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WI 15-16 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter 15/16
20.2The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey
The author uses a work calendar from around the year 1020 to inform us about life...mostly in England during the period. The calendar has illustrations for each month demonstrating what people would be doing...ploughing, harvesting, celebrating and warring, etc. Although most people were not literate, society was not as backwards as we tend to think of the middle ages. England, in particular, was quite wealthy despite the warring factions and the invasions from the Vikings. One interesting thing I learned was the Pope, Sylvester II, at the time was actually a scientist...way before his time...so, much so, that his body was mutilated after his death because he was believed to be possessed. I also learned that Christianity was just being adopted in England just before 1000 even though the Irish had already been Christianized for centuries.
task +20
review +10
combo +5 (10.9- 3.86 rating)
total = 35
grand total = 520
10.5 - Favorite AuthorsRattlesnake Crossing by J.A. Jance
+10 task
+15 series (#6)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 165
20.10 Leap YearInside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect by Reese Erlich
Review:
Journalist Reese Erlich realizes that the roots of the Syrian civil war are found in history. He gives us the highlights of Middle Eastern history stretching back to World War I that are influencing Syria today. He also interviews leaders, rebels, university professors, government analysts, and ordinary people. He discusses the influence of other countries, especially Russia, the United States, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Erlich was raised in a Jewish home in America, and understands the pain felt by those who suffered in the Holocaust. But he also empathizes with the Palestinians who lost their homes, and shows both sides of the conflict between Israel and Palestine that adds to the instability of the Middle Eastern region.
The appendix of the book has a guide to Syrian political groups supporting and opposing Assad. It also has a section explaining the differences in the religious groups in Syria, and which factions (Alawites, Shias, Christians, and Druze) received better jobs and preferential treatment from Assad. The book ends in 2014 as the ultraconservative Sunni rebels, such as ISIS, were becoming more powerful. Erlich has a useful Syria Timeline (starting in 1914) in the back of the book which he has updated on his website, www.reeseerlich.com .
Syria--and the whole Middle Eastern region--have a complex history. The region has a strategic location from a military standpoint, and has large oil and natural gas reserves. The combination of so many competing factions within Syria, plus foreign intervention, has led to a situation with no easy solutions. Erlich's book is not a chunky history text with a huge amount of detail. It is a good overview of the Syrian situation that would be very useful to someone that wants to supplement the news they receive from newspapers and television.
+20 task
+ 5 combo (10.9 Realistic Rating of 3.26)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 290
Norma wrote: "10.9 - Realistic RatingsRattlesnake Crossing by J.A. Jance
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 175"
Norma, you have this above in Post 464 - which task do you want to use it for, and we'll add a combo for the other.
Edit: This now has a 4.00 rating and is not eligible for 10.9 anyway. You're good on post 464.
20.4 Elfriede JelinekThe North China Lover by Marguerite Duras
It may have only been last year that I read Duras' earlier telling of this story, The Lover, which I really enjoyed. This time, the telling was very different, lots of asides within the text to discuss how the scene would be played out if made into a film Duras was also a film director) and how that would differ from the book, and the text was also very disjointed, particularly when characters were in conversation. It was often like they were speaking to themselves, rather than responding to what the other character had said, and this was a mutual thing, which made discourse very weird.
I think the disjointed-ness added to the darker atmosphere of this telling. Really, it is the story of an older man and his child lover, and an impoverished family in turmoil. It's not a happy story and there are no happy endings. I don't know if the nature of the telling in this version added a "realness" to the text, an honesty perhaps, or if the text itself was just more honest about how wrong ( socially, morally) the nature of the story actually was.
+20 task
+5 oldies
+5 combo (10.9 - rating 3.90)
+10 review
Task Total = 40
Grand Total = 320
10.3 Science Fiction DaySlaughterhouse-Five
In some ways there was very little science fiction in this book. For most of the book, the time-disjointed storytelling could have been a simple literary technique rather than Billy actually living through the events in that order. But it is the science fiction element that allows the author to more strongly highlight the perspective of fatalism, because the aliens have a different reason for believing the future cannot be changed. I've never read this book before that I can remember, but I remember the image of man seeming like big centipedes to creatures that can see in 4 dimensions and I wonder where I heard it.
It was a good, solid book, stronger for having a narrator that introduced himself and that had known Billy during the war. It was well constructed in the way that the path through time captures attention at first and then gradually reveals more and more until the end. The horror of the bombing is painted around, not directly seen, rather as the story is, but it is clear enough. And it echoes.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 oldies
Task total: 25
Grand total: 795
10.9 Realistic RatingsAnnihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Weird. Weird atmosphere. Weirdly compelling. I felt like I just had to keep reading as the biologist explored and questioned and the revelations themselves just kept getting stranger.
The idea of not naming the characters was an amazing first step. That the team of four were all women was nicely irrelevant in many ways, and yet I wonder if it helped me settle into the viewpoint of the main character differently than I would have otherwise. Although I also identified, to some degree, with her introversion, which had much to do with it.
I was pleased with the ending, even though it was without answers and without closure, which I don't really consider a spoiler, since it's clear from reading the descriptions of the sequels.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 815
20.2-Sigrid Undset (1928)-King Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
Henry IV reigned at the end of the middle ages - 1399-1413
I really don't understand why Falstaff is considered a fantastic comic invention. Maybe it's reading him instead of seeing him acted, but I just can't imagine it. I see how he's a key foil to Prince Henry in both Hal's follies and his strength. And how the more comic scenes highlight the more serious parts that relate to the rebellion. But I just don't get Falstaff. Although I don't like humor where people make fools of themselves in general, so it's probably just me.
I really had to do some careful reading to understand what was going on, more so than in some other of Shakespeare's plays that I've read. I resorted to outside source material. All the information was in the play. I just wasn't catching it properly while thinking in modern English.
I'm looking forward to moving on to Part II.
+20 task
+10 review
+ 5 combo 10.9 (3.79)
+ 25 oldies (1597)
Task total: 60
Grand total: 875
This may qualify for series points. Goodreads lists it that way. But it seems odd to me to consider it as such.
Task 15.2 Dominoes – The Second BookThe Courilof Affair (1933) by Irène Némirovsky (Paperback, 176 pages)
+15 Task (word in title: Affair matches 15.1)
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 210 + 15 = 225
20.2 Sigrid UndsetThe Wolf Hunt by Gillian Bradshaw
+20 task (takes place at the end of the eleventh century)
Task total: 20
Grand Total: 465
20.7 FeminismThe Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
+20 task (#253 on list)
+5 Combo (10.9 rating 3.75)
+ 15 Oldies (published 1860)
+5 Jumbo (579 pages)
Task total: 45
Grand Total: 510
10.5 Favorite AuthorsThe Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
+10 task
+10 Combo (10.9, 20.9)
+10 Series (previous 10.7)
+5 Oldies (published 1941)
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 545
Rosemary wrote: "It's ongoing! My father is one of their experts on golf words. He doesn't get called on often, but when he does, he loves looking through all his old golf books searching for the earliest use of a term! "oh, Wow, Rosemary, that is so cool!
15.4 Book DominoesWeighing Shadows by Lisa Goldstein
+15 Task (author resides in same country as 15.3 -USA)
Post total: 15 points
Total points: 700 points
10.8 Winter Solstice (Rebekah's Task)-The Cure For Death By Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
+10 Task: Canada
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 Realistic Ratings (3.68)
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 685
10.9 Realistic RatingsMuzzledby Eileen Brady
rating 3.58 as of 12/22/15
Review
This is the first in a new cozy mystery series. The main character is Kate Turner who is a veternarian and she takes a temporary job in a small town of Fair Oaks. She takes a place of the town vet when he goes on a year long cruise. She takes care of the usual pets as well as horses. I liked this book because I learned about being a vet in a small town and I found it interesting. Also, the author is a vet by profession. I was disappointed to find out who the murderer was because I liked the character. Oh well, back to the drawing board as they say. There is a second book and I like to read that as well. I first discovered this book as a new book written by new authors through my library's book of the week site.
Task +10
Style +15 (Review +10, Series +5 Kate Turner Mysteries DMV #1)
Book total: 25
Grand Total: 105
Coralie wrote: "20.7 FeminismThe Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
+20 task (#253 on list)
+5 Combo (10.9 rating 3.75)
+ 15 Oldies (published 1860)
+5 Jumbo (579 pages)
Task total: 45..."
+5 Combo 20.1
Joanna wrote: "20.1 Grazia DeleddaAngle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Review:
I was thrilled when my book club picked this book. I first read this book years ago and loved it then..."
+5 Jumbo (569 pages in MPE)
10.5 Favorite AuthorsUnder the Dome by Stephen King
I'm not going to write a review but this book had something in it that irks me. Please if you are and author and you give a character a Southern accent know that we don't use y'all when talking to one person. Y'all and you all is plural. Dead giveaway for phony. Also like Northerners sound different, for example, people from Boston sound different than people from Maine and New York and Pittsburgh, so also do Southerners from Coastal South Carolina, to Southeast Tennessee to Texas. I know that's a little more subtle but not everyone in the south uses Y'all. You all and even You'uns is also forms used in different parts of the South.
Just saying
+10 pts - Task
+20 pts - Combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.9 - 3.89 stars, 20.1)
+25 pts - Jumbo (1074 pages)
Task total - 55 pts
Grand Total - 395 pts
20.9 Winnie-the-PooThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Librivox can be hit or miss, but this version (read by Nick Bulka) is excellent. Mr. Bulka did a truly professional quality job with the book, complete with certain singing passages and characterizations for the different voices. Overall, the book is a wonderful period piece that feels fresh even 135 years later. Very enjoyable British humor and humor of the A Confederacy of Dunces anti-hero sort. The book traces a boat trip of the three men -- Jerome, George, and Harris, along with the dog Montmorency. I'm glad to now know the reference for To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Very enjoyable read. I'm glad that this book was recommended by Reading with Style.
+20 Task (pub. 1889)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - 3.92, 10.10)
+10 Oldies
Task total: 55
Grand total: 350
20.1 Grazia DeladdaInfinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
I first read this book ten or fifteen years ago. Then a couple of coworkers formed a reading group to read this and I agreed to revisit it. We started it in September, got almost halfway through by the end of November, then finished up through December and January. So at least our timing allowed me to read it over two seasons of RWS.
The book is incredibly long and difficult. I'm still not sure it's "worth it," but I really enjoyed the chance to discuss it approximately weekly with others who were making their way through the book. It's a much less frustrating reading experience the second time through since I knew what I was getting into and had enough memory of the storylines to have an easier time keeping them all straight. Still, the ending is completely unsatisfying, which is especially frustrating after such a long and trying book. I'm giving it four stars this time through; I only gave it three the last time. I doubt that I will ever feel compelled to revisit this one, but I'm pleased to have had the chance to read it with others.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+25 Jumbo (1088 pgs)
Task total: 55
Grand total: 405
15.7. DominoesThe Devil Amongst the Lawyers by Sharyn McCrumb author from USA like previous author
Task - 25 pts
Grand Total - 420 pts
Winnie the PoohThe Reef by Edith Wharton
At the top of the box to write a review is the question "What did you think"? At some point during my reading of any book, phrases start running through my head as to what I do think about what I'm reading. I laughed at myself in this one. The question in school was always "and what do you think will happen next". I was so poor at this type of prognostication that I rarely even try, but I did try in this one. My surmises were wrong. And then they were right. And then they were wrong again. Maybe you will do better.
My experience with Wharton is that her characters yearn for what might have been. The Reef might epitomize this yearning. It's simply filled with it. "I love him". "I love him not". No wonder I couldn't tell what was going to happen next - the characters were filled with indecision.
But I thought they were also wrong in many instances. "She wondered that he would address himself so composedly to his task, and then ironically reflected that such detachment was a sign of his superiority." "No, not superior, but different," I wanted to shout.
I'll keep on reading Wharton as long as there is Wharton to read.
+20 Task (pub 1912)
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - 3.64)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies
Task Total = 50
Grand total = 290
10.2 Noel, NoelFox Tracks: A Novel by Rita Mae Brown
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.9-3.64 avg rating)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 270
10.9 Realistic RatingsThis Year It Will Be Different, and other stories by Maeve Binchy
+10 Task (3.52 avg)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 280
10.9 Realistic Ratings4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
+10 Task (3.91 avg)
+5 Combo (10.2)
+5 Series
+5 Oldies (1957)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 305
20.9 Winnie the PoohDelta Wedding by Eudora Welty
+20 Task (1946)
+5 Oldies
+10 Combo (10.9-3.70 avg, 20.1-spreadsheet)
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 340
15.4 Book DominoesBetween the Acts by Virginia Woolf
+15 Task (same decade of death as author of 15.3)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 355
10.10 Group ReadsBig Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
Review:
Ave Maria Mulligan is considered a foreigner, though she has lived in Big Stone Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain all her life. When her mother dies some big truths are uncovered, which causes Ave Maria to reconsider her place in the world and begin taking a more active part in her own life. This novel has a lot of heart, and to me (being from Denmark) it paints a vivid picture of life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I enjoyed the audio a lot, as it was well read by the author, with a southern drawl I wouldn’t have been able to add myself. However, it does fall into the romance trope of the strong women being stubborn, pigheaded and pretty low self-esteem. Ave Maria has some fairly compelling reasons for her low self-esteem, but that and especially the stubbornness niggled at me most of the way through.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9 (rating of 3.87))
+10 Review
+5 Series (Big Stone Gap #1)
Task total: 35 pts
Grand total: 35 pts
10.9 Realistic RatingsAgent to the Stars by John Scalzi (Rating 3,90)
Review:
John Scalzi does wacky very well, and “Agent to the Stars” is no exception. In it the benevolent alien race the Yherajk comes to Earth to befriend humanity, but they one disadvantage: In a culture that reveres beauty, the Yherajk basically looks like snot. So in order to be introduced to humanity in a positive way, they of course hire a Los Angeles movie agent, Thomas Stein. Faced with the fact that humans are indeed not alone in the universe, Thomas Stein has to juggle his starlet client, who doesn’t have the intelligence to match her ambitions, a slightly bored Yherajk ambassador, who is currently staying in his home, while finding a way to create a PR miracle for the Yherajk. The resulting story is very funny, but what surprised me, was Scalzi’s ability to seemlessly blend in a story thread about the cultural representations of the Holocaust, which actually brought tears to my eyes. Well done, Mr. Scalzi!
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.3 (#55))
+10 Review
Task total: 25 pts
Grand total: 60 pts
10.3 Science Fiction DayThe Just City by Jo Walton (#111)
Review:
Jo Walton is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and to me, “The Just City” is her best novel yet. It starts off with the greek god Apollo wondering why in the world Daphne might have decided to become a tree rather than sleep with her. He’s a greek god, for crying out loud, and chasing damsels is what he does, and they’re supposed to run for a bit and then give I to him, not become so desperate that they beg goddesses to turn them into trees. He seeks out Athene, who suggests that this might be about consensuality, which sparks great wonder in Apollo, prompting him to try being a human for a lifetime to truly be able to understand humans. This is a wonderfully well-written and book about how everyone should be allowed to make decisions for their bodies, regardless of gender, race or whether you’re a robot or not (yes, Jo Walton has the writing chops necessary to mix ancient Greece with automatons without it being clunky). This may well turn out to be my favourite book of 2016.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.9 (rating: 3,77)
+10 Review
+5 Series (Thessaly #1)
Task total: 30 pts
Grand total: 90 pts
10.1 Create your own task"Read book with a book with a one syllable title" (post 34)
Shift by Hugh Howey
Review:
Jo Walton is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and to me, “The Just City” is her best novel yet. It starts off with the greek god Apollo wondering why in the world Daphne might have decided to become a tree rather than sleep with her. He’s a greek god, for crying out loud, and chasing damsels is what he does, and they’re supposed to run for a bit and then give I to him, not become so desperate that they beg goddesses to turn them into trees. He seeks out Athene, who suggests that this might be about consensuality, which sparks great wonder in Apollo, prompting him to try being a human for a lifetime to truly be able to understand humans. This is a wonderfully well-written and book about how everyone should be allowed to make decisions for their bodies, regardless of gender, race or whether you’re a robot or not (yes, Jo Walton has the writing chops necessary to mix ancient Greece with automatons without it being clunky). This may well turn out to be my favourite book of 2016.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.2 , 10.3 (#88))
+10 Review
+5 Series (Silo #2)
+5 Jumbo (520 pages)
Task total: 40 pts
Grand total: 130 pts
20.7 FeminismPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
(#7 on the list)
Review:
Reading “Pride and Prejudice” is slightly weird: I was so sure that I’d already read it, because the story is so familiar through all its reincarnations in literature, film and TV. However, the wit of Jane Austen is so sharp and wonderful that even this very well-known love story of the strong Elizabeth Bennet and the arrogant Mr. Darcy becomes new again. There’s no reason for a long recap, but I have to give an honourable mention to the way Elizabeth handles and puts up with her family. From her mercenary mother, desperate to sell off her daughters to the highest bidder, to her inappropriate and clueless sister Lydia, Elizabeth accepts her family for what they are while quietly despairing of their actions which seem the surest route to eternal spinsterhood. Were it set in current times, Elizabeth might have spent more than a little time wondering, if she had been adopted into the family.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.4 (#1 on the list))
+10 Review
+15 Oldie (pub. 1813)
Task total: 55 pts
Grand total: 185 pts
10.5 Favorite AuthorsTrouble for Lucia by E.F. Benson
It's sad.... this is the last of the Mapp & Lucia series that I have enjoyed so much. This one was perhaps a degree less juicy than the others. Once again Lucia uses her conniving social skills to enhance her image - usually at the expense of her rival, Elizabeth Mapp. Now, Lucia is Mayor.... and Mapp gets elected to the City Council. The pair tangle over portraits, a Countess, a visiting author, etc. Meanwhile, Lucia's husband, the otherwise confirmed "bachelor" Georgie of previous novels, is charmed by an opera singer. Several other characters from the other novels return here and all add to the hilarity. Just ordered the filmed version...and can't wait to watch. 4 stars.
task +10
review +10
combo +5 (20.9)
series +5
oldie +10 (1939)
total = 40
grand total = 560
10.2 - Noel, NoelBound To Trust by Jaci Burton
Review: (it's erotica so I'm putting it behind a spoiler tag)
(view spoiler)
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 - rated 3.52)
+10 review
Task total: 25 points
Grand total: 365 points
15.6 - DominoesStation Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
+15 task (same author country as 15.5)
+10 bonus
Task total: 25 points
Grand total: 390 points
20.1 - Grazia Deledda:The Road by Cormac McCarthy (on the approved list of authors)
Review:
I chose reading dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels as my own task for this season, but so far all of them have fit another, higher scoring task as well.
Anyway, I have always liked the genre and have read lots of them. This one was different. Usually, in any dystopian, dark, lost world, there is some hope and something to hang on to. But the world that the two unnamed main characters of "The Road" inhabitated was the bleakest, most horrific so far. It had been at least several years from the catastrophe that had destroyed most life on Earth, so everything had been ransacked and looted many times over. Almost all the plants and animals were dead. The world was full of desperate people who would not shy away from unspeakable cruelty to stay alive.
The writing style reflected this world perfectly. Bleak, with almost no apostrophes, concentrating on the minute details. The repetitive dialogues and long sentences in the form of "Then he did that and then he did that and then he also did that and then he did that instead." I think it fit the lifestyle of the characters.
There were some pretty shuddering, shocking scenes. The ending was open to interpretation, with at least three different versions of what it meant.
Very enjoyable, despite being so bleak and desperate.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 combos (10.9 Realistic Ratings - average of 3.94, and 10.2 Noel, Noel)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 255
10.9 Realistic Ratings (Cory Day's Task)-Thor, Vol. 2: Who Holds the Hammer?
+10 task - graphic novel, no styles
Task total: 10
Grand total: 885
15.7 Book DominoesRingworld by Larry Niven
Same last name as author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven
Task total: 25
Grand total: 910
15.6 DominoesAn Ordinary Spy by Joseph Weisberg
+15 task (same citizenship/residency, US, as 15.5)
+10 bonus
Task total: 25
Grand Total: 185
10.1 Your Own TaskFar from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon
This book has really been a project -- I've been at it in some form since early December. I picked it up because the author spoke at a conference my organization managed (but I didn't hear him) and he's going to speak again soon (which I will hear!). I am so glad I did commit to it, though - it was well worth the length and density. Basically, Solomon is exploring how parents conceptualize their childrens' "horizontal identities" - identities not passed through families but instead, making connections horizontally. For instance, he has chapters devoted to autism, transgender children, crime, deafness, etc. The fascinating thing, as the book progressed, was to see the connections between different sorts of identities, and to imagine how that impacted the parents and children involved. So, clearly, having a child with multiple severe disabilities who may never speak or move is different from having a deaf child -- and both are different from having a child in prison. In all cases, though, you and/or your child is, willingly or unwillingly, part of a community of people who share something that may be hard for others to understand. The book is quite long and quite dense but entirely readable - Solomon does a great job interspersing personal stories with bits of history and science - and very compelling reading.
+10 task (my task = nonfiction book)
+10 review
+20 jumbo (976 pages)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 385
From Post 486Rebekah wrote: "10.5 Favorite Authors
Under the Dome by Stephen King
+10 pts - Combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.9 - 3.89 stars)"
FYI, this would be 15 points, not 10
+5 Combo 20.1-Stephen King's works were all approved in the Help Thread.
15.5 Book DominoesThe Amber Shadows by Lucy Libchester
+15 Task (same word in title, Shadows, as 15.4)
Post total: 15 points
Total points: 715 points
From Post 498Louise Bro wrote: "10.3 Science Fiction Day
The Just City by Jo Walton (#111)
Review:
Jo Walton is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and to me, “The Just City” is her bes..."
+5 Combo 20.8
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
The Night Ranger (other topics)The Drop (other topics)
Shoot the Dog (other topics)
The Whites (other topics)
Between the World and Me (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Alex Berenson (other topics)Brad Smith (other topics)
Harry Brandt (other topics)
Ta-Nehisi Coates (other topics)
Alex Berenson (other topics)
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Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Review:I can definitely be a sucker for a good romantic comedy, whether it is in book form or movie form and the book “Bet Me” held up well for the genre. The story brings two groups of friends together, beginning with Cal getting a bet as to whether he can sleep with Min by the end of the month. Confusion, flirting, arguing and friendship all ensue, which makes for a rather cute and fun story. I found all the characters interesting and with a plot that moved along quickly, it was easy to get into and finish quickly. Definitely a 4 star book.
Task +10
Review +10
Combo +10 (NOEL and average ratings 3.95)
Task total = 30
Grand total = 165