Reading with Style discussion
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SP 22 Completed Tasks
10.7 Three Favorite WomenKindred by Octavia E. Butler
Low lexile
+10 Task (from Toni Morrison)
Post Total = 10
Season Total = 1270
20.3 Our TownMain Street by Sinclair Lewis
When Carol Kennicott, a librarian in the city of St Paul, marries country doctor Will Kennicott, she has idealistic visions of transforming the small town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, where he lives and works. But the people of the town are not interested in being transformed, and Gopher Prairie soon begins to wear Carol down.
I loved this slice of American life set around the time of the First World War. It's true that Lewis is almost obsessively detailed in his descriptions, but I enjoyed that. Carol can be annoying, but that provides a balance to the story, which is told almost entirely from her point of view. This is a book I would happily read again.
+20 Task (set 82% in Gopher Prairie)
+ 5 Combo (20.9 "They fell upon the food - chicken sandwiches, maple cake, drug-store ice cream."
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1920)
Post Total = 45
Season Total = 1315
20.3 Our TownThe Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps by Michel Faber
An intriguing little story! Set in the town of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast (which I associate more with Dracula than with its older religious history), it centres on Sian, a woman in her thirties who has joined an archaeological dig at the abbey to take her mind off a traumatic event in her past and the nightmares that haunt her.
Michel Faber nurtured this from a short story to a novella. I found the main characters rather strange, but the dog was lovely, and the historical "mystery" that was introduced near the end with the letter in the bottle fascinated me. Despite the brevity of that plot thread, the Pierson family seemed very real.
+20 Task (set entirely in Whitby, North Yorkshire)
+15 Combo (10.2, 20.7 Netherlands to Australia to Scotland, 20.9 "stabbing his fork into a wodge of chocolate cake")
+10 Review
Post Total = 45
Season Total = 1360
10.3 ShakespearePride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
+10 task
+10 combo 10.4 name,,10.7 three favorite women
Post total: 20
Season total: 555
15.6 Central Asia Farghona (Uzbekistan)Raiders from the North by Alex Rutherford
+15 task
Post total: 15
Season total: 570
20.9 BirthdaysThe Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer
Eight-year-old Carmel goes missing from a crowded story-telling festival after her mother loses sight of her for a moment. She has always been inclined to wander off, but this time she seems to have disappeared without trace.
I thought the mother's anguish was really well done, and overall I enjoyed the book, which is tense without being harrowing. We know what happens because we follow Carmel's experiences in tandem with her mother's, so this is more of a psychological study than a mystery. I thought it would have had more impact if it was shorter, but it had me gripped through the second half.
+20 Task ("Nessa brought cake and wine")
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.4)
+10 Review
Post Total = 40
Season Total = 1400
20.9 BirthdaysShadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis
This is the second book in the series about Marcus Didius Falco, private investigator of ancient Rome, and it's very much a sequel to the first book. Opening with Falco and his friend Petronius disposing of a body that met its end in The Silver Pigs, it continues the story begun in that book and focuses much more on the characters than on any mystery.
I enjoyed it, although it's slow in places. I was glad I'd read The Silver Pigs very recently so I knew who everyone was and what was happening. It wouldn't make sense to read it as a standalone.
+20 Task ("It was perfectly civilized; we sat in the garden, and I had honey cakes.")
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1990)
Post Total = 35
Season Total = 1435
15,10 Western AsiaBahrain
Round the Bend by Nevil Shute
+15 pts - Task
+20 pts - Bonus
+5 Pts - Oldies -1951
Task Total - 40 pts
10.7 Three Favorite Women The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
From Margaret Atwood's maps (one of my favourite author as well)
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.4 ; 10.9 - goes front and back with the past ; 20.9 - "While everyone was off at May’s dinner, before the mouse-shaped cake than Celeste had taken over to the restaurant had been served”)
Task total = 25
Season total = 410
.... ; 10.2 ; .... ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 15.7 ; .... ; 15.9 ; 15.10
.... ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; .... ; 20.5 ; .... ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 (x4) ; 20.10
10.7 Three Favorite WomenRed Azalea by Anchee Min
This memoir traces the author's early teen through early adulthood during the Cultural Revolution in China--the late 1960s to the early 1970s. The book shows the progressive pressure her family was under, the terror experienced by everyone as the government restrictions tightened, and the hard labor Min performed at a farm where she was sent.
We glimpse the ways that she managed to keep herself going, finding enjoyment in small moments, and passion in a relationship with one of the female leaders of the farm. Of course, her love affair was prohibited and they both risked death if they were discovered. The description of the labor was so powerful that I could almost feel the work in my own muscles.
Then, suddenly, and abruptly both for Min and for the reader, Min is selected to perform in a propaganda movie and she's moved from the farm to Shanghai. The making of the movie and her relationship with "the supervisor" was the least interesting part of the book for me.
+10 Task (Morrison list)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1993)
+5 Combo (20.7)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 990
10.7 Three Favorite Women (Atwood)The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
+10 task
Post total: 10
Season total: 580
10.1 PopularInto Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer (I used 1997 – it’s #7.)
Review: Krakauer is a fantastic writer. He knows how to bring just the right level of detail to inform and illuminate the narrative but not overwhelm it. The story itself is fascinating and devastating, and Krakauer's participation in it (not just a reporter watching from the side) is part of what makes this such a great book.
Everyone in the book is a real person with a real perspective on what happened, both at the time and (for those who survive) in hindsight. In my opinion, Krakauer is pretty vulnerable in relating mistakes he made, signs he missed, and ways he could have done something differently that might have saved someone. Though Krakauer speculates, we don't have the benefit of really understanding the motives, regrets or perspectives of other people in the book - especially those who died and Krakauer couldn't interview. So I kept that in mind: as much as Krakauer has reasons for what he did or didn't do, others did too. There are no real villains here.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub’d 1997)
Post total: 25
Season total: 585
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 - 10.4(x4) 10.5 - - - 10.9 -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - 15.10
20.1 20.2 - 20.4 - 20.6 - - 20.9 -
10.7 Three Favorite WomenJack by Marilynne Robinson (On Toni Morrison’s litmap.)
Review: I'm glad to have finally read this latest Gilead novel, and really enjoyed it. As always, Robinson plumbs the spiritual depths of her focal character. We sit with Jack's flaws, temptations, yearnings and hopes as much as he does. We see how his religious upbringing affected him (and continues to) and the ways he both wrestles with and takes comfort from religiosity.
At heart, though, this novel is a love story. It's a beautiful one. Jack and Della come together slowly and carefully at first, then all in a rush, even though the world will never let them be together. Most readers (me included) will have the benefit of knowing some of what comes next (as seen in Gilead).
I'm doing 4 stars instead of 5 because, while Robinson makes clear that Jack and Della's situation is deeply impacted by racism, it still feels over-simplified. We never sit with Jack's thoughts or feelings on race. I don't buy that Jack has no racism to confront (or hide) and it feels like a big omission when we are neck-deep in Jack's psyche all throughout. Not a fatal flaw, but a bit disappointing.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Post total: 20
Season total: 605
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 - 10.4(x4) 10.5 – 10.7 - 10.9 -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - 15.10
20.1 20.2 - 20.4 - 20.6 - - 20.9 -
20.10 Between the Wars (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s task)A Shocking Assassination by Cora Harrison
I've read three of the eight books in the Reverend Mother mystery series (not in order). The main character is Reverend Mother Aquinas who runs a convent and St. Mary's of the Isle school in Cork, Ireland in the 1920s, a time of poverty, internal war, unemployment, etc. The Reverend Mother is seldom shocked, yet she is sympathetic. Three recurring characters provide Reverend Mother with information: Patrick Cashman, former student and now the police inspector, Dr. Scher, the town physician, and Eileen, former student and rebel. There were some exciting chapters involving Eileen and the ending came as a surprise to me. Some of my favorite scenes are set in the convent with the sisters and students. I plan to continue reading this series. The author also writes a series set in 15th or 16th century Ireland.
+20 Task (set during 1923)
+20 Combo 10.2 (ASA), 10.4, 20.5 (approved in task thread), 20.9* Sister Bernadette serves her fruitcake to visitors. Example:
*Chapter 4: "And then in another minute, the tea would appear. There would be scones, fruitcake, sugar and cream, all for one overweight, middle-aged man, while outside the walls of her convent the poor starved and died of wasting diseases."
+10 Review
Task Total: 50
Halfway Finish Bonus (20-point tasks): 50
Season Total: 565
10.8 UkranianThe Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Early 20th century spy story that is as much a character study as a thriller. Verloc is a anarchist in London who is involved in a bomb plot at the direction of an unnamed country. The plot is described in very broad terms and how it occurs is not really the focus of the book. Instead Conrad describes the aftermath in the context of Verloc’s family and their interrelationships and history. That is where the novel’s tragedy occurs.
I was surprised to enjoy the book as much as I did. In the past, I have found Conrad to be unengaging. I may need to try some of his books again
10 pts 10.8 Ukranian
5 pts 10.2 Easter
5 pts 20.1 Pulitzer
5 pts 20.7 Wao
10 pts Oldies
10 Review
Task total: 45 pts
Total Season: 795 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 … 10.10
15.1 15.2 … … … 15.7 … 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 … …20.9 20.10
10.9 DualThe English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Excellent! Four people including the severely burned patient of the title find themselves in an Italian villa in the aftermath of the Allied invasion and the German retreath to the North. Each is wounded in some way, physically or mentally, by their wartime experiences. These experiences have been compounded by the events of their lives before the war. In addition, the inherent contradictions between normal life and wartime experiences is clear
Told in a very nonlinear style with shifting narrative perspectives, the novel slowly unwinds the protagonists history. In some ways the story does not end. We really only have a conclusion about one a charavpcbut the implication is that none will ever recover from the effects of the war.
10 pts 10.9 Dual
5 pts 20.3 Our Town
5 pts 20.7 Wao
5 pts Birthday P. 191 Lord Suffolk was still nibbling at his Kipling cakes.
5 pts Oldies
10 Review
Task total: 40 pts
Total Season: 835 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 … … … 15.7 … 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 … …20.9 20.10
20.7 WaoA Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka
Family conflict Centered on a British-Ukranian widower living Britain whose daughters do not like his new, abusive, Ukranian wife. Tension between the two daughters is compounded by their inability to understand their father’s life. The family find themselves is objectively humorous situations but there is nothing funny about the situation if it were to occur in real life. As he attempts to escape from his living situation, the father is distracting himself by writing a history of tractors in Ukranian.
As the novel progresses, the reader sees the family’s history through World War II in the Ukraine and laterin displaced persons camps in Europe and how it has sffected thier relationships. Some old wounds begin to heal and a truce, of sorts, is found as the family reach a better understanding of each other.
20 pts 20.7 Wao see discussion thread
5 pts Birthday P 90: Good cake. My Millochka used to make like this
5 pts 10.2 Easter
5 pts 10.9 Dual
10 Review
Task total: 45 pts
Total Season: 880 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 … … … 15.7 … 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 20.7 …20.9 20.10
20.8 TexasLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
New beginnings on a cattle drive from Texas to Wyoming. Set in the period immediately following the Civil War, Texas is beginning to be more civilized and former Texas Rangers Call and McCrae decide to drive cattle from small twn Lonesome Dove to unsettled Wyoming. Along the way, they tangle with horse theives, rustle some cattle themselves (although it seems not to “count” since the prior owner is Mexican), meet with flood, famine, disease, and injury and death.
Very readable novel of the American West, the risks and challenges faced are not sugar coated. The writing is very engaging with a plot that results in the book being a 900 + page page-turner. I highly recommend
20 pts 20.8 Texas
5 pts 20.2 Prize
5 pts 20.3 Our Town
5 pts 20.4 Reivers
5 pts 20.9 Birthday. P 739 “I got to have sweets, at least”, Clara said eating a piece of cake before she went to bed . . .
5 pts 10.4 Name
10 Review
5 pts Oldies
20 pts Jumbo
Task total: 80 pts
Total Season: 960 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 … … … 15.7 … 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.4 Eastern AfricaThe Seychelles Affair by Mike Hoare
15 pts - Task
20 pts - Bonus
5 pts - Oldies (1986)
Task Total - 40 pts
10.3 ShakespeareChoke by Chuck Palahniuk
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.4 - CHUCK)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1,010
10.2 EasterAudubon, on the Wings of the World by Fabien Grolleau
+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Season total = 420
.... ; 10.2 (x2) ; .... ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 15.7 ; .... ; 15.9 ; 15.10
.... ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; .... ; 20.5 ; .... ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 (x4) ; 20.10
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoSéance Tea Party by Reimena Yee
Reimena Yee is malaysian and currently lives in Australia (from her website's bio https://reimenayee.com/mediakit/)
+20 Task
No style, graphic novel
Task total = 20
Season total = 440
.... ; 10.2 (x2) ; .... ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 15.7 ; .... ; 15.9 ; 15.10
.... ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; .... ; 20.5 ; .... ; 20.7 (x2) ; 20.8 ; 20.9 (x4) ; 20.10
10.10 Group ReadsBeyond This Place by A.J. Cronin
It is a shock for 21-year-old Paul Mathry when he discovers that his father is in prison for life, having been convicted of murdering a young woman. Determined to find out what happened, Paul leaves Northern Ireland for the Midland city where the murder took place. But he soon becomes convinced his father is innocent and comes up against some powerful and dangerous men.
I enjoyed this. I'd barely heard of A J Cronin before reading it, although he was very well known in his day. This novel was published in 1940 but set in 1936, and it is gritty in places, with events and attitudes that you wouldn't find in Agatha Christie. The truth of the murder isn't difficult to guess, but the focus is on psychology and motives rather than "who dunnit."
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.7 posted on help thread, 20.10 set entirely in 1936)
+10 Oldies (1940)
Post Total = 40
Season Total = 1475
10.3 ShakespeareThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (#222 on best endings list)
Review: The story was robust and the characters were decent, but overall I come away with the feeling that this was just okay. The first third (Amir and Hassan in childhood) was really good, but as the complexity of the weave of the story increased, the style got clunky.
There's something too blatant or perfect about the coincidences and the mirroring across generations. It has the feel of a superhero story, where the world needs righted or re-balanced.
The author overexplains a bit throughout the novel (and especially at the end) to make sure we hear exactly what he wants to tell us, that we understand his mechanizations and metaphors. I don't love when my work (and fun!) as a reader is taken away like that.
I did appreciate the ending - it's hopeful but not unrealistic. It rings true.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Non-western
+5 Combo 20.7 (see author bio: Khaled Hosseini)
Post total: 35
Season total: 640
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4(x4) 10.5 – 10.7 - 10.9 -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - 15.10
20.1 20.2 - 20.4 - 20.6 - - 20.9 -
20.10 Between the WarsDanger on the Atlantic by Erica Ruth Neubauer
This third (and presumably final) installment of the Jane Wunderly mysteries did the series proud. While it didn't have a whole lot of what I liked about the first book (exploration into the history and psyche of Jane, which really added to the understanding of the actions she took in the first book), it did have an interesting setting--aboard an ocean liner traveling from Southhampton to New York, the entire cast of characters trapped with nowhere to hide--and the mysteries multiplied rather than being laser-focused on one conundrum.
It's 1926 and Jane and Revers are posing as a married couple to flush out a German spy--is it the captain? the charming German bon vivant? could it be someone else entirely? Jane ends up becoming friends with a wealthy newlywed American woman whose husband has disappeared, but on a ship there is nowhere to hide so what has become of him?
So many questions and red herrings and lovely dresses and art deco details, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
+20 Task, set entirely in 1926
+10 Review
+5 Combo: 10.4
Task total: 35
Season total: 1005
20.1 PulitzerThe Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
The more Doyle I read, the more I realize that I really don't like him and don't find his mysteries to be particularly strong. His strength, then, lies in his ability to create such full and unique characters that those characters have entered the imagination so entirely as to inhabit other and better stories than those of their creator.
This installment felt disjointed and entirely implausible, while at the same time being--dare I say it?--rather dull.
The book begins and ends with Holmes shooting up (cocaine, to be precise), and in the middle he is trying to solve the mystery of a stolen treasure that has been arriving in Mary Morstan's post piecemeal over that past several years. Watson instantly falls for Mary; Holmes goes down a rabbit hole to find his answers.
It has drugs! It has love! It has stolen jewels and gold from the Dark Continent! It should be so good...but it was merely *meh* for me.
+20 Task, pub. 1890
+10 Review
+5 Combo: 10.2
Task total: 35
Season total: 1040
20.4 The ReiversThe Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
“I'm afraid I've done nothing at all to advance the plot."
"You chose to come away with me," Ned reminded her.
"So this is merely romance," she frowned disapprovingly. "I was hoping for an epic adventure, or a gothic mystery at the very least."
Ned laughed. "Darling, don't worry, the story has just begun.”
This was a little bit The Princess Bride (the humor, the piracy, the multiple-identitied hero) a little bit Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate (Victorian era fantasy, though not as steampunk as Carriger), a little Bridgerton (romantic romp), and a whole lot of swashbuckling fun.
In this one, the pirates are a society of ladies--witches?--who have flying houses instead of pirate ships in which to plunder the land.
Cecelia Bassingwaite is the niece and ward of one of the most prestigious members of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. One day, while walking and reading Wuthering Heights, she meets the man who has been paid to kill her. She is ecstatic! An assassin was hired for her! She might finally be of age to take a proper place in the Society at last! Not quite, she comes to find out. Explosions, tea with the Queen, literary allusions galore, and big reveals aplenty ensue and it was just a whole lot of fun...can't wait for the next installment.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.2, 10.4, 20.9--I don't have the exact quote as I was listening to the book, but Queen Victoria ate cake with her tea.
Task total: 45
Season total: 1085
20.3 Our TownThe Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
This Hugo Award-winner was a little hard for me to get into at first--the first chapter was so confusing! It begins with Almost Brilliant (a bird) speaking to Cleric Chih of the Singing Hills Abbey (they/them/their pronouns, which made it difficult to read sometimes). They are camping at the side of a remote lake, resting from their long journey, when they see a troupe of ghosts carrying a palanquin and on the palanquin the long-dead empress in exile, In-yo, the Empress of Salt and Fortune.
It takes Chih two more days of walking to find the isolated house where the exiled empress spent most of her days. It looks abandoned, but there is one person there: Rabbit, who in her youth served the empress and is the last person alive to know all of the stories and secrets of that time and place.
While confusing at first, this novella grew on me and I loved the fairy tale feel of it. Cleric Chih is there to document and archive the stories and remnants of the empress's life and the way the story unfolds is epic. Quite enjoyed it.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.2, 10.4, 10.9--told in two overlapping timelines
Task total: 45
Season total: 1130
20.8 TexasA Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss
While I didn't like this as much as his standalone The Coffee Trader, I'm very glad to have stumbled across David Liss. This first-in-a-series takes place in London in 1719. It introduces us to the main character, Benjamin Weaver, who was well known throughout England for being the best boxer the country had ever had. But he turned to other pursuits after a leg injury and now we find him as a thief-taker. It's an interesting historical term and now we would call him a private detective.
There is a mystery, of course. A few months previous to the opening of the novel, Weaver's father was killed by a hackney coach, the driver of which was drunk and found not to be responsible. Coincidentally, the next day an acquaintance of the father was found to have hanged himself. Weaver is engaged to investigate, because perhaps both of these deaths were murders.
This is an interesting look at the time period, depicted as lawless and violent after sundown. Additionally, Benjamin Weaver is a Jew. There is a lot of overt anti-semitism, not just in the attitudes of the people, but also by law. For instance, Jews were not allowed to own property. Despite this, there are many who are somewhat tolerant of Benjamin himself, ignoring his enthnicity for the most part.
The writing style helps the reader to feel the time period. Liss comments on his chosen style at the end of the novel: I have, in the language of this novel, tried to suggest the rhythms of eighteenth-century prose, although I have made many modifications in the interest of readability. I noticed this more formal style and liked how it lent to the atmosphere of the period, but others might find it off-putting, especially in some of the dialog. “I know not why you would conduct business with such a man,” I said. and It is merely that I know not whom to trust, ...
I have acquired the other three in the series and I'm glad I have them. That said, I'll probably not find a place for them immediately. This is 4-stars, but only just so, due to many violent scenes and the anti-semitism in general.
+20 Task (Liss lives in San Antonio)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
+ 5 Jumbo (506 pgs)
Task total = 40
Season total = 895
20.10 - Between the WarsA Fine Duplicity: A Lillie Mead Historical Mystery by Lisa Zumpano
+20 task - 1922
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 760
20.10 - Between the WarsA Secret Agenda: A Lillie Mead Historical Mystery by Lisa Zumpano
+20 task - 1923
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 785
20.10 - Between the WarsAll the Pieces: A Lillie Mead Historical Mystery by Lisa Zumpano
+20 task - 1923
+10 Combo - 10.4, 20.3
Task total: 30
Grand total: 815
20.4A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe
I have a mild case of Gay Pirate Brain Rot (aka being a fan of Our Flag Means Death) so I thought I’d ease the pain of waiting for HBO to renew it by going to the source. Until I read some commentary I 100% did not believe that Stede Bonnet, The Gentleman Pirate was an actual real person. I mean, that name! Come on. But nope, he was not invented for the show, though the campy name influenced the fictional characterization.
I’d love to say that this book gives us some details of the wild adventures of Stede and Blackbeard and their contemporaries, but this book is DRY. It’s more like a forensic accounting of the ships and goods that were taken, and where, and when. It’s a lot of lists.
It started out promising though, because the author has a very very dry wit as well and some of the early book is straight up hilarious (in a disdainful Dowager Countess way). Alas, over the course of this very, very, very long book the humor either ran out or I became too exhausted by the archaic language to notice it.
It became a slog not only because of the language, but because guess what? Pirates were not fun! And the people they were robbing were horrible too! Raping and slaving…. Not exactly a light fun read. But the book makes it very clear that the pirates and the merchants/sailors are the same. Pirates are just self-employed… the rest work for the East India Company or the Crown.
There was one bright section to the book -the stories of Mary Reade and Anne Bonny are short but very entertaining. And the author apologies for that! Says he knows it reads like a novel but he swears it’s true. LOL. So that gives you an idea of how deliberately dull most of this is. It can be a painful slog but it was weirdly interesting.
+20 task
+10 review
+20 Olides (1724)
+10 Jumbo (733)
Task total = 60
Season total = 395
15.3 Central AfricaCOUNTRY PROJECT Congo
Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou
An orphaned or abandoned boy grows up in a Pointe Noire orphange where he seems to fit in relatively well. Overtime the country’s government changes increasing the political pressure to conform with the current regime. At 13, he escapes from the orphanage with two fellow students and together they form a gang roaming the streets stealing and scratching out a life.
This feels like an allegory fir the Congo’s political history and with move towards a failed social structure being echoed in Mose’s mental instability.
15 pts 15.3 CentralAfrica
20 pts Country Project Bonus
10 Review
10 pts Nonwestern
Task total: 55 pts
Total Season: 1015 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 … … 15.7 … 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
10.6 Space outAcorna: The Unicorn Girl
Story takes place on a spaceship and on a fictional planet Kezdet.
Task +10
Total points: 315
10.1 PopularThe Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang
2019
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.7 - born in China & immigrated to US)
+5 Jumbo (658 pages)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1,030
15.9 Southeast AsiaBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam
I read Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien. A couple of fantasy (maybe?) sequences toward the end are set in Iran and Paris. Other than that the setting is totally in Vietnam.
Review: Though noted for his writing about the experiences of American soldiers in Vietnam, Cacciato is Tim O'Brien's one book set entierely in Vietnam (except for the fantasy sequences noted above) within the experiences of American soldiers during the American War. Three separate narratives arise -- one involving horrific patrols which a 10 man detail has to go through in routing out Viet Kong tunnels, one involving a supposed descent into those tunnels (fantasy?) and emergence in other places over the globe as they search for their missing pal Cacciato, and a third involving a sentry on a beach post and his musing about why he (they) is (are) there.
The sentry's musings are probably the thing which holds the thread of the narrative together, because otherwise the reader is lost in this land of trying to discern where the reality stops and the fantasy begins. The Faulknerian prose of this sentry make the reader think the entire narrative is probably a retelling of a horrible series of events he witnessed when out on patrol. The musings are dreamlike and philosophical as the sentry descends in his imagination into the seaweed below the sea which he barely discerns in his night watch.
As a representative of the reality-fantastical perception of the American experience in Vietnam, this is top notch. There is enough reality to make you cringe. And at some point, you simply put the book down and laugh at the shenanigans that supposedly go on in the caverns connected by the tunnels underneath Vietnam and beyond. ...though any laughter at all is tinged with the horrific nature of the Amerian War in Vietnam.
Previous Points: 185
Task Points: +15
Oldie (1978): +5
Review: +10
Total Points So Far: 215
20.9 Birthdays (Kate S's Task)Orientation: And Other Stories by Daniel Orozco
+20 task ("And then she was gone, slipping into the mob around the table and gliding away with a plate of cake in her hand and--to the delight of the Claims Unit employees--a creamy blue smudge of frosting on her chin." pg. 137)
Task total=20
Season total=355
15.8 South AsiaCOUNTRY PROJECT Pakistan
The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad
This book is a series of loosely connected stories set largely in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan at sometime after World War II but before the modern day. Each of the stories highlights the separateness of tribal society and their social and cultural history with the establishment government. These groups are partially nomadic with an separate independent governmental organization
The role of women (and others) is hard and full of risks including many that we don’t normally consider. Periodic kidnapping, revenge killings and feuds are interwoven with the narrative. Very well written!
15 pts 15.8 South Asia
20 pts Country Project Bonus
10 Review
10 pts Nonwestern
Task total: 55 pts
Total Season: 1070 pts
10.1 10.2 … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 … … 15.7 15.8 15.9 …
20.1 20.2 20.3 … … 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
20.7 The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar WaoSea of Tranquility byEmily St. John Mandel
I really enjoyed this book, and I think if I had been able to read it in a more continuous manner I would have liked it even more. Unfortunately, circumstance did not allow for that, so even though this is a short novel (and therefore easier to remember) I believe I would enjoy a reread. The story is interesting, and intriguing enough to encourage you to continue even though things aren’t really clear at first. I loved how it came together and ended. Mandel uses time travel to ponder the meaning of life, and what is truly important. For me, this demonstrates what the best science fiction can do. 4*
20 task
10 review
10 combo 10.4, 10.6
_______
40
Running total: 935
10.3 ShakespeareThe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Low Lexile
+10 Task #207 on list
Task total = 10
Half-way finish: 50
Season Total: 1045
From Post 661Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "15.3 Central Africa
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
Naipaul brings us the complexities of Africa, post colonial Africa. A young man of Indian descent takes over a sho..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 687Rebekah wrote: "10.8 Ukraine
Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk
Review
My impression of Ukraine was it was one of those places that were part of USSR but beca..."
+10 Non-Western
20.9 BirthdaysExcursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri
In this fifth book in the series, Inspector Montalbano has to investigate the disappearance of an elderly couple and the murder of a young man, who all lived in the same building.
I haven't read the fourth yet because this one became available sooner, but otherwise I've been reading in order, and this is my favourite so far. I found Montalbano more likeable than in previous books (still not sure what Livia sees in him though), and I thought the mystery hung together better. Next up will be the fourth book, which I hope will explain why Montalbano is suddenly so much more appreciative of his subordinate Mimi Augello.
Cake: "In the summer, every Sunday evening, they sit down at a table, always by themselves, and order two pieces of ice-cream cake: cassata for him and hazelnut with cream for her."
+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.2)
Post Total = 35
Season Total = 1510
10.2 EasterThe Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
What an interesting book! I thought I knew a lot about how our food gets to the check out stand at the grocery store. But this updated me and filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge, such as what life is like for the driver of a long haul refrigerated truck. This is “dark” as the subtitle says but Lorr keeps it digestible and page turningly interesting.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 415
Kate S wrote: "From Post 687Rebekah wrote: "10.8 Ukraine
Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk
Review
My impression of Ukraine was it was one of those places ..."
The author became a US citizen
Rebekah wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 687Rebekah wrote: "10.8 Ukraine
Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk
Review
My impression of Ukraine was it was one o..."
Thank you for having me take a 2nd look. The error in entry is mine, as he is a Canadian citizen.
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Marc Cameron (other topics)
Chuck Palahniuk (other topics)
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The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri
Two mysteries land on the Vigata police at once: the murder of a retired businessman in a lift, and offshore, the shooting of a Tunisian sailor on an Italian fishing boat. Inspector Montalbano is interested in the first but wants to avoid the second at all cost. Unfortunately they may be linked...
I didn't like Montalbano at all in this book, not helped by the audio narration, which has him saying everything in a snarky, dismissive voice. The plot was okay, but it was the setting and some of the other characters that redeemed it for me. I hesitated over whether to continue with the series, but I will give it another shot.
Unfortunately for my points, the thief of the title is not a professional thief (view spoiler)[but a small boy who is so hungry that he steals other kids’ food (hide spoiler)], and there is no cake among the snacks that he steals or the many meals that Montalbano eats.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1996)
Post Total = 25
Season Total = 1260