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

Joanna’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

What about these two:

Slaves in the Family - too close to a memoir? But it does seem more like a narrative than a normal memoir.

Unfamiliar Fishes - seems like the right sort of feel, but wanted to double check.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "15.10 CYOA Second round
B4 - Born in one century, died the next

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

+15 Task (1882-1941)

+100 Finisher
+ 50 all women
+100 all Canon

Task total ..."

Very impressive to make that all work. Congrats on the excellent finish.

I'm having so much fun looking at Blackjack planning! What a great subchallenge!

20.1 Decade

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

+20 Task
+10 Female
+20 Combo (10.1 - Rebecca 5*, 10.2, 10.9 - 2011, 20.3)
+5 Jumbo (579pp)

Task total: 55
Grand total: 1810

One possible plan:

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
3H (3d in series), 5D (500-599pp), 10C (10s pub - 2014) = 18
+5 female

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb
2D (2 names), 5H (US state - NY), 10D (10+ in series) = 17
+5 female

The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy
JC (K in title), 9S (9pub - 2019) = 19
+5 female

Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
3S (3 word title), 5S (pub. 50s - 1954), QD (W. Europe - UK) = 18
+5 female
+5 before 1995

NW by Zadie Smith
9C (Title N), 9D (Commonwealth - UK) = 18
+5 female

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
7S (7-letter - without), 10S (short stories) = 17
+5 not a novel

Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
4C (MPG mystery), 6C (auth 6 letters - Healey), KS (-ing - Missing) = 20
+5 female

The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller by Carlo Ginzburg
2C (200-299 pp), 6H (title X - Sixteenth), 10H (history 100+ yrs) = 18
+5 not a novel
+5 before 1995

The September Queen by Gillian Bagwell
7D (S title), QS (Queen) = 17
+5 female

Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
8D (1980s pub - 1981), AH (pub 2 1s - 1981) = 19
+5 female
+5 before 1995

25 cards
+65 bonuses

Valerie wrote: "Well, thanks to Connie, I see The Fur Person scores 5 more combo points!

I will add 5 points to my total, which now should be: 835"

Me too! New total should be 1755.

20.7 Island Dreams

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

+20 Task (set in near-future UK)
+10 Jumbo (704pp)
+20 Combo (10.1 - Rachel 5*, 10.5 - most recent), 10.8, 10.9 - 2017)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 1750

20.4 Poet's Non-Poetry

The Fur Person by May Sarton

+20 Task
+10 Female
+5 Oldies (1947)
+5 Combo (10.1 - Anika and practically everyone else)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 1700

*Thanks to everyone who recommended this book. I loved it*

20.1 Decade

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Lexile: 830

+20 Task
+10 Female
+5 Jumbo (526pp)
+25 Combo (10.1 - Katy 5*, 10.2, 10.8, 10.9 - 2013, 20.3)

Task total: 60
Grand total: 1660

20.4 Poet's Non-Poetry

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin

+20 Task
+10 Female
+25 Combo (10.1 - S 5*, 10.2, 10.9 - 2017, 20.3, 20.10 - 2018 Hugo - Related Work)

Task total: 55
Grand total: 1600

20.10 Winning Decade

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

+20 Task (2012 PEN/Faulkner)
+10 Female
+30 Combo (10.1 - Cassie 5*, 10.5 - most recent, 10.7 (B-O), 10.9 - 2011, 20.3, 20.6)

Task total: 60
Grand total: 1545

20.8 Unification Season

Intrusions by Ursula Hegi

+20 Task (1981)
+10 Female
+5 Oldies (1981)
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.8, 20.3)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 1485

20.6 Stand Up for Your Rights

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

+20 Task
+10 Female
+25 Combo (10.5 - most recent, 10.6 - 496pp., 10.9 - 2019, 20.3, 20.5 - https://www.northshire.com/blog/cmorr... and other similar reviews)

Task total: 55
Grand total: 1435

20.3 She Writes

Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

+20 Task
+10 Female
+5 Combo (10.1 - Deanna 5*)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 1380

20.3 She Writes

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

+20 Task
+10 Female
+20 Combo (10.1 - TJ 5*, 10.5 - most recent, 10.9 - 2019, 20.5 - approved in thread)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 1345

What about Olive, Again based on this review (by Katie S):
Strout conjures an incredible sense of place, having grown up in a similar town herself.

https://www.netgalley.com/book/168149...

20.3 She Writes

Becoming by Michelle Obama

+20 Task
+10 Female
+30 Combo (10.1 - Jenifer 5*, 10.5, 10.6 - 426pp., 10.7 (B-O), 10.8, 10.9 - 2018)

Task total: 60
Grand total: 1295

I don't mind reading books in a certain order.

I especially like the sub-challenges like the current one that involve matching up several characteristics. I like the planning part of that.

I also find that one of the most fun parts about RWS generally is the bonus points system. I love finding combos and picking books to get the extra points per book. When there are bonuses available in a subchallenge, I like that as well.

Also, sometimes the subchallenge turns out to be off in terms of whether the books for the subchallenge are worth a similar number of points as the books in the RWS tasks generally. This season, my RWS books are averaging slightly more than 50 points each, while the maximum for the subchallenge is 30 points each. That's discouraged me from completing the subchallenge because I get more points by just repeating the RWS tasks so I ended up shifting most of the books I'd picked for the CYOA over to a RWS task instead.

Does a memoir by a woman work here? The author is the main character of her own story, but I'm not sure if that's the spirit of the task.

10.9 Play the Numbers

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

+10 Task (1927)
+10 Female
+10 Oldies (1927)
+10 Combo (10.1 - Katie 5*, 20.5)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 1135

+100 RWS finish

Grand total: 1235