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FA 2015 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2015
20.6 RatingsThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
+20 Task (483K ratings)
+10 Oldies (1876)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1450
20.6 RatingsDigital Fortress by Dan Brown
+20 Task (351K ratings)
+5 Combo (10.3)
+5 Jumbo (510 pages)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1480
10.4 - Math:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Review:
This one was fun! If you love the pop culture of the 1980s - the music, films, computer games, books - then this book is definitely for you! If you're a bit of a geek, then this book is for you. I myself am a bit too young, so I didn't quite get *all* the references, but I still enjoyed it.
The novel is a dystopian science fiction story that takes place in the year 2045. Due to a very bad environmental crisis, most of the world's population is very poor and can barely feed themselves. Since reality is so bleak, people take solace in OASIS, a sort of a virtual reality world/the biggest MMORPG the world has ever seen, so most of their time is spent playing with their avatar, rather than living their actual lives. Then the creator of OASIS dies, but just before that he announces starting a game, the winner of which will inherit all of his fortune (we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars). To win, one must solve a series of puzzles and do tasks which all require very good knowledge of the video and computer games, films and music of the rich man's favorite decade, the 1980s. Almost everyone is the world is trying to win the game but it takes five years to even unlock the first clue. The story is about a young man called Wade who finally does find the first key and manages to win, despite all the odds being against him, and how it all happened.
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 - Six Degrees - author approved in post 224)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 225
10.1 - Authors:Stig of the Dump by Clive King
This is a children's/young adult book, but the lexile score is 890.
Review:
A quintessential British children's/young adult classic. Barney, a young boy, is often sent to live with his grandmother in the countryside when it's a school holiday. Since he's usually a bit bored, he goes out exploring the nearby area. There is a garbage dump close to grandma's house. One day, when he's playing with all the old stuff people have thrown away, he notices a boy dressed in animal skins. A boy who doesn't seem to speak or understand a word of English and lives in a cave. Barney names him "Stig." He is fascinated by the odd boy and starts coming to visit him whenever he can, even though nobody else believes that there can be a boy living in the dump and they all think it's Barney's imaginary friend. Together, Stig and Barney have all sorts of adventures and develop a sort of a friendship. The end of the book has Barney somehow magically transcending the leaky barrier of time that has allowed Stig to inhabit our world, and he visits the neolithic village Stig is actually from and meets his family.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 oldies (first published 1963)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 250
10.9 Six degreesPost 29
The World According to Garp by John Irving
lexile 1170 (I checked after my last mistake!)
I thought for sure that I had read this years ago, but it wasn’t familiar at all to me (of course, 1978 was a long time ago!). I loved this book, and am disappointed in myself for not reading it sooner. The premise is fairly obvious, Garp’s life from inception to death (hopefully that’s not too much of a spoiler); but what a ride along the way. Garp’s is an intensely “lived” life. Stuff happens – good and bad, and I was particularly taken with how Irving handled the bad. There is also fiction within the fiction, including a shockingly violent story that is so well written that you can’t stop reading. Overall, I would recommend this book highly – especially if you like an epilogue!
10 task
5 oldie (1978)
5 jumbo
10 review
___
30
Running total 530
20.3-Difficult The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.9 Kevin Bacon Approved Author Post #234 / 20.2 Innocence 1869 - 1881 = 12 years
+10 Oldies: 1869
+ 5 Jumbo: 667
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1320
20.1 - CelebrationNine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
+20 task (pub 1970)
+5 oldies
Task total: 25
Grand total: 750
20.9 - Authors with 3 namesTwenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
+20 task
+5 combo (10.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 775
20.10 Interconnected Kate's Task-I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki
Review -2 stars
I think this was meant to be a funny read but I didn’t find it that funny. .. It was interesting reading for a cat’s point of view of the human’s foibles but then I also wondered at the limited & coloured viewpoint. Everybody appears to be ridiculous even the cats.
It wasn’t an auspicious beginning for the cat and its fate appears to continue to be undetermined as it remained un-named. It was useless and spent its time in spying upon people and ‘writing down’ its observations. As a cat, of course, its range of contact with people is limited to those within the household, guests of the household, and the neighbourhood. Hence, I found myself unable to believe its views.
I guess there were some views which I could agree on however overall, I’m unable to grasp this satirical work very well. My ignorance of the Japanese culture of that time may also deter my understanding so unfortunately, this is not a book I enjoyed. A pity as I usually loved Japanese literature.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.2 - pub. 1905 & died 1916)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Oldies (pub. 1905)
Total this post: 55
Total points: 530
10.9 Six DegreesArmada by Ernest Cline
Review:
Wil Wheaton is an excellent narrator. I liked him when he read Lock In and I liked him here. This book was fun for what it is. Unfortunately, it's inevitably compared to Ready Player One, which is all around a much better book. I'd recommend RPO to almost anyone, even folks who don't think they'll like the book.
This book is more specialized. Folks who aren't interested in first contact alien stories and/or alien fighting video games won't enjoy this story. The book is plot-driven, to the exclusion of full character development or relationships between characters. The humor here is in the slight twisting of these tropes and sly references to video games and alien stories.
Entertaining, but only recommended for regular sci-fi readers.
+10 Task (post 224)
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 420
Task 10.1 Authors-Read an author you've never read before.
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (2008) by Edward Dolnick (Hardcover, 349 pages)
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel: Non-fiction
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 520 + 20 = 540
20.4 MathBlack Vodka: Ten Stories by Deborah Levy
+10 Task (ten in title)
+ 10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
Task total: 20
Grand Total: 1190
10.9 six degrees of Kevin BaconCastle Dangerous by Walter Scott
Review
Sir Walter Scott’s last book, finished just before his trip abroad for his health, written at his beloved Abbotsford, is about a legend of the Douglas Castle in the borderlands contested by English and the Scots. Anyone how has watched Braveheart, will know the background as this is places in the first century of 1300, not long after the torture and death of Wallace. John deWalton holds the former castle of James Douglas as an out post for King Edward Plantagenet. Full of knights, chivalry, lady loves and the romance Scott was so fond of in his storytelling, it is typical of his work. However unlike his Waverly Novels, I found it a bit tedious and a bit lack luster as if the author’s illness was already affecting the energy of his work. My final review is great author but not a great novel.
+10 pts - Task - approved author
+10 pts - Combo (10.3, 20.2-p 1832 d 1832)
+10 pts- Review
+15 pts - Oldies
Task Total - 45 pts
Grand Total - 1150 pts
10.9 - Six Degrees of Kevin BaconUndermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt
+10 task (post 429)
Task total: 10
Grand Total: 590
20.8 DAR A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I began this reading on my kindle, but found that i was having trouble absorbing it, so returned to my faithful friends, Audible and Simon Vance and downloaded the audio book and quickly found myself enjoying it a lot more.
The narrative begins in France in 1775 as Lucy Manette returns to France to rescue the father that she never knew. Their paths cross with Charles Darnay on their return to England, a meeting that brings joy and turmoil, and results in them having to return to France in 1789, at the height of the revolution, having to battle their lives against the demons of both the past and the present.
i was worried in listening to this that it would not fit the timeframe for the task, but majority of the novel takes place between the two years above, Books 1 & 2 ( Book 2 being the largest portion of the novel ). The two later chapters cover the events of 1792, the imprisonment of Charles Darnay and the Summer Massacres in France, and also 1757, the events that led to the imprisonment of Dr Manette.
Human nature and how people respond to certain events is what drives the novels of Dickens. The heroic act of Sidney Carton, the cruelty of Madame Defarge, inspired in turn by love and hate, are what make this story what it is, and the ending so memorable.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 oldies
+30 combos (10.4, 10.7, 10.9 - post 34, 20.2, 20.3, 20.6 )
Task Total = 75
Grand Total = 1205
Eleanor wrote: "20.1 - CelebrationNine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
+20 task (pub 1970)
+5 oldies
Task total: 25
Grand total: 750"
+5 Combo 10.4
Tien wrote: "20.10 Interconnected Kate's Task-I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki
Review -2 stars
I think this was meant to be a funny read but I didn’t find it that funny. .. It ..."
Sorry, Tien, this is a novel told in stories so it does not work for Not-a-Novel. Also sorry it wasn't to your liking.
Norma wrote: "10.8 - The HorrorsStirred by J.A. Konrath
+10 task
+5 jumbo 504 pgs
Task total: 15
Grand total: 505"
Sorry, Norma, the MPE of this book has only 495 pages.
From Post 430Coralie wrote: "20.2 Innocence
Le Bal & Snow in Autumn by Irène Némirovsky
+20 task (published 1930, died 1942)
+5 Combo (10.2 1903-1942)
+10 Oldies
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 725"
+5 Combo 10.9
20.2 InnocenceThe Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Review:
I wonder why I put off reading this for so long? I listened to it in audiobook format and really found it to be an engaging snapshot of the strictures and nuances of the upper crust of New York City society in the late 1800's.
Poor Newland Archer. He just doesn't know which way to turn when he gets engaged to the quintessential New York City society maiden, May Welland; but finds himself getting more deeply mired in his attraction to her cousin, Ellen Olenska. Which way will he turn? Can he cut ties with the role he's been groomed to fill since childhood?
Don't be afraid to pick up this book. It is a classic for a good reason! Now, I think I need to go watch the movie and see how the actors portrayed the roles while the writing is fresh in my mind.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.7, 10.8, 10.9 Post 278)
+10 Style - Oldies (Publ 1920)
+10 Style - Review
Task Total = 55
Grand Total: 275 + 55 = 330
10.9 - Six DegreesBreakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
+10 task (post 210)
+5 oldies (pub 1973)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 815
20.6 - Ratings Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
+20 task ( 734,401 ratings)
+10 combo (10.9 - post 210, 10.4)
+5 oldies (1969)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 850
20.4 BalanceAnil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
This review may be as disjointed and rambling as is the book. Ondaatje can put words together to form beautiful thoughts. Most of the time, but not always, these words are gathered into complete sentences. In a couple of instances these words were chosen to convey emotion and that was well done. In fact, the first two pages were such emotional gatherings of words that I expected to love the book.
The book doesn't flow. I don't mind a story that is not linear, that reaches into the past or looks to the future. I don't even mind a story that has several plot lines - note my love of Trollope. This, however, felt as if Ondaatje worked at a desk with multiple cubbyholes. He would have an idea and write a few paragraphs and file that section into one of the cubbyholes. Then, when it came time to assemble all of these thoughts for publication, he had no regard for any order whatsoever.
The story itself could have been so much more. I wondered if Ondaatje was too close to the story to write it. Now I see that he left Sri Lanka while it was still called Ceylon and well before the story takes place. Anyway, this falls far short of the story that I think he wanted told.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3, 10.9 - post 140)
+10 review
Task Total = 40
Grand Total = 565
10.1 AuthorsNonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky
I dislike being preached to. It irks my general skepticism, and I instantly become suspicious whenever someone has found the Truth (not a personal truth but a general and all-encompassing Truth”. And Mark Kurlansky does seem have found the Truth in “Non-Violence”, so I had frequent moments of rolling my eyes at his sincerity and indignation.
It’s too bad, really, because it is actually a well written book about an important subject, and overall I agree with his worldview. But something in the tone of the book just rubbed me the wrong way.
But if you can either ignore or embrace the earnestness, this is actually a deeply interesting book on the history of non-violence and how it has time and time again shown itself to be a more powerful and effective stance than warfare and violence.
Despite my annoyance, I have to admit that “Non-Violence” asked some provocative questions about the how to approach conflict resolution, and it is a book that continues to knock around in my head.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.4 ("25" in subtitle), 10.5 (Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Non-Fiction 2007), 10.9 (post 432), 20.7)
+10 Not-A-Novel
Task total: 50 pts
Grand total: 475 pts
MicrohistoryAmerican Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph J. Ellis
Being from Denmark, I only have a superficial knowledge of the American Revolution, something I am beginning to rectify this season with both “American Creation” and “Washington’s Crossing”.
“American Creation” isn’t a story of the battles of the War of Independence, but rather what happened afterwards, how America went from former colonial outposts to a more or less collected nation. This is both a story of idealism and very pragmatic politics. Ellis tells such stories as how the United States became one union and not several smaller countries and how the two-party system arose by going into the ideas and philosophy behind the different sides, but without it ever becoming a lecture.
He also names to two great failures of the American Revolution: The failure to naturalize the Native Americans and give them full citizenships, and the failure to end slavery, a mistake which according to Ellis led more or less directly to the Civil War.
“American Creation” is both informative and well written, and manages never to become dry. I can definitely recommend it.
+20 task
+20 combo (20.1 (pub. 2007), 20.5 (2001 winner), 20.8, 10.9 (post 280))
+10 not-a-novel
+10 review
Task total: 60 pts
Grand total: 535 pts
20.6 RatingsAnna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
+20 Task (370K ratings)
+10 Combo (10.7, 10.3)
+10 Oldies (1877)
+20 Jumbo (964 pages in MPE)
Post Total: 60
Season Total: 1555
15.2 TtUSThe Outside Man by Richard North Patterson
Set in Alabama
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1580
20.7 MicrohistoryThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.5)
+10 Not a Novel
+5 Jumbo (622 pages)
Task Total: 40
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 340
Season Total: 1920
20.9 Author with Three NamesThe Melody Lingers On by Mary Higgins Clark
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1940
Kate S wrote: "+100 RwS Finish+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 340
Season Total: 1920 "
Well done!
10.3 - DictionaryMagic Study by Maria V. Snyder
The good:
- More plotty goodness. I feel like the characterization wasn't as strong as in the first book (more below) but the plot carries you through.
- We have a new group of people, the Sandseed Clan, with their own political system. With only an oral tradition they're seen as "primitive" but they're also mad powerful. Oo.
- Yelena's past experience of having no one to depend on but herself affects her decisions in a reasonable, understandable way.
The not-so-good:
- Valek is reduced to a deus ex machina, jumping out of the shadows when he's needed. His disguises remind me of Sherlock Holmes in the Mary Russell novels, which is neat and all, but he doesn't change or grow over the course of the novel.
- Yelena ditches her guards left and right. It got to be a bit much.
- I forgot why our main couple got together in the first place. :(
Right after reading this book I wanted to give it four stars but I'm going to go with three - very good, but not quite as awesome as the first book in the series.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 320 points
15.2 - Flight-seerOnce is Never Enough by Mira Lyn Kelly
set in Illinois
+15 task
Task total: 15 points
Grand total: 335 points
20.1 Celebration!A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Review:
I loved this book. It kept me engaged throughout the full book. And, when I did start to get a bit bogged down with emotion, Mr. Hosseini changed his format to alternate between the two women (part 3), which gave me a bit of a break.
I recognize that there are brutal men everywhere. Many times it is the women who suffer, but sometimes it is expressed in genocide. It does not make it right...the fact that brutality exists universally, but that concept helps me to accept the fact of the brutality expressed in this book without hating the whole people. Not every man, even in a repressed society, is brutal. I have to believe that. I really do.
+20 Task (Pub 2007)
+20 Combo (10.4 - number in title, 10.9 - Khaled Hosseini Post #44, 20.4 - Best South Asian Fiction list #2, 20.6 - 686,621 ratings)
+10 Review
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 545
I DID IT!15.10 TtUS - Land Cruiser
Montana
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
+15 Task
+15 Bonus
+100 Completion Bonus
Task Total: 130
Grand Total: 675
10.1 Authors(2nd book read for this task)
Must Love Breeches by Angela Quarles
Review:
I was in the mood for a light romance that featured time travel, and that's just what I found in this book. In it, present-day museum curator, Isabelle Rochon is transported back to 1835 London. She's arrives in the middle of a high society ball, and the first person she meets it Ada Byron (Lovelace).
She also meets Lord Montague. There is instant chemistry between them. (Of course, this is a time travel ROMANCE after all.) I thought that the historical elements from 1835 London were accurate, and I enjoyed learning about Ada Byron Lovelace, and Charles Babbage who created the first 'computer'.
The romance was good, but seemed to drag on a bit too long. I think the book could have done with a good editor to pare down a bit of the length. I don't think all the intrigue surrounding Lord Montague's efforts to bring justice to his sister's tormentors added a whole lot to the plot. In my opinion, that storyline could have been shortened.
I gave it 3 stars as it filled the bill nicely for what I was looking for, and it was educational too which is always a bonus for me.
+10 Task
+10 Style (Review)
Task Total = 20
Grand Total: 330 + 20 = 350
10.9 Six DegreesA Wizard of Earthseaby Ursula K. Le Guin
Review
This is the second Ursela Le Guin I have read. The story was just okay. The main character had two names and the author went back and forth in between the names so I was confused to who she was talking about. I felt for a great wizard, he didn't do all these great things. The chapters seemed choppy and I didn't feel they were connected. It felt like they were short stories instead of a complete book. I don't know if I will read the rest of the series. I think because her books were written so long ago, they don't feel like fantasy or science fiction to me.
Task +10
Style +15 Review, Oldies published 1965,
Book Total: 25
Grand Total: 335
Bea wrote: "I DID IT!15.10 TtUS - Land Cruiser
Montana
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
+15 Task
+15 Bonus
+100 Completion Bonus
Task Total: 130
Grand Total: 675"
Yeah!
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconDeath at Buckingham Palace by C.C. Benison
+10 Task: Approved Author Post # 360
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1330
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconBatman and Son by Grant Morrison
+10 Task: Approved Author Post # 425
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1340
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconThe Child Thief by Brom
+10 Task: Approved Author Post # 425
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1350
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconAt Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen
+10 Task: Approved Author Post #97
+ 5 Oldies (1965)
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 1365
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconHis Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
+10 Task: Approved Author Post #145
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1375
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconAbandon by Meg Cabot
+10 Task: Approved Author Post # 425
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 1385
15.7 - TtUS Land CruiserA Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
set in Maryland
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total: 25
Grand Total: 1410
10.7 Librivox Eleanor's TaskA House to Let by Charles Dickens
+10 Task: 5 shelvings
+ 5 Combo: 20.10 Interconnected
+10 Not a Novel
+15 Oldies: 1858
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 1450
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Reading with Style
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Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.9-post 39)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1420