Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
SU 21 Completed Tasks
10.5 Page Count (250-299p)Red Sky at Morning. Richard Bradford
256 pages
4.5 rounded to 5.0
A coming of age story set during World War II. Josh's father, the owner of a shipyard, goes into the Navy. To protect Josh and his mother, he sends them to live in New Mexico, to their summer place. Josh makes friends with the locals, while his mother falls apart. The book was much more interesting than this review. Apparently there is also a movie, which I may check out.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 55
10.4;10.5
20.1
10.6 Page Count (300-349p)How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America. Mystery Writers of America
336 pages
4.0/5.0 - A veritable goldmine of information and advice for any would be mystery author! Each essay was written by a different author, from Jeffrey Deaver to William Kent Krueger, offering advice on topics such as rules and genres, plot, setting, and even post-writing such as publishing and promotion. For me, the most interesting section was the one on rules and genres. I learned so much about what defined each type of mystery, what worked and what doesn't, and how breaking the rules can be a big no-no or lead to a great success. Although I don't plan to ever write a book, mystery or otherwise, getting inside the head of these authors, many familiar to me, was fascinating!
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 70
10.4;10.5;10.6
20.1
10.7 Page Count (350-399p)The Children's Blizzard. Melanie Benjamin
368 pages
3.5 stars - On January 12, 1888, a sudden, unexpected blizzard appeared on the Great Plains, catching everyone off guard. The day had started off balmy, after an extended period of frigid weather. Children went back to school after being trapped inside for a few weeks, adults were out doing chores and errands, all dressed lightly. It hit around noon, and schoolteachers, many just teens themselves, were forced with the decision of trying to ride it out in the schoolhouse, or sending the children home. Two schoolteachers, sisters themselves, made very different decisions, which would shape both their lives and the lives of all the pupils families, for many years to come. In fact, the book is split into two parts, the first part describes the blizzard itself, and the second part of aftermath.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this book was the six pages of author's notes at the end, where the author describes her motivation and research in writing this book. As a historical novelist, she wanted to write a book focused on children, which inspired the idea of writing about the children's blizzard. Instead of placing real characters into a created setting, in this book the setting or event was the focus, and the characters - while based on some real people, were created. She explains the Signal Corps, who reported the weather, the importance of railroads in developing this part of the country, the maltreatment of the first peoples, and the role of newspapers in attracting immigrants to populate the area. This last part was particularly interesting to me, as the families involved were Swedish immigrants, and my own grandparents immigrated from Sweden and Norway in the early 1900s.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 85
10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7
20.1
10.8 Page Count (400-449p)The Whole Town's Talking. Fannie Flagg
432 pages
3.0/5.0 - Interesting concept for a book, reminiscent of Thorton Wilder's Our Town or Edgar Lee Master's Spoon River Anthology. It follows the history of Elmwood Springs, Missouri from its pioneer days through the present day. I didn't realize when I picked it that it was the last book in a series about this town, which may have spoiled the previous books, but it worked fine as a stand alone novel.
If you like the folksy tone of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and a looking for a laidback book, this one is for you.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 100
10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8
20.1
10.3 Page Count 150-199CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders
This early book by Saunders consists of six short stories and a novella. Most take place in twisted theme park settings in a seemingly post-apocalyptic America. Somehow there is humor and satire, but also abundant violence and cruelty. I tolerated it through the six short stories, but the novella was just too much and it was all I could do to finish it. I really liked his 2013 collection Tenth of December, but this was too dark.
+10 Task (179 pages)
+5 Review
+5 Before 1996
Post Total=20
Season Total=60
10.1 two or three short works adding up to 75-150 pages* 111 PagesKing Pest by Edgar Allan Poe, 19p
Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz by Langston Hughes, 92p
+10 Task: 19 + 92 = 111 pages
+ 5 Combo: Before 1996: 1835 / 1961
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 25
10.10 500p or moreKilling Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
+10 Task: 704 pages
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 35
20.1 Riding the MetroThe Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories by Mariana Enríquez
Set in Buenos Aries
Country: Argentina
Continent: South America
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 55
20.2 Riding the MetroThe Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag
Set in Stockholm
Country: Sweden
Continent: Europe
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 75
10.1 Page Count (2-3 short works equaling 75-150 pages)The Black Veil by Charles Dickens 27 pages, pub 1836
The Black Veil is a dark, Gothic tale from the collection "Sketches by Boz." Dickens shows his empathy for the disadvantaged, and gives the story a wicked twist at the end. It's one of my favorite short stories by Dickens.
The Silver Mine by Selma Lagerlöf
25 pages, pub 1967 per World Cat
"The Silver Mine" is a thoughtful fable showing that spiritual richness can bring more happiness than the accumulation of material wealth to this rural community. Money corrupted the owners of the silver mine, and the community suffered from it. The king concluded, "The kingdom is better served with men than with money."
A Lodging for the Night by Robert Louis Stevenson 29 pages, pub 1877
Francis Villon was both a poet and a thief in 15th Century Paris. He would steal to survive, but he had a more sensitive nature compared to other thieves. During the evening he saw someone stabbed in the heart, and he tripped over a frozen body. He knew he needed to find shelter as the temperature dropped.
Villon was fed and housed by an old soldier during the snowy night. The two debated about who was the greater thief. Villon said that a conquering soldier is a greater thief because he is allowed to take more when he plunders the defeated population. The two men also talked about honor with Villon reminding the old soldier that he has not stabbed the old man and stolen his gold because it would not be an honorable thing for a guest to do.
Villon conversed with the old soldier for hours. He was fed and kept warm by the fire until dawn arrived. He avoided being frozen on the cold pavement or being attacked by people roaming the streets. The clever poet/thief survived another night.
+10 task
+ 5 review
+ 5 before 1996
Task total: 20
Season total: 85
20.7 Riding the MetroThe Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha
set in Rio de Janeiro
Country Brazil
Continent: South America
+25 Task
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 225
15.2 TDoSPretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Rated 5* by Jayme(the ghost reader) + Meghan
Four teenage former best friends have drifted apart since the one who held them all together, Alison, disappeared. Now somebody who seems to know their dark secrets is texting them. Is it Alison coming back into their lives, or does somebody else know enough to destroy them?
I enjoyed this, but I was disappointed by the ending, which resolves almost nothing. I gave it 4 stars, but I don't think I will be reading all 16 books in the series just to find out what these girls are hiding.
ETA: After I posted my review, a GR friend told me I only have to read the next 3 books to get the resolution. That sounds doable :)
+20 Task
+5 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 145
20.2 Riding the MetroUnwound by Lorelei James
Romance novels are my current guilty pleasure books. With the world opening back up, my work is extremely busy and mentally taxing. I'm enjoying reading some books that aren't. This book is from the erotic romance genre, and the sex scenes are sometimes slightly cringe-worthy, but I liked the characters.
Setting - Denver, CO
Country - USA
Continent - N. America
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 70
10.1 - Page Count (75 - 150 pages)Lyra's Oxford (64 pages) + Serpentine (67 pages) by Philip Pullman
= 131 pages
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 20
10.1 ; 10.2 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.3 Riding the MetroUnwanted by Kristina Ohlsson
I'm not sure how I stumbled on this Swedish mystery. I enjoyed the police characters, but found the ending quite rushed and the ultimate murderer a strange and incomplete choice. Still, I'd read another book in this series to see these characters continue to develop.
Setting - Stockholm
Country - Sweden
Continent - Europe
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 95
15.1 TDoSJayne Eyre: By: Charlotte Bronte
Rated 5* by Kate S and Erin (NY)
+15 task
+ 5 before 1996 (1846)
Post total = 20
Season total = 20
10.7 - Page Count - 350-399A Cold Dark Place by Gregg Olsen
+10 task - 385pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 80
10.3 - Page Count - 150-199California Cowboy by Maggie Casper
+10 task - 192pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 90
10.2 - Page Count - 100-199Smoke and Fire by Kelli Callahan
+10 task - 118pgs
-10 error on post 110 (wrong page count)
Task total: 0
Grand total: 90
10.9 - Page Count - 450-499The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe
+10 task - 496pgs
+100 Bonus
Task total: 110
Grand total: 200
10.3 Page Count 150-199pWhite Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway
+10 Task (168 pages)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 235
15.1. TDoSCommonwealth by Ann Patchett. Cindie and Rebekah
Story of a blended family and the secret that both draws them together and tears them apart over the years. A novel that moves through time in large jumps that can be hard to follow sometimes. I usually enjoy Ann Patchet but this book was just tedious. I couldn’t find the interest in the characters or their story. Everyone seemed to be drifting along and as written there was little engaging about the characters
15 pts 15.1 Cindie and Rebekah
5 pts Review
Total task: 20 pts
Total Season: 110 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 ... 10.5 ... ... ... ... ...
15.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
20.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Countries: England
Continents: Europe
10.4 Page CountCome Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
206 pages
This spring, I found my Door. For really reals, I was hiking a a Door was right there off the path. Unfortunately it looked…well, (click link below because I can’t manage a text link). Sure, I was kind of tempted, but I’m a mom - not a kid. I was happy that I got a Door, but I can’t just vanish into the desert, you know?
Also? Turns out that while I love reading about the Moors, I would rather visit Nonsense. And that Door was not going anyplace silly and bright. In this book, we go back to the Moors, and it made me secure in my choice NOT to venture into a dark, sharp, spooky world.
This was a very pleasing adventure for me to go on, from the safety of my comfy chair.
Update, apparently I cannot format links to save my life: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EvVkIM0Vk...
+10 task
+5 review
Task total = 15
Season total = 295
Task 20.1 Riding the MetroSet 54 pages in New York City; and, 218 pages in Berlin, Germany. So, that works out to:
19.85% in New York City and
80.15% in Berlin
Setting - Berlin
Country - Germany
Continent – Europe
Fake Accounts (2021) by Lauren Oyler (Hardcover, 272 pages)
Review: I was first attracted to this novel because I thought it was science fiction (it is not). Next, the blurbs all indicated that the female first person narrator discovers, in January 2017, that her long-term boyfriend Felix is an “anonymous internet conspiracy theorist”, very pro-Trump (he is). It looked like it would be a novel about a relationship told partially through blog posts and text messages and other modern social media (it is not). Instead, the novel’s focus is on our narrator’s obsession with living life on social media rather than in person.
The novel begins in New York City, just as she has discovered Felix’s secret online life. About 50 pages in *something happens* (big spoiler to reveal what, so I won’t), after which our narrator moves to Berlin, and the rest of the novel takes place there. The author inserts sometimes amusing rants on various contemporary (non-political) topics while our narrator walks the streets of Berlin and looks at the internet on her phone. The ending was abrupt, and a lot of loose ends were left dangling. Still, the rants were amusing, so I'd partially recommend this novel.
+20 Task
+05 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 00 + 25 = 25
15.3 TDoSAnd Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Rated 5* by Meghan + Katy
Ten people are trapped on an island, and then the killings start. This was a reread for me, maybe the fourth time that I’ve read it in my life, starting as a teenager. So I know who did it and all that. There is one aspect of the ending that I find unconvincing, but I still think it is one of Christie’s best.
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 Pre-1996
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 175
10.3 Page Count 150 pg - 199 pgHark! A Vagrant Kate Beaton
Let’s start with the obvious – this isn’t a graphic novel (yes, I did think it was!). What it is, is a collection of Kate Beaton’s sequential art (aka comics). Beaton has a degree in History, is a New Yorker cartoonist and Canadian! So, yes there are strips about Canadian history here (including a funny one about Montcalm on his deathbed). Almost all of the strips have historical references or literary ones – so it’s helpful if you are up on your history and classic literature. You’ll get a bigger laugh this way, and yes you will laugh. These comics are not aimed at the lowest common denominator. This was a great book to have as a bedside read.
As well, I really wanted to mention the outstanding job Draw and Quarterly did on the production of this book. The weight of the paper is notable. It was a pleasure to read/handle such a well-made book. 4*
10 task
5 review
_____
15
Running total: 150
20.6 Riding the MetroThree Stars Over Luanda by Patrick Hughes
Overlooking several glaring spelling and grammatical errors, AND overlooking the formulaic and unnecessary romantic subplot, this book had some merit. The story focusses on a small group of human rights workers and monitors in Angola during their civil war. The death/murder? of a journalist sets an investigation in motion. In the meantime, this reader, who had only a minimal knowledge of Angola's struggles, learned much more about how horrible the situation was. If only the author was able to concentrate on that and the touches he brought forward of the daily life of the people in Luanda. 2 stars
set almost entirely in Luanda, Angola (Africa)
Task=25
review=5
Task Total=30
Season Total=205
10.1; .....; 10.3;.....; .....; .....; .....; .....; .....; .....
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6
15.10 TDoSThe Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Ann > Devin Murphy
This reminded me so much of Gilead...a love letter to one who is not there, filled with memories and ramblings and teaching us how to mourn and grieve and reminding us of the painful beauty and brief nature of this "one wild and precious life."
No names are ever given to the main characters ("I," "you," and "Wife 1, 2, and 3") except for the dog: Apollo. The "I" in the novel is a woman whose best friend (the "you" to whom the novel is mostly addressed) committed suicide. Most of the novel is her addressing the departed, having philosophical discussions about writing and relationships and so many other things, just like they would in life. I really liked the end when she shifts to addressing Apollo in the same way she had with his former owner, a sense of having grown in the mourning process from focusing on the dead to focusing on the living. Definitely a 5-star read for me.
+45 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 50
+100 Completion Bonus
Season total: 550
10.4 Page Count (200-249 pages)Local Girls by Alice Hoffman 208 pages
"Local Girls" is a collection of interrelated short stories about the coming-of-age of Gretel Samuelson. The first group of stories are told in Gretel's voice which is cynical and funny, even through tough situations. The other stories are told from the view of a third-person narrator, and often involve her best friend Jill, other family members, or people in their Long Island neighborhood. Alice Hoffman uses magical realism in several of the stories, such as describing the sensation of fire when heroin floods the veins of one character.
The Samuelson family suffers through tragic events--divorce, a cancer diagnosis, drug addiction, deaths. But there are also warm relationships between good friends and close cousins--people they can count on through good times and bad. I enjoyed this mix of short stories revolving around these Long Island girls and women trying to make the best of what life throws at them.
+10 task
+ 5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 100
15.4This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
Steven and Kirstie gave 5 stars
This was a lyrical love story where time travel felt more like magical realism. There was a great deal underlying it, many concepts half referred to, but the story was in many ways simple. Two people on opposing sides see each other and connect, then write each other letters, some very inventive letters. The letters alternate with third person vignettes. And in the end, individual emotion is more important than ideology, which is not a surprise, really but unfolds gracefully from the telling of the story.
+20 task
+5 review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 195
15.5 TDoSCaraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber
Rated 5-stars by Lindsay & Taylor
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 270
20.5 RtM - EuropeThe Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters
City: Rome
Country: Italy
Continent : Europe
Task - 20 pts
Oldies - 5 pts (pub in 1972. I added this later after initial post)
Task Total - 25 pts
15.6 TDoSMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1) by Ransom Riggs
Rated 5-stars by Amanda (avatar: bookshelf & quote) and Taylor
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 300
10.3 Page Count 150-199Tory Heaven or Thunder on the Right by Marghanita Laski
A satirical novel set just after World War II. James Leigh-Smith and four others return to England having been living on an island through most of the war, to find the recently-elected Labour government has been overthrown by an ultra-conservative one. Society is now organised strictly along traditional class lines, and fraternising is forbidden. James, finding himself graded A and entitled to an unearned income among other things, is delighted, but others are not so fortunate. Engagements must be broken off, jobs must be abandoned, and one of his island-mates has been graded E - intellectuals, the lowest of the low. An amusing book.
+10 Task (172 pages)
+ 5 pre-1996 (1948)
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 195
20.2 Riding the MetroMorituri by Yasmina Khadra
City: Algiers
Country: Algeria
Continent: Africa
This has been shelved variously as mystery/crime/thriller. Crime certainly fits as there is plenty of it. For me, however, it was more a novel of what it would be like when a city is under siege by fundamentalist terrorists. No one, least not the police, knew where they would stike next. Further, the corruption among the government officials and society in general seems overwhelming.
This wasn't at all what I was expecting which was a mystery, a murder investigation conducted by Inspector Llob. It is so much more sinister and darker than that. The terrorism had been ongoing long before the novel opens. Llob is cynical about the corruption: this in a scene where simple questions are asked and nowhere near the level of interrogation. The rest of the staff comes from the same mould. Accustomed to large tips, they have got into the habit of recovering their memory only in relation to the largess of peple suffering from nostalgia.
I wish I could believe that what is related is divorced from reality. However, Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of Mohammed Moulessehoul, an Algerian army officer who adopted a woman's pseudonym to avoid military censorship. He was uniquely placed to comment on vital issues of the Middle East, Algeria and fundamentalism. He went into exile and seclusion in France. Still and all, I did not appreciate the writing style and the novel lacks coherence. For reality, this probably rates a high 4- or even 5-stars, but for readability it's more like 3-stars. I leave it at the latter, but knowing I'll probably remember it longer than most 3-star novels.
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
Season total = 140
10.1 PCSnow, Glass, Apples (88 pages) by Neil Gaiman
I've been in possession of this book for a few years and have never actually read it until now (only looked at the pictures). I normally love anything by Neil Gaiman, but this was not my favorite. I did enjoy the way he turned a beloved fairy tale on its head: didn't terribly love the manner in which he did so. Had I only been basing my rating on the story, it would have been a one-star read for me. But: THE ART! I'm a huge fan of Harry Clarke and Alfonse Mucha and you could see the influence of both of those artists in this book. It's absolutely stunning: if you ever run across it, you should drink it in with your eyes and skip the reading of it.
The Lion's Den (24 pages) by Anthony Marra
I loved A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, so was curious to read this when I saw it in one of the many Amazon shorts collections. It had its funny moments and had an interesting set-up, but it was too short to grab my interest, didn't have enough time to connect to the characters or the situation. I wish he'd come out with another novel already: I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat. But his shorter fiction (I've also attempted to read his short story collection, The Tsar of Love and Techno, but couldn't get into it) is not my cup of tea.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 565
10.4 PCLeave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (241 pages)
At Christmas, my husband and I went to see his parents. Outside, in the snow and wind we stood shivering, wearing masks, standing six feet apart. We had set their presents on the porch before we rang the doorbell; they left our presents on the stoop where we could collect them after they'd gone inside. My mother-in-law also left a small stack of books for me to read. This was among them.
It starts out simply: a family vacation in the Hamptons, a lovely airbnb rental...biggest worries are if you have enough wine for the weekend and if the kids have put on enough sunscreen before heading outside. The POV meanders almost unnoticeably between the four family members, lulling you into their vacation vibe.
One night, there's a knock at the door and everything changes.
I didn't read the blurb (just knew I needed to read this one because I need to get it back to my mother-in-law already) and I like that I didn't know what to expect, really upped the intensity of the story. Didn't love the ending, but don't know how else it could have concluded. Glad she left it in that stack of books on the porch, don't know if it would have been on my radar otherwise and I did quite like the writing. Four stars.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 580
15.1 TDoSHere by Richard McGuire
Joy => Andrés Santiago
What!? This was quite the experience, I still feel a little disjointed from reading it.
Everything happens in one particular geolocation: Here.
But the here is ever different, depending on the year you're experiencing "here"--whether that's 3,000,000,000 BCE or 22,175. Mostly, though, you're experiencing it in the 20th century: fights, kisses, day-to-day inanities, Halloweens, parties, dancing, sleep...
On some pages you have overlapping experience, like looking at a photo album with different years jumbled together of things happening in the same room (the page that made my head swim had the years 3,450 BCE , 1933, 1972, 1983, 2014, and 2016 going on all at once). It's such an interesting thought: what else has happened right here, in this spot where I'm typing on a computer? In this room? On this patch of earth? What will be happening here in ten, twenty, one hundred, one thousand years?
Like I said: I'm still a little disjointed. But in a good way. A really good way. Four stars.
+15 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 600
20.1 MetroYou Can Run But You Can't Hideby Duane "Dog" Chapman
City: Denver (more than 50 %
State: Colorado
Country: North America
Review
I am a big fan of the show. My friend got me into the show. He thought it would annoy me but I ended up loving it. My friend bought me the book. It is interesting. It is about Dog the bounty hunter's start in his career of bounty hunting. He went to prison for a murder one charge which he didn't commit. He explains how he got started in bounty hunting. He had a real knack. He did speaking engagements about his life. He went after Andrew Luster, heir to the Max factor fortune because Luster skipped out on rape charge where he drugged and raped three women. He talks about it in this book. He has another book out as well. It is a different read for me.
Task + 20
Review: 5
Book Total: 25
Grand Total: 75
10.8 Page Count 400 pg - 449 pgUn Lun Dun by China Miéville
Another one I really liked. It’s nice to feel vindicated with your random library book sale finds. There are many things in this novel for me to like: it’s a fantasy (but only in the alternate/distaff version of our world way), it has a smart female protagonist who is NOT the one everyone thought would be the saviour, it has an environmental theme, the world building is kind of fantastic, and I liked the underlying niceness of the story that everyone (no matter your beginnings or tenuous hold on being) can contribute to success. 5*
10 task
5 review
____
15
Running total: 165
10.2 Page Count (100-149 pages)A Shine Of Rainbows by Lillian Beckwith
Mairi and Sandy were happy living on a croft on the small Hebridean island of Corrie. Mairi wanted to adopt a child after having several miscarriages. She grew up in an orphanage so she wished to give an orphaned child a loving home. Her husband was surprised that she chose Thomas, a frail little boy with spectacles and a stammer.
Thomas flourished with her love, and enjoyed helping with the chores on the croft. He also developed a special relationship with the seals on the rocky Scottish coast. But the family had some unexpected troubles.
This was a sweet, charming short novel. Although much of it was predictable, it was also very heartwarming. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the island of Corrie and the lives of the crofters. Corrie is known for its misty weather that produces spectacular rainbows.
+10 task (111 pages)
+ 5 review
+ 5 before 1996 (pub 1984)
Task total: 20
Season total: 120
10.7 PCA Widow's Walk Off-Grid to Self-Reliance: An Inspiring, True Story of Courage and Determination by Annie Dodds (375 pages)
I should have known from the clunky title (and who has the cajones to call their own memoir "inspiring"?) that this would be pretty terrible. I couldn't help myself: I have friends who live off-grid in Montana and Washington and I'm always curious to hear more about off-grid living...what can I say, I loved The Swiss Family Robinson when I was little and they were the ultimate off-grid family and the fascination has stuck to this day.
This memoir had its moments, but the writing was atrocious--like reading an eight-grader's diary--and could have done with some serious editing: misspelled words aplenty, wretched syntax, missing words, repeating the same paragraphs near-verbatim pages apart. Ugh. Why, you might ask, did I finish this? My only answer is: rubbernecking? Just like a car crash, there was nothing good about this but I couldn't look away...
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 615
10.4 Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer by Harold SchechterManiac is the story of the Bath school disaster in 1927. It is one of the first and arguably the worst school massacre in American history. 38 children and 6 adults were killed by a resentful school board treasurer who found it necessary to blow up a brand new school building because his taxes paid for a building he had no use for. He had no children to attend it. And why have you never heard of the Bath disaster? Because Charles Lindburg’s transatlantic flight knocked it out of the headlines. This book also goes into the ‘lone wolf’ gunmen/bombers and their motivations and how people view mass tragedy. It’s quite interesting.
+10 task
+5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 70
20.7 Riding the MetroThe Price of Paradise by Susana López Rubio
Books which are centered around a romance are usually not my thing....although my favorite book....Anna Karenina is a huge exception. This novel is also an exception. The author somehow hooked me even though the characters are formulaic... the likable rogue, the desired but unavailable woman with the awful and cruel husband. The setting is Havana....before, during and after the Cuban revolution. ..with Cuban mafiosi and casinos and luxury department stores. Cameo appearances by Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Christian Dior, Che Guevara. The reader just knows what is going to happen...so, why did I like this anyway? I don't know. I guess I read it at the right time while in the right mood. But I think it is worth your while to give it a try. 3 stars.
set almost entirely in Havana, Cuba (South America)
Task=25
review=5
Task Total=30
Season Total=235
10.1; .....; 10.3;.....; .....; .....; .....; .....; .....; .....
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7
10.1 - Page Count - 75-150 - Round 2Paris Heat by Christiane France - 52pgs
King of the Air by Sadie King - 49pgs
+10 task - 101pgs
Task total: 10
Grand total: 210
20.2 - Riding the MetroSecrets of Sunbeams by Valerie Comer
Set in Spokane, Washington, USA
This year has seen me in the longest reading slump I can remember. Secrets of Sunbeams isn’t my usual type of book but following a recommendation I decided to give it a try as anything seems worth trying to get me reading again.
I enjoyed the book more than I expected, and what’s more I actually finished it within a few days! The plot is fairly predictable but the characters are almost all lovely which it gives the book a really warm cosy feel. It’s certainly not great literature (to be fair, it doesn’t pretend to be) but it’s well-written, very easy to read and overall quite enjoyable.
+20 task
+5 review
Post total: 25
Season total: 70
15.3 TDoSMy Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Rated 5* by Rosemary & Anika
Fantastic book. Asher Lev is born into a 1950s Hasidic home in Brooklyn, the only child of Rivkeh and Aryeh Lev. He soon displays a compulsion, a gift, for art. His talent is not valued much by his father who travels frequently to establish Hasidic schools in Europe. Asher tells the story of his first 22 years or so as he struggles greatly with the conflict of being true to himself and his art while remaining true to his Jewish roots. Chaim Potok's writing style is so good. 5*
+20 Task
+5 published 1972
+5 review
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 75
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 127 June wrote: "10.9 - 450-499Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
Task- 10
Post total : 10
Season total: 55"
June, the MPE for this title is this edition [book..."
That's fine. I keep forgetting to use the MPE for my Kindle books.
15.3 TDoSStrange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Rated 5* by Kathy Miller and Kate
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 255
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
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)
More...
Tiny Tales: Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness. Alexander McCall Smith
240 pages
2.5/5.0 - Alexander McCall Smith is one of my favorite author, unfortunately short stories are not my genre. It was okay, and if you enjoy the genre, you would probably like it. The format was interesting, in that it alternated several short stories with a few panel stories. The stories covered a wide range of topics from romance to revenge, and were set throughout the world. It's a very quick read, so go ahead and give it a try.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 40
10.4;
20.1