Reading with Style discussion
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Spring 2012 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks
20.4 - El Ateneo bookstore - book into movie:Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by by Jules Verne
A ginormous edition (really, the darned thing is bigger than a standard textbook!) that took longer to read than it should have. I do, however, recommend this edition due to the iluustrations & the wonderfully snarky annotations, examples below:
"3. ...approach it with a gymnotus or a torpedo That would be awkward, pointless and not what Verne had in mind.... What Arronnax is really saying, in the original, sounds something like this..."
"7. vertebrate branch, class mammalia This may satisfy Lewis as a definite conclusion, but not Aronnax, as we can see from our restoration."
"1. Ned Land's Tempers Ned's tantrums will seem, in the Mercier Lewis translation, to be quite arbitrary and sudden. This is because Lewis has omitted more than half the chapter. As our translation will show, Verne was quite careful to build up Ned's mood gradually and realistically."
While I did enjoy the notes, I must disagree with their declarations about Verne's impeccable characterization and building of suspension. To a modern reader, the characters may appear flat and the constant interruption of the action for extensive scenic details and scientific instruction diffuses any build-up of tension. But, overall, it was an enjoyable read.
+20 task (1954 movie)
+5 combo (10.4 - Classic Children's Literature)
=10 review
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 155
Liz M 20.4 - El Ateneo bookstore - book into movie:Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
In contrast to 20,000 Leagues, this book was a surprisingly quick read, although that may have to do with the soft-spot I seem to have for fictional anti-hero's. The narrator is at first presented as former soldier, suffering from hunger and poverty, who fortuitously meets a former comrade and is set up in the journalism business. As he enters society in his new role, he is encouraged by his discovered adroitness with women to allow his expenses to exponentially exceed his income. It does not take much encouragement for him to use his charm to manipulate his several conquests in order to better his position. His delight in his abilities is at first amusing, but goes sour towards the end of the book as he is overtaken first by jealousy and then by greed. If you enjoy both the "high society" novels of Wharton AND the deviousness of Les Dangerous Liaisons, you'll like this novel.
+20 task (2005 TV movie)
+10 review
Task points: 30 points
Grand total 185
20.1 - In honor of The Tattered CoverMark TwainThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
+20 Task (http://classiclit.about.com/od/huckle...
+10 Combo 20.4 & 20.7
+10 Canon
Task Total=40
Grand Total=80
Karen GHHS wrote: "20.4 In honor of El Ateneo bookstore: Sidetracked by Henning Mankell..."Swedish Series also aired on BBC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallander_%...
This is a better link for Sidetracked , as the TV series was mostly new or commissioned stories (not based directly on the existing novels), according to wiki.
20.4 In Honor of El AteneoWater For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Review:
Jacob Jankowski walks out on his final veterinary exams in the 1930s after a family tragedy and finds himself acting as the vet to the animals in a circus. As events spiral out of control, we also see the elderly Jacob in a care home in modern times.
It's a great story for the most part, but I was disappointed by the romance element in the plot.. First I found Marlena a very flat character. I couldn't see any evidence of a deep love between her and Jacob, only a physical attraction. At the same time there were hints of something else that went nowhere - Marlena looked like his previous girlfriend, he looked like her husband, what was all that about?
But outside of the romance, it was a wonderful book with some great characters, human and animal, and I loved all the detail about the impact of the circus in the small towns that they visited in the days before television.
+20 Task (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067583/)
+10 Review
Task total = 30
Grand total = 460
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.6 (6th Itinerary Stop) Australasia-Australia E149 07
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Cocaine Blues
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Task 15.7 (7th Itinerary Stop) Australiasia-New Zealand E174 46
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
A Man Lay Dead
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Task 15.8 (8th Itinerary Stop) North America-US W077 02
Split Second by David Baldacci
Split Second
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Total Points this Post: 75
Total Points: 190
10.1 Square PegDer Regler by Max Landorff
(german writer, title translate to something like "The Controller" or "The Ruler")
Review:
It's a german thriller. Unfortunately it lacks suspense and any kind of thrill. It had its moments, but they were way too rare for a 335-page-long book.
The main character (Gabriel Tretjak) is a one-man enterprise. His clients pay him to adjust their own life, to take control over certain situation that do not go according to their plan and to change things in their business or private life to turn out the way they want them to turn out. And Tretjak delivers exactly what they want. But suddenly, people he is connected with die and he starts to doubt if he still has everything under control...
Their are some turning points that does leave you a little bit surprised, but not in a necessarily positive "wow, that was good and unexpected"-way, rather in a "oh, really, why?"-way...
+10 task
+10 review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 80
Kazza wrote: "Rebekah & Jayme, Song of the Lioness is an all time favorite series of mine. Of course, I first read it a long time ago but I have re-read it so many times (going to the library & getting the whole..."Are the circle books about the same character or her family?
Rebekah wrote: "Kazza wrote: "Rebekah & Jayme, Song of the Lioness is an all time favorite series of mine. Of course, I first read it a long time ago but I have re-read it so many times (going to the library & get..."The circle books actually take place in a different universe than any of the Tortall books. Even the magic system is different. They're also a bit younger in tone ^_^
JD wrote: "20.1 - In honor of The Tattered CoverMark TwainThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
+20 Task (http://classiclit.about.com/od/huckle...
+10 Co..."
+5 Combo as this also qualifies for 10.4.
Liz M wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "20.4 In honor of El Ateneo bookstore: Sidetracked by Henning Mankell..."Swedish Series also aired on BBC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallander_%...
This is a better link for..."
Thanks, Liz,
I might have to get Netflix back to watch these! Or whatever version they have, that is.
20.5 Shakespeare & CoDeath Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Pub in 1927
Review
Loosely based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the French missionary priest who became the first Archbishop of Santa Fe in the mid 1800’s after the USA had added many Mexican lands to their growing country. The area is vast and sparsely settled with Mexicans, the native Indian tribes and a handful of Americans venturing into the new land. Having already ministered in the wilderness of Ohio when that was the Western border of the USA, he was used to hardship and working with the Native Tribes. This new territory is a difficult challenge but with the help of his trusted vicar, Father Vailant , Bishop LaTour breaks new ground. Encountering long time priests who in their isolation had become debauched and disorganized, LaTour must first get the Spanish clergy to accept this French priest as their Bishop. Traveling hundreds of miles in deserts, canyons and mountains on mule back or foot to visit their parishioners, they become well-known for their piety and compassion. Eventually as the area becomes more settled, he makes life-long friends among the Navajo and Pueblo Indians, Spanish ranchers and poor Mexicans and the famous Kit Carson. The book ends appropriately at the end of this man’s life recounting the many accomplishments he and his priests have made including the building of a cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Of course there is a lot of symbolism, particularly religious themes. The imagery is like a present given in prose of the grandeur Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the mysterious Canyon de Chelly, the desert sands, the colorful villages and the picture perfect sunsets. It was a book that speaks to the soul.
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.4-9th to 12th grade list,
20.6 Main characters are Catholic priests)
+10 pts - Review
Task Total - 45 pts
Grand Total -
Rebekah wrote: "20.5 Shakespeare & CoDeath Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Pub in 1927
+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo (10.4-9th to 12th grade list, 20.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coukqtyx4...
20.6 Main characters are Catholic priests)
+10 pts - Review ..."
Unfortunately, a 3 minute spoof youtube video is not a movie. This book does not qualify for 20.4.
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.2 (2nd Itinerary Stop) Nigeria (E 002 06)
I Do Not Come to You by Chance (2009) by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25 Points
Grand Total: 215 + 25 = 240
RwS10.5 Rooting for the Bad Guy - Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston (#43 on the third list)
Ok, I have to say I’m on the fence about this book. To me, Hank seems like a decent enough guy that’s had some rotten luck but has also made some poor choices due to the rotten luck. That streak just continues in this novel from what I can tell. I liked his character and Bud – loved Bud, but for me, it was just too “in your face” with the language and plot lines. I read a lot of action novels and this one was maybe just a bit much for me. I didn’t dislike it, but I certainly didn’t love it either and am not sure if I’ll read the next one or not.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=135
10.6 The Music of the SoulEtcetera: The Unpublished Poems of e. e. cummings by E.E. Cummings
I first discovered E. E. Cummings' poetry when I was in high school. My English teacher created a booklet of some of his more famous poems however we did not really talk at all about his life or his other works. When I saw that poetry was one of the challenges this time around I decided to explore more of his works and took out three books of his poetry from the library. I started with this one because I was fascinated by fact that these were not published in his lifetime, however after reading them I can understand why they were not originally published, and for many I think it would have been better had they stayed unpublished. When I was in high school I admired E. E. Cummings because he pushed the envelope when it came to spelling, grammar and formatting. More than half of the poems in this book were not even recognizable as E. E. Cummings' work as they followed standard rules for poetry. The only thing I liked about this collection was that each chapter was prefaced with a page or two about the author's life at the time that the poems presented were written.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
+10 Canon
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 160
20.3 Harvard BookstoreTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Somehow, despite being a literature major and insatiable reader, I had never read this. Not only that, I also never saw the movie and I was entirely unspoiled.
If I had read this as a teen, I think I would have liked it. As an adult, I loved it.
It was so touching and gentle. Or rather it is gently written. It deals with some pretty rough topics, but it is never heavy-handed because it's through the eyes of pretty sheltered children. They don't understand the full scope of what is going on around them - they just do not get it because they are so innocent (and privileged to be white and from a respectable family). They are also ideal children with an ideal family - who wouldn't want Atticus as a father? Benevolent, fair, loving... Scout's a smart little scrapper, Jem is a protective and wise (if sometimes irritating) older brother. I loved them all.
Maybe the reason I'd never read it as part of school work is that it's not fashionable anymore to write idealistically. Books have to be gritty and real, and there are no happy endings. The lack of cynicism in this book was refreshing.
+20 Task (currently #23)
+10 Review
+25 Combo 10.4, 10.7 Pulitzer 1961, 20.1 http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/fr..., 20.2 (on list of top 100), 20.4
Task total = 55
Grand Total = 185
Liz M wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "20.5 Shakespeare & CoDeath Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Pub in 1927
+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo (10.4-9th to 12th grade list, 20.4 htt..."
I thought it was a trailer to a real movie. I'll check
Oh, I just watched the opening credits, and saw Steven Spielberg's name and the line about New Mexico's annexation! I'm disappointed because I really wanted to see the movie! I think it would be great as a mini-series. I went to Netflix and Amazon and although her other books, Lost Lady, My Antonia, O! pioneers and Song of the Lark made it into film, I could find nothing on DCftAB! Boo hoo So sorry about that. I posted in good faith. I'll correct the post.Some body make this into a movie! I think it would be a great addition to the genre that includes A Man Called Peter and Where the Lillies Bloom.
AtW-Circumnavigator15.6
(E 174 46) New Zealand
Towards Another Summer by Janet Frame
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
15.7 USA (W 077 02)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 555
20.3 Harvard BookstoreA Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
Review:
Perhaps I am missing the symbolism. Sometimes I think I may have missed a point or two. I didn’t become very interested in the story until about the half way mark, when The Hunt really began. (view spoiler)
The author does very well with the “where the in the world is this plot going” bit. A number of people have recommended the author to me and I searched and deliberated on which novel would be my first. I thought this one had the most interesting title. It ended up being literally about a sheep chase. It did not disappoint. I thought the strength of the novel was in the second half, which seems appropriate. It is better to end with a bang than with a dud. The build up and suspense was subtly crafted and the weaving of the silly and the real wasn't forced.
It’s a little bit Moby Dick, a little bit Sherlock Holmes.
Task +20
Review +10
Task total: 30
Grand total: 225
Rosemary wrote: "20.10 It's AcademicMy Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Review:
I had trouble getting into this unusual murder story and didn't follow it very well for the first approx 50 p..."
Rosemary, did you see Liz's post under the Questions and Answers for banned books? Post 26? She found a website with Nobel Laureates who have been banned and Orhan Pamuk is one of them. I didn't read which books though so you might want to check it out for combo points
AtW - Circumnavigator15.4 Asia: Iran (E051 25)
Things I've Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
15.5 Asia: Saudi Arabia (E046 43)
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 255
10.3 Girls' NamesOlive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Oh, Olive...how I was hoping you were going to be on the list of anti-heroes! When I first started this book, I couldn't stand the lady: she wasn't someone with whom I'd care to spend five minutes in real life, nevertheless read an entire book where she is the common thread. I'm glad I got over my initial prejudice. I very much enjoyed meeting the residents of Crosby, Maine. There's something about stories set in small towns that calls to me--Dandelion Wine, Our Town, Human Comedy, Empire Falls--there are no distractions that come with a big city, no need to create a big drama, no rushing...the story unfolds like a meditation: slowly meted out with every inhale and exhale, making its way to an eventual revelation. Thank you, Olive, for sharing your town, your family, and yourself with us. I, for one, feel changed for having met you.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo Points
-10.7 Pulitzer Prize Winner, 2009
-20.10 She teaches at the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens University of Charlotte.
Task Total = 30
Grand Total = 285
20.6 In honor of Selexyz BookstoreThe New Testament (CEV Standard New Testament) (4 stars)
The star rating refers to the version / translation / edition rather than the actual Book.
A very friendly and easy read if you just want to have the big picture about Jesus (and, therefore, what Christians believe). This is a translation to contemporary (or everyday) English so most it will be friendly to most readers.
There were a handful of sections which I thought were slightly "off" in translation but I appreciate the fact that there are limitations when you are trying to make a statement in simple & plain English. Overall, it was pretty good translation to read through (as opposed to studying in for doctrines, etc).
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.4 - grades 9-12)
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
+5 Jumbo (619 pages)
Task Total = 50 points
Grand Total = 315 points
10.8 A Family AffairDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Review: It's Sedaris. That's fine, even great, in small doses - it can get repetitive pretty fast, if you don't watch out. I read "Me talk pretty one day" years ago and really enjoyed it, but soon after, I grew tired of "Naked".
I recently heard him reading a chapter of "When you are engulfed in flames", and he had me laughing out loud, so when I stumbled on the audiobook of this, read by him, I thought I'd give him a try.
It seemed all so familiar, but still funny. I laughed and giggled through a good number of his stories, loosing me at others. There is an unabashed egocentrism and superficiality about him, which is sometimes refreshing, at other points I found myself looking for something deeper, more meaningful. I don't particularly mind that, upon visiting Anne Frank's house, he fantasizes about remodeling and redecorating, but there is just something missing that adds a different level.
Overall, it is enjoyable, like a pack of chips, but not particularly satisfying after you finished it.
Task: 10 ("family" in title)
Review: +10
Not a Novel: +10 (collection of stories/essays)
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 190
10.2 – Space OutA Million Suns by Beth Revis
New Book - No Lexile, but has a 5.1 Reading Level. Across the Universe, the first book in the series, had a 720 Lexile with a 4.9 Reading Level. Feel free to take away my review points if it doesn't count.
I just finished book 2 of this outer space adventure and I’m going to be waiting impatiently for book 3. I can’t say too much about A Million Suns without spoilers. In Across the Universe, Amy awakes in a cryo chamber in which she and her parents are traveling on a space ship to colonize a new planet. She meets Elder who will eventually become the leader of the ship. There are many questions, conflicts and philosophical differences among the current leaders of the space ship and Amy becomes embroiled in that life as an outcast. She was born on Earth, but all of the others who are awake were born on the ship Godspeed. A Million Suns continues the story, reveals more of the secrets and moves on to an unexpected and inconclusive ending leaving the reader wanting more immediately!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
20.1 In Honor of The Tattered Cover
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Banned recently because of sexual content and originally because of the morals of the time.
http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/boo...
http://fyahya.wordpress.com/articles/...
Reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles made me glad that I don't live in those times. What a lot of double standards they had for men vs women! Tess is led down a path that leads to her troubles when she goes to meet the privileged family that her father has just discovered are her relatives. When she does later fall in love, her past comes back to haunt her, and that new happiness is ruined for Tess. The conventions of the day were rough on young women and this book describes that situation fully. The book has been challenged for sexual content and was scandalous in it's time of publication. I enjoy Thomas Hardy's writing and found it interesting and heart wrenching to read Tess' story.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo:10.3 Girls’ Names / 10.4 It’s Your Birthday / 20.4 El Ateneo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186342/
+10 Canon
Task Total: 55
Points this Post: 75
Grand Total: 680
20.1 Cujo by Stephen King#49 on top 100 banned books of the 90s.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/fr...
I hated this book.
I went online to see if this was written while King was still an active alcoholic, and yes indeed. It comes out. It is a long-winded, just plain mean, drunken rant of a book. It felt very personal, like he was deliberately trying to wound himself and/or his wife. When it was published King's youngest son was 4, just like Tad. My oldest son is 4 right now, and frankly, the book made me really mad. Little kids being attacked is not my thing.
In a way, that makes Cujo very successful. It provoked me, that's for sure. I have to assume that was the intent. It was not a "scare" book so much as a exercise in alienating an audience. I'm fine with wallowing in misery, as long as there is a way out. But Cujo hits bottom and stays there.
Before I had kids I probably would have felt a little less hostile towards the book. I still would have lost patience with it, but if it was a short story and the endless descriptions of how bad the people of Castle Rock are had been trimmed down, I would not have been angry.
+20 Task
+5 20.4
+10 Review
Task Total= 35
Grand Total = 220
20.2 True Colors - Orange Prize>We Need to Talk About Kevin byLionel Shriver
This was an incredibly powerful book for me on so many levels. I repeatedly felt a sense of guilt as I read through Eva's letters to her husband sensing that these were too personal to share, amazed at her level of complete honesty. At many times, Eva said things that I myself have felt but have never shared or, if I have, those feelings were presented in a much more palatable way. The naked and raw language employed by Lionel Shriver only added to that intimacy. Eva questions her role as a mother, and specifically her role as the mother of a child who has committed a mass school shooting and wonders whether she was, in some way, responsible for this heinous act. And then, just as I was settling in to this most unsettling of books, a Sixth Sense-like twist jarred me from my comfort zone and made it perfectly clear why this book won the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction. Magnificent.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.4 - Made Into a Movie)
Task Total = 35
Grand Total = 170
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) Canada [W 075 41]
The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe
Book is set in Canada and author was born and raised in Canada
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 85
Task 10.10 Group ReadsDivergent by Veronica Roth
Review
This book has everything for YA to love. A teenage romance without the raunchiness, a strong heroine, family issues, computers and action! In a post apocalyptic Chicago, a new society has been formed. It is a society of Factions and each faction has its own specific task. Erudite-to obtain knowledge, Amity – to make peace, Candor – to always be honest, Dauntless – to be fearless, and Abnegation – to be selfless. Of course no society can ever seem to last forever and eventually one fraction of a Faction finds fault in another, divides the factions and start a war. The story is the point of view of Beatrice (Triss) at the age of sixteen, chooses her Faction as all her peers do. However though born into the Abnegation, she chooses Dauntless, and the training is exactly opposite of how she has been brought up to behave. There are a lot of surprises in the end and the romance. I give it 4 stars. It is another book that dangles at the end letting you know you will have to buy the next in the series to find out how everything ends.
+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - Review
Task Total - 20 pts
Grand Total -
TASK: 10.3 - Feminine name in titleEmpress Orchid by Anchee Min
Review:
Set in the last days of Imperial glory, in the Forbidden City of China, this is the story of Tzu Hsi, also known as Orchid. Orchid is one of the three thousand concubines of the Emperor. In her seventeenth year, she steps into the forbidden city and all the glory and richness of the Imperial life are hers. But her life is far from wonderful. She is disliked by the Grand Empress and she must vie for attention of the Emperor, so that he can give her a son.
Sometimes at odds, sometimes partnering her, Nuharoo, the first wife of the Emperor, will become one of Orchid’s close aides. Over the years, Orchid will have to struggle to help her husband form strategies to fight the colonial powers, she will fight for the right of her son’s ascension to the throne and most of all, for her own survival. People will plot her downfall but each time Orchid will persevere and survive.
Anchee Min has an interesting way of writing prose. Her manner is vividly descriptive and I often found myself in the Forbidden City. I don’t know much about the history of this time but I think Min has done a fair job in depicting the reality. There are parts in the book that I thought were a tad bit graphic but they may have been necessary in the context of the plot.
Overall, a wonderful book. If you’re a fan of Historical Fiction, then you can’t go wrong with Anchee Min.
+10 task
+10 review
Total = 20
GRAND TOTAL = 125 points
20.4 Made into a MovieThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This book has been made into many movies http://www.imdb.com/find?q=the+pictur...
Review: Normally, I enjoy catching up on classics that I have missed. But this was a slog. The story of Dorian Gray and his portrait are part of our culture. But I had never read the book. The writing is uneven. Sometimes the characters drone on about their philosophy and then there is one marvelous section of witty repartee worthy of Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Then there is section that goes on and on about jewels and textiles. It has some pretty language and does give us the idea that Dorian Gray is indulging his senses, has lots of money and that time is passing, but, for me, it was rather boring. I read that Wilde revised the original story to remove homoerotic references. I think sexual infatuation, love and jealousy would have made the story hang together better.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.4 Grades 9-12; 10.5 Currently #4 on the Best Antiheroes In Books list)
+10 Canon
+10 Review
Task Total: 50
Previous total: 155
Grand total: 205
AtW Circumnavigator15.5 (5th Itinerary Stop) Canada (E 075 41)
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 135
my review
AtW Circumnavigator15.4 Europe: Russia (E 037 37): The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Task: 15
Bonus: +10
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 215
20.1 Tattered CoverThe Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
I really enjoyed this book which surprised me since I did not like the movie. In this novel all humans have an animal companion called a daemon that is inextricably linked to them. The Catholic Church has a tight hold on power and heavily influences scientific inquiry. The plot follows a young girl named Lyra (and her daemon Pantalaimon) who is the niece of Lord Asriel a scholar studying the phenomenon of Dust in the far north. Lyra lives at Jordan College in Oxford England and becomes entangled in her Uncle's exploits one day when she hides in a cupboard and spies on a meeting where Lord Asriel presents his findings that there is another world visible in the Northern Lights and that Dust has something to do with it. Shortly after he leaves Jordan College a beautiful and mysterious woman named Ms. Coulter comes to collect Lyra and takes her to London. Meanwhile children from across the country are disappearing, supposedly snatched up by the Gobblers. When one of Lyra's friends is taken she vows to find him which ultimately leads her to the far north.
+20 Task (http://www.aclutx.org/reports/bannedb...)
+10 Combo (20.3 Harvard Bookstore, 20.4 Al Ateneo)
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 200
AtW - Circumnavigator
Task 15.4 (4th Itinerary Stop) Canada (W 075 41 )
Still Life by Louise Penny
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task 15.5 (5th Itinerary Stop) Brazil (W 047 54 )
The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
post total=50
grand total=265
Task 15.4 (4th Itinerary Stop) Canada (W 075 41 )
Still Life by Louise Penny
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task 15.5 (5th Itinerary Stop) Brazil (W 047 54 )
The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
post total=50
grand total=265
Rebekah-I show your total as 470. 450(post 283)+20(post 304)Let me know if I missed something. Thanks
10.6 The Music of the SoulLoss, Limbo, Life & Love byDerek Haines
Just finished this book in one sitting and tried to figure out how I felt about the book as I was reading it and ended up pretty inconclusive. The book is split into four sections: Loss, Limbo, Life & Love and those are rather self-explanatory. As I read Loss and Limbo, I thought only of my ex-husband over and over again so I'd say that the emotion provoked by these sections did their job. I was, however, rather emotionless through Life and Love. That said, I was intrigued by the author's personal story and wanted to Google "Derek Haines" to find out more about this long distance romance and how he met his wife-to-be. My research was futile. I did like the change of pace reading a novel in verse but the entire reading experience left me wanting more details.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total = 30
Grand Total = 200
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.6 (6th Stop) UK [W 000 07]
Watership Down by Richard Adams
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 510
10.10 Group Read
by Veronica RothTask +10
Lexile Score 860
Style +10 Review
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book Total: 20
Grand Total: 140
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.10 Group Read by Veronica RothTask +10
Lexile Score 860"
Your styles still count, but want to mention that the Lexile for Divergent is 700.
10.9 - "Please Sir, I Want Some More" She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
After reading many of the reviews of this book on Goodreads, I noticed that it seems to elicit some pretty violent reactions. I was surprised, because although I didn't enjoy it as much as "The Hour I First Believed," I certainly didn't feel as strongly as many people seemed to.
Dolores Price's story was depressing and often uncomfortable, but it gets at the dirty, gritty parts of life that I think on some level everyone can identify with. Most people don't have to face down the whole litany of obstacles placed in Dolores' way, but I think anyone can identify at times with her isolation and regrets.
I gave this book a solid three stars and while I probably wouldn't choose to re-read it, it was interesting enough that I am glad that I did read it this time around.
+10 Task (read The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb last round)
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 35
Task 20.10 - Liz M's Task - It's academic - author is currently a faculty memberThe back cover of my copy of the novel says that Tessa Hadley “teaches literature and creative writing at Bath Spa University in Bath, England”.
The London Train (2011) by Tessa Hadley
Review: This book was on the Orange Prize 2011 longlist. It was also one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2011. The writing style reminded me of Joanna Trollope’s, but without the moralizing. The first half of the novel tells of events in the life of a middle-aged man, mainly centered on his relationships with the various women in his life. The second half introduces a second set of characters, and centers on a middle aged woman dealing with a failing marriage and infertility. These two individuals meet on the train that runs from Cardiff to London and …… telling more would be “spoilers”. The people seem real, and the situations plausible. The plot is driven by character. Recommended.
+20 Task
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 240 + 30 = 270
Task 10.6 - The Music of the Soul - In honor of National Poetry MonthIn honor of National Poetry Month, read a book of poetry, a work of epic poetry, OR a novel in verse.
Nine Horses: Poems (2002) by Billy Collins (Hardcover, 120 pages)
Review: Billy Collins served two terms as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. Nine Horses: Poems was published during that timeframe. It was also a selection of The Today Show bookclub (a bookclub that existed to compete with Oprah’s Book Club). My view of most poetry is this: it packs a lot of concepts into as few words as possible. If you don’t know the “code” to get the references, the poem doesn’t make sense. I don’t usually know the “code”, and so most poetry leaves me scratching my head saying: what was THAT about? Nine Horses: Poems was not like that. The poems in this book were straight-forward reflections on everyday life in America. I understood what he was referring to, and so I understood his poems, and so I enjoyed reading them.
+10 Task
+ 05 Style: 1. Combo (5 points) (also fits: 20.10 He is a “Distinguished Professor” at Lehman College of the City University of New York)
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
+10 Style: 3. Not-a-Novel (10 points): Poetry
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 + 10 = 35
Grand Total: 270 + 35 =305
10.3 - Girls' NamesAnnabel by Kathleen Winter
"Annabel" is a book based around the premise of a child born as both male and female in the physical sense. As the main character, Wayne, grows up, unaware of the circumstances of his birth, it becomes clear that the duality is not only physical but emotional and mental as well. Medical restrictions and parameters can only do so much to solidify gender identity, and the physical manifestations eventually come to match the emotional ones.
Secrets swirl around all the main players of the book, not just around Wayne. From the midwife who helped birth Wayne to his mother and father to his peers and teachers in school, everyone is deeply wrapped in the secret lives they have made for themselves and/or been born into.
Change is another important, if obvious, theme of the book, the most clear being Wayne's transition to Annabel and then back to somewhere in between. This journey is paralleled in Wayne's mother Jacinta and the midwife/teacher Thomasina's journey into middle age and what that means as a woman, as well as in Wayne's childhood best friend, Wally, who loses the most important thing in her life and must grow and change around that loss to become who she will be.
This had the potential to be a very depressing book. But Kathleen Winter's handling of Wayne/Annabel's confusing life ends up being rather uplifting. Rather than dwelling on horror and prejudice and leading the reader to feel sorry for Wayne and his unusual circumstances, Kathleen Winter leaves the reader with a deep respect for this unique and strong character.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.2, nominee for the Orange Prize in 2011)
+10 Review
Task Total = 30
Grand Total = 65
Kate S wrote: "JD wrote: "20.1 - In honor of The Tattered CoverMark TwainThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
+20 Task (http://classiclit.about.com/od/huckle......"
Thank you for catching that for me!
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Reading with Style
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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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10.3 – Girls’ Names
Name: Lone
Lone is a Danish girl name. The meaning of the name is `Strength`.
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult is an author I always read. There's just something about the way she structures her stories that I enjoy and there's always a controversial issue that is explored from two points of view. In Lone Wolf, we have to weigh our beliefs about when life ends, and when a patient on life support should be let go. Luke has suffered a traumatic brain injury and his children differ on what should be done. Luke was also used to spending time with wolves; studying their behavior and even living as a member of a pack in the wild. The family has been estranged for the four years preceding his accident. Cara was living with him and was also in the accident and her brother has been living in Thailand after leaving suddenly at age 18. It's a real page turner, especially if you are interested in animal behavior and family relationships and bonds.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
20.4 In honor of El Ateneo bookstore
Swedish Series also aired on BBC: Wallander
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallande...
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell
I really enjoyed Sidetracked, Book 5 in the Kurt Wallander Series. At least I enjoyed it as much as is possible when brutal murders are the focus of the investigation. I like the slow, steady pace Wallander takes when solving these mysteries that is interspersed with some tense action scenes. I'm not very good at guessing mysteries, so I also like the way Mankell introduces the readers to the murderer before the crime is solved so that we actually have more information about what's going on than the police do! That is, until the top notch Investigator Wallander figure it out. I'm trying to read at least one of these mysteries for each challenge. They are well written and well translated and I enjoy the setting and descriptions of life in Sweden as well as the plot.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Points this Post: 50
Grand Total: 605