Reading with Style discussion
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SP 22 Completed Tasks
Post 195 Nick wrote: "15.10 Western AsiaGeorgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
[book:De..."
Nick, this is one of those authors who, though born in India, does not qualify for Non-Western as she was always of British citizenry.
15.5 Southern AfricaEast Wind: a True Story by Jacqueline Richards
Namibia
+15 pts - Task
+20 pts - Bonus
+100 pts - Completion Bonus
Task Total - 135 pts
15.7 East Asia (China)The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
+15 task
Post total: 15
Season total: 185
20.7 The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke UK -> Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
+20 pts - Task
+20 pts - Combo (10.5-a main character is the computer HAL, 10.6, 10.9 - timelines occurring in spaceship Discovery & Moon & on trip from earth to moon on shuttle, 20.9 - in chapter 21 astronaut Frank Poole has a birthday and his family appears on videophone with cake to celebrate his birthday which seems a bit insensitive as he is in space with a intelligent computer and fellow astronaut for over a year and won’t return for more years and can’t have his birthday cake, only watch them eat it and toast him)
+ 5 pts - Oldies ( 1968)
Task Total - 45 pts
20.2 PrizeOlive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
🌷 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2009) 🌷
+20 task
+05 combo [20.3 - set in a small town near the coast of Maine]
Post total: 25
Season total: 50
20.10 Between the Wars (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s TaskThe Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
🌷first published 1919, contemporary to the time 🌷
+20 task
+10 oldies
Post total: 30
Season total: 80
15.5 Southern AfricaWhatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison
🌷Botswana🌷
+15 task
Post total: 15
Season total: 95
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 195 Nick wrote: "15.10 Western AsiaGeorgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Ar..."
Damned Colonialism.
Enh. I have no idea how many points I have now. So I'll wait for the update.
Thanks
10.4 NameManhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos
Review: Dos Passos does something unique here with the style. He's telling the story of New York city in the 1910s and 1920s and it feels at first like he's focusing on several different characters and moving between their stories. He sort of is. But as the book continues, it becomes clear that New York City is the main character and the others are just vehicles. Often the prose moves rapidly between perspectives, scenes, and times, in ways that do detriment to characterization but really illuminate the feeling of living in NYC at the time.
I enjoyed this style for style's sake, in an intellectual way. But it definitely puts a wall between me as the reader and the characters in the book which made it a less fun reading experience for me. Definitely an interesting and worthy read, just not my new favorite.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub 1925)
Post total: 30
Season total: 165
Claimed to date:
- 10.2 - 10.4(x2) - - - - - -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - -
20.1 - - - - - - - - -
20.6 The Color PurpleThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Review: This is a fascinating character-driven narrative that is deftly written. Not only are the characters fantastic, but the structure is so well done. The story mostly takes place when the girls of the "Brodie set" are students, but there are extremely well-timed moments and hints about their futures that give us a foreboding sense of the darkness that will eventually become all too clear in Jean Brodie's unusual teaching style.
I was intrigued by the girls' ever-evolving understanding of what it means to be "in your prime." Spark also does an excellent job making the reader respect Brodie at first, then slowly destroying that feeling. In some ways, we experience the predator/prey relationship along with the girls.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub 1961)
+5 Combo (20.9 – “And she made him eat a Chester cake, and spoke to him in a slightly more Edinburgh way than usual, so as to make up to him by both means for the love she was giving to Teddy Lloyd instead of to him.”)
Post total: 40
Season total: 205
Claimed to date:
- 10.2 - 10.4(x2) - - - - - -
- - - 15.4 - - - - - -
20.1 - - - - 20.6 - - - -
From Post 153Lagullande wrote: "20.5 The Killer Angels
Hadji 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..."
+10 Non-Western
From Post 160Anika wrote: "15.6 Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Mother Earth by Chingiz Aitmatov
This is the short, simple story of Tolgonai, so beautifully and artfully told it feels like it shoul..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 171Coralie wrote: "10.10 Group Reads
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
+10 Task
+5 Combo 10.4
Task total = 15
Season Total: 305"
+5 Combo 10.6
From Post 174Ed wrote: "10.3 Shakespeare
A 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 thir..."
+5 Combo 20.1
From Post 185Bucket wrote: "20.1 Pulitzer
Journey 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 li..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 190Coralie wrote: "15.2 Western Africa
Guinea-Bissau
The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila
+20 Task
+10 Non-Western
+20 Project Bonus
Task total: 50
Season Total: 375"
+5 Oldies
15.10-SyriaSyrian Wives by Anna Halabi
After enjoying and reviewing the first book in this series Syrian Brides, the author wrote to me and sent me her second work. This one is just as enjoyable. About a dozen short stories... many of them filled with humor...or at least with someone's tongue-in-cheek. Most of the stories feature women who have been done wrong by their men. One story has one man causing 5 divorces within minutes of each other. My favorite story, however, deals with a clever thief. (As I remember the first in the series also had a clever thief story dealing with neighboring merchants. I suspect that most women readers will enjoy this collection even more than I did.
task =15
Review=10
Bonus country=20
Non-Western=10
task total= 55
Grand Total=400
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; 15.7; -----; 15.9; 15.10;
-----; -----; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; -----; -----; -----; -----;
20.6 The Color PurpleMen at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Another fun and funny instalment in the ‘City Watch’ sub-series of Discworld. Pratchett has a real knack for humor. Because he’s good at it, he makes it look easy which then leads you to wonder why other writers struggle with humor.
Anyhow, we start where the last book left off – with Captain Vimes preparing to marry Lady Sybil. The Watch is in slight disarray, but they struggle on. Sgt. Colon has been left as the nominal leader (a role he does not want) with a group of new and diverse recruits. Lance Corporal Carrot turns out to be the more natural leader (even if he is charmingly naive). There is a dangerous (one of a kind) weapon on the loose in the City, and it ends up being a character unto itself – very powerfully. Once again Pratchett is exploring the human condition via a rich fantasy composed of humans, dwarfs, trolls, the undead and many others. My favorite character ended up being Corporal Detritus – partially for his name, but also because he became so much more than just a troll in a Watch uniform. 4.5*
20 task
10 review
5 oldie
5 combo 10.4
_____
40
Running total: 440
Post 149 Tien wrote: "10.7 Three Favorite Women (Karen Michele's Task)The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.4; 20.9 - "Julie had arranged four chairs in a shallow curve facin..."
Tien, I'm sorry we didn't emphasize that one of the requirements for 10.7 is that the author be a woman. And then I overlooked this when you posted. Let us know whether you want it switched to 10.4 or to 20.9.
20.10Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is the story of a girl who accidentally freed a god and then traveled with him to help him reclaim his power as he became more mortal and she closer to dead. There is minimal flashbacks, as requested. The twenties are definitely present, not just mentioned, as the pair move from the country into assorted cities and Casiopea gets her hair bobbed and experiences some glamorous and odd scenes.
I liked the plot itself and the way the story was told, mostly from Casiopea's point of view, but with some asides as a storyteller might, and visits to other points of view when it advanced the story. This was a character who was already strong stretching her wings, with some trepidation, and taking flight, metaphorically.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 non western (as this was the accepted cateogry in post 170 for this author)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 155
20.6 Making Money by Terry Pratchett
I have read little Pratchett, though I have seen some of the tv adaptations. But it really wasn't needed. Wonky somewhat fantastical world, check. Moist von Lipwig (what a name!) was a very odd character that I would not want to leave alone in a room with Miles Vorkosigan because they would take over the universe. He just keeps pulling successes out of nowhere in spectacular (but firmly believable although unlikely) fashion. Minimal sense of duty compared to Miles though. This is definitely a save your own skin kind of guy - who figures benefiting others has become a successful way to do that. Thebplot wended a bit, but progressed with an ending that toed up loopholes in a satisfying way. I can't say I will reas more Pratchett on purppse, but I did enjoy this one.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo 10.4
Task total: 35
Grand total: 190
15.6 Central Asia-Uzbekistan Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by Tom Bissell
Tom Bissell returns to Uzbekistan in 2001 five years after washing out as a Peace Corps Volunteer there. He returns as a journalist to report on the Aral Sea that is disappearing. This is travelogue, memoir, history, and reportage. Bissell does a good job of interviewing and traveling with a many different people—Uzbeks, Russians, a Korean, American Peace Corps Volunteers, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, doctors, mountain climbers, students, government functionaries. I got a good understanding of the challenges political, ecological, cultural facing Uzbekistan and its people at least in 2001. Most of the author’s descriptions are well-drawn but occasionally they are opaque and boring. Bissell includes some recommended reading.
I want to look for some more recent writing to understand what has happened in Central Asia in the meantime.
4-1/2 stars.
+15 task
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 110
20.9 Birthdays Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
Translated from french :
“- A piece of cake ? “ “
- With pleasure !”
“- Here, she said, here’s the knife, help yourself”
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.9 - as the book deals with time travelling, most of the book is set in the 80's but a chapter of it is during Trafalgar's battle)
Task total = 25
Season total = 190
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 ; .... ; 10.6 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x3) ; 20.10
15.7 East AsiaConvenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Very well-written book that sits somewhere at the border between quirky fun and existential depression. On the one hand, this is a big screw you to societal norms and expectations--why shouldn't someone live the life she wants even if it doesn't meet the goals traditionally set for women in modern society. In that light, this is a quirky character finding and enjoying her place in the world and all those nay-sayers who want her to marry, advance her career, and be "normal" are the villains.
On the other hand, this is a book where the only way that a neuro-atypical person finds a place in the world is working at a convenience store and thinking of herself as a Convenience Store Woman; she enjoys being a cog in the machine. But at heart, it feels like an admission that our society has no real way to meet the mantra of thinking of people with different brains/processing as different not less. Sure, the character finds a place--but it's in many ways a depressing place.
The audio version was excellent. I highly recommend this book in that format.
+15 Task (Japan)
+10 Review
+10 Non-Western
Task total: 35
Grand total: 250
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoSonora Pass by Jaime Olmos
Not a fan of this one. The artwork is fine...but the storyline is too complicated and all over the place. The timeline switches from the 1970s to the 1990s. There are innumerable spelling and grammatical errors and the dialogues are uniformly stilted. The story involves the members of a rock band, who re-unite with one member suspiciously dying. Investigations reveal involvements with drug pushers and a Central American revolutionary group. 1 1/2 stars.
task =20
Review=10
task total= 30
Grand Total=430
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4 (2x); -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----;
-----; -----; -----; -----; -----; -----; 15.7; -----; 15.9; 15.10;
-----; -----; 20.3; 20.4; ----; 20.6; 20.7; -----; -----; -----;
10.9The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
In her bio, the author calls herself a suspense author, and that’s accurate. I was pretty disappointed with the first book of hers I read, because it was on a lot of horror lists (as this book was), and it did not deliver for me. I enjoyed this a lot more because I knew what to expect. McMahon does not write horror. She gives lots of atmosphere, but keeps well away from terror. She does spooky rather than scary.
This one had opportunities to go full horror, but the book stays gentle. This would be a great pick for someone that wants a little shiver but really does not want to lose sleep. It’s got that campfire vibe… nice and creepy but safe.
+10 task
+10 combo (20.3, 20.9”…sharing a secret in between bites of cake.”)
+10 review
Task total = 30
Season total = 180
Task 20.9 Birthdays (Kate S's Task)Read a book in which a character or group of characters eat cake.
p. 8: “We turned towards the door and saw a flurry of yellow light, followed by the bright flames of a birthday cake that was being carried into the room by my mother.” -- after which our first person narrator ate the cake
Actress (2020) by Anne Enright (Hardcover, 265 pages)
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.4 “Anne”)
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 100 + 25 = 125
15.6 Central AsiaKyrgyzstan
A Killing Winter by Tom Callaghan
I think this is not one I would have chosen had I not been looking for a book specifically in the region of Central Asia. Though I try not to be sexist, I think this is more a man's novel than one for women. There are three female characters who have speaking parts: two of them are prostitutes, the other is hard as nails with enough strength to enact successful self-defense skills in a situation where she knows she will die without using them. Why I call this a man's novel is the vile names they call each other. The names they apply are the worst of the names usually applied to women in such situations. I won't repeat them, you know them. There is a lot of violence beyond the gruesome description of the first and subsequent murders.
There is plenty of plot in this and not much characterization. Akyl Borubaev's wife Chinara has recently died of breast cancer. We know this because he so often thinks of her, remembers her in the few quiet moments he has. These paragraphs were very poignant. The writing is appropriate for the plot and even with the vile language I couldn't fault it.
I learned a thing or two. There is a lake in Kyrgyzstan called Issyk-Kul. Despite it being located in the bitter cold (think double-digit degrees below zero in winter), it never freezes. In the summer it is a resort area. Despite such harsh winters, Kyrgyzstan is known for its apples. Perhaps there is other significant agriculture, too, though it wasn't mentioned in this novel.
As they say, so many books, so little time. I'm not sorry I read this, but I probably won't be reading any more of the series. This is barely 3-stars and I might be being generous at that.
+15 Task
+20 Project Bonus
Task total = 35
Season total = 265
20.8 Texas Independence The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous: Stories from the Kennedy Center, the White House, and Other Comedy Venues by Cappy McGarr
Born in Texas
+20 - Task
+5 - combo (10.4)
Task Total - 25 pts
15.6 Central Asia (Kazakhstan)Apples Are from Kazakhstan: The Land That Disappeared by Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbin's travelogue about Kazakhstan is an engaging look at the large former Soviet state bordering the powerful countries of Russia and China. The population is composed of the formerly nomadic Kazakhs, Russians, Chechens, Germans, and others. Robbins tells us about famous people being exiled and imprisoned in remote Kazakhstan--Trotsky, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn--as he describes the various regions of the country. He also notes the extreme weather of hot summers and dangerously frigid winters.
The author was fortunate to have access to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazabayev who offered comments about the country under Soviet control, and the independent nation it became. They traveled to the Aral Sea which has shrunk into a small salty sea after its waters were used for an irrigation project by the Soviets. Nazarbayev also took Robbins to visit the toxic area where nuclear bombs were tested by the Soviets. Kazakhstan has great stores of oil and minerals, and President Nazarbayev helped bring modern industry to the country. Kazakhstan is putting up modern buildings, but old Soviet-style construction is still present in many cities. While the information provided by President Nazarbayev was interesting and offered some rare opportunities to the author, the reader should be aware that the politician has been accused of corruption.
As the title suggests, Kazakhstan is the birthplace of apples and the author visited orchards growing the native variety which is no longer popular. Robbins loved the beautiful open spaces, the mountains, and the resilient spirit of the Kazakhs. The book combines humorous incidents with solid research and serious topics to form a fascinating travel book.
+15 task
+20 project bonus
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 175
20.1 Pulitzer Life TimeFathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Pub 1862
+20 - Task
+15 - Combo(10.4, 20.3 all locations are in homes of people[mostly family] that are nearby to a small village, 20.9 - they visit people for teatime where they are given cakes. This happened often but since it was an audiobook, I can’t give exact locations in book)
+10 - NonWesterern (Russian Empire)
+15 - Oldies
Task Total - 60 pts
Kate S wrote: "From Post 185Bucket wrote: "20.1 Pulitzer
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Review: Jules Verne is fun reading, as long as I go in expecting fluff a..."
Hmm, I don't think Journey to the Center of the Earth fits task 10.2 - there's no J or C in EASTER. Did you mean something else?
Bucket wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 185Bucket wrote: "20.1 Pulitzer
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Review: Jules Verne is fun reading, as long as I go in ex...
Hmm, I don't think Journey to the Center of the Earth fits task 10.2 - there's no J or C in EASTER. Did you mean something else?"
Three of the title words begin with the letters in Easter.
10.7 Three Favorite WomenThe Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
+10 Task
+. 5 Combo: 20.9 Birthdays (My mother bakes a cake from scratch every day. Billy eats it)
Task total = 15
Season Total: 105
10.8 Ukraine Has Not Yet PerishedFieldwork in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko
+10 Task
+10 Non Western
+. 5 Oldies (1996)
Task total = 25
Season Total: 130
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoWhat Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.4 Name / 10.9 Dual
Task total: 30
Season Total: 160
20.7 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: Stories by Emma Donoghue
+20 Task
+. 5 Combo: 10.4 Name
Task total: 25
Season Total: 185
20.9 BirthdaysA Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
+20 Task: p164 ... and they'd even got me an extra piece of cake to say thanks, the way you normally do...
+. 5 Combo: 10.4 Name
Task total: 25
Season Total: 210
15.3 Central AfricaBelgium Congo
The Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad
I simultaneously listened to this on Audible and read an annotated print version. This was the best of both worlds, the narrator was wonderful and the text helped me to understand better the Conrad's background, the textual differences between editions, and the effects of colonialism. Excerpts from several critical essays over a period of almost 100 years rounded out the supplemental material.
+15 Task -
+10 review
+10 Oldies (written in 1899)
Task total: 35
Running total: 120
15.3;
20.2;20.9
Post 224 Beth wrote: "20.10Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is the story of a girl who accidentally freed a god and then traveled with him to help him reclaim his ..."
Yes, as to nonwestern as she was born in Mexico, but her bio says she is "Canadian by inclincation" so no change in status, except that she also qualifies for 20.7 Oscar Wao.
I don't understand what you mean by change in status? So both the book Ed read and the one I read should have combo +5 for 20.7?
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 224 Beth wrote: "20.10
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is the story of a girl who accidentally freed a god and then traveled with him to..."
Beth wrote: "I don't understand what you mean by change in status? So both the book Ed read and the one I read should have combo +5 for 20.7?
I don't understand what you mean by change in status?"
Nonwestern requires both birth and citizenship in a nonwestern country. Her move to Canada didn't involve a citizenship change from Mexico so her status as a nonwestern author doesn't change to western. Yes, she has immigrated, so she qualifies for 20.7.
10.4 NameNaître fille by Alice Dussutour
+10 Task
Graphic novel-like so no style points
Task total = 10
Season total = 200
.... ; .... ; .... ; 10.4 (x2) ; .... ; 10.6 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 10.9 (x2)
.... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; .... ; ....
.... ; .... ; 20.3 ; .... ; .... ; .... ; 20.7 ; .... ; 20.9 (x3) ; 20.10
15.1 North AfricaThe Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai
A slightly heavy-handed allegory that's so compulsively readable that all is forgiven, plus a very satisfying ending. The story dovetails that story of a beekeeper who discovers a new type of hornet decimating his bees with the story of Tunisia soon after the Arab Spring with budding democracy threatened by other interests (fundamentalists, moneyed royalty from nearby countries, general corruption, etc.). The writing, translated from French, flows nicely and kept me engaged.
I didn't know that not all bees knew the "ardent swarm" technique for killing invaders to the hive. The ardent swarm is where all the bees gather around an invading wasp or hornet and vibrate their bodies fast enough to generate enough heat to literally cook the invader (bees, apparently, can tolerate slightly hotter temperatures than some of these other insects). I'd read about this technique before and think it's one of the more fascinating defensive mechanisms.
The bees as allegory for the country felt a little forced at times, but overall was effective. I think this may be the first book I've read by a Tunisian author.
+15 Task (Tunisia)
+10 Review
+10 Non-western
Task total: 35
Grand total: 285
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Bucket wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 185Bucket wrote: "20.1 Pulitzer
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Review: Jules Verne is fun reading, as lon..."
Ohh, I thought 3+ just meant the title had to have at least 3 words. I misunderstood in a good way - this opens up possibilities! Thanks!
15.8 South AsiaBangladesh
Breakfast With The Nikolides by Rumer Godden
Driven out of France by World War I, Louise Pool has brought her two daughters half way around the world to a small riverside town in what is now Bangladesh to rejoin her estranged husband. Young Emily Pool is thrilled by her new home, but their arrival throws the carefully maintained hierarchy of relationships in the town into disarray.
Like many of Rumer Godden's books, this is not an easy read emotionally. Some of the characters make racist comments. There are events that some readers would find triggering: (view spoiler). It's a painful coming-of-age story and a portrait of a messed-up marriage, with the characters continually missing possibilities of real connection, but I loved it all the same.
+15 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1942)
Post Total = 35
Season Total = 460
15.8 South AsiaIran
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
The GR description begins Considered the most important work of modern Iranian literature, The Blind Owl is a haunting tale of loss and spiritual degradation. This must have been what attracted me to this novel. It surely wasn't the novel itself which was pretty awful for this reader. It is short, its one redeeming feature.
Told in the first person throughout, the unnamed narrator has fantastical dreams and (probably) apparitions. I say probably because I think what happens with these apparitions could not have truly happened. I noted Whenever I smoked opium my ideas aquired grandeur, subtlety, magic and sublimity and I moved in another sphere beyond boundaries of the ordinary world. I wanted to suggest to him his life might be a bit better if he left off the drugs and alcohol.
At about 1/3 is this:
Ugh! How many stories about love, copulation, marriage and death already exist, not one of which tells the truth! How sick I am of well-constructed plots and brilliant writing!I can attest that the author must have believed this last sentence 100%. There is no plot and (if the translation is any good) the writing is far from brilliant.
The novel is said to be allegorical. I don't "get" allegory. I should have skipped this, but once started I was too stubborn to abandon it. Because I could finish it, it gets 2-stars from me, but that might be an exaggeration of my true opinion.
+15 Task
+10 Review
+10 Nonwestern
+10 Oldies (1936)
Task total = 45
Season total = 310
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Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
I enjoy memoirs and autobiographies, especially the parts before the author becomes well-known - their childhood, their parents, events that left a lasting memory, and so on. The same was true with this book about Laura Welch Bush's life from her earliest memory to the year after they left the White House at the end of the second term. She was raised in Midland, Texas and after high school graduation worked/lived in Houston, Austin, and Dallas. She was an only child and after marrying at 31, she wanted to have children/family, but it didn't happen for a few years. I was curious to know about the joy/surprise of having twins, and she tells us. So, the first half or so was interesting, then...George wins the White House and the book goes downhill. It was a struggle to finish it. I agree with other reviewers who said that it read like a day planner: on this date, I did this, I met this person, I worked on this, and the last 1/3 was page after page of the same. Maybe every event and accomplishment had to be included to avoid offending anyone. It was like reading one of those Christmas card letters that goes on and on with names of people you have never met and how great they are. So, that and the prose-y writing style of the ghost writer (want to know about Midland's dust and wind in detail?) decreased the reading fun.
+20 Task
+10 Combo name and 20.9 cake*
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 150
*About Grandma Welch's coconut cake: "She would spend Christmas Day making the cake for Christmas dinner. I'm not sure if she had a recipe or if she merely mixed the proportions in her mind, but every bite was delicious."