Joanna’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2010)

Joanna’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

In post 373,
Kim wrote: "10.2 The Dispossessed

The Promise. Chaim Potok

Review:
5.0 stars - This book continues the story started in The Chosen, which I loved and read 2.5 years ago. Danny and..."

I'm so sorry. This book is shelved as Assignment at BPL and does not have a lexile score. It counts for points, but no styles.

-10 review style

Lizzy wrote: "Could A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan be considered to contain a conspiracy.

In the last chapter of the book, 2 people at a record company employ a thir..."

I'm not sure I understand the situation from your description, but if you think it's a conspiracy based on how it's presented in the book, we'll accept it. It sounds to me more like a sort of weird marketing plan but I don't really understand the details.

20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

Say My Name by J. Kenner

I needed a mindless read and this fit the bill. I remember liking the original Stark books well enough, so figured this spinoff series might be entertaining.

I'm kind of sick of protagonists with trauma in their past. Here again we have a trauma related past incident that the main character is going to try to use the new romantic relationship as a form of therapy. Here, it's not overdone--the traumatic incident is relatively minor compared to the horrible pasts that many romance heroines seem to have, and Sylvia basically has her life together. Thus, it's not as implausible as sometimes that she could use a new relationship to help her.

I liked the book enough to continue the series. I'll read the next one the next time I'm looking for a mindless interlude between other books.

+20 Task - this is a spinoff of another series and characters from the original series appear in this one
+10 Review
+5 Combo - 20.7 (two characters go to a conference in Europe; book is set mostly in California)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 300

10.1 Rewind to Winter

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

A satisfying follow up to the other books in this series. This could be read without reading the other books in the trilogy, but I think it's more enjoyable if you've read the other two. It picks up right where book 2 left off.

Christopher Moore books are always a little slapstick, a little zany, and generally fun. This is no exception. The book involves vampires, vampire cats, and a vampire cat that grows to human size and develops some human thoughts. There's also a corpse-sniffing dog, a team of young adults called the "Animals," some police officers, and the vampires from the previous books.

The perspective switched often in this book, maybe a little too often. The narrator for the audiobook seemed to have trouble keeping the different characters straight.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.3 - 3d in series; 10.4 - auth. b. 1957; 20.3 - Chet was a pet cat that turned into a vampire; 20.6 - there were lots of POV here, including a dog, the vampire cat, and several others)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 265

20.3 Madonna of the Cat

The Priest by Tiffany Reisz

The author suggests that this could be a good entry point for the Original Sinners series for new readers. I disagree. I don't think this book would be that great as a stand-alone mystery or for a new reader with no history with these characters. Part of what makes the book understandable at all is knowing the back story of these characters and some of their history of interactions. I think a new reader would find their relationships somewhat confusing and a bit difficult to parse.

I've adored this series and I quite liked this book. I enjoyed that this book was more of a detective story and less centered on the sexual relationships between these characters. It still had many of the characters that I like making appearances, plus the addition of two new characters: Cyrus and his fiancee Pauline. The book still had strong female characters, a generally sex-positive attitude, and a willingness to deal with difficult topics.

+20 Task (no name is given, but a kitten is given to the main character during the book; also another character has a bunch of cats)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.2)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 225

10.2 The Dispossessed

The Confessions by Tiffany Reisz

A very quick read comprised of three parts -- one is the confession of Marcus Stearn as told by his priest, one is the confession of Nora Sutherlin, as told by the same priest but many years later, and the third is an interview with the author. This is fan service for readers who have read the Original Sinners books and would like more backstory with these characters. If you haven't read and enjoyed the series, there's no point in reading these novellas--they'd hardly make sense without knowledge of these characters and their fictional world.

I did find the author interview interesting. It's clear that she's put a lot of thought into these books and how she wants to handle some of the subjects that she covers--sexual abuse and coverup within the Catholic church, taboo relationships, etc. The reporter who interviewed the author is clearly a fan of the series and a friend of the author, so the interview was conversational and light.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.9 - 140pp)
+10 Review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 190

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle, and Violin

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

I enjoyed this book. I didn't love it, but I was entertained while reading it.

The book tells the story of four sisters and their dramatic reactions to everything. On the one hand, I felt like if these people really loved each other as much as they were supposed to, they wouldn't behave in such silly ways. On the other hand, families are weird and people do actually do really silly things when they get their feelings hurt. Still, overall, these characters seemed to make dramatic and emotional decisions then they would stick with them in such straight-line consistency for the next twenty years that it felt unreal to me.

It's like if someone towed my car and I was so mad that I said, "I'll never drive again." Then, I just felt like now that I've said it, I have to live with the consequences and can't change my mind, like, ever. The level of stubbornness and nose cutting off was the only dramatic tension, and it was kind of infuriating.

I'm sure my bookclub will love this book.

+20 Task (told from different sister and one man POV)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.3 - pub. 2023; 20.1 - one of the sisters is a painter who paints portraits and murals)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 165

Apple wrote: "I am presuming that a mutiny would be considered a conspiracy, as in The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder ?"

Yes, that seems like a conspiracy.

Top Scoring Books:

80 Points in PostNbr 504 - The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte - 20.09 (1001, Combo 30, Lost in Translation, Review)

70 Points in PostNbr 50 - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - 20.09 (1001, Combo 15, Jumbo 05, Lost in Translation, Review)

65 Points in PostNbr 12 - Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang - 20.03 (1001, Combo 20, Jumbo 05, Review)

65 Points in PostNbr 57 - Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg - 20.04 (1001, Combo 25, Lost in Translation)

65 Points in PostNbr 397 - Paula Roberts Private Investigator - Cayman Islands by Daniel Easterling - 30.01 (Combo 25, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 17 - Bouvetoya, South Atlantic Ocean--Results from the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expeditions by Norsk Polarinstitute - 30.01 (Combo 10, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 44 - Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank - 20.07 (Combo 30, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 55 - The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon - 20.07 (Combo 20, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 98 - Rattlesnake by Arturo Arias - 30.01 (Combo 20, Lost in Translation)

60 Points in PostNbr 122 - Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari - 20.05 (1001, Combo 10, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 136 - Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell - 20.10 (1001, Combo 10, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 200 - The City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron - 30.01 (Combo 20, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 375 - The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton - 20.03 (1001, Combo 20, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 485 - The Manor by Isaac Bashevis Singer - 20.06 (1001, Combo 10, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 598 - The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka - 20.09 (Combo 20, Lost in Translation, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 619 - All Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard - 20.07 (Combo 25, Jumbo 05, Review)

60 Points in PostNbr 703 - Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World by David Roberts - 30.01 (Combo 20, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 73 - Accidental Highwayman, The: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight... by Ben Tripp - 15.01 (HDYGG 15, HDYGG 25)

55 Points in PostNbr 74 - The Nun by Denis Diderot - 20.06 (1001, Combo 05, Lost in Translation, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 245 - Pyramid, The: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries by Henning Mankell - 20.05 (Combo 15, Lost in Translation, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 247 - The Harbor by Katrine Engberg - 20.09 (Combo 25, Lost in Translation)

55 Points in PostNbr 281 - Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum - 20.10 (Combo 15, Lost in Translation, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 285 - The Information by Martin Amis - 20.07 (1001, Combo 15, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 313 - Wager, The: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann - 20.05 (Combo 25, Review)

55 Points in PostNbr 374 - The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto - 20.10 (Combo 15, Lost in Translation, Review)

Most Strategic Reader:

Elizabeth (Alaska) - 42.3, for 31 Books
Heather - 41.9, for 8 Books
Valerie - 37.6, for 34 Books
Mary - 37.2, for 37 Books
Kim - 36.1, for 14 Books
Rosemary - 35.0, for 40 Books
Katy - 34.7, for 30 Books
Joanna - 33.9, for 31 Books
Apple - 31.0, for 53 Books
Anika - 30.0, for 39 Books
Kathleen (itpdx) - 30.0, for 13 Books
Karen Michele - 29.8, for 49 Books
Tien - 29.4, for 32 Books
Connie - 28.5, for 26 Books
Denise - 28.0, for 5 Books
Joanne - 27.7, for 32 Books
Ed - 26.7, for 20 Books
Deedee - 23.2, for 22 Books
Marie - 22.8, for 30 Books
Tawallah - 18.7, for 15 Books
Norma - 18.1, for 39 Books
Jayme - 17.1, for 12 Books

Requires at least 5 books claimed for the season.

Group Reads Leaders:

Group Reads Leaders:

Elizabeth (Alaska) 10/21 (47.6%)
Karen Michele 11/38 (28.9%)
Marie 6/22 (27.3%)
Apple 11/41 (26.8%)
Katy 4/20 (20.0%)
Tawallah 2/10 (20.0%)
Anika 3/21 (14.3%)
Mary 3/22 (13.6%)
Tien 3/22 (13.6%)
Rosemary 4/30 (13.3%)
Norma 4/39 (10.3%)
Joanna 1/21 (4.8%)
Valerie 1/21 (4.8%)
Joanne 1/22 (4.5%)

* the Fall 24 "group reads" books will be chosen by a combination of moderators, mega-finishers, and members that read at least 5 books and earn the highest percentage of Lost in Translation points in the Spring 2024 Challenge.

20.1 National Gallery

The Enchantment of Lily Dahl by Siri Hustvedt

I only realized while reading other comments on this book that this author is the spouse of Paul Auster. They must have some fascinating conversations.

I seem to be coming to Hustvedt's work in a random order. Many readers seem to think What I Loved is her best work; I haven't read it. Instead, I read and loved The Blindfold. This book has some similar themes -- the title character is a woman trying to figure out who she is and what her true self is. She's testing her own feelings by seeing herself in the eyes of the men around her, but Lily Dahl is a stronger and more independent character. Her actions don't always make sense, even to her, but they come from some internal drive for authenticity.

This book is also permeated with a strong claustrophobic feeling and a general unease that leaves both Lily Dahl and the reader uncertain what is real and what is fantasy. Lily is involved in a relationship with a painter who has come to her small town to paint portraits of some of the residents. She's also working at a roadside cafe, and dreaming of getting out of the town and becoming an actress.

Unfortunately, the author didn't seem to know how to end the story, and wrote an ending that didn't fit with the rest of the book and that I found seriously unsatisfying and implausible.

+20 Task (one of the main male characters is a painter)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.4 - auth. b. 1955)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 125

10.8 Elemental

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson

Delightful, strange, and wonderful short stories. This is a collection of early stories by this author including such wonderful ideas as a rent-a-granny service and people working in a scrabble factory where they are each assigned to find tiles of a certain letter. I can't remember what caused me to get this collection for my kindle many years ago, but I'm glad I finally dredged it up to read now.

These stories aren't just quirky, though. There's real heart and thinking about grief, loss, and family through the lens of these stories. I was gutted by the title story about three siblings digging tunnels under their town as a story about burying feelings and grief and loss of dreams.

Highly recommended.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.5 - "to" from "A Gala Tribute to Joshua Logan")
+10 Review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 90

Final readerboard, through post 745:

Apple - 1945 ^*&
Karen Michele - 1760 ^*&
Rosemary - 1700 ^*&
Mary - 1675 ^*&
Elizabeth (Alaska) - 1610 ^*&
Valerie - 1580 ^*&
Anika - 1470 ^*&
Joanna - 1350 ^*&
Tien - 1240 ^*&
Katy - 1040 ^
Joanne - 930 ^
Marie - 785 *
Connie - 740 ^
Norma - 705
Ed - 535
Deedee - 510
Kim - 505 ^
Kathleen (itpdx) - 390 ^
Heather - 335
Tawallah - 280
Jayme - 205
Denise - 140
Owlette - 65

* Halfway Finisher
^ How Does Your Garden Grow Finisher
& Mega Finisher

Readerboard for the Spring 24 Reading with Style Challenge!

Please post your points for completed tasks in the Completed Tasks topic. This Readerboard folder shows the current point standings of the challenge participants who have posted points. It's generally updated every week or so.

In Post 46:

Kim wrote: "10.6 Modernism

The Maltese Falcon. Dashiell Hammett

Review:
I alternated reading the book with watching the movie, which helped me better understand the story. It was ..."

+10 1001

In post 39:
Connie wrote: "10.3 St Patrick's Day

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Eugene Parkson came running home from the park with bloodstains and dirt on his clothes. The neurodiverse 14-y..."

Sorry. The MPE for this is the hardcover with 387 pages. No combo with 10.9.
-5pts

15.3 HDYGG

Stoner by John Williams

Flowers:
StOnER - ROSE

Vegetables:
Columbia - CUCUMBER
Missouri - MUNG BEAN

Herbs:
288 pp - ROSEMARY (8)

4 Plants this post
14 Plaints in the garden

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Grand total: 65

15.2 HDYGG

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Vegetables:
NAPA CABBAGE - New Half-Way Tree

Herbs:
LEMON VERBENA - 392 pages

2 Plants this post
10 Plants in the garden

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Grand total: 50

Karen Michele wrote: "I'd like to check on Phineas Finn. In the book, Phineas travels from England to Belgium to fight a duel. It's not a pleasure trip, of course, but does it fit here?"

Yes, that fits.