Reading with Style discussion
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Spring 2012 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks
20.5 Shakespeare and Co.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
This had been in my “To-Read” list since audible released a new production of it, but it really caught my curiosity when I was sorting through books for this challenge. I knew it had movie associated with it. I’ve actually seen it, but found it completely forgettable and could only remember which actors starred. I hadn’t realized that it had been written in the 50’s. I was even more surprised to see that it qualified for 20.2 as a feminist book (its on the 100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women list) and that it is the first of a series of five books.
Tom Ripley is asked by Dickie Greenleaf’s father to travel to Italy and convince him to return home to NYC. Instead, Tom ends up assuming his identity. I can see now why I could not remember the details of the movie despite the pretty actors in it. The book is told third person limited from Tom’s perspective and much of it is Tom’s internal dialog, plans and dreams. It would be quite boring to watch especially once Jude Law left the beach. The audio was great with the narration done in very calm, straight forward style that really seemed to suit Tom. Tom Ripley is a disturbed person, but this book was no where near as disturbing as Lolita (which its compared to in the GoodReads summary) nor is it as graphically violent as something like Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. I recommend it for folks that don’t mind something a little dark.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combos 10.5 (Tom is on the antihero list ), 20. 2 ( 100 great works ), 20.4 (1999 movie )
task total=45
grand total=560
The Talented Mr. Ripley
This had been in my “To-Read” list since audible released a new production of it, but it really caught my curiosity when I was sorting through books for this challenge. I knew it had movie associated with it. I’ve actually seen it, but found it completely forgettable and could only remember which actors starred. I hadn’t realized that it had been written in the 50’s. I was even more surprised to see that it qualified for 20.2 as a feminist book (its on the 100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women list) and that it is the first of a series of five books.
Tom Ripley is asked by Dickie Greenleaf’s father to travel to Italy and convince him to return home to NYC. Instead, Tom ends up assuming his identity. I can see now why I could not remember the details of the movie despite the pretty actors in it. The book is told third person limited from Tom’s perspective and much of it is Tom’s internal dialog, plans and dreams. It would be quite boring to watch especially once Jude Law left the beach. The audio was great with the narration done in very calm, straight forward style that really seemed to suit Tom. Tom Ripley is a disturbed person, but this book was no where near as disturbing as Lolita (which its compared to in the GoodReads summary) nor is it as graphically violent as something like Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. I recommend it for folks that don’t mind something a little dark.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combos 10.5 (Tom is on the antihero list ), 20. 2 ( 100 great works ), 20.4 (1999 movie )
task total=45
grand total=560
20.9 It's EpidemicThe Plague by Albert Camus
Quarantine! Communication then was limited to telegram - no letters, no telephone. Energy supplies were finite, food could not be imported. What they had at the time of quarantine needed to last for an indefinite period. How would you react to an epidemic that so affected where you live that you were neither allowed to leave nor outsiders allowed to come in? Don't say it couldn't happen today.
This is a difficult one to rate. I kept falling asleep while reading it, but I'm not sure that wasn't because I've been very tired of late. On the other hand, the book isn't exactly a page-turner, either.
The prose is quite good, but the story moved slowly, and, it seemed to me, failed to produce the fear that the subject required. The townspeople and the plague itself are the main characters. There are a few individuals who move the story, but they were not as well-defined as I would have liked.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.4 Children's List, 20.4 El Ateneo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plag... )
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total = 50
Grand Total = 585
RwS10.5 Rooting for the Bad Guy - Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (listed on at least two of the posted lists)
This book was magically fun and engaging but not what I would call extroardinary but I can certainly see why this series would appeal to a very wide audience. I laughed out loud at some of the antics in it and was reminded a few times of a “blast ended skrewt”. I think there could be some more development of the characters and maybe there is as the series goes on. You do get a pretty good idea of what kind of “kid” Artemis Fowl is in this first book of the series but I’m not sure that I’m going to run out to read the next one.
+10 Task
Review does not count for style points as this book does not have a high enough Lexile score
Task Total=10
Grand Total=270
10.3 Girls' Names Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I decided to read this book after once again watching movie adaption by Tim Burton, with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, which I absolutely loved. I was actually suprised by how faithful the movie was to the source material - almost every character was instantly recognizable. I think that what I like the most about Lewis Carroll's Alice stories is how nonsensical they are. The author uses logic and word play in some really fun ways. One thing I didn't entirely care for was the poetry inserted into the story - I like Carroll's poems by themselves, but sometimes I got tired of Alice's story being interrupted.
+10 Task
+20 Combo (10.4 Children's List, 20.1 banned in China and New Hampshire http://www.squidoo.com/alices-adventures , 20.3 Harvard Bestseller, 20.4 made into Disney movie(s))
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 50
20.1 The Tattered Cover
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
In the introduction to this book, this story was supposedly a modern-day fairytale free of morality lessons. Of course when I read it I couldn't help seeing all the symbolism that ties this book to the debates over the gold standard at the turn of the century - silver shoes, yellow brick roads, and Emerald Cities. Still, I enjoyed reading this book. On one level it really is a light, happy tale about a young girl who goes on an adventure while trying to find a way back home. And I couldn't help but like the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, who all displayed the qualities they were so certain they lacked (intelligence, compassion, and courage).
Banned at various times since 1900 by schools and libraries for promoting witchcraft, negativism, and denying God. http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/50-book...
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.4 Movie)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
20.3 Harvard Bookstore
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
This is the sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Not of the characters from the first book really made an appearance in the second (except Alice, her sister, and her cat Dinah). The story is pretty much more of the same: the author plays with words and with logic, there are random bits of poetry inserted into the story, and the plot jumps around a lot (which is ok, since Alice is supposedly dreaming). I think I prefer the first book to this one, probably because I recognized more of the former story - though the chess game between the Red and White Queens from "Through the Looking-Glass" did play a part in the Tim Burton movie I liked.
+20 Task
+20 Combo (10.3 Alice is a girl's name; 10.4 Children's List; 20.1 banned in China and New Hampshire http://dangerousbooks.wordpress.com/2... ; 20.4 made into Disney movie(s))
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 60
Points this Post = 145
Grand Total = 320
20.4 El Ateneo A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Written by the same man who wrote the Tarzan books, this is the first story in the Barsoom series, which is all about the strange civilizations on Mars. I honestly thought I'd be a bit bored by this book (probably because I had heard the movie based off it was an epic flop), but I was pleasantly suprised. There was definitely a few too many descriptions of battle scenes for my taste, but the author also painted a fairly detailed picture of the alien civilization he had created. I pretty much expected a sci-fi pulp fiction story from the early 1900s to be sexist, but I couldn't help but adore Woola, the faithful "dog" who would leap out of nowhere to conveniently save the main character at various times throughout the book.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Space Travel)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
20.8 It's Alphabetic
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
So I didn't start reading the Sherlock Holmes novels until after I saw the first season of BBC's "Sherlock", which is an epic show. "A Study in Scarlet" is the first mystery Holmes and Watson solve together (well, Holmes solves it as Watson watches with shock and admiration). Holmes is intelligent, observant, and cold, and I absolutely love his character. It was fun to read about the beginning of Holmes and Watson's partnership and to see Holmes' "art of deduction" get put into practice, but this particular story gets side-tracked into America's old Mormon communities which is kind of weird.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.1 banned in Virginia for negative portrayal of Mormons http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/50-book... )
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Points this Post = 70
Grand Total = 390
This is my first attempt at this so hopefully I do it correctly.20.3 The Handmaid's Tale
20 points
20.7 Great Expectations
+ 5 Combo (20.4 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow)
+10 Canon
+ 5 Jumbo (505pp)
40 points
20.10 44 Scotland Street
+10 Review:
This is the first book that I've read by this author so I don't know if all of his books have a similar writing style. It was a little different but I liked it. This was more like a book of entwined short stories (this could be due to the fact that it's origin was as a serialized story in a Scottish newspaper).
We follow four multi-generational people who live in the building at 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. There is a young boy, a young woman in her gap year, a narcisstic man, and an enigmatic elderly woman. I've read one review where the reviewer complained that the characters were not developed but I thought quite the opposite. The author slowly reviews the depths of each character through their interactions with the various characters they meet and interact with throughout the story.
It's a fun, light, quirky read and I'm glad I picked it up to read.
30 points
Grand Total: 70 points
Marie wrote: "20.5 - 20's/50'sThe Big Four by Agatha Christie
First published in 1927
+20 task
+5 combo (10.9)
Task total = 25
Grand total : 135 "
Unfortunately, 10.9 cannot be used for combo points
Ceraphina wrote: "20.5 Shakespeare and CompanyFahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I somehow managed to get through high school without reading this book so I figured it was time I read it. This story is set in a world..."
+5 Combo 10.4
Jenifer wrote: "This is my first attempt at this so hopefully I do it correctly...."Not a bad first attempt! I have two suggestions. The book link is much appreciated, but please also include the author's name when you post. And you might want to double check your math, 20+40+30 = 90 points.
lol Liz, thanks for checking my math! I wish I had some excuse like "oh, I was mopping the floor and cooking dinner while I added that up"....but I don't. Just a tired mommy brain. ;)I'll remember to include authors next time.
Thanks Kate S. I missed that one.
10.5 - Rooting for the Bad GuyA Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
+10 task
+5 combo (10.7 - 1981 Pulitzer for fiction)
Task total=15
Grand total=315
AtW Circumnavigator15.5 - 5th stop - (E 028 11) South Africa
Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
+15 task
+10 bonus
15.6 - 6th stop - (W 000 07) United Kingdom
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
+15 task
+10 bonus
Grand Total: 560 points
Jenifer wrote: "lol Liz, thanks for checking my math!"Jenifer, there's a spreadsheet Elizabeth's made for keeping track of tasks and points - it is awesome!
Elizabeth's RwS spreadsheet on Google Docs.
10.1 - Square PegCemetery Girl by David J Bell
For most people, the worst situation imaginable would be to lose a family member, especially a child. There are plenty of books out there on this very topic-- missing kids, murdered kids-- in "Cemetery Girl," David Bell takes a different slant. Could it possibly be worse to get that missing person back? What if that person didn't want to be back?
Tom and Abby Stuart's marriage is falling apart. It's been four years since their 12 year old daughter, Caitlin, disappeared from the local park. Their different personalities and coping styles have pushed them apart, and while Abby has essentially given up hope of finding Caitlin, Tom is still nagged by a need to know what happened. This need for knowledge will drive Tom's actions throughout the story.
When a bedraggled 16 year old girl is picked up wandering by the mall in the middle of the night and is identified as long-lost Caitlin, it is hardly a joyous reunion. The rest of the story deals with the intersecting threads of the Stuart family's readjustment attempts, the police investigation of Caitlin's disappearance, and Tom's pathological need to find out the truth.
This book deals with a lot of interesting emotional issues that don't often cross one's mind. What are the psychological consequences of years apart, especially during adolescence? What remains of familial ties when a captor has convinced his prisoner that he is the only one who cares about her existence? How do shattered expectations stand up against tightly held memories? What would hurt more--continuing to miss a loved one, or having them tell you they wanted to be gone?
This was an intriguing story from an unusual angle. Bell keeps the reader guessing and interested in the characters. Some of Tom's actions toward the end of the book are a bit hard to swallow, but the author eventually reins it in and finishes strong with a great image. If you are interested in crime fiction with a twist, give this book a shot.
Task +10
Review +10
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 380
Connie wrote: "Jenifer wrote: "lol Liz, thanks for checking my math!"Jenifer, there's a spreadsheet Elizabeth's made for keeping track of tasks and points - it is awesome!
Elizabeth's RwS spreadsheet on Google..."
Thanks, Connie! And welcome, Jenifer!
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.5 (5th Itinerary Stop) Asia: Japan E 139 41
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
*I had to switch back to Sputnik Sweetheart because I ran out of time for 1Q84 - it moves to summer!
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total = 25
Grand Total: 1640
Task 10.9 Karen's task - "Please Sir, I want some more" Read another book by an author you enjoyed reading for the Winter Challenge. Winter Challenge: message 595: by Deedee : Jan 19, 2012 08:05pm
I read: A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
For 10.9 I read the next book in the series:
One Corpse Too Many (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #2) (1979) by Ellis Peters (Hardcover, 191 pages)
Review: This was the second of the Brother Cadfael Mystery Series. Brother Cadfael is 58 years old; a veteran of the Crusades; and, as the novel begins in the summer of 1138 A.D., a monk at Shrewsbury Abbey. King Stephen and Queen Matilda are engaged in Civil War. After a siege, won by King Stephen and his army, the captured soldiers are all hanged “to teach rebels a lesson”. The Brothers at the abbey arrange for a burial of the hanged men; while doing the arranging, an extra body (corpse) is discovered. Someone had decided to have his/her murder victim buried in a mass grave, and so conceal the fact that murder had been done. Our hero, Brother Cafael, decides it is his Christian duty to uncover the murderer; and, with King Stephen’s approval, goes about doing so.
Ellis Peters balances the medieval mindset with the demands of a 20th century novel. Recommended for people wanting to read a historical mystery.
+10 Task
+ 05 Style: 1. Combo (20.6 Religious Figure (Brother Cadfael is a Christian monk))
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Task 10.10 Group reads
I read Kelli's choice:
Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
Lexile: 700L
Review: Derivative would be more accurate than divergent for the title of this YA novel. I felt the whole way through this novel that I had read it sometime before. Beginning with the Sorting Cap from Book #1 of Harry Potter, continuing with elements from The Hunger Games, the soldier training segments of Ender’s Game, the Triwizard Competition of Book #4 of Harry Potter, and a dollop from the movie Inception, all combined with the standard YA romance of our heroine interested in a “complicated” slightly older teenaged boy (Twilight). The action-packed ending sets up a sequel rather than resolving any of the plot points (something to keep in mind if you want a novel to have an ending!) Divergent is a derivative novel well-told. I think it would make a good poolside read.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 585 + 25 + 20 = 630
20.1 Tattered Cover (repeat)The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Banned in Soviet Union in 1929 for author's "occultism" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve... )
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.4 Children's List, 20.4 Movie ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve... ))
Task Total: 30
20.4 El Atneo (repeat)
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
Made into 1932 British crime film ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sign... )
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
20.10 It's Academic (repeat)
Writing A Research Paper In Political Science: A Practical Guide To Inquiry, Structure, And Methods by Lisa A Baglione
Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at St. Joseph's University ( http://www.sju.edu/academics/cas/poli... )
+20 Task
+10 Not-A-Novel (nonfiction)
Task Total: 30
Points This Post = 80
Grand Total = 470
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.9 (9th Itinerary Stop) Argentina, South America (W 058 22)
The Book of Murder by Guillermo Martínez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 215
Carolyn wrote: "20.7 - Internationally acclaimed book1984 by George Orwell
"1984" is a book with a good premise and beginning, a great ending, and a TERRIBLE middle. I read it back in high school, and remembere..."
+5 Combo 10.5 from the wikipedia list
Anika wrote: "20.2 True ColorsThe Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
This one has been on my "to read" list for, what, almost 13 years now (how embarrassing). I see now w..."
+5 Jumbo (over 500 pages)
Jenifer wrote: "This is my first attempt at this so hopefully I do it correctly.20.3 The Handmaid's Tale
20 points
20.7 Great Expectations
+ 5 Combo (20.4 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow)
+10 Canon
+ 5 Jumbo (505p..."
Welcome Jenifer!!
I have a few additions for you:
Handmaid's Tale: +5 Combo (20.4-1990 movie)
Great Expectations: +10 Combo (20.3 and 10.4)
So, for post 743, I show your total at 105.
AtW - CircumnavigatorRound Two
15.2 (2nd stop) - Mauritius (E 057 31)
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1675
20.9 Its Epidemic (Elizabeth’s task)
I Am Legend
+20 Task
+10 Combos 20.4 ( 2007 movie), 20.5 (published 1954)
task total=30
grand total=590
I Am Legend
+20 Task
+10 Combos 20.4 ( 2007 movie), 20.5 (published 1954)
task total=30
grand total=590
Leigh, could you edit your post to provide a link to the book? Thanks.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Leigh, could you edit your post to provide a link to the book? Thanks."
Sorry! All the pollen must be overriding the coffee today.
Sorry! All the pollen must be overriding the coffee today.
Rosemary wrote: "20.8 It's AlphabeticThe Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple
Review:
I did enjoy these stories but not as much as I had expected. I found that the first one (which is very long) rath..."
+10 Not-a-Novel
Kate S wrote: "Rosemary wrote: "20.8 It's AlphabeticThe Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple
+10 Not-a-Novel "
Thanks Kate! Can't believe I missed that!
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.10 (10th Itinerary Stop) Colombia (W 074 04)
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total = 25
Plus 100 AtW Finish bonus
Plus 200 Mega Finish bonus
Grand Total: 1715
Rosemary wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.10 (10th Itinerary Stop) Colombia (W 074 04)
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total = 25
Plus 100 AtW Finish bonus..."
Way to go, Rosemary! Congrats!
Congratulations Rosemary!AtW - Circumnavigator
Round Two
15.3 (3rd stop) - The People's Republic of China (E 116 23)
The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1700
Sorry for the bulk posting... I've only just got my reviews done :) Now, I'm up to date, yay!! Oh, errr... I've also changed my nick though I still put Kazza there for now ;)Task 10.7 Reading is Rewarding
Ironweed by William Kennedy
1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Francis Phelan has no place to call home. At least, none that he feels right to call home. An accident in his past drove him away from ‘home’. It is something that he will never forget nor maybe forgive himself. In this book, we follow Francis as he relives moments of his former life, the good and the bad. His ghostly past haunted him throughout and will never let him go.
It was a strange read as it provoked mixed feelings in me. As I work in the city, I see a number of homeless people and usually, I’ll walk past and avoid looking at them. Reading this book from the perspective of a homeless man who is running from his past does my head in. I felt sorry for him and yet at the same time, I felt like he really should seek help and get his act together. And yet again, I’m not sure if I wouldn’t be like him if I experienced the same ‘accident’.
My favourite passage…
"Kisses come up from below, or down from above. They come from the brain sometimes, sometimes from the heart, and sometimes just from the crotch. Kisses that taper off after a while come only from the heart and leave the taste of sweetness. Kisses that come from the brain tend to try to work things out inside other folks’ mouths and don’t hardly register. And kisses from the crotch and the brain put together, with maybe a little bit of heart, like Katrina’s, well they are the kisses that can send you right around the bend for your whole life."
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.4 - movie)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total = 35 points
Task 10.8 - It’s a Family Affair
Dombey Son by Charles Dickens
I have to admit that I really don’t think that I’m a fan of Dickens. The way his novels are is just way too annoying for me. I could probably put up with it and loved it as periodicals but as a BIG chunky novel – No, thanks!
Right from the very beginning when Dickens unveiled the very ignominious character of Mr Dombey, I thought, “oh dear, I’m really going to hate this one”. But I persevered, if only for the sake of finding out what will happen to the beautiful creature called Florence Dombey. The only redeeming point (as with all Dickens’ novels I’ve read so far) is that each characters get what they deserve and that’s a very morally satisfying story.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.4 - adaptations)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+15 Jumbo (880 pages)
Task Total = 50 points
Task 10.9 - Please Sir, I want some more
Disharmony The Telling 1 by Leah Giarratano
I read the Jill Jackson series by above author for the Winter challenge
The Reason
I’ve read Leah Giarratano’s Jill Jackson series which is an adult crime novels and I loved Jill Jackson. I cannot stress it enough that she absolutely Kicks some serious Ass! I was hoping for some kick ass characters in Disharmony too.
I notice the first line of the book’s description was “A psychopath… an empath… a genius.” What a terrific choice to characters and seeing that Giarratano’s experience as clinical psychologist, she could not choose better characters than these!
So… I was absolutely curious on whether Giarratano would excel in this different genre aimed at a younger audience.
The Verdict
I would love to be able to rave and rant about this book but… I can’t. I still gave it 4 stars because it still held my attention and the last 50-60 pages (where the action is) were explosive and I could not put it down.
I loved Samantha White and the backdrop she’s placed in. Being a part of the gypsies in Bucharest, Romania was just such a romantic notion to me (my completely bias opinion). She is wild. She is loyal. She has no clue who she really is…
Luke Black also had no idea who he is but he certainly knew what he has done to have been placed in a Juvenile Detention Centre. Luke was a little bit hard to love but he was strong and intelligent. He also wasn’t planning to stay down for long…
And then, we have the narrator… who is the narrator? It’s not revealed here but conjectures may be made and I’m not about to share mine :p
Let’s not forget the gorgeous gypsy guy, the gun totting retiree, the star throwing ninjas, and many other interesting characters. I’d have to say the gun totting retiree is my favourite minor character to date, LOL.
The book felt like it was setting up for something, whatever that is. Something BIG. Yet… even when the action was explosive for the last part of the book, that wasn’t it. There’s something more. Something bigger. Therefore, whilst I was a little disappointed that the book just felt like a ‘background’ story, a ‘setting up’ for the next book (or even the book after!), I will definitely read the next instalment. I’ve got to know!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total = 20 points
Task 10.10 - Group Reads
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
I think I decided that I don't like noir mysteries. Well, actually I don't mind the mysteries and I have to admit I really do like the mystery in this book and how it was sorted out and all that but...
Something about the way they do things. Not just the drinking or the carrying on (I understand this goes with the time period) but I don't like Philip Marlowe either. What's with this guy? "Oh yeah, I'm tough, I can handle whatever you dish out" attitude - just an absolute rebel (snubbing authorities - within the law). And then... for the 'victims', he's an absolute angel. I don't get it.
Oh, on the other hand, I find I really enjoy the Scandinavian Noir - so maybe it's just the time period & place this book is set in that just annoys me. One thing is for sure, if I'm going to time travel, this is one place & time, I would not go.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.4 - movie & 20.5 - pub. 1953)
+10 Review
Task Total = 30 points
Total this post: 135 points
Grand Total: 1,270 points
RwS Tasks20.8 – Kate S’s task – It’s alphabetic
OtheR STories: RST
The Mighty Johns And Other Stories
I don't know why I don't read more mysteries because I always enjoy them. The Mighty Johns and Other Stories was engaging from the title story, which was almost a novella, to the last moment. I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narrator as well as the writing. I've seen other reviewers say that they only liked the first story, but I really liked the last one which was about a group of hacker-pranksters from MIT. My dad went there and I recently went back with him to visit the campus, so I enjoyed listening to that story. I guess it didn't have as much of a traditional mystery element to it, but I enjoyed the hacking element a lot.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 40
20.10 – Liz M’s Task – It’s academic
Home by Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison teaches at Princeton
http://www.princeton.edu/arts/arts_at...
Toni Morrison is one of my all time favorite authors. I'm so glad she has continued to write. Home is a gripping book. It is the story of a returned veteran from Korea and his ties to his sister who has run into troubles of her own. He has to conquer his past to save her. The prose is poignant and there are some twists that make the emotional impact of the story intense and real. I don't think that Morrison's last three books, all more novellas in length, reach the same standard of excellence that her earlier novels achieve, but they are wonderful stories and are highly recommended just the same!
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Points this Post: 70
Grand Total: 1710
RWS Tasks
20.4 Book made into a movie Othello by William Shakespeare
+20 task
+15 combo (10.4 It's your birthday, 10.5 Anti-hero Iago, 20.7 Internationally acclaimed)
+10 canon
+10 not a novel
Task total 55
Total points 660
20.4 Stardust by Neil Gaiman
+20 task
Total points 680
20.4 Book made into a movie Othello by William Shakespeare
+20 task
+15 combo (10.4 It's your birthday, 10.5 Anti-hero Iago, 20.7 Internationally acclaimed)
+10 canon
+10 not a novel
Task total 55
Total points 660
20.4 Stardust by Neil Gaiman
+20 task
Total points 680
RWS task
20.6 Nonfiction about religion Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning by Edward Carpenter DDC 283
+20 task
+10 not a novel
Task total 30
Total points 710
20.6 Nonfiction about religion Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning by Edward Carpenter DDC 283
+20 task
+10 not a novel
Task total 30
Total points 710
AtW Circumnavigator
15.8 India (E 07712) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 735
15.9 Japan (E13941) An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 760
15.8 India (E 07712) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 735
15.9 Japan (E13941) An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 760
15.10 AtW Circumnavigator10th stop Australia E 149 07
Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race by Rob Mundie
My review
+15 Task
+10 Circumnavigator bonus
Task total: 25
+100 Completion bonus
Previous Total: 590
Grand Total: 715
20.7 Kid's RepublicTo the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
My favorite thing about Woolf (and Proust and Joyce) is the way they take one moment and stretch it into 20 pages...examining every aspect, from several characters' perspective, giving life and deep meaning to the waves, a beach, a brooch, a glance. I like how she drops one exquisite sentence, expounds and torques it, then repeats that one exquisite sentence--which has now taken on an entirely different meaning. I love her language: it made me crazy at first, had to reread pages over and over to make sure I understood the relations between people, make sure I understood what was going on (she throws you right into the middle of the action, not really explaining to the reader who is who or what is up...relying on the wits of her reader that they'll catch on as we move along), but I enjoyed the precision of her words and the richness of her description. This is a book to cozy up with a cup of tea and a quiet morning. Mmm mmm mmm.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+20 Combo
-10.4 on list for grades 9-12
-20.3 6th on Harvard Bookstore top 100
-20.4 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086452/
-20.5 pub. 1927
Task Total = 60
Found points = 5 (message 760. Thanks, Kate!)
Grand Total = 965
20.4 In Honor of El AteneoMartin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
Review:
After reading and very much enjoying Nicholas Nickleby earlier this year, I decided to read the rest of his novels that are on the '1001 books to read before you die' list in this anniversary year - at least, those that I had not read before. There were three more. I loved David Copperfield. Then I started this one.
I couldn't believe how slow and boring this was. Endless descriptions, characters who don't do anything much, very little plot until the end - and even then it's unbelievably drawn out. I set out to read 30 pages a day and did it but I was never tempted to read more, even as the end approached. The famous trip to America is just a digression and the American characters are embarrassing parodies. There are one or two funny characters (e.g. Mrs Gamp) but the jokes are flogged to death.
Not my favourite Dickens as you might have guessed! My last one will be Our Mutual Friend; I hope that is more to my taste.
+20 Task http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112062/
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+10 Jumbo 700+ (762 pages)
Task total = 50
Grand total = 1765
AtW - CircumnavigatorRound Two
15.4 (4th stop) - Japan (E 139 41)
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1725
20.4 El AteneoThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
+20 task http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve...
+10 Combo (10.4, 20.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adve...)
+10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
+20 Task http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134119/
+15 Combo (10.5, 20.2, 20.5)
20.7 Kid's Republic
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.4, 20.3, 20.5)
+10 Canon
+5 Jumbo (581 pages)
Post Total: 125
Season Total: 1610
AtW Circumnavigator15.8 (eighth stop)- Brazil W 047.54
The Witch Of Portobello by Paulo Coelho (fits A & B)
+15 pts - Task
+10 pts - Bonus
Task Total - 25 pts
Grand Total - 1265 pts
20.5 In Honor of Shakespeare & CoThe Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Review:
Eva Knapp is the perfect home-maker, with the cleanest house of anybody in her small-town Ladies' Guild. But she hates what she does so well, and she makes her children miserable too. Meanwhile her husband Lester is equally unhappy at work. When Lester loses his job, what seems like a tragedy becomes an opportunity for the whole family to be happy.
This story of reversal of the traditional husband-wife roles wouldn't be innovative if it had been written 50 years later, but it is startling for the 1920s. The writing is very polished and the characters are very well drawn, especially the children. There's a lovely scene where a little boy is trying to figure out how to work an egg-beater. Dorothy Canfield Fisher must have watched one of her own kids do exactly that.
I found this a very enjoyable and convincing read.
+20 Task (pub.1924)
+10 Review
Task total = 30
Grand total = 1795
Anika wrote: "20.4 El AteneoBright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne by John Keats
[bookcover:Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne]
"Let me be but certai..."
+10 Canon
Anika wrote: "20.5 Shakespeare and Co.100 Selected Poems by E.E. Cummings
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
..."
+10 Canon
Don wrote: "TASK 10.6 Music of the SoulIn the Clearing by Robert Frost
A collection of poems written by Frost from 1942 to 1962. The poem he wrote and read for John F. Kennedy's inauguration is included i..."
+10 Canon
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "20.4 El Ateneo
Task +20 http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Under-th...
Review +10
ht..."
+10 Not-a-Novel
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Hard Times: For These Times (other topics)The Age of Grief (other topics)
The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (other topics)
BoneMan's Daughters (other topics)
Marie-Blanche (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Jane Smiley (other topics)
Mary Rose O'Reilley (other topics)
Ted Dekker (other topics)
Jim Fergus (other topics)
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China (9th stop) E 116 23
Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total: 25
Previous total: 565
Grand total: 590