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

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.8 Anthology

In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper by Lawrence Block

Paintings by realist American artist Edward Hopper are the inspiration for this anthology of short stories by 17 different authors. Hopper's paintings show deep contrasts of light and shadows, some near the sea and others in the city. Figures tend to be solitary or uncommunicative couples. They are quiet, introspective, and possibly troubled. While the chosen paintings don't actually tell a story, they invite the viewer (or the short story writer) to imagine what could be happening.

I enjoyed almost all the stories in this collection. The stories were in many genres--mysteries, crime, horror, literary fiction, and magical realism. The paintings showing urban solitude act as especially good inspiration for noir crime stories, some with a Hitchcockian feeling to them. The book has a winning combination--reproductions of Hopper's wonderful artwork and an entertaining group of stories.

+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.2
+10 review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 480

20.8 Yours, Mine, and Ours

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

It's 1915, and an older Dr John Watson is setting down his memories about another Sherlock Holmes adventure. In the preface Watson tells us that he did not write about this case earlier because "the events which I am about to describe were simply too monstrous, too shocking to appear in print. They still are. It is no exaggeration to suggest that they would tear apart the entire fabric of society and, particularly at a time of war, this is something I cannot risk."(6) Watson arranged for the story to be locked up in his solicitor's vaults for one hundred years. Now, a century later, we are reading "The House of Silk".

Anthony Horowitz did a stellar job of replicating the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing. He included all the usual secondary characters--the landlady Mrs Hudson, the boys in the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft Holmes, and Inspector Lestrade. Sherlock Holmes, with his incredible powers of deduction, and his trusty sidekick Watson start with a case involving the destruction of some famous paintings during a train robbery. A dark mystery involving the House of Silk is also being investigated. The reader finds out the link between the two cases in a good twist at the end. The story is riveting with good characterizations and an exciting plot. Kudos to Anthony Horowitz for an excellent Sherlock Holmes novel.

+20 task
+15 combos 10.2, 10.3, 20.6
+10 review

Task total: 45
Grand total: 455

I've been enjoying the books I read for this challenge. There won't be enough time to do the 15 point sub-challenge, so I'll concentrate on the 10 and 20 point tasks.

10.6 Spring Equinox

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The four Plumb siblings were just months away from inheriting a joint trust fund set up by their deceased father and controlled by their mother. They were spending more than they could afford, counting on the money from "The Nest". Melody needs the money to pay down her expensive mortgage, and send her twin daughters to private colleges. Jack has secretly taken out a home equity line of credit on the cottage jointly owned by him and his husband. Bea has writer's block, has not published in years, and is working at a low paying job.

Their plans were destroyed when their older brother Leo, high on alcohol and cocaine, goes off in a speeding car with a young waitress he met at a wedding. The car crashes, the waitress is seriously injured, and Leo's mother takes most of the money out of "The Nest" to use as a settlement. Leo's three siblings are in a panic. Will Leo ever be able to replace the money?

The book has a strong sense of place with scenes in various neighborhoods in New York City as well as famous spots like Central Park, Grand Central Station, the Museum of Natural History, and the site of the 9-11 destruction. The high cost of housing in New York is one of the financial pressures on the siblings and their friends. The tale is a humorous and satirical look at modern life, including the New York literary world. The Plumbs are not a very likable bunch, but there are some warm, likable secondary characters. The story is about family dynamics, sibling bonds, the importance of friends, the influence of money, making smart choices, and that magical ingredient called luck. I felt that the ending was more rosy than I would expect realistically, but that's why it's called fiction. "The Nest" is an entertaining story and an impressive first novel.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 410

Cory Day wrote: "I was glad we had the team challenge this time around, because I got to participate, but I'm probably not going to continue this season. Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my husband's death, ..."

I'm sorry about your losses, Cory. It takes time, and the books will be there when you're feeling better. Sending you hugs.

10.1 Square Peg

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

You'll want to fill your freezer with your favorite ice cream before starting this book. It's a rags to riches story about a Russian Jewish immigrant girl, Malka Treynovsky, who is transformed to a successful Ice Cream Queen, Lillian Dunkle.

Six year old Malka and her family arrived in New York City in 1913. They found that America was nothing like what they saw in the moving pictures, and were living in poverty. Three months later a horse pulling a cart of Italian ices ran over Malka and crippled her. She was abandoned by her family, but taken into the household of the Italian peddler where she learned the basics of making ice cream and changed her name to Lillian.

She married Albert Dunkle, a handsome but illiterate man, who is an excellent mechanic. Between Lillian's business sense and Albert's mechanical ability, they go from a single ice cream truck to hundreds of franchises across America. They had their big breakthrough when they developed soft serve ice cream. Although Lillian was the driving force behind Dunkle's Ice Cream, constantly creating new flavors, it was the man who got the credit in that era. As Lillian achieved fame and success, she also became brassy and obnoxious. She was so totally consumed by the business that she did not give time to personal relationships.

There's a lot of dark humor, Jewish and Italian expressions, and historical details in the story. While Lillian is often unlikable in her later years, a look back at her history as the homely, abandoned, crippled girl makes one understand many of her actions. At times the older Lillian seemed a little over the top, but then the real Leona Helmsley would come to mind. It's an interesting story of a complex character--and the ice cream is an added enticement.

+10 task
+ 5 jumbo (505 pages)
+10 review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 390

20.1 Lord of the Rings

Out of the Blackout by Robert Barnard

A group of children was sent to the Gloucestershire countryside to escape the nightly bombings during the London Blitz in 1941. One little boy, Simon, arrived without any identification, and his name was not on the list of evacuated children. Fortunately, a childless couple took Simon in and raised him in a loving home. But Simon always wondered about his birth parents.

Years later Simon is walking through London and recognizes his early childhood neighborhood. His search for his origins brings him into contact with some unsavory people. He also finds out information about the British homefront during World War II, an extremist political group, and reasons for his childhood nightmares. In this interesting historical mystery Simon learns that bombs were not the only things causing terror in his London home.

+20 task
+10 combo 10.2, 10.3
+10 review

Task total: 40
Grand total: 365

10.3 English Language

Lost Horizon by James Hilton

Hugh Conway, a veteran of the Great War and a British diplomat, told a novelist friend an incredible story. He and three other people were being evacuated from a rebellion in Baskul when their plane was hijacked and flown to Tibet. After they crash landed in the frigid, windy mountains, their dying pilot told them to go to the lamasery of Shangri-La. The four passengers were guided there by porters and a postulant from the lamasery. After winding through dangerous mountain passes for hours, they arrived at the lamasery overlooking a protected fertile valley. It's a place of peace and contemplation where everyone is satisfied by practicing the ethic of moderation.

The lamasery is also a repository of great books, knowledge, wisdom, culture, and art. The High Lama "foresaw a time when men, excultant in the technique of homicide, would rage so hotly over the world that every precious thing would be in danger...."(144) Conway has never been the same since living through a horrible experience in the Great War, and is drawn to a peaceful, scholarly life in Shangri-La. But another member of his party feels differently and tries to convince Conway that he is losing his mind.

Published in 1933, the book points out how the world is in turmoil and foresees another huge war in the future. The story is a wonderful fantasy set in a beautiful utopia. The epilogue gives hints about what might have happened to Conway, but leaves a lot to the reader's imagination. It left me hoping that Shangri-La is real, hidden and protected by the mountains of Tibet.

+10 task (born in Lancashire, England)
+ 5 combo 10.7
+10 review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 325

James Hilton

http://www.waymarking.com/cat/details...

10.2 3,4,or 5

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Written in 1879, "A Doll's House" was a very modern look at marriage for its time. The play's name comes from the way Nora is treated like a doll or a young child by Torvald, her domineering husband. Nora has a problem since she had secretly forged a note for a loan to finance a trip to a warm climate when her husband was seriously ill. Although Nora seems flighty and silly at the beginning of the play, one senses that she is acting that way partly to please and manipulate her husband. She has imperfections, but there is a strong woman underneath who wants to experience the world. She needs to find herself as a human being outside the roles of wife and mother. This is a play that can be looked at from many points of view regarding a woman's moral obligations to her family as well as her obligations to herself. The play was entertaining with both comic and serious moments, and its ideas could generate a good discussion.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 300

20.5 Foundation

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama

The two orphaned Matsumoto brothers are living on the Street of a Thousand Blossoms with their loving grandparents. The story begins in 1939 when Japan is at war with China and becomes a major force in World War II. It is a time of deprivation as most of the food goes to the neighborhood military police who prey upon the people of Yanaka and sell the goods on the black market. Hiroshi, the older and stronger brother, has dreams of being a sumo wrestler. Kenji, shy and artistic, is mentored by an artist who makes Noh masks for the theater. Tokyo is fire bombed near the end of the war, although most of the people in Yanaka survive.

After the war, Hiroshi begins training in sumotori. The story also follows the lives of the two daughters of the sumo master. Some of the characters have a strong passion for the traditional arts of Japan, while others are looking to the future of a prosperous new Japan when they make their career and lifestyle choices.

I enjoyed the look at Japanese culture, especially the Noh theater, and the training and rituals practiced by the sumotori. I just loved the boys' grandparents who both possessed an inner strength and warm hearts. Tragedy after tragedy touched the lives of the people who were important to Hiroshi and Kenji, especially in the post-war years. But the writing was so calm and controlled that the tragic events hardly raised an emotional response as I was reading. So while I loved the immersion in Japanese culture, it seemed like some situations needed a little more emotional fire.

+20 task
+10 review

Task total: 30
Grand total: 280

Lots of interesting choices, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have a Kindle Keyboard. I think that was the 3rd generation Kindle. No light, which I don't want anyway. A couple of years ago I bought a backup Kindle - I think it was called the 5-way - in case..."

A book pillow sounds like a great idea. I sometimes bunch up a fleece throw to help support a jumbo book because my fingers start to ache if I hold a big book for more than a couple hours. Let us know how it works for you, Elizabeth.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "That's true. The books I saw where "The Bear and the Nightingale", The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane' and "The Orphan's Tale" They are all new books."

All three are on my TBR list too. I've already got too many books checked out of the library now.

10.2 3,4, or 5

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

Have you ever felt like getting away from the stress of modern life for a few days? Christopher Knight took that idea to the extreme, walking into the woods of Maine and living in isolation for 27 years. He was an introverted, intelligent twenty-year-old with a dry sense of humor. He had been brought up in a family that prided themselves on their practical skills and self-reliance, and set up a camp hidden by large boulders. But Knight had to steal food, batteries, books, and other supplies from a nearby children's camp and from vacation cabins in central Maine. He waited until the vacation homes were vacant before breaking in, but the homeowners felt frightened and tense as over 1000 burglaries occurred in the area. When he was finally caught stealing by a game warden, Knight felt deep remorse. Knight had survived brutally cold winters, and terrible mosquitoes. He never got sick because he had almost no exposure to the bacteria and viruses that humans pass to each other.

Knight was evaluated by psychologists, but he did not really fit a particular diagnosis, although he exhibited some traits of autism and schizoid personality disorder. Why would someone want to be socially isolated? "One's desire to be alone, biologists have found, is partially genetic and to some degree measurable. If you have low levels of the pituitary peptide oxytocin--sometimes called the master chemical of sociability--and high quantities of the hormone vasopressin, which may suppress your need for affection, you tend to require fewer interpersonal relationships." (69)

The author, Michael Finkel, includes information from his correspondence and conversations with Knight in jail. The author and Knight shared a love of camping and reading that created enough of a bond that Knight talked to Finkel. Background information about other famous hermits in history was also interesting. But those historical figures usually had help from the church or friends who provided their food. This was an engaging story told with compassion. I found the story of Christopher Knight so fascinating that I had my head buried in the book all day.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 250

20.5 Foundation

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

It's February 1862, and President Lincoln's nine-year-old son Willie has died. He is interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, but his spirit is still in the "bardo", a transitional state between life and whatever comes next in Tibetan Buddhist beliefs. The cemetery is full of spirits that talk about their lives, and also about President Lincoln's visits to the cemetery.

The President comes alone on horseback in the middle of the night to see Willie again. He opens the coffin and tenderly holds his son in grief and love. He thinks of other parents that are grieving soldiers that died in the bloody battles of the Civil War. He also is disturbed about the terrible problems of slavery. Lincoln is weighted down with sorrow about the war and the loss of Willie. Short chapters of interesting historical snippets from factual sources are also inserted into the book among the fictional chapters.

As a reader, I felt like I was sitting in the cemetery with a chorus of voices surrounding me. They are mostly unhappy spirits from various economic classes, some white and some black slaves. The voices had a 19th Century sensibility with dialogue that ranged from serious, concerned, and generous to comic, bawdy, and absurd. The book is unusual, creative, and thought provoking. Although I read the book in print, I imagine that listening to an audio book would be a wonderful way to experience the voices in the bardo.

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.2
+10 review

Task total: 35
Grand total: 230

10.2 3, 4, or 5

The Long Walk Home by Will North

Alec came to a bed-and-breakfast in North Wales to fulfill his ex-wife's final wish. She wanted her ashes scattered at the top of Cadair Idris, a mountain near Dolgellau. Fionna managed the B&B while her ailing husband ran their family farm with lambs in the pasture. Alec and Fionna were both surprised at their instant connection, but obligations stood in their way. Both Alec and Fionna had been through recent painful experiences, and have nurturing, caring personalities. Love and passion war with duty and fidelity.

I loved the sense of place in this novel, especially as Alec helps a farmhand with the lambing, and gets caught in dangerous weather climbing Cadair Idris. The author is also a ghostwriter of non-fiction books under the name William Nothdurft, and I found that some of the most engaging parts of the book were about lambing, the mountains, medical emergencies, and cooking. The romantic elements were not quite as successful, and had a Nicholas Sparks feel to them. So this was a book that I liked, but did not love.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 195

10.2 3,4,or 5

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

Philip Hutton is remembering the tumultuous years in Malaysia around the time of World War II when he was a young man with divided loyalties. As a sixteen-year-old in 1939, he was the son of a prosperous English father and a deceased Chinese mother who felt like he did not fit into either community. He met Hatato Endo, a Japanese diplomat who was renting an island from Philip's father. Endo taught Philip the martial arts skills and mental discipline of aikido, as well as the Japanese language and culture. He asked Philip to show him places of interest in Malaysia, always taking detailed pictures of the areas. When the Japanese invaded Malaysia, Philip realized how Endo had used his knowledge, but he still felt a strong bond with his sensei. He remembered his Chinese grandfather's words: "'Next to a parent, a teacher is the most powerful person in one's life.' And Endo-san had been more than my parent, much more than my teacher."

Philip had to make a decision about where his loyalties laid--join the Chinese resistance, collaborate with the Japanese, or evacuate with some of the English families. The war years showed Philip in many dangerous situations. But the core of the book is really his relationships with his best friend, Kon, and with the strong men who mentor and love him--his English father, his Chinese grandfather, and Japanese Endo. In war people are caught up in a vortex beyond their control as their governments make decisions they cannot change.

As an old man, Philip is visited by an elderly woman who loved Endo years ago in Japan. They share memories of Endo and the war years. They wonder if their lives were destined by fate, or whether there is free will. Had Philip and Endo met in a previous life, and were the anguishing times in the war predetermined by fate? Had the dire predictions of the fortune teller at the snake temple come to reality?

This is a fascinating book involving many cultures. The story brings up many questions as it explores the conflicting loyalties and the difficult decisions that both Philip and Endo must make. Highly recommended.

+10 task
+10 Non-Western (author is Malaysian)
+10 review

Task total: 30
Grand total: 175

20.4 My Family and Other Friends

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart has combined mystery, suspense, and romance in this novel set in Greece. Nicola, a secretary at the British Embassy at Athens, is meeting her cousin for a holiday in a small village in Crete. As she is exploring the beautiful countryside on her way, she comes upon a man and his injured friend. The men were exploring the trails and ruins, and had unintentionally witnessed a murder. They are now in hiding from the violent man and his friends, and don't want Nicola to get involved in the situation. But she could not just ignore someone who needs help.

Wonderful descriptions of the mountains, the rocky coast, and the ruins of Crete were woven into the suspenseful story as Nicola tries to discover the identity of the murderer. Nicola and her cousin are likable, interesting characters. Written in the 1960s, the book has a retro feeling about it with Nicola hiking up the rocky mountainside in a dress, and using her petticoat as a bandage for the wounded man. It's a charming book that was later made into a film.

+20 task (100% in Greece)
+10 combo 10.3, 20.2 #264 on mystery list
+10 review

Task total: 40
Grand total: 145

10.7 Dead Poet's Society

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Two deaths occur within a few days at the beginning of the cozy mystery, "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". Mrs Ferrars--who was suspected of murdering her rich, abusive husband--overdosed on a sleep remedy, Veronal. Then wealthy Roger Ackroyd, who was courting Mrs Ferrars, was killed. Dr Sheppard, one of the people who had been dining with Roger Ackroyd on his last night, narrates the story. There were many possible suspects who were in debt, and could benefit from a bequest in Roger Ackroyd's will.

Roger's niece hires the famed investigator, Hercule Poirot, to find the killer. Poirot was living in retirement in the village, but feeling bored with spending his time gardening. Poirot is delighted to use his gray cells again, and puzzle out the mystery. As in other Agatha Christie mysteries, the suspects are polite and civilized. The doctor's sister, Caroline, adds lightness to the story with her village gossip and woman's intuition. The author keeps the reader guessing about the identity of the murderer, and finishes off the entertaining book with a twist at the end.

+10 task
+10 combo 10.2, 10.3
+10 review

Task total: 30
Grand total: 105