FA11 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks - Fall 2011

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Lol, that one was easy; someone else posted which ones the book was eligible for and at just over 100 pages and included on the 1001 Books list it was an easy choice. Halloween helped me decide as well.

[Kathleen (itpdx)]

15.10 Study Hall
The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time by David Sloan Wilson

Review:
As a biologist I have always been leery of sociological studies. If you get large enough groups of people and find ways to identify and control some variables, you might be able to get reproducible results. But I am not often convinced. At least the author, David Sloan Wilson, make a persuasive argument that our societies might have an evolutionary basis in that people who are members of successful societies have a better chance of surviving and reproducing. And that societies are a genetic system of rapid response to changing conditions that the "hard-wired" genome cannot move fast enough to keep up with.

There is a lot of interesting information in the book. I like his deconstruction of the history of economics. It certainly explains a lot. I definitely agree with him that we should use the synergy of multiple disciplines to examine issues.

But I was busy muttering to myself on his take on education. The Sudbury School, which he seems to regard highly, takes very involved and concerned parents. He doesn't come up with a solution for those kids whose parents are absent or not involved or fighting their own demons.

It is very interesting to read this while watching the Occupy Wall Street movements coming together and establishing their communities in various cities and also watching the reaction of different city governments to the protests.

Task: 15
Non-fiction: 5
Previous Total: 185
New Total: 205

[Karen Michele]

RwS

20.3 He/She Reads

3rd person limited:

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I just finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. His writing is so strong. One of my all-time favorite trilogies is Ness’ Chaos Walking Trilogy and in A Monster Calls, the strong and emotional writing continues. Ness never tells you how to feel. He just lays out the scenarios and you automatically feel what the characters would in all of its intensity. What could have been predictable turned out to be masterful. A Monster Calls is a story about dealing with loss,” invisibility” and bullying and honesty. The monster wants the truth and won’t leave Conor alone until he has it. Ness uses third-person limited narration to great effect as he lets us in on Conor’s feelings and thinking, but leaves us to infer the emotions of others only through what they say to and how they act toward Conor. I highly recommend this new book from a master YA author. The idea for the book came from Siobhan Dowd, another fantastic author who died from cancer and left this story behind.

+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30

Back to School Again

15.3 – Literature (your country)

2005 Pulitzer Nominee

An Unfinished Season by Ward Just

+15 Task
Task Total: 15

Points this Post: 45
Grand Total: 980

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

BtS 15.8 Art, Music Dance The Phantom of the Opera

Style: +5 (published 1911)

Book Total: 20
Grand Total: 260

[Liz M]

Karen GHHS wrote: "20.3 He/She Reads
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo 10.2 Highly Rated/10.5 Bedtime Stories ”In Bed With” Sebastian Junger
+ 5 Oldies published 1940
Task Total: 35..."

It should be +20 task points.

[Liz M]

Karen GHHS wrote: "And that finishes the Back to School Challenge for me!

Task Points this Post: 30
Back to School Finish: 150
Grand Total: 935 ..."

WoooHooo! congrats on finishing the sub-challenge!

[Liz M]

Liz Vegas wrote: "15.5 (Religion) The Mists of Avalon"

Liz, you already claimed a book for 15.5 in post 112. Unfortunately, you have to complete ALL the 15 point tasks once before you can repeat them.

Is The Mists of Avalon told from more than one character's perspective? If so, you could claim it for 20.5. Or you can use it for 10.2 Highly rated. Let me know what you decide.

[Deedee]

Task 20.5 - They read
Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger

+ 20 Task
+ 05 Style: 1. Combo (5 points) (Task: 10.2– Highly-rated - 5* by members
Donna Jo Atwood, Rebekah, Rachel, and Cindy AL)

Task Total: +20 + 05 = 25

Task 20.5 - They read
The Empty Land (1969) by Louis L'Amour
Review: Louis L’Amour wrote classic, heroic Western novels. The Empty Land is an action packed western novel depicting the taming of a murderous wild west mining boom town by a gunfighter. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad. The bad guys in this western aren’t evil; however, they are greedy, lazy, manipulative and violent. The women are tough, noble, and in need of the good guys to protect them from the bad guys.

In Chapter 12, L’Amour explains the philosophy of the novel:
“This is the old war, the war of civilization against the barbarian; of peacefulness, order, and hard work against the heedless, the cruel, the destructive.”

Recommended to anyone who wishes to read a traditional western.

+ 20 Task
+10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
+ 05 Style: 4. Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1936-1986)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 505 + 25 + 35 = 560

[Joanna]

10.7 Muslim Mind Set

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

As many others have noted, this book is essentially Saudi Arabian chick-lit, similar in style to "Sex and the City." While there are some underlying critiques of the social settings and the perception of love and marriage in rich Saudi Arabian culture, these never solidified enough to redeem this otherwise run-of-the-mill book. None of the characters had much depth or life to her, and none of their stories ever really grabbed me. Setting the book up as a series of emails posted to a yahoo group didn't help with the feeling that the story was being told from a somewhat distant perspective by a narrator who didn't always understand the feelings of the characters.

I listened to this as an unabridged audiobook. The narrator did a nice job keeping the story moving, pronouncing the names, and handling the footnotes inserted into the english edition to help along readers unfamiliar with certain Arabic words and fashions.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Translation (from Arabic)
+5 Combo (20.4 - It's written as a series of emails to a yahoo group)

Task total: 35

15.9 Gym/Health

Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer by Lynne Cox

+15 Task
+5 Nonfiction

Task total: 20

Grand total: 380

[Erin]

Liz M wrote: "Erin wrote: "10.2 Highly Rated

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

+10 Task
+5 Oldie (p. 1980)

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 110 ..."

+5 combo points..."

Hmmm, thanks for catching that! Not sure how I missed that one...

I guess I'll switch it to task 20.3, using combo points w/ 10.2! That will be 30 points. Better get as many points as I can, I'm seriously slacking this challenge!

[Erin]

15.5 History, Government, Philosophy, Religion

The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir

+15 Task
+5 (560pp.)
+5 Nonfiction

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 170

P.S. My total includes my update for
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Erin wrote: "Better get as many points as I can, I'm seriously slacking this challenge!"

I love this! I will never finish any challenge, and I use it to find interesting books to read. But maximize my points? You bet!

[Kate S]

10.3 Meta Reading
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Highly Rated-Potjy)
+10 Translated (Italian)
+5 Oldies (pub 1980)
+5 Jumbo (500 pages)

10.8 Season's Change

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Liz Vegas)

20.5 They Read
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Debbie Hoffman)

Post Total: 75
Season Total: 590

[Kate S]

20.3 S/He Reads
Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George

+20 Task
+5 Jumbo (630 pages)

20.5 They Read
Untold Story by Monica Ali

+20 Task

Elizabeth I by Margaret George

+20 Task
+5 Jumbo (662 pages)

The Devil's Labyrinth: A Novel by John Saul

+20 Task

One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz

+20 Task
+5 Jumbo (630 pages)

Post Total: 115
Season Total: 705

[Erin]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Erin wrote: "Better get as many points as I can, I'm seriously slacking this challenge!"

I love this! I will never finish any challenge, and I use it to find interesting books to read. But maximiz..."

Hehe, I do love the challenges, cause I love reading a variety of books, but there are just so many choices, I have to narrow it down somehow...but it is a bit embarrassing when I get busy, don't get far on my list, and my points begin looking sooo pathetic!

[Tobey]

20.7 - The War to End All Wars The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

I’ve read a lot of books in my life and really have never thought about what “gothic” literature is classified as. In fact, I looked it up and was sort of surprised at it’s meaning and how The House at Riverton is considered gothic and I guess I’ve read a lot of gothic then. I was very pleasantly surprised at this book, and how easily Morton had the reader slip back and forth through time as she untold her story. I also liked how when the main character of Grace came upon a startling revelation, it was just there, not focused on. I thought that added to the story a lot.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.3, 20.10)

Task total=45
Grand Total=210

[[deleted user]]

Task 15.8 Music
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
+15 Task

Task 15.5 History
Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron
+15 task
+5 non fiction

Task 20.5 They Read
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
+20 task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly rated)

Post total=60
Grand total=390

[Liz M]

Tobey wrote: "20.7 - The War to End All Wars The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

I’ve read a lot of books in my life and really have never thought about what “gothic” literatur..."

20.7 is for books written or taking place from 1914-1918. It looks like this novel takes place in 1924 and 1999. Do you want to use it for 20.10 instead?

ETA: Nevermind.

[[deleted user]]

Liz M wrote: 20.7 is for books written or taking place from 1914-1918. It looks like this novel takes place in 1924 and 1999. Do you want to use it for 20.10 instead?

I read this, too. The Goodreads write-up is a bit misleading. The story is told in flashback from 1999 starting prior to WWI and ending in 1924.

[Kathleen (itpdx)]

15.6 – Psychology, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Task: 15
Non-fiction: 5
Previous Total: 205
New Total: 225

[Liz M]

Leigh wrote: "Liz M wrote: 20.7 is for books written or taking place from 1914-1918. It looks like this novel takes place in 1924 and 1999. Do you want to use it for 20.10 instead?

I read this, too. The Goodreads write-up is a bit misleading. The story is told in flashback from 1999 starting prior to WWI and ending in 1924..."

Aha! Thank you for the clarification. I had a sneaky suspicion that this was mentioned before, but was away from the scoring spreadsheet & couldn't confirm it.

[Marie]

15.6 – Psychology, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology
Tokyo Sisters : Dans l'intimité des femmes japonaises by Raphaëlle Choël and Julie Rovéro-Carrez
This book is a non-fiction book about the lives of japanese women.

+15 Task
+5 non fiction

Task total = 20
Grand Total = 160

[whimsicalmeerkat]

20.5 They Read
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
****

Locke Lamora is what Oliver Twist could have been, had he not been so impossibly perfectly naive to the point of stupidity and dull innocent. Actually, I suppose one would have to say Locke has more in common with The Artful Dodger. An orphan who becomes a skilled thief, but with far more intelligence and skill. And burning down of large inns. In The Lies of Locke Lamora Scott Lynch creates a cast of characters who you'll love and who will make you laugh. An equisite work of fantasy that overlaps heavily with the action genre, I highly recommend this work to anyone who likes their characters to be badass and have questionable motives.

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly-rated)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (537)

Task Total: 40


10.10 Group Reads
Bossypants by Tina Fey
****

Tina Fey is one of the funniest women in the comedy world. Bossypants is her venture into the comic memoir and it is a success. I highly recommend that you listen to the audio book. While the first third, largely a description of the years before she moved to New York, dragged a little bit, by the time she hit NBC she was in perfect groove. Ever wondered what it is like to be in a photo shoot? Want to know more about raising a child who has always seen her mother in the media sphere? Have you ever wondered the correct way to put on eye cream? All this and more are included in this truly hilarious tale. Go listen to it. Now.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly-rated)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25

Post Total: 65

Grand Total: 865

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

20.5 They Read/ Multiple Narration
End of the Chapter: The Forsyte Chronicles Volume 3: 7. Maid in Waiting, 8. Flowering Wilderness, and, 9. Over the River by John Galsworthy

This review is of the entire chronicles, but points being claimed just for the 3rd trilogy.

Such a saga! I read these over a period of several months, and I feel as if I've lived with these characters almost as long as the time span of the book. Well, perhaps not that long. It is the story of being English and takes place in the 50 or so years of the late Victorian period, through the Great War, and ends in the depression of the early 1930s.

At the beginning of the first trilogy we are introduced to the Forsyte family. There are ten children of the first monied generation, and we do meet them all. However, it is primarly the stories of the two elder sons, who are already entering the grandparent stage of life. The first book is titled The Man of Property, and it focuses on the meaning of owning property. Property was not always what we think of as property today! The books include marital strife, jealousy between cousins, family tradition. This first trilogy could be classified as soap opera. But don't dismiss it on that account, it is very well-written soap opera.

The second trilogy focuses on one son and family. It includes a character you come to love-to-hate. And it includes a character you come to love, though perhaps you had come to hate him in the first trilogy. Oh, Mr. Galsworthy, you did not create any one-dimensional characters here! Sometimes Galsworthy gave us a small scene told from the viewpoints of two of his characters. That was such an interesting way of telling a story.

The third trilogy departed from the Forsyte family. This was more than a bit disconcerting, for I'd become invested in following that family. Yet in The End of the Chapter, Galsworthy really delves deeply into the meaning of being English. The country has been through the Great War. The times were changing, and the people were facing not only financial difficulties, but the difficulty of a changing society. Galsworthy handles this very well. However, this is the weakest of the trilogies.

Should you decide to read these, be sure to read the first trilogy before the second. The third could stand on its own. I hesitated to give this 5 stars, but it just does make the grade. I suppose it couldn't have kept my attention for several months had it been of lesser quality.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldie (pub 1933)
+15 Jumbo (I read this on the kindle, but most physical books are 800+ pages)

Task Total = 55

Grand Total = 290

[Erin]

20.1 I Read

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

+20 Task
+5 Oldie (p.1966)
+5 Combo (10.7...takes place mostly in Albania, where Mrs. Pollifax is taken prisoner)

Total Task: 30
Grand Total: 200

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Erin wrote: "20.1 I Read

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

+20 Task
+5 Oldie (p.1966)
+5 Combo (10.7...takes place mostly in Albania, where Mrs. Pollifax is taken pri..."

I adore these books

[[deleted user]]

Task 20.7 Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

The Endurance was sitting at the mouth of the Thames in August 1914 when Britain declared war. Winston Churchill himself told Shackleton to proceed with his expedition to Antarctica. In August 1916 Shackleton rescued the last of his crew from an island off the coast of Antarctica. He and his crew spent the polar winter of 1915 on the ice pack of the Weddell Sea in tents and reindeer sleeping bags after losing their ship to the ice. This is an amazing story.

Task points 20
+5 Oldie (1958)
+5 Combo (10.2 MissGP)

Task total 30
Total points 485

[[deleted user]]

BtS Task 15.9 The Burning House (Unlocking the Mysteries of the Brain) by Jay Ingram

Task points 15
+5 non-fiction

Task total 20
Total points 505


Task 10.4 Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King

Task points 10
+10 Combo (10.3 Meta reading, 20.5 multiple POVs)

Task total 20
Total points 525

[[deleted user]]

Task 10.10 The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Task points 10
+5 Combo (10.2 Caitlin)

Task points 15
Total points 540

Task 10.3 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

I have to say I much preferred Shades of Grey.

Task points 10
+5 Combo (10.2 Rebekah)

Task total 15
Total points 565

[Erin]

Denae wrote: "Erin wrote: "20.1 I Read

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

+20 Task
+5 Oldie (p.1966)
+5 Combo (10.7...takes place mostly in Albania, where Mrs. Pollifax..."

This was the first one I've read, but I'm definitely a fan! I see myself devouring the rest of the series soon.

[Joanna]

Task 10.8 Seasons Change

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
On the Social Change list.

The multiple narrators for the unabridged audiobook did a wonderful job. Using different narrators helped differentiate the voices of the characters that narrated the different chapters of this book and kept the portions read in Nella's voice (with a Danish accent) from seeming too different from the others.

The book tells the story of Rachael, the survivor of a family tragedy, as well as several surrounding characters whose lives intersect with her. The book ambitiously tackles issues of race, identity, motherhood, fatherhood, and teen angst. Rachael, the child of a Danish woman and a black man, finds herself living with her paternal grandmother and trying to make sense of her place in society.

The characters were sufficiently complicated and different to provide a strong opportunity for musing about race and the author clearly speaks from personal experience. But it's the dialogue that really made this novel work. The life of the book is in the conversations. I wish we'd gotten to hear from Rachael's grandmother, Doris.

I'll definitely be watching for more from this author. Recommended.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.5)

Task total: 25
Grand total: 405

[whimsicalmeerkat]

10.9 In 1492...
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
***

I suspect that, had I read The White Queen first, I would have understood and enjoyed Richard III far more. I do not find Philippa Gregory to be a particularly compelling author, but the subject matter fascinates me. I cannot say where this fascination with the Tudors and now their Yorkist and Lancastrian ancestors first began, but it seems to be quite persistent. I will almost certainly read more of these books. They are a pleasant diversion from anything serious. Well, pleasant other than all of the dying. And children being used as pawns. And children dying. What happened to the princes in the Tower anyway?

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly-rated)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25


20.3 S/he Reads
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - 10/27/11
**

I began reading The Maltese Falcon with every expectation that I would enjoy it. I have heard so many comparisons of Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler that anything else seemed impossible. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Try as hard as I can, I cannot see where the brilliance supposedly lies. All of the ingredients are there: beautiful, lying and tragic woman; hard-boiled detective; copious amounts of booze and coffee; evil men slapping the beautiful women in the face. (Seriously, what is up with all the slapping in noir?) Somehow, despite everything, it came off less compelling than a third-rate Alistair MacLean. What's up with that?

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly-rated)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1930)

Task Total: 45

Post Total: 70

Grand Total: 935

[Tobey]

20.10 Monsterfest III - The Devil's Alphabet by Daryl Gregory

I’m hesitant on my 3 star rating on this book. While the subject was fascinating in itself, admittedly I was totally grossed out by something in the first 50 pages and it was very difficult for me to get past it, it was a total “ewwwww” moment for me and I’ve read a lot of those moments in my time. Plus the main character I found to be very wishy washy and while I understand that was how he was supposed to be portrayed in the story, I just didn't feel it for him.

From an evolutionary stand point, it was fascinating and I wish the author would have focused more on that as that might have upped my enjoyment of it somewhat. And there were times that I couldn’t help comparing some parts of the storyline to Stephen King’s Under the Dome – not the storyline per se but some of the story elements. All in all for me, an okay read.

+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.5)

Task Total=25
Grand Total=235

[Liz M]

20.10 Monsterfest III
In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

This collection of stories was a quick, fun read. It is framed as if the stories were actually case studies found in the papers of an occult doctor.

"Green Tea" was the most disappointing story. In this instance, the Doctor relayed the incidents in letters to a friend, adding another degree of separation between the reader and the individual experiencing a horrific visitation, resulting in a ho-hum story. "The Familiar" was sufficiently creepy with excellent pacing & ratcheting of suspense. "Mr Justice Harbottle" is admirable, even though I personally didn't care for the story. "The Room in the Dragon Volant" with its elements of an Englishman abroad, a damsel in distress, poison, mysterious disappearances, and (some) predicable plot twists was delightful. And the collection concludes with "Carmilla", the vampire story that was to greatly influence Bram Stoker, and furthermore, contains quite possibly the first lesbian vampire.

+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (pub. 1872)

Task Points: 40
Grand Total: 330 points

[Liz M]

10.5- In Bed
Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

+10 task
+5 oldies (pub 1977)

Task points: 15

10.4 - Native Reading
Deep Rivers by José Maria Arguedas

Deep Rivers is not an easy novel. It was not novel that ever intended to be translated and certainly was not written for an international audience. The introduction states that the author saw himself as "talking not only about the Andean peoples, but for and to them." And while this novel was written in Spanish, Arguedas deliberately constructed sentences according to the rules of Quecha syntax.

Arguedas, a mestizo of mixed Spanish and Quechua descent, was an anthropologist, as well as a writer and poet. He drew heavily on his childhood experiences and anthropology training in writing Deep Rivers. Thus, it reads more like non-fiction, somewhat dryly depicting a chronological series of events with no apparent narrative arc. The beauty of the story is found in the cumulative effect of his descriptions of the world as seen through the eyes of young boy who is lost in the white man's world, yet does not belong in the Quecha world in which he was raised.

+10 task points
+10 translation
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub 1958)

Task Total: 35

Grand Total: 380

[Liz M]

10.10 - Group Reads
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

I found A Visit from the Goon Squad technically fascinating. Egan created this compendium of literary devices into a mostly cohesive whole. It is a series of intertwined stories that spans decades with minor characters in one vignette reappears as the protagonist in another. The structure allows Egan to play with narrative voice; one brief chapter is told in second person while others are told in first or third person. It also flirts with meta-fiction, containing a journalist's tabloid article with "footnotes" commenting on the article and the journalist's experience, as well as a chapter narrated through the graphs and charts of an autistic child. While I was fascinated by the structure and deeply involved with the characters in their individual chapters, for me there was a disconnect in the continuity of character. I have trouble reconciling the Sasha of the early chapters with the Sasha of the later chapter.

+10 task
+10 combo (20.5 They read, 10.2 Highly rated)
+10 review

Task total: 30 points
Grand Total: 410 points

[Deedee]

15.2 – Science
Books for tasks 15.1-15.9 can be fiction or non-fiction
I read an award-winning novel of science fiction:
Factoring Humanity (1998) by Robert J. Sawyer
Nominated: 1999 Aurora Awards - Long-form work in English
Nominated: 1999 Hugo Awards – Best Novel

+ 15 Task

Task Total: 15

15.10 – Study Hall
For task 15.10 - Study Hall, read a non-fiction book about a subject you would like to learn more about. I read a non-fiction book written by the editor of a travel magazine who travelled to Machu Picchu:

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams
I was disappointed because the book was only intermittently interesting, while the subject matter had the potential to be very interesting.

+ 15 Task
+ 05 Style: C) Read a non-fiction book, receive 5 bonus points.

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 560 + 20 + 15 = 595

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Liz M wrote: "10.5- In Bed
Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

+10 task
+5 oldies (pub 1977)

Task points: 15

10.4 - Native Reading
Deep Rivers by José Maria Arguedas

Deep Rivers is not ..."

Where did you find a copy of Deep Rivers? I've been looking for it with no luck.

[Liz M]

Denae wrote: "Where did you find a copy of Deep Rivers? I've been looking for it with no luck..."

I got mine from the Brooklyn Public Library, but it looks like Better World Books has a $4 used copy.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I'll have to grab that. Last I checked they didn't have one. Thank you!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Alibris.com has multiple copies starting at 99 cents.

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwo...

[Erin]

10.1 List Lovers

I'm reading from the list "The Guardian's 100 Best Books of All Time.

I rolled a 33...

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

+10 Task
+10 LiT [Originally written in German]
+15 Oldie [p. 1832]
+15 Combo [10.2 "Tanzerine", 10.3 Begins w/ discussion amongst director and poets about how plays like this one should be written to appeal to the audience, 20.10 #11 on "Horror Buffs" list]

Task Total:50
Grand Total: 250

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

20.5 Multiple Narrators

"Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Review

I enjoyed reading this book. I wasn't sure I would because I read a book which takes place in an Islamic country the way this book did but the story was good. It's told in three different perspectives of the woman who gives up her daughter, the daughter when she is older and the adopted mother. It's about family and accepting where you come from. I was pleasantly surprised. I also read a book from a new author I have not read before. It is her first book and she is a good reads author. I gave it five stars. I would recommend it.

Task +20
Review +10
Combo +5 (10.2 Highly rated Gem gave it five stars)
Book Total: 35
Grand Total: 295

[Liz M]

Erin wrote: "10.1 List Lovers

I'm reading from the list "The Guardian's 100 Best Books of All Time.

I rolled a 33...

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

+10 Task
+10 LiT [Origin..."

+5 combo for 20.8

[Liz M]

nsfancy wrote: "Task 10.10 The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Task points 10
+5 Combo (10.2 Caitlin)
Task points 15

Total points 540

Task 10.3 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Task points 10
+5 Combo (10.2 Rebekah)
Task total 15

Total points 565..."

540+15=555 total points, not 565.

[Liz M]

Tobey wrote: "20.10 Monsterfest III - The Devil's Alphabet by Daryl Gregory

I’m hesitant on my 3 star rating on this book. While the subject was fascinating in itself, admitte..."

You forgot your review points! Your grand total should be 245.

[Erin]

Liz M wrote: "Erin wrote: "10.1 List Lovers

I'm reading from the list "The Guardian's 100 Best Books of All Time.

I rolled a 33...

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

+10 Task
+1..."

Thanks for the heads up! I'm not that up on my operas, so I didn't catch that one.

[Kate S]

10.2 Highly Rated
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun (Potjy)

+10 Task
+5 Oldies (pub 1966)

10.5 Bedtime Stories
Persuasion by Jane Austen from Philippa Gregory's page

+10 Task
+5 Combo-10.2 (Cait)
+15 Oldies (pub 1818)

10.6 Fall Freebies
Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky

+10 Task
+5 Oldies (pub 1982)

20.5 They Read
One Day by David Nicholls

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Tammy)

Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Saburi Pandit)
+5 Oldies (pub 1982)

Post Total: 115
Grand Total: 820

[Joanna]

10.5 In Bed

The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
From Gary Shteyngart's list

I really wavered between three stars and five for this one, but ended up with five because I'd definitely recommend the book and I think I'll still be thinking about it for a while.

The book traces the story of two women who are assigned as roommates at Barnard in 1968. Rich, privileged Ann from Connecticut who is thoroughly idealistic and romanticizes poverty and minority status meets escaped from poverty Georgette who finds Ann both fascinating and horrifying. The book is compelling and manages to examine the dark side of the idealistic social movements flooding the sixties and seventies, but it does so with characters that I thoroughly disliked.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2 Bobbie 5*)

Task total: 25
Grand total: 430

[[deleted user]]

10.1 List Lovers
The list I chose was the winners of the Mythopoetic Award for Adult Fantasy and I rolled between 92-110 (1992-2010) getting a 98 (1998).

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

The subtitle to this is “A Collection of Five Fairy Stories”. This is not something I would have chosen without the dice since I prefer novels to short stories. However, the stories are not all the same length. The last one, from which the collection gets its title, is what I would consider to be more of a novella rather than a short story.

The first four stories were just o.k. for me. They were interesting, but I didn’t think they were particularly ground breaking. But, I did enjoy the final longer story--not just because of the longer form though I do think that helped. Unlike the other stories it is also the set in modern times rather than the indeterminate past and the heroine is a middle aged woman and expert in fairytales.

+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.3 Metareading (the final tale is told by a narratologist))
task total=25

10.6 Fall Freebies (2nd time)

Summer Knight byJim Butcher

This is the fourth in the series. I had a hard time getting into this one, but I think it may be that I’m a bit on fairytale overload having just read Anansi Boys and The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye as well as tried out a couple of the new fairytale themed tv shows. As much as I love a good fairy story, I appear to have hit overload. Next up, a good magic-free murder or something (as soon as I finish The Turn of the Screw). I will carry on with this series. I think it has a lot going for it as good entertainment. It does not have the most complex plots and characters, but I don’t find it predictable. I like most of the characters as well and it was good to see Harry start to find a path out the darkness that was at the end of the third book.

+10 task
+10 review
task total=20

post total=45
grand total=435