20.1 (Jan birthday)

Post total: 20
Season total: 40

10.9 State Your Name

Philida by André Brink

AB=Alberta

+10 task
+10 aged

Post total: 20
Season total: 20

Would Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly be OK? (He's got a February birthday too.)

I found some debut novels that I have sitting in my bookcase on these lists. There are both classics and recently published books:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I'm reading around the USA, reading a book for each state, and I still have 15 states left. I plan to finish this challenge in 2019. I've done this challenge twice before, and it's one of my favorites.

I would also like to read more books that I own. Every time I think I'm making a dent in those books, my library has a used book sale and I feel I should support their wonderful programs.

Update: I decided to also do a Biography/Memoir/Autobiography challenge, and hope to read around 10 books for it during the year.

Land and Sea

France: The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel

Spain: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Portugal: All the Names by José Saramago

Ireland: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

UK: The Child in Time by Ian McEwan

Germany: Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi

Sweden: Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Russia: Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev or The Tales of Belkin by Alexander Pushkin

Ukraine: Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich

Poland: The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 by Władysław Szpilman or Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Jose Saramago was a Portuguese writer who lived in Portugal most of his life, and is buried in Portugal. He moved to Spain after marrying his second wife who is Spanish. I haven't seen anything online saying he was ever a Spanish citizen. I have All the Names in my bookcase so I was checking him out too. I guess it's up to the mods to say whether he is Portuguese or Spanish.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I do enjoy my GR librarian work. Today's amusement was the title:

Told in the East: "Good women don't reform bad men, they only irritate them.""

LOL! I see the author was married six times which is not surprising!

Thank you for your warm thoughts.

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words.

Thank you, Elizabeth and Karen.

I'm going to have to drop out this season too. My father died a week ago, and we've been busy cleaning out his home and planning the funeral. I liked the tasks this season, but will have to put most of my reading on hold for a few months.