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FA 22 Completed Tasks
20.9 Author's initials appear in alphabetical orderBloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse by James L. Swanson
A hard review to write, I enjoyed so much of the book, but a lot of it was droning filler that could have been left out. I cannot go higher than 3 stars with this one.
The book tells the story of Lincoln's last days as the Civil War is finally coming to an end, and carries through with his assassination and the cross country funeral train, that carried Lincoln to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois.
The book also tells the story of Jefferson Davis' last days as President of the Confederacy and his race across the South to avoid capture by the Union Army.
Both stories grabbed my interest, until the half-way point it was looking like a 4 star read. from this point on the author got very long-winded and the book was in desperate need of editing.
I did learn a lot about Lincoln and Davis and there are "fun facts" through-out the stories that kept me interested. It was all the droning that reduced to this read to 3 stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo
Total Task 45
Season Total 550
20.1 JemisinMain character is ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux.
Fox Creek. William Kent Krueger
I've read around this series for years, and now have read 12/18 of them, along with both of his stand alone novels. It is fair to say that William Kent Krueger is one of my favorite authors. This most recent addition to the Cork O'Connor collection does not disappoint. It features ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux, one of my favorite characters. He and his great niece, Rainy, help a troubled woman named Delores, who has sought them out. Unknowingly, she brings trouble with her, and Henry, Rainy and Delores must flee for their lives through the Great North Woods. Cork and Delores' brother-in-law set out to find them and the men who hunt them.
In this book we see Stephen (Cork's son) mature and fall in love, and it almost seems like the groundwork is being laid for the series to continue featuring the next generation. Henry, though well over 100 years old, still plays an important role as Mide, wise man, and spiritual leader. And finally, as always, there is an environmental twist to the plot.
Task Total: 20
Review: 10
Combo: 20 (10.2-US, 10.3, 10.4, 10.9 - MN)
Total: 50
From Post 179: +5 Oldies
Season Total: 495
10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.9
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.6; 20.8; 20.10;
20.2 KingRiver of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
Review: I really wanted to like this book... alternative history, wild American Hippos, fortunes, and revenge?? Definitely up my alley.
However, like many other reviewers on Goodreads it was a bit of a bust. It was short, so I finished it but the book fell flat. When the book is only 175 perhaps we don't need 75 of that to be exposition.
The writing style , particularly in the exposition, just presented the facts, rather than allowing the reader to get invested in any of the characters. The author would almost have me care, and then move on too quickly to really developed any connection to the characters. Houndstooth's backstory could have been fleshed out better as well as his connection to Cal and Travers. Cal and Adelia same thing. Cal existed to serve a purpose and was so one dimensional. Archie was interesting but I never felt like I got to know her. The way her French accent was written was annoying. There is more to an accent than just dropping the "h's"! I'll get to Hero in a second.
This novella is dripping with " look how quirky and cool my story is" Gratuitous diversity, betcha-didn't-see-that-twist-coming, and overly heavy handed political messaging.
As an artist, I believe the story should come first and all plot and characters should serve the telling of that story.
If you want to write a manifesto, write something non-fiction.
The character of Hero, the love interest for our pansexual protagonist is non-binary. And the author never ceases to remind you of that. They don't get a full backstory, and we're supposed to believe that (total player) Houndstooth immediately falls in love with this person for no reason at all? Is it lust? Is it an emotional connection? We don't know! Neal Shusterman does a MUCH better job with his N-B character in the Scythe trilogy. This book either needs to be well-pared down to a short story or expanded into a full length novel.
+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.2 US Author
+10 Review
Task Total: 35 pts
Grand Total: 270 pts
15.1 EoTP ReduxNeverwhere by Neil Gaiman
+15 Task, 2023 St. Louis Literary Award to Neil Gaiman
+5 Oldies, pub. 1996
Task total: 20
Season total: 370
10.7 GeocachingThe Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Amor Towles is in my top five favorite authors of all time. Why I put this off...well, the cover didn't speak to me (such a superficial reason) and he puts books out so infrequently, I wanted to delay reading it so it didn't feel quite such a long time until his next book is announced (a slightly less superficial reason).
As I knew I would be, I'm kicking myself that I didn't pick this up sooner. It was STUNNING!
In his first two books, the story is mostly told from one point of view. In this one, we get multiple voices and it's brilliant.
It's 1954 and Emmett has just been released from Salina, a work farm in Kansas where he has served a year term for involuntary manslaughter. He returns home to a dead father, a precocious eight-year-old brother, and the family farm in foreclosure. The only thing he has to his name is a Studebaker and a plan. But we all know what they say about the best laid plans...
This has the feel of a modern-day Odyssey with a healthy dose of Shakespeare (by way of an actor's abandoned son)--but if you're no fan of either of those, don't let that dissuade you from checking this one out! Another triumph from Towles, can't wait for the next one!
+10 Task, "Adventure" on MPG
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo, 576 pages
+15 Combo: 10.2 (born in Boston), 20.8 ("Billy already had a plate of chili and cornbread in his lap...with the first bite he realized how hungry he was."), 20.9
Task total: 40
Season total: 410
20.5 FaulknerThe Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
I'm not the hugest Foo fan, but a friend gave us their extra tickets for the Foo Fighters show in LA last week and I wanted to read this before the show. Luckily, I found it on audiobook with just enough time to finish it before heading to LA.
Read by the author, it was a whirlwind story of a crazy career, a lifelong devotion to Music, and a surprisingly sensitive rock star.
Some of my favorite stories were of his first live performance in front of an audience while still a teenager (at the behest of his mother/best friend, "for [her] birthday"); the story of the haunted house he lived in; and a crazy performance where he broke his leg and dislocated his foot during the second song of the concert, running around the stage...but the show must go on, so the doctor put his foot back into joint, they got Dave a chair, and the rest of the show was played with the doctor sitting on the stage holding his leg/foot to keep it stable (after the show, they rushed him to the hospital where he required emergency surgery). Talk about a bad ass. I was also a little shocked to realize that after Nirvana's meteoric rise to fame, Dave still lived in a dump, sleeping on a mattress on the floor...they went from zero to famous so fast, he never had time to look for a different place.
This is a who's who of the music biz as well: stories with Paul McCartney, Joan Jett, Neil Young, and so many more I lose track.
I particularly loved the stories where he's just a dad, talking about his love for his girls...though he's a dad who flies from Australia to LA for the Daddy/Daughter dance and flies right back to Australia the same night so as not to miss any dates on the tour, so pretty much a Superdad.
+20 Task, link in thread
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.2 (born in Ohio), 10.9 (D.C., L.A., NYC, and Seattle=75% of the story), 20.9
Task total: 45
Season total: 455
10.3 9 , 10 , 11Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe by Josh Allen
Low Lexile
For a Junior readers book, some of these stories were quite good! Even as an adult reader. A couple of them were a little weak but some creative content here.
+10 Task
Grand Total: 280 pts
10.2 OctoberfestA Bullet for Cinderella by John D. MacDonald
This is my first MacDonald novel, and hopefully not my last. This is a stand alone novel, written some years before he would begin the Travis McGee series. If you like hard boiled style of mystery/crime novels I think you will like this one. MacDonald doesn’t write as ‘hard’ as Hammett or Carver, but his language is precise and sharp. He packs a lot in a short novel. The things I particularly liked about this novel were – the MC isn’t and doesn’t pretend to be a tough guy, the woman are self assured (or tough as need be), the backstory is very interesting (the MC was a Korean War POW), and I loved the ending. 4*
10 task
10 review
5 oldie
10 combo 10.3, 20.10
______
35
Running total: 485
20.7 CervantesA Heart So White by Javier Marías
This was an interesting read that will take some time to digest. There are several layers of stories here...both in the present and the past involving Juan. (We never learn his last name.) Juan learns about some mysteries in his father's past.... but does he want to know the details. Perhaps the details will surface despite whatever Juan wants. How do those mysteries relate to the other elements of the novel? I think this novel is cleverly constructed, easy to understand on a surface level...but difficult (at least for me) to tie up into a package. It's on Boxall's 1001 list too.
Task=20
Review=10
LiT=10
Oldie=5
Combo= 20 (10.3; 10.5-"white"; 20.9; 20.10-"1992")
Post Total=65
Grand Total=250
---; ---; ---;10.4; 10.5; ---; ---; ---; ---; ---;
15.1; 15.2; ----; ----; ----; ----; ----; ----; ----; ----;
----; ----; ----; ----; ----; ----;20.7; 20.8; ----; 20.10
15.7 EotPThe Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
+15 Task 2020 Ladies of Horror
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 510
20.10 BirthdayTurning Angel by Greg Iles
20 pts 20.10 Birthday
5 pts 20.9 ABCs
5 pts 10.2 Oktoberfest
5 pts 10.3 9,10,11
5 pts 10.4 Series
10 pts Review
5 pts Jumbo
Lawyer Penn Cage gets caught up in an ugly murder investigation involving an old friend. No one comes across well, with some apologetics for poor/criminal behavior. Somehow, having people think you are incapable of murder makes the actual crime OK.
Violence seen as supporting a greater good. Ie the bad guys deserve what they get. Comments/situations (a virtually all white private school described as OK because it was established before, not in response to, school desegregation) that are more an indication of the authors bias rather than a result of a description of the attitudes of the characters.
Task Total: 55 pts
Season Total: 195 pts
10.1 … … … … … … … … …
20.1 … … … … … 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 … … … … … … … … …
10.3 - 9, 10, 11The Cook by Harry Kressing
+10 Task
+20 Combo (10.2 - born in the USA ; 20.2 - see book description : "I haven't been so gripped by any first novel..." ; 20.8 - several references in the book – translated roughly: “he had cooked the day’s leftovers in a kind of stew” ; “… while drinking a mouthful of broth” ; 20.9)
+10 Lost in Translation (written in english, native language is french)
+5 Oldies (1965)
Task total = 45
Points total = 240
... ; ... ; 10.3 ; ... ; ... ; 10.6 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
15.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
... ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10 (x2)
15.3 EotPThe Dinner by Herman Koch
*Thanks to Connie for recommending this book upthread. I needed something compulsively readable and this fit the bill nicely.
+15 Task - 2014 PEN Translation Prize Nominee
Task total: 15
Grand total: 470
20.7 CervantesMarina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (850 Lexile)
'Tis the season for the creepy books and this one delivered in spades. Though set on the cusp of the 1980s in Barcelona, you'd never guess it if it wasn't plainly stated by the author. It is a gothic tale, best told around candlelight at dusk on a stormy night. At first glance, it seems a bit like a paean to Frankenstien (the fact that there is a character "Maria Shelley" leaves no doubts about this) but as the story progresses it definitely goes above and beyond a mere encomium. It's a little bit Rebecca, a touch of The Phantom of the Opera, and yet remains entirely itself. The creep factor is high, the mystery unfolds at a steady rate, and the emotional punch at the end may have elicited a few tears.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo: 20.5, 20.8 ("We ate our soup without speaking."), 20.9, 20.10 (pub. 1999)
Task total: 50
Season total: 505
20.10- BirthdaySuffer The Dead: A Black Beacons Murder Mystery by Rhys Dylan
+20 task - 2022
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 25
Grand total: 385
10.2 - Celebrate OktoberfestHitches, Hideouts, & Homicides by Tonya Kappes
+10 task - US
+10 Combo - 10.3, 10.4
Task total: 20
Grand total: 405
10.3 - 9, 10, 11Assailants, Asphalt & Alibis by Tonya Kappes
+10 task
+10 Combo - 10.2 - US, 10.4
Task total: 20
Grand total: 405
10.2 OktoberfestFools of Fortune by William Trevor
A terrible thing happens to Willie Quinton's family and their large and comfortable Irish home when he is nine years old. As he grows up, the effects of that night ripple out to scar the lives of others close to him.
Everything I've read by William Trevor has been a wonderfully written disturbing story. This was no exception. The events are so awful that they seem to bludgeon the reader as well as the characters. I just wanted to pick everyone up and carry them out of the story.
I think you need to know something about Irish history, especially the uprisings in the early 20th century, to understand what’s going on. I was confused at first because although there was political violence, it did not follow the usual sectarian pattern.
Soup: "There was tomato soup for lunch, and chops and summer pudding, and wine."
+10 Task (Ireland)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (20.8)
+ 5 Oldies (1983)
Post total: 30
Season total: 565
15.8 EotPRHurston/Wright Legacy Award US, Black authors - all categories (Nonfiction 2019)
May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem. Imani Perry
Task Total: 15
Total: 15
Season Total: 510
10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.9
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1; 20.2; 20.3; 20.6; 20.8; 20.10;
20.1 JemisinSalvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
+20 task
+30 combo(10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 20.8 - "Daddy is propped up on pillows when I walk into the bedroom, a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a pot holder before me," ; 20.9; 20.10 - first published 2011)
Post Total = 50
Season Total = 400
20.2 KingThe Amulet by Michael McDowell
+20 task (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael...)
+10 combo (10.2, 20.8 preparation of "certain soups that were best made with the head of a pig" Chapter 48)
+ 5 oldies (1979)
Task total=35
Season total=105
from Post 28610.10 Group Reads
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
+10 task
+10 combos (10.4; 20.10 - first published 2011)
Post Total = 20
Season Total = 350
adding +5 combo 20.1, I just remembered Constable Peter Grant is mixed race, with his mother from Sierra Leone.
Season Total now 405
10.10 Group ReadsWest with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I had seen it many times on one of the deals emails, but studiously ignored picking it up. Until, that is, it was recommended by Valerie, a Goodreads friend. Goodreads friends are so good for letting you wander outside your normal reading path!
It was simply coincidence that I started this just after Hurricane Ian landfall. Honestly, I don't think I realized that part of the premise of this fiction-based-on-fact story is that the giraffes landed following the biggest hurricane to hit New York and New England prior to Sandy.
1938 had only 2 cross country road systems. The first was the Lincoln Highway. The second was the Lee Highway. I knew about the building of the Lincoln Highway, but was ignorant of the Lee Highway. Following Civil War designations, the Lincoln was the northerly route, the Lee was the southerly route. I'm always surprised about the bits of trivia that can be picked up reading fiction.
Anyway, the giraffes crossed the country from New York to San Diego on the Lee Highway. There was, of course, never a doubt they would make it. (As an aside, I visited the San Diego Zoo in the mid-50s and saw these giraffes. I'm sorry I didn't know this story then.) The novel is about the trials and troubles of crossing the country and delivering them to the zoo. The characterizations of the people were excellent. This isn't literature and I usually reserve my 5-star reads for books that are. I'm breaking my "rule" here.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.7, 20.9)
Task total = 35
Season total = 330
10.9 NFL The Ivies by Alexa Donne
+10 task (set in New England - specifically Massachusetts)
Low lexile
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 200
20.10 Birthday We Were Kings by Courtney C. Stevens
Not shelved at BPL
+20 task (published 2022)
+10 combo (10.2 - born in US, 20.8 - "Ben dishes soup, doles out soda crackers, and fills four glasses with Kool-Aid")
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 230
10.3 9, 10, 11The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
"That's exactly what Austen gives us. A world so a part of our own, yet so separate, that entering it is like some kind of tonic. Even with so many flawed and even silly characters, it all makes sense in the end. It may be the most sense we'll ever get to make out of our own messed-up world."
Jane Austen wrote her last novels in a cottage in the sleepy English village of Chawton, and her brother lived in the larger Chawton House on the same estate. When it looks probable that the cottage and mansion might be lost to developers in an estate settlement in the 1940s, some fans of Jane Austen come to the rescue and form "The Jane Austen Society."
Although this is a fictional account of events, it is a warm story about a disparate group of people, each who have experienced some emotional damage due to grief, World War II, or other circumstances. They work together to save the cottage, valuable books, Jane's jewelry, and more. They bond over a shared love of Jane Austen's books, and heal in the process.
Natalie Jenner's debut novel is a pleasant, cozy read, although it is a bit rushed at the end. A little familiarity with Austen's books or the gorgeously filmed movies based on her writing would make the reading experience more enjoyable.
+10 task (J)
+ 5 combo 20.2 (debut novel)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 480
10.6 Bless the AnimalsThree Bags Full
Delightful! I cannot remember the last book I read that made me smile and laugh, as this one did. Just Delightful!
As their shepherd, Glen, lies dead in their meadow, a flock of sheep gather around the body. Miss Maple, the smartest sheep, decides they need to find the killer. What follows is an investigation that, as I said, made me laugh and smile throughout the story. Glen was not your average shepherd, he talked and most importantly, on a daily basis, read stories to his flock. The result of this "story time" are a flock of sheep who can understand human behavior and emotions. New words do confuse them and this resulted in many humorous conversations between the sheep.
A quick, light read that I thoroughly enjoyed. There is a second book, but sadly it has not been translated to English.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Lost In Translation
+15 Combo(20.2, 20.9, 20.10)
Task Total 45
Season Total 595
15.5 Eyes on the Prize ReduxMurder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews
15 task (1999 Agatha Award)
_____
15
Running total: 500
20.4 SaramagoCandide by Voltaire
+20 task
+20 oldies
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Combo (20.8 - the task that just keeps dishing up surprises! - "and put before them four tureens of soup, each garnished with two parakeets" )
Post Total = 55
Season Total = 460
From Post 204Joanne wrote: "20.9 ABC's
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
I first read this book as teenager (found it in the attic and smuggled it into my room, and read it with a dictionary and ..."
+5 Jumbo
From Post 208Deedee wrote: "Task 10.9 NFL (Anika's Task)
Chrysta was born and raised in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area.
Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings (2022) by [author:Chryst..."
+10 Combo 10.2, 20.10
From Post 209Deedee wrote: "Task 20.10 Birthday (Elizabeth (Alaska's) Task
Read any book whose original publication year is 2 consecutive digits.
Publication year: 2006
Heroine Eden Moore is described as ‘biracial’. It was ..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 213Joanna wrote: "20.10 Birthday
Free Food for Millionaires by Lee Min-jin
I've been wanting to read this book forever. I actually had an ARC copy at one point and I remember discus..."
+5 Combo 20.9
From Post 221Connie wrote: "20.10 Birthday
The Dinner by Herman Koch
"The Dinner" started with satirical social humor as two brothers and their wives dine at a posh restaurant. But the distu..."
+10 Lost in Translation
From Post 244Tawallah wrote: "10.1- TBR
Sitting on my TBR since April 2014
My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Task : 10
Oldies: 10(first published in 1919)
Post total : 20
Season total: 120"
+5 Combo 10.4
From Post 246Mary wrote: "20.1 Jemisin
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic by Eugenie Tsai
20 pts 20.1 Jemisin
Task Total: 20 pts
Season Total: 20 pts
… … … … … … … … … …
20.1 … … … … … … … … …..."
+5 Combo 20.9
20.1 JemisinConjure Women. Afia Atakora
This debut novel is set in the period surrounding the American Civil War, encompassing several generations and many secrets on an old Southern plantation. Miss May Belle and her daughter, Rue, are conjure women. They birth babies, heal folks, and hold their community in their hands. Varina, the plantation daughter, is simple, and in many ways, they manage her. The book was interesting and rich in detail, and would probably take several readings to unpack it all.
Task Total: 20
Review: 10
Combo: 10 (20.2, 20.8 - the second day he made a soup)
Total: 40
Season Total: 550
10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.9
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7
20.1(x2); 20.2; 20.3; 20.6; 20.8; 20.10;
Kate S wrote: "From Post 246Mary wrote: "20.1 Jemisin
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic by Eugenie Tsai
20 pts 20.1 Jemisin
Task Total: 20 pts
Season Total: 20 pts
… … … … … … … ..."
I thought this fell into the “art book, no styles category”. Let me know if you agree.
Post 339 Mary wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 246Mary wrote: "20.1 Jemisin
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic by Eugenie Tsai
I thought this fell into the “art book, no styles category”. Let me know if you agree."
The "Look Inside" appears to have sufficient text.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 339 Mary wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 246Mary wrote: "20.1 Jemisin
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic by Eugenie Tsai
I thought this fell into the “art book,..."
Thanks!
Mary wrote: "20.8 Soup’s OnMaus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
20 pts 20.8 Soup’s On. One time a day they gave a soup from turnips
Task Total:..."
This qualifies for combo points with 10.6 Bless the Animals.
By the way, my father and sister, nieces, nephews live in McMinn Co, Tennessee which became infamous world-wide recently because of the county school system banned the Maus books from the curriculum. This is the school system which my nieces, nephews and cousins and now their children attend. One of the complaints were ‘rough, objectionable language’, the disturbing descriptions of events not suitable for children like kids killing kids and suicide. Oh and nudity of a woman, but werent they mice? Other than the Disney Kingdom, I’ve never seen mice wearing garments.
Regardless, i wanted my own copy to see what the fuss was about and it was sold out, even on Amazon! I bet the author loves McMinn County!
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/ten...
15.9 EoTPR 2003 - 2012Agatha Award 2006
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
+15 pts - Task Total
10.8 House Multiple references to Solhoga having a personality and/or presence
The Resting Place by Camilla Sten
+10 Task
+5 Combo 20.8 Protagonist makes Lentil Soup
+5 Combo 20. 9 ABC's
+10 Lost in Translation
Task Total: 30pts
Grand Total: 310 pts
from post 330 20.4 Saramago
Candide by Voltaire
+20 task
+20 oldies
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Combo (20.8 - the task that just keeps dishing up surprises! - "and put before them four tureens of soup, each garnished with two parakeets" )
Post Total = 55
Season Total = 460
I forgot my own post re stamps, and hadn't added to my spreadsheet, ooops!
+5 combo 20.5
Total now 465
Rebekah wrote: "Mary wrote: "20.8 Soup’s OnMaus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
20 pts 20.8 Soup’s On. One time a day they gave a soup from turnips...
This qualifies for combo points with 10.6 Bless the Animals."
Graphic Novels do not qualify for styles.
Post 269 Tawallah wrote: "20.8 Soup's OnLovely War by Julie Berry
Colette and Hazel help make and serve cabbage soup for German POWs.
Task: 20
Combo - 10 (10.3- first initial J; 10.2 -..."
This is also a low Lexile book. YA at BPL ( http://catalog.brooklynpubliclibrary.... ) and a Lexile of 650. Task, but no styles.
15.7 EotP ReduxThe Ballad Of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark
Recipient of Golden Pen Award, 1998
+15 task
+5 Oldies (first published 1960)
Post Total = 20
Season Total = 485
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "Mary wrote: "20.8 Soup’s OnMaus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
20 pts 20.8 Soup’s On. One time a day they gave a s..."
Sorry!
20.9 ABCsA Christmas Resolution by Anne Perry
+20 task
+5 Combo 20.8 Irish stew
Post total: 25
Season total: 530
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Seven Types of Ambiguity (other topics)Where the Air Is Clear (other topics)
A Fantasy of Dr. Ox (other topics)
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (other topics)
Glass Houses (other topics)
More...
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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Moon Sugar by Angela Meyer
Pub. 2022
Review
For some reason, I thought that this was a dystopian novel but while it's not what I expected, I found that I enjoyed this rather a lot especially when everything comes together for me at the end.
What begun as being lost in grief and in search of answers, in the beginning on the novel, turned into an acceptance and discovery of self by the end of novel. Which in turn enabled the protagonist for intimacy.
I wasn't sure where the protagonist's journey was going to take her but I identified so much with a part of her that in the end, I feel very contented with her choices; a wonderful "magical" journey about living and connecting.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.9)
+10 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 635