Cherie's Trivial Choices in 2020

[Janice, Moderator]

Lucy wrote: "Looks like I'm adding this one!"

Enjoy!

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 30
2. & 3. Card 1, History-Nay
4. Grave Goods
★★★★
5. I read the ebook. The hc is 336 pages.
6. Task Requirement: A significant character in the book is a king, or the word "king" is in the title. .
7. State how the book fits the criteria: Henry Plantagenent - King Henry II is a significant character in the story.
8. Specifications: none

King Henry II sends Adelia to Glastonbury Abbey to authenticate the bones of King Author and Queen Guinevere, if those are what they are. An intriguing look at the Avalon marshes and the story of King Arthur and Excalibur. I love the stories and the author's treatment of Henry II in this series.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 31
2. & 3. Card 25, Art/Literature-Nay
4. Far From the Madding Crowd
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook and read along in the ebook. The pb is 433 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The genre is classic romance.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The MBP list Classic and Romance in the genre listing.
8. Specifications: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

In the Barker & Llewelyn series books, Thomas Llewelyn (Barker's assistant) has mentioned Far From the Madding Crowd as his favorite book numerous times. I was bound and determined to find out what he saw in it. (I really have John Lee's audiobook narration to thank for getting me through it, on the 4th try.)

[Cherie]

Maybe I can get through Where the Crawdads Sing now and apply for Badge 2.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 32
2. & 3. Card 12, Sport-Nay
4. The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay
★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 229 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The first and last name of the author start with T, L, D, or R. You may only use the letter once in the combo. The author's initials may not be TT, LL, DD, or RR.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The author's initials are TR.
8. Specifications: none

Okay story, I was disappointed by the ending. I actually thought the characters were interesting. Even if they could not communicate with each other in the past, they were doing pretty well by the end of the story. I was somewhat disappointed with the narration by Simon Vance (Actually, he was the only reason I found the book on my library list). He seemed to blow through it at times and there were a couple of places where I could not tell which character was "speaking" but it seems it may have been an issue in the text too, after reading a few reviews.

I bumped the same author's book, Sarah's Key, which I own and had "planned" for this task.

[Roz]

Cherie wrote: "1. Badge 3, Book 32
2. & 3. Card 12, Sport-Nay
4. The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay
★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 229 pages.
6. Ta..."

I actually liked Sarah's Key more than this one.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

Roz wrote: "I actually liked Sarah's Key more than this one..."

I will let you know, when I finally read it. I know that I started it at one time, but I quit. (view spoiler)[I think I stopped when I realized what had potentially happened to her brother. I have not wanted to pick it up again and see. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 33
2. & 3. Card 10, Art/Literature-Yay
4. Year One
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook I bought from Audible. The hc is 419 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The genre is dystopia brought about by a virus/illness.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The story is definitely about a dystopia brought about by a virus/illness.
8. Specifications: Dystopia must show on the main book page. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I might have to give Nora Roberts more reading time. I listened to the whole trilogy over the weekend and finished early this morning.

[Shirley]

I've never read Nora Roberts, but Year One sounds interesting - very topical, that's for sure.

[Cherie]

1. Badge 2, Book 18
2. & 3. Card 21, Geography-Nay
4. Where the Crawdads Sing
★★★★★
5. I read the ebook version I purcased. The hc is 370 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The book was originally published in 2018.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book was published Aug 14, 2018.
8. Specifications: none

It was awesome!

[Janice, Moderator]

Congrats on completing badge 2! :)

[Cherie]

Thank you, Janice.

[Shirley]

Congratulations, Cherie.

[Lucy]

Congrats Cherie!

[Cherie]

Thank you.

[Cherie]

It looks like Card 8 will be one of the 5 to finish for Badge 3 requirements. I already own the last two books needed and I have started one of them for the Science-Yay task. Too funny, but I could have finished the Art/Literature-Yay task many times over by now, but I have been holding out to read the book I own. ;0)

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 34
2. & 3. Card 30, Entertainment-Nay
4. The Fox Hunt: A Memoir of Yemen and My Odyssey to America
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library and followed along with the ebook. The hc is 336 pages.
6. Task Requirement: There is a fox on the cover, or the word "Fox" is in the title.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The word "Fox" is in the title.
8. Specifications: none

Very well written and heart thumping. I kind of knew where Yemen was before I read the book, but I never understood what all of the fighting was about. The audiobook was very well narrated and worth listening to, but I had to get the text to see some of the words written and figure out what all of the acronyms were.

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 35
2. & 3. Card 19, Art/Literature-Yay
4. One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy
★★★★
5. I read the ebook that I owned. The hc is 308 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The book is set on the moon. It may be any moon, not just Earth's moon.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book is a dystopia, set 2000 years in the future on earth's moon.
8. Specifications: none.

I did not know what to say for a review for this book. It sucked me into the story, right from the first, but it was getting pretty lame by the endng. It really could have been so much more, but the whole premise was too unexplainable. It was a fun read though, and if I had not been searching for books "set on the moon", I never would have come across it.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 36
2. & 3. Card 8, Science-Yay
4. The House at the Edge of Night
★★★★
5. I listened to audiobook first and then I read along in the ebook from my library. The hc is 419 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The cover has a large eye on it.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book cover has a large, closed eye on it.
8. Specifications:

It was a long, but mesmerising family saga. Edoardo Ballerini was the narrator.

[Shirley]

That looks good Cherie, I'll put it on my TBR list.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 37
2. & 3. Card 5, Art/Literature-Nay
4. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
★★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 304 pages.
6. Task Requirement: There is a painting on cover. It does not need to be an actual painting like the Mona Lisa just as long as it clearly a painting.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: There is a painting of a young girl on the cover.
8. Specifications:

Wow! It was a great story. Another Edoardo Ballerini 10 star performance.

I read this for the toppler and bumped another book that I own off my challenge. I was going to read The Bellini Madonna: A Novel

[Esther]

Cherie wrote: "
4. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
/i>

oh... Thanks! I needed a book for that task and my library has it.

[Cherie]

Esther wrote: " The Last Painting of Sara de Vos oh... Thanks! I needed a book for that task and my library has it."

I am glad I could help out!
I have added a couple of your books to my spreadsheet too. ;o)

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 38
2. & 3. Card 24, Entertainment-Nay
4. Fire
★★★★★
5. I read an ebook version from my library. The hc is 334 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The main character has ginger coloured hair (red).
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The MC, a girl named Fire, has red hair. From the book: “Her scarf slipped off and released the shimmering prism of her hair: sunrise, poppy, copper, fuchsia, flame. Red, brighter than the blood soaking the pathway.”
8. Specifications: none.

I really, really loved this second story in the Graceling Realm. The series is labeled as a trilogy, but I see that there is a 4th book due in 2021.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 39
2. & 3. Card 15, Art/Literature-Nay
4. Dog on It
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 305 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The book is written from an animal's point of view.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book is told from the POV of Chet - the dog owned by Bernie, a private investigator.
8. Specifications: none.

I have wanted to read/listen to the Chet and Bernie series for a long time, and this toppler week finally allowed me to fit in the first book in the series. The narrator, Jim Fragione, really makes the audiobook a lot of fun to listen to. I bet he had a blast doing it.

Another one of my owned books is bumped off. I was going to read The Art of Racing in the Rain.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 40
2. & 3. Card 22, Art/Literature-Nay
4. The Island of Dr. Moreau
★★★
5. I read an ebook from my library. The hc is 190 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The genre is classic science fiction.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: Classic and Science Fiction both show in the MBP.
8. Specifications: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

Not my favorite classic science fiction kind of book, but I had wanted to read it for some time, especially after reading The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series books.

The toppler was good for me this week. I got to use four of my five books that I read for this challenge.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 41
2. & 3. Card 6, Geography-Nay
4. Crooked River
★★★★★
5. I read the ebook that I own. The hc is 416 pages.
6. Task Requirement: Book set in Florida.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: Almost all of the action in the story takes place in Florida.
8. Specifications: none

#19 in the series and I still love Pendergast.
I saved this book to read for my "thriller" task, but I decided to bump it to the Florida task after I found another book that I own for that one.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 42
2. & 3. Card 14, Entertainment-Nay
4. The Little Stranger
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 512 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The genre is horror.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: Horror is listed on the MBP.
8. Specifications: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

Janice - You know that horror is not high on my list of favorite genres, but the book was included in a list of titles narrated by Simon Vance and my library had it available. I had planned to read The Green Mile for this task.

I read your review, and I agree that it really added to the story that the author did not do a wrap up and left it to the reader to make their own conclusions. I really did feel sorry for the doctor though.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm almost tempted to read it again to see if I would like it better the second time around.

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 43
2. & 3. Card 18, Sport-Yay
4. Sidetracked
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 432 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The book was translated from another language to English.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book is translated from Swedish. The translator is Steven T. Murray.
8. Specifications: none.

I am not sure why I like the Wallander books so much, but I do. He reminds me of an older Harry Hole. He is a good detective and Mankell writes his thought processes and feelings so well. The characters, even the really bad ones are not easily forgotten. I really like the voice of the books, narrator, Dick Hill. His accent suits the setting and the man at the heart of the stories perfectly.

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 44
2. & 3. Card 6, Entertainment-Nay
4. Robinson Crusoe
★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 320 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The book has the same title as one of Pierce Brosnan's movies.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The 1997 movie staring Pierce Brosnan was based on the book.
8. Specifications: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117496/

If I had not been listening to Simon Vance narrate the book, I am not sure I would have stuck it out.

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 45
2. & 3. Card 25, Geography-Yay
4. Interview with the Vampire
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 342 pages.
6. Task Requirement: Read a book with the same title as one of Brad Pitt's movies.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The 1994 movie staring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise is based on the book.
8. Specifications: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110148/...

Another stellar read by Simon Vance! I am looking forward to the next book, which will be on card 4, as soon as the audiobook is available.

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 46
2. & 3. Card 30, Science-Nay
4. All Systems Red
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 176 pages.
6. Task Requirement: Theme is artificial intelligence..
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book is about a droid that calls himself Murderbot. He is mechanical and clone construct working as a security guard for a company that leases him out to planetary exploration groups. He has become self aware and hacked his restraint bolt protocal.
8. Specifications: none

It was a quick listen, well narrated by Kevin R. Free. My library has all of the next series titles and I have the next on hold and the rest flagged on my wishlist. Another series jumps onto my serial killer list.

[Cherie]

Sorry for throwing three at you all at once, Janice. I did not expect to finish the last one today.

[Esther]

Cherie wrote: "1. Badge 3, Book 46
2. & 3. Card 30, Science-Nay
4. All Systems Red
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The hc is 176 pages.
6. Task Requirement: Theme is artificial..."

I listened to the 4 novellas and loved them all. Murderbot grows on you. I have the 5th, a novel length one, on hold.

[Cherie]

Good to hear, Esther.

[Lucy]

Cherie wrote: "1. Badge 3, Book 45
2. & 3. Card 25, Geography-Yay
4. Interview with the Vampire
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 342 pages.
6. Task Requirement: Read a bo..."

I'm going to be listening to this for the challenge as well, but for the paranormal fantasy task. I didn't even realize the narrator was Simon Vance. BONUS!

[Janice, Moderator]

✔️

[Cherie]

1. Badge 3, Book 47
2. & 3. Card 16, Science-Nay
4. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
★★★★
5. I listened to an audiobook from my library. The pb is 340 pages.
6. Task Requirement: The genre is non-fiction excluding memoir, biography, or autobiography.
7. State how the book fits the criteria: The book is a history of the great plains, the people who lived there, and what happened to them leading up to and during the horrific dust storms of the depression years.
8. Specifications: none.

I had planned to read Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster but the Egan book was available first.

The Egan book is just crushing when you hear about how our government treated the Indians, allowed the slaughter of the buffalo, encouraged settlement, encouraged the farmers to turn over the prairie grass and raise wheat and other grains not native to the lands and then ignored the environmental impact.