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message 151: by Karen Michele (last edited Sep 16, 2018 12:16PM) (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5293 comments 10.1 Favorite Lists

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

I finally got to this Ursula K. Le Guinclassic (I also read The Left Hand of Darkness for the sub challenge). I have to admit that science fiction with a strong philosophical bent is not always to my liking, but I really enjoyed this take on a utopian experimental world and enjoyed the visitor and main character, Shivek. I also felt the audio narrator was particularly strong and helped the book come alive. I liked that government systems were not described as perfect and that the people were not unquestionably committed to everything about their societies. There were times when I was riveted and other times when the pace slowed down, but Le Guin is a master of her craft and genre and it shows in this first book of the Hainish Cycle!

+10 Task
Valerie's Favorites: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
+10 Combo: 10.2 Next? / 10.5 Pet Day (Panther) The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
+10 Review
+15 Prizeworthy (3+)
+ 5 Oldies (1974)

Task Total: 50
Season Total: 215


message 152: by Karen Michele (last edited Sep 16, 2018 12:19PM) (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5293 comments 10.2 Next?

Cave of Bones by Anne Hillerman

I have been a fan of Tony Hillerman’s series of southwest mysteries for many years. Growing up in Colorado, we took many trips to the area in which the books are set and my husband and I have continued the tradition. Anne Hillerman has done a good job taking over for her father and Cave of Bones is her fourth book added to the series. She has done a smart thing by adding the voice of Chee’s wife Bernadette Manuelito as her primary character, but continuing to include the other primary men in her father’s books, Chee and Leaphorn, as major characters. The mystery kept me guessing after leaving many convincing “red herrings” along the path and the natural world still played an important part in the story. The writing is strong and carries the plot and dialogue along smoothly. I will always miss Tony Hillerman’s writing, but I am so glad the series is now in Anne Hillerman’s able hands.

+10 Task #22
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 235


message 153: by Kate S (new)

Kate S | 6459 comments From Post 13

Heather wrote: "20.5 - Singled Out

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

+20 task
+5 prizeworth (2017 Hugo for Best Novel)
+5 combo (10.2 - #2 in The Broken Earth series)

Task total:..."


+5 Combo per your request for 10.8.


message 154: by Kate S (new)

Kate S | 6459 comments From Post 119

Deedee wrote: "Task 20.10 Fall Equinox (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)
Fall Equinox contains all 5 vowels. Read any book whose title contains all of the letters A-E-I-O-U. The book may have a subtitle, but all of th..."


+5 Combo 10.2


message 155: by Kate S (new)

Kate S | 6459 comments From Post 95

Anika wrote: "15.2 AbBY Chronological 1940-1944

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward (b. 1943)

+20 Task

Task total: 20
Season total: 220"


I show an addition error here. I think you may have missed post 82 in your calculations. :)


message 156: by Tien (last edited Sep 18, 2018 07:44PM) (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3115 comments 20.10 Fall Equinox (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)
Budapest Noir (Bűnös Budapest #1) by Vilmos Kondor

Review
I always find fiction set in other countries fascinating especially if it’s a small-ish non-English speaking countries for which we rarely get to hear from. Vilmos Kondor is Hungarian and this novel is set in Budapest, Hungary in 1936. It was a tumultuous time in which conspiracies & corruptions abound. A Jewish girl found dead and her photo was seen to be in a police commissioner’s desk drawer by crime journalist, Zsigmond Gordon. Gordon was intrigued and even knowing that it is a story which will never be published, he followed on his investigations. He continued despite the threats to his wellbeing and those of his loved ones. He knows also that there will be no justice but he feels it his duty to redress the balance. I’ve really enjoyed this noir novel. There was enough human interest and that satisfaction that good wins to compel me to read the series except that none of the other books has been translated into English.



+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3 - Budapest; 20.1 - 1936)
+10 Review

Post Total: 40
Season Total: 245



message 157: by Jenifer (new)

Jenifer (jensamaha) | 263 comments 15.3 AbBY - chronological
Date Range 1946-1950

The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen

+20 Task (author born 1950)

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 55


message 158: by Jenifer (last edited Sep 16, 2018 07:29PM) (new)

Jenifer (jensamaha) | 263 comments 20.5 Singled Out

Fromage à Trois by Victoria Brownlee

*The main character is a single woman who breaks up with her boyfriend and moves from Australia to Paris to live on her own.

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 75


message 159: by Jenifer (new)

Jenifer (jensamaha) | 263 comments 10.2 Next

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

Post Total: 10
Season Total: 85


message 160: by Kathleen (itpdx) (last edited Sep 16, 2018 07:52PM) (new)

Kathleen (itpdx) (itpdx) | 1733 comments 10.9 9,10,11
Following the Curve of Time: The Legendary M. Wylie Blanchet by Cathy Converse

This is a companion book to The Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest by M. Wylie Blanchet. Converse gives Capi Blanchet’s family background, information about her husband, fills us in on what has happened to the places and people described in Blanchet’s book, and tells us what happened after Capi stopped her summer cruises. The books answers the questions for us but is not all that well written.

+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo 20.5
Task total: 25

Season total: 110


message 161: by Heather (last edited Sep 17, 2018 09:03AM) (new)

Heather (sarielswish) | 738 comments 10.8 - Cli fi

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

+10 task (per task thread)
+10 combo (10.2 - #3 Broken Earth trilogy, 20.5 - Essun, not gonna give her status because it's part of the plot of the trilogy but she's single)
+15 prizeworthy (2018 Hugo and Nebula for best novel, 2018 Locus for best fantasy novel)

Task total: 35
Grand total: 145


message 162: by Lagullande (last edited Sep 18, 2018 12:47AM) (new)

Lagullande | 1131 comments See post 170 below for request to change task

10.2 Next?

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

+10 Task (pub 2018)
+5 Combo (10.5 Penguin)
+10 Oldies (pub 1919)


Points this post: 25
RwS total: 25
AbBY total: -
Season Total: 25


message 163: by Anika (new)

Anika | 2809 comments From Post 95

Anika wrote: "15.2 AbBY Chronological 1940-1944

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward (b. 1943)

+20 Task

Task total: 20
Season total: 220"

I show an addition error here. I think you may have missed post 82 in your calculations. :)


Oh, Kate! I made a right mess of everything! I am so sorry...I've checked, double checked, and triple checked my calculations this time and have updated my addition on all of my posts so it should be correct now.


message 164: by Anika (last edited Sep 17, 2018 10:58AM) (new)

Anika | 2809 comments 20.8 Autumn

Emma by Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen's writing, the sharp criticism couched in genteel language. I think on this reading I finally understood that Jane Austen doesn't particularly like Emma, either (the "either" implying my own distaste for this character).
I love games, and fancy myself pretty good at them. I have friends who love games and fancy themselves pretty good at them when, in fact, they're quite awful. They brag about their prowess over the card table as they play a truly terrible game and I just have to hold my tongue and roll my eyes as their back is turned. Emma would fit in that latter category. She thinks she is a wonderful matchmaker (her game of choice), that her skills are unparalleled...in fact, everything she touches turns to ruin. THE HUBRIS of this inexperienced young lady is astounding. And I will never understand her attachment to and desire to marry off Harriet (insert eye roll). My favorite part in the whole book is when Emma says a rather unkind thing to Miss Bates and gets dressed down for it by Mr Knightley. I kinda hate that she gets a happy ending, but such is Austen.

+20 Task (pub. 1815, author born and lived in England)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies
+10 Combo (10.4--The Next Best Book Club shelf; 10.5 Emma)

Task total: 55
Season total: 495

(I wasn't sure if it would work for 20.5, since she ends up marrying at the end and she isn't head of her household--that would be her father--despite the fact that she operates as if she is the head ;-) I decided to err in the negative on that task.)


message 165: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 20.3 Birds without Wings

The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk

Enjoyment-wise I would rate this as 1 star because I really did not like it at all. However, it was not trash and I usually reserve that rating for books I’m mad at. This is Literature, but it was not a book for me.
As I was reading it, I wondered is this book really that dry, or was it the fault of translation? Is there a bit more poetry and flow in the original? I could not visualize anything here - it was like reading an instruction manual. When I cannot conjure up images as I read, I have a terrible time getting through a book.
I trudged through this one though, and eh. I see some of what it was this was going for, but I wasn’t engaged. This is a very deliberate literary exercise on self/other, East/West, master/slave, and it felt forced and clunky. Perhaps in an academic setting I would have gotten more out of this, but reading it just for myself was unrewarding.

+20 task
+10 combo 20.7 (161 pages), 10.5 The White Castle Penguin
+5 award
+5 oldie (1985)
+10 review

Task total = 60
Season total = 445


message 166: by Valerie (new)

Valerie Brown | 3290 comments 10.1 Favorite Lists

#40 on this list
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
I originally used this list in Summer post 170

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Wow! I can see why this book won so many awards.

I had slotted this book in for my A-Z Classic author challenge (sci-fi version for 2018), but I admit I was a little trepidatious. I’m not keen on any genre where the main focus is war, and that is how the summary describes this novel.

The story follows William Mandella’s career in the military, fighting in Earth’s space war. Every person, of the appropriate age, is conscripted into the war. We join Mandella and his fellow conscripts in training and follow them on their first mission. Humans have put the Theory of Relativity to practical use, and can perform space travel, which is also time jumping. (Sorry I can’t explain it any better, my first-year physics, taken almost 40 years ago, didn’t cover this!)

Basically, the soldiers travel decades or longer, but they only age months. This is an important thing to note because this is where Haldeman shines. He describes the cultural and social changes that happen while the soldiers are off fighting and how difficult it is for them to fit in when they come back (which leads to re-enlistment). Haldeman used his experience(s) after returning from the Vietnam War, so Mandella’s increasing bewilderment over the years are some of the strongest parts of the book. Some of the changes that happen include: a frightening dystopia caused by extreme overpopulation, food shortage, the military industrial complex running the world, gender neutral identities, cloning, amongst others. 5*

10 task
10 review
15 prizes
5 oldie
10 combo 10.2, 10.5 (centipede found here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

____
50

Running total: 165


message 167: by Owlette (last edited Sep 17, 2018 06:57PM) (new)

Owlette | 716 comments 20.1 War's end

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

This book has already been posted by Ann, so I will not go into the story of Maisie Dobbs and her first case as an independent detective after serving as a young World War I nurse in France. The description and characterization seemed just right to me-- brought me into the setting, maybe too much, and the characters were likeable with realistic dialogue, I think. The war parts were tragic and sad, of course; every character's life was affected in some way. Maisie's father was a wonderful character; I wonder if he appears in the rest of the series. Liked the book, but the "Retreat" climactic scene was quite creepy and I don't know what to say about the last chapter where Maisie pays a visit. I listened to a chapter or two of the audiobook and read the rest from the e-book.

+20 Task
+20 Combo 10.2, 10.5 (Penguin), 20.5, 20.8
+15 Prizeworthy
+10 Review

Task Total: 65
Season Total: 250


message 168: by Rachel (new)

Rachel | 574 comments 20.10 Fall Equinox

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery by Sam Kean

Review

I listened to this as an audiobook in the car and the only downside of doing so was that each chapter starts with a rebus to figure out and I missed out on the fun!
This book is super fascinating. Kean takes you through the brain from larger structures like the lobes down to the molecular level. The style is anecdotal and all the concepts and science are laid out in layman's terms making it very accessible.
I think that this book presents a great way to delve into the study of neuroscience without being too wordy or heavy. I think it would also appeal to readers with an interest in history, psychology and anthropology since there are sections about Henri II, a group Papua New Guineans and well known patients like HM and Phineas Gage.

+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.5 Black Swan
+10 Review

Task Total: 35 pts
Grand Total: 120 pts


message 169: by Rachel (new)

Rachel | 574 comments 20.5 Singled Out

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

+20 Task - Miss Marple as protagonist never married and has always run her own house
+ 5 Combo 10.2 Series
+5 Comb 10.5 Pet Day - Penguin (its on page 3 of the editions if you are looking)
+ 5 Oldies - published 1962

Task Total: 35 pts
Grand Total: 155 pts


message 170: by Lagullande (new)

Lagullande | 1131 comments Please can I move My Man Jeeves, originally posted in message 162 above, from 10.2 to 10.1?

The new post should be like this:

10.1 Favorite Lists

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse


+10 Task (no 663 on Best Humorous Books, used by Ann in post 786 of Listopia Tag)
+10 Combo (10.2 no. 1 in the Jeeves series, 10.5 Penguin)
+10 Oldies (pub 1919)


Points this post: 30
RwS total: 30
AbBY total: -
Season Total: 30


message 171: by Rosemary (last edited Sep 18, 2018 06:45AM) (new)

Rosemary | 4330 comments 20.4 Birdsong

Fidelity by Susan Glaspell

It's 1914, and Ruth Holland is coming back to her father's deathbed in the small American town that she fled with a married man over 10 years earlier. We hear how the affair came about, how love swept away all other considerations at the time, and how the consequences rippled out, not only for the "guilty" pair but for their families and friends.

Ruth certainly suffers for her decision to leave town with the married Stuart Williams, but so do many other people, as she only fully realises all these years later. She has to ask herself, even if it was worth it for her, was it worth all that pain for others?

Susan Glaspell's view seems to be that society shouldn't be so critical of infidelity--but given that it was (the book was published in 1915), perhaps it was only a truly great love that could justify throwing everything over. And did Ruth and Stuart have that or not? Should we judge by our feelings at the time, or can we only know with hindsight? The novel raises these questions but leaves it to the reader to decide.

+20 Task (approved)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1915)

Task Total: 40
Season Total: 355


message 172: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1837 comments 10.6 - Noir Authors

Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky

+10 task
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.5, 10.9)
+5 oldie (1982)

Task total: 30
Grand total: 195


message 173: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1837 comments 10.2 - Next

TALION: a Scandinavian noir murder mystery set in Scotland by Pete Brassett

+10 task

Task total: 10
Grand total: 205


message 174: by Lalitha (new)

Lalitha (falcon_) | 85 comments 20.10 - Fall Equinox (Elizabeth's Task)

The Bhutto Murder Trail: From Waziristan To GHQ by Amir Mir

Another of those books written with obvious bias.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during an election rally in Pakistan. It was a high profile news considering that she had been in exile for long and the elections were around the corner. There is still no clear evidence as to who her murderer is.

The book made every effort to blatantly shove all of the blame on to the then leader of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf. The author, a close friend of the late Bhutto, squarely blames Musharraf over 200 pages, while also bringing in the angle of terrorist plots. In way of evidence, he only provides for what Bhutto had alluded to before her death or speculations. There is no hard core evidence presented, nor anything refreshing. One could have written the whole book in less than 10 pages for a high school essay. The author merely chants the same mantra over and over again chapter after chapter. A big thumbs down. An excellent example of how not to write a piece of investigative journalism.

Task +20
Combo +10 (10.7, 10.3)
Review +10
Task Total = 40

Season Total = 35+40 = 75


message 175: by Ann (last edited Sep 18, 2018 01:05PM) (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 10.5 Pet Day

Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Penguin edition here: Any Human Heart

I went into this book crabby. Oh yes, another book about the greatness of a mediocre privileged man. I can’t wait.
Well shut my mouth. I should not have liked this book at all, but I loved it. I can’t explain why, because Logan is everything that I’m so not in the mood for right now. But it was a lovely, moving novel about a fairly ordinary life. Logan brushes up against greatness, but he’s never a key player. Not overly successful, not terribly unsuccessful. He’s as middling as you can get and still be interesting.
The diary format was perfect - we see how Logan grows up, is shaped by the world and his choices. Logan can be a self-obsessed ass, but it’s clear that he’s not malicious. Overall he is a decent person. Flawed - but aren’t we all?
Beautifully written, this is one of those quiet books that makes you love the characters and miss them when the book is over. I don’t know how Boyd managed to make me care so much, but I did.

+10 task
+5 Combo 20.6
+5 award
+10 review
Task total = 30
Season total = 475


message 176: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 15.1 AbBY

Reverse chronological order
Date range 1976-1980
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh born 1976

Task total = 15
Season total = 490


message 177: by Coralie (new)

Coralie | 2776 comments 20.5 Singled Out

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

+20 Task (approved in task thread)
+5 Combo 20.4 (includes flashbacks to 30 years before)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 275


message 178: by Coralie (new)

Coralie | 2776 comments 20.4 Birdsong

The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar

+20 Task
+5 Combo 20.7

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 300


message 179: by Beth (new)

Beth Robinson (bethrobinson) | 1174 comments 10.3 Real Place

Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac

This book was a mess. The poetry was nearly incomprehensible, at least to me. Kerouac's note about how these would be jazz choruses, 242 variations, was so appealing. But I didn't enjoy it at all. There were so many references I missed. So many squashing of words together that didn't make sense for more than a phrase at a time. I kept reading for the sake of seeing if there was anything that would resonate. Nope. The best I can say is that I did enjoy seeing the places where he did carry a theme from one page/poem to another and how he pulled in Eastern philosophy and jazz music and grounded real life concerns as he moved through the writing.

+10 task
+5 oldies (1959)
+10 review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 255


message 180: by Beth (new)

Beth Robinson (bethrobinson) | 1174 comments 20.10 Fall Equinox (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)

An Undeniable Rogue by Annette Blair

It was cute, unbelievable, but reasonably satisfying fluff. The author stuffed in so many tropes it was funny, even though it made the plot (as much as such romances have) swing rather wildly. The male character was routinely depicted as almost too good to be true, except for a bit of period realistic chauvinism and a couple significant stupid deceptions to attempt to protect his heart, which we were supposed to read sympathetically since the female character was also protectively deceptive. The difference in stakes between them soured that a bit for me, though. But it was just so nice to see the feelings of happiness and the (unrealistic) relative ease with which the likeable characters let themselves have that happiness and each other.

+20 task
+15 combo (10.2, 10.5 Zebra published MPE, 10.9)
+10 review

Task total: 45
Grand total 300


message 181: by Tien (last edited Sep 18, 2018 07:44PM) (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3115 comments 10.9 9, 10, 11 (Norma's Task via Rebekah)
Timeswept Lovers by Constance O'Day-Flannery
Timeswept = 9 letters

Review
I’ve got a few heavy going books at the moment and I just needed a break! Timeswept Lovers proved to be just the ticket; chocked-full of romance, light-hearted banter, and a happily ever after (of course!). Time travel romances are my guilty pleasures but I felt this one dragged on a bit… there’s a certain formula, of course, and the book followed that formula but added an extra 50 pages to wrap up. I have to follow through and read the ending though; that’s the point of a romance novel after all, the happily ever after. I’m in a slightly happier state and hope to return to my tough books with more gusto!


+10 Task
+5 Oldies (pub. 1987)
+10 Review

Post Total: 25
Season Total: 270



Elizabeth (Alaska) Post 142 Ann wrote: "20.5 Singled Out

Sula by Toni Morrison

(Warning - I swear in my review so skip if you object)

I finished this early today, and I’ve been thinking about it all day, and..."


Given the years you provide as a qualifier for 20.4, it looks as if this also qualifies for 20.1.


message 183: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: “Given the years you provide as a qualifier for 20.4, it looks as if this also qualifies for 20.1. ."

I did a page count and slightly more of the book is set in part 2, the later time period.


message 184: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 10.2 Next?

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Into the Woods is one of my all time favorite musicals, and this book has the final song stuck in my head right now.
Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell. Children will listen...
Jack and Jill’s parents had a very particular tale they told. There was no deviation allowed from it, their children were little props in their story. And Jack and Jill were very good listeners. They played their roles perfectly.
Until the day they found a door, and a new story, and new roles. This time they had a semblance of a choice. But there were still roles to play, still very specific expecatations of how to be.

This has all the appearances of a YA book, but it’s very much a fairy tale for parents. Look at what happens when you forget children are people... children can be shaped but if you choose a mold unsuited to their own materials... well. You were warned.

This was a fast read, but it was rich. Much richer, much more poignant than Every Heart a Doorway. I loved this book.

+10 task
+5 combo 20.7
+5 award
+10 review

Task total = 30
Season total = 520


Elizabeth (Alaska) Post 181 Tien wrote: "10.9 9, 10, 11 (Norma's Task via Rebekah)
Timeswept Lovers by Constance O'Day-Flannery
Timeswept = 9 letters

Review
I’ve got a few heavy going books at the moment and ..."


The default is published by Zebra, so combo with 10.5 Pet Day.


message 186: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 15.2 AbBY
Reverse chronological order
1971-1975
Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones (born 1972)

Task total = 20
Season total = 540


message 187: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 15.3 AbBY
Reverse chronological order
1966-1960
Plastic Jesus by Poppy Z. Brite 1967
Note, pages not listed in MPE, 105 per next edition: Plastic Jesus

Task total = 20
Season total = 560


message 188: by Rosemary (last edited Sep 19, 2018 12:24PM) (new)

Rosemary | 4330 comments 10.9 - 9, 10, 11

Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor

Thrust out into the world at the age of twenty after the death of her father, Cassandra Dashwood takes up a post as governess to the young daughter of a widowed man. She goes off fully prepared to fall in love with her employer in true Jane Eyre fashion. But she’s a hundred years too late to be the heroine of a classic romance.

There are many nods to the Brontes and Jane Austen in this novel, but with heavy irony. The characters are weak and powerless, and their lives, like their house, are crumbling around them. It’s clever and funny and I enjoyed reading it, but I’m glad I don’t have to live in their world!

+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.7 192 pages, 20.8 UK/1946)
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1946)

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 390


message 189: by Ann (new)

Ann (lit_chick_77) | 551 comments 15.4 AbBY
Reverse chronological order
1961-1965
Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk 1962

HARD PASS fellow readers. I need some major brain-bleaching fluff now.

Task total = 20
Season total = 580


message 190: by Anika (last edited Sep 19, 2018 01:28PM) (new)

Anika | 2809 comments 20.3 Birds Without Wings

Inferno by Dan Brown

UUUUUUGGH. I wanted to like this...I thought I'd let enough time elapse between my exposure to Dan Brown that I wouldn't be irked by the formulaic nature of his books. Nope. Nope nope nope. I saw one review for this that likened it to a Mad Libs, and I couldn't stop laughing at the truth of it.

Pros of this book:
--I love the puzzles and scavenger hunt aspect.
--I love the descriptions of art and culture (although the didactic nature in which Robert Langdon conveys it can get grating).
--I love the vivid descriptions of the cities they visit: Florence, Venice, Istanbul...it makes me desperate for a vacation.
--I liked that, in the end, there wasn't a huge differentiation between the "good guys" and the "bad guys."
--I like that the good guys didn't "win", they way you expect in this type of book.

Cons:
--I hate that there always HAS to be a female side-kick (who secretly finds Robert sooo handsome)--in this one, Sienna is supposedly an off-the-charts genius--yet Robert still has to explain basic things to her and works things out more quickly...hmph.
--I hate that this art history/symbology professor randomly has expertise in areas that are inexplicable.
--I hate that I fall for these books, even though I know they're going to follow roughly the same formula every time.

This one involves the issue of overpopulation and the risk it poses to humanity and the earth--an issue I've encountered a lot lately (I'm currently reading two other books that revolve around this same issue on some level). I, surprisingly, liked how this one dealt with it...it was thoughtful, realistic, and interesting. Who knew Dan Brown had that in him?

+20 Task (shelved "Turkey" 28 times)
+10 Review
+5 Prizeworthy
+15 Combo (10.2; 10.5--https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... 20.5--Sienna Brooks and Elizabeth Sinskey are both single heads of their own household)

Task total: 50
Season total: 545


message 191: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3115 comments Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 181 Tien wrote: "10.9 9, 10, 11 (Norma's Task via Rebekah)..."

The default is published by Zebra, so combo with 10.5 Pet Day."


Thanks, Elizabeth!


message 192: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3115 comments 10.5 Pet Day
Stone Girl by Eleni Hale
YA - not found on BPL
above edition is by Penguin Books Australia


Review
Truthfully, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I saw the chance and grabbed it; I’m spontaneous like that because otherwise, I’m rather indecisive and will take forever and a day to make up my mind. I don’t think I even looked at the blurb at the back of the book and just started reading… boy, did I get the shock of my life!

The novel opens with a shocked twelve-year-old Sophie sitting at the police station. Her mother had died and it is all her fault. Her father is in Greece and she has no other family to care for her. She was placed in the care of social workers and hence begins her journey through the system. About 1/3 through the book, we skipped to 2 years later and Sophie’s life did not get any better… is it possible to even be worse than it already is? Her life is like a roller coaster and she’s about to hit rock bottom…

We only have each other

Stone Girl
tells of brutal lives of teens who have been betrayed again and again. First by their parents who reversed the roles by having the children as carers then to disappoint them by leaving (or dying) and/or breaking promises again and again. No wonder these children do not and cannot place any kind of trust in adults. How can you when all they’ve learnt are betrayals and disappointments?

The homes have taught me some important life lessons: need no one, rely on no one, trust no one. Cry inside. Feel but don’t show. If you think you need someone to talk to about deep stuff? Don’t. Sort it out alone. Mask up and survive.

I can’t tell you just how heartbreaking this story is. And to read in the author’s note that she herself has lived through this system back in the 1990s made this book all the more heartbreaking and powerful in its inspiration of hope. It wasn’t an easy book to read and whilst it holds no trigger moments for me, it came quite close. I won’t say that it’s a must-read for anyone because not everyone could survive reading this but I do very much hope that the message it brings will reach those who need it.

It’s not too late…You can if you are tenacious, determined. Try, and never give up… You have a choice to make and pretending you don’t is a choice in itself.

Thanks to the author, Eleni Hale, for copy of book in exchange of honest review.
 

+10 Task
+10 Review

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 295



message 193: by Coralie (new)

Coralie | 2776 comments 20.7 A Month in the Country

City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin

+20 Task
+10 Combo 10.2, 10.9 (illusions)
+5 Oldies (published 1967)

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 335


message 194: by Coralie (new)

Coralie | 2776 comments 20.4 Birdsong

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.2
+5 Jumbo (512 pages)

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 365


message 195: by Ed (last edited Sep 20, 2018 08:06AM) (new)

Ed Lehman | 2651 comments 20.2 To Conquer Hell


(For purposes of our group project...most of this book takes place in the Comoros.)

A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth by Samantha Weinberg

This is a fascinating read about how a fish, the coelacanth, thought to have been extinct for 400 million years was discovered in 1938. The discovery took a special set of circumstances and personalities in order to come to the knowledge of science and the public at large but once it did, the personalities involved had become celebrities...and the Comoros Islands, where the second coelacanth was found, had a new national symbol.
The book is written for the layman with just enough scientific jargon to prevent the lay reader from skipping over paragraphs. I had a nagging sense of dread that the frenetic search for additional coelacanths was most likely decimating a small and fragile population. Amazingly, it took too long for the scientists involved to also have this concern. Not sure that enough is being done to protect the fish at this point...but, without giving away another surprise at the end.... there is reason for hope. 4 stars


task = 20
combo= 5 (20.8-British
review=10
task total=35
Grand total= 260


message 196: by Beth (new)

Beth Robinson (bethrobinson) | 1174 comments 20.6 The Stone Carvers

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
2011 winner

I liked the writing. I hated the "ending" and when I went to read more about it online, just got even more confused by the theories put forth and how much that wasn't in the text one theory read into the plot. The style was clear and enjoyable, an average man writing about his life as he saw it. The examination of his memory compared to what he had actually written in his youth and the glimpses of how others might have seen things was well done. But the ending didn't really explain anything, and I guess it fits with theme and style of the book, but ugh. It left me feeling annoyed.

+20 task
+10 review
+10 combo (20.7, 10.5)
+5 prize (man booker)

10.5 is for edition
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Published by Quetzal, which is a type of bird

Task total: 45
Grand total: 345


message 197: by Anika (last edited Sep 20, 2018 09:03AM) (new)

Anika | 2809 comments 10.8 Cli Fi

Fog by Annelie Wendeberg

This is the second in the series set in a world transformed by environmental disaster which has caused a plague and the loss of billions of lives. The remaining humans have branched off into two different factions and it appears to be a leave-no-survivors situation.

I usually find the second book in a series to be a bridge--something I have to cross to get from the interesting premise submitted in the premier book of the series to the resolution of the final book. Second books in trilogies always seem to...sag.
This one didn't--it was taut throughout. The action is intense and right when you think you're going to be let off the hook for a minute, a bomb goes off (Micka has completed her apprenticeship and is now a full-fledged sniper, so she's right in the heart of the action). I need to finish this series already! The emotional anxiety it is eliciting is too much to sustain :-/
That being said: isn't that the sign of a good book? One that transports you and doesn't easily let you out of its grip? Yes, this one relies heavily on plot, but the characters are multi-dimensional and well-wrought, the premise is compelling, the science of the post-apocalyptic world is logical, and I am always a sucker for a strong female protagonist. Still loving this series, hope it ends well (fingers crossed!).

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.5--she is a single-never married soldier with no home only a base camp and a sniping partner)

Task total: 30
Season total: 575


message 198: by Anika (last edited Sep 21, 2018 05:54AM) (new)

Anika | 2809 comments 10.3 Real Place

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

What a truly lovely book (especially after all of the end-of-the-world, dark stuff I've been reading lately). Addie Baum is an 85-year-old recounting her life to her 22-year-old granddaughter. We hear about her growing up in a tenement in Boston and having to leave school in order to work to earn money for the family. We hear about the friends she made in her library club and enjoy their ups and downs and the shape their friendships take over the course of their lifetime. It's filled with humor and heartbreak, embarrassment and triumph which makes it feel more like a memoir than a novel. I love that she told the story not only as the one who lived it, but as an older, wiser, kinder self who could admit to her younger self's naivete and mistakes and forgive her for them (I know I find myself thinking of my younger self's missteps and still berating myself for them...hopefully by the time I'm 85, I will have learned this woman's grace and be able to forgive myself for not being perfect). I listened to this one and Linda Lavin was the perfect reader for this! It definitely added something to the experience, since the book is told as oral history, to hear it spoken aloud.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 20
Season total: 595


message 199: by Jayme(theghostreader) (last edited Sep 20, 2018 04:00PM) (new)

Jayme(theghostreader) (jaymetheghostreader) | 2599 comments 10.2 Next
The 6th Target by James Patterson
Review
I liked these books before. I am getting back into the series. Lindsay Boxer works for the San Fransisco police department and she is now a Sargeant. With her friends Yuki and Claire, they solve crimes. They call themselves the Women's Murder Club. The newest case is a shooting on the Del Norte ferry. The convicted is Fred Brinkley. He shot six people because the voices in his head told him so. Will pleading insanity be in his favor? One of the people shot was Claire and her son, Willie.

Task +10
Review +10
Combo +5 20.5 singled out- main character is single and head of her own household
Book Total: 25
Grand Total: 45


message 200: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1837 comments 10.9 - 9, 10, 11

PERDITION: A Scottish murder mystery with a shocking twist by Pete Brassett

+10 task
+5 Combo (10.2)

Task total: 15
Grand total: 220


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