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

Joanna’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.5 Autumn Colors

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Lexile: 860

There's definitely a good story here, but the abridgment for the audiobook ruined it. Whatever you do, do not listen to the audio version unless they release an unabridged one. My daughter and I found ourselves frequently confused at the abrupt transitions from scene to scene and we missed out on a lot of the character development that I think made other readers really like this book.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it enough to want to go back and reread the whole thing, so I guess I'll just be left with the feeling that it's likely I missed the point.

+10 Task (Sea)
+10 Review
+25 Combo (10.3, 10.7, 20.8 - "They did not feel especially hungry but the managed to get to the dining room, holding on to everything they could find, and to eat some of the soup which the waiters poured into the bowls fastened to the table with a special gadget that came out in storms.", 20.9, 20.10 - 2001)

Task total: 45
Grand total: 560

10.3 9, 10, 11

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

I'm anticipating that my bookclub will have hated this book. There's a whole host of characters, a sort of complicated interlaced story, and it takes about halfway through the book before things start to come together. My linear-minded bookclub folks are going to struggle with this. But by the end, I was really taken with this book and these characters. The storytelling was fabulous.

I loved the way that everyone knew everyone else's business, but sometimes not the whole story. The way that rumors traveled through the community felt very real and well-drawn. These characters understand that they are living in an unfair world, and they're existentially angry, but they are also living life fully and with faith in community and church and fate. In other words, these are complex individuals that this book allows the reader just a peek through a tiny window into their lives.

The narrator for the audiobook did a fantastic job managing this project and giving voice to all of these different characters. I think his narration moved this from a four-start to a five-star read for me. I'll definitely pay attention to see what else Mr. Hoffman has narrated.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - NYC, 20.1, 20.9)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 515

15.3 EotP

The Dinner by Herman Koch

*Thanks to Connie for recommending this book upthread. I needed something compulsively readable and this fit the bill nicely.

+15 Task - 2014 PEN Translation Prize Nominee

Task total: 15
Grand total: 470

20.8 Soup's On

Don't Cry by Mary Gaitskill

Mary Gaitskill is not the author for maiden aunts. Her stories are harsh, kinky (but not erotic), and replete with dysfunctional people just trying to make it through the day. Their unvarnished inner thoughts (often the cruel and violent kind) are on view here. It's hard to like any of these individuals, but it's impossible to miss their ultimate humanity. Gaitskill is a skillful writer--she made me want to keep reading even when, maybe especially when, the story ha a shocking or violent edge. I want to read more of her work, but definitely need to read something more light and uplifting before I could manage it.

+20 Task ("I sat on the bed next to Thomas and tried to coax a spoon of soup into his mouth.")
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.10 - 2009)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 455

10.2 Octoberfest

Tormented by Em Brown

This third book in this erotic romance trilogy is substantially better than the first two, but not enough to make it worth starting this series. Also, this book won't stand alone without the backstory from the first two books. By focusing on just the two main characters, the book was able to give them actual motivations and dialogue outside of the spicy scenes. I liked both the characters better at the end of this book than I had during either of the first two books.

The books also are chopped into short novella-length bits with abrupt endings, I guess as a way to sell what is essentially one book in cheaper installments instead of having people buy a full-length book. Moderately annoying, but not uncommon in this genre.

The author narrates the audiobook and does a better job than many author-narrators.

+10 Task (b. USA)
+15 Combo (10.4, 10.9 - San Francisco, 20.1)
+10 Review

Task total: 35
Grand total: 415

20.10 Birthday

Free Food for Millionaires by Lee Min-jin

I've been wanting to read this book forever. I actually had an ARC copy at one point and I remember discussing it with an employer when it came out in 2007. But I'm actually glad to have read this with a little more distance from the world described here.

The book traces the post-college trying to figure out what to do period for the protagonist, as well as trying to delve into the thoughts and feelings of those in her circle. It felt very true to life to me--I knew a lot of people who went to an Ivy-league school, moved to New York City to work in a high-powered, high-stress, high-paying job, but didn't really know whether the life being offered made any sense. I found a path more easily than this protagonist, and this book gave me a real feeling of "there but for the grace of God go I."

I can see why for many readers this book felt insufferable. If I didn't know real people similar to these, if I hadn't lived some of this experience, I think I might have hated everyone in this book. But, as one of my other friends said, "scarily true-to-life, except for all the adultery."

The narrator for the audiobook was excellent, which is especially important since the book runs over 24 hours.

+20 Task (pub. 2007)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (577 pp)
+20 Combo (10.3 - approved in thread, 10.9 - NYC, 20.1 - Korean immigrant family at the center of the story, 20.2)

Task total: 55
Grand total: 380

15.2 EoTP Redux

InterWorld by Neil Gaiman
Lexile: 830

+15 Task (St. Louis Literary Award 2023)

Task total: 15
Grand total: 325

20.7 Cervantes

North to Paradise by Ousman Umar

This spare and compelling recounting of the author's migration from his small village in Ghana to Spain pulls no punches in describing the harrowing and difficult path. Networks of smugglers transport migrants across borders ever northward toward "paradise" or the "land of the whites." I never quite understood what motivated this young teen to actually make this difficult journey. He estimates that he was approximately thirteen when he started out and arrived in Spain at approximately age seventeen (he doesn't have an exact record of when he was born).

There's nothing special about the writing or the style here--this is purely about the story. Ousman recounts the moments where fate turned his way while so many others on the same path perished. He loses friends, nearly dies in the desert, and is frequently on the brink of becoming a "sinker"--someone who gets partway through migration then runs out of money and can't go forward or backward.

Ousman seems like an impressive young man.

+20 Task (approved in thread)
+10 Translation
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.1, 20.9)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 310

10.9 NFL

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
low lexile

+10 Task (Set in New England--mostly Massachusetts)

I listened to the audiobook of this with my ten-year-old on the recommendation of my thirteen-year-old. I found it entertaining, but a bit hard to suspend disbelief through the end of the story. My kids loved it, so it seems like a good bet for the middle-school age range.

Task total: 10
Grand total: 260

15.1 EoTP Redux

Semiautomatic by Evie Shockley

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry - 2018

Task total: 15
Grand total: 250

10.1 TBR

Straight Man by Richard Russo

This is an academic novel in the genre of Small World. Russo is excellent at getting into the head of a middle aged man in the midst of drifting about trying to figure out what he's doing and what it's all for. Russo also has the pulse of academia here--petty arguments that manage to last years beyond the original dispute, declining budgets, directionless research.

The humor here was both subtle and slapstick, laugh out loud funny and sly commentary hitting right to the heart. I loved it. I've lived it. As the spouse of an academic, and a lawyer who represents a lot of faculty members, I've seen so much of what's lambasted in this novel.

I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator was pitch-perfect for this character. I highly recommend the book in audio format if you are an audiobook reader.

+10 Task (on TBR since 2007!)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1997)
+10 Combo (10.2 - US, 20.10 - 1997)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 235

10.4 Series

Ravaged by Em Brown

This is a much better book than the first book in the series. The book still suffers from some of the problems that were prevalent in the first book--the bad guy characters are almost caricatures of ridiculous men, while the hero is overly perfect. But here there's actually more connection between the romance couple that makes the book more interesting. The book manages to rise above Shades of Gray fan fiction and develop into a story in its own right. (And, the male lead here isn't nearly as ridiculous as Mr. Gray, so that's a plus.)

There's occasional effort to weave in social justice issues into the storyline, which felt a little heavy-handed to me, but is at least a laudable goal to increase representation and recognition in the context of romance books.

The author narrates the audio version of the book and does better at it than many author-narrators.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.1)

Task total: 30
Grand total: 200

20.6 Coleridge

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July

Apparently I heard about this book when it was new and cool and added it to my wishlist, but only got around to reading it fifteen years later when it's no longer new at all. So, I'm late to the party. And I've never actually seen any of the performance art that has made this author famous.

These stories are depressing. The characters in them are sad and anxious and weird and unlikeable in many ways. What sexual attraction there is in these stories is often deformed or misdirected or actually also depressing.

But, but, but. There's something here. A slick, shiny, slightly slimy vein of truth. One that wraps around the reader and hangs on. There's so much emotional power here.

In fact, reading these stories reminded me of another writer of depressing, twisted, unlikeable characters whose stories I love--Mary Gaitskill. I guess Miranda July's stories weren't quite enough depression for me, because I immediately bought and started reading Don't Cry. So, I guess if you like Gaitskill, you'll probably also like July.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.2 - B. USA, 10.3 - July, 20.8 - "Do you want to try this soup?", 20.10 - 2007)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 165

20.2 King

The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull

The book is about the affair of Thelma Morgan and the Prince of Wales. Thelma is a sort of dandelion character who just seems to be bandied about floating through her life without ever really having a direction of her own, never quite belonging, never quite stunning, but ever-present. We only really care about her at all because of her association with other famous people--she's dating the Prince of Wales, she's the sister of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt.

In a different mood, I might have enjoyed this book. But I just found it boring and insipid. I was glad the Prince abdicated for Wallis Simpson instead of for Thelma. At least Wallis seemed funny and unrepentantly ambitious.

The narrator for the audiobook was fine and the book translates well to audio format, though slightly more emphasis on the switching between different time periods might have helped.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2 - b. Canada; 20.9 (BT))

Task total: 40
Grand total: 115

10.6 Bless the Animals

King Rat by China Miéville

This is a very strange book. It's impressive as a debut--there are a lot of elements here that are tremendously clever and very cool. But my expectations for Miéville are high and this book isn't nearly as clever or cool as some of his later work.

I especially loved the idea that rats and spiders and birds could all be summoned up by their monarch/leader to turn into a vast information network and an army of creatures. Some of the themes here also preview those later explored, brilliantly, in The City & the City. The use of the Pied Piper as a villain was great, and the idea of the Pied Piper learning to play his music on an electronic DJ system was fabulous.

Still, for all its interesting themes, the book dragged quite a bit in the middle. The final showdown was exciting and well-paced, but I almost didn't make it to the end because I was bored with the middle of the book.

+10 Task (rats, birds, and spiders all talk)
+10 Review
+20 Combo (20.2, 20.8 - "He felt soup trickle down his throat and around his mouth, and he swallowed obligingly.", 20.9 (CM), 20.10 (1998)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 75

20.1 Jemison

Bought by Em Brown

I knew better than to read this. It's sort of Fifty Shades fan fiction that has proliferated into the BillionaireBDSM genre. The actual sentence structure isn't bad, but the story is stupid, and stupidly chopped into several short books when it should be one. I guess this author usually writes historical romance books, and I imagine she might be okay at that. But this attempt to capitalize on this billionaire-trope is a flop. At least the book is reasonably well-narrated by the author and is available on scribd, and I needed something completely brainless to get me through a weekend of belated spring cleaning.

I'm going to read the next one to complete the story arc that abruptly ends practically mid-sentence, but I don't recommend that anyone bother with this series.

+20 Task (main characters are a Chinese billionaire and a Black woman)
+10 Review
+5 Combo 10.4

Task total: 35
Grand total: 35

How about The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters?

What about Lee Min-jin? On the book cover, her name appears as Min Jin Lee, but Goodreads has her listed as Lee Min-jin.

By "consecutive digits" you mean the repetition of a number, right? So 1880 counts because there are two 8s in a row?

10.1 - Straight Man by Richard Russo
10.2 - The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
10.3 - Free Food for Millionaires by Lee Min-jin
10.4 - Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
10.5 - Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
10.6 - King Rat by China Miéville
10.7 - The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
10.8 - The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
10.9 - Triburbia by Karl Taro Greenfeld
10.10 -
20.1 - Deacon King Kong by James McBride
20.2 - The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull
20.3 - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
20.4 - Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
20.5 - Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
20.6 - No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
20.7 - North to Paradise by Ousman Umar
20.8 - Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
20.9 - Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
20.10 - Gigi and The Cat by Colette