Reading with Style discussion
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SP 22 Completed Tasks
20.9 BirthdaysThe Veiled One by Ruth Rendell
"Burden went off along Castle Street to have a cautionary word with a jeweller he suspected of being a fence. Then into a call box to phone his wife and say he might be late but not very late— say around eight-thirty. A cup of tea and a cake in the Queens Cafe and it was two minutes to six when he came back down Queen Street."
+20 task
+ 5 combo (10.4)
+ 5 oldies (1988)
Task total=30
Season total=105
20.5 The Killer AngelsHadji Murat by Leo Tolstoy
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.4 Leo, 20.3 mostly small villages in the Caucasus)
+10 Oldies (pub 1912)
Points this post: 40
Season Total: 80
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 10.9 ....
.... .... 15.3 .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... .... .... 20.5 .... .... .... .... .....
15.6 Central AsiaRead a book set in the Central Asia region: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan
Deep Past by Eugene Linden.
Countries of the World -- Kakakhstan
Task Points = 15
Countries of the World (Kazakhstan) = 20
Points This Post = 35
Total Points So Far = 65
10.4Skysworn by Will Wight
Every book in this series is a “Well that escalated quickly” meme. This is no different, and it would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so fun. The power and danger ratchets up like WOAH, and just when the main characters are getting too over-powered, new characters (both enemies and possible allies) are introduced that are far above them.
It’s kind of like a romance novel, you know your favorites will come though, but there’s going to be some struggle and strife before the payoff.
And even though you know it will all be (mostly) OK, the fight scenes are a blast. This was almost nonstop action.
Immersive and great fun.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total = 20
Season total = 150
15.1 Northern AfricaIn the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
Libya
+15 pts -Task
+20 pts - Bonus
Task Total - 35 pts
20.2 Prize (Pulitzer)All the Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr
5.0/5.0 - At 531 pages, this is a much longer book than I usually like to read, but it doesn't seem as long because the chapters are so short. It is the story of two young people, on different sides of the war. Marie-Laure, is blind but brave, and Werner, is brilliant, but questioning to himself everything about the war. Marie's father is a locksmith for the Natural Museum, and is entrusted with a gem, when the museum is forced to close. They travel from Paris to stay with his uncle, Etienne. Werner understands radios and how to fix them, and spends the war as part of a team that hunts down transmitters from the other side. In the end, they meet, and three times Werner save Marie. I found the ending interesting where different things (letters, treasures, etc.) make their ways home to the survivors.
+20 Task - 2015 PP for fiction
+15 combo (20.9 Werner eats one piece of cake, then another, then takes a third. ..p.45; 10.1 #1, 2014; 10.9)
+10 review
+5 Jumbo 531 pages
Task total: 50
Running total: 85
20.2;20.9
15.6 Central Asia, KyrgyzstanMother Earth by Chingiz Aitmatov
This is the short, simple story of Tolgonai, so beautifully and artfully told it feels like it should be a classic. It is a conversation between a woman at the end of her life with Mother Earth.
Tolgonai meets her husband while working on the collective farm. They fall in love under the Milky Way, marry, and quickly have three boys. For years, that is her life: her husband, her sons, the rich earth, the sky. Her middle son goes off to school to become a teacher. Her oldest eventually marries and he and his wife, Aliman, live with the rest of the family while they build their home. Tolgonai has always wanted a daughter and Aliman is more than happy to fill that role.
One day, while everyone is working in the fields, a rider barrels into town with disastrous news: war is coming.
I wish I could better define what it was that I found absolutely transcendent about this book--maybe it's because I don't normally expect a lot from translated books (I feel like so much of the poetry is lost in translation, which is def not the case with this book: poetry in spades!)?--but I'm at a loss for words.
It's a quick read, highly recommended.
+15 Task
+20 Bonus Country
+10 Nonwestern
+10 Review
Task total: 55
Season total: 410
From Post 59Nick wrote: "15.2 Western Africa
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone, Seneg..."
+10 Non-Western
From Post 70 (and 80)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..."
I have this reported as 20.10 with +10 Combo (10.2 and 20.4) and +10 Oldies
From Post 77Rosemary wrote: "10.4 Name
Professor 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 ..."
+10 Non-Western
From Post 93Sue wrote: "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..."
+10 Combo 10.2 and 20.10
10.4 NameEdited to correct total
Country Challenge - Bouvet Island
Alien Vs. Predator by Marc Cerasini
10 pts 10.4 Name
5 pts 10.6 Space out
10 pts Review
Aliens are on the loose in the Antarctic region and a group of scientists and others are trying to survive. This is a fastpaced story with more action on a single page that you typically see in an entire book. While written as a movie tie in, the book can be read as a stand alone. The only problem is the action gets in the way of any plot exposition. It is never quite clear how and why the aliens qnd predators are on Bouvet Island and the underlying problem doesn’t seem to be solved. But perhaps that’s the reason sequels exist.
Task total: 25 pts
Total Season: 175 pts
10.1… … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … … … …
… … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … 20.9 …
20.1 Pulitzer Edited to correct total
The House of the Whispering Pines by Anna Katharine Green
20 pts Pulitzer
5 pts 10.4 Name
10 pts Review
10 pts Oldies
Good mystery that has an unexpected twist at the end. A woman is found dead in a closed for the season country club and the localpolice have a suspect — actually several suspects and no real proof. They call in Caleb Sweetwater of the NYC police and he investigates. The mystery is a little odd in that the detective is not the focus of the story. He seems to come and go if needed but is actually missing from much of the narrative.
Well written and interesting, this is the last ofthe Caleb Sweetwater mysteries. I would recommend them for anyone looking for early 1900s mysteries for the Mystery Challenge.
Task total: 45 pts
Total Season: 220 pts
10.1… … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … … … …
… … … … … … … … …
20.1 … … … … … … … … 20.9 …
From Post 133Bucket wrote: "10.4 Name
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Review: Burying myself in an experiment that works is my favorite type of reading experience. So I absolutely loved this t..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 150Coralie wrote: "15.6 Central Asia
Turkmenistan
The Tale of Aypi by Ak Welsapar
+20 Task
+20 Project Bonus
Task total: 40
Season Total: 280"
+10 Non-Western
20.6 The Color PurpleGuards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
When I come across a book like this, I always wonder – what is wrong with me…. why haven’t I read this author before? I was aware of Terry Pratchett, but hadn’t dove in (yet).
This novel is the first of a subset of his Discworld series, called ‘City Watch’. It is a science fiction fantasy mix, heavy on the fantasy here…. since: ‘here be dragons’. There are a lot of pokes at human foibles and outright failings, done humorously. There is a lot of humor in this novel, the general type and the specific ‘Monty Python’ type. I recall laughing right from the beginning of the book. I don’t often read a book in a series when I think I HAVE to read the next one right now (even though I’m not done with the first one yet! Ha, ha). Anyhow, this was so enjoyable I am diverging slightly from my plan to read the next. 4.5*
One of my favorite passages from the book is the Librarian reflecting on his (magic book) library:
‘People were stupid, sometimes. They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.’
20 task
10 review
5 oldie
5 combo 10.4
____
40
Running total: 330
20.3 Our Townset in a small Mexican village of El Triunfo
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
So...I enjoyed this novel despite some of it's implausible events. The main character, Noemi Taboada, is sent by her father to the Mexican countryside to see what is wrong with a cousin. Noemi discovers that her cousin is not receiving proper medical care and the estate is decrepit and infected with a black mold. The cousin's husband and family are all quite odd. The estate was owned by British mine owners who exploited the local labor....before the whole operation was ruined. Once the storyline changed from creepy to bizarre, I thought I would lose interest... but the novel held my attention and I was anxious to get to the resolution. Three stars.
task =20
Review=10
Non-western=10
task total= 40
Grand Total=300
10.1; 10.2; ----; 10.4 (2x); -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; 15.7; -----; 15.9; -----;
-----; -----; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; -----; -----; -----; -----;
10.10 Group ReadsA Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
+10 Task
+5 Combo 10.4
Task total = 15
Season Total: 305
15.8 South AsiaThe Nepali Flat by Gordon Alexander
Nepal
+15 pts - Task
+20 pts - Nepal
Total Task - 35 pts
20.9 BirthdaysThe Corners of the Globe by Robert Goddard
This second installment in Goddard's Wide World Trilogy picks up where The Ways of the World left off. Max will again find himself in all sorts of trouble, and will again manage to wiggle out of it. We find some of the other characters placing themselves inadvertently for their own set of physical harm. Thrillers being what they are, the good guys are only superficially harmed (or recover nicely) while the bad guys are nowhere near so lucky. The baddest of the bad guys remain elusive. But of course! Else why would there be the chase, the risks taken, the tight squeezes wriggled out of?
I'm so glad I stumbled upon Robert Goddard. And that surprises me because I wouldn't have thought I was one for thrillers. Somehow this series has fully captured my attention and I have already ordered a good used copy of the third and final installment. I have picked up a few of his stand alones as well. I won't exaggerate and put a 5th star on them, but they're good'uns at 4-stars.
+20 Task ("They were all drinking tea, or at any rate the sludgy brown liquid served under its name by the redoubtable Mrs. Ferris, who had also supplied some finger slices of fruit cake no one had so far ventured to sample.")
+ 10 Review
+ 5 Combo (20.10)
Task total = 135
Season total = 195
10.3 ShakespeareA Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I've been reading Dickens' works in chronological order....so, it was time to read this one (and this is the third time.) Every year during the Yule time, one of the playhouses I subscribe to enacts this story as a play. I realized that the play adhere's closer to the novel than most other popular renditions.
I suspect there are few here at Good Reads who don't know the story. Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by spirits of the past, present and future and they scare him into being a decent human being. The spirits succeed and everyone enjoys a wonderful Christmas feast and Scrooge will surely escape the shackles of a haunted future for having redeemed himself before it is too late. A bit syrupy sweet... but the quintessential Dickens.
task =10
Review=10
combo = 5 (20.9- p.37-“Here he produced a decanter of curiously light wine, and a block of curiously heavy cake, and administered instalments of those dainties to the young people…” )
Oldie= 15 (1843)
task total= 40
Grand Total=340
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; 15.7; -----; 15.9; -----;
-----; -----; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; -----; -----; -----; -----;
15.7 East AsiaThe Vegetarian by Han Kang
100% South Korea
This novel is sad, searing and thought-provoking. It is divided into three parts, and at the (dramatic) end of the first part I had to take a break from reading it and I wondered if I would be able to manage with the rest of the novel. However, Kang knows her craft/art and drew me in easily at the start of the second part.
Kang’s writing really is something (and so must be the translation). I can only imagine how good this must be in Korean. She explores profound ideas very subtly. There were passages that I had to reread just to enjoy how she crafted her point. This novel is about being true to yourself, and having control over your self. 5*
15 task
10 review
10 non-western
____
35
Running total: 365
20.7 The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar WaoCallahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
b. US c. Canada
This is Robinson’s first collection of (linked) short stories. Most of them had been previously published in science fiction magazines. Robinson seems to have his own style which seemed to me to be a combination of (American) western tales and sci-fi. The science fiction element in most of the stories is minimal.
The nice thing about a collection of short stories is that you can read them one at a time, over a period of time. This worked well for me since I wasn’t entirely enthralled with the first few. However, I really enjoyed story 5 ‘The Law of Conservation and Pain’, and following ones were enjoyable too. In a way this collection is a real time piece. These stories were mainly written in the early 1970s, and there are references to Nixon, Agnew and Vietnam. 3*
20 task
10 review
5 oldie
_____
35
Running total: 400
20.3 Our TownThe Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book by Wendy Welch
+20 - Task
+5 - Combo (10.4)
Total - 25
Task 10.4 NameRead any book by an author whose given name is 3, 4, or 5 letters long.
Children of Dune (Dune #3) (1976) by Frank Herbert (Mass Market Paperback, 408 pages)
Review: Children of Dune is the third novel in the Dune Chronicles. (#1 is Dune; #2 is Dune Messiah). It is NOT a standalone novel. Every now and then the author will info-dump a short paragraph summarizing the backstory of a character, or a short paragraph summarizing an event from previous novels. It’s enough to remind a reader of what came before – just enough to remind, and no more than that.
Children of Dune takes place nine years after the end of Dune Messiah. The main protagonists are fraternal twins who are the children of Paul Maud’dib (AKA Paul Atreides) (the main character of the first two books). They have to deal with a complicated political situation that has arisen after the events of the first two books. There’s an unexpectedly large amount of mysticism and philosophy throughout the novel, contributing to its 400+page length, but if the reader perseveres the novel does eventually return to plot- and character- driven events.
Recommended for fans of Dune.
+10 Task
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1947-1997)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 75 + 25 = 100
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoBaba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić
Dubravka Ugrešić is croatian, but she lives in Amsterdam (as stated in her goodreads biography)
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.9 - 3 different timelines, 1st is the narrator about her mom ; 2nd is the story of 3 old ladies on a trip ; 3rd is a letter to an editor about the myth of Baba Yaga ; 20.9 (translated) "in bringing coffees and Aba's cake (...) said Abba in russian while planting her fork in the cream and chocolate cake")
Task total = 30
Season total = 100
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 ; 20.10
20.9 Birthdays Maisonologue by Lorraine Les Bains
It's a graphic novel, but at one point it's the author's little brother's birthday, and they are eating a birthday cake
+20 Task
Task total = 20
Season total = 120
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10
10.4 NameEscape From the Tower by Santa Montefiore
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 130
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10
10.9 Dual Petit by Hubert
Part of the graphic novel is the story of Petit, and the other part is the story of several of his ogre-gods ancesters.
+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Season total = 140
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 10.9
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10
10.9 Dual Half-Blood by Hubert
Part of the graphic novel is the story of Yori, and the other part is the story of several of the chamberlains before him.
+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Season total = 150
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10
20.1 PulitzerJourney to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Review: Jules Verne is fun reading, as long as I go in expecting fluff and nothing serious. There’s little in the way of character development and the plot points are more full of minutiae than intrigue. The race and gender tropes and stereotypes are often on full display, though this one was better than, for instance, Around the World in Eighty Days, since there are very few secondary characters.
I also enjoyed the detail-focused style here more, since it’s a very much invented landscape. No one had (or has) been to the center of the earth and it’s not really possible to do, so Verne had more freedom to invent than he did in Around the World in Eighty Days.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (pub 1864)
+5 Combo (10.4)
Post total: 50
Season total: 130
Claimed to date:
- 10.2 - 10.4 - - - - - -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - -
20.1 - - - - - - - - -
20.9 BirthdayEdited to correct total
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton
20 pts 20.9 Birthday. P 379 She moved the balls of cake around in their syrup.
10 pts Review
I picked this up at the library largely because Louise Penny was the co author an I enjoy her Inspector Gamache series. This is a hard book to put down and the story is fast paced and pulls you in. Unfortunately like many thrillers, a suspension of disbelief is necessary. There are numerous times when the actions of Ellen Adams as Secretary of State or other characterd seem implausible. Risks are taken by high level government officials that seem unlikely to actually occur. The Secretary of State flies to dangerous (politcally and physically) destinations on a moments notice to challenge foreign leaders. The thriller plot is exciting and interesting just not too realistic.
Task total: 30 pts
Total Season: 250 pts
10.1… … 10.4 10.5 10.6 … … … …
… … … … … … … … …
20.1 … … … … … … … … 20.9 …
10.1 PopularThe Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
+10 task Jan 2022 #36 on list
+5 Combo 10.9 dual time line
Post total: 15
Season total: 170
15.2 Western AfricaNigeria
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
So often books whose titles are The Death of ____ are mysteries. This one is not and yet there is so much we don't know. The first entire chapter is one sentence: "They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died." One must ask how the two events are related. As the story progresses, we even must ask *if* they are related.
Somewhere about the middle of the novel I felt this was a coming-of-age story and I'm not good with those. It has simply been too long ago that I was in that situation or even that my children (one of whom is now a grandparent) was in that situation. The world has changed too much for me to be able to relate to that age group. I say this only because I think younger people might get more out of this than I. But this is so much more than a simple coming-of-age story. No, I still couldn't relate, but But Emezi handles this so well that I certainly could empathize.
This is also set in a society and culture about which I know
For this reader, this is 4-stars, but I suspect it is actually better than that.
+15 Task
+10 Review
+10 Nonwestern
Task total = 35
Season total = 230
20.9 BirthdayWinterkeep by Kristin Cashore
No Lexile
+20 Task They frequently eat cake as a comfort food
Task total = 20
Season Total: 325
15.2 Western AfricaGuinea-Bissau
The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila
+20 Task
+10 Non-Western
+20 Project Bonus
Task total: 50
Season Total: 375
10.6 Space OutLa Conquête du Cosmos by Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau
Humoristic graphic novel that tells the story of the soviet and US space programs during the cold war
+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Season total = 160
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; 10.6 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10
15.6 Central AsiaA Shadow Intelligence by Oliver Harris
Kazakhstan
I don't read many spy novels, but when I do I'm often pleasantly surprised by how gripping the story can be. This felt modern and complex--I have no idea how realistic it actually is, but it felt believable while I was immersed in the story. Here, we have social media, bots, influencers, and complicated deep fakes bringing the classic spy novel to modern tech. Corporations, splinter groups, mercenaries, and different countries governmental and quasi-governmental interests are all moving to try to gain advantage where they can.
I enjoyed reading a book set in Kazakhstan, a country I know little about. The bitter cold weather, the vast open spaces, and the large and often difficult to control borders were all interesting side notes.
I'm interested in reading the follow up book - Ascension.
The narrator for the audiobook did a great job with pacing. The book translated well to audio format and allowed my to hear all the unfamiliar place names without stumbling over them in text.
+15 Task (Kazakhstan)
+20 Project Bonus
+10 Review
Task total: 45
Grand total: 215
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoSomething Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse
This was the first Blandings Castle book, but I don't think Wodehouse had a whole Blandings series in his head when he wrote this, but realised later that there was plenty more potential in Lord Emsworth and his family and The Efficient Baxter. It's no good coming to this expecting pigs and countryside from the outset. It starts in London with some different characters, and I don't think there's a pig anywhere, even after they arrive at Blandings.
Perhaps because of this, I found the beginning slow, as if the story didn't quite know where it was going, not helped by an audio narrator who didn't always distinguish between characters in dialogue. But once we arrive at Blandings Castle there are a lot of the classic Wodehouse comedy elements, including people falling over each other on the stairs while creeping about at midnight, people pretending to be who they are not, and a potentially disastrous engagement.
+20 Task (UK to France then USA, listed in help thread)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1915)
Post Total = 40
Season Total = 385
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler
In the summer of 1937, innocent country boy Franz leaves his home beside a beautiful Austrian lake to work as a shop assistant in a Vienna tobacconist's. Three things will combine to define his life there: love, the Anschluss, and his acquaintance with a customer, Professor Sigmund Freud.
Superficially this is a light, easy read, although it definitely pulls at the heartstrings. Sometimes it seems too sweet and I suppose there are some clichés, but both the writing and the character of Franz are deceptively simple, raising some serious questions about power and protest. This was my first book by this author; I enjoyed it and would read more.
Cake: "She had tried to bury her lifelong anguish beneath mountains of jellied pork, pies and cherry cake."
The story covers late summer 1937 to June 1938, with just 3 pages set later, so I think it fits 20.10...
+20 Task (approved in help thread)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.9, 20.10)
Post Total = 40
Season Total = 425
15.10 Western AsiaGeorgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
Death in Cyprus by M.M. Kaye, first pub'd 1956.
Previous Points = 50
Task Points = 15
Bonus Non-Western (author born in India) = 10
Bonus Oldie = 5
Season Total = 80
15.7 East AsiaChina, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau
Inspector Saito's Small Satori by Janwillem van de Wetering, set in Japan, author born in The Netherlands (not non-Western), first pub'd 1985.
Previous Points = 80
Task Points = 15
Bonus Oldie = 5
Season Total = 100
REPOST:15.7 East Asia
China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau
Inspector Saito's Small SatoriInspector Saito's Small Satori by Janwillem van de WeteringJanwillem van de Wetering, set in Japan, author born in The Netherlands (not non-Western), first pub'd 1985.
Previous Points = In a previous post, I did not credit myself with 15 points from an earlier post. I think this is the correct point total now.
Previous Points = 95
Task Points = 15
Bonus Oldie = 5
Season Total = 115
Post 157 Kim wrote: "20.2 Prize (Pulitzer)All the Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr
5.0/5.0 - At 531 pages, this is a much longer book than I usually like to read, but it doesn't seem..."
Sorry, Kim. Task 10.1 cannot be used for combo.
Post 182 Marie wrote: "10.4 NameEscape From the Tower by Santa Montefiore
+10 Task
Task total = 10
Season total = 130
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ......"
Marie, I don't see this shelved at BPL, so that it qualifies for combos. We'll add one for 10.2. Let us know if there are others.
15.9 Southeast Asia. Malaysia Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
Interesting structure and an interesting story. Evening Is the Whole Day starts with a Malay servant leaving the upper class home of a family of Indian descent. She seems to be leaving after having done something terrible. The story then runs backward in time to the servant’s arrival. The history of the family is woven in.
There are three generations of secrets, disruptions and unhappiness. All set against the history of Malaysia—colonialism, racism, classicism and crushed expectations.
It is a good family saga and an exposure to a different culture.
+15 task
+10 review
+10 non western
Task total: 35
Season total: 85
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The Appeal by Janice Hallett
A murder mystery set in the English small town/village of Lockwood and told entirely through emails and text messages. Helen and Martin Hayward own a local conference centre and dominate the amateur dramatic society, The Fairway Players. Just as a new play is being cast, they learn that their two-year-old granddaughter Poppy has a brain tumour, and they set up an appeal to raise money for her experimental treatment from America. But some of the people involved are not what they seem to be.
I found this addictive and couldn't put it down, although it wasn't always realistic. (view spoiler)[For example, why are there no emails or texts from Samantha? It makes no sense. Even if she or someone else deleted everything from her accounts, the other characters had saved emails from everyone else, so why not from her? (hide spoiler)] The format makes everything seem a little distant, but I didn't mind that and thought the personalities still came through.
Cake: "I'm allowing myself one poppy-seed cake from Joyce each play night"
+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (20.9)
Post Total = 35
Season Total = 335