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15.5 Southern Africa. Botswana The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales by Bessie Head
Tells the story ofa changing culture in Botswana as the country transitions from precolonial through colonialism and then to independence. The short stories center on village life and how people especially women react to the new world around them. Depending on the individual, characters are more or less successful in how they fit within the society around them.
In Head’s world, those who effectively interact with others has the most success. In addition, the position of women and traditional (but changing) gender roles create additional challenges and stresses within family life.
15 pts 15.5 Southern Africa Botswana
10 pts Review
10 points Nonwestern
5 pts Oldie
Task total: 40 pts
Total Season: 1370 pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.8 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 … 15.5 … 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoFire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky
After reading Suite Française a few years ago and loving the writing, I wanted to try another work by this author. For me the first book was 4 stars and this one is about 3.5 stars. The writing was very good and the surprises at the end changed my mind about the main character/narrator Silvio as well as the married couple who were devoted to each other. Everything tied together except for the part where Silvio says that everything was done so sweetly, so properly which seemed like a disconnect with one of the surprises. Still, it is amazing to think that the words are translated from another language and yet the writing seems so good.
+20 Task
+20 Combo 10.4, 10.8, 20.3, 20.9 (pp. 66-67 Colette says "Oh...all those lovely cakes...They just don't taste the same anymore."
?NW
+10 Review
Task Total: 50
Season Grand Total: 615
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur
June Hur was born in Korea and now lives in Canada
Task: 20
Combo: 5(20.3)
Post : 25
Season total: 245
20.10 Between the Wars (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s TaskIdiot's Delight by Robert Emmet Sherwood
This is a play published in 1936...so presumably written c.1935....which foresees the coming World War. Here the cast is set in a run-down hotel in a small Italian mountain town. The Fascists have just closed the borders and the hotel guests are trapped until further notice as to whether they will be permitted to leave. In an afterward, the author indicates that he is optimistic and hopes war can be avoided. But, to me, the play, is pessimistic. It uses humor and strange situations to highlight the absurdity of war...but also the foolishness of people. Perhaps, because the reader now knows what horrors indeed did happen,it is more difficult to enjoy this play...but it is worth reading just to admire how prescient the author was.
task =20
Review=10
Combo= 10 (20.2,20.3)
Oldie=10 (1936)
task total= 50
Grand Total=1205
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9;10.10;
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; -----; 15.9; 15.10;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
20.3 - Our TownThe Lost Bones by Ruhi Choudhary
+20 task
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 980
20.5 The Killer AngelsThe Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
I had not read this novel since I was in high school... and I don't think I really absorbed it at the time. Reading it now, I recognize it as deserving the classic status that it has attained. Crane presents the horrors of war in a very personal way by focusing on one young boy who joins the Union forces during the American Civil War with ideas of wonder and glory. The youth instead finds doubt, terror, possible cowardice, mismanagement, etc as the battles continue without any perceived success. I read this soon after Idiot's Delight, a play that used humor as a vehicle to convey the same message....quite a contrast. 5 stars.
task =20
Review=10
Combo= 5 (20.1)
Oldie=10 (1895)
task total= 45
Half-way finish=50
Grand Total=1300
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9;10.10;
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; -----; 15.9; 15.10;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
20.7 Oscar WaoThe Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon
It's almost a comedic beginning. After a ridiculous decision to jump off a slow moving train (and even Maigret wondered why he did it), Maigret is bedridden for a couple of weeks havng gotten shot in the shoulder. His wife comes to Bergerac to provide nursing duties. She provides more than that as Maigret asks her to go see this, call there, send a telegram. She and Leduc, the friend he was ostensibly going to visit, become his eyes and ears.
I love this series. Maigret has great intuitions, keeps thinking and pushing until the truth is uncovered. And each installment is very short! This one is another 3-stars due to brevity but perhaps the series itself is greater than the sum of its parts.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.3, 20.10)
Task total = 40
Season total = 1135
Post 863 Ann wrote: "10.31984 by George Orwell
This deserves a higher rating on just the writing and impact of the book, but my ratings are for my reaction. If I rated this in my youth ..."
Sorry, Ann. 10.7 is for women authors only, so no combo.
15.6 Central Asia - Kazakhstan The Book of Dede Korkut by Anonymous
Traditional stories about the Oghuz who were a nomadic people in central Asia. The stories describe the nomadic life including a series of raids on other groups, kidnappings, rescues, and good triumphing. Strong men, swan-necked women, camels, cattle, and sheep. The translation I read was wonderful with a sense of meter and pace thar was a pleasure to read.
15 pts 15.6 Central Asia Kazakhstan
20 pt Project Bonus
10 pts Review
25 pts Oldie
Task total: 70 pts
Total Season: 1440 pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.8 10.8 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 … 15.515.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
Task 20.10 Between the Wars Set in Florida from August 31, 1935 to April 1936
The Last Train to Key West (2020) by Chanel Cleeton
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 470 + 20 = 490
Kate S wrote: "From Post 845+5 Combo 20.7"
Thanks for the extra points, Kate. Can't believe that I missed this combo.
Kate S wrote: "From Post 840+5 Combo 10.4 "
And another combo I should not have missed. Again, thanks, Kate.
20.1 PulitzerThe Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
Published 1890
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2 ; 10.9 - flashback when one of the characters tells about the treasure ; 20.4 - the plot revolved around a treasure theft)
+10 Oldies (1890)
+50 Half-way Finish (all the 20 points tasks)
Task total = 95
Season total = 690
.... ; 10.2 (x3) ; .... ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 (x3) ; ....
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 15.7 ; 15.8 ; 15.9 ; 15.10
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 (x2) ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 (x2) ; 20.8 ; 20.9 (x4) ; 20.10
10.3 Shakespeare The Giver by Lois Lowry
#12 on the list as of now
+10 Task
No style points, 760L
Task total = 10
Season total = 700
.... ; 10.2 (x3) ; 10.3 ; 10.4 (x2) ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 (x3) ; ....
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 15.7 ; 15.8 ; 15.9 ; 15.10
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 (x2) ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 (x2) ; 20.8 ; 20.9 (x4) ; 20.10
20.9 BirthdayTravels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
Page 169: "I could make you a cake."
John Steinbeck took a road trip around the United States in the fall of 1960 "to try to rediscover this monster land." He bought a pick-up truck with a camper top, and named it Rocinante (after Don Quixote's horse). Charley, an older large French poodle, was Steinbeck's traveling companion. Charley served as an ice-breaker, making it easier for Steinbeck to meet strangers. Steinbeck had a chronic illness at the time of his trip, and Charley had his own set of veterinary problems, but they offered emotional support to each other. Charley also added some humor to the story, such as when he turned into a vicious barking beast when he spotted and smelled the bears in Yellowstone Park.
Steinbeck tried to talk to the "everyman" during his journey--farmers, migrant workers, and waitresses--to take the pulse of the country. Although Steinbeck has associated with many famous people, he has never forgotten his humble roots as a dock worker. As one who has lived through the 1960s, I felt that he gave a true sense of the era. He traveled through the Northeast, then took a northern route to the west coast, then headed home by taking a southern route eastward.
The most awe-inspiring stop on his journey was at a forest of majestic redwoods. The most upsetting incident was in New Orleans where a group of women (called the Cheerleaders) shouted racist comments at small black children walking to their recently integrated school. His visit to a bar in his hometown in California showed that you really can't go home again after an absence of many years--people change and the town changes.
Steinbeck got lost quite often during his trip. He seemed to suggest that America was also getting lost as the population moved from the country to the city to work in industry. He was concerned about damage to the environment as factories, garbage dumps, and interstate highways ringed the cities.
There has been some controversy about the accuracy of Steinbeck's tale, especially in journalist Bill Steigerwald's book, "Dogging Steinbeck". Steinbeck did not camp out as often as his book relates, his wife flew out to meet him quite often during the trip, and his conversations with people seem to often be composites of several people. That really did not bother me since I find that most travel books give the flavor of a location, and are not a day-to-day diary. I can also understand why Steinbeck would be spending many nights in motels, considering his poor health. The hours I spent with Steinbeck and Charley on the road were very entertaining.
+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.4 Name
+ 5 oldie (published 1962)
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 755
Post 872 Rebekah wrote: "10.6 SpaceoutHave Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
Lexile -760
Task Total - 10 pts"
We have this grandfathered without a Lexile. I see that it qualifies for 10.2, let us know if there is anything else.
15.8 South AsiaPakistan
In the Orchard, the Swallows by Peter Hobbs
This was an excellent novella. Set in Pakistan,a young teen (we never learn his name) falls in love with a rich neighbor girl. They are innocents...but fall asleep in a garden and discovered. The girl's father is powerful and has the boy imprisoned and tortured. He is released after 15 years...and has lost everything except the love for the girl who he barely knew. His family is gone and someone else occupies his family's home. A poet rescues the now 29 year-old after he is released from prison and nurses him back to health...while both worry about the possible continued danger. The author takes on very tough subjects but presents them in a manner which draws the reader in. Love and the human spirit are strong powers.4 stars
task =15
Review=10
task total= 35
15 point completion bonus=100
Mega-Finish=200
Grand Total=1535
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9;10.10;
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
10.2 EasterHow to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships by Leil Lowndes
This book fulfills its promise of giving lots of tips and tricks to help you in conversation in any situation where you want people to like you, whether to make friends or to give clients or coworkers a positive impression of you. It is repetitive: each chapter explains one tip, then explains it again in half as many words. But I think it could be very useful for anyone who wants to get on better with people.
However, I realised while reading this that I don’t particularly want more real life friends. I don’t like making conversation for the sake of it – I’m happy to chat while doing something together, but thank goodness I don’t have a job where I have to network, and I hate the kind of party where people do nothing but stand around and talk, so I never go if I can possibly avoid them. So I’m not sure how useful it will be for me, but I will keep it on my Kindle and refer to it if I cannot escape an invitation to a wedding or similar event.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
Post Total = 25
Season Total = 2000
Post 905 Tawallah wrote: "20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur
June Hur was born in Korea and now lives in Canada
Task: 20
Combo: 5(20.3)
Post..."
I'm sorry. This is shelves as YA at BPL, and has a Lexile of 780. Task, but no styles.
http://catalog.brooklynpubliclibrary....
Post 916 Marie wrote: "20.1 PulitzerThe Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
Published 1890
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2 ; 10.9 - flashback when one of the characters tells about the treasu..."
Sorry, Marie. The MPE is The Sign of Four (without the extra "the") so doesn't qualify for 10.2. But thank you for the other combos. Anika, who also read this this season, will be pleased!
15.3 Central Africa, CameroonYour Madness, Not Mine: Stories of Cameroon by Makuchi
I knew nothing about Cameroon before reading this collection of short stories. In these stories it is painted as a once lush, rich land that is raped by foreign lumber, that is ravaged by AIDS, that is rife with political corruption, that is ruled by superstition. It is also filled with stories of love and humor, sacrifice and community.
Some of the stories made me want to scream because they were going in one direction and in the last paragraph they completely went in a different, nonsensical direction. In several stories, so much was written in pidgin that it made it really hard to understand what was going on, but what I did understand I enjoyed.
+15 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies
+20 Bonus Country
Task total: 50
Season total: 1300
15.10 Western Asia, KuwaitThe Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib
I bought this book when we first started the Countries of the World group challenge how many years ago? I've started it a couple of times and just couldn't get into it. Well, I was motivated to get it done and I *finally* finished it and I am so glad I finally did. I really liked these stories. There are ten stories and each is prefaced by two to three page pre-story that seems to connect sort of--nothing is straightforward, but you know there's a connection of some sort through everything. People appear in different relationships and combinations, objects gain meaning and slip in and out of the different stories. Even though I know I didn't fully grasp the underlying relationship between the stories, I loved the writing.
+15 Task
+10 Review
+20 Bonus Country
Task total: 45
Season total: 1345
20.9 BirthdaysA Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark
"... the tea shops where they ate sweet cakes and creamy pastries with tea and lemon."
+20 Task
+ 5 Oldies (1988)
Post Total = 25
Season Total = 2035
That's all from me for this season! Thanks everyone, and roll on summer!
20.6 The Color PurpleMr. Standfast by John Buchan
+20 Task
+. 5 Combo: 10.4 Name
+10 Oldies (1919)
Task Total: 35
20 Point Task Finish: 50
Mega - Finish: 200
Season Total: 1485
10.4 NameInvisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
This is one of the strangest books, full of actually psychotic characters living wild and crazy lives. The structure of the book was obviously experimental, with scenes happening in almost random order and the story only pulling together in the final part of the book. In fact, the structure is so experimental that several years after the book was first published, the author released a "remix" version that gives the same material in a different order.
Palahniuk is at his best in this book--vulgar, strange, sarcastic, and full of scalpel-sharp commentary on society, identity, and the meaning of life. In their own screwed up ways, these characters are trying to figure out what it means to be a person, how to separate internal identity and desires from those imposed from the outside by society, and what to do about all these feelings. But they're doing it in the most extreme and fantastic ways possible.
For all it's craziness, this book gripped me. I couldn't stop and had to know what else was going to happen. These characters are unforgettable.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 1615
That's it for the season for me. Looking forward to summer!
20.8 - Texas IndependenceCold Snap by Marc Cameron
+20 task
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 1015
Post 924 & 925 Anika wrote: "15.3 Central Africa, CameroonYour Madness, Not Mine: Stories of Cameroon by Makuchi
I knew nothing about Cameroon before reading this collection of short stories. I..."
I cannot find anything that either of these women gave up their birth citizenship, despite having lived/been educated in western countries. Both should get nonwestern points.
20.4 The ReiversGo Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn
This may be the definitive biography of Clyde and Bonnie. Guinn explains his sources and why he picks some as being closer to the truth than others. The writing is almost novelistic. The book is probably not considered academic as he ascribes motives to Clyde and Bonnie that are not substantiated but the book is very readable and interesting. It gave me a feel for the times. Although I cannot understand Clyde and Bonnie, I think I have seen other people who are after fame and romance in the same way. I have also read about people who are sucked into a spiral of crime.
An interesting parallel book that covers Bonnie and Clyde during the same time period but more from the POV of law enforcement is Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34.
+20 task
+10 combos 10.4, 20.10
+10 review
Task total: 40
Season total: 615
15.10 Western AsiaOur power is out, so I am trying to do this on my phone but can’t see how to link to book. I can come back later if necessary.
The Red-haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk
15 task
10 non-western
—————
25
Post 932 Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "20.4 The ReiversGo Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn
his may be the definitive biography of Clyde and Bonnie. Guinn explains h..."
Give yourself another 5 combo points for 10.2!
Thank you to all participants - well done!Now on to summer!
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde (other topics)Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde (other topics)
Your Madness, Not Mine: Stories of Cameroon (Volume 70) (other topics)
Cold Snap (other topics)
Invisible Monsters (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jeff Guinn (other topics)Jeff Guinn (other topics)
Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi (other topics)
Marc Cameron (other topics)
Chuck Palahniuk (other topics)
More...
Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky
Wow! Wow! Wow! This was my first time reading a work by Irene Nemirovsky...and what a surprise and such a pleasure. This novella completely fooled me.The first two thirds seem like a gentile examination of rural French farm folk back in the 1930s. The main character Silvio is the narrator who casually describes his neighbors, family and their customs. Then Wham! Bang! Wham again! Secret after secret comes out...and then when you think he has finished- more secrets. The innocent folks are not so innocent. And almost all this turmoil is driven by the fire in the lustful younger folks...including the narrator. I loved it. I will be reading much more of this author. 5 BIG Stars!
N.B.- This gem was only published in 2007 because it was only recently found by the author's daughters. The author died in a German concentration camp.
task =10
Review=10
Combo= 20 (10.4; 20.3, 20.7, 20.9*)
*=(thanks toOwlette in post 904!- (pp. 66-67 Colette says "Oh...all those lovely cakes...They just don't taste the same anymore.")
NW?
task total= 40
Half-way bonus=50
Grand Total=1155
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); 10.5; 10.6; 10.7; 10.8; 10.9;10.10;
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; -----; 15.9; 15.10;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; -----