Reading with Style discussion
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Fall 2012 Rws Completed Tasks - Fall 2012
Know your ABC's - round 215.1 - 1st Book - letter M (1996)
Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier
+ 15 Task Total
Grand Total: 455
20.8 - Kate S' Task - Veteran's Day, November 11thPublished from 1949-1970
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Review
This book left me with some conflicted feelings. On the one hand It was beautifully written, and the prose was lyrical. I found the story engaging and the book kept me captivated from beginning to end. The characters were intriguing, and the story was thought provoking. I quite enjoyed the ideas which were put forth in the book.
But one thing I must say is that perhaps the description provided for this book was somewhat misleading. I had in mind something a bit more dystopic in nature, and I was thinking that it would be something a bit more along the lines of A Clockwork Orange. While this book did have a disturbing element to it, it was presented in a way that did not in truth unsettle me in the way I had been expecting and hoping for when I started reading. In a way I was waiting for more to happen.
While I did enjoy the book and I am glad that I read it, I must say that I did find it to be on the whole anti-climatic and I do not think there is anything within it that will in fact linger with me for long after I have read it. It did not make a strong long lasting impression.
But it was a beautiful and interesting read.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.4 -- LGBT author & 20.10 -- author committed suicide)
+5 Multiple
+10 Review
+5 Oldies
Total Taks Points: 50
Grand Total 315
RwS Task20.3 – In honor of Edgar Allen Poe’s Tales
Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories by Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie does it again! Half of the stories in this collection are new and half are collected from his already brilliant body of work. Reading the collected stories was like visiting old friends and discovering new silver among the gold. I know that living near Seattle And having seen Alexie in person may enhance my love of his work, but the words really cut right to my heart. I think the impact of the story about donkey basketball hit me the hardest as a first read and "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" was my favorite re-read. If I re visit this review tomorrow, I'll probably change my mind because the stories are just that powerful! Highly recommended.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo: Combo: 20.7 Veteran’s Day (Alexie has published from 1991 – 2012)
+ 5 Multiple
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 870
AMENDMENT FOR POST 608 (thanks Karen GHHS)+05 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (20.8 “veteran” author)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Koo...
Grand Total: 760 + 05 = 765
Silver wrote: "20.8 - Kate S' Task - Veteran's Day, November 11thPublished from 1949-1970
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea..."
Silver, don't forget to include the author when you post. However, I know this was written Yukio Mishima and therefore it also qualifies for +10 combo points for 20.4 -- LGBT author & 20.10 -- author committed suicide.
Liz M wrote: "Silver wrote: "20.8 - Kate S' Task - Veteran's Day, November 11thPublished from 1949-1970
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea..."
Silver, don't forget to include the author when you po..."
Oops it slipped my mind this time. And thanks I did not know the author enough to be aware of that.
Task 15.5 - 5th book - letter S(1994)Hot Sky at Midnight (1994) by Robert Silverberg
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 765 + 20 = 785
Review: This was a science fiction novel set approximately 200 years in the future. The Earth is reeling from the effects of global warming and massive air pollution. The various characters are involved in projects (led by the Japanese) to ensure human survival in the face of ecological disaster. Additionally, the various characters have private lives and personal ambitions, which sometimes aides, and sometimes hinders, the save-humanity projects that they are involved in. One character had had his genes modified when he was in utero; he does not have eyes but instead has “blindsight” which is an alternative sensing mechanism. Sometimes Silverberg describes the action from his point of view, which was cool. I liked this novel. Recommended for science fiction fans.
15.10 1999-JWaiting by Ha Jin
+45 Task
+75 Graduate Bonus (A) 1994-2011
Task Total = 120
Grand total = 455
my review
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "15.10 1999-JWaiting by Ha Jin
+45 Task
+75 Graduate Bonus (A) 1994-2011
Task Total = 120
Grand total = 455
my review"
Congrats!
10.7 - Karen GHHS' Task - Monsterfest IVDeath with Interruptions by José Saramago
Review
One of the things which I really like about Saramago is the way in which he produces these unfathomable experiences and then explores the way in which society responds to these events and just what societies reactions say about us as humans and about society itself.
This was a very thought provoking book with a unique concept. I really enjoyed some of the philosophical discussions regarding death and the nature of death which are brought up within the book. I quite liked the prospects of their being more then one type of death, and that each of us dies our own individual death, while at the same time there is one great final Death as well.
There were many things I really found quite fascinating at the start of this book and I like some of the cultural questions which were raised, though towards the middle I felt the story started to drag a bit. Near the end my interest picked up again, but it also felt as if it had in fact turned into a completely different story, but I did finding the ending quite beautiful.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.8 - Kate S' Task - Veteran's Day, November 11th - Published from 1977-2012)
+10 Review
Total Task Points: 25
Grand Total: 340
15.7 - 7th book - Letter GLegend by David Gemmel (pub 1984) - Know your ABCs
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 870
20.3 Poe's TalesTortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce
+ 20 Task (no style points; low lexile)
Grand Total: 825
Know your ABC's - round 215.2 - 2nd Book - letter N (2000)
The Waterfall by Carla Neggers
+15 Task
Grand Total: 470
20.7 - Women of Achievement MonthThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
+20 Task (In Chapters 1 and 2, Ashima Ganguli and the nurse Patty have several conversations not about men as Ashima goes through the labor and delivery of Gogol.)
+ 5 Multiple
+10 Review
I have read both of Lahiri's short story collections, and was really excited about reading a novel by her. However I do think it falls a little short of the greatness of her short stories. But that doesn't mean it isn't good; it is very good. There are many similarities between her short stories and this novel. All of her writings feature well-educated, highly-achieving Bengalis making the adjustment to life in America. Usually there are sub-plots about their American-born offspring rebelling against their parents' attempts to maintain ties to Bengali culture. The biggest difference to me between the short stories and this novel is that the novel didn't have a really tight plot. Probably that is because it spans over 30 years in time, and covers all the major family events from the time that his parents agree to an arranged marriage and then move to America and raise a family. Basically the plot is about the main character Gogol's struggle dealing with his unusual first name. His struggle is both with his literal name and his actual self-identity. I really enjoy everything about Lahiri's writing, and hope she publishes another book soon.
Task total=35
Grand total=525
Knowing your ABC'sDoctorate bonus:
(A) 75 points if all 10 books are published within any 25-year period (1851-1875, 1932-1956, 1967-1991, etc.).
and
(B) 75 points if the books are read in chronological order (by original publication date) as well as alphabetic order (without repeating a year).
My reading list covers both A & B.
A: All novels were written within a 25 year period - 1985 to 2008
and
B: I read the novels in chronological order and by publication date, without repeating a year.
+200 Doctorate bonus
Total points 520
15.6 ABCs Sixth Book - Letter PThe Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners that Shook the World in the Summer of 1900 by Diana Preston (1999)
+ 20 Task
Grand Total : 390
20.6 In Honor of DraculaThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Review:
A very strange book. Dorian Gray, a beautiful and innocent young man, becomes horribly corrupt but stays looking young and gorgeous while a portrait of him gets ugly, old and mean-looking. The gothic plot (focusing on Dorian and the painter of the portrait, Basil Hallward, who is obsessed by him) is constantly undermined by the friend who originally corrupts Dorian, Lord Henry Wootton, whose dialogue is full of witty epigrams like Wilde's plays that give the novel a very stagey feel. In fact, Wilde even re-used some of the best lines in his plays. I prefer the plays, but this certainly has its moments.
+20 Task - from the Gothic Novels list
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2 Ireland, 10.3, 20.4 LGBT author)
+10 Oldies (pub.1890)
Task Total: 55 points
Grand Total: 885
RwS Task10.7 - Karen GHHS’ Task – Monsterfest IV
The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski
This book was really creepy. Danielewski really knows how to write in a way that builds a feeling of dread in the reader. His unique devices really support that spooky feeling in this book. I'm not sure that the multiple quotes he uses to indicate different narrators really worked for me, but the art did. It is described as a ghost story and the storyteller hired to tell the children a story at the party is that ghost as is the sword itself. The book is short, in fact although my copy was over 200 pages, it was a quick read that I plan to read more slowly again someday. Recommended for Halloween!
+10 Task: ghost
+ 5 Multiple
+10 Review
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 895
20.1 FrankensteinChiefs by Stuart Woods
I actually intended to read this in the summer, since Rebekah had chosen it as a group read. And then, of course, it just slipped off the radar and down the pile, leaving me a very pleasant surprise this fall. I really liked this book. It was not what I expected -- I enjoy thoughtful mysteries as well as thrillers, but I found this to be pretty unique. It's told in three parts, separated in 20-some year increments, all centered around the police business of a small Georgia town. The setting was established beautifully and it was interesting to watch the town shift ever so slightly, especially on the issues like racism and segregation that frame the book as much or more than the series of unsolved murders. I loved the connections woven throughout the three parts. The fact that you know who the murderer is from early in the book didn't detract from it at all, for me. I was fascinated, rather than frustrated, to see how various forces conspired to keep the murderer free.
+20 task (won the 1982 Edgar Allen Poe First Novel award)
+5 Combo (20.8 - Woods published from 1969 to 2012)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published in 1981)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 375
Task 15.6 - 6th book - letter T(1998)Night of Many Dreams: A Novel (1998) by Gail Tsukiyama
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 785 + 20 = 805
Review: This story follows a Chinese family; two sisters, their mother, their aunt and their cook through their lives, beginning in
Hong Kong in 1940. The focus is completely on the women in the family. (Men have occasional walk-on roles.) The author repeatedly mentions that the women are wearing a traditional Chinese dress called “cheongsam”. Repeatedly. The daughters made the transition from traditional to modern lifestyles with few, easily overcome obstacles. Overall, this book is a light, readable, upbeat novel about young Asian women who want a modern life outside the home.
10.5 International Elder DayTotal Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger1.
Review
No doubt Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived no ordinary life. I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of action movies and kind of blew him off as a dumb jock. Then he married Maria Shriver which surprised me as she seems quite the intellectual and later became governor of California. That could have been a fluke but the fact that he was re-elected evidenced that he had more in his head than iron plates. I found his story to be quite inspiring. The legendary immigrant who worked himself unmercilessly to become a success is the American Dream made flesh in this man. He set himself goals and against all odds, worked towards them until he won, whether it be Mr. Olympia for 6 times, becoming the highest paid actor, bringing fitness education to the forefront, obtaining a college degree or becoming governor and actually getting things done while in office. The book is pretty frank without becoming maudlin or overly vainglorious. He honestly describes his relationships and the infidelity that resulted in a child and in divorce. He doesn’t sugar coat it and doesn’t dwell on it so that it becomes sensationalism but just a fact that he regrets and atones for as best he can. At the end he gives advice for anyone wishing to meet their own goals. One I especially liked was “don’t blame your parents”. I gave this book 5 stars.
+ 10 pts - Task (author born in 1947. Book pub 2012)
+ 15 pts - Combo(10.6 elected governor of California, 10.8 seven words in title, 20.9 autobio of author)
+ 10 pts - Review
Task Total - 35 pts
Grand Total - 445 pts
Task 20.9 an author's autobiography, memoir or diaryI picked up this book after reading a review by Isabell:
Chapters from My Autobiography: 1906-1907 (1907) by Mark Twain
Also fits Task 10.5: a non-fiction book by an author that was 60 or older when it was published.: Twain was 70 when the publication of this began
Also fits Task 20.8 "veteran" author, one that has published books for 20 or more years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twa...
+20 Task
+10 Style:1. Combo (5 points): (10.5 author >60; 20.8 “veteran” author)
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points):
+10 Style:4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -76 to 150 years old: 10 points (1862-1936)
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 50
Grand Total: 805 + 50 = 855
From goodreads description: “Beginning in 1906, Clemens dictated a long and complex autobiographical manuscript. He published selected chapters from this extensive dictation in the North American Review, in 26 installments, and it is this version that is published here.”
My Review The autobiography contains anecdotes from various times in his life, in no particular order. On page 1, Twain says: “Moreover, this auto-biography of mine does not select from my life its showy episodes, but deals mainly in the common experiences which go to make up the life of the average human being”. The anecdotes are not in time order, so that a recollection of Mark Twain’s when he was a child would be followed by a fond memory of when his daughters were children. Many of the installments at the beginning of the book contain long passages from his daughter Suzy’s biography. Poor Suzy! She died rather suddenly from meningitis at the age of 24, before this autobiography was written, and the reader can tell that her presence is missed. Later ones include “everyday occurrences” during Twain’s travels along the Mississippi and the “Wild West” (Nevada?). Recommended for fans of Mark Twain, or for when you want a book you can dip into for a highly entertaining few pages and then lay aside.
10.4 Spring/Fall ColorMennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
Review
A memoir that speaks mainly to author’s Mennonite upbringing, her rejection of it, her devastating marriage break –up and accident and her coming to terms and finding strength in her heritage. I was really interested in this as I have a lot of personal history with different Anabaptist faiths, not the least of which that my ancestors were the earliest Mennonite immigrants who joined William Penn in his new settlement of religious freedom, the colony of Pennsylvania in the 17th century. This was after a member had been burned at the stake in Switzerland for heresy and I wanted to learn more about the modern day Mennonites. Aside from wondering how a rebelling Mennonite ended up with such an Donkey hole of a husband who was sending red flags long before marriage, the book celebrates family, traditions, faith in general and the Mennonite community that will shield and nourish its own no matter how far off the path that person may have traveled. One of the characters I most enjoyed was the author’s mother and her no-nonsense take things as they come, registered burse reality juxtaposed against her daughter’s artsy, high intellectual analysis of everything brings humor and a grounded-ness that is often shared in mother daughter relationships. In a Sarah Vowell-esque manner, the author praises and magnifies as well as depreciates what makes individuals, communities and relationships special.
+10 pts - Task (Black)
+ 5 pts - Combo (20.7 many conversations between mother/daughter or sister/sister about health, life, religion etc...)
+10 pts - Review
Task total - 25 pts
Grand Total - 470 pts
RwS Task20.4 – In honor of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla:
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
What a unique book! David Levithan writes a love story through dictionary entries from A to Z tying a little bit of the story of a two year relationship to each selected word. I was impressed with how powerful this writing was. The narrator was male, but I found myself relating to his viewpoint most of the time. Sometimes it was a story of the little things (like putting the cap on the toothpaste), but deeper emotions were captured as well ("Livid", and "Detachment" for example). The star of the show, though is the format itself. Sometimes a page or more was devoted to the "definition" (Yarn) and other times a sentence sufficed:
Suffuse
I don't like it when you use my shampoo, because then your hair smells like me, not you.
+20 Task: LGBT author
+10 Review
+ 5 Multiple
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 930
RwS Task20.8 - Kate S’ Task – Veteran’s Day, November 11th:
Winter of the World by Ken Follett
I liked book one of Follett's Century Trilogy a lot, but Winter of the World really pulled me into the stories of all of the characters. World War II has begun and everyone is affected. The writing is strong throughout and brings many facets of this terrible war to light. There are times when all of the coincidences could seem extreme and contrived, but because of the involvement of all the characters set up from the start, those feelings are avoided. I'm so glad it's the middle book of a trilogy because even though it weighs in at over 900 pages, I am not finished finding out what happens to the characters. I'm not sure the third volume will be as dramatic as the second set during WWII, but I will be looking forward to finding out!
+20 Task:
+ 5 Combo: 20.7 Women of Achievement Month: Bechdel Test: Daisy and her maid talk about Daisy's baby and others that would be spoilers.
+ 5 Multiple
+10 Review
+20 Jumbo (940 pages)
Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 990
20.7 Bechdel testThe Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Review:
I’ve already read quite a few books by Marion Zimmer Bradley, including most of the Avalon and Darkover series. I always liked her writing style and how she manages to tell a vivid, historical believable and deep story.
I wasn’t disappointed with The Firebrand. The book is a retelling of the fall of Troy, told from Kassandra’s point of view. Kassandra is a princess of Troy. When she was still a child, she was claimed both by the Goddess and by Apollo. She spent some time in her youth among the Amazon tribes and learned to fight. Later she became a priestess to Apollo. Since her early childhood she had visions of what was to come and was doomed not to be believed.
There are always to kinds of historical books for me: Those that get boring soon because they either lack in detail and are unbelievable or because they lose themselves in detail so the story itself drowns in it. And there are those stories that are brilliant, captivating narratives that make history real. The Firebrand belongs to that second category. The story at once made me feel like I know the time. There was not too much description but also enough to paint a vivid picture of the time and place. It’s easy to sympathize with Kassandra and although I often get easily bored by long travels in books or battles, I didn’t get bored in The Firebrand (there were both travels and battles).
In-between the story itself Kassandra asks herself some thought-provoking questions about the gods that are worshiped in different parts of her world and about the standing of women in society.
The only reason it took me so long to finish this book was the simple fact that my edition had a very small font size, so I couldn’t read much of it in the evenings and I sometimes had to squeeze in a book with larger font so my eyes wouldn’t protest too much (this is one of the reasons why I love my e-readers so much; always the perfect font size).
+ 20 Task (this book includes several conversations between Kassandra and other women about serpents, Goddesses and the fate of women)
+ 5 Oldies (pub. 1987)
+ 5 Multiple
+ 5 Jumbo (608 pages)
+ 5 Combo (20.8: 1957, Falcons of Naradebla - 1998, In the Rift)
+ 10 Review
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 875
10.3 GarfunkelPersuasion by Jane Austen
Review: I like Jane Austen even if she's not my favorite author. I think I like the adaptations and overall story lines better than I like reading the actual books. Nevertheless, since I've only read her most well known books and I'd heard good things about Persuasion, I was looking forward to it.
I didn't dislike it, but it took longer for me to read than I expected, since I never felt all that engaged in the story. The two Austen stories I'm most familiar with, Pride and Prejudice and Emma, have well-meaning but meddlesome protagonists. Anne is almost the opposite - she has allowed herself to be persuaded (in an event occurring 8 years prior to the story) to give up her own happiness in order to please her loved ones. This is a perfectly valid characteristic in a protagonist, and Anne is sweet and would likely make a great and loyal friend. I just find myself preferring a proactive character who gets in trouble as a result of her actions to a more passive character who lets herself be influenced by those around her.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.7 - feminist author)
+15 Oldies (published 1817)
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 900
10.8 - Rosemary's Task - Lucky SevensDas Gottesgrab by Will Adams
(The Alexander Cypher)
The Alexander Cypher is the first book starring the archeologist Daniel Knox. Although he is a smart and nice guy, he stays a bit too two-dimensional for my taste. It gets better in the second half of the book, though.
It is a treasure hunt through Egypt, involving enough personal drama of several protagonists. Somehow a lot of the characters are connected to each other through their past - which is a bit annoying at some point: How many coincidences are realistic?
For fans of Alexander the Great: you can read about well-known facts of Alexander and his time - but with a lot added extras for the sake of "plot"-development.
However, it is a nice mixture of (fictional) history lessons and action.
+ 10 task: C -> first published in 2007
+ 10 review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total = 20
(at least some points this season... :) )
10.3 Garfunkel ListJustine by Lawrence Durrell
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.2-India, 20.8)
+5 Oldies (1957)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1290
20.8 Veteran's DayMurder on a Girls' Night Out by Anne George
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.5-the two sisters are over 60, 20.7-and have conversations about cooking, memories, illnesses etc)
+5 Multiple
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1345
20.4 CarmillaDark Currents by Jacqueline Carey
This is the first book in a brand new series for Jacqueline Carey where she delves into the Urban Fantasy genre rather than her usual high Fantasy genre. As with almost every one of her protagonists, Daisy Johanssen is bisexual (especially when it comes to an attraction to typical monsters like Lamia, etc). Daisy works as the police/enforcer between the supernatural ruler of her town, the Norse goddess Hel, and the various supernatural creatures that inhabit the area. Daisy also works, therefore, as the intermediary between the normal folk and these creatures. As is typical with Carey's books there is a good deal of world-building to start off the book as well as a thorough grounding of Daisy's character. It was a good, fun read and I'm looking forward to continuing the series (as well as hoping that Carey launches another Kushiel trilogy).
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.7, 20.7)
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 360
10.9 To Be Continued...The Mysterious Madam Morpho by Delilah S. Dawson
This is the follow up to the first book in the Bludman series, Wicked as They Come, and is technically a novella but comes in at a little over a hundred pages. The setting for this series is a lot of fun combining Steampunk, Vampires, Romance, the Circus, and an alternate universe (it's supposed to run parallel to our own and the people who travel there from our world are called Strangers). The first book was a lot of fun and it definitely made me want to pick up this novella while waiting for the next full book to be released. The magic, clockwork creatures, and the wild blud animals all make for some inventive, and fun, world building. This novella did not disappoint and I would definitely recommend the series to anyone who likes their romances with wit.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.7 - even the bunnies and badgers are vampires!)
+10 Review
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 440
15.10 ABCsJ - 2012 - Fated by Benedict Jacka
+45 pts - Book
+200 pts - Doctorate
A 1998 The Book of Saladin by Ali, Tariq 15
B 2000 Storm Front by Butcher, Jim 15
C 2003 Galveston by Conwell, Kent 15
D 2004 Goofy Foot by Daniel, David 20
E 2005 Flamingo Fatale by Evans, Jimmie Ruth 20
F 2006 The Fourth Bear by Fforde, Jasper 20
G 2007 The Snake Stone by Goodwin, Jason 30
H 2008 The Last Child by Hart, John 30
I 2009 As Husbands Go by Isaacs, Sharon 30
J 2012 Fated by Jacka, Benedict 45
Task Total- 245 pts
Grand Total - 715 pts
20.8 - Veteran's DayWhile the Light Lasts by Agatha Christie
She published books from 1920 to her death and after (so 56 years during her life)
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.3: short stories)
Task total = 25
Grand Total = 250
10.9 - To Be Continued...Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.7: dark wizards and werewolves, 10.8: A)
+5 Jumbo (652 pages)
+25 Task
Task total = 25
Grand Total = 275
ABCs15.3 Book #3 D Doig, Ivan 1990
Ride With Me, Mariah Montana by Ivan Doig
If you are still looking for an "elderly" task, the narrator and main character is 65 and it's an enjoyable read!
+15 Task
Grand Total: 1035
Karen GHHS wrote: "ABCs15.3 Book #3 D Doig, Ivan 1990
Ride With Me, Mariah Montana by Ivan Doig
If you are still looking for an "elderly" task, the narrator and main character is 65 and it's an enjoyable read!
..."
I haven't read this, but I concur that Doig can be quite a nice read.
20.7 Women of Achievement MonthFury's Kiss by Karen Chance
Review: This is the third in the Dorina Basarab novels, and it's by far my favorite. Karen Chance is really bringing Dory into her own in this one, and developing the story she's weaving in these novels and her original Cassie Palmer novels. I wouldn't want to read this installation without reading the previous two, but I think the series stands separate from Cassie's. It was fun, however, to pick up the cameo appearances and to flush out the world.
Dory is, in many ways, a typical urban fantasy heroine - she's emotionally scarred and distant, she grew up without parents, and she kicks butt in black leather - but in this one she's made some major progress. I like that her emotional development is not purely romantic, since her relationship with her father is a major plot point, and she's just learning a lot about herself, period. She also made some major discoveries about her abilities, which I hope won't go too out of control in future books.
+20 Task (passes Bechtel Test - Dory and her best friend Claire talk about the war, danger, etc.)
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo (10.7 Monsterfest - vampires, etc.)
+5 Jumbo (536 pages)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 935
10.2-USAAmerican Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Reveiw
At the onset, and on the surface this book initially felt a bit like a modernized version of the Great Gatsby, a story about the shallow lives of the upper class and their complete self-observed attitudes of which make them oblivious to anything going on around them. It is a darkly satirical novel about American culture of the 1980's, and sadly much of what is alluded to in this book still can be seen as applicable today. In ways I could not help but find this a rather darkly comical novel, as it was a bit of a nostalgic read for me. The author did capture the culture of the 80's so well, and so it took me back, particularly seeing certain things pop up that are practically non-existent in this day and age.
But as the story progresses it soon takes a much dark and more disturbing tone. One of the things of which I did so thoroughly enjoy about the story is how stubble it was and slowly builds. When you first get a glimpse of the true nature of Bateman, the narrator of the story, it really gives you a double take and leaves you wondering. As he is engaging in one of his usual rants, of giving off a laundry list of what everyone is wearing, or this and that new hot restaurant that just opened up, and so on and so forth he casually slips in a mention of this horrific act he committed and without skipping a beat keeps right along with the usual mundane commentary of his. So you are left not quite sure if you just read what you thought you read. Then as the story continues on you can see how Bateman begins to unravel more and more and the tension really builds because you feel as if he is spiraling down towards a complete breaking point.
The ending of the story I thought was brilliant, because of the fact that it does not end in any way one would expect.
+10 Task
+5 Combo(20.8)
+10 Review
Total Task Points: 25
Grand Total: 365
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Reading with Style
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Claiming RwS Finish Bonus of 100 points, in addition to the Mega Finish claimed in 639
+ 5 for Combo point added in post 650 (for original post no 264)
+ 100 for RwS Finish Bonus
Grand Total : 1365