Apple’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2021)

Apple’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

I also feel like I am all over the place. I have read plenty, but lots of repeats, because I keep getting distracted by some shiny new, or new to me, book, and the overwhelming desire to read that instead.

I have surpassed my planed 160 books for the year, am keeping a step ahead on 10% non-fiction, am at pace for 50% women authors, so that is pleasing.

I am just over halfway on my planned 1001 target, and have plenty planned, but as mentioned, distracted.

Am also just over halfway through the number of countries / nationalities I wanted to read, so am trying to squeeze more of those in, so adding to the distraction ...

10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Scrabble score 49

+10 task
+5 multiple

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 645

...; ...; 10.3 (x3); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x4); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; 20.4; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8 (x2); ....; 20.10 (x2)

20.4 Golden Age

The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham
First published in 1953

Two books about first contact that occurs beneath the water seems like it would be something quite statistically unlikely, but it has happened!

In some ways this is a little like The War of the Worlds, perhaps because it is in the UK, and the narration is like a reportage / story told after the climax of the even, although in this case there is no resolution, and the reportage is happening all along as our lead characters, Mike and Phyl Watson work in radio broadcasting, and get the chance to tag along on lots of interesting events in the uncovering of what the situation occuring is as the story develops.

The scenes of alien attacks are unlike any that I have seen considered before, even in all the sci-fi television I have watched over the years I don't think I have seen an alien that quite matches the ones in here in their appearance or ability. It is very strange, and I can imagine would have been a bit more frightening back in 1953.

Interestingly, although the cause of environmental change in the later part of the novel is extraterrestrial in its source, it did make me think about climate change and rising sea levels. There are many places in the world, including London, that will be impacted as sea levels rise, and I think there is a sense of hope at the end, despite the devastation behind them, that the human race will find a way to regroup and survive.

+20 task
+5 oldies
+10 review

Post Total = 35
Season Total = 630

...; ...; 10.3 (x3); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; 20.4; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8 (x2); ....; 20.10 (x2)

20.8 Morrison

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

This was not the first time I had picked up this book, and it was quite a challenge. The first time I didn't get very far through, although it is quite short, but it really was such a hard read that I had to wait a bit to give it another go.

If you can get passed the first part, narrated by Yeong-hye's husband, then it becomes a different novel, and is not as difficult, but this part is not fun. Yeong-hye's husband is quite a piece of work before she decides not to eat meat. In fact, she becomes vegan, as she gets rid of all animal based products from her life. I found it strange that this was such a critical thing for him and her family, I have spent time not eating meat, my daughter has been vegetarian for many years, and my mum was vegetarian for around 20 years, so in our lives this is not a big thing. I wonder if it is / was a cultural Korean things, as I am guessing the attitudes to women expressed were. For me, this was probably the most horrible part (although Yeong-hye's dreams are pretty graphic and horrific).

If you can get passed this point, there is beauty in the novel, even if it is not conventional, and there is certainly a lot of madness and mental ill health going on. The art work by Yeong-hye's brother-in -law sounds beautiful, but I wonder, like Jake the other artist does, if it really needed to be sexualized. However, I am somewhat sympathetic to the brother-in-law, who seems like he is also an outsider that no one seems to understand, including other artists, and don't find him as reprehensible as his wife comes to see him.

This is certainly not for everyone, the portrayal of Yeong-hye's decline into her mental illness is quite graphic and sad, so be very careful if choosing to read this.

I am definitely going to give Han Kang another try at some point down the track.

+20 task
+10 prizeworthy (International Booker Prize 2016; San Clemente Rosalía-Abanca Prize for Foreign Language 2018)
+5 multiple
+10 review
Post Total = 45
Season Total = 595

...; ...; 10.3 (x3); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8 (x2); ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.3 Vowels

The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

+10 task
+5 multiple
+5 oldies (1972)
+5 prizeworthy (Hugo Award for Best Novella (1973)

Post Total = 25
Season Total = 550

...; ...; 10.3 (x3); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.9 Celebration of Styles

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Aged, McCarthy was 89 when he passed

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 525

...; ...; 10.3 (x2); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.3 Vowels

Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz

This is my second book by Babitz, and I think I preferred this to Eve's Hollywood, perhaps because this time I knew what to expect.

If you are on the book page, it tells you that readers also enjoyed multiple books by Joan Didion. The only similarity between Babitz and Didion is they both write about California, but their style and the California they love are very different. Coming to Babitz from Didion, it was hard to like the first read, Didion is like poetry, Babitz if like going to dinner and talking to a girlfriend. There is nothing wrong with this, and they both makes pleasureable reads, but you can't carry the expectations of the one to the other.

Babitz writes about the Hollywood and LA that I think an outsider expects to see, but with the love and understanding of an insider. It is a world most people will never know, and she doesn't try to dispel the mystery of it, rather she shares her insider experience of it, her own awe of people and love of place, and takes you along for the ride.

+10 task
+5 oldies (1977)
+10 review
+5 multiple

Post Total = 30
Season Total = 510

...; ...; 10.3 (x2); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.8 Celebration of Styles

“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
Not a Novel

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 480

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.7 Celebration of Styles

Marzahn, mon amour by Katja Oskamp
Lost in Translation, translated from German

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 465

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.3 Vowels

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov

+10 task
+5 oldies (1988)

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 450

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.6 Celebration of Styles

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
1001

+15 task

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 435

10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.5 Celebration of Styles

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky
Young, Irene Nemirovsky was 39 when she died

+15 task

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 420

10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

20.1 Author! Author!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

I didn't plan to read this, but I saw Joanne had read the second book in the series, and it just happened to work for something else I needed to fill elsewhere. To be honest, until I saw Joanne's post, I knew nothing about it.

The synopsis says that Arthur Less is a failed novelist. I don't think that is really fair, he has published 2 or 3 novels, and I think if you get passed the first one you are not failing. What I would say, is that Arthur Less is someone who is a little unsure of himself, he doesn't feel he is quite good enough, and exacerbating this is the fact that his former lover is getting married and has invited him to the wedding.

To escape, Arthur takes on a trip to 5 or 6 countries around the world, which continue to prove that Arthur is not unsuccessful, he is just a little different, and this adventure is pleasant enough.

The novel seems to look at what is love, how do we love, is love forever, can you choose love, and what is happiness. I did find it somewhat predictable though, and incredibly frustrating that he is referred to as Less rather than Arthur throughout the book.

I had accidentally ordered the second book from the library first, so I will read that soon, but this was only a 3.5 stars from me.

+20 task
+10 Prizeworthy (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2018; Australian Book Industry Award for International Book 2019)
+5 multiple
+10 review

Post Total = 45
Season Total = 405

10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

15.4 Celebration of Styles

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Young, Becky Chambers was born in 1985

Post Total =15
Season Total = 360


10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4;
20.1 (x2); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

20.1 Author! Author!

Lessons by Ian McEwan
Approved in help thread, main character, Roland, is a poet

I am trying to work out why I own, and have read, so many Ian McEwan books. They are fine, but nothing has ever really moved me the way a Haruki Murakami will. And this, is probably my least favourite so far.

There are some fine points in this, when the story deals with Roland's relationships with the various women in his life, and with his son, when he is reading the journals of his mother-in-law as she travels through Germany in search of the White Rose and to pursue her own writerly ambitions. These, however, are constantly interrupted as McEwan moves to the larger scale - the Cuban missile crisis, the pulling down of the Berlin Wall (aso featured in his Black Dogs), Chernobyl, the Pandemic ... it just felt like there was too much that McEwan was trying to squeeze into the one book, and that it detracted from whatever story it was he was trying to tell.

Was it the story of the damage and missed opportunities Roland had experienced due to his relationship with his piano teacher? Was it a study of what a successful life looks like, and what sacrifices need to be made to ensure that success? Was it a book about the nature of love?

I am not sure what the intent was, but I think, just as I have learnt with pizza making, McEwan needs to try the less-is-more approach, and let the story speak for itself.

+20 task
+10 review
+5 multiple

Post Total =35
Season Total = 345


10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3;
20.1 (x2); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task

Three Miles Down by Harry Turtledove
(I planned 3 books for this task, and they all seemed to need to be ready in a row - this one because it is a library book, due back now!)

To be honest, there was no real reason why I read this, except it was half falling off the shelf when I went to my RL book club one time, and it looked like it might be fun.

The main character, Jerry, IS fun. He is a marine biology grad student who write sci fi in his spare time, who somehow ends up on a ship that is pretending to be mining, to hide the fact that it is going to raise a sunk Russian Sub, which is hiding the fact that they are actually going to try to raise the sunken spaceship that seems to have been the cause of the sunken submarine. All this, in the middle of the Watergate scandal.

The way Jerry thinks, is a little left field. He's not quite a hippy, so maybe it's all that sci fi he has read. It is certainly different to all the other characters he ends up working with, and he is careful in how he navigates those relationships.

And, whilst the story is interesting, and Jerry is interesting, the way it is told is often repetitive and the same lines and ideas seem to roll across the page again, and again. I don't think we needed to read Jerry's thoughts on Nixon and Watergate so much, just keep it to the highlights and tell the more interesting story here!

An okay read, and at times entertaining, but not a book I will probably remember much of in 12 months time.
+10 task
+5 multiple
+10 review

Post Total =25
Season Total = 310


10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3;
20.1; ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

My RL book club is reading Ian McEwan's Lessons, and the lead character Roland (story told from childhood and adult persepectives) is a poet. Will this work?

Post 123 Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Jayme, Celebration of Styles requires 10 different authors and you claimed a book by Anne McCaffrey for 15.1. I see she works for 10.3 Vowels or there may be another task you’d like to use this for. Let us know what you’d like to do.

Hi Elizabeth, I have also made this mistake and used Sayaka Murata for 15.1 and 15.2 :(

Can I please move 15.1 (Post 42) to 20.8 Morrison

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

You very quickly come to the conclusion that perhaps our narrator, Keiko, would be diagnosed with some condition that she has difficulty understanding social and interpersonal cues.

She finds comfort and safety in the routines and rules that dictate her part-time job at the convenience store, and imitates the speech, both words and style, and appearance of those around her so she seems to fit in.

When a strange man comes to work at the convenience store, one less adept at fitting in than she is, her life is about to change.

This is an interesting look at society and its expectations, and how those who don't fit in and how they try to make it work, or how they are impacted by, and react to, the way they are treated.

A short, sharp book about self discovery and whether it is better to be part of society or be true to oneself, this was completely enjoyable.

+20 task
+10 review
+5 prizeworthy (Akutagawa Prize 2016)

Post Total = 35
New Season Total = (220-15+35=) 240


10.6; 10.7 (x2);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3;
20.1; ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)

A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
Scrabble Score = 29

+10 task
+10 oldies
+5 multiple

Post Total = 25
Season Total = 265

10.6; 10.7 (x2);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4;
20.1; ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; ....; ....; 20.10 (x2)

10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Scrabble score = 23

+10 task
+10 oldies

Post Total = 20
Season Total = 240

10.6; 10.7;
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4;
20.1; ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; ....; ....; 20.10 (x2)