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Winter 13/14 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter 13/14
10.6 Beginnings/EndingsTraveling Sprinkler: A Novel by Nicholson Baker
+10 Task (most recent novel)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 855
20.4 TravelUnder the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
+20 Task
+10 Not a Novel
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 885
20.7 Group Reads ReduxThe Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 910
20.9 Daytona 500The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders
+20 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+5 Jumbo 576 pages
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 945
20.10 Between the WarsIn Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
+20 Task
+10 Oldies (pub 1924)
+10 Not a Novel (short stories)
+5 Combo (10.9)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 990
10.5 GoodreadsThe Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
+10 Task
Grand Total = 490 points
20.1 Pub 1964The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
The Howlands settled in rural Alabama in the beginning of the 19th Century, and became one of the most affluent and respected families in Wade County. Abigail, the granddaughter of William Howland, reflects back on the family's history in the Howland's large home. After Abigail's grandmother died, William began a relationship with Margaret, a black housekeeper. Years later, Abigail's husband is spouting racist statements in order to get elected around the early 1960s. In the last days of his political campaign, new information comes to light about William and Margaret's relationship. The white community turns its rage upon Abigail since she is the granddaughter of the deceased Howland patriarch, William. Abigail vows to uphold the honor of the Howlands and take revenge on the people who hurt her family.
There is a real sense of place in the descriptions so the reader feels enveloped by the Southern atmosphere. The descriptions of William poling through the swamp, with snakes falling from tree branches, are especially vivid. This is a powerful book with strong people--Abigail, William, and Margaret--as the three main characters. The book shows the social structure, racial prejudice, and political games of the time.
The Keepers of the House was published in 1964 during the Civil Rights movement. The Ku Klux Klan reacted by burning a cross at Grau's home in Metairie, Louisiana. The author won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for this novel.
+20 task
+ 5 oldie (pub 1964)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 815
20.10 Between the WarsSome Everyday Folk And Dawn by Miles Franklin
+20 task (author born 1879)
+5 Combo (20.3)
+10 Oldies (published 1909)
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 1600
TtPR - Seafarer15.3 - Indonesia A,B,C
Child of All Nations by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
+15 pts - Task
+ 10 pts - Bonus
Task Total - 25 pts
Grand Total -
20.10 - Between the WarsRead a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913). Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust 2/8/14
The author was born in 1871.
Review
Within a Budding Grove aka In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is the second volume of Marcel Proust’s epic series In Search of Lost Time aka Remembrance of Things Past. Proust wrote the books in French, and the English translations were done under two different sets of titles.
This volume tells of the narrator’s discovery of the charms of girls and his own sexuality. The first half of the book covers his infatuation with Gilberte, the beautiful daughter of Swann and Odette, who were the subjects of his first volume, Swann’s Way. In the second half, he goes on holiday to the seaside town of Balbec, where he seems to fall in love with each girl he sees. While this book could have related a simple coming of age story, Proust’s use of language and his incorporation of the narrator’s love of culture and the arts make it a joy to read. Still, it is not a book you can rush through, but requires the reader’s full attention to take it all in.
I chose to listen to the audiobook, occasionally reading along on my Kindle Fire using the immersion reading function. The narrator, Jason Neville, also read War and Peace, so I knew his style and that I would love to listen to him again. He’s recorded all seven volumes of the series, and I look forward to hearing him read the next five.
Combo: 10.8 BINGO! Within a Budding Grove
Combo 20.9 Daytona 500 - This book has 576 pages
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8 , 20.9)
+10 Oldies (published 1913)
+5 Jumbo (576 pages)
Task total: 55 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 930
Grand Total: 1270
20.7 - Group Reads ReduxThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
+20 Task (added by LIz M. 12/03/01)
+10 Combo (10.5 and 10.6-debut)
+10 Not-a-Novel
Task total: 40
Grand total: (360 + 40=) 400
Task 10.6 - Beginnings/Endings: Read an author's most recently published book as of December 1, 2013.Published on November 5, 2013.
Burning Paradise (2013) by Robert Charles Wilson (Hardcover, 320 pages)
Review: This is an alternative history / science fiction novel. It reads like a mainstream novel, with our 18 year old heroine, recently graduated from high school, planning her future education. The reader quickly realizes that this is NOT today’s world, but instead, an alternate world. The wars –World War II, Korea, and Vietnam – didn't happen. Additionally, people talk about “the massacres of 2007” in the same way we speak about “the events of September 11”. When a character bleeds green blood, the reader says: yep, this is science fiction. I liked this novel because the characters seem real, their reactions to the science fiction events around them seem real, and because the novel is self-consistent (that is, it sets up the rules for this world, and then adheres to those rules).
Recommended for science fiction fans.
+10 Task
+ 10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 760 + 20 = 780
20.17 - Group Reads Redux: Read any book that was a group read prior to the Winter 2013/14 Challenge. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain 2/8/14
The book is shelved as the group read for 9/1/2011.
Review
The Paris Wife is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, told from her point of view. The beginning is a bit slow, and I confess to having started reading it almost two years ago but set it aside to read the Fifty Shades of Grey series purchased the same day. I finally returned to The Paris Wife for a Winter Challenge in one of my Goodreads Groups, and I’m so glad I did.
When I was in high school, I went through a phase where I read everything I could find by Hemingway, but I never read anything about his life. The period covered by the book runs from 1920 through 1927, and while I don’t know enough to judge the accuracy of the events depicted, it is certainly interesting. I came away wanting to read Hemingway again, including his books I haven’t read and some re-reads. The same is true for books by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who appears in the book with his wife, Zelda. My interest in Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald was renewed, and that will be on my current reading list soon. One good book leads to others!
Combo: 10.5 Paula MacLain is a Goodreads Author
Combo: 10.6 This is the author's most recent book as of 12/1/13.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.5, 10.6)
Task total: 40 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 970
Grand Total: 1310
20.10 - Between the Wars:Monica by Saunders Lewis
At the first the novel begins with a framing device -- Monica finds a pretext to stay at a neighbor's house and in conversation, starts to tell her history to the young bed-ridden neighbor. But Lewis does something unusual--rather than just using it as an excuse for the story, he intersperses Monica's memories of what happened with the story she tells the neighbor, thus exposing a double image of the past and showing the reader both what Monica is and what she believes herself to be. And then the evening is over and Monica returns home, her story continues in real-time, and the neighbor is not mentioned again. Unfortunately, even with such an intriguing structure, I never felt that I knew Monica as a real person and didn't have enough sympathy for her. It may have been the author's objectivity that made this novel seem somewhat flat to me.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (pub. 1930)
Task total: 40 points
Grand Total: 555
20.2 Picaresque:Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson
Divided Kingdom is a story of a not so distant future in which civil unrest and unhappiness makes the British government divide the United Kingdom into four separate countries based on the four humors from medieval medical thinking: sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic and choleric. Basically, people are moved on a massive scale to fit with their dominant humor and huge concrete walls are erected to keep the different humors from one another. The novel follows Thomas Parry from the time he is taken from his parents at age six and relocated to the Red (sanguine) Quarter through his work as a civil servant and as he defects and embarks on a travel throughout the divided kingdom.
This book didn’t do it for me. At all. It’s well written but the plot continually stretched my belief beyond breaking point. A couple of grievances: Is it really realistic that a six year old kid calmly accepts being taken away from his parents? I think not. Would an entire nation let themselves be divided, even within families? Probably not. Also, an entire cast of people is left out of the division, leaving them outside society, which apparently leaves them mute and with the ability to communicate from telepathically. Why would this happen?
This is definitely not the book for me.
+ 20 Task
+ 10 Review
Task total: 30 pts
Grand total: 150 pts
20.9 Daytona 500Elantris by Brandon Sanderson: 638 pages.
Brandon Sanderson is one of the most prolific authors currently writing fantasy, and as I’ve previously enjoyed the first installment in his Mistborn series, I enjoyed getting a chance to read his first published novel.
Elantris was a glorious city where the silver-skinned Elantrians lived and worked the magic that made Arelon a rich country. Until, of course, ten years earlier when the magic had failed and Elantris had fallen, leaving the Elantrians plague ridden but unable to die. Anyone claimed by this apparent plague is thrown into Elantris and forgotten behind the barred gates. The Crown Prince of Arelon, Raoden, is set to marry Princess Sarene when he is claimed by the plague, thrown into Elantris and announced as dead. While Raoden fights to unlock the mystery of Elantris, Sarene fights to keep Arelon out of the hands of the warrior priests of Fjordell. Two fights that turns out to have a lot in common.
Elantris is fast paced, well written and a very enjoyable read, while at the same time it attempts, and somewhat succeeds, to discuss the merits of religion. Definitely recommended to fans of the genre.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2 (3217), 10.5, 10.6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_...))
+5 Jumbo (638 pages)
+10 Review
Task total: 50 pts
Grand total: 200 pts
10.8 BINGO!Stormen i 99 by Kristian Bang Foss krIstian BaNG fOss.
This Danish novel takes place in a stock facility for a Danish clothing company where it follows the various people working there from the manager, who has had a stroke but refuses to stop working even though he cannot do his job, to the grunt on the floor, who has been working there since high school, dreaming of a better job while the years pass by. This really is an ensemble novel, as each character mostly gets a compact snippet of novel to unfold their story in. Done well this should provide the reader with a gripping insight into a part of everyday-Denmark. Unfortunately, the characters never really come to life and so you don’t really care about them which makes the entire novel fall apart.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20 pts
Grand total: 220 pts
10.1 Reading Resolutions (Reading Hugo Award winners)Redshirts by John Scalzi (Won the Hugo Award in 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Awa...)
When Andrew Dahl becomes a crew member on board the spaceship the Intrepid, he quickly notices that the death toll on the away missions is abnormally high, and somehow it is always the newest, most junior crew members who ends up dead from various improbable and silly causes, be it a liquefying plague or a murderous iceshark. Dahl decision to find out what’s going on and stop it ends up mixing fantasy with reality in a quest that leaves both sides altered forever.
One of the things John Scalzi does best is his spitfire, funny dialogue, most often between varying degrees of smartasses. This is also the case for Redshirts, though what makes this short novel stand out is the geeky love with which he pokes fun at the many plot inconsistencies of Star Trek. There’s no doubt that he has real affection for the show, and that’s exactly why he can write such a successful spoof.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.5)
+10 Review
Task total: 25 pts
Grand total: 245 pts
10.6 Beginnings and EndingsMy Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Review: This is Sonia Sotomayer's memoir of her life up to her appointment as a judge to federal district court. Sotomayer is an amazing woman who through shear determination, intellect, help from family and friends and a little luck has risen from the ghettos of the Bronx to the highest court.
In a warm and friendly voice she introduces us to her family, teachers, friends and colleagues who influenced and supported her. She shares with us insights that she gained as a child, student and lawyer. I particularly liked her descriptions of the challenges faced by children who are schooled in a language they do not speak at home and the culture shock experienced by students who were not from privileged classes who arrived at Ivy League colleges as the result of the institutions' attempts to diversify.
She does not tell us how she will rule on issues that come before the Supreme Court but we do see what her bedrock values are and what she considers when making judicial decisions.
Occasionally some of her pronouncements felt like lecturing.
I would recommend this book to all US residents, teachers, feminists, people of color and those in poverty. I am proud that our Library system has chosen this as their Everybody Reads selection for this year. And I am looking forward to hearing her speech here in March.
+10 Task (her only book not counting Supreme Court Decisions)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-novel
Task total: 30
Grand Total:
Heather wrote: "15.10 - MalaysiaThe Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
+15 task
+10 bonus
task total: 25
sightseer bonus: 50
megafinish bonus: 200
grand total: 1460"
Sorry, Heather, I do not show a 15.8 in your posts. Did I miss it?
Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "20.10 - Between the WarsRead a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913). Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust 2/8/14
The author..."
I'm really sorry, Theresa. We use the most popular English edition for books, including titles. The MPE of this book is titled In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower and does not qualify for 10.8.
No problem, Kate S. I'll adjust my total in my records.
20.10 Between the WarsSiddhartha by Hermann Hesse
YA assignment, no Lexile listed
+20 task (Hesse was born in 1877)
Task total: 20
Grand total: 830
Task 15.4 - Travel the Pacific Rim - "Seafarer"Fourth Stop
China
A/ Author born in Liaoning, China
C/ Novel set in China
Waiting (1999) by Ha Jin
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 15 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 780 + 25 = 805
Kate S wrote: "Heather wrote: "15.10 - MalaysiaThe Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
+15 task
+10 bonus
task total: 25
sightseer bonus: 50
megafinish bonus: 200
grand tot..."
hah. looks like I shorted myself! I read the book and forgot to post it. i'll do that now.
10.8 – BINGO!: Cory (Bigler)’s task A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
A Long Way Gone is an amazing book on many levels. First, the story that Ishmael Beah tells is an emotional one and one that is staying with me now that I have finished reading. He tells of his teenage years, first as a child soldier in the midst of horrific warfare, and then as he was rehabilitated and began his path to his adult life in the US today. Secondly, Beah has an incredible voice as an author. I was struck many times by the sheer beauty of the way he put words together. He was able to bring humor to his story, too, as he described his first journey to New York City in the winter and seeing snow for the first time. Last but not least, I was reminded of the power of forgiveness. I wonder if we could apply more of this philosophy of rehabilitation in the US. We accept these young people into the US and elsewhere because as children they were exposed to violence and kept drugged so that they could survive and so that they would follow the orders of the drug lords. Once they have been rehabilitated, they are considered valuable members of society and can pursue their lives as Beah has done and rightfully so. I'm not sure we always give our own teens who have been "jumped in" to gangs at an early age or forced to live homeless the rehabilitation and then the respect they are due. Why are we so eager to incarcerate our own young people instead of redeeming them and helping them become part of our society? Why do we think that just growing up and getting a job will solve the problems of the emotionally devastated? Why are those that help often labeled "enablers" instead of celebrated with pride? Why are we so afraid of our own teens that we feel we need to "stand our ground" against them? These are questions I am still pondering after reading this meaningful memoir, A Long Way Gone.
+10 Task: GONe memoIrs Boy, 920 Lexile
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 – Beginnings/Endings (debut)
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel (Memoir)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 1805
10.6 – Beginnings/Endings:United We Spy by Ally Carter
+10 Task: newest book, no lexile
Grand Total: 1815
20.9 - Daytona 500The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
And so Trollope's Palliser series comes to a close. This is, again, a stand alone novel, and doesn't rely on previous works in the series. But you would be missing the joy of having read the others.
Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium, is one of the wealthiest men in all of England, if not in fact *the* wealthiest. He started life in that manner and added to his wealth through marriage. His wealth increased during his lifetime because he was more interested in politics than spending money. And, having been more interested in his life in politics than money, he also was not at home much to enjoy and influence his children as many fathers do.
The children (the heir, the second son, a beloved daughter) definitely respect their father. They don't just give that respect lip service, but truly feel it. However, they have lived with that wealth all of their lives and barely recognize their advantage. They also don't seem to fully understand their position in society and their *duty* as such. This causes the Duke much sadness. At one point, the Duke asks one of his sons, "What is money?" As the son gives the unsatisfactory answer of "sovereigns, coin, banknotes", the Duke then expounds "money is labor." Coming from the Duke this at first seems laughable, but read on - that paragraph or two continues to apply today.
Duty also applies to whom one is to marry.
The mutual assent which leads to marriage should no doubt be spontaneous. Who does not feel that? Young love should speak from its first doubtful unconscious spark, -- a spark which any breath of air may quench or cherish, -- till it becomes a flame which nothing can satisfy but the union of the two lovers. No one should be told to love, or bidden to marry, this man or that woman. The theory of this is plain to us all, and till we have sons or daughters whom we feel imperatively obliged to control, the theory is unassailable.I have said elsewhere that Trollope talks to his readers.
Isabel Boncassen was certainly a very pretty girl. I wish that my reader would believe my simple assurance. But no such simple assurance was ever believed, and I doubt even whether any description will procure for me from the reader that amount of faith which I desire to achieve. But I must make the attempt.Having now finished both of Trollope's series, I look forward to reading the other 30-something of his standalone novels. Some I have been given to understand are as good as those in his series and - hard as it is for me to believe - some are real stinkers. I guess I'll find out which is which.
+20 Task (560 pgs)
+10 Review
+10 Oldie (pub 1880)
+ 5 Jumbo
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 495
10.2 - 4,649 timesThe Gunslinger by Stephen King
+10 task
+5 combo (10.5)
+5 oldies
task total: 20
grand total: 1550
20.10 - Between the Wars:In the Heart of the Seas by S.Y. Agnon
This little novel was completely foreign to me. It tells the story of a group of Jewish people and their decision to journey to Israel. They encounter obstacles, hardships, and every-day miracles and through it all their faith and their religious stories sustain them. The language is deceptively simple, but the author uses the patterns of speech found in sermons -- repeated refrains, call and answer, and so on. It reads like a parable, but one steeped in a history, religion, and culture of which I am ignorant. The book deserves a more positive review, but while I recognize the beauty of the writing, I didn't particularly enjoy reading it.
+20 task
+5 combo (10.9 - Nobel prize)
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub. 1948)
Task total: 40 points
Grand Total: 595 points
10.6 - Beginnings/EndingsGarden of the Dead by Andrew Neiderman
+10 Task (most recent book 2011)
Task total=10
Grand total=975
10.10 Group ReadsTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Review
Surprisingly this old classic did not make it for the fantasy task, 10.2. At the time it was very much fantasy although early prototypes of submarines were known and even had been used in the American Civil War, all the complexities had not been worked out so that like today, the submarine, The Nautilus could spend many a day under the sea, run on electricity and divers would be able to wear air tanks upon their backs without being connected to the mother ship by cable. Neither did it make the travel task of 20.4 although like his other classic, Around the World in Eighty Days, the story did involve circumnavigating the globe however this time only by sea and it took eight months rather than eighty days. There missing from this work compared to his other is the incongruous comedy situations and mix –ups. This was much more sobering and had messages for the public concerning man’s destruction of his environment, fellow creatures and himself which may have qualified it for the 20.5 disturbing task. Although brooding Captain Nemo is a dark hero in the book, full of secrets, anger, and tragedy, he did not make the 20.2 Picaresque hero list. Combing all the qualities of these tasks does a good job of explaining the essence of this great book.
As far as the audio version I listened to, it was bearable but just barely. The narrator, Noel Gibilaro, just tried too hard to make individuality of the characters and add dramatic voice to his reading so that the characters became more like caricatures, the worse being Ned Land, the Canadian harpooner whose voice sounded more like a hoarsely whispering villain of the early “Talkies” which did not suit him at all.
+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - Review
+10 pts - Oldies (first pub in 1869)
Task Total - 30 pts
Grand Total -
10.6 – Beginnings/Endings:On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
Chang - Rae Lee is a versatile author. He has written about immigration and identity, war and aging and now he adds a dystopian novel to his body of work with On Such a Full Sea. Lee's writing is nearly perfect. He paints a picture as he writes and his world in this dystopian is believable and interesting. The book is not full of gripping excitement, but does have some riveting parts. Lee's characterization is interesting because his main character, Fan, is the subject of a legend being told through the eyes of those left behind in B-Mor, the lower class settlement that provides fish and produce for the wealthier outlying communities. It is a great achievement, but a challenging read rather than a fast paced thriller type of dystopia.
+10 Task: Most recent book
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1835
TtPR – Aviator15.2 (2nd Stop): Canada
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
+15 task (A + B + C)
Task total: 15 points
Grand Total: 1615
20.5 DisturbingForbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
+20 Task (Shelved as Disturbing 18 times)
+5 Combo (10.5- Goodreads Author)
-----
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 210
10.5 Goodreads AuthorDamned by Chuck Palahniuk
Definitely a typical disturbing and disgusting Chuck Palahniuk novel. I am really excited that he is writing a series or trilogy or whatever it ends up being. Re read this in order to read Doomed and not be totally lost. It's actually really enjoyable and the character of Maddy Spencer is really well developed and explored. I liked the graphic geographical descriptions of hell and all the detail Palahniuk put into creating the Underworld. An interesting idea is that life, or death is what you make of it. The pragmatic way in which Maddy approaches Hell is super funny. I would probably give this a 3.5-4 star rating.
+ 10 Task
+ 10 Review
Task Total: 20 points
Grand Total: 525 points
20.1 - 1964: Read a book first published in 1964...Shadow Of A Bull by Maia Wojciechowska 2/11/14
This book was published in 1964.
Lexile 740 - no style points
+20 Task
Task total: 20 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 985
Grand Total: 1325
10.5 - Goodreads Authorized: Read a book by a Goodreads Author.The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England by Susan Higginbotham 2/10/14
Susan Higginbotham is a Goodreads Author.
Review
The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham tells the tale of Katherine (Kate) Woodville and Henry (Harry) Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, during the period of the War of the Roses in late 1400s England. This is the type of book I enjoy listening to for my work commute, and this did not disappoint. The story is told in the first person with alternating points of view. John Lee, a favorite narrator of mine, read the chapters with Harry’s story, and Alison Larkin, a new narrator to me, read Katherine’s.
This is the first Susan Higginbotham novel I’ve read, but not the first to cover the British monarchy during that period. This differed by focusing on two characters for whom little is known or documented, developing a potential story of their lives, and fitting it to the better documented characters and events during the time that they lived. It is likely that I’ll read more of her work in the future.
Combo: 10.8 - Bingo - found in the author's last name - Hig GINBO tham
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.8)
+10 Review
Task total: 25 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1010
Grand Total: 1350
20.2 PicaresqueNicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Review:
I’m slowly but steadily falling in love with Charles Dickens’ work. Nicholas Nickleby is a wonderful story about how poverty and hardship can make you happier than a fortune. The book focuses on the Nickleby family, living in 19th century England. After the death of his father Nicholas, his sister and mother are appealing to Nicholas’ uncle Ralph Nickleby. Ralph is a made man without any recognizable conscience. In answer to this appeal Ralph sends Nicholas as assistant teacher to a boarding school under the direction of a man who is just as greedy and conscience-lacking as Ralph himself.
I’m not going deeper into the plot, because this is one of the rare books I read recently that actually made me want to read on to find out what would happen next. For once I was not sitting there thinking “oh, it’ll turn out OK in the end … they might be in a fix now, but of course he’ll save the day by some heroic deed”. Charles Dickens managed to write a vivid narrative that makes it easy for the reader to imagine themselves in 19th century England. He also draws great characters, and even though Ralph and his companions might sometimes seem slightly stereotypical, I actually experienced even them as round characters with more depth than the first impression might suggest.
My favourable impression of this book is strengthened by the audiobook, read by Simon Vance. He does a wonderful job of reading this book and giving every character his individual voice without overdoing it.
+ 20 Task
+ 15 Oldies (pub. 1839)
+ 15 Jumbo (817 pages)
+ 5 Combo (20.9)
+ 10 Review
Task Total: 65
Grand Total: 365
20.3 Post-ColonialMidnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Review:
In this book Salman Rushdie weaves an intricate story that combines the life Saleem Sinai with the history of India. Born on stroke midnight of the day of the Indian independence Saleem Sinai is a special boy. Most significantly his life is intertwined with India.
This is one of the rare cases where an audiobook includes a preface read by the author. One sentence from the preface stayed with me while listening to the book and that was the observation how different the audience perceived this book. Indians saw it as a history book, while westerners tended to view it rather as a fantasy novel. I tend to lean towards the first opinion, although I can certainly see fantastical elements in the book. But for the most part this is a book about the history of India and the troubles the country went through after the independence.
I loved the way Saleem Sinai told his story. One of the books I can certainly recommend.
+ 20 Task
+ 5 Oldies (pub. 1980)
+ 5 Jumbo (647 pages)
+ 10 Combo (20.6: #139, 20.9)
+ 10 Review
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 415
Karen GHHS wrote: "10.6 – Beginnings/Endings:United We Spy by Ally Carter
+10 Task: newest book, no lexile
Grand Total: 1815"
The Lexile site had problems with search over the weekend and many books were returning no result. This book does have a Lexile, but it is only 630, so the effect is the same. But it might matter to you as a school librarian, so I pass it on.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "10.6 – Beginnings/Endings:United We Spy by Ally Carter
+10 Task: newest book, no lexile
Grand Total: 1815"
The Lexile site had problems with se..."
Thanks, Elizabeth. I might re-check some other new ones I couldn't find!
20.9 - Daytona 500Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare
I really enjoyed this series, but I have to say, this one was definitely the weakest to me. It focused way too much on the love triangle between Tessa, Will and Jem. It basically felt like the author forced Tessa and Jem together, then immediately started backpedaling. It almost felt like that whole romance was just there to add drama to the Tessa and Will romance, and it felt so weak to me. I felt like the action was handled similarly, it was all just drama between the Tessa and Will love story. Mortmain is only in maybe 5 or 6 chapters, and even after he's done with, there were still over 150 pages left to the book! So basically, a good fifth of the book doesn't even pretend to be focused on the action, it's all about the various borderline incestuous relationships between basically every single Shadowhunter. It just didn't seem to flow together very well, and was way more romance than I signed up for. All that said though, it was still a relatively enjoyable book, and I'm glad I finished the trilogy off.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 combo (10.2 - shelved as fantasy 1896 times; 10.5 - Goodreads author; 10.6 - most recent novel)
+5 jumbo (570 pages)
Post total: 50
Grand total: 275
From Post 850Karen GHHS wrote: "10.8 – BINGO!: Cory (Bigler)’s task
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
A Long Way Gone is an amazing book on many levels. First, the story that..."
+5 Combo 20.4
Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "No problem, Kate S. I'll adjust my total in my records."Thanks, Theresa.
Heather wrote: "hah. looks like I shorted myself! I read the book and forgot to post it. i'll do that now."Really glad to hear that is the situation! Congrats!
Heather wrote: "10.2 - 4,649 timesThe Gunslinger by Stephen King
+10 task
+5 combo (10.5)
+5 oldies
task total: 20
grand total: 1550"
+5 Combo 20.6 (#275 on list)
10.5 Goodreads authorizedWar Brides by Helen Bryan
Review: I read this book for a book club. I do like historical fiction, but I was not sure if I would like this book. Was I wrong. The story is about five very different women brought together by chance and a war and how they survived and helped during World War II. The author spends a good amount of time setting up each character's back story so that the reader gets into the book. I did need to read the book at a brisk pace and I was able to because I found their story in the British countryside engaging and surprising at times. I did learn more about what it was like in England during the war as well.
The book is not perfect. I did have some troubles with the some of the sentence structures at first and I did find it weird when a chapter would open up focusing on one character and then morph into another. This could be because it is her first novel. Once I just focused on the story and ignored the English teacher in me, I had a good time reading it.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 510 points
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Reading with Style
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A Dance with Dragons (other topics)Tracks (other topics)
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
George R.R. Martin (other topics)Robyn Davidson (other topics)
Jen Campbell (other topics)
Francesca Lia Block (other topics)
André Gide (other topics)
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The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 845