Reading with Style discussion
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FA 22 Completed Tasks
20.9 - A, B, C'sWater's Edge by G.R. Jordan
+20 task
+10 combo - 10.3, 10.4
Task total: 30
Grand total: 875
20.10 - BirthdayBlood Memory by Greg Iles
+20 task - 2005
+15 Combo - 10.2 - Germany, 10.3, 20.9
Task total: 35
Grand total: 910
20.10 BirthdayThe Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
1977
+20 pts - Task
+30 pts - combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.4-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ami..., 10.8, 10.9 - CT, 20.2)
+ 5 pts - oldies
Task Total - 55 pts
Post 702 Norma wrote: "20.9 - A, B, C'sWater's Edge by G.R. Jordan
+20 task
+10 combo - 10.3, 10.4
Task total: 30
Grand total: 875"
This doesn't work for 20.9 because of the author's initial R. Let us know which of the other tasks you'd like for this.
20.9 ABCsThe Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
In this 10th in the series, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway goes to Italy to help an old flame with an excavation. After an earthquake, DCI Harry Nelson flies out to make sure she and Kate are safe. Someone seems to be trying to frighten Ruth away from the town in the Italian hills. Then the local priest is killed.
Meanwhile back in King's Lynn, Nelson's wife Michelle has her own troubles, which are about to get worse.
Most of the tension here is in the relationships between the ongoing characters, but there are fatal consequences, and it's all very well done. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5, but you would need to have read the rest of the series to feel the impact of this. The mysteries by themselves aren't that great.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.5 "dark" from dark venetian red)
Post total: 40
Season total: 2005
20.9 ABCsNeed: Ari & Jackson by Lilia Moon
This is the seventh and final book in the highly formulaic erotic romance series set in Seattle. Each book in this series features the budding relationship of two characters from that are overlapping from book to book. Here, we have a woman who has been around and hasn't been able to form a deep connection with anyone in a long time finding her connection to the drummer of a band that has been playing. He's been secretly watching her for months and hoping that he could attract her interest. I thought this was the best book of the series. The connection between these characters was the most believable.
These books are my cotton candy space fillers for times when I'm really busy at work and need something to help me shut down the whizzing brain to get some much needed sleep. I find thirty minutes or so of a mindless audiobook generally does the trick. I've got one more week of trial and I'm going to finish this series before it ends, so I'm going to have to find another set of books for this particular book need.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.9)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 1135
20.10 BirthdayNo Plan B by Lee Child
20 pts 20.10 Birthday
5 pts 10.4 Series
10 pts Review
Not worth reading. Three subplots which have very little connection ntil the last 40 pages or so. Reacher is chasing after a suspicion of a bad guy across the country. most of the narrative is talking about evading bad guys with out much of an indication of why. This is not even formulaic and really hard to find much of a reason to continue reading.
Task Total: 35 pts
Season Total: 890pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 …10.9 …
20.1 … 20.3 20.4 20.5 … … 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 … … … … … … …
20.1 Jemisin Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli
Fun, dark premise – two people with the same first name get into the Uber meant for the other one, and one ends up dead. The book goes on from there, and ends up spiraling into a plot that would fill several pages to outline. There are some parts that remind me of John Grisham, and that’s not a bad comparison – this is like a more modern Grisham novel (Grisham of The Firm, not the Grisham of football and holiday memories!) in both level of enjoyment and sense that really there were some holes in the plot. Didn’t take away from the fun of reading it though!
+20 task (MC is Bengali)
+20 combo (10.2 - hometown Canada https://sclalli.com/about/, 10.9 - set in New England, 20.2 - her debut, 20.10 - 2022)
+10 review
Task Total: 50
Season Total: 280
20.1 Jemisin She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
This is the memoir of Quinta Brunson, comedian and genius behind the show Abbott Elementary (which I love!). I got this book on Audible because of the promise of the bonus chapter on the making of the show and that alone was honestly worth it. The book itself is good – not necessarily amazing writing but interesting to learn more about Quinta’s life and career, and full of compelling details. But the “bonus” chapter was outstanding! It really showed Quinta’s most powerful skillset, because she seemed to be talking it out more (rather than reading from her already-published book) and it was hilarious, informative, and touching. If you’re at all interested, I do recommend the Audible version!
+20 task (author is Black)
+5 combo (10.2 - born in US)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 315
20.3 VonnegutNever by Ken Follett
I picked this up because the premise – political drama and intrigue -- is right up my alley. But also, Ken Follett is an author who actually made me interested in medieval history (which is NOT up my alley) so I was eager to see what he could do with a topic I was already intrigued by. In true Ken Follett fashion, this is an epic with multiple perspectives. We get to know the U.S. president and her family, several Chinese intelligence leaders, some US and French intelligence operatives in Africa, and various other characters. The entire book is leading readers toward the (grim) idea that war, especially nuclear war, is unthinkably awful and evil – and, if things don’t go right and more hotheaded leaders prevail, sometimes inevitable. I believe part of his inspiration was the lead up to WWI, starting with one seemingly minor situation and snowballing. I think the worldbuilding here wasn’t quite as amazing as in his Kingsbridge trilogy, but I did enjoy the read and didn’t want to put it down, which is saying something for an 800+ page book!
+20 task (approved in thread)
+10 combo (10.3, 20.8 - "the meal was flatbread and a vegetable soup")
+15 Jumbo (816 pages)
+10 review
Task Total: 55
Season Total: 370
20.10 Birthday Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
This was a thoroughly fun (and dark!) telling based on a similar idea as Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (which is one of my favorite books). I don’t know that it’s a retelling per se, but it’s definitely in that vein and Alice Feeney makes some specific references to the book as well. Alice Feeney is a master of twisty domestic thrillers that seem on the surface to be similar to others in the genre, but she always seems to have a slightly MORE twisted take on things and usually manages to surprise me – this one was no exception. This is a hard one to review without spoilers but I think I can safely say that if you like atmospheric locked-room mysteries, twists, and quirky (often unlikeable) characters, you will probably enjoy this one.
+20 task (pub 2022)
+10 combo (20.8 - "Nana cooked a lot of her special chicken soup", 20.9)
+10 review
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 410
10.9 NFLThe Sentence by Louise Erdrich
"The Sentence" is an unusual book - a ghost story that also captures the mood in America during the early months of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests. The story begins years earlier when Tookie, an Indigenous woman, became involved in a zany body-snatching incident which was a Federal offense. While imprisoned she developed a love of books, and landed a job at the Birchbark Books after her release. Her most annoying customer was Flora, a white woman who pretended to be Native American. Flora died on All Souls' Day "when the fabric between the worlds is thin as tissue and easily torn." Her spirit haunted the bookstore, especially when Tookie was working.
Life changed for everyone as Covid hit Minneapolis. Bookstores were considered essential businesses and went online - a lifeline for many isolated people who needed books as a distraction. George Floyd was murdered in the city, setting off protests. Meanwhile, Tookie was taking care of the people she loved at home, and trying to get the spirit of Flora to move from the bookstore to a place of eternal rest.
The book had many colorful, quirky characters who were very involved in preserving Native American culture, history, and language. Places like Birchbark Books, which specializes in Indigenous literature, helps to keep their culture alive. "The Sentence" touched on many serious topics, but Tookie's crazy humor kept it from being too dark. This tale also celebrates the importance of books, and a love of bookstores. It even has lists of Tookie's favorite books at the end.
Soup: Page 29 "Sometimes I'd see a tiny restaurant I liked the look of so I'd get off at the next stop and go inside, order soup. I took a tour of world soups."
+10 task (Minnesota)
+15 combo 10.2 Octoberfest; 20.1 Jeminsin (Native American and Black characters); 20.8 Soups On!
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 870
15.8 EotPThe Legacy of the Bones (Trilogía del Baztán #2) by Dolores Redondo
+15 Task CWA International Dagger shortlist (2017)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWA_Int...
+5 Jumbo (528p)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 980
10.9 NFL! The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Set in New York City
+10 Task
+20 Combo (10.2 - Born in Iowa, USA ; 10.3 ; 10.4 - 2 novels and a short story, plus in the acknowledgements she mentions it'll be a trilogy ; 20.1)
+10 Lost in Translation (written in english, my native language is french)
Task total = 40
Points total = 420
... ; ... ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; ... ; ... ; 10.9 ; ...
15.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.8 (x2) ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10 (x2)
20.10 Birthday Après la pluie by Margaux Motin
+20 Task
No style, graphic novel
Task total = 20
Points total = 440
... ; ... ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; ... ; ... ; 10.9 ; ...
15.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.8 (x2) ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10 (x3)
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 702 Norma wrote: "20.9 - A, B, C'sWater's Edge by G.R. Jordan
+20 task
+10 combo - 10.3, 10.4
Task total: 30
Grand total: 875"
This doesn't work for 20.9..."
Thanks Elizabeth, move it to 10.3 with the combo 10.4
10.6 Bless the Animals Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown
This was technically a reread, though it’s been so long since I read it that it felt basically new. It’s the first in Rita Mae Brown’s series where the cat and dog belonging to Harry, the town postmistress, solve crimes in the small Virginia town of Crozet. In this story, people in town keep getting murdered – after receiving an ominous postcard with the note “Wish you were here.” Mrs. Murphy and Tucker, the cat and dog, along with a few other local animals who help out, have to figure out the mystery AND help alert the less-observant humans to their discoveries. Fluffy, fun, quick read that was a nice blast from (my personal) past.
+10 task (a cat and dog solve the mystery)
+15 combo (10.2 - U.S.; 10.4; 20.10 - 1990)
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub. 1990)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 450
20.9 ABCs Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America by Dan Pfeiffer
Dan Pfeiffer, the author, was an Obama aide and now hosts a podcast – I haven’t listened to his podcast but have read his other book. Both books I think have a similar issue (for me) – they’re super informative, interesting, and relevant, but there’s something about the style that makes me take them verrrrrry slow. I just don’t have any kind of urgency to finish. This book in particular only sped up toward the end. In this book he tackles mis- and dis-information, how it came to be such a prominent part of the US political landscape, and ultimately what we might do about it. I’m fascinated by the topic and really wanted the information, and that alone made it worth the read, although I’m still uncertain about the style.
+20 task
+5 combo (10.2 - US)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 485
20.7 CervantesThe House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Review
I had read this book several years ago, but being in a different stage of life now, i read it from a different perspective. Before it was literature, a good story based on some historical facts. At that time I was more interested in the female characters’ story, their esoteric sensibilities and the feminist aspect. This time I looked at the big picture, the turmoils and conflicts of a nation who still held tight to history, even if it really wasn’t working. I noticed more the horror of what living in a country that regularly has regime changes that go from one extreme to another and how seducing power can be. It changes people.
This time the book provoked me into learning more about Chile’s history, the juntas, civil wars, land grabs as well as the rapid changes of economic structure. From feudalism to socialist land redistribution to another overthrow that led to the US involvement of installing another dictator who would serve our corporate interests under a banner of anti-communism, only years later to have to censure the man for his atrocities and refusal to leave the palace. I have a different view of Chile and its people. While the oligarchy suffers or prospers depending on which political side they are on, the common people are paying the most no matter which regime is in power. They never seem to get relief from hunger. Lack of civil rights, corruption and death. This has been happening for over two centuries. Is it stable now? Maybe we will be the next country whose military overthrows the President or the next country to have its Congress and President go to was against each other. This is an example Americans should pay attention to.
+20 pts - Task
+30 pts - Combo (
+ 5 pts - Oldies (1982)
+10 pts - LiT
+10 pts - Review
Task Total -75 pts
20.2 KingJourney to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
First published in 1932, this follows the antihero Ferdinand Bardamu as he lurches from grim World War I service to a colonial outpost in Africa, then to be supported by a woman in the USA, and back to France to finish medical studies and practice first as an unsuccessful doctor in a poor suburb of Paris, and later in a mental hospital. He's haunted throughout by an alter ego named Robinson that he first met in the trenches, and both of their lives are coloured by their war experiences.
This is mostly a cynical and depressing book, sometimes vicious and obscene, but it's also astonishingly vivid. Amazing for its day, and I think there is a humanity at its heart that isn’t always present in the many books of disillusionment by post-WW2 male authors.
20.3: The WWI section is full of the pointlessness and horror of war
20.8: The mother of one of Bardamu’s patients cooks leek soup
+20 Task https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/lo...
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.3, 20.8)
+10 LiT
+10 Oldies (1932)
Post total: 60
Season total: 2065
20.7 CervantesMarks of Identity by Juan Goytisolo
This begins as the story of a well-off Spanish boy whose father is killed by republicans during the civil war in a confused and violent incident on a country road. Later, in the 1950s, Alvaro is in exile in France, having switched to the republican side himself with Spain under Franco's control. Some of his friends seem to be under surveillance by the secret police, who give them code names. Scenes from his later life in other places are mixed in. Sometimes he is addressed as "you" (or maybe sometimes the person addressed is someone else, I wasn't always sure). And there are various other characters either in exile or living in poverty in Spain.
I read this in small chunks because I found it so fragmented that I couldn't concentrate if I tried to read more than about 20 pages at a time. I would love parts of it, then it would diverge into something that didn't relate at all.
20.8: People cook chickpea soup and garlic soup at different times.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.3, 10.4, 20.8, 20.10)
+10 LiT
+ 5 Oldies (1966)
Post total: 65
+50 Halfway bonus for 20 point tasks
Season total: 2180
20.8 Soup’s OnThe Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall
Raving about the fish soup in Budapest and where to fin it.
+20 pts - task
+15 pts - combo (10.4, 20.9,20.100
+ 5 pts - oldies (1966)
+10 pts - LiT
Task total - 50 pts
20.2 KingFamily Skeletons by Rett MacPherson
+20 (task)
+5 Oldies (1997)
+5 Combo (10.2 Octoberfest - USA)
+5 Combo (10.4 Series)
+5 Combo (20.8 Soup's On) "...our soup arrived. I have no idea what kind of soup it was, but it was delicious."
+5 Combo (20.10 Birthday 1997)
Task Total 45
Season Total 295
20.9 ABCDeath in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
The body floated face down in the murky water of the canal.
This is the opening sentence. There is no waiting around for character development to get to a murder. A few pages or a chapter are spent to learn the identity of this body. ‘I hope you find out who he is so you can send him home. It’s no good thing, to die in a strange country.’ Yes, the source of the title comes early.
I'm reading this series out of order. It is interesting to "go back in time" and see this second in the series. I do think the children age as the series continues, and Brunetti acquires a regular assistant later who, in this, is just a very good policeman. It is easy to see how the relationship will develop. Brunetti is his same self. He tends to question what others think is obvious, or what he is told by Vice-Questura Patta is the truth. Patta, after all, comes from Sicily and has been conditioned to know that the Mafia and highly placed government officials actually run Italy.
There was the usual very enticing Italian food in this as in the others. Brunetti is also a family man. On the first day of investigating the crime, he not only failed to go home for lunch, but also failed to call Paola to tell her he wouldn't be home. ‘That’s all right. I spent it with William Faulkner. Very interesting man.’ Over the course of the years, they’d come to treat her lunchtime visitors as real guests, had evolved jokes about the table manners of Doctor Johnson (shocking), the conversation of Melville (scurrilous), and the amount Jane Austen drank (stunning).
Because I couldn't resist further highlighting, I must share. Later, Brunetti and Paola are dining with others. He gets home late and Paola is just getting out of the bath. To distract himself, he thought of physics, which he had studied at the university. He doubted that he would ever understand the dynamics and stress forces of female undergarments: so many things to hold, support, keep in place.
This is just offered to show there is more to this series than very good mysteries. Another 4-stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.4, 20.10)
+ 5 Oldies (1993)
Task total = 50
Season total = 845
20.4 SaramagoMozart's Last Aria by Matt Rees
OMGEEEE! This was so painful! At the halfway point I started seeking out alternatives for this task but couldn't find anything available so suffered through the rest of it. Blech.
You've got Mozart, you've got Masons, you've got murder conspiracy theories, and you've got royal intrigue--should be fantastic, no?
Well....no. Told from the point of view of Mozart's sister, Nannerl who was also a prodigy but one overshadowed by her younger brother's astounding talent, we traverse the darker sides of Vienna to seek out the truth of Wolfgang's death--despite the doctor's verdict of a natural death, she has reason to believe that he was poisoned.
I think this *could* have been interesting if any of the characters were well drawn--but they were the blandest, most two-dimensional characters I've been subjected to in recent memory. And the "mystery" fell so flat. And the fact that there's a love interest!? EYE ROLL.
I'm so disappointed...I love Mozart and was hoping for so much more. Sigh.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo: 20.9; 20.10 (first pub. 2011)
Task total: 40
Season total: 1105
10.5 AutumnThe Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
A.A. Milne is best known for his Winnie the Pooh stories, but he also published one mystery book, "The Red House Mystery," in 1922. The locked room murder mystery is set at an English country manor. Two friends, Antony and Bill, set about solving the mystery together while pretending they were working in the style of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. Their humorous banter and love of the classic duo kept the story entertaining. While I guessed the killer, the story is more about why and how the murder happened. "The Red House Mystery" is a light, enjoyable book from the Golden Age of Detection.
+10 task (red)
+10 combo 20.5 Faulkner; 20.10 Birthday (1922)
+10 review
+10 oldie
Task total: 40
Season total: 910
20.8 Soup’s OnAunty Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu
+20 Task herbal chicken soup 9 and probably lots more but I don’t know the dishes
+15 Combo 10.4, 20.1, 20.9
Post total: 35
Season total: 1330
10.1 TBRThe Thing About December by Donal Ryan
+10 Task on my TBR since November 2017
+10 Combo 10.2 born in Ireland, 20.9
Post total: 20
Half-way Finish: 50
Season total: 1400
15.9 EotPA Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1) by P. Djèlí Clark
+15 Task Nebula Award for Best Novel (2021)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 995
10.4 SeriesGlass Houses by Louise Penny
+10 task Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #13
Post total: 10
Season total: 290
20.10 - BirthdayGravely Concerned: A Black Beacons Murder Mystery by Rhys Dylan
+20 task - 2022
+5 Combo 10.4
-15 Error post 702
Task total: 10
Grand total: 920
20.1 JemisinIn the Heat of the Night by John Dudley Ball
Review
Great book. Written during the 1960’s when segregation was at full throttle especially in Southern states. Here a man proves intelligence, professionalism, graciousness and bravery have nothing to do with skin color or hair texture. The classic backwoods setting in a rural South Carolina town where a well-educated Negro man finds himself by accident. Falsely arrested for a recent homocide as he sat in the station, waiting for a connecgting train, Virgil Tibbs must “play the game” until it is proven he us a highly-paid, high -ranking homicide investigator with a star record in California. He becomes involved in helping the amateur sheriff and his men to solve the murder. He does it beautifully with diplomacy while being treated like a pariah. This town of Wells, is deeply entrenched in its “traditions” and here was a man who showed them anybody can be a hero or a murderer regardless of race and pre-conceived ideas based on ignorance. I was a little child in rural Texas during this time period. Of course I didnt notice “colored” water fountains and toilets. I couldn’t read yet. My mother taught in a “colored” pre-school program. Sometimes I visited her class and of course I noticed the difference in skin colors just as I was aware of different hair and eye colors, skinny and fat, old and young. The only time I felt different was when the students could read and I couldn’t because they were “big kids” and got to go to school. Another old Southern tradition was children didn't call adults by their first name. If they were close to the family they were Aunt or Uncle just as you always titled your parents’ siblings. I was very attached to my babysitter, Aunt Bea, and her daughter. I went to her church, and went to diners with her, never realizing until many years later these must have been segregated. My parents treated her like a friend. In the book, the citizens of Wells, SC wouldn’t think of shaking their colleague’s brown hand. We were always hugging Aunt Bea, my parents included. Imagine my shock when I learned Aunt Bea was not my mother’s bio sister as I thought and then learned she wasn’t Dad’s sister either! I told her she would always be my aunt anyway and I did write, share with her and visit her until her death at 100.
So I can understand why so many don’t remember that it really wasn’t a time when America was great and that it is not a past we need to try and return to.
Another topic; I was going to use this for debut novel as it won an Edgar for Best First Novel. Under the author’s name of John Dudley Ball, it is his first novel on Goodreads. I wanted to learn more about him and found on Wikipedia he published two books before this one. Operation Springboard and Judo Boy. I went back to Goodreads to see if I had overlooked them. I hadn’t. When I searched under the book titles, i found another page for the author with the name John Ball Jr. According to Wikipedia, these two names belong to the same author. I also tried to find a picture of him. I only found one but I’ve forgotten how to add or send uploaded pics.
+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo 10.2, 10.3, 10.4
+ 5 pts - Oldies (1965)
+10 pts - Review
Task Total - 50 pts
15.7 EotP2009 CWA Historical Dagger. If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr.
+ 15 2009 CWA Historical Dagger
Points This Post: 15
Season Total: 110
Roster:
2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award Filter House by Nisi Shawl
2009 CWA Historical Dagger If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
2010 Cartier Diamond Award The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid
2011 Jerusalem Prize Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
2012
2013
2014 Scotiabank Award Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
2015 Bram Stoker Award A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
2016
2017 Nebula Award for Novella All Systems Red by Martha Wells
reply | edit | delete | flag
15.8 EotP2013 OCBN Award for Caribbean Literature. Archipelago by Monique Roffey.
+ 15 2013 OCBN Award
Points This Post: 15
Season Total: 125
Roster:
2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award Filter House by Nisi Shawl
2009 CWA Historical Dagger Award If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
2010 Cartier Diamond Award The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid
2011 Jerusalem Prize Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
2012
2013 OCBN Prize for Caribbean Literature. Archipelago by Monique Roffey
2014 Scotiabank Award Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
2015 Bram Stoker Award A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
2016
2017 Nebula Award for Novella All Systems Red by Martha Wells
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15.10 EotPThe Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
+15 RITA Award by Romance Writers of America for Best Paranormal Romance (2014)
+5 Jumbo (539p)
+50 points: All awards are within a 10-year period of your choice (2014-2022)
+100 points: Completing 10 Awards for EoTP Redux
Post Total: 120
Season Total: 1,165
Post 604 Deedee wrote: "Task 20.1 JemisinRead any book whose main character is a person of color.
Te-Ping Chen is of Chinese descent. This debut collection of 10 short stories all star individuals of Chinese descent. (O..."
Deedee, no change of score for this. 20.2 requires a novel and this is a collection of stories, BUT, the author was born in the US, so combo with 10.2.
20.1 JemisinHonor by Thrity Umrigar
An Indian-American journalist returns to the country her family fled when she was a teen on an assignment to cover a trial of an “honor killing”. A poor country woman’s brothers had killed her husband because he was Moslem and their family was Hindu.
The author has created a story that contrasts wealthy, sophisticated Indians with poor peasants and with educated middle-class. The main character, Smita, brings the POV of a woman who came of age in the US but grew up in the Mumbai culture and has covered women’s issue internationally.
And, of course, there is a sweet romance.
The story is well constructed and moves at a good pace.
+20 task most characters are south Asian
+15 combo 20.9, 20.10, 10.2
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 345
20.1 JemisinLies Sleeping byBen Aaronovitch
+20 task
+10 combo (10.4; 10.6 - the talking foxes from What Abigail Did That Summer are back!)
Post Total = 30
Season Total = 935
10.1 TBRThérèse Raquin by Émile Zola
+10 task
+10 LiT
+15 Oldies
+10 combo (20.5; 20.9)
+ 50 Halfway finish - all 10 point tasks
Post Total = 95
Season Total =1040
20.1 JemisinVent lointain by Margaux Motin
The main character Pacco is of carribean origins
+20 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 20
Points total = 460
10.1 ; ... ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; ... ; ... ; 10.9 ; ...
15.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 (x2) ; 20.2 (x2) ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.8 (x2) ; 20.9 (x2) ; 20.10 (x3)
Task 20.9 ABCs (Kate S's Task)Read a book in which the author's initials appear in alphabetical order.
B - U
Land of Marvels (2009) by Barry Unsworth (Hardcover 287 pages)
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#20.10 published 2009)
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 535 + 25 = 560
10.10 Group ReadsWest with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
I started out reading this on my phone (in the kindle app), but about halfway through, I switched to the audio version because this felt like a story begging to be told out loud. The narrator for the audiobook is good and it's definitely a story written in a way that makes for a fun audiobook.
I loved the idea that we live multiple lives and that sometimes even a short experience can have a huge impact on the rest of our lives. This book traces the story of a cross country trip bringing two giraffes from New York to California in the 1930s. There are some great scenes in the dust bowl and telling the stories of some of the characters living through that time.
But the heart of the story and the none-too-subtle moral of the story is the importance of animals and more broadly nature and the environment. The connection that these characters make with the giraffes is beautiful and well-told.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.7, 20.9)
Task total: 35
+50 Halfway finish (10 pt tasks)
Post total: 85
Grand total: 1220
20.7 Read any book whose MPG is Spanish Literature or Spain.Cathedral of the Sea MPV 672 pages
...One spoonful,two, three. It started again, Bernat stared at it,
the soup spoon hanging in mid-air
Quite the HF book on Spain/Barcelona during the 14th century.
I really got into the book at first, loved the characters and felt extremely attached to them. The book is based on the actual building of a Church, the deep Catholic faith in Spain. We begin with the story of Arnau Estanyol, as a child he watches as the building begins to be constructed and the book takes us through his life .
As I said. I immediately got into the story, but sorry fans, 3/4 of the way through all I wanted was it to end. Then when it ended with pure predictability, I was disappointed. And so, it is the ending that drops this book down to 3 stars. Again, this was a translation and that could have had something to do with it. A huge book, not for the casual reader.
This was a debut https://www.finedininglovers.com/arti...
+task 20
+review 10
+jumbo 5
+translation 10
+combos (10.3, 20.2, 20.8, 20.10)
Total task 65
Season Total 1120
20.4 SaramagoThe Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo (20.2, 20.9, 20.10)
+15 pts - Oldies (1777)
Task Total - 50 pts
Post 638 Norma wrote: "10.4 - SeriesThe Eye Thief by M.K. Farrar
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 655"
The author's initial K gives this a combo with 10.3.
20.7 CervantesExemplary Novels by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.5)
+10 LiT
+20 Oldies (pub 1613)
+50 Half-way Finish (forgot to claim earlier on - should have been on post #695)
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 305
Season Total: 1,470
Tien wrote: "+50 Half-way Finish (forgot to claim earlier on - should have been on post #695)
+200 Mega Finish"
Congratulations! Well done!
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
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A Fantasy of Dr. Ox (other topics)
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (other topics)
Glass Houses (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Elliot Perlman (other topics)Carlos Fuentes (other topics)
Jules Verne (other topics)
Rachel Cohn (other topics)
Louise Penny (other topics)
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Read a book that is part of a series.
For #20.8:
A passing reference to a major character eating soup. Our heroine is friends with a guy, Orion, and everyone who sees them thinks they are dating. They are not. On p. 164, which is set in the school’s cafeteria, our heroine thinks: “…people would now assume we were dating even if I tipped his soup over his head….” And she thinks that because, at that moment, he is eating soup.
Note that BPL shelves this book under FIC and not YOUNG ADULT.
A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) (2020) by Naomi Novik (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover 336 pages)
Review: This is the first book of an adult fantasy trilogy. A boarding school for teenaged wizards exists in an isolated area of England – like a grimdark Hogwarts. Not all of the students will survive to graduate from the 4-year curriculum! The first 200 or so pages of the 300ish paged novel is exposition. World-building and the backstory of the main character, a teenaged girl named Galadriel (and her family), is told to the reader (not shown). The last third of the novel shifts over to action, and showing, rather than telling the story. I suspect that the second book of the trilogy will go with showing what happens in this world that Novik spent most of the first book describing. Recommended for fantasy readers who enjoy extensive worldbuilding and who are not in a hurry to get to narrative payoffs.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (#10.2 born New York, USA; #20.8 soup)
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 505 + 30 = 535