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

Anika’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

15.4 CYOA, Mystery => Poirot => Tea => Oolong

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

+15 Task, doubled letter in author's name

Task total: 15
Season total: 330

15.3 CYOA, Mystery => Poirot => Tea

Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford

+15, pub. 2023

Task total: 15
Season total: 315

20.8 Temple Bar Pub

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox

+20 Task, she drinks both whiskey and beer
+10 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 30
Season total: 300

20.6 Reducing Emissions

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

+20 Task
+20 Combo: 10.6, half of the book takes place in a lab at the Stanford School of Medicine; 10.9, neuroscience; 20.5, Aspen Longlist 2021; 20.8, Gifty has her first beer with a friend at a party

Task total: 40
Season total: 270

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "15.2 in the mystery path, it asks for a book whose title includes all the letters in “HOLMES” or “POIROT”. Does that include subtitles?"

Yes, you can use subtitles 😊

20.10 True/False

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston

+20 Task: Preston, who is mostly known for his fiction, applies his narrative style to this crazy true crime case
+10 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 30
Season total: 230

20.9 I Bless the Rains

Co-Wives, Co-Widows by Adrienne Yabouza

+20 Task
+5 Bonus, set in Central African Republic

Task total: 25
Season total: 200

20.4 Climate Science

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

I remember when Kate chose this as a Group Read title...I got it as an audiobook from the library, listened to the first twenty minutes, and just could not get into it. So glad I decided to try again!
At first, I felt like I was reading a Lord of the Flies reboot and I was never a huge fan of that book.
As you keep reading, you realize it is a sort of retelling--of the Bible. You have someone collecting animals to save them from a flood, a burning bush, a baby born in a barn, you have angels, a persecuted man attached to a dogwood tree, an omniscient presence who descend from the sky to set things right, and it is all happening with the backdrop of Apocalypse told from Eve's (yes, the narrator is named Eve) viewpoint. I know there were more correlations, but you get the idea.
I have completed a few books between my reading of this and the writing of this review and one of the things that most stuck with me was a child's understanding and interpretation of the Trinity: God=Nature, Son=Science, Holy Ghost=Art.
I ended up loving this book and will probably reread it at some point, it was that good.

+20 Task, shelved 42 times as "cli-fi"
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 20.5, nominated for Aspen in 2020; 20.6; 20.8, Eve drinks a beer and her mom drinks bourbon

Task total: 45
Season total: 175

10.9 Surgery Best Wishes

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

I tend to have low expectations for books with "________'s Book Club" designations on the cover or a "Chick Lit" MPG, but sometimes all I want is a mental palate cleanser to help me get the noise and furor that the news/social media out of my head and books like that tend to do the trick.
This one was a pleasant surprise! I thought it was going to be pure humor/comedy of errors and that it was not: while there was plenty of humor and all of the diversion I was hoping for, there was a great story imbued with real empathy and humanity. The characters were well formed, I was engaged in their stories, and I really didn't want it to end.

+10 Task, Gary (the groom of the titular "Wedding") is a gastroenterologist
+10 Review
+10 Combo: 10.5, 20.8: Phoebe drinks whiskey multiple times

Task total: 30
Season total: 130

10.3 April Showers

One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder by Brian Doyle

I loved this collection of essays so much and needed it right now.
I admit: I don't remember how this ended up in my Libby holds (it had been on my hold shelf since November), where I heard about it, didn't even really know what it was about...so glad I didn't delete the hold and that I actually read it. I had tears running down my face for a fair amount of this. His writing is insightful, wry, beautiful, and I don't know how I haven't heard of this man before. For fans of Mary Oliver and Bill Bryson (though I can't quite put my finger on why--their topics and treatment are very different, but there's something in the sense of who these men are than remind me of each other).
So good I immediately purchased a hardback copy for my home library.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel, essays
+5 Combo: 10.7, "Song"

Task total: 35
Season total: 100

Tien wrote: "For "far future" - would 2058 be far enough?

Holiday in Death (In Death #7) was published 1998 so 2058 would have seemed to be the far future lol"

That works 🤗

15.2 CYOA: Mystery->Poirot

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg (15.2, suPercOmmunIcaTORs)

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Season total: 65

Tien wrote: "A bio on Queen Victoria?"

After reading some reviews for this book, it sounds like it talks a fair amount about her interest in and influence on politics and policy.
We’ll accept it. Enjoy!

15.1 CYOA: Mystery

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (15.1: MPG Mystery)

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Season total: 50

Welcome, Kathleen!
I love “dark, tense, and adventurous” so hope you’ll be participating in the challenge and that you’ll be writing reviews for your books—I’m always on the lookout for something new…

20.1 Adaptation and Resilience

How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

We think we know their tales, but in this retelling we get their stories--and hear the lasting repercussions from the unusual circumstances they lived through--from their own mouths. Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard's last wife, Gretel, and Cinderella meet with a mystery woman and a "therapist" in a basement somewhere in Manhattan for group therapy.
This one was hard to put down--I loved the writing, the characters, the creativity, the pacing. I am a sucker for a retelling so I know I'm def the target audience, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story well told.

+20 Task
+5 Combo: Brandon (a.k.a.: Prince Charming) drinks whiskey (out of a peanut butter jar, no less)
+10 Review

Task total: 35
Season total: 35

15.9 BBR3, Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

I. Read a book originally written in a different language than the one your BBR was originally written in: BBR written in English, 15.9 title written in Faroese

The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú

+25 Task

Task total: 25
Season total: 1870

15.8 BBR3, Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

G. Read another book published the same year as your BBR: both first published in 2004.

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (1040 Lexile)

+25 Task

Task total: 25
Season total: 1845

15.7 BBR3, Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

H. Read a book with the same number of words in the title as your BBR.

You Are Here by David Nicholls

+20 Task

Task total: 20
Season total: 1810

20.8 That’s Not How It Happened

The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew (780 Lexile)

+20 Task, Sidewise Award 2015
+10 Combo: 10.5, pub. 2015; 20.2, most of the characters in this book were female and they talked about many things, including: ice skating, politics, revolution, neighborhood gossip, and so much more

Task total: 30
+50 Halfway Finish, 20-point Tasks
+200 MegaFinish
Season total: 1790