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WI 15-16 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter 15/16
15.9 DominoesA Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis
+30 same last name as 15.8 Davis
Grand Total: 300
Kate S wrote: "From Post 779Rosemary wrote: "10.2 - Noel, Noel
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
+5 Combo 20.8-NPR List "
Ooh, thank you, I didn't see that. Then can I please move it to 20.8 and have 10.2 as a combo, for 10 more points?
10.4 Valentine's DayGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens
#341 on list
Review:
This is the story of Pip, an orphan grows up to be trained to be a gentleman. The twist is that, although he believes his benefactor is an old woman he knew as a child, it turns out to be a man he did not expect. Pip tries to do the right thing for the man, but runs into many issues. He also thinks he loves one woman only to find his love is for another. I would classify this story as a love story only in part. It is the coming-of-age story of a young man.
Overall, I liked the story. Some of the language was hard to comprehend, but the character of Pip turned out to be much better than I had expected, given his early "gentleman" training of excess.
This was my first Charles Dickens novel. I have heard the gist of many of his books, but this was the first one I sat down to read. I rated it 4*.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.9 - rating 3.73, 20.10)
+15 oldie (1861)
task points: 45
10.4 Valentine's DayNorthanger Abbey by Jane Austen
#53 on list
Review:
Oh, my gosh! I am not a Jane Austen fan. She writes such simpering females who are always chasing men. (Or maybe it is the romance genre that frustrates me. Who knows?) This one lets her imagination run away with her and sees ghosts where none exist. I usually do like the endings of her stories, and this one resolved itself satisfactorily.
However, what I enjoyed almost more than the story was the biographical piece written by Jane's brother and the fact that it stimulated me to research her life and death a bit further. I also enjoyed the extracts of books about her as well as the timeline of her life, which was much too short.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.2, 10.9 = 3.78)
+15 oldie (1817)
task points: 45
15.9 – DominoesThe Aunt's Story by Patrick White
+15 task- both born in UK
+15 bonus
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 1190
10.4 Valentine's DayMuch Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
#35 on list
Review:
This is definitely a comedy. There are two couples: one couple (Hero and Claudio) find themselves thrilled with their love only to be tricked, and the other couple (Beatrice and Benedict) needing to be tricked to admit their love. Don't worry. It all works out in the end.
The funniest part to me was the instructions to the Watch. I am not sure exactly why Shakespeare inserted that Act but it provided the comic relief needed between the jealousy and misunderstanding that was happening among the others. Perhaps that is what he intended.
The version I read provided discussion questions and appeared to be an edition that would be used in a classroom where the students were planning to put on this play. It also included background on fashion of the time and comments on behaviour expected.
I ended up reading much of it outloud, which focused my reading on the action. I really enjoyed this play. 4*
+10 task
+10 review
+25 oldie (1599)
task points: 45
Grand Total Points: 145
15.7 DominoesSeaside Surprises by Stacy Claflin
same pub decade as 15.6
task total = 25
Grand total = 260
10.9 - Realistic RatingsContact Sport: A Story of Champions, Airwaves, and a One-Day Race around the World by J.K. George
I'm a sucker for championships. If you gather the world's elite in almost anything I'll tune in, from soccer and the Olympics to competitive crossword puzzle solving and Starcraft. I figure it gives each sport (define as you will) a fair shot - if I don't like watching the best of the best it's obviously not for me.
So I jumped on this book when I saw it - radiosport! Who knew there's such a thing? And complete with a World Championship, where teams have 24 hours to contact as many people in as many different locations as possible via shortwave radio. To do so they set up low-power radio stations with standard equipment at assigned sites like a state forest, an abandoned mental hospital, or next to a military runway. Generators set up in the woods, what could go wrong?
A lot, of course, making things interesting. After introducing the cast of characters (more on that in a moment) George eases the reader into the terminology, technology, and allure of radiosport. An amateur operator himself, George's enthusiasm for the competition is contagious. I ended up cheering for one of the German teams (the only women in the competition, ever) and fretting over little things like antenna direction and lost multipliers.
Whether you like this book or not will depend on your reaction to the writing - if you can get past the clunkiness there's a fun story about a world you've likely never heard of. I was tempted to pull out a red pen now and then but I still enjoyed the ride.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 465 points
15.8 - DominoesWhipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano
+15 task (same author first name as 15.7)
+10 bonus
Task total: 25 points
Grand total: 490 points
10.9 - Realistic RatingsFire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Fire Study started off very slowly for me, to the point that I had to drag myself to the page. The plot covers a lot of ground, revisiting nearly every setting explored in the first two books. Characters we haven't seen in a while are brought in for a scene or two. As a result the whole book feels thin and the action only picks up in the last third.
While I'm happy with how things ended up (and the possibility for sequels in perpetuum, yea!) the rise of a random, evil power leaves me unsatisfied. Snyder set up an interesting world in this series - two countries with vastly different systems of governance, world views, and societies. Watching people from the different cultures interact is interesting, and serves as a reminder that there is more than one way to achieve one's goals. In this book, though, a third group is set up as the big bad and that nuance and depth is lost.
I'm very glad I read this series but, like many series, I felt it lost some awesomeness by the end. Not sure if I'll continue with the Soulfinders books, but we'll see.
+10 task
+5 combo (10.2 - Noel)
+10 review
+5 series
Task total: 30 points
Grand total: 520 points
20.10. Leap YearMy Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek
YA. No lexile
Task total -20pts
Grand Total - 750 pts
10.8 Winter SolsticeTwo Hussars by Leo Tolstoy
The first Hussar (a cavalryman) is Count Turbin who has found himself in a small Russian town. He is celebrated by all the townsfolk even though he has no money. He claims to have been robbed. The Count is quite the character, very charismatic and everyone wants to be his friend. He warns a young man who has been using government funds to gamble with that he is being hoodwinked. The man loses all the money anyway..but the Count gets the money back. He also flirts with the man's sister, Anna, a young widow. The Count leaves after a night and morning of partying...never to be seen again.
Twenty years later and the Count has died. His son, who is also a Hussar, is passing through the same town... and is invited to stay at Anna's home because she remembers his father. But the son's personality is very different. He needlessly cleans out Anna in a card game when it is apparent that she doesn't know how to play. He becomes enamored with Anna's daughter...and takes too many liberties.
Tolstoy presents a charming story demonstrating the change in customs and personalities over time. Four stars.
task +10
review +10
combo +5 (10.9- 3.23 rating)
oldie +15 (1856)
total = 40
grand total = 735
10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Review:
I am slowly making my way through this series. It is such a fun read that I save it for when I have had way too many serious/deep reads...or when Ii just need something lighter in my life.
My favorite character by far is Grandma Mazur. I just love that old woman. She comes out with some of the funniest lines and her world view is just a bit tilted. (She socializes by going to wakes.)
Joe Morelli and Ranger vie for my "love" interest and most of the time Ranger, the dangerous man, wins for me. I haven't figured out yet who I am rooting for in regards to Stephanie's love interest.
This story is about Vinnie, her cousin and the bails bond manager. We find out that he does not own his own business and that he is deeply in debt. Stephanie has to find and save him to keep her job. She and Lulu and Connie set out to do that. It is not their fault that their efforts resemble the Three Stooges more than the Three Muskateers.
I really love this series, although this book did not quite rise to the level of some of the previous one. 3*
+10 task (see my list #8)
+10 review
+5 series (Stephanie Plum #16)
Task points = 25
Task 20.1-Grazia Deledda Read a book which evokes a sense of place.
Life's Little Ironies (1894) by Thomas Hardy
+20 Task
+05 (Combo #10.9: realistic ratings)
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1866-1940)
Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 355 + 35 = 390
10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
Review:
This is another light and fun series that I dip into when my reading world needs a break...or sometimes my real life. I have not read this series in order, and, it strictly isn't necessary as AMS reviews the necessary info in each book to catch any new reader up on relationships.
In this book Precious Ramotswe, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni's fiancée, finds time to solve three mysteries, welcomes two orphan children into her home that Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni has been tricked into adopting and is maneuvered into promoting her assistant...all in a day's (or week's) work for her.
Her insights into the everyday lives of those around her and her good sense help her to solve the complicated scenarios in a simple fashion. She is always attuned to the outcome of a solution and how it may effect those involved. Oh to have more like her in my life!
+10 task (see my list #8)
+10 review
+5 series (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #2)
+5 combo (10.9 = 3.94)
Task points = 30
10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a Moderator Gift)Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
Review:
Somehow I managed to read all the books in this series except the first one. I am not really sure how that happened, but I took this chance to rectify that and to finish the series.
Lily Bard has worked hard to re-establish herself in a new place, where no one knew of her past. She has become a stronger woman that she was before, although she has also changed her appearance and is working as a housecleaner to keep a low profile. But then she witnesses the disposal of a body, which turns out to be a landlord of an apartment building in which she cleans.
Although this series is short, the main character is interesting and I found that I was engaged with her, wanting it all to come out OK in her life.
+10 task (see my list #8)
+10 review
+5 series (Lily Bard #1)
+5 combo (10.9 = 3.75)
Task points = 30
Grand Total Points: 225
10.8 Winter SolsticeMorning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood
Born in Canada
Review: I wanted to start reading more poetry, but was intimated about where to start. And then I realized that Margaret Atwood has written several collections of poetry and I knew she was the answer to how to get started reading contemporary poetry. As with her novels, Atwood draws you in with writing that's easy to connect with and then hits you with something that stops you in your tracks. It takes a lot of talent to write something that seems simple but is complex and full of meaning. I was continually amazed at how she can strip a phrase down to only the essentials to express something so insightful. I certainly enjoyed having this collection on hand to read a poem or two (instead of looking at my phone) during the day, and have already obtained another of her books of poetry.
+10 task
+15 combo (10.2, 10.3 - #61, 10.5 - #4 most read)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 35
15.10 Book DominoesA Fence Around the Cuckoo & Fishing in the Styx by Ruth Park
author born 1917
+15 Task (author born in same decade as 15.9 -Shirley Jackson born 1916)
+15 Bonus
+100 Completion
+25 All books written by female authors
Post total: 155 points
Total points: 1,135 points
10.5 Favorite AuthorsStone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood
#4 most read
+10 task
+20 combo (10.2, 10.3 - #61, 10.8 - born in Canada, 10.9 - 3.94)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 75
10.2 Noel, NoelModern Romance by Aziz Ansari
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 - 3.85)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 90
10.2 Noel, NoelMedium Raw by Anthony Bourdain
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 - 3.73)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 105
10.9 Realistic RatingsDelancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg
3.68 rating
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 115
10.9 Realistic RatingsMy Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
3.75 rating
Review: I read and loved Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout, and so I was highly anticipating her newest book. I was able to snag an ARC and quickly consumed it. The first person, almost diary-like feel of this novel draws you in immediately as a reader, and it almost feels like Lucy is writing to you directly and confiding in a friend. Even though the titular character shares much about her private pains, it's the restraint that Strout exhibits that takes this novel from good to great. In another author’s hands this story could have fallen flat, but Strout excels at highlighting the meaning in the mundane. It’s a quiet novel that packs quite a punch.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 135
10.9 Realistic RatingsNot That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham
3.34 rating
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 145
10.7 Cozy HolidaysBooks Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
Review:
I think this will be a new cozy mystery series for me. It has a librarian (Lindsey - new director of local library), a budding writer whose work is stolen (Beth - children's librarian) and, of course, a lot of loyal friends who get together to clear Beth of killing her boyfriend (who stole her work and presented it as his own). But who killed him? The answer involved a twist or two that I did not see coming.
The characters are likable and ordinary people which is the first item in the cozy mystery genre that pulls me in. The second is that the idea that, because they are so ordinary and normal, it could be me.
I will definitely look for more in this series...just as soon as I finish some of the others that I am already pursuing. :)
+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.9 = 3.86)
+5 series (Library Lover's Mystery #1)
Task points: 30
20.1 Grazia DeleddaGolden Age by Jane Smiley
Review: Golden Age is the third and last book in the “Last Hundred Years: A Family Saga” series, and each book, and the series as a whole, certainly lives up to the promise of a saga. In the first book Some Luck, Smiley reveals the meaningfulness of everyday moments by focusing on the minutiae of a family's life on a farm in Iowa. In the next installment Early Warning, the family grows and spreads out across the country. And finally, Golden Age shows how the lives of the Langdon family are shaped by both chance and the repercussions of their choices. A satisfying conclusion to Smiley's engrossing trilogy.
+20 task
+10 combo (10.9 - 3.8, 20.8 - NPR)
+10 review
+5 series
Task total: 45
Grand total: 190
20.8 Best of 2015Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
NYT and NPR
Review:
After reading so many glowing reviews of Between the World and Me, I knew I needed to read it. Coates eloquently lays bare his experiences in this extended letter to his son, creating a moving and profoundly thought-provoking treatise. As Toni Morrison proclaimed, this book should be "required reading." I initially picked it up as an audiobook because it was read by the author and I thought it would be nice to hear his own narration. It was a great listening experience and his narration does add another dimension to his words, but I ended up buying the print copy so I could go back and re-read certain sections that warranted a closer read.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 220
20.8 Best of 2015 The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
+20 Task
+15 Combo: 10.2 Noel, Noel / 10.9 Realistic Ratings (3.84) / 20.1-Grazia Deledda (1926)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 1225
20.8 Best of 2015 A Wild Swan: And Other Tales by Michael Cunningham
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 Realistic Ratings (3.74)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1250
10.7 Cozy HolidaysGunpowder Green by Laura Childs
Review:
This series is set in Charleston, SC. Theodosia Browning runs a tea shop. Her two assistants in the shop are helping her serve at the annual yacht race. When the boats are about to cross the finish line, the gun used to signal the race end explodes killing a prominent man. There are many suspects and a detective on the case, but Theo sets out to prove who committed the murder and almost gets killed herself.
This is a new series for me. I am enjoying it since (1) I enjoy occasionally those cozies which have recipes (which this one does) and (2) I like the idea of a tea break with sandwiches and pastries. I even like teas.
Other than Theo, my favorite character is Drayton Connely who assists Theo along with baker Haley to solve the mystery. He acts a bit as an older protector for Theo and seems to be the one who paves the way for her among the society of Charleston.
I will continue to read this series, partly for the background of Charleston and South Carolina low country and for the interplay of Theo and Detective Tidwell.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 series (A Tea Shop Mystery #2)
+5 combo (10.9 = 3.85)
Task points: 30
Grand Total Points: 285
From Post 822Bea wrote: "10.4 Valentine's Day
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
#341 on list
Review:
This is the story of Pip, an orphan grows up to be trained to be a gentleman. The tw..."
+5 Combo 20.1
+5 Jumbo (505 pages in MPE)
From Post 823Bea wrote: "10.4 Valentine's Day
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
#53 on list
Review:
Oh, my gosh! I am not a Jane Austen fan. She writes such simpering females who are always ..."
+5 Combo 20.1
From Post 825Bea wrote: "10.4 Valentine's Day
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
#35 on list
Review:
This is definitely a comedy. There are two couples: one couple (Hero and Claudio..."
+5 Combo 20.7
From Post 834Bea wrote: "10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Review:
I am slowly making my way through this series. It is such a fun read that I ..."
+5 Combo 10.9
From Post 835Deedee wrote: "Task 20.1-Grazia Deledda
Read a book which evokes a sense of place.
Life's Little Ironies (1894) by Thomas Hardy
+20 Task
+05 (Combo #10.9: realistic ratings)
+10 ..."
+5 Combo 20.9
10.1 Design Your Own TaskThe Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
+10 Task (bought at Fall Sale in temporary library)
+5 Combo 10.9
+25 Oldies
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 1160
15.10 DominoesSomething I've Been Meaning to Tell You: 13 Stories by Alice Munro
+15 Task (same decade of birth as 15.9)
+15 Bonus
+100 Completion Bonus
+50 All Books on Canon
+25 All Books written by Women
Post Total: 205
Season Total: 1395
20.7 FeminismAtlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
+20 Task (#70 on list)
+25 Jumbo (1168 pages)
+5 Oldies (1957)
+5 Combo (10.9)
Post Total: 55
Season Total: 1450
10.9 Realistic RatingsDeath with Interruptions by José Saramago
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1465
20.6 Svetlana Alexievich (2015)The Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell
I enjoyed the whole novel about a poet who would not write an ode to Stalin. This story really had me sinking into the time period, with the suspicion and the expectations and the near futility of hope, although there was a little to be had. The narrators that seemed extraneous at first were also part of scene setting and lead up and all had distinct voices. The poet himself was not particularly likable compared to the people around him, but that wasn't the point. His attitude towards his poetry was the key. Seeing Stalin in action, both the imagined version and the possibly real version, added depth to the story. It's not a cheery book, but the story structure provides a satisfactory close.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.9 - 3.78)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 1550
Kate S wrote: "From Post 834Bea wrote: "10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
10.9."
Kate, thanks for all the extra points for my 10.4 posts, but the 10.5 task does not allow for combos.
10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)
Read a book by one of your top 5 most read authors*. This task may be repeated three times using a different author each time. This task may not be used for combo points.
20.3 Toni Morrison (1993)Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
On Charleston Syllabus list
Review:
I thought this was going to be a new, unheard of, author for me, until I got the book itself and realized that I own one of his books. Was I surprised! (Still new, though, as I have not yet read that book.)
"Easy" Rawlins is an out of work defense plant worker who gets approached to find a woman. He has no license as a PI nor any training. He decides to take the job because he needs money for his living expenses - to help him until he gets hired again. He recruits his buddy "Mouse" to help. The interplay between Easy and Mouse is great! Very believable as Mouse is really reluctant to get involved but does so because of the friendship. Easy struggles with needing the money and the distastefulness of the job itself as he suspects the motive of the man who hired him.
I liked the humanness of the Easy character. He felt realistically drawn. I also liked the time of the story - 1940s post war. A good setting for a noir story and for the racial aspects of life in that time in Watts (Los Angeles neighborhood).
This is another series I will continue. Oh, the book I own? #3. So I have another to read before I get to it.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 series (Easy Rawlins #1)
+10 combo (10.9 = 3.92, 20.1)
+5 oldie (1990)
Task points: 50
Grand Total Points: 355
Bea wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 834Bea wrote: "10.5 Favorite Authors (a.k.a. Moderator Gift)
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
10.9."
Kate, thanks for all the extra poi..."
10.5 cannot be used as a combo when reading the book for another task, but when you claim the book for 10.5 (or 10.1), you can claim combos with other tasks.
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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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Exit Wounds by J.A. Jance
+10
+5 Combo (10.2)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 310