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

Joanna’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.5 Favorite Authors

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

I can't really believe I've read 13 of these books. But I always enjoy dipping into this series, and, as always, James Marsters does an impressive job with the narration of the audiobook. I like Harry Dresden and the world Jim Butcher has created. I'm tolerant of the underlying sexism in the book because it's a fun series and the sexism seems intentional and somewhat tongue-in-cheek rather than just accidental. This isn't a series to pick up in the middle -- there's too much character development and complicated plotlines for that. I'm sure I'll continue this series the next time I want a plot-heavy audio to carry me through a long boring drive or a weekend with a lot of chores.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2)
+5 Series

Task total: 30
Grand total: 610

itpdx wrote: "Three hours commuting! "

Actually, it's a total of 1.5 hours -- about 45 minutes each way. I couldn't handle 3 hours a day.

But yes, probably about half the books I read I listen to in audio format rather than reading in print. Also, I sometimes have meetings that require driving 2-4 hours each way...

I've been listening to many fewer audiobooks over the past year because I used to listen to them while commuting, but I now have a carpool many days. I love the conversation and not having to drive every day. I have been listening to audios during my morning walks and while doing chores around the house, but it's not the sustained daily 1.5 hours that I have when driving alone.

10.7 Cozy Mystery

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
Lexile 960

I liked this book more than the first in the series. Somehow, Flavia seemed more likeable and less creepy here; maybe I'm just getting used to her as a character. Again, I found the reader for the audiobook to do a good job and think these sorts of first-person narration translate extremely well to audio format.

I got a bit bogged down in the chemistry details, which might have been easier to follow in print than in the audio. Still, I found the setting wonderful -- I love the idea of Flavia trolling about on Gladys (her bicycle) through the English countryside. I was much more interested in the setting and the country characters than the actual mystery, but I suppose that's typical of cozy mysteries. I think I'll give this series a rest for a bit, but I can imagine picking up the next one at some point.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Series (see post #290)
+15 Combo (10.8 - Canada, 10.9 - 3.98, 20.1 - approved in help)

Task total: 45
Grand total: 580

Tien wrote: "Joanna wrote: "10.2 No L, No L

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

I've only read the first book, Joanna, and I thought it's more of a 'drama' sort of books rather than espionage etc. "

That's a fair comment. It's not really espionage as much as secret police and government machinations. But still pretty far afield from something that would have normally attracted my interest. Maybe this is a sign that I should read more political thriller type books.

20.8 Best of 2015

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

An emotional, raw, powerful book that evades clear categorization or description. It's poetry, raw emotion, prose, criticism, art. I found that I had to take breaks from reading because the book was so provocative. It made real for me the power of micro aggression in a way that I knew but hadn't felt. The book is both personal and general, meditating on Rankine's own experiences as well as news stories and current events. The descriptions of Serena Williams were particularly powerful.

The only weak point in the book is Part VI, which provides scripts from certain multi-media pieces. But without the rest of the multimedia component, the scripts didn't stand alone.

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 30
Grand total: 530

For Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith:

"And he invokes a vivid sense of place."
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

10.2 No L, No L

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

I can't put my finger on why I'm enjoying this trilogy as much as I am. I don't normally go in for spy novels and Russian intrigue and secret police and the like. But I've fallen for these characters and found the plot gripping and interesting. This book faces head on the question of atonement and whether persecutors who have committed atrocities in the name of a state should have the opportunity for repentance and forgiveness. The book manages to look at these questions from different perspectives without slipping into moralizing or straying from the thriller plot complete with violence, kidnapping, revenge and prison riots. I'm definitely interested in reading the third in the series.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Series (see post 345)
+15 Combo (10.9 - 3.77, 20.1 - approved in help, 20.6)

Task total: 45
Grand total: 500

20.3 Toni Morrison

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley is quickly finding a place on my list of authors I'm always happy to read. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel because the characters are so well-drawn and the book is overall so polished. While it's not without flaws, I was completely absorbed by these characters and have a reader's crush on Easy Rawlins. Unlike most noir detectives, I can totally see why the women around Easy are falling over themselves to be with him. I think I liked Leonid McGill (from The Long Fall) slightly more than Easy Rawlins, but maybe what I really liked was the more recent Manhattan setting compared to the 1948 Los Angeles setting here.

My local library sadly doesn't have these books on the shelf, but I was able to get it from the state library system. I'm sure these would be great as audiobooks as well, so maybe I'll turn to audible for the next in the series.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.9 - 3.92; 20.1)
+5 Series
+5 Oldies (pub. 1990)

Task total: 50
Grand total: 455

20.1 Grazia Deladda

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

I first read this book ten or fifteen years ago. Then a couple of coworkers formed a reading group to read this and I agreed to revisit it. We started it in September, got almost halfway through by the end of November, then finished up through December and January. So at least our timing allowed me to read it over two seasons of RWS.

The book is incredibly long and difficult. I'm still not sure it's "worth it," but I really enjoyed the chance to discuss it approximately weekly with others who were making their way through the book. It's a much less frustrating reading experience the second time through since I knew what I was getting into and had enough memory of the storylines to have an easier time keeping them all straight. Still, the ending is completely unsatisfying, which is especially frustrating after such a long and trying book. I'm giving it four stars this time through; I only gave it three the last time. I doubt that I will ever feel compelled to revisit this one, but I'm pleased to have had the chance to read it with others.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+25 Jumbo (1088 pgs)

Task total: 55
Grand total: 405

20.9 Winnie-the-Poo

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Librivox can be hit or miss, but this version (read by Nick Bulka) is excellent. Mr. Bulka did a truly professional quality job with the book, complete with certain singing passages and characterizations for the different voices. Overall, the book is a wonderful period piece that feels fresh even 135 years later. Very enjoyable British humor and humor of the A Confederacy of Dunces anti-hero sort. The book traces a boat trip of the three men -- Jerome, George, and Harris, along with the dog Montmorency. I'm glad to now know the reference for To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Very enjoyable read. I'm glad that this book was recommended by Reading with Style.

+20 Task (pub. 1889)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - 3.92, 10.10)
+10 Oldies

Task total: 55
Grand total: 350

20.1 Grazia Deledda

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Review:

I was thrilled when my book club picked this book. I first read this book years ago and loved it then. Reading it again now, after being married for over ten years, I have a very different perspective on the book. The book traces the story of the protagonist's grandparents as they move through the American West living in mining towns and dreaming of irrigation plans. But the story isn't just historical; Lyman Ward, the narrator who is researching the lives of his grandparents and telling their story, comes through as a complicated character himself, dealing with an illness that has left him wheelchair bound and in pain, abandoned by his wife. The characters in this book are so real I feel I've known them personally. They are imperfect and frustrating yet not unlikable. An absolutely fantastic book that I'm really glad to have had a reason to revisit.

The audio version, which was available through Hoopla at my local library, is a great way to experience the book. Because the book is first-person narration, it translates perfectly to audio format and the narrator does a nice job capturing the voice of Lyman Ward, as well as providing characterizations for Susan and Oliver.

+20 Task (on approved author list)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1971)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 290

For The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

From an amazon.uk review:

Having read CHILD 44 last year, I have been awaiting Tom Rob Smith's next offering with huge interest. WOW! He more than delivers in THE SECRET SPEECH. The characterisations are simply brilliant and his sense of place incredible with well integrated plot twists. BRILLIANT!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Speech...

20.6 Svetlana Alexievich

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Review:

The paranoia and senselessness of Stalinist Russia envelops the reader in this book that manages to combine a serial killer detective story with historical fiction with true crime. I picked this up after reading and enjoying The Farm by the same author. The books are totally different from one another, but both manage to build suspense and tell a great story and both capture their respective atmospheres (here, Russia; there, Sweden). This book is way outside my normal reading choices which rarely turn to serial killers or to spy novels or to books set in Russia. But I'm very tempted to immediately read the next in the trilogy. I've become attached to these characters and completely intrigued by the setting. Highly recommended if you can stomach the senseless violence of the regime and the grimness of the setting and the relatively grisly descriptions of child murders.

+20 task
+10 review
+5 series
+5 combo (20.1 - approved in help thread)
+5 jumbo (509 pgs)

Task total: 45
Grand total: 255

10.8 Winter Solstice

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
950 lexile

Review:
This was a fun read. I found Flavia both creepy and compelling in approximately equal parts. A know-it-all eleven year old who puts poison ivy in her sister's lipstick? But a courageous and somewhat charming detective. I was glad that I was listening to this as an audiobook because it allowed me to listen gloss over some of the long chemistry descriptions that were of little interest and to really hear the book in Flavia's voice. The narrator did an excellent job capturing the voice. I couldn't help comparing Flavia to the girl in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, maybe with a bit more Anne of Green Gables mixed in. I'll definitely listen to the next book in the series.

+10 Task (Canada)
+10 Review
+5 Series
+10 Combo (10.9 - 3.79; 20.1 - approved in help thread)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 210

10.6 Australia Day

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

Review:
Colonization is traumatic for all involved. The colonists understand nothing. Violence ensues. Early settlers trying to make lives for themselves find it convenient to believe that the people who already live there aren't really people at all. One of the most poignant scenes for me was when the white wife (Sal) visits the camp of the nearby natives for the first time and realizes that they really are people with kids, families, tools, housing, and everything else. I've never been to Australia or to the Hawkesbury River, but the book brought the place to life. I wish there had been much more insight into the side characters (the wife and kids of the protagonist, for example). Maybe the later books in the series tackle some of that, or maybe they just march forward in time.

I enjoyed this book enough that I'd read the next book in the series, but I had no urge to rush out and find a copy immediately.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.9 - 3.78, 20.1 - approved in help thread)
+5 Series

Task total: 35
Grand total: 175

10.10 Group Reads

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

This book was recommended by this group - and I'm glad it was. I had never heard of this and vaguely associated this author with Russian spy novels (which I guess is fair enough since Child 44 seems to be his most popular). The book presents a fairly interesting case study of paranoia and a bit of guessing about the reliability of different narrators. I found the book compelling and raced through it in a couple of days reading the kindle edition on my phone. I enjoyed the writing enough that I've already downloaded and started reading a copy of Child 44. I can see why people expecting a thriller or a spy novel would find this book boring or off the mark, but for a book evoking a sense of doom and gloom in remote Sweden, I found it suitably creepy and compelling. Recommended.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - 3.52, 20.1 - approved in help thread)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 140

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The Cozy Mystery must be in the genre section on the book page and have at least 10 users. Having it on the Cozy Mystery shelf without being on the book page is not enough."

I am not sure I understand the distinction that's being made here.

I think The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag counts, right? But The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie doesn't because cozy is too far down to appear on the main page even though there are 50 tags for it. Is that right?

For Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith:

"The historical contextualisation and sense of place is good throughout...

http://theviewfromthebluehouse.blogsp...

I think I should also have 5 jumbo points at this point, but it isn't listed on the Readerboard. Just wanting to make sure I didn't miss a correction or something.

Thanks.