Joanna’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 17, 2010)
Joanna’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,621-1,640 of 2,307
15.1 DominoesThe Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
+15 Task (Author born in the UK)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 105
Another one...For The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
http://connies-pen.blogspot.com/2015/...
The characters are engaging, the pace is fluid, and the sense of place envelopes the reader.
AND
http://www.worldwisebeauty.com/tag/li...
it touched me emotionally and also enchanted me with its ‘sense of place’ ( France)
For The Secret River by Kate Grenville:https://musingsofaliterarydilettante....
"Grenville’s writing is evocative; her sense of place is exacting.
AND
https://literature.britishcouncil.org...
As well as invoking a partial history of Australian colonisation and English imperialism, The Secret River is also imbued with a sense of place...
10.9 Realistic RatingsWe Are Water by Wally Lamb
Review:
A flawed book, full of flawed characters and excessive sprawl that made the book feel either far to long or not nearly long enough. The audiobook narrators, a full cast, valiantly tried to control the narrative and give each character's story a unique voice. Really, their performance is almost enough to push this from three stars to four. Sadly, I walked away from the book feeling that I had learned nothing of value about human stories or emotions. After 23 hours with these characters, I have very little to say. I'm very glad not to have read this with my book club because this would inevitably be one of those discussions that amounts to a conversation about which characters were liked and which disliked.
The book also suffered from not knowing how to get off stage. The ending was one of those epilogues that almost always leave me unsatisfied and this one was a failure.
Go read one of Lamb's other books instead.
+10 Task (3.77)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (561 pgs.)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 90
And one for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet:http://mybookclubreviews.com/tag/hote...
"This novel, in particular, had a great sense of place – the smell of salt, the rain and mud at the fairground, chinatown and japantown."
I've substantially shifted my book dominoes plan because my real life bookclub slated one of my books from the plan for August, so I don't want to read it now.Could anyone who is so inclined please take a look at the revised plan in Post #8 and make sure you don't see any issues?
How about this for Bel CantoHere’s a bit from Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel, Bel Canto (PEN Faulkner Award). It’s an amazing work; I read it in a few wonderful evenings. A beautiful piece of writing, a mix of suspense and romance . . . with lots of unspoken advice for other writers in its pages.
The novel relies on a clear and definite “sense of place."
http://www.greatlakeslit.com/category...
I need to move a book already.In post #8, I posted Sarah's Key for 20.4. I'd like to move it to 20.7. There is no change in points from this.
Thanks!
Would this be okay:Read the January, February, or March selections for my real life book club (which will be selected Dec. 8).
These are:
January: Angle of Repose
February: The Little Paris Bookshop
March: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Also, for The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Baghttp://www.bukowskiagency.com/Weed.htm
“It's the evocation of her world that provides these books with such solid underpinnings. There are some memorable narrative setpieces … but at times, the crimes seem a mere makeweight: the characters and sense of place are what count.” — THE DAILY NEWS (NANAIMO)
Here are the reviews for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie from amazon.ca:http://www.amazon.ca/The-Sweetness-at...
This is at the bottom of the description, where it says "Praise from the CWA Dagger Award judges" --
the author creates such a strong sense of time and place.
AND
and the sense of place is beautifully described, particularly when telling the history of the house and its inhabitants.
10.3 Science Fiction DayThe Martian by Andy Weir
Review:
So, this wasn't actually a good book. The writing was fairly mediocre. The characters, other than the primary protagonist, were mostly interchangeable and lacking in much personality. There wasn't actually much character development despite the ongoing brink-of-survival problem solving. But it was an entertaining read. I read the whole thing in two days, even staying up late to finish it. I got caught up in the what-will-happen-next race for survival and I liked the idea of the world coming together for a grand-scale rescue mission. I'll definitely watch the movie at some point. So, three stars for keeping me entertained for two full days of doctor's appointments and such, but no extra stars as it isn't actually all its hyped to be.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2 - Noel)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 65
20.4 Elfriede JelinekSarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Review:
I breezed through this relatively short audiobook in just a couple of days. On the one hand, I knew nothing of the historical story and was interested to hear about the Vel d'Hiv roundup of Jews in Paris in 1942. On the other hand, the present day portion of this story bored me. I didn't like or care about Julia, the reporter who discovered the story and found a family connection between her French husband and one of the children whose family was rounded up. While it felt like the book wanted to say something about the place of history and the value of truth and reconciliation, the message never crystallized for me. Overall, I think there are much more interesting books about different aspects of WWII that I'd recommend instead of this one.
+20 Task (translated from French)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2 - Noel, 20.7 - #171)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 40
15.10 TtUS - Land CruiserFlorida
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
Lexile: 810
Task total: 30
Completion bonus: 100
Grand total: 720
Got one more almost finished -- we'll see if I make it tonight.
15.9 TtUS - Land CruiserGeorgia
Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson
Task total: 30
Grand total: 590
15.8 TtUS - Land CruiserSouth Carolina
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Task total: 25
Grand total: 560
15.7 TtUS - Land CruiserNorth Carolina
First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
Task total: 25
Grand total: 535
15.6 TtUS - Land CruiserVirginia
Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent
Task total: 25
Grand total: 510
