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FA 2014 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2014
15.1 - BtW - Constant TravelerWomen in Love by D.H. Lawrence, 1920
Finished 9/16/14
+15 task
Task total: 15
BtW total 15
RwS total 185
Grand Total 200
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "A Woman in Jerusalem … unfortunately, too much of the action takes place outside of Israel to qualify for 20.8, as I'd planned"Seems to qualify for a 20.6 bonus, though...
20.10 Higher EducationThe Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Review:
I'm so glad to have read this book. This is probably the most convincing book of Christian faith that I've ever read. The author describes in plain and straightforward language her faith and the way that her faith colors her view of the world and her interpretation of nearly every circumstance. She doesn't shy away from noting her own doubts about the faith and accompanying worldview, then describes how, for her, faith was reinforced. While I don't share her beliefs, I found them genuinely moving and the telling of her story both harrowing and strangely optimistic. Absolutely compelling and highly recommended for anyone interested in either a spiritual book or an interesting perspective on WWII.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1971)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 55
10.3 Lief EriksonOut Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Review:
This is a manly book. Or a book about men. Or about a man. The book is a fast read and the reader is immediately drawn into the story of a 67 year old man who has sought out solitude and is reflecting back on his life and particularly on his coming of age summer with his father out at a summer house in a rural area. The women who appear in the book (infrequently) do not ever assume fully realized personalities; they are only there for their effect on the main character. But this is lovely rather than grating as the whole book is there to tell the story of the one man and the way that certain past experiences shaped his life. This book is deserving of the high praise it has received. Highly recommended.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 75
10.5 - Dr. SalkThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Review:
I enjoyed this more than I expected. It's been such a hit on Goodreads, I was suspicious, but when it was the Kindle Daily Deal I decided to go for it.
I loved the parts about Henrietta herself, her life and death in the early 1950s, and her elder daughter Elsie who ended up in a terrible asylum when Henrietta could no longer look after her. There was just the right amount of science for me, too - enough to understand what happened, without feeling swamped by facts.
I was less sure about the parts about Henrietta's family in the present day. Some of them died while Rebecca Skloot was finishing the book, so she didn't have to worry about their feelings about how they were portrayed, and they sometimes come across as stupidly simple because she makes it sound as if they failed to understand things despite repeat telling, when in fact I would guess they often didn't believe her, rather than didn't understand. I found it hard to believe myself, that their mother's cells are still being farmed and sold without her or her kin's permission, and they have no right to any part of the profits. But I did enjoy the parts about the family. It's just important to remember whose eyes we're seeing them through.
+10 task (#3 on the list)
+ 5 combo (10.4 Henrietta)
+10 review
+10 not a novel (non-fiction)
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 475 points
10.6Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
+10 task
+10 not a novel (short stories)
task total: 20
grand total: 175
10.9 - Egyptian mythology (Percy Jackson tie-in series)The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
low lexile
+10 task
task total: 10
grand total: 185
Tony wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "A Woman in Jerusalem … unfortunately, too much of the action takes place outside of Israel to qualify for 20.8, as I'd planned"Seems to qualify for a 20.6 ..."
Thanks, Tony. You'd think I could have gotten it right!
20.2 - BirthplaceBroken Harbour by Tana French
Review:
This could also qualify for the Comfort Reads task, as I've previously given five stars to In the Woods, The Likeness, and Faithful Place, but this is pretty much the opposite of a comfortable read. If anything, it — like the three previous books in the series — would really fit much better in the Halloween task. Ostensibly within the Crime Fiction genre, French always transcends it. She digs deep, psychologically, and doesn't let go. Pretty much every character has a significant flaw, and she keeps picking and picking at those scabs so that any degree of satisfaction is always tinged with at least some pain or bloodiness. And, even though the entire appeal of the genre to many people is that it imposes some order on the world, French has a tendency to always leave something significant unresolved. But, wow, can she write.
This one isn't quite as good as the previous three, and there was a point about two-thirds of the way through when it seemed to have lost its way a little, and was perhaps only heading for four stars. But then I realised that this was more a reflection of just how great those ones were, and that even fourth place behind them is still several furlongs ahead of the rest of the pack. And then the pace picked up again anyway and had me completely hooked for the final hundred and fifty pages or so.
In theory you could read the series in any order: it's more that they're set within the same universe than that they're strictly a serial. But I'd still recommend starting with In the Woods and reading them in published order.
+20 task (Ireland)
+10 review
+5 jumbo: (500-699 Pages)
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 520
10.10 – Group Reads Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Review:
I listened to this whilst gardening. It has to be one of the best books from LibriVox that I’ve listened to so far. To be honest I don’t know if I would have finished it if I was reading it in book form.
The whole novel is the story of Tess, a beautiful and naïve girl, who grew up poor in rural England. Being outside whilst listening to the book made it really come to life more. Tess has a pretty screwed up life, deadbeat parents, gets to know idiots and I think is in the wrong society and doesn’t have enough skills to be able to really get herself out of bad situations. At times a very frustrating read. Apparently rape of a woman is an unforgivable sin (of hers!!!) for Angel, which had me mad at him. The other main guy in her life (the rapist) is an idiot and I wish that Tess was stronger earlier and didn’t wait until the end to get revenge. That said I found the ending surprising because I didn’t think Tess would have had it in her to do something like that.
This book made me glad that I live now and not back then, and also sad that if you think about it society hasn’t improved that much (thinking of the whole ‘she asked for it’ rape attitude).
+10 task
+10 review
+15 combo (10.4 – 9,10,11 (Presented in subtitle); 20.1 - 19th century 18 times; 20.4 – Realism author)
+10 oldies (1891)
+ 5 jumbo (518 pages)
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 235
10.5 – Dr Salk The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Lexile 980
+ 10 task (#127 on list)
+ 10 combo (10.4 - 9,10,11; 20.1 – 19th Century 69 times)
+ 10 oldies (1897)
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 265
20.1 – 19th Century The Awakening by Kate Chopin
+20 task (shelved 90 times)
+10 combo (10.4 - 9,10,11; 20.4 Realism)
+10 oldies (1899)
Task total: 40
Grand Total: 305
20.8 Middle EastIn the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed
Review: Thank you, Dr. Ahmed, for sharing an unique perspective on Saudi Arabia and Islam.
Dr. Ahmed is a British born woman of Pakistani descent and a Muslim. She received her medical training in the US. From 1999 to 2001 she worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the ICU of the National Guard Hospital. In this memoir she shares her experiences and her observations of the challenges faced by the inhabitants of the Kingdom. She also shares her experience of a deepening of her faith. She sees the problems that gender segregation create for the society as a whole. She sees her elite educated co-workers and friends make some progress even while retaining some conservative cultural practices and unreasonable prejudices.
Since her time living in Saudi Arabia, she has maintained her friendships there and she sees the Kingdom continuing to make progress--sometimes with the influence of those friends.
+20 task Saudi Arabia
+10 combo
*10.5 doctor's memoir
*10.4 invisible
+10 not-a-novel (memoir)
+10 review
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 220
20.6 UnderratedToddler: Real-Life Stories of Those Fickle, Irrational, Urgent, Tiny People We Love by Jennifer Margulis
Review:
An enjoyable collection of short pieces by parents of toddlers. The themes and backgrounds varied, which made the book fun to read and less repetitive than it might otherwise have been. I think the book's appeal will be limited to parents who either have toddlers now or are well past the toddler stage and ready to look back fondly on those years. A few of the essays were quite moving; most were more mundane, but resonated enough to make me smile or laugh or groan. I've been meaning to read this one for quite some time. I'm glad I managed to get to it while my little one is still in this fickle, irrational, urgent age.
+20 Task (54 ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.4 - irrational)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 110
It seems I'm reading a lot of Square Pegs this season.In Post 101, I posted a Square Peg. I'd like to replace that post with this one:
Learning to Lead: What Really Works for Women in Law by Gindi Eckel Vincent
Review:
A very interesting and not too long book that attempts to collect leadership advice for women and make it specifically applicable to women lawyers. The book contains an overview of some leadership goals, as well as advice on individual goal setting and career planning, then covers interviews with successful women lawyers and some helpful practical advice portions for individual cases. Overall, I didn't find anything particularly new here, but it's still nice to read a short and targeted book like this one. I especially appreciated the reminder that identifying the needed networks and skills for future desired jobs is something that can and should be actively pursued rather than expecting that the skills will just naturally accumulate. This book obviously has a limited audience, but I recommend it to women lawyers.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-novel
Task total: 30
Grand total: 110 - 20 + 30 = 120
20.5 - Politics5 Days in May: The Coalition and Beyond by Andrew Adonis
Review ★★:
The 2010 UK parliamentary elections ended with no party winning an outright majority. Existing prime minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party came second, and if they formed a coalition with the third-place Liberal Democrats they'd collectively have more seats than the Conservatives, but still not enough for an outright majority without the support of some of the smaller parties too. Brown, however, was convinced that "The Numbers" did in fact add up for them. Certain peculiarities of the UK system (e.g. the Sinn Féin MPs never actually voting), plus the likelihood that most of the main Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish parties would much more likely vote with Labour, or abstain on key votes, could indeed make a Lab/Lib agreement work. All they had to do was convince the Lib Dems that Labour would be a better partner than the Conservatives. And thus began the "5 Days in May", when the UK waited impatiently to hear who would form its new government.
This is an insider's view, written by one of Labour's senior negotiators, who himself had previously been a Liberal Democrat MP. The first three-quarters was written in contemporaneously in 2010; the final few chapters three years later. In theory, then, this should be full of great insight: lots of behind-the-scenes insider detail, coupled with a few years of reflection on what went wrong.
It's not. [...more]
+20 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (non-fiction)
+5 combo (10.4 9,10,11 ('Coalition'))
Task total: 45
Grand Total: 565
Task 20.4 - Realism: Leo Tolstoy
Hadji Murat (1912) by Leo Tolstoy; translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Review:Leo Tolstoy died in 1910. His executors found the manuscript for Hadji Murat in his papers afterwards. They prepared the manuscript for publication and it was first published in 1912. Sections of the novel are excellent Tolstoy – in particular, the sketches of common soldiers and their various reactions to battle, or the emotionally chilling scenes with Tsar Nicholas I. I suspect that if Tolstoy had lived longer, he would have added more scenes to the novel, and perhaps polished up some of the awkward bits.
The subject of the novel is real-life Hadji Murat (d. 1852). The plot is driven by the defection of Hadji Murat from his Chechen Muslim warrior tribe to the Russians (something that did happen in real-life), and what happened to Hadji Murat afterwards. Recommended for fans of 19th Century Russian literature.
+20 Task
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1864-1938)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 120 + 40 = 160
10.7 Honored AuthorsSolar Lottery by Philip K. Dick
+10 task
+5 Oldies (published 1955)
Task total: 15
Grand Total: 105
10.5The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
+10 task (#3 on the list)
+5 combo (10.4 Henrietta)
+10 not a novel (non-fiction)
task total: 25
grand total: 210
Post 163Eleanor wrote: "10.10 – Group Reads Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Review:
I listened to this whilst gardening. It has to be one of the best books from LibriVox that I’ve ..."
-5 Combo 10.4 - We're using the most popular edition for most tasks, and, as it doesn't have a subtitle, this does not qualify for 10.4.
20.1 - 19th Century:Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
When Tess of the D’Ubervilles, which I recently read, showed up as a group read and there was a 19th Century task, I knew it was time to read another Thomas Hardy book. Under the Greenwood Tree was the perfect choice as it was about music and a little romance with lots of humor, especially toward the end of the book. This peek into a small community in England of the 1800s involved me from the first page as it opened on Christmas Eve as the musicians traveled door to door through the village. This little group of church players is about to be replaced by a pretty church organist who is the love interest of three men. The rules of courting come into play as do the whims of the rather fickle Fancy Day. This was not the heavy Thomas Hardy of Tess and Jude the Obscure, and I do like his darker stories of the poor and downtrodden, but a pleasant little gem in which Hardy’s writing voice shines through.
+20 Task: 32 shelvings
+10 Combo: 10.4 - 9, 10, 11 / 20.4 - Realism
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1872)
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 405
20.6. UnderratedDie Erdfresserin by Julya Rabinowich
Review:
The novel roughly translates to "the eartheater/dirteater" and is about a woman, Diana, who tries to earn money in Vienna (Austria) to send back home to her family in an East-European country. The reader never gets to know where she really comes from, and thus she kind of stands for all the illegal workers. It's a first person narration who jumps back and forth in time, telling stories from her childhood in between the happenings of the "now". In the "now" Diana is a prostitute in Vienna who strives from her illegal ways after meeting Leo. Leo is a chubby, divorced police officer on sick leave who needs a person to hold on to as much as Diana needs one, too. Especially, if it's someone who gives her a roof to live under, food, clothes, and money she can send back to her family. But things take unexpected turns for Diana. It is a strange novel, but with a very authentic feeling to it at times, which sucks the reader in because the narration changes according to Diana's moods and state of mind.
+20 task (only 7 ratings)
+ 5 combo (10.4 only German title available)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 35
Joanna wrote: "20.10 Higher EducationThe Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Review:
I'm so glad to have read this book. This is probably the most convincing book of Christian faith t..."
+10 Not a Novel (non-fiction)
Joanna wrote: "20.6 UnderratedToddler: Real-Life Stories of Those Fickle, Irrational, Urgent, Tiny People We Love by Jennifer Margulis
Review:
An enjoyable collection of short pie..."
+10 not a novel
15.7 - BtW - Constant TravelerMaigret and the Enigmatic Lett by Georges Simenon
+15 task (1931)
+15 bonus (seventh book)
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 595
20.6 - UnderratedThe Brighter Buccaneer by Leslie Charteris (1932)
Review: ★★★★
For the 1931/32 part of the “Between the Wars”, I couldn't choose between The Enigmatic Lett — the first of the Maigret books — and this collection of Saint stories. So I read both. The Maigret book left me incredibly confused (not least because — and I don't think this is a spoiler, but feel free to look away now — the titular Lett is not only not Latvian, but there's nothing even vaguely Latvia-related in the entire book. He was ethnically Estonian (though born in Pskov), studied in Tartu, picked up an Estonian newspaper to read, etc, and though there are nods to Russia, Poland, and Lithuania at various points, throughout the book, Latvia never makes an appearance. I spent the whole book assuming this was a key plot point, so when it turned out not to be I was simply left scratching my head. Plus (actual spoiler...) (view spoiler).
Anyway. The Brighter Buccaneer, by contrast, was delightful. It's a collection of fifteen shorts, all previously published in a long-vanished British Sunday newspaper, and all very much along the same lines as each other: a thoroughly nasty piece of work (alternating between low-class and high-class criminals) comes to Templar's attention, and he comes up with a clever way to impose his own brand of Saint-ly poetic justice on them (leaving himself significantly better off in the process, natch).
There's just enough variation on the theme to not get too repetitive, and for every eye-rolling piece of wildly overblown prose that doesn't quite work (“The feat of muscular prestidigitation was performed so swiftly and slickly that she took a second or two to absorb the fact that it had indubitably eventuated and travelled on into the past tense”) there's another that does (“Using our renowned gifts of vivid description, it would be possible for us to dilate upon Mr Lamantia’s emotions at great length, but we have not the time. Neither, in point of fact, had Mr Lamantia. He suffered more or less what a happy bonfire would suffer if the bottom fell out of a reservoir suspended directly over it.”)
These are generally more light-hearted than I remember some of the longer-form stories and books being, but they'd make a good introduction to the oeuvre for a newcomer.
+20 task [only 66 ratings!]
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (short-stories)
+10 oldies (1932)
+5 combo (10.4 9,10,11 ('Buccaneer'))
Task total: 55
Grand Total: 650
20.10 Higher EducationRed Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
Such a different read than my normal read. This is on the 1001 list. I haven't read why the editors chose it, but I'm guessing it is because it is an early example of detective fiction, and, of course, Hammett was the king of that genre for a good many years.
I didn't understand what seemed to me as non-sensical murders. I didn't follow the reasoning. Somebody gets killed, then somebody gets wrongly accused, so somebody gets killed, etc. OK, so maybe there didn't have to be a reason other than that it made it to print. But, frankly, I don't know why it's still in print.
I see in my review of the other Hammett I've read that I plan to read more. This may be the end of the more.
+20 Task (UT Austin list)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.7)
+10 Oldies (pub 1929)
Task total = 45
Grand total = 210
20.7Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
+20 task
+5 oldies
+5 combo (born 1914)
task total: 30
grand total: 240
10.2 HalloweenThe Shining by Stephen King
Wow, I feel like a slacker this is only the first book I've finished since September started. Hopefully I can do some catching up!
Review: So this is a reread for me. With the sequel being out I thought I'd read it again. This is a very good book. King does a good job of combining psychological terror and unease with actual scary things happening in this book. In some of his other work there is less action or direct horror and I preferred this.
I definitely enjoyed reading this and I remember being disappointed by the movie. King does a good job of portraying the complex psyche of a 5 year old. Perhaps Danny is a little wise beyond his years but I do think that kids pick up on things and have knowledge and understanding that adults often "overlook." (haha) King does a good job of combining that knowledge with Danny's childlike innocence and eagerness. Wendy's character is a bit flat for me, but maybe that is just because the book is almost 40 years old. I found that I couldn't entirely relate to her.
The book is a bit long and even though there are some slower parts, it is well paced and nothing feels superfluous. Everything is either adding the plot or the character development.
I'd probably rate this 3.5 -4 stars.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1977)
+5 Jumbo (514 pgs.)
Task Total: 30 points
Grand Total: 30 points
15.2 BtW constant travelerThe Wife by Sigrid Undset
(Published 1921)
15 pt.task
+15 pt. bonus
Task total 30
Grand total 105
15.2 - BtW - Constant TravelerCrome Yellow by Aldous Huxley (1921)
+15 task
+15 bonus points (2nd book)
Task total: 30
Grand Total 45
20.6 - 468 ratings, published 2009The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines by Mike Madrid
+20 task
+5 combo (10.4 - supergirls)
task total: 25
grand total: 295
20.4Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
+20 task
+10 combo (10.4 - sensibility, 20.1 - 310 times)
+15 oldies (1811)
task total: 45
grand total: 340
15.1 – BtW – Constant travelerTen Days that Shook the World by John Reed, 1919
+15 task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 315
10.7 Honored AuthorsWinesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (1050 Lexile)
Review:
"Winesburg, Ohio" is a collection of twenty-four interconnected short stories that form a novel about the people in an American small town. Although it was published in 1919, it is set in the late 19th Century at a time when people had the increased mobility of trains, but before automobiles. With a few exceptions, most of the stories feature people who are lonely and yearn for a connection with others. They are repressing their feelings, but have inner dreams and long for passion in their lives. In a small town, people feel like they are being judged by other residents since everyone knows what is going on in their neighbors' lives.
George Willard, a young newspaper reporter, is a connecting link in many of the stories. George is a non-judgmental good listener. The townspeople feel comfortable unburdening themselves to the likable young man. As the book progresses, it becomes a coming-of-age story about George, as well as a look at the people who are longing for a human connection.
In "The Teacher," Kate Swift advises George that he needs to experience life first if he is going to reach his dream of becoming a writer. "It would be better to give up the notion of writing until you are better prepared. Now it's time to be living. I don't want to frighten you, but I would like to make you understand the import of what you think of attempting. You must not become a mere peddler of words. The thing to learn is to know what people are thinking about, not what they say." In the closing short story, George is on his way to becoming an adult as he takes the big step of leaving Winesburg to see the world.
+10 task (Sherwood Anderson Foundation Award)
+ 5 combo (10.4 Winesburg-9 letters)
+10 oldies (pub 1919)
+10 not a novel (short stories)
+10 review
Task total: 45
Grand total:180
Task 10.4 - 9, 10, 11: 9= Clockwork
Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fables (2013) edited by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett (Paperback, 326 pages)
Review:This book was published in 2013. It contains 9 brand new stories by different authors. Each story begins with a traditional story (like “Sleeping Beauty” or “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”) and gives a creative, steampunk twist to it. The introduction to each story tells which traditional story the author was using. Several "traditional stories" were stories I had never heard of – the Internet was very helpful to me as I read the summary online before reading the story. Inevitably in an anthology with different authors, some stories work well (“Fair Vasyl” by Steven Harper) and others not so well (the sleeping beauty one -- “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens” by Jay Lake). Recommended for fans of Steampunk fiction.
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel: short story collections
+10 Review
Task Total: 10+10+10=30
Grand Total: 160 + 30 = 190
20.2. Birthplace An Irish Country Courtship by Patrick Taylor
+20 task (born Ireland)
+10 combo (10.4 'courtship', 20.9 born 1941)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 100
20.8 Middle EastTemples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz
+20 task
+10 combo (10.4 'hieroglyphs', 20.6-676 ratings)
+10 not a novel
Task total: 40
Grand total: 140
10.4 9, 10, 11Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds
By the 22nd Century the human race has eradicated crime and spread throughout the inner solar system, but the stars are out of reach. But for how long? A secret turns up in the powerful Akinya-family, which may push the human race further than it’s ever been before.
What I was hoping to get from this book was a nice Mars bar type read: comfortable and enjoyable, but not very mentally nutritious. Alas, the central drama of the plot was never made to be felt very keenly, and mostly, I just didn't care very much about the intrigues. I felt that something more could have been done with the Mech, as well. I mean, a central “Big Brother”-style surveying AI which prevents crime by monitoring peple’s thought seems like a plot point ready for the picking, but nothing ever came of it.
The book did pick up a bit in the second half, which is why I gave it two stars, but all in all I felt very underwhelmed by this reading experience.
Also, what's with all the elephants? I never really understood why they were needed at all. (Except of course that they're very text book "African", but that hardly seems a good reason.
I feel no desire to read any other of the author’s works, not even the sequels in the series.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 jumbo (512 pages)
Task total: 25 pts
Grand total: 25 pts
20.1 19th CenturyPersuasion by Jane Austen
Reading this novel has been like expecting to have overcooked Brussel sprouts for dinner, but finding out it tastes just like a chocolate ganache tart. This wonderful book about regrets, second chances and thoroughly silly and obnoxious people, was a delight to listen to, and in fact was almost over too soon.
Anne Elliott was persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to the poor Frederick Wentworth of limited prospects when she is 19 years old, though she still, 8 years later when the story begins, loves him very much. Anne spends her time listening to her family’s self-important drivel and talking to Lady Russell and her hypochondriac of a married sister, until one day Wentworth steps back on the scene, now a captain and very much wealthy. The question is if Anne still has a chance of winning his affections.
Jane Austen is bitingly satirical in this, her last published novel, and it suits her very much. Most of the aristocracy comes off as being silly and entirely too interested in rank and the social hierarchy, as opposed to the naval world, which is portrayed as inclusive and friendly, as well as thoroughly capable.
The romance was sweet and well done, this is after all at its heart chick lit, and I really liked (view spoiler).
This is my first Austen, but I am looking forward to delving further into that world.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 oldie (published 1818)
+15 combo (10.4, 10.7 JASNA award, 20.4)
Task total: 60 pts
Grand total: 85 pts
20.2 BirthplaceDeath in Venice by Thomas Mann (1410 Lexile)
Review:
Gustav von Aschenbach is a middle-aged, successful writer who has lived a very controlled, cerebral life. He feels that a break from his scheduled life might help his writing, and travels to Venice. He sees a beautiful Polish boy named Tadzio at his hotel, and compares him to a classical Greek god. Although he never touches or speaks to Tadzio, Aschenbach becomes totally infatuated with the beautiful boy, watching him play on the beach and eventually following him through the streets of Venice. His writer's block disappears as his mind gives way to passion. Aschenbach learns that a cholera epidemic is sweeping over Venice. He has to decide if he should leave the city and warn Tadzio's family about the disease, or stay because he cannot bear the thought of being away from Tadzio.
This is a well-constructed novella with symbols of death, aging, and desire foreshadowing future events. Aschenbach imagines a discussion of beauty between Socrates and his young student, Phaedrus, to justify his own feelings. There are references to Greek mythology in describing his dreams, as his life goes from the discipline of an Apollonian existence to uncontrolled Dionysian sensuality. The novella builds from a calm start to an overwhelming obsession to a tragic conclusion. The story is semi-autobiographical based on a trip that Mann and his wife took to Venice, where Mann became intrigued with a young Polish boy visiting the resort. Mann expanded on the idea to write "Death in Venice."
+20 task (German author)
+10 combo (10.7 Honored authors, and 10.9 Mythology)
+10 oldie (Pub 1912)
+10 review
Task total: 50
Grand total: 230
10.4 - Nine, Ten, ElevenMastering The Marquess by Lavinia Kent
+10 task
Task total: 10 pts
Grand total: 50 pts
10.4 - Nine, Ten, ElevenA Highlander's Obsession by Vonnie Davis
+10 task
Task total: 10 pts
Grand total: 60 pts
20.6 UnderratedThe Secret Familiar by Catherine Jinks
+20 task (23 ratings last time I looked)
Task total: 20
Grand Total: 125
20.6 - UnderratedSaint V. Scotland Yard by Leslie Charteris
Review: ★★★★
After enjoying The Brighter Buccaneer so much, I turned to “The Holy Terror” next (generally these days known as “The Saint v. Scotland Yard”. [It was also published 1932, so I was mildly tempted to go back and re-arrange things to that this was my “Between the Wars” book instead the Maigret one (for which I'd have gotten an extra 5 bonus points for a 9,10,11 combo)...]
This time we get three longer stories, rather than fifteen shorter ones, and they're not quite as lighthearted (they actually get quite dark at times), but I enjoyed them just as much.
“The Inland Revenue” sees Templar unable to persuade the tax authorities that he should be classed as a tax-free one-man charitable endeavour, and thus needs to find a kindly soul to pay his tax bill for him (well, he's not going to pay it himself!) “The Million Pound Day” (to me the weakest of the three, and significantly more dated than the others) has him embroiled in a plot to defraud the Italian mint. The closing story, “The Melancholy Journey of Mr Teal” is ostensibly about diamond smuggling, but those details are largely irrelevant, as it's largely just a set-up for a classic cat'n'mouse chase with Inspector Teal. “The Inland Revenue” is probably the strongest as a standalone story, but “The Melancholy Journey” is an excellent contributor to the ongoing tale.
Charteris' trademark style comes out in force as usual: “A tinge of old beetroot suffused Mr Teal’s rubicund complexion. To say that his goat was completely and omnipotently got conveys nothing at all. In the last ten minutes his goat had been utterly annihilated, and the remains spirited away to the exact point in space where (so Einstein says) eternity changes its socks and starts back on the return journey. He was as comprehensively de-goated as a man can be”, but it's in small enough doses to be pleasant, rather than over-powering.
+20 task [117 ratings]
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (short-stories)
+10 oldies (1932)
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 700
10.6 - Short StuffEverything That Rises Must Converge: Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Canon
Review:
Don't pick this book if you want a nice cosy mood-enhancing read. The stories are brilliant, but the characters are mostly nasty to each other in one way or another and I don't think there's a single happy ending in the collection - except possibly the last, if you have a very liberal definition of 'happy'. Most of them are sad tales of people doing their worst for each other, mostly on purpose, occasionally accidentally - which just makes it more painful. There's very little remorse or redemption. All the same, the writing is wonderful and I was completely sucked into each story.
+10 task (O. Henry award 1957, 1963, 1965)
+15 combo (10.4 everything, 10.7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery..., 20.10 http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/frr/archive... )
+10 review
+10 not a novel (short stories)
+ 5 oldies (1965)
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 525 points
Louise Bro wrote: "+15 combo (10.4, 10.7 JASNA award, 20.4)..."Unfortunately, a student essay contest does not qualify as a literary award.
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Reading with Style
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A Woman in Jerusalem by Abraham B. Yehoshua
I think the GR description provides more information about the plot than I normally like to see. However, it does indicate - to me, at least - that the action would probably take place in Israel. I had thought when it says A. B. Yehoshua astonishes us with his masterly, often unexpected turns in the story and with his ability to get under the skin and into the soul of Israel today that there would be more, and more general, action in Israel. But the novel is more than 10 years old, and certainly we have learned something. Perhaps I was expecting too much.
One of the very interesting things is that only the woman killed in the attack has a name. Everyone else is referred to by either job title or relationship. The primary protagonist is the human resources manager, who has a daughter. He works for the owner. He has to interview the night supervisor, and so on.
Sometimes there are a few paragraphs by unnamed observers (usually in the first person plural, and their roles are various); those observations are always in italics. All other action is in regular typeface and involves the human resources manager, and is in the third person. It was an interesting device, because sometimes that meant we saw an event from two perspectives, sometimes one foretold a coming event.
Three stars only - I wished for more. (And unfortunately, too much of the action takes place outside of Israel to qualify for 20.8, as I'd planned.
+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.4 (Jerusalem)
+10 Review
Task Total = 35
Grand total = 165