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20.8 Periodic Table13:55 Eastern Standard Time by Nick Alexander
A chain of linked stories starting when Alice in New York phones her brother Michael in Berlin, calculating that at 13:55 her time it will be almost 6 pm there and a good time to call because he will have finished work. (In fact, Berlin is 6 hours ahead of NY, so it would be 8 pm, but neither Alice nor the author seem to be aware of this.) Anyway, Michael is indeed on his way home from work, but we learn later that she picked a really bad time to call.
From there we spiral off into the stories of other characters whose lives touch either closely or at the edges. In the end, we do come back to Alice, and although I enjoyed most of it in a mild way, I think her last episode is the only one that will stick in my mind.
+20 Task - Sodium Na
+10 Review
Post total: 30
Season Total: 940
20.2 Wolf HallThe Elephant's Journey by José Saramago
(not a proper review...) I really enjoyed this book a lot - it's all in the telling! 5*
20 task
____
20
Running total: 1150
My last book for this season.
Post 818 Anika wrote: "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 sur..."
Unfortunately, you cannot read the same book twice in the same season. Let us know if you want to move it to allow for another PnM2 finish.
Post 822 June wrote: "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"
I'm sorry, June. This is one of Christie's books that is a YA Assignment at BPL and has a Lexile of 740. Task but no styles.
15.7 PnM2, Round 3My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher (Lexile 880)
+20 Task, C2 (narrator is 10)
Task total: 20
Season total: 2300
20.4 BoomerThe Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
If I had not known about life under Stalin, I might have found this more interesting. But I did know and so I had trouble with this. I am often struck how the Russian people staged a revolution against a tyrant only to replace him with a worse tyrant. Also, I cannot help but see the contrast with the American Revolution against a tyrant and how we ended up with freedom. Not that I think the US is perfect (and we're always trying to improve ourselves), but my gosh we didn't opt for a completely unworkable system of government.
I knew of Shostakovich, but I am not familiar with his story nor his music. Despite this being called a fictional biography, I'm still not very familiar with his story. Barnes may have intended that I would be, or maybe he thought anyone who picked this up would be. He was clear that the biography of this man is entirely taken up with the tyranny of Russian communism.
The one thing about this novel that I came away with a positive feeling is the presentation. The novel is broken into three parts, but further than that there are no chapters. Barnes presents his story in paragraphs of varying length, some as short as two sentences, others many times longer. The timeline within the novel is entirely non-linear. But perhaps the most fascinating thing is that, while it is written in third person, I couldn't help but feel it was Shostakovich telling the story yet referring to himself in the third person. This, I think, was quite a feat and could only be accomplished by an author of extraordinary talent.
However, due to the primary subject of tyranny in the Soviet Union, I was simply bored to tears. I almost gave up at the halfway mark. And then I read a friend's review and decided to stick with it to the end. For me, that extra day might have been better spent on another book, but there is a group discussion on this, so I guess it wasn't all a waste of time. Two stars is all I can summon.
+20 Task (1946)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.5)
Task total = 35
Season total = 770
This is my last post of the season - I'm excited to get started on Choose Your Own Adventure!
20.8 - Periodic TableRF - Rutherfordium
Dark Witness by Rebecca Forster
+20 task
+5 combo (20.4)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 880
10.9 Science!The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
See post #3 in help thread
+10 - Task
+ 5 - Combo (20.4- 1951)
+10 - Not a Novel
Task Total - 25 pts
Season Total - 420 pts
10.3 Andre GideThe Pagans by Arlo Bates
+10 pts - Task
+10 ps - Oldies (1884)
Task total - 20 pts
Season Total -440 pts
20.7 Spec FicThe Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
+20 Task
+5 Jumbo (530 pages)
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 1275
20.2 Wolf HallAn Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
+20 Task (set in 17th century)
+10 Combo 20.4, 20.5
+5 Jumbo (691 pages)
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 1310
20.9 Shipwrecked! (Kate S's Task)Preservation by Jock Serong
approval
Review
This is one of those books that's been on my radar but I've resisted to add to my TBR because I just wasn't sure whether it's something I'd like. I ended up reading it to fulfil a reading challenge, of course, like so many of my reads and... I really quite enjoyed it.
Preservation has the flavour of a psychological thriller set in Colonial Australia. I'm not usually a fan of psychological thrillers - they frighten me somewhat but this novel is not quite the norm. It is inspired and/or based on a true historical event. One which I was not at all familiar with... I've just read the Wikipedia entry and the major plotline followed that but since not much else is known, the author really did have a lot of room to play with.
The first few chapters were a bit strange because this story is told through multiple point-of-views and as usual, this takes some getting used to. Each perspective is unique and wide-ranging (the perpetrator, the accomplice, the witness, the investigator and sidekick) so we have a very nearly well-rounded view of the case. For this novel is rather like a case study of a crime with some sprinkling of historical and personal interests to engage the reader.
Thanks to Text Publishing via Netgalley for ecopy of book in exchange of honest review
+20 Task
+10 Review
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 330
Season Total: 1,760
I did it :) Woot! Thanks for another FAB season!
Tien wrote: "+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish"
Congratulations! Well done!
10.6 WWIILost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
+10 - Task
+10 - Not a Novel
+10 - Combo (20.5 -https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch..., 20.6 - according to Elizabeth’s husband)
Task total - 30 pts
Season Total - 470 pts
Now can I finish a sub sandwich today? That is what I need to complete the full challenge. I don’t know, it is also my last day in Lima
15.10 PnM2, Round 3Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
+30 Task, B3
Task total: 30
+100 Completion Bonus
Season total: 2480
Thanks for another wonderful season!
Post 872 Rebekah wrote: "10.6 WWIILost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
+10 - Task
+10 - Not a ..."
Not sure what you mean by claiming 20.6 . None of the required title words are in the title (and what does he know?).
20.1 Inaugural Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
20 + task
+5 10.8 Double 0
+5 Oldies
Task Total = 30
Season Total = 280
Congratulations to all participants. See you in the Winter challenge!
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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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The I-5 Killer by Ann Rule
+20 Task, C4
Task total: 20
Season total: 2280