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

Connie ’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.9 Reading Resolution

The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (pub 2016)

Task total: 25
Grand total: 490

Amanda wrote: "Well done Ladies! Seemed to be the most appropriate.

Of course, I had to keep singing it in my head to remember what I was looking for :)"

I can't get it out of my head now, Amanda!

I "get" it too. Won't say anything more because it was fun to figure out. Lovely masthead, Amanda!

This is my tentative plan using different awards:

2003 National Book Award for Fiction
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

2004 Whitbread Award for First Novel
Eve Green by Susan Fletcher

2005 Edward Lewis Wallant Award
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
or
2005 Colorado Book Award for Fiction
Eventide by Kent Haruf

2006 Costa Book Award for First Novel
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

2008 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

2009 Indies Choice Book Award for Best Author Discovery
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
or
2009 Popular-The Star Readers' Choice Award for Fiction
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

2010 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

2011 Stonewall Honor Book
Just Kids by Patti Smith

2012 NAIBA Book of the Year for Fiction
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

20.4 A Member of the Wedding

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

+20 task
+10 combo 10.2, 10.8

Task total: 30
Grand total: 465

Andrea wrote: "So looking forward to participating in this group for the first time with the Spring challenge! Happy to be here."

Welcome, Andrea. I'm looking forward to the new tasks on Wednesday. I really enjoy the planning stage, although I always get sidetracked by other books I pick up.

20.8 Shirley Jackson

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (pub 1936)
+10 oldie
+10 not a novel (short stories)

Task total: 45
Grand total: 435

20.3 Illumination and Night Glare

Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books by Paul Collins

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.2
+10 not a novel (non-fiction)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 390

20.8 Shirley Jackson

Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (pub 2016)
+10 not a novel

Task total: 35
Grand total: 355

10.2 Double Trouble

The Vanishing Velázquez: A 19th Century Bookseller’s Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece by Laura Cumming

+10 task
+10 not a novel

Task total: 20
Grand total: 315

Karin wrote: "itpdx wrote: "How about read a book written by a refugee.
Here is a list of books by authors who were refugees.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/bo......"

Very topical. Book Browse had a list of books about immigrants and refugees on their blog too, and I saw several that looked interesting.

https://www.bookbrowse.com/blogs/edit...

I'm sorry about your loss, Karen. The good memories of the time you spent together will mean so much as time goes on.

10.2 Double Trouble

The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller

+10 task
+10 not a novel

Task total: 20
Grand total: 295

10.2 Double Trouble

Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb

Task total: 10
Grand total: 275

10.10 Group Read

Respected Sir by Naguib Mahfouz

Good choice for a group read, Don (the book guy)!

+10 task
+ 5 combo (10.3 pub in 1975)
+10 lost in translation
+ 5 oldie

Task points: 30
Total points: 265

10.3 2016/17

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Task total: 10
Grand total: 245

15.1 CiV 1

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

Squares: 6, 14, 28 (born in London, 386 pg, female author)

Bet: Even

Task total: 15
Grand total: 235

I love Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and have read it three times. It's a book with psychological tension, mystery, romance, a gothic atmosphere, the beautiful setting of Manderley, and takes us back to another historical time. I love the idea that a deceased character can be such an influence on everyone's lives.

Bea wrote: "Connie wrote: "Every three months I set up a shelf on Goodreads, such as my 2016-17 Dec-Feb shelf, where I list books I'm considering to read. In the notes section, I put down if it's a library boo..."

Bea, some people probably keep more organized by using a spreadsheet. But I don't want to bother doing that when I've already got a lot of information on my Goodreads shelves.

I have my TBR books shelved on Goodreads by country and US states. Some of them are also shelved by wars, or other subjects.

My books on my book shelves at home tend to be a mix. I've separated out cookbooks, and nonfiction from the fiction. At the beginning of every RwS season, I select some of my own books that fit the tasks. But somehow I always end up reading my library books first!

Every three months I set up a shelf on Goodreads, such as my 2016-17 Dec-Feb shelf, where I list books I'm considering to read. In the notes section, I put down if it's a library book group read, a group read for another group or lifelong learning class, a book for another challenge, and which RwS task it might fit. I usually actually only read about half of them.