Reading with Style discussion
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Spring 2012 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks
AtW CircumnavigatorTask 15.2 (2nd Itinerary Stop) Peru (W 077 01)
Death In The Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Task 15.3 (3rd Itinerary Stop) Canada (W 075 41)
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 825
20.4 Book Into a Movie 
by Sara Shepard.(2009-2012)I thought I just put this out. I posted on the help thread but got no response. I wanted to claim Pretty Little Liars as it is a tv series.
+20
Lexile Scale 760L
Review +10
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book Total: 30
Grand Total: 225
AtW Circumnavigator15.9 (eighth stop)- Canada W 075.41
Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood (fits A,B,& C)
+15 pts Task
+10 pts Bonus
Task Total - 25
Grand Total - 1690
20.9 It's EpidemicThe Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase
Review:Having lived in San Francisco, I have heard much about the 1906 earthquake and fire. But I had never heard about the plague epidemic that had simmered since 1900 and exploded because of conditions in the aftermath of the quake and fire; nor of the efforts that brought the epidemic under control. And little did I realize that plague that is endemic in wild rodents in the west is a result of this epidemic.
The book is very interesting but doesn't seem to focus. It is in some ways a biography of Dr. Rupert Blue who lead the PHS crusade against the plague in San Francisco and who later became the Surgeon General. But it is also a little bit of a history of the PHS in this time period and a little bit about how the "politics of denial, commercial protectionism, and discrimination" can "too often trump science and sound medical judgement".
It is interesting to find out that Dr. Blue failed in a campaign to establish national health insurance prior to WWI. Just as Frances Perkins failed during Franklin Roosevelt's tenure as President. How long has this been going on?
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-novel
Task total: 40
Previous total: 745
Grand total: 785
ATW Circumnavigator
15.10 Australia (E14907) Lirael by Garth Nix
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 785
+100 Well traveled bonus
Total points 885
15.10 Australia (E14907) Lirael by Garth Nix
+15 task
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 785
+100 Well traveled bonus
Total points 885
RwS 10.7 Award winner Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
+10 task
+5 combo (20.2)
Task total 15
+5 found points (post 791)
Total points 905
+100 RwS finish
+200 Mega finish
Total points 1205
+10 task
+5 combo (20.2)
Task total 15
+5 found points (post 791)
Total points 905
+100 RwS finish
+200 Mega finish
Total points 1205
Congrats nsfancy on your mega finish!
AtW - Circumnavigator15.10 (10th Itinerary Stop) UK, Europe(W 000 07)
I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
+ 100-point "Well-Traveled" bonus
Grand Total = 340
I am so happy to have completed the AtW - Circumnavigator; it is the one goal I set for my self this challenge.
Congratulations, nsfancy!Congratulations, Arow!
I'm glad you met your goal, Arow!
RwS Tasks10.10 Group reads
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Every Winter Concert that I led as an elementary music teacher ended with Peter, Paul and Mary's words, "Don't let the light go out, it's lasted for so many years. Don't let the light go out, let it shine through our love and our tears." We sang it in honor of Hanukkah and the events that unfolded in The Dovekeepers when so many perished in the name of their faith. I am not Jewish, but have always been captivated with the history of religions; especially the violence perpetrated against some groups of people for no reason but their faith. Alice Hoffman outdid herself with the beautiful writing in this book. I was particularly moved by the beginning chapters and the gripping ending. Highly recommended!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
20.5 In honor of Shakespeare and Co
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald published 1922
I remember liking The Great Gatsby better than many of the required high school books I read so many years ago. Through the challenge, I've found out that I'm still a fan of Fitzgerald's work. I knew the Benjamin Button story from the Brad Pitt movie, but I had never read any of the others in the collection and I thoroughly enjoyed them! I like the time period - the Jazz Age - Fitzgerald writes about as well as the characters and their personalities. Benjamin Button remained my favorite story of the collection for its characters and their interrelationships and its unique premise. I also really enjoyed "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz". I recommend the collection for short story fans.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 40
Points this Post: 60
Grand Total: 1775
20.10 It's AcademicThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
As a Yankee transplant to the South who has lived in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than 15 years, I found this book fascinating. From the minute I arrived in Alabama, I was acutely aware of the race relations issues still lingering and I found myself studying the history of Alabama especially as it relates to the civil rights movement. One visit to the impressive Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and its Jim Crow installation including a "White Only" water fountain leaves a lasting impression especially when you walk out the front door and find yourself standing in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church where 4 little girls were murdered in 1963 by a church bomb. Kudos to Ms. Wilkerson and her extensive research which is so eloquently set forth in this book. If I could make this book required reading in every American middle or high school, I would. We may have come a long way since Jim Crow but we still have so far to go and this is the kind of book that opens up the important dialogue necessary between the races to keep the improvement of race relations front and center.
+20 Task (Professor of Journalism at BU)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.7 won NBCC award in 2010, 10.10 group read)
+10 Non-Fiction
+5 Jumbo (622 pages)
Task Total = 55
Grand Total = 485
Anika wrote: "20.10 It's AcademicThis Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman
This is the story of the Bergamot family and how one seemingly harmless keystroke changed each of their ..."
Congrats on your mega finish!
congrats Arow! and I'm glad you liked The Dovekeepers as much as I did, Karen! ^_^
I did, Christin! Thanks for choosing it. I had it on my list for the winter challenge and didn't get to it, so I was very happy to see it as a group read!
Task 20.8 - Kate S's task - It's alphabetic - three consecutive lettersThe First Men in the Moon
The First Men in the Moon (1901) by H.G. Wells
Review: An impulsive young man accompanies a scientist to the Moon in this less famous science fiction novel by H.G. Wells. This is original Steampunk, written during Queen Victoria’s reign, and published over a century ago. The conceit is that the impulsive young man, upon his return to Earth, has taken the time to write a description of his adventures on the Moon. Included are: unlikely scientific concepts (which allows the travel to the moon); mention of the eccentric, brilliant, real-life (and, in 1901, still living) scientist Nikola Tesla; and, descriptions of the unusual (and impossible) life on the Moon. Wells has some fun with the effects of reduced gravity on living things. Recommended for when you are in the mood for a Steampunk novel. (That said --- If you don’t like steampunk, then you should avoid this one.)
Made into a movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/
+20 Task
+ 10 Style: 1. Combo (10 points) (also fits 10.2 space travel, 20.4 movie)
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
+10 Style: 4. Canon (10 points): (specifically, “H.G. Well’s Science Fiction Novels”)
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 50
That should boost my “average book score” a bit!!
Grand Total: 660 + 50 = 710
RwS10.9 Please Sir... - The Fall by Guillermo del Toro
This third installment in this vampiric trilogy was a very satisfying ending to a very enjoyable series. While the action is definitely not as fast paced as the first book, there is a lot of background and history that gives the reader a good sense of why the Master is what he is and how he came to be. I was fascinated and appalled all at the same time. If you like end of the world type books or vampire books, I believe you would enjoy this series. All the adults in my family read it and all enjoyed it – highly recommended.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
10.9 Please Sir... - The Search by Nora Roberts
Since becoming a Nora Roberts fan, I’ve seen this book and left it alone because I knew it would bring out the emotion in me. I wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t all that I thought it would be. I thought I had the ending pegged right from the get go but I didn’t. I’ll admit that while it was an easy read, I didn’t fall in love with the male lead like I normally do. He didn’t totally do it for me. It was an enjoyable read none the less and gave me a totally new appreciation for my own canine friend.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=310
20.3 - In honor of Harvard BookstoreCat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
+20 task
+5 combo 20.1 banned books: http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Secti...
+10 canon
Task total=35
Grand total=350
20.7 Kid's RepublicThe Inferno by Dante Alighieri
+20 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Canon
+15 Combo
-10.4 (on list for grades 9-12)
-10.6 Music of the Soul
-20.3 (#12 on Harvard Best Sellers)
Task Total = 55
Grand Total = 1410
And thanks for the congrats, Kate :-) Made my day!
Ceraphina wrote: "20.7 Kid's RepublicOthello by William Shakespeare
This is only the second time I have read this classic. The last time I read it I was in 11th grade and I was only 16 years old. The first time I..."
Unfortunately, this does not qualify for 10.6, but it does qualify for 10.4, so we break even. :)
nsfancy wrote: "RWS Tasks20.4 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
..."
+5 Combo on Othello: 20.1 (see post 842)
Sorry but I am confused, why doesn't Othello count for 10.6 it is written in blank verse.
Ceraphina wrote: "Sorry but I am confused, why doesn't Othello count for 10.6 it is written in blank verse."Liz answered the question about Shakespeare's plays being poetry here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...
20.5 Shakespeare and CompanyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
This is just OK in my opinion. As I read, I thought the three stories focusing on the individuals on the bridge could have been expanded into stories of their own.
Maybe I've read too many sad stories lately. The stories of the people left behind would also be interesting if expanded. Wilder touched on them only briefly, yet they are, in the end, the point of the book: Why do we not fully recognize our love of those dear to us while they are here; why is it only when they are lost that we realize what they meant to us?
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.4, Children's Lit; 10.7 Pulitzer - 1927, 20.4 Movie)
+10 Review
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 705
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: Liz answered the question about Shakespeare's plays being poetry here:http://www.good..."
Sorry I didn't see that.
Ceraphina wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: Liz answered the question about Shakespeare's plays being poetry here:http://www.good..."
Sorry I didn't see that."
No problem. I didn't remember it for certain either, and had to go look.
AtW CircumnavigatorTask 15.6(6th Itinerary Stop)Australasia:Australia E 149 07
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Grand Total: 1800
RwS Tasks10.6 – The Music of the Soul
Book in Verse
Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill 700 Lexile
I found the novel in verse to be a perfect vehicle for the story of the Salem Witch Trials. Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill is told from the differing points of view of seven accusers and the poetic form adds to the emotional impact of the story. The girls become known as "seers" and are the original "mean girls" group. There's safety in numbers and there are followers and leaders in this path to the destruction of their fellow citizens, but all have a part to play in the accusations and trials now so well known. This is a great work of historical fiction and a well written and accessible novel in verse that I highly recommend.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 30
20.4 In honor of El Ateneo bookstore
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109985/
I am so glad I finally read the book with the opening quote about teaching the "facts and just the facts"! I have heard it so many times at workshops and used it so many times myself in support of teaching the "whole human" that it was interesting to read Dickens version of ruining children with too much emphasis on learning facts without learning about the "real world", too. I did find my mind drifting sometimes and I think it was due to the narration as I listened to the audio version. Still, it had all of the great aspects of Dickens that I enjoy. I think it will warrant a re-read in print version someday.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 40
Points this Post: 70
Grand Total: 1870
20.4 El AteneoV for Vendetta by Alan Moore
After reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, whose titular character loved graphic novels and sci-fi and all things "other", I thought it was high time I read a graphic novel. I loved this movie and thought the graphic novel would be a breeze. How wrong could I possibly be? There were very few plot points that were similar. It was really hard to differentiate between the characters (both names and visages were extremely similar for most of the characters...but that could have been intentional, considering the political points that were being made). Even though perhaps I didn't "understand" it the way that most adorers of Moore's work might, I still had a hard time putting it down and enjoyed it a great deal.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+ 5 Combo
-10.5 Rooting for the Bad Guy (71 on Best Antiheroes list)
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 1455
20.8 It's alphabeticIdiots First by Bernard Malamud
+20 task
+10 not a novel (short story collection)
+10 canon
Task total=40
Grand Total=390
AtW - CircumnavigatorRound Two
15.5 (5th stop) - Mexico (W 099 08)
The Hummingbird's Daughter: A Novel by Luis Alberto Urrea
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1840
Amy W wrote: "20.5 Shakespeare and CoA Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor
+20 Task (originally published in 1953)
+5 Combo (20.2 on 20th century list)
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total =..."
+10 Canon
Arow wrote: "AtW - Circumnavigator15.10 (10th Itinerary Stop) UK, Europe(W 000 07)
I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Congratulations Arow! Always good to set and meet goals!
+ 100-point "Well-Traveled" bonus
Grand..."
Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Tasks10.10 Group reads
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Every Winter Concert that I led as an elementary music teacher ended with Peter, Paul and Mary's words, "Don't let the light go out, ..."
+5 Jumbo for Dovekeepers
Megan W wrote: " 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......"
+10 Not-a-Novel (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes-short stories)
nsfancy wrote: "Task 20.3 Harvard list The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz+20 task
+5 combo(10.7 NBCC 1997)
Task total 25
Total points 135
Task 20.7 Internationally acclaimed To the Lighthou..."
+5 Combo (20.10-Brief Wondrous Life)
nsfancy wrote: "RWS Tasks20.4 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
..."
+5 Combo 20.1 (Othello) See post 842
Kate S wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Tasks10.10 Group reads
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Every Winter Concert that I led as an elementary music teacher ended with Peter, Paul and Mary's words, "Don't let..."
Oh, thank you-- I completely forgot about jumbo points!
nsfancy wrote: "RwS 10.7 Award winner Bel Canto by Ann Patchett+10 task
+5 combo (20.2)
Task total 15
+5 found points (post 791)
Total points 905
+100 RwS finish
+200 Mega finish
Total points 1205"
Congratulations on your Mega Finish! Hope you enjoyed your reading!
That's excellent, Kate! And thanks for moderating, too. That's quite a bit of reading with the time moderating must take!
10.2 Space OutPacking for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Review: I might just not be the person for audiobooks (which is strange, since I listen to a lot of podcasts), but the delivery of this book had me thinking that my Kindle was reading it aloud. Which made it a bit tedious to get through.
I enjoy popular science books, generally, and this was no different, though I now know more than I ever wanted to about bodily functions, in space and in general. Yes, I wanted to know how space toilets work and how you keep clean when you can't take a shower (or wash your hands) and what happens when you cry in space (hint: there are no tears streaming down your face). I like how Roach deftly wove the theoretical with the anecdotal, and the lightheartedness and humor of her approach. I do agree that every part of being human, from the gross to the beautiful, should have its place in a book like this, and there should be nothing off-limits, but it sometimes just was a bit too much emphasis on the former.
And that women, though lighter, consuming less and breathing less (and that where every pound to be transported counts), were deemed unsuitable as astronauts because we pee differently, just enraged me - you can figure out how to shoot people out of orbit, but that you can't manage? Men. Seriously.
All in all, I was well entertained, but I wasn't exactly bowled over.
Task: 10
Review: 10
Not a Novel: 10
Task total: 30
Grand total: 940
RwS Task20.1 In Honor of The Tattered Cover
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Banned for attitude toward government, language and burning the Bible:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Fahr...
Fahrenheit 451 is a book I’ve put off for a long time. I’ve enjoyed a lot of other Ray Bradbury books I’ve read lately, so I decided to include it in my spring reading and I’m very glad I did! I liked the narrator and the story. I guess just the fact that it had so much to do with books made it interesting to me right from the start, too. Montag decides to put thinking and emotions above his safety as he evolves from a fireman who burns books into a thinker and protector of the word, in his mind if not on paper. I found the sections on childbirth and children poignant as well. Highly recommended!
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.4 It’s Your Birthday
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 1910
Kate S wrote: "Arow wrote: "AtW - Circumnavigator15.10 (10th Itinerary Stop) UK, Europe(W 000 07)
I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Congratulations Arow! Alwa..."
Thanks Kate and to everyone else for the kind thoughts! I can't wait to tackle the Summer Challenge!
10.9 Karen's task - "Please Sir, I want some more"Reread an author: Joanne Fluke- winter task 10.5
Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke
+10 Task
Task Total:10
Grand Total: 360
20.4 El AteneoFlags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
+20 Task (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/)
+10 Not-a-Novel
+ 5 Combo
-10.8 ("Fathers")
Task Total = 35
Grand Total = 1490
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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)
More...
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)
More...
Plagues and Peoples by William Hardy McNeill
I originally intended to read this to fulfill the requirements of task 20.10, but when I got to the end of the book and read the author's bio I realised he is a retired professor and so it does not qualify. I don't really remember why I chose this book, but I probably would never have read it if it weren't for RwS. It is a very technical book about how epidemics have affected human history. I found the language too challenging in this to make it enjoyable as I kept having to look up the various diseases and parasites being discussed as the author assumed that the reader was well versed in epidemiology. Once I had looked them up it was interesting to read the author's theories. Overall not a horrible book, but unless you are well versed in epidemiology I wouldn't recommend it.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 775