Connie ’s
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(group member since Nov 11, 2013)
Connie ’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,601-1,620 of 1,905
10.1 Square PegThe Drifter by Nicholas Petrie
Ex-Marine Peter Ash had to search buildings full of danger during his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, the war veteran cannot stay indoors without feeling a "white static", a feeling of panic and claustrophobia. When he hears that his war buddy, Jimmy, has committed suicide, he leaves the great outdoors to come help his widow, Dinah. While doing repairs on Dinah's house, he finds Mingus, a large, mean, snarling, smelly dog, under her porch as well as a suitcase of money. He sees that an armed man is watching Dinah's house, and tries to unearth the story behind the money and Jimmy's death. The suitcase full of cash is only the tip of the iceberg in a sinister plot.
This is a riveting, fast-paced thriller with a complex main character. Peter Ash has the skills of an accomplished Marine, someone you would want on your side in a fight. He also has a big heart and a sense of honor. His sidekick Mingus is unforgettable! Nicholas Petrie has created some engaging characters, and writes snappy dialogue well. His incorporation of several characters with PTSD added a lot to the book. I liked this book so much that I'll be sure to look for his next Peter Ash thriller.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 160
10.7 First LetterI Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira
"I Always Loved You" transports us to La Belle Epoque when the American artist Mary Cassatt was painting in Paris. While the story also involves the other Impressionists, it centers on the interactions between Cassatt and her mentor, Edgar Degas. Although Degas helped her realize her potential as an artist, he could also be thoughtless and stubborn, so their relationship was very complicated and stormy. Cassatt burned their letters before she died so this story is an imaginative look at their relationship.
Cassatt's family also moved to Paris, and she was very close to her ailing sister. Her father was very concerned with finances, but her cheerful mother held the family together. The Impressionists were often criticized as being too modern and different, so they often had to supplement their more creative work by painting fans or commissioned portraits. Cassatt was most famous for her tender paintings of mothers and children.
Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet, two artists who passionately loved each other but were married to other people, also played a prominent spot in this book. The title, "I Always Loved You" , seems appropriate for these artists as well.
There were several Impressionist art colonies in my home state of Connecticut in the late 19th Century. So museums in this area often have exhibits of European Impressionists as well as New England Impressionists. It was fun to read about Cassatt or Degas creating their art, and then remembering viewing that particular work at an exhibition. Although the book started a little slowly, the artists soon "came alive" for me in this enjoyable book.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 140
20.7 U.S.The Children by Ann Leary
Blended families often have hidden secrets and resentments, and the adult Maynard and Whitman children are no exception. When Whit Whitman died, his widow (from his second marriage) and her two daughters were living in the shabby family mansion on a Connecticut lake. But the two Whitman brothers (from Whit's first marriage) now own the home. When Spin Whitman brings his fiancee to the historic lakeside home for a few weeks, buried feelings from the past come to the surface.
While some of the characters are not likable, they are interesting. We see the divide between the middle-class, and the "old money" residents of Litchfield County that send their children to private school and vacation in the Hamptons. Social media, where a person can take on a new personna or destroy lives, has an important part in this book. Ann Leary has a dark, quirky sense of humor, and she populated her book with unreliable narrators and eccentric, flawed individuals. Will this family survive when truths are revealed?
+20 task (AL=Alabama)
+10 review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 120
15.1 5YTS Time Leaper (1964-2009 or 2014)As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
+15 task (pub 1969)
+ 5 non-fiction (memoir)
Task total: 20
Grand total: 90
20.4 Go For The GoldWaiting by Ha Jin
Review: "Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu." Lin had married Shuyu, an uneducated, traditional Chinese woman in an arranged marriage when his father needed someone to take care of Lin's dying mother. But Lin had gone to school to become a doctor and was now living in an urban environment. He wanted to marry Manna, a nurse who was more sophisticated and modern. Shuyu refuses to give him a divorce, and the Communist Party rules say there has to be 18 years of marital separation before Lin can obtain the divorce without the consent of Shuyu.
Lin and Manna wait...and wait...and wait for 18 years. In the 1960s there could be serious political consequences if they are alone together outside the hospital grounds, and Lin is a cautious person. During the two decades that elapse in "Waiting", the political and social climate slowly changes as the three main characters age. The book is mainly a character study of Lin and Manna. How much of their history together was influenced by love, and how much by circumstances? Has Lin truly loved anyone with a deep passion, or is he always the recipient of love? Have their lives passed them by because they are always living for the future and not enjoying the present? "Waiting" is a character-driven, quiet book that won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1999.
+20 task (China)
+ 5 combo (20.3 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction 2000)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 70
Thanks for getting back so quickly.
20.3 WinnersCider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
When Laurie Lee was three years old his family moved to a small Cotswold village. The family of eight had been abandoned by Laurie's father although he still sent them money. His mother was loving, but a bit flighty. The book is an account of village life, where the people lived close to the land, during the decade after World War I. His mother cooked over a wood fire, and water was hand pumped. The children attended a two room schoolhouse. The family enjoyed the simple things in life, but life also brought hardships.
Laurie was hit with just about every childhood illness imaginable, and almost died several times. An older sister did not survive childhood, a common but tragic event in the time before antibiotics. Difficult times like these balance other parts of the story that probably present an idealized view of his childhood.
The book ends with Laurie reaching adolescence and discovering girls. The title refers to him and an early love interest, Rosie, drinking hard cider under a hay wagon.
"Cider with Rosie" opens a window into a different time and place. Changes are seen by the end of the decade as the landowning squire dies, motorized vehicles fill the roads, and former soldiers choose non-farming occupations. The book is very descriptive, and often reads like poetic prose. Lee has a good sense of humor and included humorous events into his charming account of country life.
+20 task (W.H. Smith Literary Award 1960)
+ 5 combo 10.7
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 35
Would Joyland by Stephen King and The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy by Stewart O'Nan work for this task?
Here are a few more political thrillers that have "politics" on their main page:The Colour of Blood by Brian Moore
Exile by Richard North Patterson
London Calling by James Craig
The R Document by Irving Wallace
Saving Faith by David Baldacci
Separation of Power by Vince Flynn
I like a mix of lists and more "wide open" tasks. The lists often bring me to read classics that I probably would not have thought of reading. But I also belong to book groups and other Goodreads groups that read more contemporary books and older hidden gems. So I love a few tasks like the "4 Letter Word" task this season, the ratings task last season, and the "Square Peg" that are more wide open.
20.10 AutoBioMemMy Train to Freedom: A Jewish Boy's Journey from Nazi Europe to a Life of Activism by Ivan A. Backer
+20 task (approved)
+ 5 multiples
+ 5 combo 10.7
+10 not a novel
Task total: 40
Grand total: 760
Ed wrote: "Connie wrote: "My initial plan, although I'll probably make changes later.2014 Long Man by Amy Greene or I Always Loved You by [author:Robin Olive..."
Sure, we can compare reviews to see whether we liked the same books. Usually I end up switching some of my books to the regular RWS part of the challenge, and changing everything up anyway. But I think the planning is always fun!
20.5 R.K. NarayanAt Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell
+20 task (approved)
+5 oldie (pub 1957)
+5 multiples
Task total: 30
Grand total: 720
10.8 License to WriteMy Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
+10 task (GR profile states that author teaches in the MFA program at a university)
+ 5 multiples
Task total: 15
Grand total: 690
My initial plan, although I'll probably make changes later.2014 (if needed) Long Man by Amy Greene or I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira
2009 The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker or The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal
2004 Old Filth by Jane Gardam or The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
1999 To Siberia by Per Petterson or White Oleander by Janet Fitch
1994 The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama or Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks
1989 A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle or The Girl at the Lion d'Or by Sebastian Faulks
1984 The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks or Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
1979 So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell or Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
1974 Jaws by Peter Benchley or If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
1969 As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee or The Water is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy
1964 The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence or The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell
20.4 Evelyn WaughParnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
+20 task (died 1957)
+10 combo (10.6 Book Lovers; 20.5 R.K. Narayan-GR profile states he wrote essays, poetry, novels)
+ 5 multiples
+10 oldie
Task total: 45
Grand total: 675
I love the banner too. Great job, Amanda!
