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WI 15-16 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter 15/16
15.7 - DominoesWhat Happens in London by Julia Quinn
+15 task (born same decade as 15.6)
+10 bonus
Task total: 25 points
Grand total: 415 points
20.3 - Toni MorrisonBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
+20 task
+5 combo (20.8)
task total: 25
grand total: 155
20.9 - Winnie the PoohMy Ántonia by Willa Cather
(published in 1918)
+20 task
+15 combo (10.9 - Realistic Ratings - 3.75; 20.7 - Feminism; 20.1 - Grazia Deledda)
+10 oldies
task total: 45
grand total: 200
15.9 Book DominoesThe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
+15 Task (same first name of author, Shirley, as 15.8)
+15 bonus
Post total: 30 points
Total points: 925 points
15.9 Book DominoesRaven Black by Ann Cleeves
same first name as 15.8 (see message 11 in Domino plan thread)
30 task
____
30
Running total: 465
20.9 Winnie-the-PoohA Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell
Review:
"A Question of Upbringing" is the first book in a series of twelve volumes of "A Dance to the Music of Time". The book is narrated by Nicholas Jenkins, Anthony Powell's alter ego, who acts as an observer of the world of Great Britain's upper class and upper middle class. Nick has a dry satirical way of looking at everything going around him. He includes references to art and literature in his descriptions. The book revolves around Nick's attendance at schools similar to Eton and Oxford (where Powell was educated), as well as a language-immersion summer in France in the early 1920s.
The name of the twelve volume set is based on Nicholas Poussin's painting, "A Dance to the Music of Time". The artwork depicts four classical figures, named for the four seasons, dancing in the round. In "A Question of Upbringing", we can see individuals moving in and out of each others' lives as if they were also dancing to the music of time. We meet schoolmates, their family members, housemasters, and acquaintances of Nick Jenkins and already see relationships changing by the end of the book. I'm looking forward to spending more time with these characters in the second book.
+20 task (pub 1951)
+10 review
+ 5 series
+ 5 combo (10.9 rating of 3.70)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 395
20.7 Feminism The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
# 232 on the list
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.1 - mentions of sense of place here and here ; 10.9 - 3,97)
+5 Series
Task total = 35
Points total = 145
20.1 Grazia DeleddaThe Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lexile 790 :(
+20 task
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 380
10.4 Valentine's DayVillette by Charlotte Brontë
I had some trouble with this audiobook, and I will need someone who has read the original text to confirm for me, but there were whole passages in French, and I have no understanding (besides counting to 10!) of languages, so I was missing chunks of narrative constantly and having to try to feel my way through. Is the book the same, or do they translate ? I would really like to know what exactly it was I missed.
I should have guessed how this book would proceed, of the male characters it should have been obvious, having read Bronte before, where our heroine - a good woman of simple tastes - would lay her heart. Still, I didn't pick it up until about 2/3 of the way through.
A pleasurable read in the sense that it was like running into an old friend ( I haven't read a Bronte in at least 20 years), but not one to excite me ( and how I groaned when I saw that my inter-library loan was the audiobook for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall! Two Bronte's in a row!! I don't think I am ready for this.)
+10 task
+10 review
+5 jumbo
+15 oldies
+5 combo (10.9 -rating 3.73)
Task Total = 45
Grand total = 425
10.9 Realistic ratingsBreakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote
rating: 3.89
Despite Capote being a larger than life character from my childhood (I can only guess from TV talk shows) this is the first time I’ve read any of his writing. Of course, like so many others I’ve seen the movie (which I only dimly recollect). The titular novella is interesting for it’s themes, language and feelings it evokes in so few pages. The novella is not the same as the movie, except in the most minimal ways. I’m sure Capote’s story was too “hot” for Hollywood – it’s not clear how Holly makes her money, it seemed to me that potentially two characters were gay, the frenetic lifestyle of Holly and her friends seems empty and sad, and there’s no “happy” ending. (In case you’re worried – it’s more of a realistic ending.) Breakfast at Tiffany’s is usually published with the three short stories found in this edition. “House of Flowers” is the first, unfortunately I don’t know it’s publication date but it feels like it is an early story, while he was perfecting the craft. “A Diamond Guitar” is interesting and sad. “A Christmas Memory” is the last one and is everything I think a short story should be – evocative, poignant, and well written.
10 task
5 oldie (1958)
10 review
_____
25
Running total 490
20.6 Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
+20 task
+5 combo (20.4 - written in Russian by Ukrainian born, Belarusian national)
task total: 25
grand total: 520
20.7 FeminismThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
I just happened to be looking at the list for this category and saw that this is #114!! So, all is not lost even though it didn't count for dominoes (low lexile)!
20 task
___
20
Running total 510
Valerie wrote: "20.7 FeminismThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
I just happened to be looking at the list for this category and saw that this is #114!! So, all is..."
Glad you found a place for it, Valerie!
Kate S wrote: "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..."
Thanks very much!
15.8 DominoesBlack Mountain Breakdown by Lee Smith Born 1944 , Sharyn McCrumb born 1948
Task - 25 pts
Grand Total - 445 pts
10.2 No LX by Sue Grafton
+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (20.1 - on list, 10.9 - 3.87 stars)
+ 5 pts - Series (Kinsey Milhone)
Task total - 25 pts
Grand Total - 470 pts
10.8 Winter SolsticeAs Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley (Canada)
+10 pts - Task
+ 5pts - Combo (10.9 - 3.9 stars)
+ 5 pts - series (Flavia de Luce)
Task total - 20 pts
Grand Total - 490 pts
15.8 - Dominoes Satisfaction by Sarah Mayberry
(from Darkness Hunts by Keri Arthur – both authors born in Australia)
+25 Task
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 725
15.9 – Dominoes One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean
(from Satisfaction by Sarah Mayberry – both first names Sarah)
+30 Task
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 755
15.10 – Dominoes Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins
(from One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean – word Good in title)
+30 Task
Task Total: 30
Dominoes Completion Bonus: 100
All Female Bonus: 25
Grand Total: 910
From Post 590Beth wrote: "20.4-Elfriede Jelinek (2004)
Indiana by George Sand (Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin) a French novelist who wrote this novel in French
Melodrama! There is no hero here, n..."
+5 Combo 20.1
From Post 593Beth wrote: "20.5-Alice Munro (2013)
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Won the 2011 Governer General's Award
This was an unexpectedly fun book and it’s all tied up in qui..."
+10 Combo 20.1, 10.8
Claire wrote: "20.3 - Toni MorrisonBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
+20 task
+5 combo (20.8)
task total: 25
grand total: 155"
I do not see this on the Charleston Syllabus. Did I miss it? The author is there, but for an article, not this title.
I have it recorded as 20.8 with no combo for now.
Connie wrote: "20.9 Winnie-the-PoohA Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell
Review:
"A Question of Upbringing" is the first book in a series of twelve volumes of "A Dance to the Mu..."
+5 Oldies
Tien wrote: "I seem to have 5 extra points on my spreadsheet in comparison to the Readerboard and I can't seem to trace back where I've miscalculated?Thanks!"
Found and fixed. Will be corrected on the next update.
20.8 Best of 2015The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir by Vivian Gornick
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2-Noel, 10.9-Avg 3.91)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 620
10.9 Realistic RatingsTwo Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
+10 Task (3.44 avg)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 630
10.3 Science FictionAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman
+10 Task
+5 Jumbo (541 pages)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 645
10.9 Realistic RatingsRun Girl by Eva Hudson
+10 Task (3.57 avg)
+5 Series
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 660
15.7 Book DominoesMemoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
+15 Task (same publication date as 15.6)
+10 Bonus
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 685
10.9 - Realistic RatingsThe Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop by Steve Osborne
Think of Steve Osborne as a regular at your neighborhood bar. Not a fancy place with strobes and a dance floor but a grimy hole in the wall with good beer, a decent pool table, and a temperamental jukebox.
After twenty years on "the job" he has a raft of stories that are funny, shocking, and tragic in turns. Each time you see him you ask for another. Today he leans back and says, "Did I tell you the one about the hotdogs?"
I listened to the audiobook and I'm glad I did - Osborne writes like he talks, a New Yorker through and through. He loves getting out of the station house and made some of the most active, craziest precincts his home. Catching robbers, large scale drug busts, hunting fugitives at 5:30 am - over the course of his career Osborne has done it all.
If you're looking for an insight into police work today, however, you won't find it. Osborne worked during the 80s and 90s, a rough time for New York City. He was more worried about crime, period, and didn't care who did it. His whole outlook feels like a time slip - liberals are a cop's worst enemy, and he has a macho persona to go with his accent. It goes with the territory, I guess, but I still cringe when he says "man up".
The writing gets repetitive from time to time, but he's that guy in the bar. He doesn't remember which stories you've heard. Pull up a stool, order your usual, and enjoy the tales he sets before you. 'Cause "there's nothing funnier or more terrifying than a good cop story".
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 435 points
20.5-Alice MunroThe English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - won Governor General's Award 1992
I'm usually not a fan of novels that rely heavily on flashbacks. This is an exception. Ondaatje not only uses flashbacks...but the reader often doesn't know which character is speaking...or the character's identity. Somehow... it all comes together beautifully. The story takes place as World War II is ending in Europe and Hana, a Canadian nurse stays in a damaged Italian villa with a badly burned man known as the English patient as others leave. Two other characters, Caravaggio, who was the nurse's family friend in Canada and Kip, a sapper, who defuses bombs stay at the villa too. Caravaggio gets the English patient to talk through his morphine and discovers his true identity. I read the Everyman's Library edition which has an excellent introduction written by Pico Iyer. 5 stars.
Task +20
Review +10
Combo +10 (10.4, 10.9- 3.87 rating)
total =40
grand total = 615
10.9 Realistic RatingsThe Shattered Vine byLaura Anne Gilman
+10 task (rating 3.61)
+5 Series
Task total: 15
Grand Total: 735
20.2-Sigrid Undset (1928)Richard II by William Shakespeare
This play felt very much like a courtly tale, very different than Henry IV, which I happened to read out of order before Richard II. There was something about the gages thrown and honor argued and the queen's lament and the lady's pleading. I was especially struck by the waxing poetic over England. The end gave new meaning to the beginning of Henry IV for me, because it enhanced the context of Henry wanting to go to the Holy Land.
One point that confused me was I don't understand why Richard just gave up his kingship when Bolingbroke kept saying all he wanted was his properties back. Maybe I'm missing some of the politics. I guess it would have taken a greater man to figure out a way to resolve the situation with everyone satisfied. Although maybe that was the point.
+20 task
+10 review
+25 age (1595)
+5 combo (10.9 rating 3.74)
Task total: 60
Grand total: 1280
Thanks for noting the combos. I included that 15 points to get this post's grand total.
20.4-Elfriede Jelinek (2004)Out of Sorts by Aurélie Valognes
By the end I was bemused by the author's ability to get me invested in an old curmudgeon who, even in his improved growth state, just doesn't understand why it matters that he acted like a complete jerk. A truly terrible jerk or decades on end. Maybe it's because when you're in his head you see how he's hurting and lost behind his obliviousness and petty revenges.
When I try to figure out how to describe Brun, he almost passes into caricature. It's the way the author writes (and the translator rewords, I imagine) that makes him a real person. The other key characters are also a bit extreme in their own way. His nemesis, the concierge, and the girl and woman that serve to jolt him into making changes are a bit unlikely as well. Overall I enjoyed the story.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.9 rating 3.59)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 1315
20.9 Winnie the PoohJohnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo 970 Lexile
Review:
Author Dalton Trumbo was inspired by a newspaper story about a Canadian soldier in World War I who had lost all his limbs and all his senses except for the sense of touch. He created Joe Bonham, a soldier whose mind was still active, but who was unable to communicate with the outside world except for tapping his head. The story takes us inside Joe's head to his stream of consciousness thoughts, sometimes thinking about ideologies and often flashing back to the past. For example, his thoughts go back to holding his girlfriend in his arms when he realizes that his arms have been amputated. The flashbacks show us how much Joe has lost, both physically and emotionally. The story shows the destructive power of modern weapons. It also points out how wealthy capitalists profit from war while the working class does most of the fighting. Sometimes it seems like the more educated author's voice takes over Joe's voice when Joe thinks about politics. Joe would like to be part of a traveling exhibit to show people the horror of war.
This pacifist book was published in September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland. The book is about World War I, was published during World War II, became very popular during the war in Vietnam, and is still in print today. The title is based on the refrain, "Johnny Get Your Gun", from the American World War I song "Over There".
"Johnny Got His Gun" is the kind of book that the reader will not forget. It's a good reminder that war is not all glory, to recognize the huge sacrifices that our veterans have made, and to value good diplomats in today's world.
+20 task (pub 1939)
+10 oldie
+10 review
Task total: 40
Grand total:435
10.4 - Valentine's DaySorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede andCaroline Stevermer
I liked this book, but not as much as I was hoping. It's probably mostly my fault - it would be best enjoyed in gulps, but I only had time to take sips while commuting or before bed. It made it harder to keep the characters straight and fully appreciate the letters. This would probably be a great book if you're stuck in bed with a chest cold - your brain's all there but you want the comfort of a fun tale in a far-off land.
So despite all the Kazen catnip (magic, epistolary, Regency England) it didn't quite click with me. I plan to continue the series, hopefully at a more "clicky" time.
+10 task (#236 on list)
+10 review
+5 series
+5 oldie (pub. 1988)
Task total: 30 points
Task total (no styles): 10 points
Grand total (no styles): 445 points
eta: I just looked this book up at BPL and it looks like the physical copies are listed as FIC in one library and YA FIC in another, so no styles, I think? I updated the above to reflect that but kept the style listings just in case.
Amanda wrote: "10.4 Valentine's DayVillette by Charlotte Brontë
there were whole passages in French, and I have no understanding (besides counting to 10!) of languages, so I was missing chunks of narrative constantly and having to try to feel my way through. Is the book the same, or do they translate ? "
I have seen this complaint before, so I assume that is the way she wrote it. French was the international language in those days - I think it was assumed that educated people would understand those passages without translation.
Post 624 Valerie wrote: "10.9 Realistic ratingsBreakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote
rating: 3.89
Despite Capote being a larger than life character from my..."
I'm sorry, Valerie. This is a YA Assignment at BPL and has no Lexile. Task, but no styles.
Post 651 Kazen wrote: "10.4 - Valentine's DaySorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede andCaroline Stevermer
I liked this book, but not as much a..."
Yes, sorry no styles. YA Fiction and Lexile 720.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have seen this complaint before, so I assume that is the way she wrote it. French was the international language in those days - I think it was assumed that educated people would understand those passages without translation. "Thanks Elizabeth, I suspected as much, for the reason you give.
When I went to school they had moved from French to German, and I didn't study much of that either, so my knowledge of languages is a tiny bit of German, forgotten Japanese, and whatever Spanish I picked up from Dora the Explorer ;)
Hence, Finnegans Wake is never likely to be on my list as I believe it is in 4 languages, including Latin. *sigh*
10.7 Cozy HolidaysOne for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Marked as cozy mystery by 56 users.
Review:
You get plenty of bang for your buck with One for the Money: From exploding cars to grand mothers literally shooting up the dinner turkey, Janet Evanovich does not shrink away from action scenes.
Stephanie Plum has been laid of from her work as a purchaser of discount lingerie and is in an acute need of liquid funds. So she takes a job from her sexually peculiar cousin Vinnie (whatever happened to that duck? I dread to imagine) catching criminals who have jumped bail. Her first case is catching Joe Morelli, a vice cop apparently turned murderer. Having an unresolved history with Joe is one complication for Plum, not knowing how to perform her new job is another.
I really liked this book, and my favourite part, apart from Stephanie's gumption, is the way Evanovich manages to balance slapstick-esque humour with a truly scry bad guy, without diluting the feel of either.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.7 (#205 on list)
+10 Review
+5 Series (Stephanie Plum #1)
Task total: 35 pts
Grand total: 230 pts
20.8 Best of 2015The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
(On the NPR Concierge list)
Review:
In The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro has created a dreamlike and haunting vision of a post-Arthurian Britain and the impossibility of reconciling remembrance with forgiveness.
In a world where a mist of forgetfulness hangs over the landscape, an old couple sets out on foot to find their son, who moved to another village in an unremembered past. They are at various times accompanied by a strange boy, who has been bit by an unknown beast, A Saxon warrior whose purpose is not immediately discernible. And Sir Gawain, a knight of the round, who has outlived the age of chivalry. Together they traverse a landscape existing between mythology and reality, heading towards an uncertain destination.
It is a good novel t be sure, but to me, it is also a book, you need to be in the right frame of mind for. Otherwise, you might wind up a tad annoyed with the poetically misty forgetfulness of it all.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9 (3.40 rating)
+10 Review
Task total: 40 pts
Grand total: 285
20.1 Grazia Deledda (1926) - Sense of placeA Dangerous Man by Anne Brooke
Review: I had this book filed under romance, and it really is anything but. I was glad to read some reviews ahead of time warning me of that fact, because I would’ve been devastated by the end of the book otherwise. It’s really more of a psychological thriller in which you never really find out all the details of what’s happening. Calling it romance is a little like calling Gone Girl romance, although the first half could easily be part of a J.L. Merrow story with a happy ending. I have to say, I prefer Merrow, but this was a good book. I’m a little worried about picking up more of the author’s work, because she writes in a bunch of genres and I’m not sure what I’d get.
+20 Task (http://www.arecafe.com/books/a-danger...)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 950
20.2 Sigrid UndsetPrince of Darkness by Sharon Kay Penman
+20 task (set 1194)
+5 Combo (10.2 Noel Noel)
+5 Series
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 765
10.8 Winter SolsticeThe Deal by Elle Kennedy
Review: The Deal is yet another “New Adult” romance set in a fictional Northeastern US college and featuring a hockey player hero. I’m a sucker for these kinds of books, and this one didn’t disappoint. Hannah and Garrett are both pretty cute and Kennedy did an okay job keeping the unnecessary angst to a minimum. Both characters have pretty messed up backgrounds, but the story doesn’t lean too heavily on them for cheap emotions. They even did a good job communicating with each other – in one case in particular, I expected one particular misunderstanding to result in chapters’ worth of not talking, but they resolved it in one scene. It’s nice when characters use their brains.
+10 Task (born in Canada)
+5 Series
+10 Review
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 975
20.7 FeminismWho Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Review: Who Fears Death took longer for me to read than many books do. Most of that is my failing rather than Okorafor’s – when reading something so far removed from stories using typical white European backgrounds, even fantasy can be difficult to sink into. There might have been a pacing issue, but I think this tale – part science fiction, part folk lore, and part all too real – is worth the slow middle. It certainly belongs on the list of feminist books, since the themes almost entirely revolved around the realities of being a woman, subject to discrimination and rape. I have a hard time saying anything more directly about the plot, not because I’m avoiding spoilers but because it’s almost dreamlike in how it unfolds.
+20 Task (#96)
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.3 - #97, 10.9 – 3.91)
+10 Review
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1020
Book for this task should have been Outlaw Mountain, I will edit post 464 to reflect this.Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Norma wrote: "10.9 - Realistic Ratings
Rattlesnake Crossing by J.A. Jance
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 175"
Norma, you have this above in Post 464 - which..."
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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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The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Same birth country for author as Larry Niven who wrote my 15.7 choice Ringworld
Both are United States
Task: 25
Grand total 1205