Anika’s Comments (group member since Dec 25, 2011)

Anika’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.9 haLLowEEn

Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood

+20 Task, liTTlewOOd
+5 Combo: 20.3: Fr (francium) Li (lithium) Tl (thallium) W (tungsten)
+5 Multiple

Task total: 30
Season total: 640

20.7 Art

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

+20 Task, first in the Graves Glen trilogy
+10 Young, b. 1979
+5 Series
+20 Combo: 20.1, from her Wikipage: "She began writing her first novel, Hex Hall, while working as an English teacher at Sparkman High School"; 20.3, Er (erbium) In (indium) Te (tellurium) Li (lithium); 20.5, about witches with a ghost thrown in for good measure; 20.8, b. 1979

Task total: 55
Season total: 610

15.9 Scrabble

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

+15 Task, Y2--author aged 50 or younger: Roth is 36

Task total: 15
Season total: 555

10.8 BAD

Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs

+10 Task
+10 Combo: 10.6, "Grandma Helen--who doesn't share my parents' disdain for law enforcement--checks her reflection in her silver compact before fluffing her gray curls"; 20.3, Am (americum) Li (lithium) Ne (neon) Co (cobalt)

Task total: 20
Season total: 540

15.8 Scrabble

In the Quick by Kate Hope Day

+15 Task, Q1, any title word begins. with "q"

Task total: 15
Season total: 520

Deedee wrote: "I'd assume for character names that both Rafael Salazar and Robert Louis Stevenson would apply. However, for same city/country/world and for time period, which of the two timelines should I use?

There are many books with two .... or three! .... timelines, so knowing the general rule for those books would be helpful"

When choosing a book with multiple timelines or locations, you'd use whichever has >51%. Keep in mind, though, that if the book took place in multiple states of the U.S. with none of them taking up a majority of the action but at least >51% of the action remained in the U.S., you could use "U.S.A" as location.

Deedee wrote: "Hi -- sorry for asking so many questions -- I'm looking at the Murderbot Diaries series now (see: https://www.goodreads.com/series/1919... ). I've read and enjoyed the first 2 ..."

A: "Murderbot" would work for first name
B: "Mensah" would work for last name.
Perfect that these books are set in same time place and will fit in C and D!
Sorry again about Hamnet (I was considering that one, too, until realizing there were *no* last names), but so glad you were quickly able to find a substitute!

Connie wrote: "Regarding C - Location for the BBR, can we use the over 50% rule for location? I want to use the book The Women which has over 50% set in Vietnam, but also has some parts in southe..."

Yes! Wherever the book is set at least 51% would be the setting you'd use for the task.

Rosemary wrote: "Are graphic novels allowed?"

You could choose a graphic novel to be your BBR, allowing that the author has written something other than graphic novels that you could read for task E...
We are running this sub with traditional sub rules (no graphic novels, no low-Lexile--but the book you choose as your BBR base book is not constricted by these rules, only the books you're claiming for tasks).

Tien wrote: "For setting in fantasy... so if I read a fantasy book in an imaginary world, does it have to be set in the same imaginary world or can I read any fantasy book as long as it has imaginary setting?"

It does have to be the same imaginary world.
Hopefully, the BBR you're choosing is a series so would be set in the same world?

Deedee wrote: ".My specific questions: can I use "Shakespeare" in the last name prompt? And, for his wife, should I use Anne and/or Agnes??"

Hi, Deedee! Sorry for the delay in response. I've been trying to find a digital copy of this book to verify the answer before I gave it (since I listened to it years ago, my memory of it was a little spotty).
Now that I have one: the name "Shakespeare" is never used in the novel, only in the author's note, so the last name would not work for this task.
Even though we as the reader understand it is about the historical figure and writer, for this task the name *must* be present/written in the body of the novel.
Both "Anne" and "Agnes" are used in the text, so either would work for this task.

***Edit: Upon further investigation, I fear Hamnet won't work for BBR since NONE of the characters have last names?!
"In the novel "Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell, there are no last names used for any characters, including the character representing William Shakespeare; the story focuses solely on first names, intentionally avoiding the weight of established surnames like "Shakespeare." "

15.7 Scrabble

The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn

+15 Task, T5 translated from a language other than your own: tx from German

Task total: 15
Season total: 515

10.2 Gothic Fiction

Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James

+10 Task, #32 on list
+5 Jumbo, MPE 568 pgs
+15 Combo: 10.9, 20.1, 20.5

Task total: 30
Season total: 500

15.6 Scrabble

The World in Half by Cristina Henríquez

+15, Z1, author last name has a “z”

Task total: 15
Season total: 470

15.5 Scrabble

The September House by Carissa Orlando

+15 Task, T6--No "t" in author's name

Task total: 15
Season total: 455

20.1 Back to School

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

+20 Task, "She has taught in the Creative Writing programs of NYU, The New School, and Institute for American Indian Arts. She currently teaches in the Creative Writing Department at Yale University."
+10 Young, b. 1977 (from an instagram post she wrote: "Today’s my birthday~ happy to know you, happy to be here, since 1977"
+15 Combo: 10.5, "Bertino"=7 letters; 10.6, "A pantyhose run peeks out from her short skirt, a line of gold under the office lights."; 20.3, Ar (argon) He (helium) Ne (neon) B (boron)

Task total: 45
Season total: 440

Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "10.8 Crime Writers Festival
A Caribbean Mysteryby Agatha Christie
Crime in the MPG
Book total: 10
Grand total 200"

This book won't work for 10.8 since it has to be a new-to-you mystery writer and it looks like you've got almost 30 Christie books on your "Read" shelf ;-)

Luckily, it could be used for 10.6 ("'Not everyone,' said Dr. Graham dryly, 'is so considerate as to use arsenic"), 20.3, or 20.8.
Let us know where you'd like to claim it!

15.4 Scrabble

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry

+15, B1: any bird name in title

Task total: 15
Season total: 395

15.3 Scrabble

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

+15, U1, pub'd in '10s of any century: pub. 2019

Task total: 15
Season total: 380

20.9 haLLowEEn

The Village Healer’s Book of Cures by Jennifer Sherman Roberts

+20 Task, viLLage bOOk
+25 Combo: 10.5: "Roberts"=7 letters; 10.6, "...they labored to understand the laws governing matter itself, the chemical properties of the lead and the salts and iron they handled"; 20.1, from her LinkedIn page: "Adjunct Instructor at Southern Oregon University from Jan 2019-June 2020"; 20.3: Ni (nickel) Fe (iron) O (oxygen) Be (beryllium); 20.4, every chapter opens with a different recipe, complete with amounts and preparation directions

Task total: 45
Season total: 365