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FA 2015 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2015
10.10 - Group ReadsOur Souls at Night - Kent Haruf
What a beautiful little novel! I'm so happy to have picked this from the group read options. I had heard of Haruf's Plainsong novels, but never more than just in passing. As such, this was my first experience with his writing, and it absolutely blew me away.
Addie approaches her neighbor Louis with the proposition of occasionally sharing her bed and talking into the night. Both of them have lived alone for many years after the deaths of their spouses, and she feels it would be good for them to have company. Louis, taken aback at first, takes her up on the offer, and thus begins their romance.
The story is so sincere and so tender. The way they interact with each other, both when alone and when other characters get involved, is believable, touching, and so real. They discuss their pasts, the good and the bad. They discuss their children, their unfulfilled hopes, their mistakes. They discover that there is hope for happiness, even at 70, despite what outsiders may think. In 179 short ppages, Haruf had me fully invested in Addie and Louis' quiet love. The ending had me in tears, and I'm still not sure whether they were happy tears or sorrowful tears, or a bit of both.
An absolutely gorgeous novel, filled with hope, love, and sorrow. I'm sorry that my first experience with Haruf's work was his final novel, but I know it won't be my last experience with him.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.9 - post 39)
Post total: 25
Grand total: 285
15.7 - TtUS - Land CruiserSummer Knight - Jim Butcher
Set in Illinois
+15 task
+10 bonus
Post total: 25
Grand total: 310
15.8 - TtUS - Land CruiserThe Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Set in Missouri
+15 task
+10 bonus
Post total: 25
Grand total: 335
15.9 - TtUS - Land CruiserThe Scent of Rain and Lightning - Nancy Pickard
Set in Kansas
+15 task
+15 bonus
Post total: 30
Grand total: 365
Rebekah wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I know what you mean of too much of a good thing or maybe just too much! Although I know quite a bit of the history concerning these times, reading about the conditions of the Continental Army just brings it all home how amazing that things turned out the way they did! I'm not trying to brag and be like Super- Patriot but when I read 1776 , I was just awed all over again but it made me sad because I don't think if it happened today, we would be up for it. We've gotten so cynical, spoiled and soft. I know one of my kids could even handle today's army, even if she never went to war, the push-ups alone would get her "What the Continental Army went through was so amazingly terrible, the lack of food, clothing, medical attention - to survive all that and then be able to stand up and battle, truly amazing.
And it would seem that events continually conspired to help them, it would surely have all been lost if the British had acted differently. Hard to believe in this day and age that such an outcome would ever have been reached.
10.1 AuthorsCrooked Heart by Lissa Evans
+10 task
+10 combo (10.3, 10.9 post 417)
Task total: 20
Grand Total: 435
Kate - thanks for picking my error in post 678. Hopefully I have corrected my total ok now.
20.1 CelebrationPontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon by Garrison Keillor
Review:
Listening to the author read this book was definitely the right way to experience these tales from Lake Woebegon. The novel is essentially an expanded version of the radio bit. If you like the tales in Prairie Home Companion, you'll probably enjoy them here. If you don't, the book likely won't appeal either. The descriptions are wonderfully zany, yet sort of everyman in character. Keillor is a master of one-liners and hilarious descriptions of the sort of stolid midwesterners who occupy his small town: "Our people settled out on the prairie because they like straight lines and neat corners." Recommended to entertain in a long car ride through boring midwestern flatland especially.
+20 Task (published 2007)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9 - post 221)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 360
20.2 InnocenceThe Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein
Review:
I had never heard of this book or this author before my bookclub selected this book for this month. I very much enjoyed the memoir of growing up in a working class Manchester neighborhood where Jews lived on one side of the street and Christians on the other. The author wrote this book approximately 80 years after he lived it, so I'm sure some of the memories are colored by age and later life: his father may have become more distant and villainous, his favorite sister more virtuous, his troublesome sister more extreme. Still, the book is gripping and compelling. I'm sure I would have enjoyed talking with the author about his life.
+20 Task (pub. 2006; died 2011)
+10 Review
+10 not a novel (nonfiction/memoir)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 400
10.7 LibrivoxA Room with a View by E.M. Forster
shelved 14x
Even though I’ve enjoyed the movies based on his novels, this is the first E M Forster novel I’ve read. Overall, I enjoyed the story and telling of it. However it did have, to my tastes, some significant characters that I found quite annoying. I have quite a low tolerance for snobby people who judge others based on class (and novels about “manners”), but ultimately, I think that is part of the point of this novel. Luckily, the main character, Lucy, also develops as a thinking (for herself) person by the end of the book. It is definitely an interesting book, and I thought his technique of stepping outside of the story to comment on the characters interesting (although not subtle). This novel is a nice introduction to his writing and I will definitely seek out his other work.
10 task
5 oldie (1908)
5 combo (10.9)
10 review
____
30
Running total 520
15.9. TtUS. LandcruiserCircle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
Pennsylvania
+15 pts - task
+15 pts - bonus
Task total - 30 pts
Grand total - 965 pts
Amanda wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I know what you mean of too much of a good thing or maybe just too much! Although I know quite a bit of the history concerning these times, reading about the conditio..."If the Brits had been a little less sure of their ultimate victory and had pressed their advantage after NY and NJ to Philadelphia, all would probably would have been loss. I recently bought a book about the war from the British soldiers point of view. I'd really like to see what they considered about the war strategies. Hope I can get to it soon!
10.8 The Horrors!Angel Time by Anne Rice
Back in the day, I devoured the Vampire Chronicles (up through Memnoch the Devil, which was as far as she'd written at the time), read the giant tome that was The Witching Hour, and even attempted The Mummy. This is the first book I've read since she had her religious re-awakening and I was curious to see how it was.
Man, she can still weave a tale that will keep you hooked, even if it does seem like it's two stories crammed together and has a lot of strange details that you don't think will work.
Toby O'Dare is a lute-playing orphan who once planned on joining the ministry and who also happens to be a killer for hire. After one assignment, a seraph approaches him to ask assistance in completing one of *His* assignments. Toby agrees and is whisked back to 13th Century England.
This one required a huge suspension of disbelief (more so than a vampire novel?! yep), but it was like sitting down on a roller-coaster---once you're on, there's no getting off until it's good and over.
Side note: the one thing that I really couldn't stand was the overuse of the phrase, "in my heart of hearts." UUUGGGHHHH! I HATE that phrase. Nails-on-a-chalkboard level hate. And it was used. A lot.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo
-10.3
-10.9, post 104
Task Total = 30
Grand Total = 1260
10.3 DictionaryDetective Story by Imre Kertész
+10 Task (d - s)
+5 Oldies (published 1977)
Task total: 150
Grand Total: 1045
20.10 InterconnectedThe Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
+20 task
+10 Combo (10.9 post 47; 10.10)
+10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
+10 Oldies (pub 1923)
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 485
10.9 Six DegreesThe Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
Approved Post 123
Finally, a Miss Marple! I don't seem to get around to her series very often, and I am not quite sure that I like her as much as I do Hercule Poirot, but this is a fine collection of stories.
After dinner a group of 6 share some crime / mystery stories, keeping the resolution to themselves and allowing the other members to solve them, and, inexplicably to them, Miss Marple, the quiet, never-left-the-village, old lady manages to solve them!
After the first 6 stories we move to a different dinner party, where the same thing occurs. It is a different group who are sharing the stories, but Sir Henry, who was present at the first dinner, has arranged that Miss Marple also be invited to this dinner, as he was so impressed with her abilities the first time round - and, of course, she doesn't disappoint!
The final story is a case in progress, where Miss Marple, believing she knows the murderer, seeks Sir Henry's assistance to ensure that an innocent person is not accused.
It seems somewhat surprising that so much occurs in village life that would allow Miss Marple to have insight into so many different murders, but I do think it is with Miss Marple that Christie is writing at her strength, and none of the stories disappoint.
+10 task
+10 Not A Novel
+10 Oldies
+10 review
+15 combos (10.2, 10.4, 20.10)
Task Total = 55
Grand Total = 1130
10.6 - ReunificationPerfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 post 420)
+5 oldies (pub 1985)
Task total: 20
Grand Total: 505
15.4 TtUS Land CruiserHell at the Breech by Tom Franklin
Alabama
15 pt. task +10 bonus pt.
Task total: 225
Grand total: 250
15.5 TtUSSanctuary by William Faulkner
Mississippi
15 pt. task +10 pt. bonus
Task total 25
Grand total 275
15.8 TtUS - Land CruiserEventide by Kent Haruf
State: Colorado
+15 Task
+10 Bonus (Tasks 4-8)
Task Total = 25
Grand Total: 250 + 25 = 275
10.1 AuthorsThere Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In: Three Novellas About Family by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Review
I’ve rated this 2-stars only because I don't think it's for me. Some people may be able to appreciate the literary wit but I just thought these families were too sad! I kept shaking my head at how crazy these people are... and the lengths that the mothers will do for their children -well these I understood and I feel the pain of it all. I also understood that life is hard in Russia especially when you’re poor but I do wonder at what excuses these people have got to act as they do! I just couldn’t see much redeeming points in most of these characters though I do have to admire the mothers for their sacrifices. Other than that, not a fun book at all!
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel (?)
Total this post: 30
Total points: 435
10.8 The Horrors!-Karen's Task-The Stand by Stephen King
Review
I don’t think I’d classify this as ‘horror’ as it wasn’t really that scary... except for the fact that I caught a cold in the middle of this book (eep!) though I thought that more of a funny point that scary. It was an interesting blend of medical thriller and the supernatural though I found it overlong with a fairly anticlimactic resolution. I’ve really enjoyed the first 70% of the novel as the whole ‘apocalypse’ was happening and as the people gathered into groups but I found the last 30% to drag with the whole supernatural happening that people can’t explain followed by an ending that is less exciting than the actual apocalyptic event. 3-stars
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.9 Six Degrees msg 20/21, 20.6 -379,084 ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies
+25 Jumbo (1,000+ pages)
Total this post: 60
Total points: 495
20.2-Innocence Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
+20 Task: 1857 - 1870: 13 years
+10 Combo: 10.7 Librivox (6 people) / 10.9 Kevin Bacon Approved Author Post #34
+15 Oldies: 1857
+20 Jumbo: 985 pages
Task Total: 65
Grand Total: 1190
20.2-InnocenceTimon of Athens by William Shakespeare
+20 Task: 1607 - 1616: 9 years
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 Kevin Bacon Approved Author Post #264
+10 Not a Novel: Play
+25 Oldies: 1607
Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 1250
10.4 Math- The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen SchineI did not appreciate this novel. The characters are one-dimensional. The men are bad and most of the women good. The only bad women are the ones who steal the men from the good women. I was shocked to find that this is considered a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I haven't read that book....and now I am biased against it...even though I very much liked Austen's Persuasion. The story starts with a man in his seventies divorcing his wife for a younger woman after fifty years of marriage. His middle-aged step-daughters play prominently in the novel...and we learn about their complicated betrayals by men as well. Somewhere in the middle of the book....I just lost interest...and it became drudgery to read.
task +10
review +10
combo +5 (10.6- post 413 pending approval)
total= 25
grand total = 345
20.1-Celebration! - A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan SwiftIt is hard to classify this book. The book is in effect a critique of several issues told mostly through digressions and a fable. The device of using digressions is a parody and critique of writers and critics of his day. For example, he uses a long forward to argue against the abuse of forwards by other writers. The fable is about three brothers who are given specific instructions in their father's will... and each decides to creatively interpret that will in such a way as to benefit himself...and eventually the brothers conflict with each other. The fable is meant to represent different branches of Christianity...and I am sure that most of the points that Swift was making went over my head since these religious issues are no longer current. Nevertheless, the point is understood that our reliance on those interpreting the will of God should be examined... a risky point to make in the 18th century. I am sure that the criticism of his fellow writers was not appreciated at the time either.
task +20 (published 1704)
review +10
combo +5 (10.6- post 415 awaiting approval)
not a novel +10 (not sure how this is classified, criticism?, parody? fable?)
oldie +20 (1704)
total= 65
grand total = 410
20.6-Ratings - Bossypants by Tina FeyHaving read Amy Poehler's Yes Please a few months ago... I can report there are many similarities....discussions about how they came up in the comedy business, motherhood and family...and quite a bit on Saturday Night Live. In fact both authors spend a few pages talking about different sketches with Sarah Palin. Despite the similarities.... I enjoyed both books. Tina Fey also discusses how she developed 30 Rock... never expected it to be renewed and how she viewed the request to play Sarah Palin (she was no longer on SNL) might be risky to her image and 30 Rock...and might unintentionally help Sarah Palin. A fun read.
task +20 (over 400,000 ratings)
review +10
combo +5 (10.6- post 422- approval pending)
not a novel +10 (non-fiction)
task = 45
grand total = 455
20.7 MicrohistoryParis 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan
Review:
If I was going to use one word to describe Margaret MacMillan's "Paris 1919" it would be "detailed". She includes a multitude of backstories about the delegates and the obstacles they must surmount at the Peace Conference after World War I. The three most important participants were Georges Clemenceau who wanted to protect France from future attacks from Germany, the idealistic Woodrow Wilson who pushed for his Fourteen Points including a League of Nations, and David Lloyd George who was concerned with the interests of the large British Empire and its naval power. Thousands more joined them in Paris to hammer out agreements, redraw national boundaries, and impose reparations.
Wilson's idea of self-determination raised the hopes of groups in many countries, but it was impossible to implement. The Ottoman Empire and the Balkans especially are composed of a mix of ethnic groups. Self-determination was ignored when dividing the spoils in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
MacMillan divides the book into chapters about individual countries, and wrote detailed accounts of the day-to-day decisions regarding them. While a casual reader would probably prefer a little less detail, a historian would value it. Her research is to be admired, and it gives a real understanding of the various perspectives and the compromises reached. Unfortunately, some compromises resulted in national borders that had no good ethnic or geographical reasons. MacMillan does point out artificial boundaries set up at the Peace Conference that led to more unrest in the future, such as the fighting that is still going on in the Middle East.
She does not blame the Treaty of Versailles for Hitler's rise to power, although she felt he used it as propaganda. She feels that the Treaty of Versailles was not responsible for Hitler's wish to expand the boundaries of Germany, and to destroy the Jews and the Bolsheviks. Overall, the book will give the reader a deeper understanding of the world in 1919. "Paris 1919" also showed the root of some of the animosities that exist today.
+20 task (approved)
+10 combo (10.4 Math, 10.9 Six Degrees post 275)
+ 5 jumbo (570 pages)
+ 5 not a novel (non fiction)
+10 review
Task total: 50
Grand total: 520
20.6 - RatingsAlice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
(Lexile 980 & 910)
+20 task
+5 combo (10.9 post 424)
+10 oldies (1865 & 1871)
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 540
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconStorm Vol. 1: Make it Rain by Greg Pak
+10 Task (pending approval – post 409)
Graphic Novel – no styles
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1055
15.2 – TtUS Land Cruiser (Round 2)Bad Company by K.A. Mitchell
Set Entirely in Maryland
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 1070
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconEdinburgh by Alexander Chee
Review: Through a series of recommendations and wanting to be able to converse about certain books, I have ended up reading three books in two months that focus on the lifelong emotional trauma to victims of pedophilia. That’s enough for the year, I think. This one took a slightly different look at it – for one, the criminal was not a priest – but the style was a total distraction to me. Chee wrote the book in an almost stream of consciousness style but not quite. He doesn’t use quotation marks. The points of view and tenses shift, probably as an effort to show emotion, but in my opinion mostly to create confusion. Another reviewer said it seemed workshopped to death, and I tend to agree. Were I a person who had managed to train herself to put books down when I’m not into it, I would have stopped around page 25.
+10 Task (post 410)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1090
20.4 Balance (South Asian or Canadian)Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Review: This third book in the Anne of Green Gables series may have been the one I liked most as a kid, but they all kind of blended together in my memory. It’s the one when Anne really starts moving toward being an adult, which makes it less charming than the earlier ones. A lot of the plot comes from letters, which seems a little forced, but it’s still a fun little world to inhabit for a while. I know at least one of the later books features Anne’s daughter instead of herself, so that might provide a little more of the former magic, but I’d still love to follow Anne into her later life.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1908)
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1135
20.5 History (Pulitzer winning author)First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis
Review: I love Abigail Adams, mostly because she’s one of few historical figures you learn much about in school who is female. Still, much like in this book, historically she’s relegated mostly to her relationship with her husband – the historical context in which she lived didn’t have starring roles for most women. Learning more about their relationship, which, to be honest, I mostly knew from the musical/movie 1776, was interesting, but I do wish Ellis had expanded more on her alone the way he did with John. Part of this had to do with the lack of historical documents – beyond their letters, there isn’t much left behind about Abigail’s life – but surely there was a little more he could have done. At times, the author supposes things about their relationship, so he wasn’t opposed to extrapolating. All in all, it was a fine little historical biography, but mostly made me want to read more about Abigail and some of the other First Ladies.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1180
20.6 Crime and Punishment (300,000 ratings)A Time to Kill by John Grisham
Review: I’ve read a couple of Grisham books before, but had never read this one, which is possibly his most famous. I’ve also still never seen the movie version, so I went into the experience almost entirely unaware of the plot. I found it chillingly related to some of the other books I’ve read recently – namely, The Warmth of Other Suns – in its exploration of race relations in the southern US. I didn’t love Grisham’s portrayal of women – the few who were present were either hardly there or gross stereotypes – but it was still an engaging read. I wish I hadn’t read the end right before bed, since some of the things that happened were the stuff of nightmares, and the end felt really rushed to me. I’ll probably check back in with Jake Brigance in Sycamore Row at some point in the future.
+20 Task (525,077 ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1989)
+5 Combo (10.9)
+5 Jumbo (544 pages)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1225
10.3 DictionaryReap the Wind by Karen Chance
Review: No one should start the Cassandra Palmer series at this seventh book – I was already confused a little since it’d been over two years since the last one was published. It is one of my favorite urban fantasy series, and one of the few I still keep up with, but I wouldn’t suggest anyone start it unless they’re very okay with cliffhangers. This one was longer than most of her installments, but it still was mostly filler – action, action, action, and basically no resolution of any of the major plot points. The good parts were still good – the side characters, the humor, etc. – but no resolution after two years of waiting, plus an author who regularly pushes back her deadlines makes it super frustrating. Luckily, the romance seems to be moving in the direction I’d like to see it go, and there was a funny appearance by my favorite minor character, the fashion designer.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (514 pages)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1250
Post 736 Tien wrote: "10.1 AuthorsThere Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children, Until They Moved Back In: Three Novellas About Family by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Review
I’ve rated t..."
As you knew to question it, novellas don't qualify for the not a novel style. The reasoning - arrived at when this style was first introduced - is that a novella, by definition, is a short novel.
But thank you for bringing this title to my attention - I've added it to my ever growing wish list.
20.2 InnocenceH.M. Pulham, Esq. by John P. Marquand
Marquand stresses in his preface that the reader will focus more on the characters than on the plot. There is no doubt that this is a character-driven novel. The problem I had is that it is told in the first person. I wanted to better understand this title character and that might have been better in the third person. I could have learned what the other characters thought about Harry Pulham, for instance, and the reader is denied this additional perspective.
But then, the "world" in which his life is lived is so different than anything I have ever experienced. It was the world of those rich enough where servants were a matter of course and private education - not public - was the norm. The book opens when Pulham's classmates convene to discuss their Harvard 25th Class Reunion. The next 300 pages are Pulham remembering his early life, before we return to the year leading up to the reunion itself.
When I left Westwood one September afternoon, home grew smaller and faded into the clouds, like the land when you leave for Europe. After that I was always going away and always coming back, but whenever I came back part of me did not belong there.and 100 pages later
All at once I felt like a stranger, or as though I had never really known my family. It must have been because their interests were no longer the same as mine. I did not even seem to care whether my friends were interested in me or not. In some way we were all like people speaking different languages.This is a novel that builds upon itself so that while the early pages made me wonder if I could even warm to it, it was definitely good enough to keep with it and got better the deeper I read. Still, the early parts were weak enough that I can't bring myself to give it 4 stars and it sits toward the top of the 3-star list. I'll be happy to give Marquand another try with his earlier book and Pulitzer winner The Late George Apley.
+20 Task (pub 1942, d. 1960)
+10 Combo (10.2 - 1893-1960; 10.9, post 85)
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 475
10.1 Author(2nd time)Morning Gloryby LaVyrle Spencer
Review
This is the first book I read by this author. I liked the book. It takes place in a small town in Georgia. Both of the main characters are rough around the edges. Their pasts weren't perfect. Elly, lived in Whitney all her life and she was shunned because was born to an unwed mother. Will Parker was an orphan and went from foster home to foster home, never belonging anywhere. Plus, he served time in jail for something that wasn't his fault.
When Elly puts out an ad for a husband, Will answers the ad. He proves to be a hard worker and he cares about Elly's children from a former marriage. They start out as strangers and they grow to love each other. Then Will's past comes to haunt him when he is accused of murdering the town's floozy. She practically threw herself at him. He never took the bait. Then she ends up dead. Who is going to believe a newcomer to town? He goes to trial and is so sure he will serve a life sentence.
I liked the romance. It was uncomplicated and I got into the story. I really liked the main characters. There should be a sequel.
Task +10
Style +10 Review
Oldies +5 first published 1989
Book Total: 25
Grand Total 310
From Post 739Karen Michele wrote: "20.2-Innocence
Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare
+20 Task: 1607 - 1616: 9 years
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 Kevin Bacon Approved Author Post #264
+10 Not a Novel: Play
+25 Old..."
+5 Combo 20.1
From Post 74Cory Day wrote: "10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Edinburgh by Alexander Chee
Review: Through a series of recommendations and wanting to be able to converse about certain books, I hav..."
+5 Combo 10.7
From Post 741Ed wrote: "20.1-Celebration! - A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
It is hard to classify this book. The book is in effect a critique of several issues told mostly through digressio..."
This appears to be an early satirical novel and does not qualify for not-a-novel points, sorry.
From Post 714Sam wrote: "10.8 - The Horrors!
The Shining - Stephen King
I've started a few novels and story collections by King before, but this is the first of his that I've actually managed to finish. So t..."
+5 Jumbo (512 pages in MPE)
From Post 723Valerie wrote: "10.7 Librivox
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
shelved 14x
Even though I’ve enjoyed the movies based on his novels, this is the first E M Forster novel I’ve read. Ov..."
Sorry, Valerie, this book is shelved as YA Assignment at BPL with a Lexile score under 800. It works for the task, but does not qualify for any style points.
From Post 49Anika wrote: "10.3 Dictionary
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Set in Ohio in the 1970s, the Lee family is struggling with the death of their middle child, Lydia. Lydia..."
+5 Combo 10.9-post 426
10.10 Group ReadDead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.9-post 47; 20.7)
+10 Not-a-Novel
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1190
20.6 RatingsThe Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
+20 Task (372,000 ratings)
+5 Combo (10.9-post 184)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1215
10.6 ReunificationElective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
+10 Task-born in Germany
+5 Combo 20.9
+15 Oldies (1809)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1245
10.8 The Horrors!Bag of Bones by Stephen King
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.9-post 20)
+10 Jumbo (736 pages)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1270
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Mothers, Tell Your Daughters (other topics)Making Their Own Way: Southern Blacks' Migration to Pittsburgh, 1916-30 (other topics)
John Adams (other topics)
Moving Target (other topics)
John Adams (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Bonnie Jo Campbell (other topics)Peter Gottlieb (other topics)
David McCullough (other topics)
J.A. Jance (other topics)
David McCullough (other topics)
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The Shining - Stephen King
I've started a few novels and story collections by King before, but this is the first of his that I've actually managed to finish. So that in and of itself is an achievement for me!
This is a much more psychological horror novel than the others I've attempted by King. It doesn't rely solely on gore and the gross-out factor (though it has some of that too). It starts with the subtle (well, for King at least) weirdness then just doesn't stop; the scares keep ramping up and getting more and more intense as the book goes on. I couldn't put it down! Sure the ending is a bit all over the place, but it fits well within the overall story. The characters are all pretty well fleshed out; I found myself simultaneously hating and pitying Jack, and Danny is the creepiest kid ever pretty much from page 1.
I'm glad that I decided to give King another shot, because this book really is excellent! Creepy, suspenseful, a little gross, very dramatic; basically the perfect pre-Halloween read!
+10 task
+10 review
+5 oldie
+10 combo (10.9 - post 20; 20.6 - 652k ratings)
Post total: 35
Grand total: 260