Reading with Style discussion
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SU 21 Completed Tasks
10.1 Page CountRead two or three short works adding up to 75-150 pages.
I read two totaling 148p.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr (64p)
and
Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi (84p)
The first was the story of a young Japanese girl alive at the time of the Hiroshima bombing, who develops leukemia in her teens as a result of the exposure to the radiation of the bomb. It is about her love of running and life and how she keeps hoping until the end that she will survive. I gave it 5*. Short but so very well written and important.
The second was the story of a musician who had a family - children and wife - but only loved his tar (a musical instrument). His search to find a replacement tar after his wife broke his in anger was futile. Nothing could replace it...and life was not worth living without it. And, so he decides to die. This story is about that week that it took him to die. I did not like this story. It seems so frustratingly silly. I gave it 3*.
What a juxtaposition of stories!
(The first story was written in 1977, so do I earn 5 points for it even thought the second story was latter? Also I have written one review covering both. Do I earn only 5 points since it is only one review? Not sure how to do the points for this task.)
Task: 10
Review: 5
Old: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 95
15.1 Ten Degrees of SeparationKiller Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson
Rated 5* by Vennie and Deedee
I found this book to be a typical Cozy Mystery with characters that felt a little bizarre...like the animal rights people and the Mignon Cosmetics people. It was like the writer had exaggerated them too much. I also found that I was continuously wondering where the pancakes came into the story; but now that I have read it, I think the pancakes were the makeup! Oh, well. An enjoyable read anyway.
Task: 15
Old: 5 (published 1995)
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 120
15.2 TDoSThe Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Rated 5* by Deedee and Elizabeth (Alaska)
I loved this story. And, I was surprised as I did not expect that to happen. I truly did not like Kitty Fane, finding her shallow and weak. However, her husband was also not particularly likeable either.
What saved this story for me was the ability of Kitty to reassess her life and choices and to gradually change, particularly in the society and time she was born into. I gave this story 4* because the ending redeemed so much of the beginning.
Task: 15
Old: 5 (published 1925)
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 145
10.8 Page CountThe Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
408p.
Well....remember this title the next time we have a challenge requiring an unreliable narrator. The main character here is Bradley Pearson. He wants to get away from London to finally write a worthy novel. His plans to do so quickly become undone by tragedy after tragedy, misplaced affections all around, violence, suicide...you name it. I love the premise of the book.....This is Bradley's novel supposedly based on true experiences.... but at the end, we have epilogues from some of the other characters....with quite different takes on Bradley's depictions. I like Iris Murdoch...and this is the best one I've read so far. Five stars.
Task=10
review=5
pre-1996=5 (1973)
Task Total=20
Season Total=360
10.1; .....; 10.3;10.4 .....; .....; .....; 10.8; .....; 10.10
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9
15.2 - TDoSLeviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Rated 5* by:
Cindy AL & Katy
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 35
15.5 TDoSTransmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street by Warren Ellis
Dave => Adam
While I liked the critique of the political machine, the police, journalism/media, the commercialization of religion, and so many other things, this was a little gritty for my taste. The main character reminds me of a cross between Hunter S. Thompson and Howard Stern--angry, a little crazy, and right in the thick of it, spewing expletives at an alarming rate. Let's just say this is most definitely NSFW...
+30 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 35
Season total: 820
10.9 PCSeraphina (499 pages) by Rachel Hartman
Years ago I remember my niece reading and rereading this one, talking about it nonstop, and I always intended to read it but it never quite fit any of the RwS tasks I needed to fill (and I didn't until now realize to what extent these tasks direct my personal reading). Finally read it and finally understand her draw to this story! Dragons and humans have had a tenuous peace for decades, but that peace is threatened when a member of the royal family is murdered. Seraphina, a gifted musician, assistant to the royal music master, and daughter to a lawyer who is the realm's expert on all things dragon, is half dragon, though her father and tutor/uncle are the only ones who know.
This was a great fantasy novel with well-developed characters and a compelling story, enjoyable to young readers and adults alike.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 835
10.8 PCClap When You Land (432 pages) by Elizabeth Acevedo
I haven't read many novels in verse, but I need to seek out more of them...I forget how powerfully they can punch.
Take the distilled, concise precision of a poem add the plot momentum of a novel and you get something that leaves you weeping without realizing it.
A plane travelling from JFK to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, has crashed into the ocean. Camino's father was on that plane. So was Yahaira's. (view spoiler) The story is told in alternate chapters by each girl. Each of their worlds and the people who surround them are crystal clear, their stories infinitely believable, the writing was absolutely stunning. 5 easy stars.
Side note: it wasn't until I read the author's notes that I realized the plane crash was based on an actual event: AA587. This is the most anxious I've felt reading a book in a while, as I was working on a plane while reading it and have worked my fair share of flights to the D.R. :-/
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
+100 Completion Bonus
Season total: 950
**This is set +60% in Dominican Republic...that should turn the DR green for our group challenge!**
10.9 Page Count 450-499pAgainst a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks
480 pages
+10 Task
+5 Before 1996 (pub 1993)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 715
Round 210.1 Page Count (two or three short works totaling 75-150 pages)
The Wreck of the Golden Mary by Charles Dickens , published 1856, 48 pages
Charles Dickens was the editor of the publication "Household Words" when the special Christmas 1856 edition was published. Dickens (writing as a sea captain) and Wilkie Collins (writing as the first mate) wrote the exciting framing stories about the shipwreck of the Golden Mary. The framing stories included the voyage of the ship, the shipwreck, and the survivors' ordeal in lifeboats in frigid temperatures. They never gave up hope that they would be spotted by another ship. These sections of the adventure story are called "The Wreck" (Dickens and Collins) and "The Deliverance" (Collins). A long sea voyage was very risky for the travelers, and a shipwreck was not uncommon. I enjoyed this suspenseful tale with interesting characters traveling to the California Gold Rush.
The Bloomsbury Christening by Charles Dickens, published 1834, 36 pages
I loved Dickens' humor in this farcical tale. An uncle, a bachelor who dislikes children, is chosen to be a godfather for his great-nephew's christening. He gives a toast weaving in all the possible things that could imperil a baby's life--hazards, illnesses, accidents, etc. Will this curmudgeon ever be invited to dine with them again?
+10 task (total of 84 pages)
+ 5 review
+ 5 before 1996 (1856, 1834)
Task total: 20
Season total: 370
20.4 Riding the MetroBlacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
New-York, USA, North America
+20 Task
Task total = 20
Season total = 125
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.2 Riding the MetroJohannesburg by Fiona Melrose
set in Johannesburg
Country South Africa
Continent: Africa
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 735
10.7 - What Does This Button Do?: An Autobiography by Bruce Dickinson - 384p.What Does This Button Do? Is the autobiography of the human air raid siren himself Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden and general renaissance man. I’ve established that I quite like reading the biographies and autobiographies of musicians but this one is a bit different. Bruce either doesn’t go in much for all that rock star debauchery or he’s more interested in the process than the byproducts. Either way, this book is more focused on his career as a professional musician than his life as a rock star, which is quite a crowbar of separation. It’s *very* interesting. Oh, and Bruce is a cheeky bastard. 😉
+10 task
+5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 140
20.4 Riding the MetroThe Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon
City: Venice
Country: Italy
Continent: Europe
I do so love Brunetti - how can I be giving most of the books in the series only 3-stars? Oh, yeah, it's because I decided top rating for mysteries is 4-stars unless the book is truly exceptional. This series may be worth more than the sum of its parts.
I have never been to Venice and I do not believe that deficit will ever be corrected. With this series, I get the chance to see Venice, not as a tourist sees that city, but as a resident sees it. Brunetti laments that there are already 16 million tourists soon to be 20 million. He misses the loss of the small storefronts that have been replaced to satisfy the tourists. (I live in a tourist trap, I can relate.) In this installment there is also the influx of immigrants and the conflict of cultures. A 10-year old Romani girl - a Gypsy - is found drowned in one of the canals. She has on her what can only be assumed to be stolen property. There is also a side story involving a scam artist. Leon fleshes out the society in general noting the influence of the Mafia and the general corruption throughout the Italian government (also the Catholic church).
Plot, writing style, but mostly the very good characterizations are what I like about the Commissario Brunetti series. There is also all the food and wine! Noted above is my surprise at how I've been rating these. There is nothing extraordinary about this particular installment, other than it endears me further. I can fill in only the third star - if only there were a way to make that third star very large on the graphic!
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
Task total = 25
Season total = 255
10.8 Page Count 400-449The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
There was a lot I loved about this book, which is the story of a woman called Ana living in a city near Nazareth under Roman rule. She grows up in a wealthy Jewish family, but her parents are not fond of her, and after a doomed betrothal she becomes the wife of a poor builder/carpenter whose name is Jesus.
As far as Ana went, I thought it was a great story, if a little hard to believe at some points. It brings in the Zealots (rebels against the Romans), the library at Alexandria, and a Jewish religious community, and I found all of that interesting and engaging.
The Jesus part less so. The book didn't credit him with being anything more than a good man who was in the right (or wrong) place and time to be declared Messiah. I would not call myself a Christian but even I think he was more special than that. And Jesus only came into a small part of the story. A lot of it was about Ana's life before her marriage, and even when married they were separated most of the time for one reason or another.
I do see why the author might want to dodge the religious questions in this way, but I thought it made a big hole in the story. Ana might as well have been married to anyone or no one... except that wouldn't have made headlines for the book.
I still gave it four stars because I found Ana's story compelling and often fascinating, with a strong sense of place and time.
+10 Task (419 pages)
+ 5 Review
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 285
20.3 Riding the MetroKismetology by Jaimie Admans
set 100% in Bristol
Country: England
Continent: Europe
I don't often give one star to a book that I manage to finish, but I disliked this so much more than any of my two-star reads, I see no alternative.
Mackenzie has moved in with her boyfriend in a house in the same street as her divorced mother. The mother is a nightmare narcissist who finds excuses to spend every evening at Mackenzie's house watching TV. The boyfriend is understandably not happy about this and nor is Mackenzie, but instead of biting the bullet and telling her mother where to go, she tries to please and distract her by fixing her up with a new man.
The first half of the book is made up of Mackenzie's tedious "dates" (all in the same restaurant) with various men age 50+ that she decides she must vet before they can meet Mum (not sure why, because Mum has the skin of a rhinoceros). (view spoiler)
+20 Task
+5 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 310
10.1 Page Count The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (93 pages, pub 1943)
AND
The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe (48 pages, pub 1844)
The Little Prince was a quick read, more fanciful nonsense than anything else. I found this to be more dated and less interesting, despite it's fun and zany ideas, than I expected. I was anticipating something a little more like Alice in Wonderland. But this is far less clever and somehow less sensical (as far as plot and character development).
The Purloined Letter isn’t as compelling as much of the rest of Poe’s work that I’ve read in the past. It was short enough to stay interesting, but it was a bit strange to me that this story never puts us in the action. It's all told second-hand, after the fact.
+10 Task (141 pages)
+5 Review
+5 Before 1996
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 110
10.3 150-199pThe Christmas Angel Project. Melody Carlson
176 pages
4.0/5.0 - A lovely little book about 5 friends, Abby, Belinda, Grace, Cassidy and Louisa. They are shattered when Abby unexpectedly dies in her early forties. She is the glue that holds them together. She leaves them handcrafted angels that she made for them, with a special message hidden inside each one. As they struggle to come to terms with her death, they decide to use the angels to inspire them to carry on, and do Christmas angel projects. While the idea is to help others, they find that in doing this, they are helping themselves - to heal, and find new meaning in their lives. There are even some budding romances! A nice faith based book that isn't preachy.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 115
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8
20.1
10.9 450-499pThe Four Winds. Kristin Hannah
484 pages
5.0 wonderful stars! Lots of strong women characters in this book about the Dust Bowl/Depression and the hardships faced by the people of the Great Plains, and those who traveled to California, in hopes of finding a better life. I am always left wondering when I read books where the characters face tremendous hardship with courage and dignity, how I would stand up to similar circumstances. I fear, not well.
Task: 10
Review: 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 130
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1
Riding the Metro - 20.2Love at First. Kate Clayborn
Chicago, IL
United States of America
North America
3.5 rounded to 4.0 stars - This book was a little slow in the beginning, but about 1/3 of the way in I didn't want to put it down. Will, a young doctor, is left an apartment/condo by his uncle that he only met once, sixteen years before. On that day, he also saw Nora for the first time, and fell for her. When they meet again, they are attracted to each other, but their new relationship is fraught with landmines. Slowly, they work their way through things.
I liked the way the author built the relationship, not rushing things. I enjoyed the setting - Chicago, and the development of the cast of characters. One thing I felt was missing was more about the Donny/Will/Will's mother relationship. Why did Donny dislike her so intensely? What was in the book? This part felt a little unfinished to me. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 155
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2
Riding the Metro - 20.3Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir. Ruth Reichl
NYC, NY
United States of America
North America
4.0/5.0 - This is the fourth book that I have read by this author; Delicious!, Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, being the first three. This book continues her food life after the NY Times, as the editor of Gourmet magazine. Perhaps my favorite part is the poem "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams with which the book opens. And of course, the recipes sprinkled throughout.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 180
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3
Riding the Metro - 20.4Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End. Jennifer Worth
London, England
Europe
3.0/5.0 - This closing book of the Midwife trilogy was grittier and darker than the previous ones. Pulling no punches, the author shares true stories of incest, abortion, abject poverty, and mental health issues. There is little of the lightness and joy found in the other books.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 205
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4
Riding the Metro - 20.5Women in Sunlight. Frances Mayes
Tuscany, Italy
Europe
3.0/5.0 - I wanted to like this more than I did. I liked the idea of the book, three mature women on the cusp of the next step in their lives meet at a retirement home visit, become friends and move to a villa in Tuscany. The story has two major plot lines, one involving the three women and their adventures, and a parallel line involving their next door neighbor, the narrator, Kit Raines. Her story, though it drove the narrative, seemed extraneous to me, and frankly, not very interesting.
Task: 20
Review: 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 230
10.3;10.4;10.5;10.6;10.7;10.8;10.9
20.1;20.2;20.3;20.4;20.5
20.7 RtMWhen the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson
Set in Baghdad
Country: Iraq
Continent: Asia
Written by a former foreign correspondent who spent time in Baghdad, this is the suspenseful story of three women who are fighting for their lives, their children, the Truth.
Ally is the wife of an Australian diplomat. Huda is a secretary at the embassy. Rania was raised in the lap of luxury and now her fortunes have changed. The twists and turns of their relationships, their secrets, and the threats they live under create an intense story that doesn't release you from its grip until the last page.
I knew the reign of Saddam Hussein was not a good time for people of Iraq, but didn't realize how truly terrifying it must have been...the constant surveillance, the random visits by the mukhabarat--Hussein's secret police, the constant fear...unbearable.
I loved the characters, was fascinated by the history, appreciated the Big Ideas that were discussed, really liked the writing...4.5 stars.
+25 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 980
**Set 99% in Iraq, turning it green for the group project :-)**
10.9 Page Count 450-499pSmall Town Storm by Elise K. Ackers
456 pages
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 395
10.9 - Page count (450 - 499 pages)L'Enchanteur by René Barjavel
471 pages
+10 Task
+5 Before 1996 (1984)
Task total = 15
Season total = 140
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; 10.9 ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.3 - Edmonton, Calgary, CanadaThe Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad is an interesting book. Snarky, sarcastic, train of thought urban fantasy writing reads a lot like John Dies at the End – very conversational and unstructured in a structured way, if that makes any sense. Afro-Canadian speculative fiction, it’s something I never would have picked up without a recommendation from my boyfriend and it’s definitely worth a read if you’re looking for something new.
+20 task
+5 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 165
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; … ; … ; 10.7 ; … ; ... ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; ... ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
15.2 TDoSThe Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Rated 5* by Bonnie B and Katy
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 150
10.8 400-449pThe Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green
+10 Task: 439 pages (one book started in spring and finished in summer)
+ 5 Combo: Before 1996 (1878)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 165
10.2 Page Count 100-149The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
I always enjoy John Scalzi, and this is no exception. It was quick, fun, lighthearted given the subject matter (a world where if you're killed intentionally, you don't die - so Dispatchers are on hand to quickly murder you if you're about to die of natural causes, so it isn't permanent!). I listened to this on audio and it was the perfect quick pick-me-up for a summery afternoon. (Again, I realize the subject matter doesn't sound like a pick-me-up, but Scalzi's writing is always pleasurable!)
+10 Task (128 pages)
+5 Review
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 30
20.1 Riding the MetroPartners in Crime by Agatha Christie
set in London
Country: England
Continent: Europe
I read the first book in this series last season and just thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems like the Tommy & Tuppence series is not one of Agatha Christie's most popular series, but I found it pretty amusing and the characters engaging. This one is a collection of short stories of their adventures, now that they've set up shop (semi-officially) as private detectives in London, tackling cases of all sorts - and of course with an extra espionage thread all the way through!
+20 Task
+5 Before 1996 (pub 1929)
+5 Review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 60
20.2 Riding the MetroWhere We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha
set in Rio de Janeiro
Country: Brazil
Continent: South America
This is just a lovely, fast-paced, engaging book tracing the intertwined stories of 3 young men in Rio who are all dealing with HIV in different ways -- one is HIV positive and coping, eventually, with a dramatic betrayal from an ex. Another just tested positive. A third had a scare but is HIV negative, and is struggling with trust.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 85
20.3 Riding the Metro Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey
set in Accra
Country: Ghana
Continent: Africa
This is book 2 of a series by Ghanaian author Kwei Quartey - I really enjoyed the first one and was excited to see the second one come out. I also liked this second one - the storyline is that a wealthy young fashion designer is murdered at her home, and her driver was arrested. Some years later, her aunt brings the case, that she still is unsatisfied with, to the private detective agency, and Emma Djan and company are on the case. I enjoyed the storyline but even more, I loved the gorgeous detail & description of the different areas of Accra.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 110
15.2 Page Count 100-150 pgsHenry James by Rebecca West
It is important to note the subtitle: A Critical Biography. West provides only the absolute minimum of biographical details. Henry James was born in 1843; his father was a minister; he first saw Europe at the age of twelve and remained four years; he returned to Europe as an adult; in 1916 he renounced his US citizenship, became a British citizen and died shortly thereafter.
This very short book is filled with spoilers and though I feel certain I have more Henry James in my future, I didn't care. West includes many titles and addresses each somewhat briefly. Sometimes I couldn't tell whether she admired James' work or not. I think some yes and some no. In many places I found her humorous.
The Europeans (1878) marks the first time when Mr James took the international situation as a joke, and he could joke very happily in those days when his sentence was a straight young thing that could run where it liked, instead of a delicate creature swathed in relative clauses as an invalid in shawls.The last nearly 20% of the book are two extensive bibliographies, one called The American Bibliography. I didn't spend a lot of time perusing them so I'm uncertain how they differ, but it may be that some stories were not published in the US and others only in the US. Having read this "Critical Biography" I suspect I'll enjoy/appreciate the titles published during the middle of his career and for that especially I am glad I read this. I don't know how to rate this. If I give it 3-stars I feel as if I'm diminishing the offering and with 4-stars it might be an exaggeration. However, I got enough out of it, I'm coming down on the larger number.
[and later about another title]
But that book is not typical of this period, for it is singularly free from those great sentences which sprawl over the pages of The Golden Bowl with such an effect of rank vegetable growth that one feels that if one took cuttings of them one could raise a library in the garden. And it is those sentences which absorb, at the last, the whole of Mr James’ attention.
+10 Task (130 pgs)
+ 5 Before 1996 (1916)
+ 5 Review
Task total = 20
Season total = 275
15.3 TDoSA Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Denise + KarenMichele
+15 pts _Task
+5 pts _ Oldies (1950)
Task Total - 20 pts
Task 20.4 Riding the MetroSetting – Cape Town
Country – South Africa
Continent – Africa
The Woman Next Door (2016) by Yewande Omotoso
Review: This is a character-driven literary fiction novel starring two heroines, both of whom are in their 80s. It was on the International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2018). The two women are next door neighbors, and have been next door neighbors in a neighborhood in the Cape Town metropolitan area for over 20 years. The twist: one is of European ancestry, and the other one is of African ancestry. I liked the novel because all the characters are a mixture of good traits and bad traits. Towards the end the author gets political, which didn’t really fit the rest of the novel. The bulk of the novel focuses on relationships between family members and on the tribulations of getting older. Recommended for readers looking for character studies and not for Action! Adventure!
+20 Task
+05 Review
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 110 + 25 = 135
10.10 Page Count 500p or moreAngel of Storms (Millennium’s Rule #2) by Trudi Canavan
568 pages
+10 Task
+100 Completion
Post Total: 110
Season Total: 505
15.8 TDoSPrudence (The Custard Protocol #1) by Gail Carriger
Rated 5-stars by Leigh and Kat
+45 Task
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 430
20.8 RtMSoulless by Gail Carriger
Set in London
Country: England
Continent: Europe
Alexia Tarabotti is a spinster, half Italian (which makes her rather undesirable in Victorian England--too olive-skinned, too robust), and has no soul. No, really: no soul. Lucky for her, this is a great attribute in a society filled with werewolves, vampires, and ghosts! If she touches a non-human, she takes their power away: vampire fangs retract and they can walk in the sunlight, werewolves regain human form.
Alexia is headstrong, no-nonsense, and so funny...what a great heroine for this series. Her awkward friend, Ivy, is a crackup; her half-sisters, mother, and step-father are reminiscent of the Bennet clan (the girls are so Kitty and Lydia); the mystery she becomes involved in and the love story are compelling and well told. The writing is delightfully funny and I can't wait to read the next one in the series. Steampunk isn't normally high on my list; this author is a definite exception.
+25 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 1010
10.3 PCThe Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act (177 pages) by Kieron Gillen
+10 Task
Task total: 10
Season total: 1020
15.7 TDoSThe Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
Well, who knew that novels about sieges were my ‘thing’. (Another siege read was ‘The Siege’ by Ismail Kadare.) God, this was good. It was so well told, interesting, human, and funny. Because of circumstance I read this novel slowly, which suited it. This is a book you want to savour. This book is about so many things, that to sum it up would spoil it. Definitely worth the Booker Prize + worth reading. 5*
5* from Rebekah + Elizabeth (Alaska)
30 task
5 review
5 >1996
_____
40
Running total: 410
20.3 Riding the MetroThe Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross
set in Leeds
Country England
Continent: Europe
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 755
15.5 TDoSThe City & the City by China Miéville
Anika —> Joanna
Review This is mental gymnastics wrapped in a detective story or vice versa. Mieville challenges the reader and society with a murder mystery in two cities that occupy the same geography. They have special rules for “unseeing” that keep the residents apart and unwilling to admit even to themselves that they see or hear what is happening in the other city that they share space with. The reader has to accept that breach is a verb, people or a person, and maybe a place. That took work on my part but was worth it. Not a book for everyone but one that some will enjoy tremendously.
+20 task
+5 review
Task total 25
Season total: 155
Round 210.7 Page Count 350-399 pages
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
In 1939, Odile was hired for the job of her dreams--a librarian at the American Library in Paris. It was an English-language lending library with subscribers from many countries. Adding to her happiness, Odile was falling in love with a young police officer.
Life changed when the Nazis invaded France. The library shipped books to soldiers to keep up their spirits. A family member joined the military. Odile's father and boyfriend had to follow the orders of the Nazi leaders. There was a list of banned books that the library could not circulate. Jews were not permitted in the library so the librarians secretly carried books to their homes--until the Jews disappeared from their residences. Some of their other library patrons, such as English citizens, were also rounded up.
A secondary time line is set in Montana in 1983. Odile is now a lonely widow. Lily is a teenage neighbor who needs a shoulder to lean on during her mother's illness. Odile and Lily find that they both enjoy languages and literature. Each of them also possesses a jealous streak, and a tendency to act impulsively. Odile helps Lily through some difficult times, and also examines some things that occurred during the Nazi Occupation that have weighed on her conscience.
"The Paris Library" is an enjoyable historical fiction novel that looks at World War II from a different perspective. The author, Janet Skeslien Charles, created characters that were often put in difficult ethical situations during the Nazi Occupation. Nobody gets through a war without regrets. She also shares her love of libraries and literature. The author learned about the history of the American Library when she worked there as a program manager, and came to admire the courage of the World War II librarians. The American Library in Paris was more than a place that shelved books. It was also a community of people from many countries that shared ideas and friendship.
+10 task 351 pages
+ 5 review
Task total: 15
Season total: 385
20.6 Riding the MetroA Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
City: Kabul
Country: Afghanistan
Continent: Asia
+25 Task
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 455
15.3 TDoSThe Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The novel of World War II France was very hard to put down. You know or strongly suspect the secret at the heart of the book but the novel is well written enough that I had to keep reading. Very strong characters. The plot veers a little towards coincidence but it is a good read.
20 pts. 15.3 TDoS Susan and Mike
5 pts Review
Total task: 25 pts
Total Season: 235 pts.
10.1 10.2 10.3 ... 10.5 10.6 ... ... ... ...
15.1 15.2 15.3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Countries: England, United States, Australia
Continents: Europe, North America, Oceania
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The Safe-Keeper's Secret (Safe-Keepers #1) (2004) by Sharon Shinn (Hardcover, 222 pages) (Young Adult)
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 100 + 10 = 110