Fall 2013 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2013

[Ashley Campbell]

10.8 - Anika's task
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total:115

[Denise]

20.2 - author alive between 1909 and 1922

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain (1892-1977)

+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.6)

Task total=25
Grand total=740

[Rebekah]

15.9 Mix n Match E 2
Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen
mystery/thriller

+30 pts
Grand Total - 1520

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Pick N Mix
15.5 D 4 Female Author 40-60
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins was born in 1955 so she would be 58.

Task 20
Grand Total: 180

[Kathleen (itpdx)]

10.2 Book Lovers
The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
Review:
This is a fictional story in a true setting. There is a project to bring books to nomadic tribes in Kenya by camel. This book uses this setting to explore what bringing literacy and contact with the outside world means to a nomadic village--the potential loss of methods and traditions that have meant their survival. Will they forget their oral stories that represent their history and their religion? Will they loose the young people that herd the livestock and work in the fields and bear the next generation to the Distant City? Will different ideas fracture the tribe? And then what are the motivations of those who are funding and running the camel bookmobile? Can they improve the lives of the nomads without damaging their culture?
Each chapter is the viewpoint and experiences of a different character. At first I was put off by some of the characters 'strange metaphors. But I began to realize that they were a part of the cultural differences.
+10 Task #159 of 200
+10 Review
+5 Combo 10.7 An American librarian learns from the culture of the nomads
Task total: 25
Grand Total: 465

[Liz M]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Pick N Mix
D 4 Female Author 40-60
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins was born in 1955 so she would be 58.

Task 20
Grand Total: 180"

What task number is this? 15.5?

[Karen Michele]

10.5 - In honor of Labor Day

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter, low Lexile

+10 Task: on the given list

Grand Total: 1895

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

20.6 Influenced by Proust

Death In Rome by Wolfgang Koeppen

+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.6, 20.2 1906-1996)

Task Total = 30

Grand total = 590

And that will do it for me this challenge. Congratulations to every who participated, and especially to those who managed Finishers and Mega Finishers. Well done!

[Denise]

20.7 - Don's task: read a book by a Jewish author.

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander

+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.3)

Task total=25
Grand total=765

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.4 - Proust's writing is largely based on his life with an overlay of fiction. Read one of these prose roman à clef titles or one of these notable autobiographical novels.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce 11/25/13

This book is on the linked list of autobiographical novels.

Review:

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the first book I’ve read by James Joyce. Having enjoyed reading this one, I now look forward to reading Ulysses by the same author.
(view spoiler)[The book tells the story of Stephen Dedalus, an Irish Catholic youth growing up at the end of the nineteenth century. We first meet him attending Clongowes Wood College, a very strict and highly respected religious boarding school. Initially homesick, he settles in with his classmates. However, his father’s inept handling of the family finances runs them into debt, and Stephen must leave Clongowes to attend Belvedere, a day school in Dublin. While he is doing well in school, he begins to mature physically and finds himself involved with prostitutes. His strong Roman Catholic upbringing leads him to fear he will end up in hell. After hearing some hell and brimstone sermons at a religious retreat, he confesses his sins to gain absolution, and even considers entering the priesthood. After entering the University, he begins to come to terms with his family, religion, and his interest in art. In the end, he decides to leave Ireland and pursue his independence and live as the artist he chooses to be. (hide spoiler)]

Combos:
10.5 "Artist" in the title is a profession
10.6 died 1941
20.2 1882-1941
20.3 #19 on the Belle Epoque List

+20 task
+10 Canon
+10 review
+20 Combos (10.5, 10.6, 20.2, 20.3)

Task Total: 60 points

RwS Total to date: 1380
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total to date: 1980
Books in Canon: 18

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Liz M wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Pick N Mix
D 4 Female Author 40-60
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins was born in 1955 so she would be 58.

Task 20
Grand Total: 18..."

Yes, it is 15.5, sorry

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.2 - Proust started work on In Search of Lost Time in 1909 and died in 1922 before finalizing the last three volumes. Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

A Confession by Leo Tolstoy 11/26/13

Tolstoy lived from 1828 to 1910.

Review:

A Confession by Leo Tolstoy touched me very deeply. The author tells of the despair he’s felt during his life, focusing on a period when he seriously considered suicide at the age of 50. Out of this came his tale of finding meaning to his life.

(view spoiler)[The section that stuck with me was section VII where he discussed four ways to deal with the question of life, its hopelessness, and finding a way out of it. First he lists ignorance. People live not knowing nor understanding what is going on about them, which he attributes largely to women or very young or dull persons (not politically correct!). Second he lists epicureanism. People may take an “Eat, drink, and be merry” attitude toward life, shutting out any consideration of its hopelessness. Third is the escape of strength and energy, wherein one realizes that life is evil and absurd, hence taking steps to end it. Finally, the fourth escape is that of weakness, to know that life is evil and absurd, yet fail to have the will to end it. Tolstoy lamented that he was too weak to follow the third option and found himself in the fourth category.

Here I stopped to think. Did Tolstoy truly believe that a loved one who took their own life was truly taking the escape of strength and energy? Surely there must be something more! I read on, and he ultimately came to terms with faith. Faith, such as that held by peasants, could allow one to deal with the evil and absurdity of life. Each person can contribute to the good of all, hence making sense of it and giving life purpose. (hide spoiler)]

A five star read for me!

Combo:
10.6 died 1910

+20 task
+10 Canon
+10 review
+10 Non-Western
+5 Combo (10.6)

Task Total: 55 points

RwS Total to date: 1435
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total to date: 2035
Books in Canon: 19

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.2 - Proust started work on In Search of Lost Time in 1909 and died in 1922 before finalizing the last three volumes. Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy 11/29/13

Tolstoy lived from 1828 to 1910.

Review:

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy was a nice read, but just didn’t rank as high with me as did his other works, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and A Confession. It is a tale of a Musovite who leaves for a life of adventure with the Cossacks.

(view spoiler)[Olenin leaves Moscow to join the Cossacks for the adventure, but also as a means of escaping his mounting debt, with hopes of saving enough to take care of that upon his return. He finds in the Cossack community a way of life quite different from that he had left behind in Moscow. The people there seemed to have purpose and meaning to their existence. He even found himself falling in love with a local girl, Maryanka, though she was betrothed to Lukashka, a well-loved local lad. Still, Olenin never really fit in with nor was he welcomed by the Cossacks, with the exception of Daddy Eroshka, an old Cossack who accepted him for his generosity alone. In the end, Olenin realizes he will never have Maryanka and heads back to the life he belongs to in Moscow. (hide spoiler)]

Combos:
10.6 died 1910
10.7 Ex-pat - The main character, Olenin, left Moscow to live for a time as a Cossack in a quite different culture

+20 task
+10 Canon
+10 review
+10 Non-Western
+10 Combos (10.6, 10.7)

Task Total: 60 points

RwS Total to date: 1495
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total to date: 2095
Books in Canon: 20

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.9 - Elizabeth (Alaska) Task: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK (11/22/63) and to honor his war service, read one of top 100 books on this WWII fiction list.

Night by Elie Wiesel 11/29/13

This book is #6 on the list.

Review:

I’d never read Elie Wiesel’s Night, so I chose it to read while traveling home from our Thanksgiving celebration. While we have so much to be grateful for, it’s also important to remember those who are not so fortunate. Wiesel’s story is like so many I’ve read over the years, telling of the general public’s refusal to listen to tales of the concentration camps and the horrors his family found when they were transported to them. He lost his mother and sister to the ovens, and he lost his father to starvation and dysentery at the very end of the war. It is easy to understand how he later became such a staunch political activist, earning a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of Holocaust victims.

Combos:
10.2 #47 on the list of Stories for Book Lovers
10.7 Ex-pat - Wiesel and his family were taken from Romania to the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald, Poland - certainly a major cultural change
20.4 On the list of autobiographical books
20.7 Elie Wiesel is a Jewis author

+20 task
+10 review
+20 Combos (10.2, 10.7, 20.4, 20.7)

Task Total: 50 points

RwS Total to date: 1545
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total to date: 2145
Books in Canon: 20

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.6 - In Search of Lost Time is considered the definitive modern novel and it has had a profound effect on subsequent writers. Read a book written by an author influenced by Proust.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf 11/29/13

Virginia Woolf was influenced by Proust, per her Goodreads page.

Review:

Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is widely respected, earning a place on Bloom’s Canon, and generally being considered an important work in women’s literature and gender studies. I found it well written, but for some reason, it failed to hold my interest this past week. I’d read it for a while, but then set it aside to read something else. Still, I did finish reading it and ultimately found it quite interesting.

(view spoiler)[In this fantasy, Orlando’s life is chronicled from 1588 to 1928, during which the character ages only 36 years and changes gender from male to female. We see Orlando as a youth in the court of Queen Elizabeth, who becomes jealous when she sees him kissing a young girl. He loves a Russian Princess who fails to keep an assignation, so he closes himself up in his house with 365 rooms and 52 staircases to write. He goes to Constantinople as an ambassador, falls into a deep sleep, and then awakes as a woman. So much more goes on until she ultimately reaches present time in 1928 and realizes that all these many sides of Orlando are all parts of her very complex self. (hide spoiler)]

Combos:
10.6 Died 1941
20.2 Lived 1882-1941
20.4 On the list of Notable romans à clef

+20 task
+10 review
+10 Canon
+15 Combos (10.6, 20.2, 20.4)

Task Total: 55 points

RwS Total to date: 1600
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total to date: 2200
Books in Canon: 21

[Deedee]

Task 20.2 - Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

John O'Hara :
Born: January 31, 1905
Died: April 11, 1970
The Big Laugh (1962) by John O'Hara

+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.6 Died in 1970)

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 1010 + 15 = 1025

[Cory Day]

15.8 (second round) - D6 – Female 60+

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

+20 Task (b. 1948, pub. 2009)

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 2010

[Cory Day]

15.9 (second round) - E5 – Non-Fiction (DD 000-499)

The River Ran Red: Homestead 1892 by David Demarest

+20 Task (DD 300)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 2040

[Rebekah]

15.10 Pick N Mix (second round)
C 5 326 pgs


The Expats by Chris Pavone

+30 - Task
+100 - second completion bonus (?)

Grand Total - 1650

I can't believe I did it! This is the first time I have repeated a second time of a sub challenge!
I think Cory and I are on running down the same street. C'mon Cory! just one more to post!!!

[Cory Day]

Rebekah wrote: "15.10 Pick N Mix (second round)
C 5 326 pgs


The Expats by Chris Pavone

+30 - Task
+100 - second completion bonus (?)

Grand Total - 1650

I can't believe I did it..."

Haha! I'm halfway through my last one, but I have to run out and shop… hopefully I'll make it back in time to finish :)

[Liz M]

20.5 - Novel about an artist:
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower by Marcel Proust

It takes a special mindset to read Proust. In his novels, words are like the hairs of a paintbrush and sentences are like the brushstrokes of a painting. Concentrating on every word, every sentence is like examining a painting from a few inches away; while the individual brushstrokes may fascinate, the true genius of the painting is reveled only when standing further away. In reading the various volumes of In Search for Lost Time, focusing on the individual sentences could be maddening. I find it impossible to quote a single passage that I thought especially profound, but enjoy (and am exhausted by) the experience of letting the words wash over me and the phrases and images pile up until a stunning whole emerges.

+20 task
+30 combo (10.4, 10.6, 20.1 20.2, 20.3, 20.4)
+10 canon
+10 review
+5 jumbo

Task total: 75
Grand Total: 1005

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Pick N Mix
15.5 D 4 Female Author 40-60
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins was born in 1955 so she would be 58.

Task 20
Grand Total: 180"

Post 933

I'm sorry, Jayme. This book has a Lexile below 800 and is not eligible for Pick N Mix.

[Kate S]

10.2 Book Lovers

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

+10 Task

Post Total: 10
Season Total: 1975

[Kate S]

10.6 All Saint' Day

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey

+10 Task
+5 Jumbo

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1990

[Kate S]

10.9 It IS Unusual

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

+10 Task
+5 Combo 20.8
+10 Non-western

Post Total: 25
Season Total: 2015

[Kate S]

20.9 WWII

Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.7-British characters surviving in Madrid)
+5 Jumbo

Post Total: 30
Season Total: 2045

[Kate S]

Pick 'n' Mix
15.7 D5 Male Author over 60

The Reivers by William Faulkner

Post Total:20
Season Total: 2065

[Kate S]

Pick 'n' Mix
15.8 B2 Published 1976-2000

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 2085

[Kate S]

20.4 Roman a clef

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.6, 20.2, 20.6)
+10 Canon

Post Total:45
Season Total: 2130

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Kate S, you should also claim +5 Combo 20.6 for Orlando. The Goodreads page for Virginia Woolf includes Proust in her list of influences.

[Kate S]

Thanks, Thersa!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

20.2 - Proust started work on In Search of Lost Time in 1909 and died in 1922 before finalizing the last three volumes. Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

The Stranger by Albert Camus 11/30/13

Albert Camus lived from 1913 to 1960.

Review:

Albert Camus’ The Stranger is written in a style quite similar to some “tough guy” or “gangster” novels I’ve read. I think it works well for this tale of murder and morality. The story kept my interest, and I gave it 4 stars.

(view spoiler)[We meet the narrator and main character, Meursault, as he learns of the death of his mother. She had been living in a nursing home after her son’s limited resources were insufficient to take care of her at home. Mersault is not demonstrative with his emotions, and his reserve and lack of desire to say a last farewell and look at his mother’s corpse is noted with skepticism. We see his seemingly normal interaction with friends, including his love, Marie, his elderly neighbor Salamano with the mangy dog, and another neighbor, Raymond Sintes, who is having problems with is mistress. A day at the beach ends up with Raymond fighting a couple of Arabs, one of whom is the brother of his mistress. Raymond is stabbed and starts to pull out a pistol, but Mersault convinces him to cool off and takes the gun from him. Later, though, Mersault goes to get water close to the Arab and, seeing the glint of a drawn blade, shoots the Arab himself. Mersault is ultimately convicted of murder, based largely on his seeming indifference to his mother being extrapolated to a general disregard for society, and sentenced to be beheaded. Mersault refuses to repent and seek God’s forgiveness, and the story ends with his being resigned to, and even looking forward to, the beheading to come. (hide spoiler)]

Combo:
10.6 Died 1960

+20 task
+10 review
+10 Canon
+5 Combos (10.6)

Task Total: 45 points

RwS Total to date: 1645
Pick 'n' Mix Total to date: 200
Pick 'n' Mix Completion Bonus: 100
RwS Completion Bonus 100
Mega Finish Bonus 200
Grand Total for the RwS Challenge, Fall 2013: 2245
Books in Canon: 22

[Sam]

Pick'n'Mix
15.08 - D3 - Male author 40-60

A Clash of Kings - George RR Martin

+20 task

Post total: 20
Grand total: 330

[Karen Michele]

10.7 - Rebekah’s task – Ex-pat experience:

The Spy Lover by Kiana Davenport

The Spy Lover brings the horrors of the Civil War to the forefront of Kiana Davenport's factionalized account of her family history. Johnny Tom is a "pigtail"; a Chinese immigrant sold into slavery, then captured as a prisoner of war and eventually fighting for the North. His daughter, Era, is a nurse in the South, but has become a spy for the North in an attempt to find her father. Warren is a soldier fighting for the South. Their stories are told in alternating chapters as their paths intertwine and diverge. The writing is good and the plot engaging. An interesting part of the story describes the work of southern women in the poppy fields, a part of the backstory of the Civil War that I had not encountered before in my reading. Although, the awful toll of Civil War battles was important to the story, it was repetitive causing some lags in a book that was otherwise engaging.

+10 Task: main character from China in Civil War US
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1915

[Bea]

Pick 'n Mix

15.8 E5 (002.075) - The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Points: 20

Total Points: 195

[Bea]

Pick 'n Mix

15.9 F2 (Hebrew) - The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev

Points: 30

Total Points: 225

[Bea]

Pick 'n Mix

15.10 F5 (Italian) - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Points: 30

Completion Bonus: 100 points (Yay! I did it!!!)

Grand Total Points: 355

[Jenifer]

Bea wrote: "Pick 'n Mix

15.10 F5 (Italian) - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Points: 30

Completion Bonus: 100 points (Yay! I did it!!!)

Grand Total Points: 355"

Congratulations, Bea! This was my first time completing the mini-challenge as well.

[Cory Day]

15.10 (second round) - A6 – Australia

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta (820 Lexile)

+20 Task (set in Sydney, Australia)

Task Total: 30
Completion Bonus: 100
Grand Total: 2170

[Cory Day]

20.8 Stephen King

Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 4: Materia by Thomas Siddell

+20 Task (each chapter focuses on the main character Antimony’s interactions with a non-human character – robots, shadow creatures, demons, ghosts, etc. - and it turns out Antimony herself is not totally human)
No style points – graphic novel

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 2190

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Great challenge everyone! On to Winter!