Reading with Style discussion
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FA 19 Completed Tasks
20.9 ShipwreckedThe Tempest by William Shakespeare
20 pts 20.9 Shipwrecked
5 pts 10.3 Andre Gide
5 pts 20.2 Wolf Hall
10 pts Not a Novel
25 Oldies
10 Review
Task Total 75 pts
Season Total 1165 pts
I know this is a classic but i am afraid there is not much substance to the play. Prospero and Miranda have been exiled on the island and through magic Prospero and Ariel conjure up a storm that shipwrecks Prospero’s brother and the brother’s co conspirator on the island. Miranda falls in love with the first man she sees other than her father and Caliban and once Prospero confronts his brother his throne is restored with little fuss.
While the staging of the storm may have been exciting for a 17th century audience, this leaves a lot to be desired for a more modern audience. Maybe a staged version would be more compelling. Definitely one of Shakespeare’s less satisfying plays
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... ....
20.1 ........ 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 ......... 20.8 20.9 ....
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 15.9
20.8 Periodic TableThe Wine of Solitude by Irène Némirovsky
I like the way Nemirovsky writes in clear, straight-forward prose. The characterizations are good, too. There is a lot of interior dialogue, and by that I don’t mean stream of consciousness. We are given a lot of Helene’s thoughts. Through emotional neglect, she has a lot of negative opinions about those surrounding her.
But my gosh, I never saw so many shallow people in one book in my life! Helene’s mother, Bella, does nothing and cares for nothing other than her appearance and whether a man pays attention to her. Boris Karel, Helene’s father, is a gambler. We actually don’t see much of him other than to know his business life is a complete gamble, and he spends time in casinos or making bets with others.
It’s hard not to be sympathetic to a young girl who is being emotionally neglected, but she also doesn’t have any interests other than wanting attention. And so she wants to avenge the loss of her childhood.
Despite these complaints, which *do* in fact make up the entire novel, I had no problem persevering. Still, I did have complaints. I will be happy to read another by Nemirovsky, but this can’t climb out of the 3-star group.
+20 Task (Indium #49)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.7)
+10 Oldies (1935)
Task Total = 45
Season Total = 640
20.8 Periodic TableIn an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
Review:
God, I absolutely love this series. The books aren't long but they are so richly filled with beautiful and captivating storytelling.
This one is a bit of a prequel to a more senior character we meet in the first book. It is set in both our world and the world of the Goblin Market. Lundy gets to go back and forth between our world and the doors that open especially for her. There are rules to follow but rules that make sense but are tricky and complex. The concept of Fair Value is deeply explored as is growing up.
These books are new fairy tales for adults. The world building is akin to J K Rowling but with a more mature take. Perfect for the fantasy fan and easily accessible to those looking to venture into the genre.
+20 Task - SM Samarium
+5 Combo 10.7 Vowels
+10 Review
Task Total: 35 pts
Grand Total: 215 pts
20.3 AuthorFun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
A graphic novel memoir about author Alison Bechdel's experiences in coming out and coming to terms with her father's suicide shortly after. I am currently music directing the Tony Award Winning musical of the same name. It is a beautiful show.
+20 task
Missing out on lots of combo points due to graphic novel rule :(
Grand Total: 235 pts
20.8 Periodic TableCold River Rising by Enes Smith
ES Einsteinium
bought a copy of this from the author at a local grocery store almost 10 years ago. And then last year he again appeared and I bought the second book in the series, Cold River Resurrection and pushed this up my list. The author, Enes Smith has worked as the Police Chief for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indians of Oregon even though he is not Indian. So his description of the main character, Martin Andrews, starting as the white Police Chief of an Indian reservation has the ring of authenticity. This is an action packed thriller with the killing and kidnapping of American Indian students in Peru as the beginning. This would make a good movie. It is easier for me, at least, to suspend disbelief of actions and characters for a movie than for a book. It is interesting to speculate what Indian sovereignty means and what a tribe declaring war on a foreign country could look like.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 480
10.7. A E I O U EDITED to delete info left in template from last book’s review — bad cut and pasteInnocence by Penelope Fitzgerald
10 pts 10.7 A E I O U
5 pts oldies
10 Review
Task Total 25 pts
Season Total 1190 pts
Fitzgerald strings together a series of great character studies with some wonderful descriptions of place but doesn’t seem to make the work as a novel. Despite great writing at a micro level the overall story is unsatisfying and very difficult to get a handle on. Things seem to happen to the characters and that generally makes sense given their background and experience but it does not make for an engaging story.
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... ....
20.1 ........ 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 ......... 20.8 20.9 ....
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 15.9
PnM #215.4 C3 First Person Narrator
Death in Spring by Mercè Rodoreda
+15 Task (First Person Narrator )
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 1840
20.4 BoomerThe Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
+20 Task
+15 Combo: 10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y / 20.1 Inaugural / 20.5 Non-linear
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 1875
20.8 Periodic Table (Owlette's Task)Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
+20 task (ES-Einsteinium)
+10 Combo: 10.7 A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y / 20.4 Boomer
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1915
20.6 Monster ReduxDevil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
I have seen this described both as noir and as hard-boiled. Either fits. Although I don’t recall seeing the time period of the novel specifically called out, the GR description says late 1940s, which seems right. It could certainly be no later than the very early 50s.
This is Mosley’s debut novel. I have remarked elsewhere that I’m often not interested in the life of an author I’m only going to read casually, but I know after this one novel that I will be interested in him further. As Mosley was 38 when this debut novel became reality, I was curious how he had spent his earlier years. It wasn’t writing, but he was fortunate to have had parents who thought education was important. We are fortunate his talent came to the fore.
This first in the series has us learning how Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlings became a private detective. The novel has plenty of characters, but they are introduced slowly and there is no problem keeping them straight. The plot itself is complex enough while there was never any question who at least some of the bad guys were. The prose is remarkably pitch perfect.
I almost feel bad to be giving this a mere 4-stars. I should keep in mind that this is the top rating for the genre, and this very near the top, if not my actual top.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.7, 20.4)
+ 5 Oldies
Task Total = 45
Season Total =685
(Yes, a debut novel, and while I give it only 4-stars, at least one RwS Member has rated it 5-stars. Just saying.)
15.5 PnM2, Round 3The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman
+20 Task, E1
Task total: 20
Season total: 2260
15.6 PnM2, Round 3The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
(Side note: I read this back in September and claimed it for 20.4...I just finished reading it again to make sure that it was as good as I remembered to suggest it for my IRL book club--it was that good, so I'll be claiming it a third time when I read it *again* sometime in the next few month for that book club)
+20 Task, D6 "Contemporary"
Task total: 20
Season total: 2280
10.10 Group ReadsThe Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
This light science fiction novel is sort of like reading the science fiction version of Murder She Wrote. The plot isn't really the point and the main characters are all generally well-meaning nice salt of the earth folks (except here, they're well-meaning totally-different-from-humans aliens). A lovely crew is meandering about doing it's job (tunneling space connections) and blundering into inter-space political decisions.
I loved the world building and the characters in this book. So I could overlook the overall cheesiness. Who doesn't want a Star Trek like federation of sentient species where everyone is trying to be culturally conscious of all these different alien ways of being? Wouldn't we like to imagine that humans could somehow navigate to such a gloriously non-discriminatory way of being?
The narrator did a fantastic job with the audiobook. I'd definitely listen to her read other things. I'm immediately downloading the second book in the series.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.7)
+5 Jumbo
Task total: 30
Grand total: 640
10.8- Double OBrooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Task: 10
Combo: 10 ( 10.1, 20.4)
Post total: 20
Season total: 220
20.5- Non-linearThe True History of Paradise by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
Task: 20
Combo:5 (10.7)
Post: 25
Season total: 245
20.8- Periodic TableElement: Actinium - Ac
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
Task: 20
Oldies: 10 published in 1936
Post total: 30
Season total: 275
15.1-P'nM -1 A6- set in Oceania
Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz
Task: 15
Season total: 295
15.2-P'n'M 2 A4 - set in Asia- Himalayas
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Post: 15
Seasonal total: 310
15.3-P'n'M 3B2- published in 1997
The Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson
Post: 15
Season total: 325
15.4- P'nM 4 C5- unreliable narrator
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Post: 15
Seasonal total: 340
15.5 -P'n"M 5D1- Time Travel
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
Post : 20
Season total: 360
15.6- P'n'M 6D5- historical fiction
Medicus: A Crime Novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie
Post: 20
Season total: 380
15.8- P'n'M 8F3- author name starts with K
A Drink of Deadly Wine by Kate Charles
Post : 20
Season total: 420
15.10- P'n'M 10E1- name in title
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
Post : 30
Season total: 480
10.9 ScienceNumber: The Language of Science by Tobias Dantzig
10 pts 10.9 Science
10 pts oldies
10 Review
Task Total 30 pts
Season Total 1220 pts
A fascinating study of the history of mathematics including concepts of zero, countable and uncountable infinity, real and imaginary numbers. Many of these concepts are taught in a college prep high school math class but what is not usually discussed is how revolutionary the concepts were.
If you have a reasonable mathematics background the discussion can be followed fairly readily but you may need to break out a pencil to prove some things that are “easy to see”. As the material became more complex some of the explanations became difficult to follow, however the book is well written and even with more challenging subjects, the main ideas are clearly stated. Highly recommend.
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 ....
20.1 ........ 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 ......... 20.8 20.9 ....
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 15.9
20.10 Difficult BooksThe Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 326 pages, (1929)
20 task
10 Combo 10.7 vowels, 20.5 non-linear
10 Oldie
10 review
Task = 50 points
Season Total = 355 points
This book is considered one of the great books of the 20th Century. Reading it in November 2019, ninety years after its publication, it feels familiar and almost cliche. I know it is not cliche. It was the original that others imitated. Having now read As I Lay Dying, and two of the short stories also set in the same county, the characters, setting, and conflicts were familiar to me, and perhaps too familiar. Throughout Faulkner's work I want to tell the characters that if they would just let go of what they are doing, go get a job, and move away from their dysfunctional family things would be better. Some characters do and others do not. Perhaps my advice would not really fix anything. Throughout this book I just kept thinking, "Why are you all so miserable?" Stop drinking. Stop laying in bed with the camphor (which is addictive). Treat each other with common human courtesy.
There seemed to be so many parallels between Mrs. Compson and Dilsey to me. They were both the matriarchs who held down and held back their families. Both seemed to be trying to control the entire household of the two families and neither helped the situation. Dilsey was happy to keep Mrs. Compson as an invalid in bed so that Mrs. Compson would stay out of her hair. Mrs. Compson was happy to play the invalid to add to Dilsey's daily chores.
There were some points that felt historically true. In the 1920s many farmers who were unable to sell their product at a decent price due to price fixing by buyers. So the malaise caused by cotton price problems felt real. Also, the historical notes about speculation in the stock market felt real. All the rest felt extreme. Faulkner takes human weaknesses and pushes them to the absolute farthest they can go so that everyone lives in abject misery. Not one character was a spot of light for the others to follow.
Task 15.10 PnM2 E2F-2. E-H (First letter of Author’s name)
Summer Reading (2007) by Hilma Wolitzer (Hardcover, 252 pages)
+30 Task
+100 Completion Bonus
Task Total: 30 + 100 = 130
Grand Total: 615 + 130 = 745
20.8 - Periodic TableCO - Cobalt
Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 805
20.8 - Periodic TableRF - Rutherfordium
Eyewitness by Rebecca Forster
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 830
20.8 - Periodic TableRF - Rutherfordium
Forgotten Witness by Rebecca Forster
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 855
20.1 InauguralA Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
On the day of her retirement, Miss Hawkins plans her suicide. She carefully checks to see if her cupboards are clean, that her clothes are clean and carefully folded or hung. She wants nothing left that would leave a negative opinion.
But at her retirement, she is given a 5-year diary. As a person who has followed instructions all her life, she now feels she must postpone her plans so that she can fill in the diary’s pages. This is the five year sentence of the title. The humor of nearly the first half-life the novel, is that she first writes instructions for herself and then ticks them off. Took a long walk: tick; Went to the library: tick; Met a man: tick.
Miss Hawkins has been single all of her life. We are told about her childhood in more detail than her working life, but it is obvious she has been single all of her life. About men, she knows nothing, and oh meeting this man is quite possibly the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her. ... transported into a beat of life that was never ugly, never lonely, never poor, and ever sick.
I liked the way Rubens writes. I thought the characterizations of the two main characters quite good, that of Miss Hawkins fully-fleshed, that of Brian Watts somewhat less so. The plot is relatively simple and straight-forward. Unfortunately, I found the ending predictable. For this last reason, it is just a middling 4-stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.5, 20.8 - Bromine #35)
+ 5 Oldies
Task Total = 45
Season total = 735
20.7 Spec FicThe Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
The reason this book is the last one I will post this season is that it was awful. Despite being on Boxall's 1001 Books list, I was totally uninterested in the plot and characters. And I did not approach the book with that expectation...because I did find it quite remarkable that a book published in 1963 would have envisioned the planet Earth under so much water that the buildings in London (in 2040) are below water under the 15th floor. The author writes about an instance of global warming before anyone was using that term... and London is now a tropical landscape with giant iguanas and alligators. Humans are devolving as well...back to the reptile brain. I started this book about two months ago...but disliked it so much that I could only take a chapter at a time. (I almost always force myself to finish books...even when it is tedious or worse.) One giant black star from me.
Task=10
Review=10
Oldie=5 (1963)
Task Total=25
Grand Total= 2220
Tasks Completed: 30
Books read=44
✔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); 10.8 (4x)(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); 20.7(3x)(25); 20.8 (45); 20.9 (40); 20.10 (340)
10.4 ReplayUsing 20.2 Oxford authors
The Captain and the Enemy by Graham Greene
Set mostly in Panama
+10 Task
+5 Oldies (published 1988)
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 1250
From Post 751Karen Michele wrote: "20.2 Wolf Hall
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
+20 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+25 Oldies
Task Total: 55
Season Total: 1720"
+5 Combo 10.5
From Post 752Karen Michele wrote: "20.3 Author
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
+20 Task (main character is an author)
+10 Combo: 20.4 Boomer / 20.5 Non-Linear (2 stories)
Task Total: 30
Season Total..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 777Jackie wrote: "20.4 Boomer
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Task total- 20
Grand Total- 220"
+5 Combo 20.8
From Post 787Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "20.9 Shipwrecked
Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea by Eric Hansen
n amazing “travel” book. In 1978 the author, Eric Hansen, was shipwrecked on a..."
+5 Combo 20.4
From Post 794Mary wrote: "20.6 Monster Redux
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett
20 pts 20.6 Monster Redux
5 pts 10.5 Banned
5 pts. 20.4 Boomer..."
+5 Combo 10.8
From Post 798Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.6 World War II
Winter Gardenby Kristin Hannah
#96 on the list
Review
I really liked this story because of the fairy tale. I love fairy tales. However, the fairy ta..."
+5 Combo 20.4
20.7 Spec FicThe Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
The story alternates between a woman who is beginning to realize that she may be alone in Antarctica and a world where people who have died and crossed over to a city where they begin to realize they exist as long as someone alive remembers them.
There are many threads to explore—what it is to be alone, ideas about an afterlife, how many people we interact with in a lifetime.
I have felt it is different to have no one currently alive who remembers a person. I remember feeling a different kind of sadness realizing that there was probably no one alive who remembers one of my grandfathers who died in the 1920’s. This fits in with this book.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 515
10.1 Sub-sandwichHonolulu by Alan Brennert
Regret is a young Korean woman named for the disappointment of her parents because she was a female baby. She felt repressed by traditional Korean society in the early 20th Century. Regret secretly learned to read and wanted to obtain an education. She hoped the situation would be better if she signed up to be a "picture bride" of a man living in Hawaii. Her husband, a violent plantation worker with gambling and alcohol problems, was not what she expected. She renamed herself Jin, and traveled to Honolulu where she used her skills as a seamstress to survive.
Jin formed strong friendships with other "picture brides" who also had challenging lives. The population of Hawaii was very diverse--native Hawaiians, whites from America, and Asian immigrants from Korea, Japan, China, and the Philippines--which led to conflicts. Jin's life was difficult, but her courage and hard work opened the door to opportunities. "Honolulu" was a compelling story with a strong, likable main character. Many historical and cultural references are woven into the story so this book would be enjoyed by historical fiction readers.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 20.4 Boomer
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 1085
P’nM round 2E4 - Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman
+15 -Task
Season Total -395
Task 20.6 Monster ReduxRead a book with one of the following in the title: Devil(s)/Demon(s), Witch(es), Vampire(s), Zombie(s)/Undead, Ghost(s), or Werewolf(s).
The Saturday Night Ghost Club (2018) by Craig Davidson (Paperback, 224 pages)
Governor General's Literary Awards / Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général Nominee for Fiction (2018)
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 745 + 20 = 765
15.6 PnM2 F4 - Author first name L-O
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
+20 Task
Post total: 20
Season Total: 870
15.7 PnM2 E6 - Title contains Q, X or Z
The Squire by Enid Bagnold
+20 Task
Post total: 20
Season Total: 890
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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)
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)
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F2 Author's Name E-H
A Killer's Christmas in Wales by Elizabeth J. Duncan
Task total: 30
Completion bonus: 100
Season total: 1060