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

Joanna’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.7 OLYMPICS

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Review:
This book is inevitably compared to Bossypants by Tina Fey. Even the author makes the comparison early in the book. And frankly, I enjoyed Fey's book a bit more than this one. But still, this is an enjoyable collection of the author's stories and thoughts. I enjoyed hearing her read it aloud in the audiobook. I preferred the memoir and personal stories to the more direct humor pieces (e.g., the story about being insulted by a soccer player in high school was much better than the list of alternate titles for the book).

There is one moment that really made the book for me. The author discusses her feelings toward skinniness in a way that perfectly resonated for me. She describes how she'd like to be skinnier, but not more than she'd like to do a lot of other things and that it's just not a high enough priority and that, yeah, it bothers her sometimes, but not too much. Of course, she was able to say this more concisely and more humorously than I can write it here.

Definitely a good way to make a long car ride more enjoyable.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 320

Okay, if we are doing the vertical B line:

B1 (Group Reads) - Joanna (1), Rosemary (1), Sam (1)
B2 (Picador/Virago) - Sam or Rosemary (Picador), Joanna (Virago)
B3 (30 LiT) - Rosemary (20), Sam (10)
B4 (10.1 + 15 pt) - Joanna or Rosemary or Sam (15 pt.), Joanna or Sam (10.1)
B5 (40 Review) - first 4 posts for RWS tasks

Or, what about the vertical N?

N1 (25 Jumbo) - Sam Illium (10); Joanna (10), Deedee (5)
N2 (20.4 ea. country) - Joanna (Australia), Rosemary (Russia), Anyone have China?
N3 - FREE
N4 (10.8, 20.8) - Joanna (either)
N5 (3 15 pt) - Joanna, Sam, Rosemary

If we complete B3 by getting 30 LiT points, we'd have to get an additional 30 LiT points if we wanted to claim O2, correct?

I am not at a real computer, so can't do my organizing tonight, but should be on tomorrow afternoon with plans. I have Atwood slated for 10.2, so can definitely get that one.

20.9 Politics

Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman

Review:
Nearly five stars. This is a book with an agenda. This is not merely a biography of these two Supreme Court Justices, though it does cover quite a bit of biographical information. This is a book about feminism and the women's legal civil rights movement. The decisions and careers are described through the lens of the effect on women and women's rights. The author is unapologetic about her view that women should be treated as full, dignified, equal participants in setting their own destinies. That women should have control over their own reproductive decisions as a facet of that equality. That women should be treated as equals under the law, protected from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. These positions are the starting point here. They aren't open to debate in this book - Hirshman isn't here to discuss whether it wouldn't be better for society if women were protected in their roles as mothers. She's openly critical of decisions that veer from this path. Thus, this is a book that praises Ginsberg more than O'Connor as the bolder advocate of women's rights.

There's plenty of gossipy stories here - information from former clerks and from the private papers of various Justices. Sometimes the book veers into chattiness instead of a more academic examination of a body of law. Sometimes (but not often) the author oversimplifies the issues being decided in the cases described. But these are minor quibbles in what is really an impressive and generally academic book.

But mostly, there's a really interesting and compelling theme of how the life experiences of these women impacted their opinions. And how their opinions (and changes thereto) can be tracked through their decisions. And how different approaches to the politics of decisions complemented one another.

The narrator for the audiobook does a good job with the text, though not a particularly memorable one.

Highly recommended, especially to lawyers, and especially to women lawyers.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7 - S)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 300

20.6 War

Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

Review:
I wasn't thrilled by this book. I've been meaning to read this since at least 2007 and it's been sitting on my shelf unloved and unread since then. I finally picked it up, and I have to say I'm disappointed. The writing was good, mostly. But the pacing was just terrible. The first half of the book was an interesting but somewhat dragging story of a little-known pocket of WWII: the Italian and German occupation of Cephalonia (a Greek island). Then, the book moved to a post-war roundup wherein implausible fates were assigned to various characters and an infuriating ending was presented. I plan to watch the 2001 movie with Nicolas Cage even though he seems like a terrible pick for the lead.

+20 Task (WWII list)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7 - C)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 260

20.5 London Calling

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Review:
I am glad that someone recommended this series to me, and even more glad to have found the audio versions. The narrator is fantastic and I think it's his performance that is really making this an enjoyable series. He manages to do voices for different characters and different accents quite smoothly. This installment continues the world-building that started in the first book and makes the characters and their backgrounds more complete. I hope there's more magic in the next books in the series -- the magic was the one piece of the world-building that seemed to get left behind in this installment. We got a lot of family relationships and character histories, but not much new on the magical side.

+20 Task (#122)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7 - M)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 225

How many people are you anticipating per team?

This is so fun! I'm in.

10.10 Group Reads

Dispatches by Michael Herr

Review:
I don't know how I managed not to hear about this book sooner. It's not as though it isn't famous, but it had never caught my attention until it was picked as a group read for Reading With Style. I loved the writing style here. This was honest reporting and war journalism of a kind that I haven't read much before. Like The Things They Carried, the book describes real experiences in heartbreaking detail. Unlike that book, the author here relays his own story of the effect that being in Vietnam had on him and the story of how journalists were perceived. Very interesting book and I'm really glad that someone picked it.

The narrator of the audiobook did an excellent job with this.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.6)

Task total: 25
Grand total: 190

20.1 South America

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
Lexile: 1030

Review:
Engaging, but not as good as I was hoping. The author had some cool ideas for this story, but the characters were largely two-dimensional and the descriptions of the fantasy elements often felt rushed. Still, I stayed up extra late last night to finish it. I wonder if something was lost in translation here. I've been wanting to read something by this author, but I probably should have just gone forward with one of her adult books rather than looking at this one. I'd hoped this might be one that I could read with my son, but I think it's a bit too mature for a seven year old, even one who enjoyed Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I don't own a copy of the second book of the series, but I might pick it up if I happen to see it at the library some time.

+20 Task (b. Peru)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.7 - C; 20.7 - IA; 20.10)
+10 Lost in translation

Task total: 55
Grand total: 165

15.2 5YTS
Time Traveler - 2016-1966

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

+15 Task (pub. 2011)
+5 Nonfiction

Task total: 20
Grand total: 110

How about Winger by Andrew Smith?

Winger is the nickname given to the narrator and what he's called by his mates on the rugby team, but it isn't his given name.

20.3 Winners

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Review:
I previously tried to read the kindle version of this book and gave up after about 10% of the text.

This time around, it was selected by a book club, so I picked up the audio version. The audio is definitely the best way to experience this book. Jarring transitions that felt clunky and confusing in print were handled quite skillfully by the narrator and with important pauses that made them easier to go with. Also, hearing the description of the shifting emotional state of the narrator as she described getting increasingly drunk worked much better as an oral recounting than it did in print.

The most interesting aspect of this book was, surprisingly, not the plot or the mystery. The discussion of (semi-)functional alcoholism and the effect of blackouts on regular life was the part of the book that made the book worth reading. The plot, while driving the story forward, was rather predictable. Plus, the characters were so dislikeable and irrational that I didn't much care what happened to them.

I don't quite understand the amount of hype this book has received, but I'd definitely want to see the movie if I have the time. Not really a recommended book, but if you're going to read it, go for the audio.

+20 Task (Audie Award 2016 [and well deserved])
+10 Review

Task total: 30
Grand total: 90

15.1 5YTS Time Traveler (1966-2016)

Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs

+15 Task
+5 Nonfiction (memoir)

Task total: 20
Grand total: 60

A God in Ruins combos with 20.10.

20.2 The Gods

Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson

Review:
There's something about Winterson's writing that just reaches deep into my heart when I read it. This wasn't my favorite of her books, but I still really enjoyed it.

This is a retelling of the Atlas and Hercules stories. The focus is primarily on Atlas, but Hercules also plays a large part. And Hera and Zeus make appearances as well. The book is best read with at least passing familiarity with the stories and characters because references to storylines are rarely fleshed out and detailed. Instead, the stories are used as scenery -- and as street signs, as decorations -- in the playful language and retelling. Explicitly, "I want to tell the story again."

Yes, there are graphic and perhaps gratuitous sexual images. Yes, her interpretation here isn't completely original or new. No, she's not the only person to connect the story of Atlas with the story of Jesus. And, yes, the book is ultimately more about Winterson herself than insight into Hercules or Atlas. But I liked it. I looked forward to coming back to it. And I was sad when it was over.

Happily, I have Winterson's actual autobiography, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? slated to listen to soon. She reads it herself. And it's explicitly about herself. I'm looking forward to that one.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.10)

Task total: 40
Grand total: 40

How about Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers

Carter Beats the Devil

I'm slotting in Moon Over Soho, which is currently at #122. I know these lists sometimes move around a bit. Is it enough that it's on the list when I start the book or does it have to still be high enough on the list when I post?

15.10 WotW

Rhine River Basin: France

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

+15 Task (Author nationality/setting)
+20 Bonus

Task total: 35
Grand total: 1040

+100 WotW finish
+200 Mega finish

Grand total: 1340