Reading with Style discussion

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message 251: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3110 comments 15.6 Celebration of Styles
Thank You, Jeeves (Jeeves #5) by P.G. Wodehouse

+15 Task (1001)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 350



message 252: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1826 comments 10.3 - Vowels

Lost Hours by Alex Walters

+10 task - Alex
+5 multiple

Task total: 15
Grand total: 55


message 253: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1826 comments 10.7 - Scrabble

Beyond the Thistles by Samantha Young

+10 task - score 29

Task total: 10
Grand total: 65


message 254: by Norma (new)

Norma | 1826 comments 20.5 - Scandinavian Noir

Death Deserved by Jørn Lier Horst

+ 20 task

Task total: 20
Grand total: 85


message 255: by Apple (new)

Apple | 988 comments 15.6 Celebration of Styles

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
1001

+15 task

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 435

10.6; 10.7 (x3);
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)


message 256: by Apple (new)

Apple | 988 comments 10.3 Vowels

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov

+10 task
+5 oldies (1988)

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 450

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)


Elizabeth (Alaska) | 14249 comments 20.3 Dickens

Tracks in the Snow by Godfrey Rathbone Benson Charnwood

ON the morning of the 29th of January, 1896, Eustace Peters was found murdered in his bed at his house, Grenvile Combe, in the parish of Long Wilton, of which I was then rector.
This is how the book begins. No waiting around for someone to be murdered! It is, perhaps, halfway before we know the full name of the first person narrator. He had known Eustace Peters from childhood. As with most mystery novels, there are very few people who could have committed this murder. It was highly unlikely that the rector could have been one of them - I did not suspect an unreliable narrator.

In the introduction to my recent read of an R. Austin Freeman novel, was included that he was the first to introduce the inverted mystery novel in 1912. In that Introduction it is defined as "the reader is a witness to the crime, the suspense of the chase thereby being eliminated. Interest centers not on whether the criminal will be caught, but on how." In a true inverted mystery, the reader is present at the murder from the beginning and fully knowledgable of who is the perpetrator. Tracks in the Snow borders on this form a full 6 years earlier when we can be pretty darned certain who was the murderer, but we are not present at the crime and our knowledge comes about 1/3 in or thereabouts.

Others who have reviewed this title are apparently not fans of this form. Comments include that once we know who was the perpetrator why continue the novel. Honestly, I find the why as much of interest in a novel as the who. Others mention the writing is overly wordy. Those readers should stick to novels written much later that are far less interesting in style. Here, I thought the characterizations quite good. I enjoyed this right to the end. For me, this is a good 4-stars, neither at the top nor the bottom of that group.

+20 Task (Charnwood born 1864)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1906)
+ 5 Multiple (first post for task at #120)

Task total = 45

Season total = 365


message 258: by Apple (new)

Apple | 988 comments 15.7 Celebration of Styles

Marzahn, mon amour by Katja Oskamp
Lost in Translation, translated from German

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 465

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)


message 259: by chunwui (new)

chunwui | 86 comments 20.8 Morrison

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

Just like with Sayaka Murata's other books Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings, this short story collections centers around examining societal norms and breaking societal norms.The most interesting point she makes to me is depicting how much "marketing" can affect whether an action is acceptable or unacceptable - for example, a women who picks dandelions around the city for her meals recognizes that her meals would be seen as disgusting if she revealed they come from city sidewalks, so she tells a lie about her grandmother picking the dandelions for her from the countryside, and her meals are viewed as a homely country meal. I love how Sayaka Murata never shies away from freaky topics that might turn a reader away, and that's kind of the point - she invites you to ask: what makes this gross/strange to me? From another perspective, can my POV be seen as the strange one?

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Multiple

Task total: 35
Season total: 125 + 35 = 160


message 260: by chunwui (new)

chunwui | 86 comments 20.8 Morrison

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

A really fun read for October about a girl who joins the popular girl "squad" at her new school and then finds out they're werewolves. I only wish that the social commentary was a little more polished. I would say the first half of the book is about female revenge against toxic masculinity and the importance of female support systems in a woman's life, but the second half of the book kind of lost this, and seemed to finish on a theme of queer women escaping from the rigid expectations that (usually straight) women impose on each other. I wish the second theme was introduced a little earlier in the book, and that there was more conclusive point made for the first theme.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Multiple

Task total: 35
Season total: 160 + 35 = 195


message 261: by Joanne (new)

Joanne (joabroda1) | 583 comments 20.8 Morrison

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

An exceptional essay collection about race, with heavy emphasis on Texas, Gordon's birthplace. Throughout Gordon reminds us how certain bits of history were never taught in schools. How people envision the state of Texas, leaving so much of out. I like to learn while I read, this small book was filled with that experience.

I started thinking of this as Gordon's love letter to her home and family, and yet I can't call it that, Perhaps, unlove letter would be a better word, as the normal history lesson covers none of what Gordon talked about. Then I realized a book like this could be written on every State in the Union. So many books I have read in my reading voyage have alerted me to unknown contributions of the people of color throughout the building of America.

A short, as I said, exceptional book. Highly Recommended.

Task 20
Review 10
Total Task 30
Season Total 240


message 262: by Marie (new)

Marie (mariealex) | 1102 comments 20.6 Wilder

The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant

The main character, Cordelia, is 11 years old (as stated here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...)

+20 Task

Task total = 20

Points total = 225

... ; ... ; 10.3 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 10.8 ; ... ; ...
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10


message 263: by Deedee (new)

Deedee | 2284 comments Task 10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)
Read a book whose title would score at least 23 points using the Scrabble scoring system.

Scrabble – 38 points

The English Experience (Jason Fitger #3) (2023) by Julie Schumacher

+10 Task
+05 Repeat a task

Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15

Grand Total: 130 + 15 = 145


message 264: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 2651 comments 20.1 Author! Author!

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

For some reason, I never felt compelled to read this book that is considered a classic and IS on Boxall's 1001 list. I read it because I am going to see the play this Saturday at San Diego's Old Globe Theater. The book follows the thinly veiled portrait of the author- a magazine journalist sent to Las Vegas to cover a motorcyle race. He travels there from Los Angeles with his attoney...but the book is really about the manic-frenzied life they lead high on drugs continuously. As much as I enjoyed drug-culture books....such as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, I did not enjoy this one. Any humor was drained away by the sense of danger and negligence. I may reluctantly read the author's other classic Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 since I am a political junkie.... we'll see.


Task=20
Review=10
Oldie=5 (1971)

Task Total=35
Grand Total=55

Tasks Completed:
10.7
20.1


message 265: by Joanne (last edited Oct 05, 2023 05:13PM) (new)

Joanne (joabroda1) | 583 comments 10.7 Scrabble

The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

25 scrabble points

The story of a tragic fire in 1811 in Richmond, VA. Beanland takes the facts and melts them into a historical fiction that I seriously think is one of the best books I have read in a while. I am wondering why I did not go 5 stars, something stopped me-I just do not know what.

The story is told through 4 POV's 3 of whom were actual people. I related to all 4 and each POV had a true voice and I never felt like I was being left in the dark as we went from one to other. The telling of the story was so great, for a minute I forgot it was a true story and said to myself "I hope she writes a sequel". 😖

I can recommend this to just about anyone who enjoys a great HF and also anyone who is a History nerd, like myself. This was an unknown piece of history for me and the author notes prove her diligence in the research
for it.

Truly a great read.


Task 10
Review 10
Total Post 20
Season Total 260


message 266: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3110 comments 20.5 Scandinavian Noir
Reykjavík Nights (Young Inspector Erlendur #2) by Arnaldur Indriðason

+20 Task

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 370



message 267: by Rebekah (new)

Rebekah (bekalynn) 10.1 Aged
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

+10 pts - task -#6 on list
Task Total - 10 pts


message 268: by Marie (new)

Marie (mariealex) | 1102 comments 15.5 Celebration of Styles

Verdad by Lorena Canottiere

Lost in translation
Written in italian, first language is french

+15 Task

Task total = 15

Points total = 240

... ; ... ; 10.3 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 10.8 ; ... ; ...
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; 15.5 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10


message 269: by Marie (new)

Marie (mariealex) | 1102 comments 15.6 Celebration of Styles

Une mémoire de roi by Sébastien Martinez

Young (author is born in 1987, and illustrator in 1984)

+15 Task

Task total = 15

Points total = 255

... ; ... ; 10.3 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 10.8 ; ... ; ...
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; 15.5 ; 15.6 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10


message 270: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 2651 comments 20.6 Wilder

Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney

The MC, Greg , is the narrator of this story about his brother Roderick. Roderick has a heavy metal band called Diper Overload... and boy, are they struggling to succeed. Jeff Kinney, the author, once again has several moments in the book, that make me split my sides. Roderick and his bandmates try to emulate another heavy metal band that they idolize. After having trouble getting gigs, they seek out the leader of that idolized band...only to find him living in squalor...and another bandmember surviving by selling off old band memorobilia. One scene has Roderick's drummer showing up to an unpaid gig without his drumsticks. Every music store is already closed...so, he decides to steal the drumsticks from the drummer at the animaltronic pizza party place. Hilarity ensues.


The MC is Greg Heffley...he is 12 years old- see https://diary-of-a-wimpy-kid.fandom.c...

Task=20
Review=10

Task Total=30
Grand Total=85

Tasks Completed:
10.7
20.1; 20.6


message 271: by Rosemary (last edited Oct 06, 2023 02:34PM) (new)

Rosemary | 4299 comments Tien wrote: "20.5 Scandinavian Noir
Reykjavík Nights (Young Inspector Erlendur #2) by Arnaldur Indriðason

+20 Task

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 370"


Tien, we have your total as 375. Maybe you didn't add the 5 points that Elizabeth gave in message 147?


message 272: by Rosemary (last edited Oct 09, 2023 05:42AM) (new)

Rosemary | 4299 comments 20.2 War

A Long Way from Verona by Jane Gardam

Jessica Vye is a teenaged girl living in the north-east of England during World War II. Her father is a vicar, so they don't have much money, although they are obviously middle class and she seems to be getting a good education at the local school. But when she's invited to a party at the big c0untry house of a connection of her father's, she is overwhelmed.

This was a re-read after many years. I enjoyed the story when I was young, although I certainly didn't understand that the title was a reference to Romeo and Juliet, and there was probably more that went over my head. I'm not sure I even realised what happened in the air raid.

+20 Task (you may have to click on "More" to see "World War II")
+10 Review
+ 5 Prize Worthy
+ 5 Oldies (1971)

Post Total = 40
Season Total = 485


message 273: by Deedee (new)

Deedee | 2284 comments Task 20.10 Letters (Owlette's Task) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) where a character writes a letter by hand (no typing). Tell us the name of the letter writer. Personal journal and diary entries are excluded.

Letter writer: Mrs. Ly Minh Duong
Mrs. Duong wrote, by hand, a letter to each of her four daughters. Her lawyer was instructed to be hand to the daughters their respective letters after her death. (He does so.)

The Fortunes of Jaded Women (2022) by Carolyn Huynh

+ 20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 145 + 20 = 165


message 274: by Rebekah (new)

Rebekah (bekalynn) 10.2 Sun and Moon
The Moon, the Stars, and Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan

+10 pts - task
Task Total - 10 pts


message 275: by Connie (last edited Oct 06, 2023 08:33PM) (new)

Connie  G (connie_g) | 1906 comments 20.2 War

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly

Josie and Arlette worked for the French Resistance during World War II, transmitting valuable information to the Allied Command in London. They were known as the Golden Doves in Paris before their work was discovered and they were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Cruel medical experiments were performed on many women in the camp, and babies were neglected, including Arlette's baby son.

The book alternates between the 1940s war years and the 1950s for each of the two characters. Arlette is trying to follow leads that her son might be alive in a boys camp in French Guiana. Josie works for the American government locating former Nazis, including some valuable scientists. There is a secret intelligence program, Operation Paperclip, that is recruiting former Nazi scientists and engineers to prevent them from giving their knowledge to the Russians in the Cold War years. Other Nazis traveled from Germany through the Alps into Italy on their way to safe havens in South America, avoiding justice.

The book has a large number of characters so it's not one that you could put down for a couple weeks and then return to it. The story is suspenseful, although the spying by Josie sometimes seemed a little sloppy for a trained Army intelligence officer. Overall, it's very good historical fiction that gives important information about the French Resistance, the ordeals of Ravensbrück, and the outcomes of many former Nazi officials.

+20 task
+10 review
+ 5 multiple
+ 5 jumbo (528 pages)

Task total: 40
Season total: 295


message 276: by Apple (new)

Apple | 988 comments 15.8 Celebration of Styles

“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
Not a Novel

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 480

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)


message 277: by Tawallah (new)

Tawallah | 447 comments 20.8 Morrison

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Task: 20
Post total: 20
Season total: 165


message 278: by Apple (new)

Apple | 988 comments 10.3 Vowels

Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz

This is my second book by Babitz, and I think I preferred this to Eve's Hollywood, perhaps because this time I knew what to expect.

If you are on the book page, it tells you that readers also enjoyed multiple books by Joan Didion. The only similarity between Babitz and Didion is they both write about California, but their style and the California they love are very different. Coming to Babitz from Didion, it was hard to like the first read, Didion is like poetry, Babitz if like going to dinner and talking to a girlfriend. There is nothing wrong with this, and they both makes pleasureable reads, but you can't carry the expectations of the one to the other.

Babitz writes about the Hollywood and LA that I think an outsider expects to see, but with the love and understanding of an insider. It is a world most people will never know, and she doesn't try to dispel the mystery of it, rather she shares her insider experience of it, her own awe of people and love of place, and takes you along for the ride.

+10 task
+5 oldies (1977)
+10 review
+5 multiple

Post Total = 30
Season Total = 510

...; ...; 10.3 (x2); ...; ...; 10.6; 10.7 (x3); ...; ...; ...
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8
20.1 (x3); ... ; ...; ...; 20.5; ....; ....; 20.8; ....; 20.10 (x2)


Elizabeth (Alaska) | 14249 comments 10.4 Debut

The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts

This was Crofts debut. He had been recuperating for some time from an illness but was well enough to feel bored. For something to do he put pen to paper. Few of us would have such good results!

A large shipment of wine in casks had arrived by ship in London. One cask was different than the others and unbalanced the group of four being offloaded. It was set aside. The clerk from the shipping company sent to make sure the wine shipment arrived in good order noticed that some sawdust was being spilled from the cask that was different. A sovereign fell out and then another. Something was definitely amiss. Further inspection showed a woman's hand inside the cask and there was a man on scene to claim the cask.

Well, it was time to notify Scotland Yard. The tale becomes tangled, but also heavy on police detail. I think some might not like the level of detail in this police procedural. I just wanted to know where the story would go.

I have read one other by Crofts and I don't remember that he included so much detail, but maybe my memory isn't as sharp as I once prided myself as having. I do remember that the plot was very good as it is in this novel. I also like the writing style and am happy to realize I have some others waiting my attention. I enjoyed this and, though I'm giving it 4-stars, I think it just barely slips across the 3/4-star line.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub'd 1920)

Task total = 30

Season total = 395


message 280: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3110 comments 15.7 Celebration of Styles
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

+15 Task (Non Western)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 385



message 281: by Karen Michele (last edited Oct 08, 2023 08:05AM) (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 10.1 Over 60

An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten

+10 Task

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 410


message 282: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 10.3 Vowels

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister

+10 Task

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 420


message 283: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)

The Dog Who Dared to Dream by Sun-mi Hwang

+10 Task: 37 points

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 430


message 284: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 10.10 Group Reads

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

+10 Task: 37 points

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 440


message 285: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 20.1 Author! Author!:

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

+20 Task: the protagonist is a food and travel writer

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 460


message 286: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 20.7 Christie

The Rifles: Volume Six of Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes by William T. Vollmann

+20 Task: mid 1800s to 1990

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 480


message 287: by Karen Michele (new)

Karen Michele Burns (klibrary) | 5279 comments 20.8 Morrison

All Your Children, Scattered by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse

+20 Task: Rwandan
https://wordswithoutborders.org/contr...

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 500


message 288: by Joanne (new)

Joanne (joabroda1) | 583 comments 10. 7 Scrabble

The World Beneath Their Feet: Mountaineering, Madness, and the Deadly Race to Summit the Himalayas by Scott Ellsworth 5 stars

32 Scrabble Points

A fantastic telling of the early years of mountaineering. Covering 1931-1953 and the exploring of all the major mountains, not just Everest. I found the writers storytelling excellent and I was drawn to the book each time I sat down to read. Each chapter was more like a short story, taking us through the years of the first eyes on Everest, the attempt at measuring it heights, and then the bold attempts to climb, as I said, not just that giant but the many giants that surround it.

It was introduction, after introduction of not just mountains that I had never paid attention to, or knew of, but mountaineers and Sherpas who have been lost to history. There is more than enough about all things mountaineering AND history to keep the reader engrossed and wanting more.

Highly recommended

Task 10
Review 10
Repeat 5
Total Task 25
Season Total 285


message 289: by Rebekah (new)

Rebekah (bekalynn) 10.3 Vowels
No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson

+10 pts - Task
Task Total - 10 pts


message 290: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 2651 comments 10.7 Scrabble (Anika's Task)

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano

This is the first in a new series for me...and I WILL be reading the rest. My friend who is about to make a return visit to Sicily turned me on to the series. She knows my tastes is female detective series...and usually older women (Miss Marple, Agatha Raisin, Mrs. Pollifax, Phryne Fisher, etc). Here, Auntie Poldi, a widow, moves from Austria to live near her in-laws in Sicily. She is a product of the 60s counter-culture. Her nephew, a would-be novelist, moves in with her for long periods...and serves as a narrator. Poldi becomes intrigued when a young man she hired to do odd jobs turns up missing. Then she finds his body on the beach. She pursues the case...and even involves her colorful in-laws and neighbors. This is a delight....and I highly recommend it as a fun mystery for those who enjoy the genre. Oh...and there is a bit of a romance too.
Scrabble Score=36

Task=10
Review=10
Multiple=5
Awards=5 (Deutscher Hörbuchpreis for Beste Unterhaltung (2016))

Task Total=30
Grand Total=115

Tasks Completed:
10.7
20.1; 20.6


message 291: by Tien (new)

Tien (tiensblurb) | 3110 comments 15.8 Celebration of Styles
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

+15 Task (Canon)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 400



message 292: by Connie (new)

Connie  G (connie_g) | 1906 comments 20.10 Letters

The Caretaker by Ron Rash

Naomi wrote letters to Jacob when he was a soldier in Korea.


Blackburn Gant is a young man who was disfigured by childhood polio. He lives by himself in a cottage at the town's cemetery where he is the caretaker. Blackburn has a good friend in town, Jacob Hampton, the only son of a prosperous family. Jacob was disinherited when he eloped with Naomi, a marriage that his parents considered to be under their social status.

When Jacob is drafted to serve in the Korean War, he asks Blackburn to help the pregnant Naomi until he returns from the military. After Jacob is discharged with war injuries, his cruel parents cook up a plan to destroy their son's marriage.

This is a story about friendship, love, loyalty, and small town living in the 1950s. Ron Rash's writing is superb, and the book's opening pages on the ice of a Korean river are unforgettable. Blackburn Gant is a wonderful character -- a dependable, capable loner that carries on despite the challenges life throws at him. As always, Ron Rash has such insight into human nature and wonderful descriptions of the Appalachian region of North Carolina. "The Caretaker" is one of my favorite reads of the year!

+20 task
+10 review
+ 5 multiple

Task total: 35
Season total: 330


message 293: by Marie (new)

Marie (mariealex) | 1102 comments 10.1 Over 60

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
#46 on the list today

+10 Task

Task total = 10

Points total = 265

10.1 ; ... ; 10.3 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 10.8 ; ... ; ...
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; 15.5 ; 15.6 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ...
20.1 ; ... ; ... ; ... ; ... ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10


message 294: by Rosemary (last edited Oct 09, 2023 05:19AM) (new)

Rosemary | 4299 comments Tien wrote: "15.7 Celebration of Styles
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

+15 Task (Non Western)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 385"


Tien, we still have your total 5 points higher than you do. Maybe you didn't add the 5 points that Elizabeth gave in message 147?


message 295: by Valerie (new)

Valerie Brown | 3281 comments 20.8 Morrison

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

I’m a little disappointed in myself for not discovering Nalo Hopkinson earlier. What a great book! I couldn’t detect any ‘newbie’ faltering in this debut. This is a dystopia set in Toronto (before it became the GTA). The set up is the logical fall out of the ‘white flight’ that took place in large US cities, like Detroit. Here the main tax base moves to the suburbs, and as a result the City collapses. Violence, gangs, no services are a few of the things the people who were forced to stay face (and they are blocked from entering the surrounding cities now). The book is intimately tied to Toronto, and I really enjoyed following the action along the streets and landmarks. The story is told in the voice of Caribbean-Canadian main characters. It is full of magic realism and spirits. There are a lot of strong female characters in this novel, particularly the main character. I listened to this narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez who did an excellent job and added a lot to the experience. 5*

20 task
10 prize
10 review
_____
40

Running total: 400


message 296: by Valerie (new)

Valerie Brown | 3281 comments 20.3 Dickens

The Mystery Queen by Fergus Hume

This was a fun, old-fashioned mystery story (ie. a mystery and romance all tied in one!). There is an interesting (and over the top) mystery, a dashing main character, a frail but plucky love interest, and lots of thrilling adventure. Aviation was in it’s infancy and planes, particularly bi-planes, play a large role in the story. As a result of this I’ve learned that bi-planes are more manoeuvrable than monoplanes! Some parts of the novel dragged a bit, but overall it was well paced and I was always interested in getting back to it. I thought Hume neatly tied up the villainous problematic end. 4*

20 task
10 oldie
10 review
_______
40

Running total: 440


message 297: by Valerie (new)

Valerie Brown | 3281 comments 15.7 Celebration of Styles

The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson

Canon

15 task
______
15

Running total: 455


message 298: by Rebekah (new)

Rebekah (bekalynn) 10.10 Group Reads
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland

+10 pts - task
+ 5 pts - prizeworthy ( San Diego Theodor S. Geisel Award 2000)
Task Total - 15 pts


message 299: by Elizabeth (Alaska) (last edited Oct 09, 2023 04:58PM) (new)

Elizabeth (Alaska) | 14249 comments 20.3 Dickens

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

I have said before that I am not a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I read this only because I needed a 1902 mystery for my mystery challenge. Two authors of the period I would have preferred - Anna Katharine Green and Mary Roberts Rinehart - failed to oblige me for the date. So it should come as no surprise that my review is negative for this title.

First, there was no mystery. Second, the writing is barely so-so. Third, Sherlock Holmes continues to be the most annoying character I have ever encountered. I'll just repeat the remark by one of the characters in Dead Man's Land: ‘All I was trying to say, Major Watson, and I appreciate it’s not a popular opinion, is that your Mr Sherlock Holmes always struck me as a vainglorious, smug, drug-addled, insufferable prig of a woman-hating clever-clogs.’

All that said, I can actually find a second star for this when I might have anticipated 1-starring it.

+20 Task (born 1859)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1902)
+ 5 Prizeworthy
+ 5 Multiple (first post for this task @ #120)

Task total = 50

Season total = 445


message 300: by Valerie (last edited Oct 09, 2023 12:35PM) (new)

Valerie Brown | 3281 comments 10.6 September

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

I found this collection of Tommy and Tuppence short stories on the ‘free to a good home’ cart at the library. It is an amusing collection of stories that were originally published in magazines prior to 1928. In these stories, Christie was doing gentle send ups of literary detectives (including Poirot!). I liked the stories well enough, but I think they are best read over a period of time, dipping in to read one and then leaving off. I was surprised to learn that Tuppence announces she is pregnant at the end of the last story. There is no mention of a child in the following novel (N or M?) – I guess Christie decided a child would be a hindrance to her amateur detectives! 3*

10 task
10 oldie
10 review
10 multi
______
40

Running total: 495


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