Reading with Style discussion
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WI 20-21 Completed Tasks
15.4 - Name of the gameAn Ivy Hill Christmas by Julie Klassen
Square 7C - Letter G - Goodreads Author
Square 1C - Letter R - MPG: Romance
Square 5D - Letter I - Author name has no letter I
Square 4E - Letter D - Double Trouble: Title or author name has consecutive letters that are the same (double ss)
Word Grid
Task total: 15
Season Total: 265
15.5 - Name of the gameIn the Lion's Den by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Square 7B - Letter G - Author name has no letter G
Square 5C - Letter I - Title word: In, Inn, Into
Square 1E - Letter R - Series name includes the letter R (House of Falconer)
Square 15D - Letter L - An author's last or most recent novel
Word - GIRL
Task - 20
Season - 285
15.6 - Name of the gameSizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
Square 10E - Letter T - Title has no "The"
Square 1B - Letter R - Ratings: 10K plus
Square 14D - Letter Y - MPG: Mystery
Word - Try
Task - 20
Season - 305
20.3 Post ModernDisgrace by J.M. Coetzee
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.3 Winter / 20.5 Africa
+10 Award Booker Prize (1999) Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book Overall (2000)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 195
20.7 LifetimeNovember by Gustave Flaubert
+20 Task
+10 Lost in Translation (French)
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 245
20.10 Grand MasterBeast In View by Margaret Millar
The book opens with a phone call that in this day and age we would describe as coming from a stalker. Published in 1955, I don't think the term had yet been invented, but that is what immediately came to mind. Helen Clarvoe had become sort of reclusive and getting a call from an unknown was more than a bit unsettling. This is short enough that, even as slow a reader as I am, I managed to read it in just a few hours and telling more would wander into spoiler territory. Others would make a quick afternoon of it.
This is simply superb psychological fiction. I must not travel in the right circles as Millar has come to my attention only fairly recently. Certainly she is in the same league as Patricia Highsmith. I see Vera Caspary on her GR "similar" authors link. Dorothy B. Hughes should be there. These are all women writing dark psychological fiction at more or less the same time.
Beast In View was awarded the Edgar for Best Novel in 1956. It gets a very rare 5-star award from me.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
+ 5 Prize Worthy
Task total = 40
Season total = 245
15.8 Name of the GameThe Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Square 12E - letter S – MPG Science fiction
Square 11D - letter H – Hot off the press – published 2020
Square 14C - letter Y– Author’s first name ends in Y
Word = SHY
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 245
20.4 ScienceProust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf
This book has a wide remit: everything about how our brains read, from the development of the earliest writing systems to what happens in cases of dyslexia. I thought that the early parts were covered very well, but it diverged in the middle, and the section on dyslexia didn't seem very practical or well supported with facts. For example the author fell into the fallacy of jumping from "some famous artists and architects were dyslexic" to "people with dyslexia make better artists and architects". Actually, we need to know what proportion of artists and architects are dyslexic, and what is the prevalence of dyslexia in the population, before we can reach that conclusion.
However, some of it was eye-opening for me. I didn't know that, while our brains are designed for learning spoken language, they are not designed for reading. Children must be taught to read (if they seem to pick it up by themselves, it's because they've been taught unintentionally by being read to a lot) and their brains create new pathways in the process. And those pathways are different depending on whether the words they learn to read are written in an alphabet (with a symbol for each consonant and vowel), a system with a symbol for each syllable like Japanese kana, or a representational writing system like Chinese. I found all of this fascinating.
+20 Task (approved in thread)
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season Total: 195
10.3 WinterAmerican Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID-19 by John Fabian Witt
Review: An interesting look at Public Health and the law in the US. Here are some of the things that I learned that are helping me think about Covid-19.
The Constitution puts “police” powers in the hands of states. So although much of the current expertise resides in the Federal government, it is generally up to the states to promulgate the rules and enforce them. The courts both at the state and federal level have acknowledged that power but have also said that the rules have to be logical and non discriminatory. (Not that it has always worked out that way.)
Over centuries there have been two general paths to protecting the public health. One the author designates “sanitarinism” which includes things like building codes, inoculations, education, providing good sewage, garbage collection and safe drinking water. The other path he calls “quarantinism” which leans on isolation and punishment. He indicates that Covid-19 has caused this debate to re-ignite along with debates over individual rights vs. the health of all.
The book also discusses the divides that epidemics highlight along racial/ethnic and wealth lines.
This is a light overview of history and law. I would only recommend to readers who are interested in the topic.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 130
10.3 WinterLessons From Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog by Dave Barry
Review: Dave Barry is a boomer as I am. It is only now that I realize this that I understand why his writing has resonated for me. We are having similar experiences at roughly the same time. So when he turned 70, he sat down to try to figure out why his aging family dog was living a happy life and he was not. So with characteristic Barry humor, he tells us the lessons he has learned like live in the present, keep having fun, make new friends and keep the old. Although this was published in 2019, for me, the lessons also apply for all of us during covid.
The last chapter is the first time I have read Barry with tears that were not from laughter. In it he tells the story of his teen-aged daughter’s serious illness. He takes a last lesson of gratitude for what he has.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 150
10.7 La NinaThe Dry by Jane Harper
The heat and the drought play a major role in this mystery set in a fictional farm town in Australia. The whole time I was reading this I kept thinking who would put up with this (both the weather and the town)? Both are overwhelmingly oppressive.
The town of Kiewarra is the town that Aaron Falk was born in and partially raised in, until he and his father were ‘run out of town’. Falk is now a Federal agent who investigates financial crimes. He returns to Kiewarra to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend whose parents then ask him to investigate the death(s). He reluctantly agrees and is drawn into the whole complicated web.
I really enjoyed this mystery. Harper is very skillful at laying on the atmosphere and then cranking it up a notch. The terrible crime has happened before the story opens but you feel as if something else (bad) is going to happen. Everyone is on edge. The main character, Aaron Falk, is interesting and this novel is probably his backstory for the series. He is the sort of anti-hero hero I like in these type of mystery novels. I can imagine Dick Francis writing him. I will definitely read the next instalment and hope she comes out with #3 soon. 4*
10 task
10 review
15 prize
5 combo 10.3
_____
40
Running total: 305
10.8 Lunar (Tien's Task)Openly Bob by Bob Smith
pub. 1997
This was a re-read for me....but I didn't realize that until I had read a few chapters....so, there's that. I should have remembered having read it because it does offer light entertainment. Written before gay marriage was legal, the book focuses mostly on the author's relationship with his partner...his partner's parents and their mutual friends. The author is an aspiring comic actor...having little success in the beginning in New York. He offers a few humorous stories about parts that he interviews for. In the meantime, he survives by being a waiter for a catering company. He also has an interesting chapter about birdwatching in Central Park. Nothing earth shattering here...but an enjoyable read... and I think the author would be a wonderful person to have as a friend.
Task=10
Review=10
Task Total=20
Grand Total= 90
....; ....; ....; ....;....; ....; 10.7; ....; .....; ....;
15.1; 15.2
....; ....; .....; .....; .....; .....; .....; 20.8; .....; .....;
From Post 150Coralie wrote: "10.3 Winter
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season Total: 150"
+5 Prize-worthy
Joanna wrote: "I'm already wanting to move a book.In post 139, I claimed Followers for 15.3 NotG.
Instead, I'd like to move it to 10.5 (see below).
This also means that Post 170 should be 15.3..."
I believe I got this all moved correctly.
From Post 189Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.4 Valentine's
Handle with Careby Jodi Picoult
I love Jodi Piccoult. I have read several of her books and they are never what you think they will be about. In this..."
+5 Combo 10.3
20.10 Grand Master (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
+20 Task (1978)
+5 Combo (10.3 Daphne)
Points this post: 25
RwS total: 105
NoTG total: -
Season Total: 105
.... .... .... .... 10.5 10.6 10.7 .... .... 10.10
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 20.10
10.4 ValentinesShadow Rider by Christine Feehan
I wanted something fast and simple so I e-borrowed this romance. Of course I picked one with disturbing themes of gaslighting the whole world by the enemy and flat out rolling over the woman's wishes, although it is in her best interests overall, by the domineering hero. And of course the woman then learns to work with it and around it and love it. Sigh. I don't remember the "white knight" thing being so disturbing when I was younger. I even remember somewhat similar scenarios feeling reassuring. Maybe it was the way this particular one was presented, with the point of view of how justified it was and how much of a light the woman was to the man. Or maybe it was me changing. But I do remember having read Christine Feehan before and not really bothering to follow her books back when I read more romances, so maybe it's her typical approach. The book did give the rush of an unrealistic fast moving romance thriller that I was lopking for and I might even read the next one in the series and see if the brothers are less problematic.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 405
10.3 WinterTroubles by J.G. Farrell
Major Brendan Archer, released from the army at the end of the First World War, half-heartedly seeks out the woman who considers herself engaged to him, whose father owns a rundown hotel in Ireland. The engagement comes to an untimely end, but the Majestic and its inhabitants and neighbours draw him back, and he witnesses the slow crumbling of the hotel alongside the crumbling of British rule in Ireland. The storm of Irish protest becomes more and more violent, and yet no one can seem to leave.
Slow-moving at first, but picking up in the second half, this belated winner of the "lost" 1970 Booker prize has elements of black comedy and tragedy. The hotel, with its old ladies, its falling masonry, its piglets and peacocks and carpet of feral cats, is the most vividly drawn character, while the human characters appear bemused and paralysed in its grip.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Prizeworthy, 2 prizes
Task total: 30
Season Total: 225
20.7 LifetimeThe Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
A cosy and undemanding Victorian Christmas story. Sir John Penlyon, turned grumpy by the loss in different ways of his two daughters, finds Christmas unappealing until his niece suggests hiring some children to cheer up his large house for the holiday. Of course they have to be "nice" children, not any of the local ruffians, so his friend suggests some children he knows of who would be ideal.
This is short by the standards of the time, with a serving of melodrama. I got a little tired of the too-cute Moppet, but I didn't mind the predictable plot and enjoyed listening to this as an audiobook read by Jennifer Saunders.
+20 Task (1894)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 35
Season Total: 260
15.8 Name of the GameWhen Calls the Heart by Janette Oke
Square 8C - letter W - "when" in title
Square 16C - letter E - published in the eighties (1983)
Square 13B - letter T - author born in the thirties (1935)
Word = WET
+30 Task
+5 published 1996 or earlier
Task total: 35
Season total: 175
Task 10.03 WinterIn honor of December, January, and February, read any book by an author whose first name begins with a D, J or F.
The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories (2020) by Danielle Evans (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 269 pages)
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 160 + 10 = 170
10.5 AuthorA Breath of Life by Clarice Lispector
+10 Task
+5 combo (10.4)
+10 Lost in Translation
Task total = 25
Season Total: 275
15.9 Name of the GameThe Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
Square 4B - letter D – Debut novel
Square 8D - letter O – Wild Card
Square 15D - letter L– Author’s latest novel
Square 15E – letter L – MPG: LGBT
Word = DOLL
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 305
20.4 ScienceAquagenesis: The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea by Richard Ellis
Not a bad way to close out this reading year. This is probably the hardest science book that I've read outside of a science class. The first hundred pages, in particular, were something of a slog. The book is meticulously referenced, which is academically sound, but makes for a more difficult reading experience as a typical sentence says, "As Smith and Wesson (1992) found, blah blah blah." For the first hundred or so pages, there's a meticulous description of all the prehistoric non-vertebrate sea life for which we have a fossil record. This is fascinating stuff in its own way, but was largely inaccessible to this non-biologist/paleontologist. When I was a college student, I briefly enrolled in a class called Biology of Fishes. The class was way over my head and I had to drop out, but I'm sure I would have learned stuff in that class that would have helped me interpret this book.
Once we moved on to vertebrates, I was more engaged and found the reading absolutely engrossing. By that point, I'd also become more accustomed tot he scientific references and felt more able to breeze through them.
I'd recommend this book, particularly if you can bring yourself to just skip the first section if you aren't tremendously interested in invertebrate fossils. But the description of the development of land animals (and then the return of land animals to the sea) is amazing. I was that annoying person who kept saying to my family, "Hey, did you know that whales are more closely related to elephants than fish?" and "Wow, there's a really interesting theory that humans have an aquatic or semi-aquatic ancestor that we haven't really discovered."
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 220
10.9 - Kindred by Octavia E. ButlerWell, that was an experience. One of the lovely things about reading is that you get to experience things that you could and would never have the ability to in real life and Kindred is definitely one of those books. I think the most striking thing in the whole story is the main character’s realization of how *easy* it was for her own people to fall into the trap of slavery, just to ‘go along to get along’ and for her as a modern woman to realize just how slippery a slope she herself was on. It was a disturbing, but enlightening, read for me.
+10 task
+15 combo (10.5 - both main characters; 20.1 - #14, 20.3)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 35
10.5 - Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler - main character writes the religious text for EarthseedThe Parable of the Talents was rather disturbing at points. Even though it was written twenty years ago, it had, at times, a prescience that kind of gave me chills. There were points of the book that, very like The Handmaid’s Tale, seemed all too like the current political situation. There were times that I actually STOPPED reading in order to read a passage aloud to my boyfriend because it was a little too spot on and it kind of freaked me out. It was very well written, other than the fact that the ending was rather abrupt. It seemed like she just… ran out of story.
+10 task
+10 combo (10.9 - #4; 20.3)
+5 award-winner (1999 Nebula)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 70
20.5 - The Plague by Albert Camus - set in AlgeriaThe Plague is a VERY interesting story to read in the context of the COVID epidemic. The more I read, the more I found the characters’ reactions and responses familiar – almost exactly what we see happening day to day now! It’s rather surreal. The only problem I found with this book is not even a problem, per se – it’s just something that others *may* have issues with. Personally, I *like* wordy sentences, as long as they actually say something. That said, Camus has a penchant for…. running on at the pen. Lots of paragraph-long sentences with half a dozen clauses make for some challenging reading.
+20 task
+5 combo (10.5 - one character is a journalist, another a writer)
+10 Lost in Translation (originally written in French)
+5 award winner (Prix des Critiques 1947)
+10 review
Task total: 50
Season total: 120
15.7 - Name of the game$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer
Square 13D - Letter T - Title words of To, Too, or Two
Square 11C - Letter H - Author's first or last name begins with H
Square 2D - Letter E - A book with an 8 (or better) word title.
Square 6D - Letter N - Title has a number (all forms)
Word - THEN
Bonus (NaN) - 5
Task - 20
Task Total - 25
Season - 330
Kim wrote: "15.7 - Name of the game$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin
Square 3B - Letter A - Set in a country beginning with the letter A
Squa..."
Kim, I'm sorry, but our country name is United States of America which starts with a U. Have you used the Wild Card?
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Kim wrote: "15.7 - Name of the game$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin
I haven't, but let me think on how I want to do this. There were some other letter options available, too.
10.2 ChristmasGoldfinger by Ian Fleming
Well, another fun instalment in the Bond series. This is definitely one where I had seen the movie, but not read the book. I kept hearing Shirley Bassey singing the theme song for the first third of the book!
It has all the classic Bond touchstones – a fantastic tricked out fast car, beautiful women (who unfortunately have a knack for getting killed), a genius bad guy, and Bond using his wits to outsmart the bad guy. But wait – never mind the nominal bad guy (Goldfinger) the best bad guy thug is OddJob – you do not want to mess with him. Even Bond was nervous of OddJob. It is a complicated story, with action taking place throughout Europe and into the US (with mentions of Mexico and Canada along the way).
As with all of Fleming’s Bond books it is a product of its times. There is racism and sexism, so if that’s something you are particularly sensitive to this novel isn’t for you. 4*
10 task
10 review
____
20
Running total: 325
10.4 Valentine’s The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
+10 Task
+5 Prize-worthy (BookNest award for Best Debut Novel)
+5 Jumbo (544 pages)
Task total = 20
Season Total: 325
15.8 - Name of the gameEllen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
Square 13B - Letter S - Page count 75-199
Square 17C - Letter E - Pub'd in the Eighties - any century (1987)
Square 10E - Letter T - Title includes the name of a character.
Word - SET
Bonus Pub'd 1996 and earlier - 5
Task - 30
Task Total - 35
Season - 365
15.1 The Name of the GameThe Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays by Martin McDonagh
Square 4E - Letter D - Leenane - Consecutive Letter
Square 9E - Letter I - Set in Ireland
Square 1E- Letter R - Series Name - The Leenane Trilogy
Square 16B - Letter E - Author Born in Ireland
Word - DIRE
+15 Task
Bonus - Not a Novel - 5
Task Total: 20pts
Grand Total: 115pts
20.2 JazzThe Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf
I loved the premise of this. After the Revolution, the Soviets began appropriating the property of the more affluent citizens. Ippolit Matveyevich's mother-in-law feared they would take her jewels and so, without telling anyone, she hid them in one of the dining room chairs. Subsequently, all of the furniture was appropriated. She revealed the secret on her deathbed. Ippolit decided to take a 2-week vacation from his civil service job in search of the jewels, anticipated to be worth tens of thousands of roubles. Soon after he meets up with Ostap Bender, a young man who lives by his wits and who has no moral compass.
It isn't often where you get to root for the con artists. Only in the way of con artists, it made me think of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "The Sting". I was happy to follow Ostap and Ippolit in their quest, but with reservations.
I think a lot of the humor is "inside baseball" - the type that you have to understand the circumstances to get the joke. There were lots of names, for example, that I think had time-specific or culture-specific meaning. I felt certain there was a joke there, I just didn't get it. I did get the intention of some of the jokes poking at the corruption/ineptness of government employees. I felt that the citizens had started to accept that life was just that way so might as well poke fun. Frankly, this was hard for *me* to accept. And then there were chapters that I thought were just filler.
This specific edition was poorly formated. On the good side, there were not a lot of typos or OCR errors. I think I would have always wondered about this title, so I'm glad I read it. But I wanted it to be shorter and that ended up overriding the good premise of the novel. In the end, just a pretty blah 3-stars.
+20 Task (takes place in 1927)
+10 Review
+10 Translated
+ 5 Prize Worth (some Russian prize?)
Task total = 45
Season total = 290
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.
Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen (2009) by Mark Rudd (Hardcover, 336 pages) [Biography/921]
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.8 published 2009)
Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15
Grand Total: 170 + 15 = 185
15.6 Name of the GameYou Don't Know Me by David Klass
(Lexile 970)
Square 1C - letter R - MPG Romance
Square 10E - letter T - title has no "the"
Square 14E - letter Y - title words "you, your, you're, yore"
Word = TRY
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 280
15.7 Name of the GameComeback by Dick Francis
Square 7B - letter G - author name has no G
Square 15B - letter L - literature map (Agatha Christie)
Square 16B - letter E - author born in Europe (UK)
Word = LEG
+20 Task
+ 5 Pre-1996 (1991)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 305
10.2 ChristmasRing by Kōji Suzuki
#60 on the Only Watched The Movie
This was a fast read, I’ll give it that. Right up until The Big Reveal, this was a solid book. Not horror at all, but a good little mystery. However, with TBR and the bullshit that followed, it earned a place on my Worst list.
I have not seen the Japanese film, but the American version makes significant and much needed changes. Just watch that.
So, right off the bat, Asakawa is an asshole. A real dick. While antiheroes are a thing, it’s kind of a problem when your protagonist has a week countdown to DOOM and you’re on team Tick Tock Motherfucker. Ryuji is supposed to be a bit of a foil and make Asakawa more sympathetic, but Ass’s complicity in Ryuji’s crimes just made me want that vengeful ghost to suck out their souls faster.
After learning Ryuji’s “personality quirks”, I read the about the author blurb and calmed down. OH! This was written by a man with “a baby on his lap”. He also wrote parenting books! Phew. I kept going, confident that Ass would Learn a Lesson and that Ryuji would Get His.
NEWP.
I mean, yeah, the predictable things happen but not for the reasons they should. This book is full of the most egregious misogyny, and I’ve read some steaming piles. And it’s all so casual.
So. I guess this is horror after all.
+10 task
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.5.- Asakawa is a journalist)
+10 translation
+10 review
Task total = 40
Season total = 165
10.4 ValentineCareful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron
Emily recently became a professional organizer, inspired by Marie Kondo's "does an item spark joy" way of uncluttering. But her own home is filled with her husband's "finds." Going to yard sales is his favorite form of recreation.
Emily lands two new clients and soon finds herself entangled in their messes--and their illegal activities. She has no idea who she can trust when people make "things" more important than relationships. This story has lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. "Careful What You Wish For" had a likable heroine, an original situation, and good storytelling.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 160
10.4 Valentine'sThe Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura
+10 Task (B)
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 115
NoTG total: -
Season Total: 115
.... .... .... 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 .... .... 10.10
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 20.10
10.1 Square PegThe Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
10 pts 10.1 Square Peg
10 pts Lost in Translation
10 pts Review
A Roman history written in the early part of the CE, The Twelve Caesars, is a biography and political analysis of the rulers of classical Rome. These were cruel and vicious men who not only ruled in their own best interest but took pleasure in the suffering of others. With the possible exceptions of Julius and Augustus Caesar, who were politcally and militarily adept, there are few redeeming qualities for any of the Caesars.
The book is interesting to the extent that it provides a fairly accessible overview of Roman history. However it is still very easy to get lost in unfamiliar titles. Places, battles and names. Worth reading, but it wouldn’t be at the top of my list.
1- Four Letter Word (NoG)
Task total: 30 pts
Season total: 45 pts
10.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
15.1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
20.2 JazzRed Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
20 pts 20.2 Jazz
5 pts 10.3 Winter
5 pts 10.4 Cherubs
10 pts Review
The first of Dasheill Hammett’s Continental Op thrillers. In this book, the man who hires the Continental Op is found dead. As the story progresses it becomes clearer that there is corruption and criminality rife in the city. Unfortunately the plot quickly degenerates into a series of gun battles and murders that do not move the solution of the mystery forward and become tedious after a while. By the end of the book I really didn’t care who had committed the original murder, everything else got lost in the violence for the sake of violence.
1- Four Letter Word (NoG)
Task total: 40 pts
Season total: 85 pts
10.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... 20.2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
15.1... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Post 228 Heather wrote: "10.9 - Kindred by Octavia E. ButlerWell, that was an experience. One of the lovely things about reading is that you get to experience things that you could and would n..."
I'm sorry, Heather. This is a YA Assignment at BPL and has a Lexile of 580. Task, but no styles.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 228 Heather wrote: "10.9 - Kindred by Octavia E. ButlerWell, that was an experience. One of the lovely things about reading is that you get to experience things t..."
You know, I didn't even think that it might be. So that would make my Season Total 95 currently, right?
Heather wrote: "So that would make my Season Total 95 currently, right?."That looks right. I think Kate will be able to post scores to 250 this weekend and she can verify that total.
15.1 Name of the GameBest. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry
Square 7E--Letter G--Title words: Good, Better, Best (Best)
Square 2E--Letter E--Title word contains "end" (Defends)
Square 6B--Letter N--Not a Novel
Square 2D--Letter E--8+ Word Title
Word = GENE
+15 Task
+5 Non Fiction
Task total: 20
Season total: 20
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Inn (other topics)
The Escape (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Martha Wells (other topics)
James Patterson (other topics)
David Baldacci (other topics)
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Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand (USVI)
2.0 stars - This is one series that I'm very glad to be done with. Several things didn't work for me, especially the island as a sentient being/narrator. From way too many side characters that add nothing to the plot (waitresses, television anchors, random school friends) to the weird names (Marilyn Monroe, Cash, Baker, Huck) there were just too many things that didn't ring true in this book. Problems are manufactured and then neatly tied up, in a way that never happens in real life. I understand that the author wrote this as a tribute to an island where she goes to write every year, after it was devastated by a terrible hurricane in 2017, but unless she's donating her profits to the island, I can't recommend buying this book. Sorry, Elin, I've enjoyed many of your books, but this wasn't one of them.
Book 218 of 2020
20 Task
10 review
5 combo 10.7 (the weather makes it a paradise and there's a hurricane near the end)
Post total: 35
Season total: 250