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SU 21 Completed Tasks
Task 20.10 Riding the MetroSetting – Sydney
Country – Australia
Continent – Australia (Oceania)
The Women in Black (1993) by Madeleine St. John (Paperback, 209 pages)
+35 Task
+100 points finisher bonus
+50 points for reading cities in 10 different countries
+100 points for reading cities on at least 5 continents
Task Total: 35 + 100 + 50 + 100 = 285
Grand Total: 345 + 285 = 630
10.7 Page CountNetwork Effect by Martha Wells
350 pages
This book made fluid leak out of my eyes.
If you do not have a similar response, congratulations on your lack of trauma!
Oh, this is still the Muderbot we love: full of action and sarcasm. But the stakes are so much higher in this one and there are some huge emotional punches.
This was one of those so-good-I-kept-stopping books. Sometimes I set it down because I did not want it to be over too soon. Other times I set it down because, like Murderbot, I just could not take it and needed a forced shutdown.
There is a section at the end that is just…. A lot. (view spoiler)
This is the best of the Murderbot series so far, but be warned - you cannot jump in here. I guess you could if you are just reading for sci-fi action, but without the full backstory, you won’t be freaking the fuck out at an early part and there will be no payoffs . And the earlier books are stories/novellas so there is no excuse to skip them.
I am stingy with my 5 stars, but this was masterful and fully deserves my highest rating.
+10 task
+5 review
+100 Completion
Task total = 115
Season total = 1240
This book was a fantastic way to wrap the season!
20.7 Riding the Metro (Round 3)set in New York City, USA; North America
Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon
A year or so ago, I watched the movie based on this play starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. It was impossible to not imagine them as I read the play... but that did not diminish the read. This is a light comedy/romance featuring a newlywed couple who start up in a tiny apartment with many problems...including a steep climb, leaky sunroof and strange neighbors. I enjoyed it...I suspect you will too. 4 stars.
Task=20
review=5
pre-1996=5 (1963)
Task total= 30
Season Total=1600
✔Page Count: 10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
Page Count 2nd round: ....; .....; 10.3
✔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; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
3rd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7
20.7 - Riding the MetroThe Trophy Hunter by J.M. Zambrano
City - Denver
Country - USA
Continent - North America
+25
+5 - only claimed 20 points not 25 on posting 780
Task total: 30
Grand total: 760
10.4 Page CountFrontier Madam: The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk, First Edition by June Willson Read
This is the biography of Dell Burke a brothel owner in a small Wyoming town from the 1920s thru the 1970s. It is an interesting history of how Burke worked and lived in Lusk WY. She maintained a discrete presence and supported her neighbors through targeted charity especially during the Depression.
Unfortunately the book uses manufactured conversations to tell the stotry. While the content is good this device seems distracting and in several places does not seem authentic.
10 pts 10.4 200-249pp
5 pts review
Total Task 15points
Total Season: 670 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8. ... ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6. 20.7 20.8 20.9 ...
Countries: England, United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Cuba,
Continents Europe, North America, Oceania, Asia, Africa, South America
Mary wrote: "15.9 TDoS Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
A true romance with all of the twists and turns you expect of a mid nineteenth century novel. Everything turns ou..."
I would like to change this task to tag the 5-star ratings by Maggie and Miki. (Change from Maggie and Madly Jane).
Changed my plan😉
Thanks for the help!
20.10 Riding the MetroDisappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
City: Petropavlovsk
Country: Russian Federation
Continent: Asia
The Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia is very isolated by its geography. Two sisters disappear while they are playing along the coast of Petropavlovsk, the peninsula's only large city. No roads connect the peninsula to the continent so the only way to leave is by air or sea. Detectives are unable to locate the two girls, aged eleven and eight.
The book is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a woman who may have an association with the disappearance, such as an eye witness, the wife of a detective, the distraught mother, etc. The chapters also introduce us to their families and friends. Some of the links to the two sisters seem tenuous at first, but the connections come together beautifully at the end.
This book is much more than a mystery about a disappearance. It shows the social structure of Kamchatke Peninsula with most of the people in the south having a white Russian ethnicity. Indigenous people with darker skin live in the northern areas. They often live a semi-nomadic life herding reindeer, hunting, and fishing. The book shows the political and economic forces, and the social and ethnic customs that exist on the peninsula.
Julia Phillips' prose is lovely, and the ending is just perfect. This debut novel left me hoping she's at work on a second book.
+35 task
+ 5 review
+100 finisher bonus
+100 for 5 continents
Task total: 240
Season total: 1080
Round 2 20.1 Riding the Metro
Love in Lowercase by Francesc Miralles
City: Barcelona
Country: Spain
Continent: Europe
Samuel, a Germanic Studies lecturer at a university in Barcelona, has a lonely life that alternates between the classroom and his apartment. His life changes when a cat scratches on his door. When he lets the cat in, he also lets other people into his life, starting with his neighbor when the cat escapes from his apartment. The neighbor sends him on an errand that leads to other connections. Samuel describes "love in lowercase": "Its when some small act of kindness sets off a chain of events that comes around again in the form of multiplied love."
Samuel and his new friends meditate on life, noting the writings of great writers and philosophers. Samuel also makes a connection with Gabriela, a girl he met when they were children. There's lots of self-deprecating humor as Samuel manages to always do the wrong thing when he's in the company of beautiful Gabriela. The book is charming and fun, and Mishima the cat is hard to resist.
+20 task
+ 5 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 1105
15.10 TDoSA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
This Pulitzer Prize winning play tells the story of the Younger family who live on the southside of Chicago in the 1950s. Part of the Great African American migration north a generation before, they are struggling to reconcile their dreams with the reality of racism and the constraints it places on them. Excellent drama. I would like to aee it performed on the stage.
45 pt 15.10 Miki
5 pts review
5 pts pre 1996
100 pts Completion bonus
Total Task 155 points
Total Season: 825pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... 10.10
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 20.6. 20.7 20.8 20.9 ….
Countries: England, United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Cuba,
Continents Europe, North America, Oceania, Asia, Africa, South America
10.10 PCChildren of Blood and Bone (544 pages) by Tomi Adeyemi
This was going to be the first book in my third TDoS chain, but I soon realized I was running out of time and so I'm plugging it in here in hopes of completing a third PC chain: just wanted to shout-out to Katy and Tien, who were the two readers who gave this five-stars and were the start of my abandoned TDoS chain...I loved this and wholeheartedly agree with your ratings!
This YA fantasy series is one I've seen in the hands of many a reader, in all of the bookstore fronts, and on all of the "best of" Goodreads lists but I put it off because the Lexile was too low. Enter this glorious season of all-rules-out-the-window and I knew the time had come for me to see what all the fuss was about.
The fuss was well-deserved. The world building: on point. The characters: believable and relatable (except for the last 20% when Inan became a tool of the narrative rather than a believable character...grawr). The story: compelling and heart-pounding.
I especially appreciated in the afterword when the author explained that she wrote this book to deal with her anger and pain and frustration with the recent rash of police officer murders of African-American youths--I could sense her vibrant message throughout the story: "...we have the power to change the evils in the world. We've been knocked down for far too long. Now let's rise."
I loved it. 5 stars.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 2625
20.8 Riding the Metro (Round 3)set in Melbourbe, Australia, Oceania
Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood
I've been souring on this series with the last two installments. This is the 11th in the series and was marginally better. Still, the plot is a bit implausible...and not really in a tongue-in-cheek way. I will stick with the series for at least another. I do find the characters charismatic. It just seems the author ran out of clever ideas. Here, two mysteries develop simultaneously. One involving the murder of an author who is enamored of fairies in her works. The other, a kidnapping by Chinese pirates of the main character's love interest. ehh... 2.5 stars
Task=20
review=5
Task total= 25
Season Total=1625
✔Page Count: 10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
Page Count 2nd round: ....; .....; 10.3
✔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; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
3rd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8
15.10 TDoSRound 2
Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake
Rated 5-stars by Alicia Gordon and Jonquil
+45 Task
+100 Completion
Post Total: 145
Season Total: 1,825
20.9 Riding the Metro (Round 3)set in Paris, France, Europe
The Engagement by Georges Simenon
This was my first work by Simenon....and thought it quite good. A mystery.... but from a different angle. The reader knows that a murder has been committed.....and the reader is made to suspect Mr. Hire...because everyone else in his circle seems to suspect him. He is a strange guy...and as the story develops, he seems even touched in the head. But did he do it? The reader makes psychological evaluations...even though the author really doesn't go there. Simenon's style is distinctive...and may take me some time to get used to...but it seems to fit his approach to story telling...and I will definitely be trying some of his other novels. 4 stars.
Task=20
review=5
pre-1997= 5 (1933)
Task total= 30
Season Total=1655
✔Page Count: 10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
Page Count 2nd round: ....; .....; 10.3
✔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; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
3rd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9
Post 788 Bea wrote: "10.7 Page Count350-399p
The Traitor's Wife by Kathleen Kent
Pages = 352p
Task Points: 10
Season Points: 170"
Bea, the MPE for this is just 305 pages. I think you have not yet posted for 10.6, and if that is correct, your plan is not spoiled.
10.7 Page CountMy Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
Given the title, I expected this to be the story of Mary Sutter, midwife, who really wanted to be a surgeon. It is that. It is also the state of medicine at the time of the US Civil War. (Sterilization and the need to wash between surgeries wasn't learned until late in the war.) And then it is the story of the absolute lack of military competence at the beginning of the US Civil War. (The Union lost so many battles due to completely inept leadership.) For most of the novel I was a bit frustrated that Oliveira took on so much for a novel of only average length.
I very much liked the writing style. By the time I reached the last 50-75 pages, I also thought all of these stories well done as to plot. They came together to represent a whole. Even when all is said and done, I wanted more from the characterizations. Except, perhaps, President Lincoln. I have read other novels where he was a supporting character. So much has been written of him that it's hard not to get his agony for the state of his beloved country, his sense of loss when his son died, and even his sense of humor despite it all. The below I had not read before, but it seemed to fit what I know. Oliveira places it where Lincoln is considering the Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln simply could not understand a man who could not see his own fallibility. Irony lost in the blind pursuit of cacophonous righteousness. I wish to be free, but you may not be free. What he hated most was that they could not see the inherent cruelty in their economy. Their slaves' skin might be black, but it was not as black as the souls who might enslave them.What I thought were disparate parts came together well by the end. Still, I was disgruntled enough for long enough that I can't find a fifth star.
+10 Task (364 pgs)
+ 5 Review
Task total = 15
Season total = 1175
And that will do it for me this season.
15.9 TSoSThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Lisa —> Katy
A tale of immigration and family.
“They were things for which it is impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend.”
A young Bengali woman moves to the US after an arranged marriage. The story follows her life of adaptions and the life of her son, a first generation American as he fights his parents’ culture but finds that the family defines him.
I was particularly struck by the comparison of the Bengal-American family dinners with the family dinners of a WASP girlfriend.
A movingly told story and one to absorb as the US tries to understand itself as a nation of immigrants.
+45 task
+5 review
Task total: 50
Season total: 430
20.10 RtM second roundSamarkand by Amin Maalouf
City: Samarkand
Country: Uzbekistan
Continent: Asia
Task - 35 pts
Bonus 10 cities- 50 (Sydney, Reykjavik; Gaborone, Toronto, La Paz, London, Lahore, Barcelona, Chattanooga, Samarkand)
Bonus- 5 Continents or more - 100 ( North America x2, South America x1, Europe x3, Africa x1, Asia x2, Oceania x1)
Task Total - 195
20.4 Riding the MetroRound 2
Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan
At the end of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, the characters perform a musical written by Will(1)'s best friend Tiny Cooper. This is the script of that fictional musical.
I thought it was well done, both sad and amusing, but not being a fan of musical theatre, I preferred the original book with just the highlights. But I can completely understand how the character Tiny Cooper might have haunted David Levithan until he wrote this.
set in Chicago
Country: USA
Continent: North America
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1510
That will be my last book for this season. Thank you everyone for another wonderful challenge!
20.10 Riding the Metro (Round 3)set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America
My Sweet Orange Tree by José Mauro de Vasconcelos
This autobiographical novel of the author's childhood is apparently a Brazilian classic. Published in 1968, it is on the 1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up List. The main character is Zeze, a precocious 5-year-old boy, growing up in Rio's poorer areas with an out of work father and overworked mother. His siblings take care of him... but his mischief making has him constantly getting beatings. He's a good student however....and makes two important friends...one real...and one semi-imaginary.....a real tree which Zeze hears talk. The tree fills him with adventure and advice....and helps him overcome a particular tragedy. Although the story did not have magical sparks for me, I can see how others might become enamored with it. 3 stars.
Task=20
review=5
pre-1997= 5 (1968)
100 points finisher bonus
50 points for reading cities in 10 different countries
100 points for reading cities on at least 5 continents
Task total= 280
Season Total=1935+45 (just realized I didn't add the correct points for 20.6 through 20.10)= 1980
✔Page Count: 10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
Page Count 2nd round: ....; .....; 10.3
✔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; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
✔3rd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
Page Count Round #210.4 200-249p
First Person Singular: Stories by Haruki Murakami
+10 Task:
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 875
Page Count Round #210.7 350-399p
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
+10 Task:
Task Total: 10
Round 2 Completion: 100
Season Total: 985
I found a mistake. I counted a 400 pp. book for 10.9 instead of 10.8.Correcting
10.8 Page Count 400 - 449
I read The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four at 400 pp.
That should correct the problem. I will keep looking for other mistakes I might have made.
My completed point total should officially read 1210.
10.3 Page Count 150-199Victorine by Maude Hutchins (191 pages)
The voice of Victorine captures the intensity of adolescence (naïve but knowing, immature but sometimes treated like an adult, confident but terrified).
Sexual awakening is a major focus - particularly on the taboo nature of sexual feelings and how very real an imaginary sexual experience can feel.
In the second half, Homer's death takes over and we lose sight of Victorine. Her and Costello feel little or nothing about the death, which ought to be telling, but isn't explored.
+10 Task
+5 Review
+5 Before 1996 (pub’d 1959)
Post total: 20
Season total: 775
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 - 10.5 10.6 - - 10.9 10.10
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 20.6 - - - -
20.7 Riding the MetroMyra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal
Set in Los Angeles
Country: U.S.A.
Continent: North America
This is a satire of certain old novels that gives all those dreams of unfettered power and manifest destiny to a woman instead of a man. The characterization of Myra is strong and fearlessly done. She's awful, and she's perfect.
Vidal's treatment of lgbtq and transgender identities was boldly ahead of its time, even with the larger-than-life tone, but the white male gaze is very much still here. Vidal's hang-ups and politics shone through, shaping the story.
I go back and forth on the blasé attitude towards rape and sexual and mental abuse here. In many ways, it fits with the character and makes sense - though I could have used less play-by-play. But it's also really awful, and the (abrupt) ending shows that Myra's ways justified the means - ick.
+25 Task
+5 Review
+5 Before 1996 (pub’d 1968)
Post total: 35
Season total: 810
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 - 10.5 10.6 - - 10.9 10.10
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 20.6 20.7 - - -
15.1 TDoS (R2)Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Rated 5* by Erin NY and Sara Grace.
I did not expect to like this as much as I did. Early on, I found Alex's tone grating (and Borat-esque?) but I got used to him and he also found his voice (as writers do). By the end, Alex was my favorite character.
The most fascinating thing here is not really knowing what is the truth. The book is about Jonathan Safran Foer (the character) finding his past, but it's really Alex's past he finds. Meanwhile both he and Alex are writing. Jonathan is writing a magical fable about his past that may have loose basis in truth. Alex is writing about their adventure and what they learn, with (probably) strong basis in truth.
It's a great theme to find in the end that the "truth" is less important than the creation. Writers of novels can and do create fiction from truth and create truth from fiction. This is a humorous adventure story. It's an exercise in creating a voice (Alex and his thesaurus words). It's masterfully structured - completely out of order and looping back on itself over and over. And it's a treatise on the writing process.
+15 Task
+5 Review
Post total: 20
Season total: 830
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 - 10.5 10.6 - - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
R2: 15.1
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - - -
20.5- RtMA Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Setting : Moscow Russia
Continent : Europe
Post : 20
Season total: 345
15.3 - TDos The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Rated 5 * by Tanya Patrice and Chinook
Post: 20
Season total : 365
20.10 Riding the MetroAutumn Laing by Alex Miller
35 task
100 finish bonus
50 10 country bonus*
100 5 continent bonus**
______
285
*country: UK, US, Botsawna, China, Germany, Egypyt, France, Norway, Japan, Australia
**continent: Europe, Africa, Asia, NA, Australia
Running total: 1725
20.5 RtMHomes: A Refugee Story by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah
Set 75% in Homs
Country: Syria
Continent: Asia
Abu Bakr and his family fled the religious persecution they were facing in Iraq for the perceived safety of Syria (and a chance to get help from the UN to emigrate to the West) in 2010. Sadly, that was right at the onset of civil war in Syria, a war his family (parents, seven siblings, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins who had all fled Iraq together) had no stakes in but were terrorized by every day.
His experiences with war were similar to other first-hand accounts I've read, but were shocking in that they were written from the point of view of a preadolescent child. The writing was simple (both his age and writing in English as a second language would account for this), the story both difficult and hard to put down. Gave an interesting insight to a part of the world and part of history that I'm not incredibly familiar with.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Season total: 2650
20.6 RtMFuria by Yamile Saied Méndez
Set in Rosario
Country: Argentina
Continent: South America
Camilla "La Furia" Hassan has all of the secrets: she's the captain of a girl's football team; she's in love with her brother's best friend, who just happens to be a huge professional football star; she has hopes of moving to the US to further her football career.
The Camilla her family sees: dutiful, diligent student, but still just a daughter. Her mother is critical, her father abusive, her brother too wrapped up in his own dramas to be of any help.
Even though the romantic aspect took up more of the book than I was hoping, the story of this girl who has to have all of the courage to make something of her life was a worthwhile read. 3.5 stars.
+25 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 2680
20.7 RtMPride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Set in Baghdad
Country: Iraq
Continent: Asia
“In April of 2003, four lions escaped the Baghdad Zoo during the bombing of Iraq.”
This is the imagined story told from the point of view of the animals. The art was beautiful, the story raw and wrenching. For a spare, simple story it packed a sizable punch, though there was definitely room to flesh it out a bit more…
+25 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Season total: 2705
20.10 RtMMeasure for Measure by William Shakespeare
One of Shakespeare’s “comedies”. I did not find it very amusing. A commentary on the use of power for personal ends and the result of having a bad person who justifies his actions based on his personal benefits. I would not recommend this as a good read or play to attend. It does form part of Our cultural heritage but it is not a great read.
35 pt 20.10. Vienna
5 pts review
5 pts pre 1996
100 pts Completion bonus
50 pt 10 countries
100 pt 5 Continents
Total Task 295 points
Total Season: 1120 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... 10.10
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 20.6. 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
Countries: England, United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Cuba, Austria
Continents Europe, North America, Oceania, Asia, Africa, South America
Task 10.7 Page Count 350 – 399The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman #2) (2014) by Graeme Simsion
MPE: The Rosie Effect is 368 pages
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 635 + 10 = 645
10.5 Page CountTout sur la littérature jeunesse by Sophie Van Der Linden
291 pages
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 610
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; … ; … ; 10.9 ; 10.10
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.7 Page CountNeverwhere by Neil Gaiman
370 pages
+10 Task
+5 Before 1996 (publishes 1996)
Task total = 15
Season total = 625
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; … ; 10.9 ; 10.10
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.8 Page CountSe le dire enfin by Agnès Ledig
438 pages
+10 Task
+100 Completion bonus
Task total = 110
Season total = 735
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
20.2 (2nd) Riding the MetroThe Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Bedford, UK (106k population)
+20 Task
Season total = 755
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
15.1 Ten Degrees of Separation A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Rated 5* by Ann and Miriam
+15 Task
Task total = 15
Season total = 770
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
15.1 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.1 (2nd) Page CountLe Jardin secret - Tome 1 by Maud Begon : 96 pages
Consommation : le guide de l'anti-manipulation en BD by Guillemette Faure : 48 pages
= 144 pages
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 780
10.1 (x2) ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
15.1 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.2 (2nd) Page CountSha et Salome Jours de pluie by Anne Montel and Loïc Clément
110 Pages
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 790
10.1 (x2) ; 10.2 (x2) ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
15.1 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.3 (2nd) Page CountLa Dernière rose de l'été by Lucas Harari
188 pages
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 800
10.1 (x2) ; 10.2 (x2) ; 10.3 (x2) ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
15.1 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.4 (2nd) Page CountJoe la pirate by Hubert
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 810
10.1 (x2) ; 10.2 (x2) ; 10.3 (x2) ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; 10.10
15.1 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
10.7 Page CountThe Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
I knew that I would eventually get around to reading this book. Its on almost every compilation and fits into so many reading challenges. Almost all the comments are very generously positive....so, I expected to love it too. Unfortunately, I didn't. I didn't dislike it....but I found it too cutesy...maybe that's not the right adjective..... but these stories of Chinese American immigrants and their children just didn't deliver much new to me. I've heard these types of stories before. And...judging it against Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, which is probably unfair, the book didn't have the oomph that I was waiting for. For me, this is just an adequate 3-star read.
Task=10
review=5
pre-1997= 5 (1989)
Task total= 20
Season Total=2000
and that should do it for me this season.
✔Page Count: 10.1; 10.2; 10.3;10.4 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
Page Count 2nd round: ....; .....; 10.3;....; .....; .....; 10.7
✔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; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
✔3rd round: 20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
20.8 RtMA Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Set in Athens
Country: Greece
Continent: Europe
I haven't done any Shakespeare this season, which is a departure for me. I love the Bard. I love reading/hearing his words because I always catch something new. However, I'm used to seeing him live in the summer: Shakespeare in the Park when I'm in NYC, an annual pilgrimage to the Utah Shakespearean Festival when I'm home, local productions in a pinch...and, yet, this year I've somehow managed to miss it all. So this was my single foray, on the last day of the summer.
Sadly, it was not my favorite performance (I listened to the L.A. Theatre Works production through Audible). Perhaps it would have been better seeing it? But listening to it became insufferable with all of the heaving breaths and uninspired delivery--as if they were just trying to get all the words out right rather than imbuing them with any meaning. Though Bottom was an exception: and what would Midsummer be without an exceptional Bottom!?
+25 Task
+5 Review
+5 Pre-'96 pub
Task total: 35
Season total: 2740
20.9 RtMPersepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Set in Tehran
Country: Iran
Continent: Asia
Marjane Satrapi was born in Tehran in 1969. This is the story of her childhood, of her experiences with political unrest and protest, of the violence and terror that she witnessed, of making her way to adolescence through the mire of religious and political barbed wire.
The art was simple and strong...it added so much to the story. I would highly recommend this, even to those who have never read a graphic novel. 5 stars.
+25 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 2770
20.10 RtMThe Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 3: Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen
Set in London
Country: England
Continent: Europe
+35 Task
+100 Finish
+50 Countries: Iran, Canada, Syria, Greece, England, France, USA, Iraq, Australia, Argentina
+100 Continents: Asia, North America, Europe, Oceania, South America
Task total: 285
Season total: 3055
Page Count Round #310.5 250-299p
A Poem for Every Summer Day - A Poem for Every Day and Night of the Year by Allie Esiri
+10 Task:
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 995
15.7 TDoSThe World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Rated 5* by Krista and Cindie
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1025
And that's it for me --- I had a great time!
10.5: Page Count (250-299p)Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
+10 task
Post total: 10
Season total: 160
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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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It's Kind of a Funny Story (444 pages) by Ned Vizzini
I wanted to like this one more...it was written after the author spent a month in a psychiatric ward for suicidal ideation (to which he eventually succumbed in 2013). It just fell so flat for me. I kept waiting for a big a-ha moment, I guess. The end was satisfactory, if a little unbelievable...I dunno, it was Girl, Interrupted told by the narrator of The Perks of Being a Wallflower but with less wit or action? Not my favorite :-(
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 2610