Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
WI 20-21 Completed Tasks
10.10 Group ReadsAll the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny
I am kind of sad to have gotten "caught up" on this series! I know there's another one coming, but there was something so satisfying about starting a series with 16 entries and liking it - so much to look forward to! This was a terrific installment - and would work well as a standalone if anyone wanted to dip into the series at this point. Inspector Gamache and family are together in Paris for the birth of his newest granddaughter, when an old family friend is hit by a van and it's not an accident. This leads to a twisty tale of loyalty (real and false), intrigue, lies, and deception. The book was action-packed and thoughtful at the same time, bringing new dimension to some of Gamache's relationships and delivering a surprising set of twists by the end.
+10 task
+10 review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 510
15.9- Name of the GameThe History Boys by Alan Bennett
T=13B- Author born 1934
I=9C-several characters are teachers
N= 6B- play (NaN)
word=TIN
Task=30
NaN=5
Task Total=35
Grand Total= 920
10.1; 10.2; 10.3 (2x); 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; .....; 10.8; 10.9;10.10
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
10.5 AuthorHearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell
Set in the 1960s, this last in the 12-volume series has Nick, now aged around 60, judging a literary prize that brings in characters from the last two volumes. We see students demonstrating, some of them the children or grandchildren of old friends, and a major character comes to a bizarre end.
It struck me how little we discover about Nick’s personal life through this series – almost nothing about his relationship with his wife, and all we’re told about their children is twice “Isobel was expecting a baby” followed by “Isobel had the baby – a boy.” The boys never appear, and we’re told nothing about them, not even their names, while in this book other people’s children play a major part. Nick is one who watches from the sidelines, an observer who puts very little of his own self between the reader and the other characters.
+10 Task (main character Nick is an author)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 25
Season Total: 1810
15.1 Name of the GameA Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
Square 4E - letter E - consecutive same letters in title
Square 6E - letter N - new-to-me author (it's true!)
Square 9B - letter I - set on an island
Square 15B - letter L - literature map (Agatha Christie)
Word = LINE
+15 Task
+5 Before 1996 (pub 1964)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 330
NoTG total: 20
Season Total: 350
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... 10.10
15.1 .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
20.1 20.2 .... 20.4 .... .... 20.7 .... 20.9 20.10
20.4 ScienceAtlas Of Bird Migration: Tracing The Great Journeys Of The World's Birds by Jonathan Elphick
I’ve had this book for many years, but it wasn’t until this task that I finally read it. Luckily, it isn’t information that goes out of date. This book is a nice overview of bird migration (surprise!).
Considering there are now estimated to be 18,000 species of birds in the world, in 82 families; I think the editor did a very credible job of condensing a great deal of information. This is a very accessible book for someone interested in birds (but not a ‘twitcher’); but for the twitcher there are really interesting maps showing migration routes. The editor also highlights one or two species of representative families to illustrate the migratory routes. I think this book is best approached a few (eg. 10) pages at a time. I read about half of it that way, and enjoyed that a bit more than reading straight through (the last half). 3.5*
20 task
10 review
_____
30
Running total: 1225
10.4Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Uh-oh, Murderbot is having emotions?. Well, shit. That won’t end well.
This installment of Muderbot Diaries has the titular bot (currently going by Rin) once again finding themselves helping out dumb, slow humans instead of watching endless media.
Will it never learn? Sigh. And this time it meets a “pet” bot named Miki, hence the feels. For the first time Murderbot is seeing humans care for a machine, instead of using it mercilessly.
For a heartless machine designed to eliminate threats, Murderbot keeps doing things just to be good. And it gets nearly ripped in half every time it does so, but hey better Murderbot than a human right? Humans tend to bleed out rather quickly and give up the ghost.
I listened to this,, and unfortunately the narrator was not quite sarcastic enough for me. And he was male. Murderbot is agender but to me they lean a little femme. I might return to print for the next installment.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total = 20
Season total = 500
20.7 LifetimeMonsieur Lecoq by Émile Gaboriau
This was so much more than I anticipated. It opens with the police patrolling at midnight in one of the most dangerous neigborhoods in Paris. A shriek draws them to a small drinking den where a triple murder has occured. Two men have been shot and the third had his head bashed in. Before the latter dies, he exclaims "Revenge - Lachenour". A man with a revolver is barricaded behind a table. This man professes his innocence. He also refuses to divulge his identity.
One of the police is none other than Lecoq, relatively new on the force. We are given his background. When I read this part I felt this must be the first in the series yet Goodreads shows it as the fourth. Upon investigation, it is the 4th one published. I don't know if Gaboriau provides this same introduction in earlier installments, but I'm hoping to find out!
This novel was originally published in two volumes. The first volume includes the murder and investigation. Although the case did not reach a complete and satisfactory conclusion at the end of this first volume, I was happy with the way it had progressed to that point and looked forward to more of the same in Volume two. Volume two is what provides the reader with the "much more". This second part begins some 35 years or so earlier. For nearly all of it is like reading a novel by Dumas or the like. There is treachery and intrigue. There are families who hate each other and who fill their lives avenging wrongs. It is written marvelously and I had a hard time putting it down. And at the end all is wrapped up and the reader knows all.
A word about this edition: The text says 233 pages. But that 233 pages comes at about 45%, and I'd estimate this to be closer to 500 pages. I'm glad I didn't know that, else I might have chosen something else to read at this particular time and I would have missed out. Without misgivings, I'm happy to give this 5-stars, though where it fits in that group I'm not willing to say.
+20 Task (1869)
+10 Review
+10 LiT (French)
Task total = 40
Season total = 1005
20.3 Post ModernThe Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3 ; 10.4)
Task total = 30
Points total = 730
10.1 ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; .... ; 10.7 ; 10.8 (x2) ; .... ; ....
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; 15.5 ; 15.6 ; 15.7 ; 15.8 ; 15.9 ; 15.10
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; .... ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
20.6 CaribbeanTelex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
Ultimately, I wanted to like this book more than I actually liked it. The book tells the story of Americans in Cuba in the 1950s living their high-imperialism life just as the Cuban revolution begins. There's a lot of interesting stuff happening here about colonialism, imperialism, privilege, and whiteness. And this is the part that I liked and wanted to feel.
But the characters were held at a distance that made it hard to connect with them. The story was told mostly in the past tense, which contributed to the distance. And told from the perspective of the adult looking back/commenting on his own childhood rather than as a lived present. This allowed for more reflection on what he did and didn't realize as a child, but also meant that the reader was in a lot of tell and not as much vivid show.
There were also side stories here that didn't seem to move the narrative forward and were instead used only as vehicles to put in more information about the politics than the main narrators knew about. This felt disjointed and jumbled to me, especially the story of the ex-Nazi and the dancer.
The narrator for the audiobook didn't help the situation. His narration was even and easy on the ears, but not at all exciting and made little effort to differentiate characters or voices.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Prizeworthy
Task total: 35
Grand total: 1025
15.5 The Name of the Game - Round 2Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Square 11B - letter H = historical fiction
Square 5D - letter I = author name no 'i'
Square 15C - letter L = > 400 pgs
Square 15D - letter L = mpg = lgbt
Word = HILL
20 task
____
20
Running total: 1245
20.4 SciencePacking for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
fter a year of finding out “the perilous psychology of isolation and confinement” in our experiences during Covid lockdowns and in a week that Perseverance landed on Mars, this was a fun read. Mary Roach has a way of sharing lots of interesting miscellaneous information on space programs. She serves them up with lots of chuckles. The author interviews astronauts, cosmonauts, biochemists, food scientists, and a myriad of other experts She visits test facilities and training grounds. She lets us in on the real story of space flight with droll humor.
+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 670
15.3 Name of the Game - Round 2Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
Lexile 890
Square 3D - letter A - MPG Adventure
Square 4E - letter D - double letters in author name
Square 7C - letter G - Goodreads author
Word = GAD
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1825
15.1 The Name of the GameSquare 13B - letter T - author born 1930
Square 5D - letter I - no letter I in author name
Square 2E - letter E - END in author last name
Word = TIE
From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell
Task Points: 15
Bonus: 5 (published 1964)
Season Total Points: 120
15.2 The Name of the GameSquare 4D - letter D - title word: death
Square 5E - letter I - author name uses 2 initials
Square 7B - letter G - author name has no G
Word = DIG
Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb
Task Points: 15
Season Total Points: 135
15.3 The Name of the GameSquare 11B - letter H - MPG: Historical Fiction
Square 10D - letter I - title word rhymes with "I" (sky)
Square 4E - letter D - author name has consecutive double letters (RR)
Word = HID
Mother Earth Father Sky by Sue Harrison
Task Points: 15
Bonus: 5 (published 1991)
Season Total Points: 155
15.4 The Name of the GameSquare 7C - letter G - GR Author
Square 16E - letter E - novel has 8+ characters
Square 10C - letter T - MPG: Thriller
Word = GET
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan
Task Points: 15
Season Total Points: 170
I have 2 more books in progress that I hope to finish before the end of the week. Otherwise, this is all that I have read this season.
20.3 Post-ModernThe Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
I recently read Jesus Land: A Memoir, which is a memoir telling the story of a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic where the author and her brother were sent by their parents. That story strongly parallels the story told here of the Dozier School, though this one is state-run and only for boys, and perhaps even worse than the school described in Jesus Land.
Colson Whitehead has written a devastating and masterful story to tell the stories of these students and the horrible experience of this school. He pulls the threads of history to examine the generations of abuse and the way that the culture of the school and it's "discipline" is handed down from father to son. He then pulls back to examine the lasting effects that the school has on it's students--the ways that their lives are permanently damaged, and the ways that some persevere anyway, finding life.
I loved The Underground Railroad, but I think this book outpaces it to be my favorite book by Whitehead.
The narrator for the audiobook is excellent and the book works well in audio format.
Thanks for picking this as a Group Read this season. Seeing everyone reading it encouraged me to pick it up despite it's dark subject.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Prizeworthy
+10 Combo (10.10, 10.6)
Task total: 55
Grand total: 1080
Task 15.07 Name of the GameAccording to goodreads, Pat Barker was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire, The United Kingdom on May 08, 1943
The Eye in the Door (Regeneration #2) (1993) by Pat Barker
Square 9C – Letter I – Title Word: Eye
Square 1D – Letter R – Series name: Regeneration
Square 16A – Letter E – Author born in Europe
Word = IRE
+20 Task
+05 Published 1996 or earlier
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 410 + 25 = 435
20.9 NiecesThe Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora Seed, burdened by her sorrow and regrets, decides to die.
The night she has chosen for this to happen, she wakes up in a library filled with books as far as the eye can see. Every book is a possible life she could be living if she would have changed one little choice. All she has to do now, is pick up the book of the life she'd like to try out to see if it's finally the one she'd like to stay in--but the second she feel disappointment in that life, she fades from it back to the library to open the next book, the next life.
I love this idea. I find the whole string theory/quantum physics/Sliding Doors thing utterly compelling--perhaps because I'm plagued by my own relentless Book of Regrets? or just because I'm a sucker for relatable Sci-fi themes?
Though "sci-fi" might be a bit of a misnomer, I can't think of another way to describe this...it's "sci-fi" in the way that Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series or The Time Traveler's Wife is--no spaceships or computers, no aliens or planet jumping: just a premise based on something that isn't a scientific reality in our world.
I loved this book and was sad when it ended...I wanted it to go on so much longer. Though: had it gone on much longer in the same vein, it certainly would have gotten tiresome. Haig played the premise out the exact right amount of time and ended it satisfactorily. Def a 5-star read for me.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 2070
20.6 CaribbeanClaire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
I read Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak! some 20-odd years ago on the advice of a fellow avid reader I'd met through work...someone who introduced me to In the Time of the Butterflies and The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and so many other books I loved that I was sure I would love those, too. I did not. I don't quite know what it was at the time that didn't work for me--great scott, it was over 20 years ago and I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday--but I just remembered the author's name and the feeling of, "Tried it, didn't like it," associated with it.
Luckily, I decided to try one more time with Claire of the Sea Light. I loved the way the stories of children and their parents are strung together like a pearl necklace and, like a necklace, the two ends finally connect at the end. The first half of the novel, you're a little thrown off as the stories jump from one to another and you get the feeling that it's just a collection of stories of the people in the village of Ville Rose, but the second half starts to tie everything together and you realize how these lives fit together.
It was a 3.75 read for me, rounded up to 4.
+20 Task (set in Haiti)
+10 Review
+10 Combo 10.4, 10.6 (2013)
Task total: 40
Season total: 2110
20.10 - Grand MastersMoonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark
+20 task (2000)
Task total: 20
Grand total: 800
15.4 Name of the Game - Round 2Policing South Wales Docks: An Illustrated History by Viv Head
Square 9B - letter I - set on an island (Great Britain)
Square 11C - letter H - author name begins with H
Square 12B - letter S - page count 75-199
Word = HIS
+15 Task
+ 5 Non-fiction
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1845
10.5 Author The Tenant by Katrine Engberg
This was a thoroughly satisfying book 1 to a mystery series - I hope there are others and that they too get translated to English! I'm not sure it's worth learning Danish for, but definitely worth reading in English. The mystery revolves around a murder in an apartment building owned by Esther, a mystery author and retired professor. Esther realizes that the murder was a copy of one that took place in a manuscript she was writing, one that only her fellow writing group members had access to. Needless to say, this raises the detectives' alarms, but both fellow writers have alibis. As the investigation proceeds, there are family secrets and unraveling lies and plenty of red herrings, and great characters across the board. Esther, one of the writers at the heart of the story, is particularly intriguing to see how the author develops her personality and her role in the story.
+10 task (two of the main characters are authors and the plot revolves around their writing)
+10 Lost in Translation (translated from Danish)
+10 review
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 540
10.7 La Nina (Valerie's Task)Hard Rain by Irma Venter
I won the Kindle edition of this book recently on Good Reads Giveaways. Since most of the books I acquire this way and decide to read turn out to be clunkers....I didn't expect much with this one.... but it fit this category. The premise of the book has two journalists meeting in Tanzania to report on torrential floods causing havoc in the country. The journalists initiate an affair which quickly becomes problematic for various reasons. The narrative is told alternately by the two main characters....a device I'm not usually fond of, but it worked well here.
So, I landed up hooked. A mystery...not through the eyes of any detective...although there is one prominent detective involved....but through two of the people involved. I noticed that Joanna also read this book....and I agree with her assessment that I would definitely read the next book if this turns into a series....which the ending left as a possibility. 3 1/2 stars.
Task=10
Review=10
LiT=10
Combo= 10 (10.4, 10.5*)
(*Note....both main characters are journalists, one is a photo-journalist while the other is a reporter. I'm claiming the combo points for the reporter for 10.5....but not sure if that is what you intended for a "writer". If not, I understand. But if so, Joanna should also get an extra 5 points.)
Task Total=40
Grand Total= 1000
RwS Finish bonus=100
New Grand Total= 1100
10.1; 10.2; 10.3 (2x); 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9;10.10
15.1; 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
20.8 TravelWhen Asia Was the World by Stewart Gordon
For another challenge I'm in, we needed to read a book about the Silk Road...I don't think this book would have been on my radar *at all* had it not been for that task.
I'm ever amazed (and disheartened) at the poor state of public education in the U.S....perhaps not the whole U.S., but certainly the education I received. In all the world history classes I've ever attended, we'd covered the ancient Greeks and Romans, maybe mentioned ancient Egypt, discussed a bit of the Dark Ages then head straight into the Renaissance. The only mention of the Asiatic and Middle Eastern cultures and their influence on modern day learning (specifically in the sciences and mathematics) is entirely glossed over.
While this may not have been my favorite book ever (at times it read like a dry history book, despite the author's framing of each chapter as following a different historical figure's travels and studies), I loved the things that I learned...things like: the importance of paper in the spreading of ideas (duh! makes total sense...also something I never really considered); in a garbage dump outside of Cairo, they've found swatches of cloth that have been dated to the 13th-14th century; and, "Like Buddhism, Islam demanded personal travel for spiritual development and learning." I love that it's a tenet of the religion to travel! To learn by getting out in the world and experiencing new things in order to change and mold one's mind and soul.
This was a compelling look at the confluence of religion, science, trade, and culture over a millennia. Great for a lover of history.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 2140
The readerboard says that it is updated to 850 but it doesn't seem to have included my post 818 where I claimed my mega finish. Was there a problem with that post, or have I missed out a task?I would be glad to know ASAP in case I have to read another book before Sunday! :)
Rosemary wrote: "The readerboard says that it is updated to 850 but it doesn't seem to have included my post 818 where I claimed my mega finish. Was there a problem with that post, or have I missed out a task?I w..."
It appears Kate has recorded all 30 tasks for you (plus some). She has the database now, but I'm not sure what stage of entering tasks and reviewing scores she is. I know that before finalizing the Readerboard at end of season, she spends extra time ensuring it is as correct and complete as she can make it.
20.5 AfricaThe Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
The Goodreads description gives us the bare necessity of understanding what this short novel is about. When Michael K is born with a harelip and apparently somewhat simple he is sent to live in a government institution. When he is turned out into society he becomes a gardener. He becomes close to his mother at this time and when she asks to be returned to her home upcountry, he endeavors to help her. The country has become embroiled in a civil war. Michael K and his mother are not able to get the proper permits to travel within the country. They must try to avoid the police. The story is much deeper than this as can be expected from this author.
In the beginning, I did not easily adjust to Coetzee's writing style. More particularly it wasn't what I remembered of him and that I liked so much in his Disgrace. I thought there were too many declarative sentences and that it was not especially interesting. On reflection, that may have been Coetzee's way of describing a life that was routine and uninteresting. Later, I underscored a couple of sentences that had both meaning and were more what I remembered of the way Coetzee writes.
Between this reason and the truth that he would never announce himself, however, lay a gap wider than the distance separating him from the firelight. Always, when he tried to explain himself to himself, there remained a gap, a hole, a darkness before which his understanding baulked, into which it was useless to pour words. The words were eaten up, the gap remained. His was always a story with a hole in it: a wrong story, always wrong.The novel is told in 3 sections. The first and the third are told in third person and about Michael K. The second part is interesting in a different way, in that it is told in the first person by a doctor who is treating Michael K. The third part is very short - only 15 pages in the edition I read. I have to admit I'm not sure what Coetzee was doing for his ending. Maybe he had told all of the story he had in him, but felt he needed to do something to wrap it up. Maybe others will see it differently, but I think he failed in this "wrapping up". If felt as if he tried to do both too much and too little, if that is possible.
The last half of the first long section and the section told by the doctor is the best of this. It approaches 5-star territory. The ending brings it down - and abruptly - to the lower parts of 4-stars. Still very much worth reading. I am glad I have more Coetzee to read.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.3, 20.3)
+15 Prize Worthy
Task total = 55
Season total = 1060
15.10Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
DEW
4E - D, 2C - E, 8B - W
+45 task
+100 Finish
+100 3 4+ letter words (15.2 rigs, 15.3 gents, 15.6 lied, 15.9 shirt)
Task total = 245
Season total = 745
Phew! Wasn’t sure I’d finish any challenge this round.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "It appears Kate has recorded all 30 tasks for you (plus some). She has the database now, but I'm not sure what stage of entering tasks and reviewing scores she is. I know that before finalizing the Readerboard at end of season, she spends extra time ensuring it is as correct and complete as she can make it."Thank you, Elizabeth! I know Kate will check when she reads this, but it is good to know that all the tasks have been recorded. I've also been through this thread and checked that I have claimed everything.
The readerboard does seem to include the task points for post 818, but not the claim for RwS and Mega finish. So we have a 300 point discrepancy, but it looks like I am OK to carry on reading whatever I want now :)
10.4 Valentine's DaySelf-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again by Norah Vincent
To investigate the different ways that people treat men and women, Norah Vincent disguised herself as Ned Vincent. She is not transsexual but a lesbian who was always a “tomboy,” physically tall and not the most feminine-looking of women, so she thought it would not be too hard. In fact, as far as appearance went she was fine, but psychologically it was more challenging than she expected.
The experiences she chose are interesting, and she is good at seeing and owning a lot of her prejudices. However, I couldn’t really enjoy this because I felt there was an element of resentment or even spite that coloured her interactions with the people she deceived. For example ‘Ned’ persuaded one of his new buddies to go to strip clubs while the man's wife was dying of cancer. Not exactly a kind thing to do, either for the man, who must have felt horribly guilty, or his wife. Then Vincent is vicious in her descriptions of the monks she visited and the straight women she dated as Ned. This kind of thing made it an uncomfortable read, although it always held my interest.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season Total: 1865
10.4 Valentine'sBlood Sisters by Kim Yideum
+10 Task
+10 LiT (Korean -> English)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 350
NoTG total: 20
Season Total: 370
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... 10.10
15.1 .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
20.1 20.2 .... 20.4 .... .... 20.7 .... 20.9 20.10
10.4 - ValentineThe Erotic Secrets of a French Maid by Lisa Cach
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 830
20.10 Grand MasterMaigret in Court by Georges Simenon
The novel opens with Maigret in the witness room waiting to testify. He is not at ease, but apparently he feels that way each time he testifies. Court proceedings are different than in the US and it is the Judge (Magistrate) who asks the questions. It is all very matter of fact. We learn of the crime - a double murder - and the investigation. And then, while in the witness chair, Maigret drops a bombshell.
I'll just say outright that I think this is my favorite Maigret so far. I remarked to myself about halfway that there were parts of this that had more of Simenon's noirish feel as in his roman durs. It reminded me that I should get after another of those.
Anyway, I am obviously not reading Maigret in order (I have read 6 others and this is #55) and I won't pretend that one ought to do so. All the same, though there are another nearly 20 in the series, there is every indication that Maigret is nearing the end of his career. I'll be happy to read more of them, but probably intentionally avoid reading #75 until I've read the others. I don't want him to retire - ever. I try save the harder noir novels for my 5-stars, so this is among the better of the 4-star group.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 LiT (French)
Task total = 40
Season total = 1100
15.10 Name of the GamePoint-Less: An English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading by Sarah M Zerwin
Square 13D - letter T - title has to/too/two
Square 11D - letter H - published in 2020
Square 2D - letter E - 8 word title
Square 6E - letter N - new to you author
Word = THEN
+45 Task
+5 Non-fiction
+100 Completion Bonus
+100 3 or more 4 letter words (yeah, tiny, tile, then)
Post Total: 250
Season Total: 790
10.10 Group ReadsHamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
I love when a writer's curiosity about one random question becomes the spark for a fireworks-show of a novel. In this case: why did Shakespeare never mention "the Pestilence" (the Bubonic plague which took between a quarter and a third of the population of Elizabethan London) in any of his writing? and, what was the cause of Hamnet Shakespeare's death? From this simple query comes one of the most adeptly crafted novels I've read this year.
I love that the focus of the novel is on Agnes (Anne Shakespeare...whose father, in his will, calls her "Agnes," thus the author's use of the alternate name) and their children. The famous writer himself is a bit of a black hole, always away from the family, never there when he's needed. I love that the author doesn't name him--not once!--in the entire novel...he's always "the lad," "the tutor," "the husband," "the glover's son," "the father," etc. His sense of removal from the family is reinforced by not naming him.
I love the fact that Agnes is depicted as a bit of a witchy woman. She's adept with herbs and potions (view spoiler) and it's nice to think that maybe he wrote her into some of his plays, with witches and magic to spare.
I loved, loved, loved this book!
+10 Task (great recommendation, Karen Michele!)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.5)
+10 Prizeworthy
Task total: 40
+100 RwS Finish
+200 MegaFinish
Season total: 2480
20.9 NiecesBooks for Living by Will Schwalbe
Will Schwalbe shares his love of books in a thoughtful, personal way in "Books for Living." He chose a group of books that spoke to him when he needed them, or opened his eyes to see the world and life a little differently. The book that he turns to most often is "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang which was written in 1937. It showed him the importance of slowing down, enjoying periods of contemplation, and appreciating literature and nature. He highlighted an essay on the enjoyment of laying in bed thinking, napping, and listening to music.
The children's book, "Stuart Little," taught him about searching and going on a quest. A kind librarian put a copy of "Giovanni's Room" in his hands when he was a gay young man in high school. "The Gifts of the Body" was important when he was losing friends to AIDS. Anne Lamont's "Bird by Bird" is a reminder to break tasks into pieces to avoid being overwhelmed. I had never given any thought that the same author, Herman Melville, wrote both "Bartleby, the Scrivener" about quitting, and "Moby Dick" about Captain Ahab never giving up his pursuit of the whale. Sometimes it is better for our mental health, physical well-being, or financial security to quit and take a new path. Although the author mentions around a hundred books, there are twenty-six essays about an individual book.
"Books for Living" is a memoir as well as a book about books. Will Schwalbe uses a warm conversational tone that draws the reader in. I rarely reread books, but I'm keeping this treasure on my shelf to read again.
+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.4 Valentine's
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 590
10.5 AuthorThe Tenant by Katrine Engberg
I saw the review of this book by Katie. It seemed to be just what I was looking for and the audiobook was available from my library. The book kept me nicely distracted for a couple of days.
Delightfully complex characters and plot. A young woman is gruesomely murdered in her Copenhagen apartment. Her landlord, and upstairs neighbor, is implicated when it appears that a book she is writing is used as the script for the murder. The police investigation is lead by a man, Korner, who is returning to duty after a devastating marital break up. He and his unlikely partner face a challenging and frustrating case.
Skillfully written with plenty of suspense.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 LIT
Task total: 30
Season total: 700
15.5 The Name of the GameSquare 1B - letter R - 10K+ ratings (10,582)
Square 3E - letter A - published 1870 (1866-1913)
Square 13E - letter T - title = name of character
Word = RAT
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
Task Total: 20
Bonus: 5 (Published 1870)
Season Total: 195
20.10 Grand Master (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s Task)Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
Task Total: 20 (List: 1955)
Season Total: 215
This completes my posting.
20.2 JazzSummer Lightning by P.G. Wodehouse
In the preface to this book the author writes,
A certain critic... made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained 'all the old Wodehouse characters under different names.' He has probably now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled the man this time by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.In fact this doesn't contain anyone from the world of Jeeves and Wooster, so if that is how you have come to Wodehouse you will not find the same characters. But in 1929 he was known for other works, and most of the characters here, even the prize pig Empress of Blandings, had appeared in other stories. Here they are brought together in a typical Wodehouse plot set at Blandings Castle that sees scurrilous memoirs being written, a battleaxe aunt putting obstacles in the path of true love, and the kidnapping of the aforementioned pig.
+20 Task (pub 1929, set 1920s)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 35
Season Total: 1900
15.8 Name of the GameDeath in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye
Square 1C - letter R - MPG: Romance
Square 3C - letter A - Author born in August
Square 5E - letter I - Initially: Author publishes with 2 or more initials. (MM)
Square 4D - letter D - Title Word: Dead, Deadly, Death, Detective (Death)
Word = RAID
+15 Task
+ 5 Pub'd 1996 and earlier (1953)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 910
20.8 TravelGhosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and its Silent Past by Giles Tremlett
This year of pandemic isolation has been quite difficult. One of the ways that I've made it through is by planning exciting vacations for the distant future and hoping that by then I'll be released from my house. Around December, we bought plane tickets to travel to Madrid and Lisbon in late June. I'm still hoping that trip will be possible. As part of fantasizing about being in Madrid instead of Missouri, especially in the coldest, darkest Februariest of Februarys, I picked up this book on Spain and Spanish history.
Through the beginning chapters, I was absorbed by the writer's experience as a British man married to a Spanish woman living in Spain and viewing the culture and history as a semi-outsider. The discussion of the continued trauma of Franco and the still not reconciled history was fascinating. But as the book wore on, I started to doubt the author's authority. He started generalizing about all of Spain based on a couple of strip clubs and a study about attitudes to prostitution.
By the end of the book, I had to force myself to trudge through. But still, it's served its purpose of helping me imagine myself not snowed in and social distancing and instead think of eating dinner on a warm late night while listening to flamenco singers.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 1110
+100 RWS finish
+200 Mega finish
Grand total: 1410
20.6 CaribbeanThe Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson
What a pleasure to read a novel with a compelling narrative that propels you forward!
This is a story about two sisters (one 16, the other 10), from New York City, who are in Barbados to spend the summer of 1989 with their Grandmother. As the story unfolds we learn about their life with their mentally ill Mother (and absent Father). Not surprisingly, the 16 year old can not stand being in a tiny close-knit community with minimal amenities and having to follow her Grandmother’s rules. The ten year old is happier to be in Bird Hill with her Grandmother.
Over the course of the summer, events happen (involving both their Mother and their Father) that will shape the sister’s lives going forward. These events are ‘off-page’, but pivotal. As a result both sisters will end up with true understanding of ‘family’ and community.
Jackson writes very lovingly and evocatively of Barbados. It has been about 18 years since I’ve been there, but her description brought it all back. 4*
20 task
10 review
5 combo 10.4
_____
35
Running total: 1280
100% set in Barbados, so this country is green now!
Task 10.4 Valentine'sIn honor of Valentine's Day, read any book whose title begins with the letters in CHERUBS. Leading articles may be ignored.
Storybound (2020) by Emily McKay (Goodreads Author) (Young Adult)
No Lexile Score for this YA novel. I think it would be 800L-1000L range, but no score means no score, so no “styles” for this post.
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 435 + 10 = 445
20.8 TravelJourney to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Lexile 860
When orphaned Maia learns that she will be sent to the shores of the Amazon to live with distant relatives, she is thrilled. But when she arrives, accompanied by a kind but stern governess, things are not as she imagined. The family is not welcoming, and she is not allowed to speak to any of the indigenous people. Then she sneaks out on her own and meets a strange boy who takes her down the river in a canoe and will change her whole experience in Brazil.
I loved this and literally couldn’t put it down – read it straight through from start to finish. The characters are wonderful, and hope is found in the unlikeliest of events.
+20 Task (locked in)
+10 Review
+ 5 Prizeworthy
Task total: 35
Season Total: 1935
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Gods of Jade and Shadow (other topics)The Inn (other topics)
Rogue Protocol (other topics)
The Inn (other topics)
The Escape (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (other topics)James Patterson (other topics)
Martha Wells (other topics)
James Patterson (other topics)
David Baldacci (other topics)
More...
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
77 times
YA on BPL but No Lexile available yet
+20 Task
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 320
Season Total: 2,315