Reading with Style discussion
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SU 21 Completed Tasks
20.10 Riding the MetroWelcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
set in Lagos
Country Nigeria
Continent: Africa
+35 Task
Post Total: 35
finisher bonus: 100
10 different countries: 50
five or more continents 100
Season Total: 1400
15.9 TDoS Rd 2Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
I added this to my list based on Anika’s review. Good call! I echo everything that Anika says in her post. I will add that I got so much more than I expected in this graphic novel. There has been some very interesting academic analysis of this book, but don’t look at that now. Just go read this graphic novel (even if, as Anika says, it isn’t your thing). There are subtle themes that build slowly to make this a poignant story that will stay with you. 5*
5* from Anika + Chinook
45 task
5 review
_____
50
Running total: 980
10.2 Page CountMy Life and Hard Times by James Thurber
106p.
This was a quick and easy read...with a few of Thurber's famous illustrations included. Thurber spends most of the book relating stories of his childhood...with emphasis on his father's eccentricities...but others as well. Nothing earth-shattering here...and no belly laughs for me.... but mild humor....that seems a bit aged too...but 2 1/2 stars.
Task=10
review=5
Task total= 15
Season Total=835
10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; .....; 10.7; 10.8; .....; 10.10
✔20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
2nd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5
20.4 RtMMurder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer
Set in Cairo
Country: Egypt
Continent: Africa
In food psychology, one of the ways you learn to like a food you dislike is "dedicating yourself to keep trying the rejected food until you find it prepared in a way you like."
Well, I used to think I wasn't a fan of murder mysteries...and then this group entered my life and I've since read a whole slew of them and I have to admit that they're growing on me...but I had to find them "prepared in a way [I] like."
This book would definitely fit in that category. It took a little bit from Christie (introducing a cast of characters right at the beginning in an atmospheric place), added a dash of Kerry Greenwood (1920s setting with bright young things aplenty and a strong main character full of wit and personality), and added a dash of romance to the mix.
Jane Wunderly is vacationing in Cairo with her aunt. The luxurious hotel at which they are staying hosts a colorful cast of characters and provides the backdrop for a smuggling ring, an illicit gambling den, and two murders.
The relationship between Jane and her aunt seemed odd and there were a few other weak points in the story, but overall I enjoyed it a great deal and will definitely pick up the next in the series. Four stars for this reader.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Season total: 1530
Valerie! I'm so glad that you enjoyed Nimona as much as I did!!! Your review just made my day :-)
10.7 - Page Count - 350-399 - Round 3Angel's Peak by Robyn Carr
+10 task - 373pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 500
10.6 - Page Count - 300 - 349 - Round 3No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale
+10 task - 332pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 510
10.5 - Page Count - 250 - 249 - Round 3Knit One Murder Two by Reagan Davis
+10 task - 276pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 520
20.6 Riding the MetroThe Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
City: Gaborone
Country: Botswana
Continent: Africa
Precious Ramotswe has several more cases to work on in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana. Her good people skills lead to satisfactory outcomes for everyone.
Her assistant, Mma. Makutsi, opens an evening typing school for men. In addition to bringing in extra income to help support her relatives, she's hoping for an opportunity to meet an eligible man.
This charming cozy series has a good sense of place since the author lived in Botswana for many years. Mma. Ramotswe again treats her friends and her clients with warmth and fairness.
+25 task
+ 5 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 530
20.6 Riding the Metro (Round 2)A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
set in Memphis, TN, USA, North America
I felt that this novel traveled over paths similar to Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel...but more succinct, pithy, relatable. Both books deal with a Southern (USA) boy who has a complicated relationship with his father and siblings. Here, most of the book deal with the narrator as an adult who now lives in New York...but his sisters, who seems to be real characters..."summon" him back repeatedly to his boyhood Memphis to help interact with his Dad who is in his 80's ...and plans to get married. The marriage prospect is especially troubling to the sisters...but presents issues for the narrator too. Not an action-packed novel...but I was drawn in. 4 1/2 stars.
Task=25
review=5
pre 1996=5
Task total= 35
Season Total=865
10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; .....; 10.7; 10.8; .....; 10.10
✔20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
2nd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6
20.5 Riding the MetroBangkok Tattoo by John Burdett
City: Bangkok
Country: Thailand
Continent: Asia
Yuck. The first in the series, Bangkok 8, is described as "a thriller with an attitude to spare" and I was expecting something similar. The attitude is quite present in the first maybe 25%. The attitude is a "hey farang [Thai for western foreigner], our culture is better than yours and has been around longer" sort of thing. It is done humorously and is not overbearing - and note that the author is British. For me, that sort of humor is well-tolerated when poking fun at oneself.
The "yuck" is that there is just too much sex and not enough detective work. OK, so Sonchai is not only on the police force, he is a minor stockholder in a go-go bar, which is really a front for prostitution. It isn't unrealistic to expect a certain amount of sexual reference, even brief explicitness. I most certainly won't count the pages, but I suspect that if you remove all the crotch rubbings the novel would dwindle from 300 pages to about 125. Burdett finally gets around to solving the mystery in earnest only in the last 75 pages. And even that involves making sure we know that having a full body tattoo includes the male member which can only be fully appreciated in a certain condition.
This makes 2-stars only because I saw it to the end. I have t0o much to read to continue this series.
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
Task total = 25
Season total = 475
I'll add this for our Project for Thailand.
15.6 TDoSJust Listen by Sarah Dessen
Rated 5* by Sarah + Andrea
At 17, Annabel Greene seems to have the perfect life. With loving parents, she is the youngest of three sisters who all have model-girl looks. But something bad happened to Annabel, and she can't talk about it.
A sensitive YA novel about learning to speak your truth, however hard it may seem and however much you fear hurting your family with the news that you are not as happy as they assumed. I wish this was something I had learned at 17 instead of 20 years later!
+30 Task
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 645
15.5 - TDoSDance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
Rated 5* by:
Jonquil and Rebekah
+30 Task
+ 5 Before 1996 (1973)
Task total: 35
Season total: 115
15.7 TDoSClap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Rated 5* by Andrea + Angelbis
Camino lives in the Dominican Republic and looks forward to seeing her father every summer when he comes home from the USA. Yahaira lives in New York and misses her father every summer when he goes back home to the Dominican Republic. When tragedy strikes, both girls discover their father's secret.
This is a dual-perspective novel in verse that works really well. I was equally invested in both girls and really felt for them. I thought at the end things were wrapped up a little too neatly (view spoiler). But still a well deserved 4 stars.
+30 Task
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 680
15.8 TDoSArtificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated 5* by Angelbis + Joanna
Second in series of novellas. The rogue AI Security Unit that calls itself Murderbot based on what it’s been told of its history, hitches a ride on an empty AI transport ship known as ART to the planet where the murders are supposed to have happened. To access the area, it has to be hired as security by a group of humans looking to recover files from a bad employer.
I enjoyed this but wasn’t blown away by it, as I was by the first instalment. While we learned a lot about what really happened in Murderbot’s past, I didn’t feel there was much development wrt Murderbot itself. But I loved ART – how could anyone not? A solid 4 stars, and I will continue with the series.
+45 Task
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 730
Kate, please could you let me know if I have claimed Rickshaw Boy for Riding The Metro? (Beijing)I have crossed it off my plan and I thought I had claimed it, but I have not written a post number on my spreadsheet, and when I search the group for "Rickshaw" I don't see a post from me.
Rosemary wrote: "Kate, please could you let me know if I have claimed Rickshaw Boy for Riding The Metro? (Beijing)I have crossed it off my plan and I thought I had claimed it, but I have not writte..."
I checked your posts and you have no claim for that title since June 1. (Not Kate, but ... )
15.9 TDoSThe Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Rosemary and Krista
I give this book 50 stars!
Task Total - 45 pts
15.8 TDoSNotes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Rated 5* by Katy and Rosemary
+45 Task
+5 Before 1996 (published 1995)
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 1450
10.6 Page Count 300-349pRound 3
Dust (Heirs of Neverland #1) by Kara Swanson
348 pages
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 895
10.3 Page Count 150-199pRound 3
All in the Blue Unclouded Weather (The Melling Sisters #1)
168 pages
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 905
10.8 - Circe by Madeline Miller - 433p+10 task
Task total: 10
Season total: 230
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; ... ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
Cities: Perth, Edmonton, London, San Francisco
Countries: Australia, Canada, England, US
Continents: Oceania, N. America, Europe
20.6 Riding the MetroThe Dancer at the Gai-Moulin by Georges Simenon
City: Liege
Country: Belgium
Continent: Europe
I continue to enjoy Maigret. This one was unusual in that it takes place in Liege, Belgium. I wondered how Maigret, a French Inspector of Police, would be involved. This is so short that revealing even the tiniest detail might be spoilerish. I'll just say that he is there and full of surprises. He's also full of the solution.
In someone else's hands, the ending would become a thriller. Not so with Simenon. Maigret might be one of the calmest characters in print. He and his pipe. I can't take a steady diet of any author/series, but I will come back time and again to this one, so it's a good thing there are 75 or so! As short as this one is, I'm tempted to push it to 4-stars. I'll restrain myself and know that it resides with others at the top of my 3-star bunch.
+25 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 Before 1996 (1931)
Task total = 35
Season total = 510
20.3 Riding the MetroThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo (published 1831)
Set in Paris
Country: France
Continent: Europe
The classics all have their problems when it comes to social discrimination, but I had more trouble letting this one be of its time and place than usual. I think I was under the impression that Esmeralda was a strong, fun character (Disney's fault?) and she does have one scene where she rescues a man from death. But other than that, it turns out that she spends the novel dragged here and there by various men who think that because they love her they own her. Even the kindness of Quasimodo is basically, "I promise not to touch you or let you see me, but I'm going to look at you all the time."
The focus on physical appearance (Esmeralda's beauty, Phoebus' beauty and strength, Quasimodo's ugliness) also got old for me. I know that's how things were, and really it's how things still are. But that doesn't make it enjoyable reading.
I love reading the classics and see a lot of value in many of them, but in my opinion this one may have run its course.
+20 Task
+5 Review
+5 Before 1996
Post total: 30
Season total: 250
10.5 Page Count 250 pg - 299 pgOdds Against by Dick Francis
I know, I know…. I’m a fangirl of Dick Francis, but damn, this was good. I wish he had been more interested in writing a series, because a Sid Halley series (of more than 4, [#5 is by Felix]) would have been fantastic. This novel gives the background for Sid the private investigator, and is a fantastic mystery in itself. 5*
10 task
5 review
5 >1996
_____
20
Running total: 1000
15.7 TDoSAnya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Bea => Emilia
Anya emigrated from Russia with her mother and brother when she was five. She doesn't really fit in at her school, has one friend (frenemy?), has a crush on a guy who has the perfect girlfriend already...one day she falls down an abandoned well. She lights up a cigarette to calm down and sees that she's not alone: there is a skeleton down there with her...and the ghost of the girl whose bones those are. After two days with only Emily the ghost for company, someone finally hears Anya's screams for help and she gets out of the well. When she gets home, she finds out that Emily has followed her...
The story felt a little bare-bones and didn't really connect to the characters, but there were a few freak-out moments and any graphic novel that can make my skin crawl isn't all bad.
+30 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 35
Season total: 1565
15.8 TDoSThrough the Woods by Emily Carroll
Emilia => Steph
Maybe Anya's Ghost suffered an unfair assessment since I read this immediately upon finishing that one (my hold for Anya's Ghost just came through today, but I checked this one out a few weeks ago and it was due today so I had to read them quick!), but this one ticked all the boxes!
It's a series of short stories that are intense and atmospheric, it's like sitting around a campfire and telling ghost stories...
The art is perfect for these type of stories: spare and shadowy, favoring a red and black palette. I loved the writing. I didn't *love* one of the stories, but the rest were so strong that gets a 4.5-rounded-up-to-5 stars for me. Wish I hadn't already returned it...I'd love to read it again now that it's dark out...
+45 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 50
Season total: 1615
15. 1 TDoSSiege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
5Stars by Anika and Kirstie
Review: I am super into this series and excited to watch the Netflix show once I finish the trilogy! Are these the best books ever? No. And you are talking to someone who quite enjoyed Twilight. I'm not picky, I will enjoy anything that is entertaining enough. I love the world-building, I love the concept, I like the mix of magic and political intrigue. Some of the more romance-y dialogue is a little contrived... as is the continual YA angst but it's a quick read and I can forgive it!
+15 Task
+5 Review
Task Total: 20 pts
Grand Total: 50 pts
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rosemary wrote: "Kate, please could you let me know if I have claimed Rickshaw Boy for Riding The Metro? (Beijing)I have crossed it off my plan and I thought I had claimed it, but I have not writte..."
I checked your posts and you have no claim for that title since June 1."
Thank you, Elizabeth. So when I claimed Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates in post 450, I claimed it as 20.6, but it should have been 20.5. So I claimed 5 points too many there. Now I will claim 20.6 again, but I will take off those 5 points.
20.6 Riding the MetroRickshaw Boy by Lao She
set 95% in Beijing
Country: China
Continent: Asia
The story of a hapless Chinese rickshaw puller in Beijing in the 1930s. Our protagonist starts off as a strong young man who pulls wealthier people around the city almost effortlessly and dreams of owning his own rickshaw. But circumstances are against him and he becomes increasingly jaded as he suffers the proverbial slings and arrows from all directions.
Other books I've read by Chinese authors have been set either among intellectual/wealthy people or in rural communities. This was the first I've read about the pre-communist urban poor. Lao She does have an agenda, but then so did Dickens, who was an influence, after Lao She spent a few years in England. Lao She still manages to get under the skin of a character whose belief in himself as master of his own destiny is gradually worn down as fate plays a bigger part in his life. Women are only secondary characters, but they have an even tougher time.
+25 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 pre-1996
- 5 claimed too many in post 450
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 730
Round 210.4 Page Count 200-249 pages
The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt
Mick Hardin, an Army CID agent, is home in Eastern Kentucky to work out problems with his wife. His sister, a novice sheriff, encounters her first homicide investigation and enlists Mick's help. She's getting political pressure from a prominent politician who is trying to steer the investigation to protect someone. Mick is familiar with the town and the family loyalty of the various clans living there. He heads out in his grandfather's old pickup to question people in the hidden hollers. The Appalachian families have a history of taking revenge for killings and other affronts, and they have memories that go back generations.
Eastern Kentucky is a rural area of natural beauty, extreme poverty, and a lack of opportunity. Author Chris Offut has his roots there, and turns the setting into a strong presence throughout the book. Offut also writes for TV series, and is a master of snappy dialogue. Bits of humor lighten up the darkness of the story. "The Killing Hills" is such an engaging book that I hope there will be a sequel.
+10 task
+ 5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 545
15.6 TDoSThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Devin Murphy > Rachel W
I started reading this as a physical copy, and put it down because my internal tone made his self-deprecation sound really, really mean. I switched to audio, and that is the way to go with this book. The joie de vivre really comes through.
However, no sooner did I read Arnold’s teacher’s confession than the news hit that *many many many* teachers literally “Killed the Indian”. I knew this, but the SCOPE that is coming to light… well, it took a lot of joy out of the book because all I could think about were the multitude of children that were murdered, and the survivors.
But I got back into the book and the joy of it, until (view spoiler). And everything after that. And ugh. I had to switch back to print so I could speed-read through it.
There is a lot of joy and humor in this book, and forgiveness…. But there is a lot of heartbreak too. I think this is supposed to be ultimately uplifting and hopeful, but it left me deeply sad. I wish I was more like Grandmother Spirit.
+30 task
+5 review
Task total = 35
Season total = 790
10.5 PC 250-299So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Ijeoma Oluo writes very clearly and directly about systemic racial oppression in the US.
Here are my personal takeaways from the book.
Talking about race is uncomfortable and will continue to be.
It’s about race if a person of color says it is.
Pay attention to Intersectionality
Do not force people of color into discussions of race. It is not their job to educate me, that is my responsibility.
Cultural appropriation is complicated. I should tune in and pay attention.
What tone policing is. And the harm it magnifies.
Talking is the start but action should be the result. The book has re-enforced and sharpened my work on local elections and local electeds.
+10 task
+5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 215
Task 20.7 Riding the MetroSetting – Paris
Country – France
Continent – Europe
The Montmartre Investigation (Victor Legris #3) (2003) by Claude Izner; translated from the French by Lorenza García and Isabel Reid (Hardcover, 309 pages)
Review: The Montmartre Investigation is a historical mystery set in Paris during November, 1891. This is the 3rd in the series. The characters were established in the 1st of the series, Murder on the Eiffel Tower. In this installment, the author assumes the reader already knows the characters and their backstories, and so doesn’t ‘waste’ time re-explaining who everyone is. ‘Author’ really should be ‘authors’; Claude Izner is a pseudonym for two sisters who are ‘secondhand booksellers on the banks of the Seine’. This book has a lot of name-dropping, both of people and of famous Parisian landmarks. The story has way too many coincidences to be taken seriously as a mystery. Recommended for those who enjoy name-dropping in novels, and for those who like to read about Belle Époque Paris.
+25 Task
+05 Review
Task Total: 25 + 05 = 30
Grand Total: 220 + 30 = 250
15.10 TDoSThe Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Krista + Jonquil
+45 pts - task
+100 pts - completion bonus
Task Total- 145 pts
20.7 RtMPaddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Doyle describes the day to day life of Paddy Clarke a 10 year old boy in a fictional neighborhood of Dublin. He and his friends go to school, have adventures in their neighborhood, get into fights ans struggle with not knowing what their future is. Very good character study that rings true. Not everything ends up well but, you have the sense that Paddy will survive.
Task: 25 pts Dublin Ireland
Review 5 points
Pre 1996 5 points
Total Task 35 poimts
Total Season: 415 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 ... 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... ...
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 ... ... ... ... ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6. 20.7 ... ... ...
Countries: England, United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ghana, Ireland
5 Continents: Europe, North America, Oceania, Asia, Africa
10.6 300 - 349pagesThis Isn't What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression by Karen Kleiman
320 pages
+10 pts - Task
+5 Pts - pub in 1994
Task total - 15 pts
20.7 Riding the Metro (Round 2)Marta Oulie by Sigrid Undset
set in Oslo, Norway, Europe
This novella was published in 1907...but could have been written yesterday. The narrator informs the reader about the devolution of her marriage....and puts all the blame on herself. The reader learns in the beginning that she has been unfaithful to a very ill and devoted husband...and with her cousin who is also her husband's best friend. It's hard to disagree with the author's assessment of herself...but it is equally hard not to feel sympathy for her self examination. Such a well written understated account of one person's mental struggles which makes a fascinating read. Four stars.
Task=25
review=5
pre 1996=5
Task total= 35
Season Total=900
10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; .....; 10.7; 10.8; .....; 10.10
✔20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
2nd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7
10.5 PCThe Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
The premise is weak (1987, three boys are obsessed with getting their hands on a copy of Playboy so one of the boys is tasked with charming the shopkeeper's daughter into giving them the security code to the store so they can break in to steal the magazine), but the characters are mostly likable--dare I say, endearing? It was reminiscent of Ready Player One in tone, but definitely for a YA audience. It was a pleasant diversion but readily forgettable. 3 stars.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 1630
10.10 - Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer by Ann Rule - 665pGreen River, Running Red is Ann Rule’s twenty-third true crime book and another big one. It always astounds me to see just how *close* she’s come, both knowingly and unknowingly, to these killers and walked away. This particular book is about the twenty-ish year career and search for Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer – the second most prolific serial killer (confirmed) in US history. Rule does an amazing job of picking her way through these peoples’ histories and telling the victims’ stories.
+10 task
+5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 245
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; ... ; 10.10
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
Cities: Perth, Edmonton, London, San Francisco
Countries: Australia, Canada, England, US
Continents: Oceania, N. America, Europe
10. 2 100- 149The History Boys by Alan Bennett
Review: This play was recommended to me by another theatre friend. I really enjoyed it. I love language and wit and the British vibe. This dialogue is not straightforward and there are no clearly indicated scenes so the reader is forced to construct some sort of context for the piece. I'd love to see it performed on stage. The piece would take significant work by both actors and director to put the story together. The play is witty, challenging and explores an interesting section of society.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task Total: 15 pts
Grand Total: 65 pts
10.9 Page Count 450 - 499The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells
464 pages
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 1460
20.3The Faerie Pathby Allan Frewin Jones
City: London
Country-England
Review
I had this book for awhile but hadn't read it. I loved it. Anita Palmer is really a princess but not just any princess. She is the seventh daughter of King Oberon and Queen Tatiana in the realm of Faerie. At first she isn't sure how she got into Faerie. The last thing she remembered was being on a boat ride with her boyfriend Evan. Somehow she ends up in a world she isn't sure how to leave. I enjoyed this story because I always loved fantasy and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was my favorite Shakespeare story.
Task- 20pts
Review +5
Grand Total: 130
10.9 Page Count 450-499pRound 3
Insatiable (Insatiable #1) by Meg Cabot
451 pages
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 915
10.1 Page Count - two or three short works adding up to 75-150 pages*Round 3
This Floating World by Libby Hart
77 pages
Necessary Evil: Poems by Craig Sherborne
67 pages
Total pages read: 144
+10 Task
+100 Completion
Post Total: 110
Season Total: 1,025
10.10 Page Count 500+The Good War: An Oral History of World War II by Studs Terkel
A collection of oral histories including memories from people from almost every perspective. This is not just a collection of soldier’s stories, it also includes stories from civilians, government workers, European including German and Japanese citizens. Probably the best history of WWII I have read recently. While some ofthe stories may have been influenced by timr, selective memory or wishful thinking, over almost 600 pages the reader gets a real idea of the effect of WWII on the United States as a whole.
Very well organized around a series of themes but Terkel creates a very cohesive narrative from a collection of interviews that could have become disjointed
10 pts 10.10. 50+ pages
5 pts review
5 pts Pre 1996
Total Task 20 points
Total Season: 435 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 ... 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 ... ... ... ... ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6. 20.7 ... ... ...
Countries: England, United States, Australia, Japan, Germany,
15.9 TDosOld Filth by Jane Gardam
Devin Murphy & Rosemary
Sir Edward Feathers, aka "Old Filth", is a legend in his own time. Everyone who is Anyone in England's legal system knows of him. The reader, however, is left in ignorance of what he did to have earned such a reputation, except that he himself coined the acronym FILTH which stands for Failed in London, Try Hong Kong.
Instead, this is a superb character study. Gardam precedes her novel with the quote from an inscription and a dedication, both of which have great bearing on what is to follow.
Lawyers, I suppose, were children onceThe novel opens when Old Filth is 80-years old and he is in England. Soon we are told the story of his birth in Malay. The timeline of this novel is fluid. Sometimes he is a child in Malay, sometimes aged 80, sometimes a student, back and forth. Gardam handles this well and I was never confused about when any action was taking place. I use the word "action" cautiously as there are definite scenes, but overall very little plot.
(Inscription upon the statue of a child in the Inner Temple Garden in London)
To Raj Orphans and their parents
I confess I don't know how Gardam will handle this being only the first installment in a trilogy. I am more than anxious to find out. 5-stars for this one!
+45 Task
+ 5 Review
Task total = 50
Season total = 560
15.9 TDoSPaper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
Steph => Deedee
I loved the Saga series so much; I've been eagerly anticipating geting to this volume in my TDoS chain, another story penned by Brian K. Vaughan.
I'm loving it so far, but in a completely different way than I loved Saga: Saga told a great story but it was also *about things*...racism, war, classism, etc. while Paper Girls is just a weird, fun story. Set in Ohio, 1988, the paper girls (ah, so I guess it sorta touches on sexism for a hot second) are up early and out delivering their papers on Hell Day (Nov. 1...all the creeps are still up and out from Halloween revelry). They've already had a run in with one group of jerks when one of the girls is attacked by another group of guys. Only these guys are aliens? Time/space travelers-but-not-in-the-good-Doctor-Who way? It definitely has a Stranger Things/X-Files vibe and I can't wait to get more.
+45 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 50
Season total: 1665
10.9 - Page Count = 450-499 - Round 3Yesterday's Woes by Jane O'Brien
+10 task - 459pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 530
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
The House of the Scorpion (other topics)5 Centimeters per Second (other topics)
Some Kids I Taught & What They Taught Me (other topics)
The World That We Knew (other topics)
A Poem for Every Summer Day (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nancy Farmer (other topics)Makoto Shinkai (other topics)
Kate Clanchy (other topics)
Alice Hoffman (other topics)
Allie Esiri (other topics)
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Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins
Rated 5* by Karen Michele Burns and Devin Murphy.
These short stories have a strong sense of place (they're set in Nevada) and are very contemporary and fresh. No old Westerns old, even when the story is actually an old Western (The Diggings).
Most of the stories show us a character's day-to-day survival or grief in the face of quiet tragedy. Sometimes brutal tragedy, sometimes tragedy averted, but still, these characters deal with it quietly.
Most of the characters are struggling to love or be loved, and see themselves as damaged by their past in unfixable ways. The endings are lightly hopeful -- in the sense that they're open-ended.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Post total: 25
Season total: 220