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FA 18 Completed Tasks
20.8 AutumnFive on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
Published in 1942, author is english.
No combo points as it is YA (i'm glad my kids are finally at one age where i can use their bedtime stories for points :)
+20 Task
Task total = 20
Points total = 75
10.9 - 9, 10, 11Blackbird Fly by Lise McClendon
+10 task
+5 Combo (10.2)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 355
10.9 9, 10, 11 A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
+10 Task
+5 Combo 10.2
+ 5 Jumbo (624 pages)
+5 Prizeworthy
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 700
10.9 9, 10, 1117 Carnations: The Royals, the Nazis and the Biggest Cover-Up in History by Andrew Morton
Andrew Morton is best known for his celebrity biographies—which I never would have guessed from reading this. While the book does follow Wallis and Edward, it’s far more about the machination of the international political machines (Hitler as matchmaker?!), the intrigues and cover-ups (specifically of the Windsor Papers, which exposed Edward’s Nazi sympathies, but it also talked about the royals sending out courtiers to do the dirty work of retrieving scandalous/questionable letters), the petty actions of those in power (it even threw in a bit about A.A. Milne calling out P.G. Wodehouse as a Fifth Columnist). I was impressed with the amount of research that went into this and enjoyed looking at history from a slightly different perspective than I’d been exposed to previously.
+10 Task (“carnations”=10 letters)
+10 Review
+5 Combo, 20.2
Task total: 25
Season total: 1210
10.2 Next Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
This is the next book in the Cormorant Strike series
Post Total: 10
Total Points: 220
From Post 318Jenifer wrote: "10.9 9, 10, 11
In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks
10 letter word in title
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 180"
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 330Rosemary wrote: "10.10 Group Read
History of the Rain by Niall Williams
Set in rural County Clare, Ireland, after the economic collapse of the 2000s, this beautiful story of poetry,..."
+5 Combo 20.6
20.8 AutumnCamilla, a Picture of Youth by Fanny Burney
review
Camilla is a romance par extraordinaire with a great deal of insight into the lives and times of the upper class women in the late 18th century and some nearly perilous excitement at times, but a romance nevertheless, so 3 stars from me as I'm not a huge romance fan. Camilla loves Edgar, but as far as she knows he's going to marry her cousin. While this is the long term romance (on again off again, he loves me he love me not, she loves me she loves me not) of the novel with a lot of misunderstandings and obstacles in the way, but there is the shallow and beautiful Indiana, the lovely but disfigured Eugenia (by an accident and a very severe case of small pox) who is an heiress and it's romance and/or lack of it in light of these three women.
There are some deliciously nefarious types in this novel, and I don't mean all men, as well as some wonderful but flawed other characters. I would say that some characters are more full developed than are others, but if you like classics and you like long romance novels, then this could be an excellent read for you. Much more danger than in Jane Austen!
task +20
review +10
oldie +15
jumbo +20
ETA Combo + 5 10.3 Camilla, Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camilla...
Task Total = 70
Season Total = 70
Post 364 Karin wrote: "20.8 AutumnCamilla, a Picture of Youth by Fanny Burney
review
Camilla is a romance par extraordinaire with a great deal of insight into the lives and times of the up..."
Sorry, Karin. This won't qualify for 20.10 because the MPE is titled only Camilla as per its cover.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 364 Karin wrote: "20.8 AutumnCamilla, a Picture of Youth by Fanny Burney
review
Camilla is a romance par extraordinaire with a great deal of insight into the li..."
It's listed as the full title by the entry on the mpe and is on the title page inside, but if you don't want to count it by the cover, fair enough.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 364 Karin wrote: "20.8 AutumnCamilla, a Picture of Youth by Fanny Burney
review
Camilla is a romance par extraordinaire with a great deal of insight into the li..."
Ah, no doubt someone has changed the mpe since I checked it last time! But the title page inside the mpe (I have a copy) is as I listed it, so I went by what was then on the mpe and that. The cover was done to catch the contemporary eye and is not the actual title of the book, but c'est la vie :) OTOH this could be used for a single word title if we'd had that again, so one way or another it can work for something I guess.
15.9 AbBYReverse chronological order
1936-1940
Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong by Joyce Carol Oates 1938
Task total = 45
Season total = 960
20.7 NovellaCasino Royale by Ian Fleming
181 pages
I had never actually read a Bond book before, despite having seen the movies. It had an almost painful level of clarity somehow and unexpected descriptors, like a room sneering at Bond. The book compacted action and tension into key areas and in other places had descriptive build up that enhanced tension because you were waiting for the shoe to drop and, surpisingly, philosophy. Bond is certainly misogynistic in a matter of fact way, even when he is swept by emotion, but it is not out of place for either his time or the rest of his character. You can feel the focus and arrogance that was translated into the movie characterizations, although not any of the charm. But it is from his point of view.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 combo (20.8 pub 1953, 10.2, 10.5)
+5 age
Task total: 50
Grand total: 1020
From post 316itpdx wrote: "20.4 Birdsong
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
In my opinion, good science fiction speculates on what humans do when put in a situation that we have not yet ex..."
It looks like Ashley post 322 found this book on the the 21st Century Literature list so + 5 combo 10.4
But she also claimed 10.7, which it doesn’t qualify for because it was originally published in Chinese and translated to English.
That will make my season total 200
15.8 AbBY chronologicalDate Range 1971-1975
A Lot like Love by Julie James
+45 Task (author born 1974)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 275
Task 10.2 Next? Start a new series or read the next book in a series you are reading. (Book must be labeled as part of a series on GoodReads and must be have at least 3 books).
#1 of a Series:
The Trouble With Magic (A Bewitching Mystery #1) (2006) by Madelyn Alt
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#20.5 – Heroine lives by herself; she works for a 40ish woman who owns her own home, and is single)
Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15
Grand Total: 190 + 15 = 205
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 the letters should be in the title.
The A dv e nt u res of J o hnny Verm i llion
The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion (2006) by Loren D. Estleman (Hardcover, First Edition, 272 pages)
+20 Task
+05 (#10.9: Ver mil lio n)
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 190 + 25 = 215
20.8 Autumn (Karin's Task)The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
I noticed that four of my RwS friends have reviewed this book....with a range of ratings from 2 to 5 stars. I find that I usually agree with Elizabeth (Alaska)'s ratings...but not here. I loved this short novel...somehow it really fit into my current mood.... wondering about people from my past, imagining how things might have been different, pondering whether positive changes could be made at this late stage. The novel starts with English boys at school... questioning what history is. We are reminded that history is usually the account left by the victors. But we also accept that history is discernible by forensic study and archaeology. But what if that is all wrong? What if everything we have been told and everything we can deduce is wrong...very wrong?
These questions are played out mostly through the reminiscenses of the main character Tony Webster. Not to give out too much of a spoiler...but look out for a character that you disdain for most of the novel - only to regret how you came to that conclusion. Five stars.
task=20
review=10
combo= 10 (20.6-2011; 20.7-150p.) (Would this qualify for 20.4? Much of the book is about the Main Character...now an old man remembering his boyhood and young adult days.)
prizeworthy=10 (Man Booker Prize 2011), Europese 2012)
task total=50
grand total= 455
Post 375 Ed wrote: "20.8 Autumn (Karin's Task)The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
I noticed that four of my RwS friends have reviewed this book....with a range of ratings from 2 to ..."
Ed, 20.8 requires a pub date of 1768-1958. We'll score this for 20.6.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 375 Ed wrote: "20.8 Autumn (Karin's Task)The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
I noticed that four of my RwS friends have reviewed this book....with a range o..."
oops..I missed that part...thanks.
20.1 War's EndDeath Among The Sunbathers by E.R. Punshon
This was very entertaining. It is the second in the series, and, having not read the first, I didn't know what to expect. Usually a series is named for the lead detective, but Bobby Owen is an underling, and apparently relatively new to police work. In this installment, he is referred to frequently and his reports are received regularly with interest, but he is always off stage.
I felt characterization was the strong point. I remarked to myself more than once that the dialog was better than I might encounter in other novels of either the genre or the period. (Some should definitely be taken with humor.)
‘Educated instead,’ explained Mitchell, ‘and education just naturally chokes initiative. He’s ’Varsity and public school, you know, and you can’t expect to have an education like that and initiative as well.’Mysteries are usually just about plot and this one is good enough. It weakens for a couple of chapters midway. The last 50-60 pages are more thriller than mystery. This isn't going to rise to my 4-stars for the genre, but I'm more than willing to see it toward the top of the 3-star group.
...
‘That’s the worst of a woman, Ferris; what they mean and what they say are two things with a strictly limited connexion.’
...
‘No,’ he said, ‘don’t tell Owen to report here – tell him to come to my house at ten. But of course,’ he added with deep sarcasm, ‘only if it’s quite convenient. Give some of these youngsters their head,’ he grumbled, ‘and they seem to think they can have it all their own way for ever after. But I should like to see Owen again before he’s grown out of all recognition with the passing years.’
+20 Task (pub 1934, contemporary setting)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.9, 20.8)
+10 Oldies
Task Total = 55
Season total = 370
10.5 Pet DayTin Man by Sarah Winman
We first meet Ellis in 1996, when he's working a dead-end job at Cowley car factory in Oxford and mourning a wife who's been dead for five years. Then we go back to his childhood, when he met Michael, his best friend, interspersed with stories of Annie, his wife, who made a threesome that was never a triangle.
I loved this very touching story of overlapping love and friendship. It helped that it's set mostly in the part of Oxford where I live, partly in the 90s when I came to live here, and there's hardly a mention of the university - so refreshing!
(Note: I don't think it qualifies for 20.4 - the prologue is set in 1950 but it's only 4 pages, then the main story from 1963 to 1996 is episodic but with no gaps as big as 10 years.)
+10 Task (Penguin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 600
10.4 BookshelvesCalifornia by Edan Lepucki
Another dark book...man, I somehow stepped into a whole slew of those this season: ecologically bleak, apocalyptic, politically upsetting, murdery, I’ve run the whole gamut of dark. I started this one mid-September and had to take a break from it for some lighter fare—not that it was the darkest of the books I’ve read, but I’d definitely reached my saturation point!
I started out really loving this one: atmospheric, believable, interesting premise...then it felt very Walking Dead Season 3 (minus the zombies). The second half dragged for me—but that could have been because I’d lost my momentum after the long break from it. Didn’t really love the characters, downright hated the fact that one had my name and she was pretty haggard (I’m still not used to encountering characters with my name...it’s a little unnerving to read about “Anika” and not take it personally). I loved the last paragraph, though. It was exactly perfect.
+10 Task (The Best Next Book Club list)
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.3, 10.8, 10.9, 20.5–Anika is single head of household)
Task total: 40
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Season total: 1550
20.10 Fall EquinoxMr. Bowling Buys a Newspaper by Donald Henderson
This is a somewhat obscure ‘mystery’ that I found through another GR group. I thought it looked interesting; and would be a nice break from the dystopia (see previous posts!!).
This novel isn’t really a mystery since right from the beginning you know that Mr Bowling is a murderer (not a spoiler). It is more a combination of psychological query (what is his motivation?), black humor and farce. Henderson was a playwright and there are definitely passages in the novel that seemed to be written for the stage. Mr Bowling is a rather bumbling criminal, and there were some real laugh out loud parts. I am a little surprised to realize this, but by the end I was rooting for Mr Bowling. Overall, I enjoyed the novel but I do think Henderson could have benefitted from a stronger editor. 3*
20 task
10 review
5 oldie
5 combo 10.9
____
40
Running total: 400
10.5The Rest of the Voyage: Poems by Bernard Noël
Graywolf (approved)
+10 task
+5 prize
Task total: 15
Grand total: 1065
20.10 VowelsThe Tenacious Miss Tamerlane by Kasey Michaels
I was highly amused by this Regency romance which was a bit tongue in cheek about the whole thing while also meeting many typical aspects of the Season setting. There is little romance and more stroppiness on both sides alternating with kissing. I really enjoyed that different distinct personalities of women characters were somehow packed into a simple romance and that the Duke was in part beset by the separation of spheres of influence. And it was fun to read a main character that cheerfully bucked tradition.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 combo (20.7, 10.9, 10.2)
Task total: 45
Grand total: 1110
15.10 AbBYReverse chronological order
1931 - 1935
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison 1934
Task = 60
Finisher bonus = 100
Task total = 160
Season total = 1120
15.8 AbBYDate Range 1944-1949, read chronologically
The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis
+45 Task (author born 1949)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 745
10.9 9,10,11Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
Oh dear. I am starting to worry that it’s not the books, it’s me . Am I doomed to hate everything? Though no, a quick look at other reviews let’s me know that plenty of people had the same reaction.
I chose this one because I wanted something light and funny. I got irritating rich-white-lady problems, and ugh.
This book, though short, was excruciating. It’s shallow snark, boring first-world-problems, and utter left-field nonsense. It tries to be funny but it’s only bitter and mean-spirited, and all over the place.
And then it maybe tries to be a poignant story about being the child of an alcoholic, but... it skitters away from that. If I am being very generous perhaps that’s part of the point? There’s some close family history of my own there, a generation removed, and avoidance is a thing. But a novel should be a little less messy than the psyche. Also? Pick a tone!
At some point in the dreadful read, I thought I might be able to get some Mrs. Dalloway comparisons in, for both deal with a day in the life of a rich white lady, stream-of-consciousness style... but yeah no. Dalloway wasn’t much to my liking but there was substance and craft there. This was just a mess and deliberately unpleasant.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total = 20
Season total = 1140
15.9 AbBYDate Range 1950-1954, read chronologically
A Partisan's Daughter by Louis de Bernières
+45 Task (author born 1954)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 790
20.4 BirdsongPlaying with Fire by Tess Gerritsen
Set in contemporary times and during WWII
Task total: 20
Season total: 315
10.1 Favorite ListsAlong Came a Spider by James Patterson
+10 Task (#60 on Best Crime & Mystery Books; claimed in post 582 of summer season)
+5 Combo w/ 10.2 (start of a new series for me)
Task Points: 15
Season Total: 330
20.5 Singled OutAfter You by Jojo Moyes
Louisa Clark is trying (and at first, failing) to move on in any meaningful way after the events in Me Before You. She gives up on Paris, moves back to London, joins a grief counselling group, and reconnects with her family. None of this means very much to her at first, but it soon leads to new things happening.
This sequel was easy to read and enjoyable, but I'm not a fan of most "chick lit", and I thought it sat blandly in that category, unlike the first book, probably because it lacks the magic ingredient that was Will and his situation.
Qualification for this task: (view spoiler)
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.5 the MPE is Penguin)
+10 Review
+ 5 Prizes
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 645
20.5 Singled OutThe Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
Cait has blogged the major changes in her life: getting out of massive consumer debt ($30,000!), quitting alcohol, losing 30 pounds, and then her year of “no” shopping (food and toiletries are allowed along with a few strictly established items). This book came about as a result of the blog. I don’t read her blog, but based on what she talks about, a lot of this material would be covered therein—though she adds some very personal stories that she never shared on her blog. Despite the fact that this is about a year abstaining from consumer culture, it spends far more time discussing her other addictions. When she does actually talk about not shopping, I loved her use of metrics to show exactly how much it was changing. I also enjoyed hearing about her psychology of spending—I found it relatable and hope to be able to make some similar changes to my attitude toward spending and our commercial culture.
+20 Task (Cait is single, never married head of household)
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 1580
10.1 Favorite ListsDeeDee's Favorites: Most Anticipated Releases No YA https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer
+10 Task:
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 490
10.7 Crazy Rich Asians...Or Not! (Tien's Task)A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong
+10 Task
+15 Combo: 10.2 Next? / 10.6 Noir / 10.9 9, 10, 11
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 515
10.10 Group ReadsThe House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 525
15.2 AbBY ChronologicalDate Range: 1931-1935 Skip
1936-1940 AS Byatt
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
+15 Task (author born 1936)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 540
20.1 War's EndMaisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
+20 Task
+20 Combo 10.2 Next? / 10.5 Pet Day (Penguin) / 20.4 Birdsong / 20.5 Singled Out
+15 Prizeworthy (3)
Task Total: 55
Season Total: 595
20.4 BirdsongPraise Song for the Butterflies by Bernice L. McFadden
+20 Task: there is a 10 year gap between part one and part two.
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 9, 10, 11 / 20.10 Fall Equinox (added by Kate)
edited:
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 625
20.4 BirdsongFinders Keepers by Stephen King
Review: This book is either a cautionary tale to popular authors who fail to complete the series or a book which throws literary shade at J.D. Salinger. In this continuation of the Bill Hodges trilogy, we follow a new villain who is obsessed with John Rothstein. Rothstein has written two books in a series known as the Jimmy Gold and then moves to a remote town in New Hampshire, and has not completed the series. Bellamy is not pleased with this outcome as he has become invested in the series and wants another book about his hero. In 1978 he decides to rob the author and ends up killing him. Not a spoiler. We are then taken to 2014 when another teenager , Paul Sauber gets into trouble concerning this author.
This series is not all that loved by Stephen King fans who prefer his horror novels. Here is an author who has decided to write in another genre. However, this psychological thriller is filled with all the stereotypes of the genre. You are reading not for the mystery but the tension and suspense that he can create. To be honest, I am not sure how successful King in this genre. But I appreciate the writing craft. At times this seem to be more of an ode about books than a suspenseful thriller. This is less about the plot and more about characters. And the ending hearkens back to his roots. I still recommend this series , especially like me you are not a fan of horrors.
Task: 20
Review: 10
Combo: 5 (10.2)
Post total: 35
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
All the Single Ladies (other topics)Infidel (other topics)
Dragonfly in Amber (other topics)
The Big Sleep (other topics)
The Big Sleep (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rebecca Traister (other topics)Ayaan Hirsi Ali (other topics)
Diana Gabaldon (other topics)
Raymond Chandler (other topics)
Samuel Richardson (other topics)
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Reverse chronological order
1941-1945
Dolly by Susan Hill 1942
Task total= 45
Season total = 915