Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
FA 19 Completed Tasks
10.10 Group ReadsScrublands (Martin Scarsden #1) by Chris Hammer
Review
So glad I finally read this book! It's one of those good reads that you kinda kick yourself for taking so long to actually pick up & read. Even if it looks such a big tome, the print is that big & the story so smooth that it really didn't feel that long a read after all.
The main protagonist of this novel, Martin Scarsden, is a scarred journalist. He returned from war-torn countries with a trauma and is looking to make some sort of comeback to journalism. He was sent... to an outback dying country town to write a story about how the town is a year after tragedy struck. Yeah... it won't be the best comeback story.
What actually happened to him in this town though was absolutely incredibly unpredictable. The actual story [crime] was so complex and the web of deceit was wider than he ever could have known. Even if he made terrible mistakes (both as journalist and as a person), at the end of the book, he has learnt a lot. This was the best thing about this novel; this development of the protag's character. The next was, of course, the intricate plot and then the scorching setting [we are also currently in drought and at the moment, our Spring is hitting the thirties (celcius) eek!]
The good thing about only reading this now is that I already have book 2 on hand and I'm going to jump straight into it! See you on the other side *waves*
+10 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1,220
20.8 Periodic TableCan You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? by Paula Danziger
Low lexile
+20 Task (Pd Palladium)
Post total: 20
Season Total: 645
20.7 Spec FicGolden Son by Pierce Brown
This is part two in the Red Rising series.
I am glad I waited until the entire series was released before I started reading them--I like that I didn't have to wait a year for each release because I FOR SURE would have forgotten so many of the characters--there are A LOT of them.
Where the first in this series felt like a conglomeration of so many other books/mythologies, book two has established this series as its very own thing. And it's good.
This series belongs on the bookshelf right next to Katniss and Ender and Harry...if you enjoyed all of those stories and mythologies, I'd say give this one a try.
+20 Task (shelved as Speculative Fiction by 42 readers)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.8: Pb=Lead)
Task total: 35
Season total: 1620
20.2 Wolf HallAs You Like It by William Shakespeare
Oh my goodness, how much do I want to see this one performed!? I recently read Much Ado About Nothing, which has the most spectacularly hilarious dialogue in the canon, but I always forget that this runs a close second. The gender-bendy nature of it should feel right at home in this era and I'm a little shocked it's not performed more often...it's he wants her but she wants him (who's actually a her who wants a him of her own) which is always a jolly good time. Rosalind (Ganymede) has some of the best lines written for a woman by Shakespeare--is it because she wears the guise of a man and Shakespeare gives most of the good stuff to the men? Maybe. But still...it's a pretty damn fun romp.
+20 Task (pub. 1599)
+10 Review
+25 Oldies
+10 Not-a-Novel
Task total: 65
Season total: 1685
20.2 Wolf HallThe Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
This is another re-read for me but I decided to read it again now because I have tickets to see it performed in the Old Globe San Diego's 2020 season. The play centers around the jealousy of King Leontes...and that jealousy causes all kinds of havoc. A trusted aide escapes with the visiting King of Bohemia. The prince dies. The Queen accused of adultery gives birth in captivity. The new princess is to be abandoned in the wilderness. Sixteen years intervene with some surprising twists in the tale. No doubt, the happy ending pleased audiences in their time...as it does now. An easy and enjoyable read.
Task=20
Review=10
NaN=10
Combo= 5 (20.9)- Similar to Twelfth Night, I'll claim it but I'm not sure if it is sufficient. Here, Antigonous brings the infant princess to the shores of Bohemia to be abandoned (as ordered by the King). He is eaten by a bear (!) and his ship is wrecked preventing the crew to recover his body and effects. Those found effects are used to verify the identity of the princess many years later. So...a small but vital part of the story.
Oldie= 20 (1623)
Task Total= 65
Grand Total=1975
Tasks Completed: 30
Books read=40
✔10.1 (40); 10.2(30); 10.3 (35); 10.4 (35); 10.5 (30); 10.6 (30); 10.7 (35); 10.8 (35); 10.9 (40); 10.10 (35)
✔15.1(E3)(15); 15.2(B2)(15); 15.3(F6)(15); 15.4(D4)(15); 15.5(F2)(20); 15.6(C4)(20); 15.7(D6)(20); 15.8 (E5)(20); 15.9(C3)(30); 15.10 (B1)(130)
✔20.1 (35); 20.2 (65); 20.2 (2x)(55); 20.2(3x)(60); 20.2 (4x)(75); 20.2(5x)(65); 20.2 (6x)(60); 20.2 (7x)(70); 20.2 (8x)(65); 20.3 (35); 20.4 (50); 20.4(2x)(35); 20.5 (45); 20.6 (70); 20.7 (35);20.7(2x)(30); 20.8 (45); 20.9 (40); 20.10 (340)
20.4 BoomerOlive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
+20 task
+10 combo (10.7, 20.8 ES-Einsteinium)
(?) +10 not-a-novel (?) It is written in the same inter-connected stories format as Olive Kitteridge.
Task total=
Grand total=
15.7 Pick 'n' Mix 2A4 Setting--Asia
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
Task total: 20
Season total: 675
10.5 BannedLeaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
+10 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+15 Oldies (1855)
+ 5 Jumbo
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1485
20.4 BoomerOriginal Fire by Louise Erdrich
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 1520
20.5 Non-LinearOn Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
+20 Task
+15 Combo: 10.1 Sub-Sandwich /10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y / 20.3 Author
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 1555
20.4 BoomerPandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong by Paul A. Offit
Oh, the random facts I glean from non-fiction books! Such as how morphine and heroin were named, how heroin got the nickname "smack", the fact that after William H. Taft served as president he went on to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and how many scientists (and "scientists") have very similar names which explains why I get them and their work confused (Mendel, Mendeleev, Mengele--and I can't tell you how embarrassing it is when you publicly mistake Mendel, the father of genetics, with Mengele, the Nazi's Angel of Death at, say, pub trivia).
It uncovers truly horrifying scenes of U.S. history (the eugenics "experiment" that was heinously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court?!) and an astounding proliferation of baseless science that is upheld merely by hubris.
As you might be able to tell: this one was all over the board. Opioids, fertilizer technology (which saved thousands of people from starvation) being bastardized into mustard gas and Zyklon-B, eugenics, how Rachel Carson got it wrong about DDT, and so much more related in an understandable (often entertaining) style.
And it has already upped my pub trivia game ;-)
+20 Task (b. 1951)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo: 10.9 (Dewey Decimal 500 @BPL)
Task total: 45
Season total: 1730
Post 611 Denise wrote: "20.4 BoomerOlive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
+20 task
+10 combo (10.7, 20.8 ES-Einsteinium)
(?) +10 not-a-novel (?) It is written in the same inter-connected storie..."
Although the cover says "a novel", we are carrying the first as short stories and we will do the same for this one.
Post 614 Karen Michele wrote: "10.5 BannedLeaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
+10 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+15 Oldies (1855)
+ 5 Jumbo
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1485"
For this title, we'll need to know which edition you read. Poetry can have many different page lengths, and the two editions in the database would not qualify for jumbo points.
10.7 A, E, I, O, U Sometimes YThe Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous
This was a strange experience: at times it felt very familiar (Noah and the flood, David and Jonathan, David and Goliath, and what seemed almost like a golem for good measure) and at other times so extremely foreign (Gilgamesh enslaving the men and essentially raping the women--he bedded all brides on their wedding night before their husbands could "know" them; the women who served at the temple by giving their bodies to any man who asked--though I think I've also encountered that in Greek or Egyptian pantheon unless I'm mistaken).
I definitely enjoyed the commentary on the poem more than the poem itself: the way in which it was discovered, the historical relevance, the strangeness of reading something written over 4,000 years ago and still being able to relate/understand...I'm glad I read it for that alone.
+10 Task (A, O, Y, U)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel (epic poem)
+25 Oldies (first pub. -2100)
Task total: 55
Season total: 1785
15.9 PickNMix2C1 - Narrator over 60
Eventide by Kent Haruf
+20 (much of this is from the POV of Raymond MacPheron, who was old in Plainsong)
Season total = 280
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 614 Karen Michele wrote: "10.5 BannedLeaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
+10 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+15 Oldies (1855)
+ 5 Jumbo
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1485"
Fo..."
I listened to an audiobook available from my library. The cover was the same as the book I used. It's no problem if you take the 5 points back, though.
20.6 Monster ReduxLois The Witch & Other Stories by Elizabeth Gaskell
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Not a Novel
+5 Pts - Oldies (1987)
Task total - 35 pts
Season Total -545 pts
Saved this task to finish on Halloween night!
Tien wrote: "10.10 Group ReadsScrublands (Martin Scarsden #1) by Chris Hammer
Review
So glad I finally read this book! It's one of those good reads that you kinda kick you..."
I meant to tell Bea how much I liked it too. I was going to read The White Earth but couldn’t find a copy but was able to get the other Oz book. Glad I read it! But I’ll still keep my eyes peeled for The White Earth.
10.6 WWIIEnigma by Robert Harris
World War II Fiction (#42)
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.7 - O E A I; 20.4 1957; 20.8 - RH for Rhodium)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,245
Post 558 Ed wrote: "RWS Finish=100
MEGA Finish=200"
Congratulatons! Well done!
(And sorry I missed this when you posted.)
10.7 A, E, I, O, U and sometimes YOnce a Hero by Elizabeth Moon
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 1025
20.6 Spec FicThis Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 1085
15.7 PnM2Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
C3 First person narrator
+20 task
Season total: 205
10.3 Andre GideThe Omen by David Seltzer
+10 task
+5 oldies (published 1976)
Task total = 15
Grand total =215
10.7 A,E,I,O,UJacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Lexile =880
+10 task
+5 oldies
Task total =15
Grand total =230
20.3 Looking For Rachel Wallace by Robert B. ParkerRachel is a published author
+20 task
+5 oldies (1980)
+5 combo (10.8 Double O’s)
Task total =30
Grand total = 260
10.4 ReplayEarly Autumn by Robert B. Parker
This qualifies for 10.8 from last season as it is number 7 in the Series
+10 task
+5 oldies (1981)
Task total = 15
Grand total = 275
20.8 Periodic TableOur Gang by Philip Roth
+20 task (PR - Praseodymium)
+ 5 oldies (1971)
Task total=25
Grand total=685
20.9 Shipwrecked!Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.7, 20.5, 20.8)
+5 Jumbo (608 pages)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1125
20.8 Periodic TableSr - Strontium
Time Travelers Strictly Cash by Spider Robinson
+20 task
+10 not a novel
+5 combo (20.4 b1948)
+5 age (pub 1981)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 1750
20.8 Periodic Table MC = chemical Moscovium (115)
Greenwood by Michael Christie
+20 task
+5 20.5 Non-Linear
+5 10.8 Double O
+5 Jumbo (512 pages)
Task Total = 35
Season Total = 240
10.3The Vegetarian by Han Kang
The first part of this was enthralling, mysterious, disturbing. The second and third parts, not so much. They had moments, but did not gel into something amazing.
Most of my dissatisfaction stemmed from countless blurbs declaring this terrifying. I picked it up from a “creepy books for Halloween” list. Yeah, no. The first story seems to be setting up something genre-scary, but the horror here is patriarchy. Which I can appreciate, but not when I was expecting some supernatural denouement or horrific catharsis. Of course, you’re going to sell more books by going with “scary!” rather than “a stark and unsettling tale of a woman failing to conform”.
Still. While I was annoyed that did not get what I expected, the book stuck with me.
+10 task
+5 combo (20.1 - 2016 Man Booker International Winner)
+10 review
Task total = 25
Season total = 370
10.10The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
This is a enjoyable, light read that uses a very heavy real-life framework to hang its plot on. And while I found the plot predictable (from the moment we meet Finn, we know exactly where that is going...), the characters are lively and engaging. The climax is exciting and the problems that it causes are cleverly handled so the story can be wrapped up.
I really appreciated the afterword by the author, in which she provides more history and the reasons for some of the changes she made. I get crabby when real events are altered to serve the story without any acknowledgement of that, and Kate Quinn does not pull that nonsense. She had a story to tell, but respected the real people she used as characters and inspiration.
+10 task
+15 Combo (10.6, 10.7, 20.5)
+10 review
+5 jumbo
Task total = 40
Season total = 410
20.7All Systems Red by Martha Wells
WELL. That was not what I expected from a title that contained “Murderbot”... I honestly thought it was going to be some gritty sci-fi-noir. Instead it was a lightning fast adventure with wit and humor and more than a little YES MURDERBOT I RELATE.
Basically, Murderbot is a security cyborg that hacked its system and instead of going actual murderbot, it binge-watches trashy TV. And then it has to help some humans and goddamn it, Sanctuary Moon was just getting good.
It’s a pretty much perfect novella. There’s plenty of room for the world to expand, but the story wasn’t a tease. All the important stuff was covered, and I was left satisfied but wanting the next adventure.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total = 30
Season total = 440
20.8 - Periodic TableDB - Dubnium
Dolled Up For Murder by Deb Baker
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 525
20.8 - Periodic TableDS - Darmstadtium
Stateline by Dave Stanton
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 590
20.8 - Periodic TableAS - Arsenic
Springtime in Sonora by Albert Simon
+20 task
+5 Combo (10.7)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 615
15.1 PnM2, Round 2 The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
I'd already written a review before deciding to attempt a second round of the subchallenge. I quite enjoyed this book and am including the review if you're at all interested in this book, for lovers of fairy tales and magic:
(view spoiler)
+15 Task: D1, fantasy
Task total: 15
Season total: 1800
20.4 BoomerPriceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman
In talking about this with friends, I called it an autobiography. Wittman calls it a memoir, and I suppose that is the more accurate term as there is very little having to do with his life other than his FBI career. Wittman tells us that even as a child he had been interested in working for the FBI. His neighbor was an agent and his favorite TV program was The F.B.I. with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. When he finally landed a job as agent, there was not as yet an FBI Art Crimes Unit.
Wittman tells us how he felt lucky that his first position was to be paired with a man in the property crimes squad in Philadelphia, a man who had more than a passing interest in investigating art crime. And as further luck would have it, in his first month with the bureau there were two museum thefts. Wittman's story continues as he went undercover in a number of cases where he was successful in recovering precious art.
There were a couple of cases that interested me a bit more than others. One involved the recovery of a Civil War battle flag. This flag had been carried at the front of a Corps d'Afrique unit and there were only 5 such flags known to exist. Wittman spent several pages providing background on how initially African Americans weren't allowed to participate in other than support positions, and then how they eventually served honorably. Another case involved the recovery of one of the original 14 copies of the Bill of Rights. After passing Congress, 14 copies were made: one to stay in Washington, DC and 13 others to be delivered to each of the original states for ratification. At the end of the Civil War, as Union soldiers captured Raleigh, North Carolina, that state's "copy" went missing.
Wittman tells of other cases where he went undercover. He went undercover in cases involving Rembrandt and Picasso and other names easily recognized even by those who aren't art followers, like me. Throughout, however, he talks about how important these works are to all of us. Simply put, they are our history and our heritage.
I continue to wonder why I am drawn to books having to do with lives and activities surrounding art, while having little interest in the works of art themselves. But I *am* drawn to this type of work and I will likely be content to find myself in front of another, either nonfiction or fiction. This memoir put a lot in context. It is very readable and I suspect that is due in large part to his co-writer, John Shiffman, an investigative reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. I think Wittman might not have more stories to tell, but I should watch for others by Shiffman. This was better than I might have expected and I enjoyed it thoroughly - 5-stars worth.
+20 Task (b. 1955)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.7, 20.5 - as he works, and then background on the artifacts, back and forth)
+10 Not a Novel
Task total = 50
Season total = 330
10.6 World War II CORRECTEDThe Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
Reading a book which has been made into an iconic movie is always interesting. In this case, I found it hard to get past the movies vision of the story. The book has more character development especially of Willie Keith and Steve Maryk and some of the background definitely adds to the storyline. However, if you have seen the movie, I probably would not suggest reading the book.
10 Pts 10.6 . World War II
5 pts 10.7 A E I O U
10 pts Review
5 pts Oldies
5 pts Jumbo
Task total 35 pts
Season Total 870 pts
10.1 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7
20.4 20.5 20.8
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7
20.6 Monster ReduxThe Devil's Steps (Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte #10) by Arthur W. Upfield
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.7 - A U I E)
+5 Oldies (pub. 1946)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1,275
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Moon Tiger (other topics)I Am Charlotte Simmons (other topics)
Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II (other topics)
Arsenic and Old Lace (other topics)
Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Penelope Lively (other topics)Tom Wolfe (other topics)
Mitchell Zuckoff (other topics)
Joseph Kesselring (other topics)
Mitchell Zuckoff (other topics)
More...
Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
This series has it all for me - history, monks, murder mystery - what's not to like? I'm only amazed I have resisted it so long. I think it was reading Wolf Hall that pushed me to finally start it, and it was interesting to have two different views of Thomas Cromwell.
Matthew Shardlake is one of King Henry VIII's commissioners, sent by Cromwell to investigate a murder in a monastery that Cromwell wants to shut down, as part of the ongoing dissolution of the monasteries that inevitably followed the establishment of a Church of England that was independent of the Pope. Shardlake is absolutely pro-reform and supports the Protestant movement, but he's also able to feel for fellow men, especially those who have ideals, even if they don't align with his own. And that distracts him as he tries to sort out those who would only mutter to themselves from those who would kill for their principles or their benefit.
+20 Task (set in 1537)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (20.4 author born 1952 in GR profile text)
Post total: 35
Season Total: 625