Reading with Style discussion
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SP 22 Completed Tasks
15.5 Southern Africa (Botswana)The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
+15 task
Post total: 15
Season total: 40
15.4 UgandaSong of Lawino & Song of Ocol by Okot p'Bitek
The author was born and lived in Uganda and the description and preface make it clear that he was writing about his own land.
This was truly excellent, although the first third to half is best. Most of the long poem is in the voice of Lawino praising the life of the villagers, how the tribe has lived for many years and how confusing the white man's ways are, how awful it is her husband abandons one for the other. I especially loved the comparison of her own type of beauty to that of the town woman trying to adopt white standards of beauty. And Ocol's reply just slams into you afterwards, when you realize how much more determined he is to move into civilization (preferably without the white people, actually) than Lawino realized. The context provided by the preface was very helpful. The language very clear and yet still with the feeling of poetry even though most of it was not originally written in English.
+15 task
+10 review
+10 non-Western
+5 oldies - pub 1984
+20 country group project bonus
I did not claim the 10.2 combo because the title uses the symbol and not the word and.
Task total: 60
Grand total: 100
Including the +5 correction to previous task
Post 38 Ed wrote: "20.6 The Color PurpleHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
What can I add to the discussion about the Harry Potter books that some others haven't alr..."
I think you meant your combo for 10.3 Shakespeare and we'll score it that way. In case your typo was for another task, please let us know.
10.1 PopularThe Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming
I am surprised at how much I continue to enjoy the James Bond series. This is the tenth in the series. This one is a bit different in that the main character is NOT Bond...but a young woman named Vivienne...and the story is told by her. She embarks on a trip and gets accidentally involved with many shady characters. Bond has his own mishaps which causes the two people to meet...and Bond (I'm not really giving anything away) saves the day. Yes, Bond is a spy...but this isn't a spy story...just everyday villains. A nice change, a fun read even if not deep.
*The book is set in a small community in the Adirondacks.
** The villains are gangsters involved in insurance fraud.
task =10
Review=10
Combo= 15 (10.4; 20.3*,20.4**)
Oldie 5 (1962)
task total= 40
Grand Total=140
10.1; ----; ----; 10.4 (2x)
-----;
-----; -----; -----; 20.4; ----; 20.6
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 38 Ed wrote: "20.6 The Color PurpleHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
What can I add to the discussion about the Harry Potter books that some..."
Good to know it qualifies for 10.3...but I must have mis-interpreted 10.2
I thought "And" "The" & "Azkaban" would qualify for having three title initials. Perhaps I wasn't suppose to use "A" twice?
15.4 Eastern AfricaBurundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Southern Territories, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambi, Zimbabwe
The Maw by Taylor Zajonc, set in Tanzania.
Post: 15
Season Total: 15
Ed wrote: "Good to know it qualifies for 10.3...but I must have mis-interpreted 10.2"LOL - no you didn't. I did a brain flip and thought 10.4 Name. Yes, this works for 10.2 also. so another combo.
15.2 Western AfricaBenin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, set in Nigeria
Post: 15
Season Total: 30
20.10 Between the Wars Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
This is book 12 in the Maisie Dobbs series, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I've been working my way through these as audiobooks for my commutes/washing dishes, but I'm finding these engaging enough that I'm making up good reasons to be listening more often! The bonus there is that I'm doing a lot more cleaning up :). This installment is in 1938, and Maisie is drawn into Special Branch/secret service work, traveling to Nazi-ruled Munich to rescue an English citizen who's imprisoned in Dachau. The tension was high in this one, naturally, and I also found it really interesting to think about the run-up to the war in both England and Germany. Of course wars don't spring up out of nowhere, but we often think about 1939 as the start of the war, not considering the many, many ways life changed as war became more and more likely. So I found that fascinating, and the mystery/intrigue itself also held my attention.
As a side note, all of the previous Maisie Dobbs books also fit this task, if anyone's looking - though after #12 we move into WWII years. And #11 is set in and is about the Spanish Civil War! Too bad I read that at the end of the last season! :)
+20 task (takes places entirely in 1938)
+ 5 combo (20.9 - "She ordered tea and an Eccles cake and sat down" chapter 1)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 35
Task 10.4 NameRead any book by an author whose given name is 3, 4, or 5 letters long.
Dreamsnake (1978) by Vonda N. McIntyre (Mass Market Paperback, #11729, 319 pages)
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1979)
Nebula Award for Best Novel (1978)
Review: Dreamsnake is set in the far future and stars a (female) Healer named Snake. Snake uses snakes to create healing substances which she then administers to individuals in need of healing. It reads as if there were a series of novellas / novelettes starring Snake that the author then put together and smoothed out to make a novel. (Indeed, the novelette, “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand” which makes up the first part of the novel was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1974 and won a Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1974). Each section has a resolution, then Snake travels to the next location. There is an overarching storyline which gets resolved at the end.
I liked how the author explored the differing motivations of the characters, especially when their actions seem at first inexplicable. I also liked the nice 1970s vibe in the novel – including the emphasis on women realizing that they have agency in their own life, and are not bound by convention. I think if a reader enjoys science fiction, then the reader would enjoy this novel.
+10 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1947-1997)
+10 Review
Grand Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
10.2 EasterThe Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury by Marc Levy
Review
I didn't find her journey strange at all but fascinating; I enjoyed her journey. What I did find a bit strange is the language, actually, and I'm not sure if that's a translation thing or something else. It just felt a bit choppy... not particularly in a bad way, I think it was meant to somehow be lyrical but did not quite succeed? Not with me anyway. It was mostly ok if a bit slow until the last 30% as things started to roll down the hill a bit faster and then it ended. It kept me on tenterhook, on the romance angle, all the way to the end though because I just couldn't tell...
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.4 - MARC)
+10 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 75
Task 10.9 Dual (Tien's Task)Read a book with dual timeline.
The Actual Star (2021) by Monica Byrne (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 624 pages)
Review: The Actual Star is a speculative fiction novel based on Mayan mythology. I don’t know much about Mayan mythology so I missed most of the references, which was frustrating. The novel itself is really three novels. Novel #1 is set during 1012 C.E. and is focused on the royal boy-girl twin couple. The Mayan practice of human sacrifice is intensely described. The CAVE is an important part of the sacrifice. Novel #2 is set during 2012. A young American woman of Mayan ancestry, Leah, travels to the Mayan area of Belize; she interacts with fraternal twin young men; and all three are drawn to the CAVE. Novel #3 is set during 3012. It’s post-apocalyptic and the human population is dramatically smaller than today. The prevailing religion has now acquired heretics. The main conflict is between a True Believer and a Heretic. The climax of novel #3 occurs at ….. the CAVE.
The author tells the story by alternating chapters – chapter set in 1012; next chapter set in 2012; next chapter set in 3012; repeat for 600 pages. She does try to link all three novels by (1) the CAVE and (2) the events at the end (which I found unconvincing). This is one of those stories where select individual chapters are better than the novel as a whole. As a novel, it just didn’t work for me.
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.2 “eASTer”)
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages:
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 05 +10 = 30
Grand Total: 25 + 30 = 55
20.3 Our TownThe Postmistress by Alison Stuart
Review
An absolute delight! I love the setting, the characters, and the story. It has all the hallmarks of an historical romance in the Australian outback so I guess there really wasn't any hugely unexpected twist but it was a very comforting, very lovely read. I really wanted to just keep reading this last night but being a responsible adult, I stopped myself at halfway at half past midnight. I couldn't help but finishing it today though. So if you're after a comfort read, I'd highly recommend this novel. And as this is actually my first by this author so I'm very happy to know that she's published other books and at least one other set in the same town!
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 105
20.9 Birthdays (Kate S's Task)Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins
🌷"She took another forkful of cake, careful to blow on this one." '~ p. 85🌷
+20 task
+05 combo [20.3 - Manningsport, New York, population 715]
Post total: 25
Season total: 25
15.8 South AsiaSold by Patricia McCormick
Lexile: 820
This book addresses an important topic--sex trafficking and the trade in girls. But the actual book is pretty questionable. The author made an effort to write the book from the first-person perspective of a thirteen-year-old girl from a small Nepalese village who is sold to traders. She's told that she'll be brought to a city to be a domestic servant, but is instead brought to a brothel. The author does a reasonable job trying to stay in the perspective of the girl, but I couldn't help but feel that the author was making her stupider and more passive than seemed reasonable. Overall, the story felt voyeristic and sensational more than it felt moving or personal.
But what really made me dislike this book was that it's a white American man that comes around and saves her. Ugh ugh ugh. Really, it's rich white Americans that are often the clients and the white savior just didn't sit well with me at all.
The epilogue talks about Nepalese women patrolling the borders and doing community education and organizing to try to protect girls from this situation. A story about those efforts would have been more interesting and perhaps could have avoided the pitfalls this book fell into.
For what it's worth, the narrator did an excellent job. I can see why the narration caused this book to get promoted by the Audiosync program. I just wish the book were a little more thoughtful.
+15 Task (Nepal/India)
+10 Review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 90
15.9 Southeast Asia, PhilippinesPatron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (840 Lexile)
Jay is a typical, mediocre American high school senior...barely got into his last-choice college, spends most of his time playing video games, coasting through his lasts few months of school before he heads to college to do the same for another few years. Spring break is just about to start and his plans are: video games with his friends.
Then he finds out that his cousin, Jun, has died...his cousin who felt like a brother, even though he lived half a world away.
Jay decides to fly to the Philippines for spring break to find out what exactly happened.
While it was *clearly* YA, I did enjoy learning more about the history of and current political situation in the Philippines.
+15 Task
+20 Bonus country
+10 Review
Task total: 45
Season total: 130
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "post 11 Anika wrote: "15.4 Eastern Africa, UgandaChild of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji
Although Shenaaz Nanji is living in Canada, I cannot see that she has become a Canadian citizen, despite looking. We will list her as nonwestern for at least this season."
Thank you! I didn't even think to look at her citizenship--I just assumed that since she lives in Canada that she wouldn't count for nonwestern. I appreciate the extra points :-)
10.2 EasterAgatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death by M.C. Beaton
Similar to my sentiments with the Phryne Fisher series, I'm beginning to sour on the Agatha Raisin series. I still like the characters in both series but the storylines seem to be in a formulaic rut. Here, once again, Agatha is accidentally involved in circumstances that result in murders. She remains cantankerous...at times obnoxious... and still pining for James...who sometimes joins her in being a nosey busybody. A few too many red herrings for my tastes...for a series which is really tongue-in-cheek. I'm not totally put off yet...I'll continue with the next volume. 2 1/2 stars.
task =10
Review=10
Combo= 5 (20.3*)
task total= 25
Grand Total=170
*set in the Cotswalds
10.1; 10.2; ----; 10.4 (2x)
-----;
-----; -----; -----; 20.4; ----; 20.6
Jayme(the ghostreader)10.2 Easter
The Mystery of the Blue Trainby Agatha Christie
ThE MysteRy of the Blue Train
Task +10
Styles: oldies published 1928 +10
Grand total :20
Post 70 Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Jayme(the ghostreader)10.2 Easter
The Mystery of the Blue Trainby Agatha Christie
ThE MysteRy of the Blue Train
Task +10
Styles: oldies published 1928 +10
Grand tota..."
Jayme, this does work for the task, but the letters in Easter must be the first letters in the words of the title. This also works for 20.10 Between the Wars.
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Brothers Rico by Georges Simenon
+20 task
+ 5 oldies (1954)
Task total=25
Season total=75
10.9 DualThe Glorious Guinness Girls by Emily Hourican
The Main Timeline: 1018-1930
Second Timeline: 1978
Cake: Pg 178 "I watch from the side of the ballroom, secretly agreeing with Maureen: a giant white cake, topped with 181 candles. It is absurd."
Aileen, Maureen, and Oonagh Guiness were the daughters of Ernest Guiness, the wealthy owner of the famous Dublin brewery. Fliss, a fictional distant relative, is sent to live with the Guiness family after the death of her father in World War I. She's a companion to the three Guiness girls and their mother. Fliss is not really part of the family, but often shares their glamorous lifestyle. The political situation in 1920s Ireland is volatile. Her brother becomes involved in the unrest, then disappears, leaving Fliss hoping that he is hiding and alive.
When the girls are older adolescents, they move to London to be presented to society and make good marriages. Aileen follows tradition, attending the debutante parties and dances. Maureen and Oonagh become more involved with a legendary group that throws outrageous parties in the Roaring 20s night after night. The group was nicknamed the Bright Young Things by the gossip columnists. Fliss does not really feel that she fits in with them, and wants to go in another direction. Women had more opportunities for a career in the 1920s.
This was an enjoyable book with many historic details, but a few too many descriptions of the parties in the second half of the book. Fliss called it "this endless ragtag party, a kind of sea serpent with many coils, that pops up now in Belgravia, now in Chelsea, now at the weekend homes of various friends, but is always somehow the same party. The same people, the same excitement, the same antics." The glorious Guiness girls led glamorous lives, but the rich and famous are subject to their own set of expectations and social pressures.
+10 task
+10 combo 10.4 Name; 20.9 Birthday
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 90
15.3 Central AfricaA General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa
+15 Task (Angola)
+10 Non-Western
Points this post: 25
Season Total: 25
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... 15.3 .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .....
20.4 The ReiversThe Hollow Needle: Further Adventures of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc
This series has been a delightful surprise. This is the third book from the series that I've read in a month...
I love his ingenuity at theft...to the point that the people who've been stolen from don't quite realize what they've lost. His ability to disguise himself is highlighted in this novel as he interacts with teenage detective, Isidore Beautrelet.
(view spoiler)
While we are introduced to Beutrelet, Ganimard and Holmes do make appearances (and appear buffoons to Lupin's brilliance)...it is strange to read Holmes written by a Doyle-contemporary--Leblanc's version is so much less likable than Doyle's (and that's saying something, because Doyle's isn't particularly "likable" at all).
I've got a lot of reading left this season so probably won't run out and grab the next installment, but look forward to finding a place for book 4 to fit next season!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1909)
+5 Combo: 20.1
Task total: 45
Season total: 175
20.10 Between the WarsA Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
Sam Wyndham has been recruited by Calcutta Police Commissioner Taggart who knew him in England. Sam has been in Calcutta only a week before he is called upon the solve the murder of a high ranking official in the British Raj. He quickly finds that the Native Sergeant Surrender-Not Banerjee is a valuable assistant. I think most of us would find Banerjee more astute than Wyndham.
The mystery is good enough but I found this heavy on the thriller side. There is plenty of action, Wyndham finding himself needing medical attention more than once. It is also not without humor.
The club itself resembled a mini Blenheim Palace whitewashed and transported to the tropics, and was yet another example of us living out our imperial fantasies through architecture. British India, where every Englishman has a castle.This is a series that falls somewhere between "I want to read the next one soon" and "I don't really want to read any more of this". I suspect that if the next one were offered cheap for the Kindle, I'd get it, but I won't go looking for it, hoping to see it in the next bargain email. Still, it sits somewhere very near the 3/4-star line without quite leaping over.
‘Thank you, sir,’ he replied. ‘It would seem that sometimes, it is better not to let sleeping dogs lie.’
+20 Task (set in 1919 within minimal earlier backstory)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
Task total = 35
Season total = 110
10.4 NameProfessor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross
It's 1909 and Friedrich Martens (a real Estonian-born Russian statesman) is returning to Russia from a break in his native Estonia. We follow his thoughts and memories as he travels through Estonia on the train, approaching the Russian border.
A novel about a man who was famous for negotiating international treaties sounds like it might be dry, but this wasn't. He has long imaginary conversations with his wife about his emotional history; he thinks about a nephew who has been arrested for his part in the 'first Russian revolution' of 1905; he chats to a female writer he meets on the train; and (this is where the novel lost me) he starts to imagine himself as another Martens who lived around 100 years earlier.
I enjoyed the setting in Estonia, which was then part of the Russian empire. It took me a while to get into the book, but it was worth it.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1984)
Post Total = 25
Season Total = 210
15.7 East AsiaChina
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station by Dorothy Gilman
This is the sixth episode in the Mrs. Pollifax series and I have not gotten tired of this one. I still find the title character to be a clever creation... and the situations...although highly unlikely, at least plausible. Here Mrs. Pollifax, an accidental CIA agent is sent to Cold War China...posing as a tourist. She's in her sixties...so nobody suspects her...or do they? There are some formulaic elements....there always seems to be a sympathetic boy who assists her... and she is excellent at smelling out her adversaries and fellow (but clandestine) partners. She also has a knack for devising believable lies on the spot. A short quick read... but I enjoyed it and look forward to the next one. 3 1/2 stars.
task =15
Review=10
Oldie=5 (1983)
task total= 30
Grand Total=200
10.1; 10.2; ----; 10.4 (2x); -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; 15.7; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; 20.4; ----; 20.6; -----; -----; -----; -----;
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 70 Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Jayme(the ghostreader)10.2 Easter
The Mystery of the Blue Trainby Agatha Christie
ThE MysteRy of the Blue Train
Task +10
Styl..."
I will move it to 20.10
RepostThe Mystery of the Blue Trainby Agatha Christie
Task +20
Oldies +10 (published 1928)
Grand total: 30
20.9 BirthdaysCarrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
cake quote: pg 35 'Patsy turned to smile at Hannah. "I've always been known for my carrot cake, but yours…it's even better than mine. Mac had three pieces!' 'I had four,' Gus declared, 'and I want more.'
Oh my, they eat A LOT of baked goods in this novel. I was taken aback in the first half (2/3?) of the novel regarding the consumption of treats. It took away from the mystery a bit for me.
This is the first Joanne Fluke novel I’ve read, and it’s number 10 in the series. I’m sure there was the odd detail I missed by not reading the first nine, but really this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed the main character, who is a professional baker/amateur detective. She is quite independent and seems to think for herself. I also liked her cat, Moishe, who is a character unto himself (he has nothing to do with the mystery, he’s just to give ‘depth’).
This novel is cozy mystery ‘lite’. Somethings were implausible or silly and others were best ignored. Also, even though I did enjoy the story I’m not really one who likes recipes tacked into novels. I know this is VERY popular in cozy mysteries, so once again I’m against the current. This type of thing just seems like filler to me.
Fluke has written 28 instalments in this series. I would be interested in delving into the series here and there, but not interested enough to read them all or often. 3.5*
20 task
10 review
5 combo 20.3 (Lake Eden is v. small)
________
35
Running total: 200
From Post 17Valerie wrote: "15.9 Southeast Asia
Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
>95% Philippines (Philippines is green!!)
This is another excellent novel. I’m enjoying reading about other countrie..."
+10 Non-Western
From Post 18Beth wrote: "20.3 Our Town
Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet by Reed Farrel Coleman
I had watched some of the Jesse Stone movies because my mother-in-law is a Tom Selleck..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 43Denise wrote: "10.2 Easter
Two Trains Running by August Wilson
+10 task
Task total=10
Season total=50"
+5 Oldies
15.7 East Asia A Quiet Place by Seichō Matsumoto
Tsuneo Asai is an efficient section chief in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry whose life revolves around his job. He's on a business trip when he gets a phone call that his wife died of a heart attack. She had a known heart condition so the cause of death was not a surprise. But his shy wife climbed a steep hill before collapsing inside a cosmetic shop in a neighborhood that she had never mentioned to her husband. What was she doing in that sketchy neighborhood? Tsuneo has questions about her death, and investigates the people in the neighborhood in his search for the truth.
This is a psychological suspense mystery that starts out slowly and builds in tension to a clever ending. The story also illustrates the large role that Japanese social norms and obligations play in everyday life. The book has many interesting characters, including Tsuneo who becomes more and more paranoid. "A Quiet Place" is a quick read, and left me wanting to sample more of Seicho Matsumoto's work.
+15 task (Japan)
+10 review
+10 non-Western
+ 5 oldie
Task total: 40
Season total: 130
20.9 BirthdayA Distant Hope by Ellin Carsta
There are many references to eating cake at different settings but chapter 7 has quite a bit devoted to one of the main characters, Louisa’s fifteenth birthday party with cake, candles and all the trimmings.
+20 - Task
+10 - Combo (10.4, 10.9 - story told from different timelines in different places by different characters Germany, Austria, and Cameroon)
Task Total - 30
20.5 The Killer AngelsNeverhome by Laird Hunt
Constance knows someone from her farmstead must fight "the Secessionists." She also knows that her husband isn't suited for war. Constance decides she must become Ash, a young man headed to defend the Union. One character describes her story as Penelope embarking with the Argonauts as Odysseus keeps the home fires burning and that's exactly how it seems: there's battle, she encounters a sort of Circe, her husband encounters suitors of sorts while at home, the "Argonauts" make an appearance, and, like Odysseus, when Constance returns home she too returns in disguise.
I enjoyed this book so much and am so glad that it was suggested as a Group Reads selection--I don't think I ever would have found it otherwise.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo: 10.4; 10.10, thanks for the great suggestion, Lagullande!
Task total: 40
Season total: 215
20.1 PulitzerNostromo by Joseph Conrad
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.8; 20.7)
+10 Oldies (pub 1904)
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 145
15.3 Central Africa - (Congo)Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer byJoseph Conrad
+15 task
+5 combo 20.7 BWL of Oscar Wao immigrated to England from Poland
+10 oldies originally published 1910
Total Post 30
Total Season 70
Sue wrote: "15.3 Central Africa - (Congo)Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer byJoseph Conrad
+15 task
+5 combo 20.7 BWL of Oscar Wao immigrated to England from Poland
+10 old..."
Sue, the 15-point tasks don't have combos, but the good news is that Congo is on the list for getting the 20-point Project Bonus.
20.7Goldilocks by Laura Lam
Author is American and immigrated to Scotland.
Well. I managed just barely to finish this. It really should have been a DNF.
The blurb is enticing, but the execution is messy. The time-hopping does nothing but slow down an already plodding book - it does not add depth to shallow characters or tease out a mystery… it’s a device for the sake of device.
My biggest issue with the book is the premise itself. How, exactly will stealing a spaceship and being the first to land on a new planet save humanity? And why does the crew not ask that question until well after they are en route? REALLY. Come on.
The whole “Handmaid’s Tale” bit in the blurbs is just some sketched out excuse for the crew not being curious about their mission. Their only way for these women to be astronauts was to steal a ship, so they did, no questions asked. The world building was dreadful - basically “like now but worse, just fill in the blanks”. For a book that centers on environmental collapse, the stakes felt low.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 combo (10.6, 10.9, 20.4)
Task total = 45
Season total = 45
20.4 The Reivers The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
+20 task (theives stole the Heart of Fire ruby)
+10 #4 styles oldies pub date 1928
Post total 30
Season total 100
15.8 South AsiaTales in Colour: And Other Stories by Kunzang Choden, Bhutan
This slim volume of short stories reads like a collection of strange fairy tales...yes, the themes in the women's lives (all of the stories are about women) are common to the modern world--navigating family relations, facing infidelity, alcoholism, figuring out the best way to parent, aging and illness, dealing with death, tradition vs modernity--the entirely foreign setting gives it a magical quality. All of the stories are set in rural villages in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan: a place remote and shadowed in my understanding, having no reference points in my brain which added to the mystical feel of the stories.
I enjoyed them, but couldn't read a lot in one shot.
Two things I will remember forever after reading this:
1) Apparently, the Bhutanese use melted butter the way Greeks (if you believe My Big Fat Greek Wedding) use Windex: put it on anything that hurts to make it better. Multiple stories featured drinking or rubbing on melted butter as a medicine. At one point, a woman with cancer is brought some butter mixed with a piece of bear gall bladder and is instructed to swallow some and rub the rest on her body to help with pain management.
2) "Ara" is the locally distilled alcohol...it's served hot with melted butter and scrambled/poached eggs mixed into it!?
+15 Task
+20 Bonus country
+10 Review
+10 Nonwestern
Task total: 55
Season total: 270
20.3Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
My family and out best friends headed up to Zion National Park for a little hiking getaway, and this was on the coffee table in our cabin. My friend yelped that it was one of her favorite books, and I HAD to read it. I devoured it in almost a single sitting, gasping and laughing and reading out the bits that got those reactions.
It’s the true story of Lily Casey, who was a character. She was a rancher, horse-trainer, teacher, maid, pilot… basically a hard-working adventurer. She had very little leisure or softness in her life, but if that bothered her she squashed it down. And she expected everyone around her to suck it up and get to work. It made for an excellent read, but yikes - she was clearly a difficult mother (that fallout is told in The Glass Castle which I am eager to read).
She and her family almost always lived in remote Southwest towns, so huge events like WWI, WWII, and The Great Depression are barely barely background blips in her life. Times were always lean, sometimes they were leaner. But there was always work to be done and she did not mind work.
Recommended!
+20 task
+10 review
Task total = 30
Season total = 75
20.10 - Between the WarsA Very English Murder by Verity Bright
+20 task - 1920
+5 Combo - 20.3
Task total: 25
Grand total: 45
20.9 - BirthdaysYou and Meby Jade Winters
+20 task - ...so much so, that with a few final clicks as she took a bite our of her chocolate cake...
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 90
20.9 - BirthdaysWeb of Lies by Sally Rigby
+20 task - So how's it all going? she asked just as he'd taken a bite of cake. Thanks for lunch Sarah, especially the chocolate cake, that was to die for.
+10 Combo - 10.4, 20.3
Task total: 30
Grand total: 120
Post 38 Ed wrote: "20.6 The Color PurpleHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
What can I add to the discussion about the Harry Potter books that some others haven't alr..."
Ed, this also qualifies for 20.6 as the entire Harry Potter series works there.
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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)
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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)
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Cameroon with Egbert by Dervla Murphy
100% Cameroon (this turns Cameroon green!!)
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The first half seemed drier than the second half. Dervla was more emotionally invested in the second half so I suppose that is what was reflected. The second half of the book covered the same or similar (geographic) territory as Gerald Durrell’s book, so we meet Fon’s and get some insight into that system.
It’s not a spoiler to tell you that Egbert was their pack horse. He sounds like a very well mannered and patient horse (a stallion no less!). There is drama surrounding Egbert, which was unexpected.
Really though, the real story for me was Dervla Murphy. She sounds like a real character, in the good sense of wanting to have a drink with her and chat. The trip she is writing about here is a hiking/camping trip with her daughter (and Egbert). In the jungle! This is not a camping trip as most Westerners think – in a park with designated camp sites. Half the time they were bushwhacking. Dervla would have been in her mid 50s at the time. Anyhow, I now feel like I lead most boring life ever! 3.5*
15 task
10 review
5 oldie
20 bonus country
_______
50
Running total: 165