Reading with Style discussion
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FA 19 Completed Tasks
20.10 Difficult (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time #1) by Marcel Proust
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.7 - A E O U)
+10 Oldies (pub. 1914)
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,310
20.3 AuthorWhere the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Kya has watched one after another of her siblings leave their shack home in the middle of a Carolina marshland to escape a violent alcoholic father, until eventually she is alone. Experience has taught her to prefer the company of birds and trees to people. Most of the local townspeople shun her. So when much later a young man of the town is murdered, the 'Marsh Girl' is a natural suspect...
A beautiful book that brings its setting to life and manages to include a tender human story at the same time - though there's a thread of steel running through everything.
+20 Task (Kya is the author of several books)
+20 Combo (10.1, 10.7, 20.4, 20.5)
+10 Review
Post total: 50
Season Total: 710
10.8 Double O (Ed's Task)Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo by Eric Hansen
I visited Borneo in the early 1990's and have wonderful memories of seeing orangutans. Standing on the equator. Seeing various cultural shows and handicrafts by representatives of tribal peoples. I also spent 2 weeks alone on a very rustic but peaceful beach resort.
Eric Hansen visited in 1982...and his experiences were SO much more exciting and dangerous. He traveled alone on foot for most of the trip...sometimes with two people who weren't really guides...but were experts on survival in the dense rain forest/jungle. He visited small villages. He faced down serious threats when jungle folks thought he was the mythic foreigner who was going to steal the blood from their women and children. In the middle of nowhere, he runs into a young American woman who had been recently plopped down in the forest by herself on a UN Mission to do research of forest agricultural practices. There is so much more to Hansen's amazing journey. This was an excellent read and as much as I love to travel...I would never ever attempt the trek he made. (OH, he was also traveling on an expired passport and without required permits!)
Sadly, in 1982, the logging companies were already encroaching on the inhabited forests. I suspect that now, 37 years later, much of the forests have been depleted.... and the lives of the wonderful people Hansen met have been irrevocably uprooted.
4 stars.
Task=10
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie= 5 (1988)
Task Total= 35
Grand Total=2010
Tasks Completed: 30
Books read=41
✔10.1 (40); 10.2(30); 10.3 (35); 10.4 (35); 10.5 (30); 10.6 (30); 10.7 (35); 10.8 (35); 10.8(2x)(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)
20.3. Author CORRECTEDTram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
This book is set in an unnamed African country and centers on a writer who has recently returned from Europe. The social chaos is conveyed by the authors language and the device of interrupting the narrative with the propositioning voices of sex workers. The book is difficult the follow and the narrative is confused— intentionally.
I didn’t particularly enjoy this book and wouldn’t recommend it
20 pts. 20.3 Author
5 pts 10.7 A E I O U
10 pts Review
Task total 35 pts
Season Total 905 pts
10.1 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7
20.3 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 ReduxVampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.8 - KR)
+10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
Task total = 35
Points total = 130
20.4 BoomerGood Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett born 1948
Neil Gaiman born 1960
+20 Task
+20 Combo (10.5 - #145 ; 10.8 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 - shelved 155 times as speculative-fiction)
+5 Oldies (1990)
Task total = 45
Points total = 175
10.2 Book Lover's DayThe Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This is the third book I've read in the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series. Ruiz Zafon notes at the beginning of this novel that they can be read in any order - they are all parts of the puzzle.
This novel is well written and readable. It has been some time since I read one of the books in the series, yet it seemed easy to 'catch up' with the characters and become immersed in the story. This novel gives us the backstory of on of the main players, Fermin. The story takes place during WW2 and Franco's regime. The difficulties (and atrocities) of that time are alluded to, and Ruiz Zafon very effectively evokes the atmosphere. I enjoyed this novel very much, and I was disappointed when I finished and discovered that (so far, at least) he has only written three 'installments'. 4*
10 task
10 review
5 combo 10.7
____
25
Running total: 945
Thanks to Marie, I see that I missed a combo for Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.I missed 5 pts for 10.8
My original post # is 385.
This brings my running total up to: 950
15.2 PnM2, Round 2The Outsider by Stephen King
+15 Task, C6 Multiple POVs
Task total: 15
Season total: 1815
20.8 Periodic TableA History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
I love a good microhistory, following just one theme and how that one thing has effected civilization (such as The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements which looks at world history through the lens of chemistry or Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them which looks at the things that potentially kill us off as a species and how we fight them). This one made me thirsty the whole time I was reading it: history as influenced by innovations in drink. The first half of the book is a boozy treat, discussing the roles played by beer, wine, and distilled liquor. The second half gets your blood pumping with caffeinated libations: coffee, tea, and cola. The roles that these beverages play in economy (beer was anciently used as a form of currency! and the British Empire wouldn't be what it is today without the popularity of tea), war (Boston Tea Party, anyone?), disease (sparkling/mineral water, and later Coca-Cola, were used to combat illness; grog, or beer that had been mixed with spices and fruit juices--notably lime, was part of the daily ration for British sailors in the late-18th Century and kept them from scurvy), and addiction (and not to alcohol, as one might imagine, but rather the opioid crisis in early-18th Century China that was propagated by the British to leverage tea prices). Some things that the author attributes to a beverage felt like a stretch to further his thesis, but on the whole I quite enjoyed this walk through history with a glass in my hand. 3.5 stars.
+20 Task (Ts=Tennessine)
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.5)
Task total: 45
Season total: 1860
15.3 PnM2, Round 2The Black Room at Longwood: Napoleon's Exile on Saint Helena by Jean-Paul Kauffmann
+15 Task, D4 Non-fiction
Task total: 15
Season total: 1875
*Set in St. Helena, for the Group Project
10.8Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
A truly lovely old-school fairy tale. Tobias is a huge recluse, tending to the woods and avoiding people. Silver is the handsome young man who just became the owner of those lands. And Silver is very curious about the local legends regarding the Wild Man who lives in the woods...
This is a slight novella, and I would have liked a bit more of everything, but there is enough here to satisfy. It’s just such a gentle and charming story that it was a pity to be done with it so soon. I’ve read so many novels that take a proper fairy tale and draw it out far beyond what the story can really support, so this was a nice change.
I had a peek at the author’s page and it seems like I’ll get my wish for more of this world.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total = 20
Season total = 460
10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes YThe L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.8)
+ 5 Oldies (1960)
Post total: 20
Season Total: 730
Task 15.7 PnM2 A-1A-1. Canada, USA, Mexico, and the Caribbean (at least 75%)
Set entirely in California, USA
Tortilla Flat (1935) by John Steinbeck
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 410 + 20 = 430
10.8 Double OA Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
Poet Mary Oliver tells about the craft of poetry in a basic book that would be helpful to both readers and writers of poetry. She writes about the various ingredients that go into a poem--meter, rhyme, sound, imagery, form, and more. Well-written, famous poems are used to illustrate the points she is making. Unfortunately, she does not use any of her own delightful poems as examples. Even newcomers to poetry will find this book very accessible.
I do not write poetry, but I enjoyed her advice to beginner poets. They should immerse themselves in books, the arts, nature, history, and other areas of interest. "Writers must . . . take care of the sensibility that houses the possibility of poems. . . . A mind that is lively and inquiring, compassionate, curious, angry, full of music, full of feeling, is a mind full of possible poetry."
+10 task
+10 combo 10.7 A,E,I,O,Y; 20.8 Periodic Table MO=Molybdenum
+10 not a novel
+10 review
+ 5 oldie (pub 1994)
Task total: 45
Season total: 720
From Post 596Beth wrote: "20.8 Periodic Table
Gd - Gadolinium element #64
Torn from the Sun by Gregory Donovan
+20 task
+10 not-a-novel (poetry)
+5 combo (10.7 e o y a)
Task total: 35
Gr..."
+5 Combo 20.4
From Post 589Deedee wrote: "Task 10.9 Science! (Mary's Task)
Read a book classified as science or mathematics by any library.
[book:Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinar..."
+10 Combo 10.7, 10.8
From Post 571Mary wrote: "15.7 PnM2 Round 2
E4. Title has a non-generic sub-title
[book:Leading With Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, And Inspire Action On Your Most Important Work..."
Mary, you have already claimed this book in post 534. Would you rather use it for PnM2?
From Post 560Deedee wrote: "Task 20.8 Periodic Table (Owlette's Task)
RB = Rubidium (atomic number 37)
The Halloween Tree (1972) by Ray Bradbury (Hardcover, 145 pages)
Lexile 800L
Review:Ray Bra..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 551Joanna wrote: "20.6 Monster Redux
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks
Meh. This was only okay, probably because I'm not a hard-core zombie person. I enjoyed [b..."
This does not qualify as Not a Novel. It looks like an interesting format, but doesn't quite qualify as short stories and I am not sure we can go with Non-Fiction zombie work. Sorry
From Post 550Joanna wrote: "10.7 A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
I had in my head that these were short stories about lots of different pre-..."
Sorry, Joanna, novella groups don't work for Not a Novel points
From Post 533Rebekah wrote: "10.8 Double O
The Ghosts of Lookout Mountain by Larry Hillhouse
+10 pts -Task
+10 pts - Not a Novel
+10 Pts - Combo (10.7,20.6)
Task Total - 25 pts
Season Total - 4..."
+5 Combo 20.4
From Post 531Lara wrote: "20.4 Boomer
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
20 - Task 20.4 Boomer (b. 1963)
5 - Combo (10.3: Title is "The ___")
5 - Jumbo (771 pp)
10 - Review
Task total: 40
Season total: 135"
At 771 pages, this qualifies for 10 Jumbo points
From Post 527Rosemary wrote: "10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y
Girl with Green Eyes by Edna O'Brien
I read the first book in this trilogy so long ago that I can't remember anything about it. But in..."
+5 Combo 10.1
Kate S wrote: "From Post 571Mary wrote: "15.7 PnM2 Round 2
E4. Title has a non-generic sub-title
[book:Leading With Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, And Inspire Action..."
Rats! Thanks for catching this! I have been keeping two lists this season.
I deleted post 571 and made the adjustments on subsequent posts.
From Post 519Katy wrote: "20.5 Non-Linear
Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBT Rights Uprising that Changed America by Martin Duberman
This book took me forever but was well worth it..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 21Beth wrote: "20.1 Inaugral
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
The story of Mustafa/Esteban was immersive, beginning with his reality as a slave entering what would someday be F..."
+5 Combo 20.2
15.8 PnM Round 2E6 Title contains a Q, X, or Z
Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon
20 pts. 15.8 PnM2
Task total 20 pts
Season Total 925 pts
10.1 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7
20.3 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 15.8
From Post 555Christine wrote: "15.10 B1 The Blackhouse by Peter May
+30 task
Task total =30
Grand total = 200"
Congrats on finishing PnM2!
+100 Completion
Kate S wrote: "From Post 527Rosemary wrote: "10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y
Girl with Green Eyes by Edna O'Brien
+5 Combo 10.1
"
Ooh, as this qualifies for 10.1, could I please move it to 10.1?
That will save me a book without costing any points :)
10.2 Book Lover's DayThe Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury
shelved 22x
Review
I don't think this is a book that I would've picked up on my own initiative. The cover looks so very cute and it's set in France so really, I would have felt, yea, maybe... then gone on and forgot all about it. Thanks to the publicist at MacMillan Australia though for sending me a copy because I so loved reading this book.
I was at the stage that I needed something light and this book was just perfect. It was written in such whimsical tones and yet, it wasn't chirpy in any way. In fact, when you stop and think about it, the story is actually rather sad. And yet again, the author somehow managed to write in such beautiful turn of phrases to uplift the readers' hearts. Of course, all those loving praises she lavished on books will not go astray but are rather direct hits to booklovers' hearts.
Some of us may just understand Juliette, main protagonist, better than others. We may just be like her in our situation, ie. just happened to get a job, stuck it out even if you're not particularly enjoying it, everyday is just routine & nothing exciting ever happens. Until one day when she spontaneously got off the Metro a number of stops away from her destination and found herself wandering the streets. And hence she begins to discover parts of herself previously dormant, to opening her heart, and to find the life she's meant to live. It's a terrific ending for a stand alone (for which I believe this book is) but I find myself wishing for a lot more of Juliette and her adventures.
The Girl Who Reads on the Métro is a lovely easy heart-warming read. When you have that rare spare moment that you just want to read a whole book, don't pass this one by. I'll bet you'll find yourself smiling to yourself :)
Thanks to Pan MacMillan Australia for copy of book in exchange of honest review
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.7 - I E U Y; 20.8 - CF for Californium)
+10 Review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1,340
10.2 Book Lover's DayThe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
YA w/ 650L, no Style
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 1,350
Task 15.8 PnM2 D-2D-2. Genre: mystery, thriller, crime, horror, suspense
Main Page Genre: Mystery
Octavia Gone (Alex Benedict #8) (2019) by Jack McDevitt (Hardcover, 384 pages)
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 440 + 20 = 460
10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes YLe grand livre de l'horreur - tome 5 : Sur les traces de Sherlock Holmes by Naïma Murail-Zimmermann
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Points total = 185
10.1 Sub SandwichOn Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
I loved hearing the author read this very personal work. His voice resonated with feeling as he read his brilliant prose.
This book is hard to categorize. It's a novel, I suppose, but not really a linear story. It's more snippets of memory and short vignettes than a straightforward story. It jumps around as the author muses about lots of different interactions and moments in time. The language is almost, but not quite, poetry. There are many evocative images and beautiful phrases. But it's not like Milk and Honey, which is much more explicitly poetry.
I'm very interested to see where this author goes from here. He shows so much promise with this book, I'm excited to read a novel where he's not reflecting on his own experiences as directly.
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.7, 20.5, 20.3)
+10 Review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 385
10.5 BannedBridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Lexile 810
I'm pretty sure that I read this when I was a child, but I didn't remember the story at all rereading it as an adult. I bought this book for my 10 year old as a free add-on to a Scholastic book order. Then I saw that the audiobook was available from my library and we listened to it in the car during a long drive. I hadn't realized quite how sad this book was when we picked it up. This is definitely one that caused a lot of conversation and talking about emotions and feelings and the nature of the universe.
There's a sensitivity here to the way these characters are treated. The author is writing about teenagers, but isn't at all patronizing--they're treated as fully developed human beings with a range of emotions. I can see why this book became a classic.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7)
+5 Oldies (1977)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 415
Post 641 Ann wrote: "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 ..."
I'm sorry, the International Man Booker is not included in the titles for 20.1.
15.4 PnM2, Round 2The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
+15 Task, F2
Task total: 15
Season total: 1890
10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes YRules of Engagement by Elizabeth Moon
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 1135
10.2. Book Lovers DayThe Public Library: A Photographic Essay by Robert Dawson
10 pts. 10.2 Book Lovers Day
Task total 10 pts
Season Total 935 pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7
20.3 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 15.8
10.6 WWIIThe Night Watch by Sarah Waters
I wanted to like this more than I did. But the wartime London didn't come alive here nearly as well as Connie Willis managed in Blackout and the characters never really mattered to me. I had a hard time keeping the three women straight and could sometimes forget which one was narrating until I was reminded about their romantic interest.
The story unfolds backwards--starting in 1947, then back to 1944, then ending in 1941. There was some cleverness to this, but mostly I found it too cute. Knowing where the characters ended up took away some of the enjoyment of the story and some of the suspense that would otherwise be there, particularly for the final section of the book.
Overall, not a book I'm sorry to have read, but probably not one I'll be rushing to recommend.
The narrator for the audiobook made an effort to differentiate the voices, but that turned out to be more grating than helpful. A perfectly adequate narration, but also not one to make me particularly recommend the audio format.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.1, 20.5)
+5 Jumbo
Task total: 35
Grand total: 450
20.9 Shipwrecked!Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura
A wonderful, haunting story of a small fishing village in long-ago Japan where the villagers hope to lure ships to crash on their reefs so the village can pilfer the goods and even the wood from which the ship is made. There are details of the religious practices, the daily lives, and the social order of this village. I have no idea if this has any historical accuracy, but it felt fully fleshed out and compelling. This story will stay with me for quite some time.
The ending gutted me. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil this book for other readers.
Highly recommended.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7)
+5 Oldies (1982)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 490
20.7 PnM2 C.6 Multiple Point of View Narration
The Outsider by Stephen King
Task Total = 20 points
Season Total = 260 points
10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes YYoung Anne by Dorothy Whipple
Young Anne was Dorothy Whipple's first novel, published in 1927, and it was apparently semi-autobiographical in nature. It follows Anne Pritchard, the only daughter in a middle-class family in a Lancashire mill town, who surivives some idiosyncratic schooling and suffers from a passionate imagination which few of the people around her can share or even understand.
Dorothy Whipple lost her first love in the First World War, and I suspect that the later part of this book was a way of working out "what might have been" in a way that laid some ghosts to rest.
I read this last of her oeuvre, all now republished by Persephone, so the themes and style were familiar while being less polished than in some of her later work. But it was an enjoyable if sometimes painful read.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1927)
Post total: 30
Season Total: 765
10.8 Double O'sThe Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murderby Charles Graeber
Task total: 10
Grand total: 190
20.6 Monster ReduxThe Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet
+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.7 AEIOU
+10 Oldies (published 1921)
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 1170
10.8 Double O (Ed's Task)The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
This is the second book in the Series of Unfortunate Events chain....and it is FUN. I just found out that there is a filmed version on Netflix...but I won't watch it until I finish the written series.
The fun centers around three very clever kids who have recently been orphaned...and then pawned off on distant relatives...one of whom is trying to get his hands on their fortune NOW! The bad guy from the first book returns as the kids are now with a distant uncle who is a snake collector. Almost nothing goes well for the kids....but they do work things out before they go sour again.
I think most adults as well as kids would enjoy these books.
4 1/2 stars.
Task=10
Review=10
Comb0=5 (10.7)
Task Total= 25
Grand Total=2035
Tasks Completed: 30
Books read=42
✔10.1 (40); 10.2(30); 10.3 (35); 10.4 (35); 10.5 (30); 10.6 (30); 10.7 (35); 10.8 (35); 10.8(2x)(35); 10.8 (3x)(25); 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)
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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)
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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)
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A3 - Set in Europe
A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season Total: 660