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Winter 13/14 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter 13/14
20.10 Between the WarsOut of the Shadow: A Russian Jewish Girlhood on the Lower East Side by Rose Cohen
Review: Last fall, my sister and I visited New York City. While there we visited the Tenement Museum. We did a walking tour of the neighborhood and the tenement building. In this book a Russian Jewish woman describes her childhood including her life in Russia, her immigration to the New York and her life there—working in the garment industry, a short stint as a servant, contacts with the “outside world” (upper Manhattan and the countryside). Having seen a tenement, it was easy to visualize the stoops, the halls, the stairs, the rooms, the back area where the outhouses and water pump were as Rose Cohen describes them and her life there.
As the introduction by Thomas Dublin explains, this was written when Cohen was still young, when she was still struggling with her feelings toward her family, her religion and the world outside the enclosed community they lived in. It was not written forty years later from the comfort of a middle-class life. It is raw and compelling.
+20 Task (Rose Cohen was born 1880)
+10 Not-a-novel (autobiography)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (originally published 1918)
Task total:
Grand Total:
20.3 - Post-Colonial:God's Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembène
This engaging novel is set primarily in Senegal and depicts the events surrounding the 1947 railroad strike. There is Ad'jibid'ji, a young girl that is fascinated by the meetings of the railroad workers and tells her grandfather that she has "to start learning what it means to be a man" because "men and women will be equal one day" and her grandmother Niakoro, steeped in the old ways, who believes "knowledge should not belong to children, but to their elders." There is the enigmatic Bakayoko, the leader of the strike whom does not make an appearance until more than halfway through the book and his local strike leaders in Theis, Dakar, and Bamako. There are chapters narrated by obedient wives, market women, and prostitutes. There are stories told by the very old that remember the brutality and hardships of the strike many years ago and the young apprentices that fearlessly and unintentionally find ways to frighten the white bosses. There are the stories of the the white bosses, their wives and a failed anthropologist. All of these viewpoints create a all-encompassing narrative; it is the story of an entire community and a culture on the brink of change deftly told through many voices.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 oldies
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 630 points
10.6 Beginnings/Endings Sherlock Holmes and the Needle’s Eye:The World's Greatest Detective Tackles the Bible's Ultimate Mysteries by Len Bailey
This is the author's latest book.
Task +10
Style+ 10
Review
I thought it was interesting that Sherlock Holmes takes on the mysteries of the bible. It is different. What I didn't understand is what the Needle's eye was or how they got a hold of it. They didn't go into how it worked. I could have missed that explanation.
Some of the biblical stories were familiar to me since I grew up Catholic and going to church. I liked the first two stories. After the four story, it started to get very dry.
I didn't feel the writer captured the voice of the original author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It just didn't seem the same as reading the original stories. I thought the book was only average.
Book Total: Grand Total: 250
Task 20.9 - Daytona 500: Watermelon (1995) by Marian Keyes (Paperback, 520 pages)
Review:This chicklit book was published in 1995, a year before the iconic chicklit book Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding was published. Still, all the elements of the chicklit genre are present – the focus is on the romantic life of our heroine, first-person narrator Claire. You don’t read a chicklit book looking for something completely different. You do read a chicklit book for a familiar story well-done. By that standard, Watermelon is a 5 star book. The author really gets into the thoughts and feelings of our heroine as she travels the story arc of rejection, restarting, rejoicing. Wry humor is liberally sprinkled throughout the story.
Our heroine is the eldest of 5 daughters; I see on goodreads that the author has written novels about each of the 5 sisters. (Watermelon is the first of the series.)
Recommended for readers looking for a well-done chicklit novel.
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.6 Debut Novel)
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages: 5 Points
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 920 + 40 = 960
20.3 - Post-ColonialMidnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
+ 20 task
+ 10 combo (20.6 - 20th C, 20.9 - Daytona 500)
+ 5 oldies (1980)
+ 5 jumbo (647 pages)
Task total: 40 points
Grand Total: 150
10.5 – Goodreads authorized:Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1910
10.5 – Goodreads authorized:After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1920
10.7 – Keep it Short: Karen GHHS’s taskWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
+10 Task: 2012 Frank O'Connor
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 – Beginnings/Endings: (newest book)
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1945
10.2 - ReindeerThe Magician King - Lev Grossman
I'm a big believer in not having to like the characters in order to enjoy a book, but this was so frustrating to read! Quentin whines constantly about everything, regardless of whether things are going his way or not. Julia is even worse with her annoying "my life is nothing without magic because I'm a genius" bit. All of the other characters are completely one dimensional (though not without their own assholish traits,) which, why wouldn't they be when the story is being narrated by Mr. and Mrs. Narcissist?
On top of the thoroughly annoying characters, the plot is sloppy at best. About 2/3 of the novel felt completely unnecessary. There are points where it really feels like the author just forgot something during his writing, realized it afterwards and, instead of fixing the issue, basically just said "screw it, we'll just throw in a line about how that thing happened by magic and call it a day!" The whole plot set-up had way too much lead up too, with so many barely relevant pit stops and groan-worthy obvious "twists".
I'll still probably pick up the third book when it comes out. The writing and characters are sloppy, yes, but the idea and the worlds (despite just being Narnia by a different name) are interesting enough that I want to know how it wraps up.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.5 - Goodreads author; 10.6 - latest novel)
Post total: 30
Grand total: 305
TtPR-Seafarer15.9 Ninth stop-Mexico (B,C)
Adam in Eden by Carlos Fuentes
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total: 25
Grand total: 560
Whoops! I forgot that I can claim oldies points for Out of the Shadow: A Russian Jewish Girlhood on the Lower East Side in entry 977. It was originally published in 1918.
20.6 Best Books of the 20th CenturyMatilda by Roald Dahl
840 Lexile
Review:
I read this once as a kid. This time, I listened to the newly-released audiobook version with my kids. The audiobook is wonderfully read by Kate Winslet. She has a lovely British accent that was nice to listen to but not so foreign as to confuse my four-year-old. The story tells of a genius kindergartener whose parents have no patience for education or reading, but a wonderful teacher sees the girl's potential and works with her. It's full of Dahl humor and wackiness. We all especially appreciated the pure evil of the school principal, who goes about pulling hair and screaming at children. We'll have to find a copy of the movie next.
+20 Task (#177 when I checked)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2 - shelved 1100+ times as fantasy)
+5 Oldies (1988)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 785
10.6 Beginnins/EndingsShades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
+10 task (As far as I can tell, this is her first book.)
+5 Combo (10.5)
Task total: 15 points
Grand Total: 1680
10.6 - Beginnings/Endings: Read an author's debut book or most recently published book as of December 1, 2013.The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 2/16/14
This is the author's most recent book as of 12/1/13.
+10 Task
Task total: 10 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1105
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1745
10.6 - Beginnings/Endings: Read an author's debut book or most recently published book as of December 1, 2013.Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup 2/16/14
This is the author's debut book.
+10 Task
+15 oldies (published 1853)
Task total: 35 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1140
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1780
20.10 - Between the Wars: Read a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913). The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie 2/17/14
Agatha Christie was born in 1890.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3 Detective list 10.6 debut novel)
+10 oldies (published 1920)
Task total: 40 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1180
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1820
TtPR Seafarer15.9 Cambodia
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner (A,C)
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1100
20.9 - Daytona 500: Read a book that is at least 500 pages.The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley 2/19/14
This book has 544 pages.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.5 Goodreads Author, 10.6 most recent novel)
+5 Jumbo (544 pages)
Task total: 35 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1215
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1855
TtPR Seafarer15.10 Japan
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (A,B,C)
+ 15 task
+ 10 bonus
+100 Seafarer Well-Traveled Bonus
+200 Mega Bonus
Total This Post: 325
Grand Total: 1425
10.2 - Reindeer: read a book that has been shelved as fantasy at least 1000 times.Stardust by Neil Gaiman 2/20/14
Lexile 970
This book was shelved as fantasy 8,337 times.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.5 Goodreads Author)
Task total: 15 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1230
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1870
Task 20.2 - Picaresque Read a picaresque novel from the linked list.The Stainless Steel Rat (Stainless Steel Rat #4) (1961) by Harry Harrison
Review: The title of this novel discouraged me from reading this book for many years. It sounds like an uninspired 50s science fiction novel, maybe one where the characters are fighting the Cold War. I found it on the list of picaresque novels so I decided to give it a try. The premise: The main character is a criminal in a future society which has almost entirely wiped out crime. He steals for the satisfaction of getting away with his crime rather than for the actual riches he gains. This novel sets up the rest of the series, establishing his modus operandi, and introducing major recurring characters in his life. (Even though it is chronologically #4 of the series, it was #1 in publishing order of the series.) Overall, this novel was tall tales with science fiction trappings. Recommended for when you are in the mood for that sort of thing.
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.6 “Rat)
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1939-1989)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 05 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 960 + 40 = 1000
10.5 Goodreads authorizedThe Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Garth Stein is a goodreads author.
Task +10
Style + 10
Review
I absolutely loved this book. I liked that it was told from the point of view of the dog. He sounded very human. Enzo, the dog, loves his family you can tell and is very loyal. He reminds me of my dog and how he would speak if he could. The story is so touching. I loved his master, Denny and it was a sweet story. My heart went out to him for all he had to go through. I absolutely hated the grandparents and what they put Denny through. They acted horribly. I thought it was a heart warming story with a happy ending.
Book Total: 20
Grand Total: 270
15.9 TtPR - Seafarer - JapanRevenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yōko Ogawa fits A,B & C
+15 pts - Task
+10 pts - Bonus
Task Total - 25 pts
Grand Total - 1135 pts
20.10 - Between the Wars: Read a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913).
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence 2/22/14
The author was born in 1885.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.6 #340 on the list)
+10 Oldies (pub. 1928)
Task total: 35 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1265
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1905
10.4 - Chinese New YearFunerals for Horses by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Review:
The disturbing first novel from Catherine Ryan Hyde. Thirty-something Ella sets out on foot across Nevada and Arizona looking for her brother Simon. Alongside this narrative of a journey which owes something to magical realism, we discover their shared history including a runaway mother, a father jailed for sex-related crimes and a sister who killed herself. Through all of this, Simon looked after the younger Ella, but now things have turned around. Not an easy read and it gets decidedly weird towards the end but I enjoyed the structure and the characters.
+10 task (horses)
+10 combo (10.5, 10.6 http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/c...)
+10 review
Task total: 30 points
RwS finish bonus: 100
Mega finish bonus: 200
Grand total: 1675
20.10 Between the WarsThe Blessing by Nancy Mitford
Review:
A little like the opposite of The Parent Trap: young Sigismonde, son of an aristocratic French father and English mother, prolongs and intensifies the misunderstandings between his parents to keep them apart, because he finds he gets more attention that way. Nancy Mitford had a relationship with a Frenchman herself and her descriptions of French high society in the generation after Proust and the relations between French, English and Americans are often hilarious. The French are constantly having affairs, the English get upset about it and everybody makes fun of the rich American Hector Dexter but he turns out to be something very different from the cola-drinking patriot that he seems.
+20 task (born 1904)
+10 review
+ 5 oldies (1951)
Task total: 35 points
Grand total: 1710
15.10 TtPR - Seafarer - ChileDistant Star by Roberto Bolaño A & C
+15 pts - Task
+10 pts - Bonus
+100 - sub-challenge completion bonus
+200 - mega- finish bonus
Total - 325
Grand Total - 1460
10.6 - Beginnings/EndingsThe Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel
+10 Task (most recent book)
+5 Combo (10.5 - Goodreads Author)
+10 Not-a-Novel (nonfiction)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 425
10.6 - Beginnings/EndingsAmy Falls Down by Jincy Willett
+10 Task (most recent book)
Task total: 10
Grand total: 435
20.10 Between the WarsCome in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack
+20 task (born in 1902)
+5 Combo (20.9)
+10 Jumbo (711 pages)
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 1715
10.6 Beginnings and EndingsLong Division by Kiese Laymon
+10 most recent book
+5 Combo (10.5-GR Authorized)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1210
10.8 BINGO!The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
+10 Task
+5 Oldies (1946)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1225
20.6 20th CenturyIf on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
+20 Task
+5 Oldies (1979)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1250
15.10 TtPRSeafarer-U.S.
Slow Waltz In Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
+100 Well-Traveled Bonus
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 325
Season Total: 1575
15.6 TtPR Seafarer-MalaysiaThe Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
(A & C)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 535 points
Post 1003 Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "20.10 - Between the Wars: Read a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913).
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence 2/22/14
The autho..."
Sort of ironic, that this book is on the BPL YA Assignment list. See Rosemary's comment in Post 792!
Oops! Thanks for catching that, Elizabeth. I remembered that being the case for The Catcher in the Rye but didn't check Lady Chatterley's Lover. Sure enough, it's Assignment on BPL, but no Lexile rating. I found most of D. H. Lawrence's books rated in Lexile, all over 800, but not that one. Is there a way to request a rating for future readers?In the meantime, I've reduced my total from 1905 to 1890.
Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Oops! Thanks for catching that, Elizabeth. I remembered that being the case for The Catcher in the Rye but didn't check Lady Chatterley's Lover. Sure enough, it's Assign..."I think there is a request feature - Karen can probably tell you about it. Most of Lawrence's works are on the canon, so Lexile doesn't apply, but not this one.
I found the request form on Lexile and submitted a request, which they will send to the publisher. They cannot score a book without the publisher's request.
20.9 Daytona 500: Read a book with over 500 pages.The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 2/23/14
This book has 552 pages.
Lexile 760
Task total: 20 points
TtPR Total: 240
Seafarer Well Traveled Bonus 100
RwS Total: = 1270
RwS Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1910
Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 948Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "In Honor of Edgar Allan Poe
Murder Past Due by Miranda James
Murder Past Due is a cozy mystery by writer M..."
Sorry, I don't see a good fit for it, but I was unable to locate his birth year, maybe he is a 1964 birth?
TtPR Seafarer15.10 Tenth stop Colombia A,B,C
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total: 25
+100 TtPR completion bonus
Grand total: 685
From Post 994Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "10.6 - Beginnings/Endings: Read an author's debut book or most recently published book as of December 1, 2013.
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup 2/16/14
This ..."
+10 not-a-novel (memoir)
Coralie wrote: "20.10 Between the WarsCome in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack
+20 task (born in 1902)
+5 Combo (20.9)
+10 Jumbo (711 pages)
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 1715"
+5 Oldies (pub 1951)
From Post 957Joanna wrote: "10.5 GR Authorized
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Review:
Andrew Smith is my new hero. Seriously, this book was fantastic. It managed to talk more openly and..."
Sorry, Joanna, this is cataloged as Juvenile Fiction at the BPL and has no Lexile score. It will qualify for the task, but not for style points.
Kate S wrote: "From Post 957Joanna wrote: "10.5 GR Authorized
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Review:
Andrew Smith is my new hero. Seriously, this book was fantastic. It m..."
I'm really excited to read this one! I just heard it book talked on Saturday along with Winger (890 Lexile) also by Smith. It doesn't change anything because I think grasshopper is just too new to have a Lexile yet and it is a YA book, but I think putting it in at BPL as juvenile is a goof that will probably be corrected. The content was recommended by the expert presenters I heard on the upper end of high school. I'm just adding this info for those of you who might want to read it.
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Reading with Style
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Jen Campbell (other topics)
Francesca Lia Block (other topics)
André Gide (other topics)
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Columbia
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1195