Reading with Style discussion

20.2 Rural Setting
White Fang by Jack London

This is the first book I defined in my life as my favorite book and it's still a book that I regularly re-read every few years. In The Shadow of the Wind it's mentioned that the first book that touches us shapes us in some manner and that we always return to it. I find that to be pretty true when it comes to this book. A story of tenacity and perseverance, I always found this book to be uplifting. Yes, the main character is a dog/wolf but I still connected to him none the less. White Fang goes through so much and the reader is led through his life to witness how his personality is shaped into first a rather brutal image but then how he is able to recover from that to become something better by the end. It's a short book but a dense one and still a favorite.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.4)
+10 Review
+10 Oldie (publ. 1905)

Task Total: 50

Grand Total: 130

RwS Task

10.10 - Group reads

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I read this book when it first came out and always felt I should re-read it before going on to the next book by Zafon. I decided to go for the audio version and it was fantastic! The narrator and music added another level of emotion to an already moving book. There is so much intrigue and such deep sorrow in the characters' lives that I couldn't help but be drawn deeply into the story. A love of literature and the importance it plays in our lives comes to the forefront of this story and the romance weaves in beautifully and poignantly. I was amazed all over again by this wonderful book. Thanks for choosing it as a group read!

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 415

Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Task

10.10 - Group reads

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I read this book when it first came out and always felt I should re-read it before going on to the next book by Zafon. I ..."

I'm so glad you liked it! and I agree that the audiobook version is fantastic - I was amazed to learn that Zafon even created the background music you hear throughout!

Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Task:

20.1 – In honor of Mary Shelley’s debut novel Frankenstein:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I have wanted to read House of Leaves for a long time. I really enjoy delving into ex..."

Karen, unfortunately, House of Leaves was a nominee for the Bram Stoker first novel award, not a winner and therefore does not qualify for 20.1. Sorry.

Kate S wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Task:

20.1 – In honor of Mary Shelley’s debut novel Frankenstein:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I have wanted to read House of Leaves for a long time. I really en..."

Aaaaaah! I chose it when the Stoker 1st novel was part of 20.6 that included nominees and then just moved it to 20.1 without noticing that nominees didn't count there:( ah well!

20.8 Veteran Author

The War by Marguerite Duras

I'm feeling sort of odd about this. It was my introduction to Marguerite Duras and I think it ought not to have been. On the other hand, I read it because I wanted some foreknowledge and perspective and this surely gave it to me.

The first 50 pages or so are a diary of the end of the war in Paris and her not knowing whether her husband survived. Waiting. Waiting. I tried to remind myself it was a diary, yet written so powerfully I had tears running down my cheeks in the first 10 pages.

The next about 80 pages were some autobiographical short stories she had written about the same time. These told of incidents in connection with her activity with the resistance.

Lastly, there were a couple of very short stories written contemporaneously with her resistance activities, but not autobiographical. They must certainly have been incidents she'd seen and on which she elaborated.

Each of these sections were prefaced with a paragraph or two she penned at time of publication in 1985, explaining what we were about to read. Introducing the autobiographical shorts is:

Thérèse is me. The person who tortures the informer is me. So also is the one who feels like making love to Ter, the member of the Militia. Me. I give you the torturer along with the rest of the texts. Learn to read them properly: they are sacred.

Sacred. Perhaps these brief introductions gave me as much insight as the texts themselves.

+20 Task (pub 1943-her death in 1995)
+10 Review
+15 combo (10.2 Vietnam, 20.7, 20.9)
+ 5 Oldies (pub 1985)

Task total = 50

Grand Total = 135

10.2 Oktoberfest

Capital by John Lanchester

Review: "Capital" follows the lives of a group of people who live and work on Pepys Road in London. To a lesser extent, it follows the street itself - a neighborhood that was built for lower middle class working people, but by 2007 has become a place for the well-to-do. Hovering over the story is a sense of impending doom as the financial crisis threatens, something that is highlighted on the book jacket.

The first section of the novel not only introduced the people, but introduced the street. The houses, each designed slightly different, have character of their own. A noisy furnace in one home impacts one family's life. Down the street, a woman cannot stop renovating, always needing something new. In a third house, the residents work to avoid a squeaky step. But as the book moves on, Pepys Road becomes more of a supporting character.

I expected this to be far more about the financial crisis than it was. The first character introduced is a banker, and his life of conspicuous consumption is threatened and is critiqued. But beyond that, the financial circumstances do little beyond setting the tone. People move on, and by the end the residents will likely be totally different than when the book started, but the bank failures and mortgage issues have not yet impacted the value of the homes.

This review is ending up much like I felt the book did, having great ambitions, but in the end failing to be fully cohesive. The book has so many characters, most of whom connect but few of whom actually impact each other, that it almost seems like a series of interconnected short stories than one epic novel. Regardless of its faults, however, I'm glad I picked it up.

+10 Task (author born in Germany)
+5 Combo (10.5 - one of the characters in the description, Petunia, is in her 80s)**
+5 Jumbo (592 pages)
+10 Review

Task Total: 30**
Grand Total: 345**

**Edited to add combo points based on clarification in 10.5 thread**

10.7 Monsterfest IV
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

This book was funny, charming, and action-packed urban fantasy all tied into one. The main character not only kicks :ahem: butt, at times literally, as a "cryptid" or monster hunter but is also a professional ballroom dancer who runs over rooftops for fun. Some of the most fun and interesting combination of elements I have seen in a book and yet it all tied together. The Aislin Mice are especially cute (think the little wee free men combined with religious Disney mice) and I really loved the descriptions of all the various cryptids. Reading about Madhura, especially, and how they basically smell like gingerbread kept making me hungry for a good cup of Chai or Molasses cookies. I have to admit I read this book in one sitting as it was just so much fun! I cannot wait for the second book in the series to come out now.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.7 - discussions on cryptozoology, etc)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25

Grand Total: 155

RwS

10.7 Monsterfest - Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Hexed is the second book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and it begins almost right where the first one leaves off and it doesn’t take long for the action to start and things get heated up for Atticus. Atticus gets involved with a coven of witches and witches are one of his least favorite magical creatures and along the way, Atticus becomes embroiled in something much bigger than he wants to be in.
This book is filled with magic and devilry. Trust and honor, humor and wit and I am enjoying this series immensely and I can’t wait to see what happens in Atticus next adventure!

+10 Task (ghouls, demons, etc)
+10 Review
+5 Multiple (2nd time I've completed this task)

Task Total=25
Grand Total=110 pts

RwS

10.9 To Be Continued... Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Oh Atticus, what a tangled web you weave….
This was by far my favorite book so far in this series so far. I thought it was highly entertaining and really felt for the struggle Atticus was in. Do you listen to the Gods or do you keep your word to your friends and cause major chaos to the world? Tough choice and in the end, I’m not sure Atticus made the proper choice but along the way, Hearne had me highly amused at the sub-plots interwoven into the main story (I particularly liked the Jesus storyline) and the characters were fantastic (I was almost in tears at the end of the one God’s story with the sea serpent). I almost wanted to kill Thor myself. Great series and I’m glad there are more coming!

+10 Task (the third book in Iron Druid Chronicles)
+5 Combo (10.7)
+10 Review

Task Total=25
Grand Total=135 pts

Could I take Blank Confession off of Oktoberfest and then claim House of Leaves in it's place? I'll post it again if the answer is yes.

Karen GHHS wrote: "Could I take Blank Confession off of Oktoberfest and then claim House of Leaves in it's place? I'll post it again if the answer is yes."

Yes - good question Karen, and the answer bears repeating for all members. You can always move books around. When you do, please reference the original post number and then tell us what needs to be changed. If the change results in a different point total, or that you/we think is a different point total, please let us know and we will also as usual.

RwS Task

10.2 - Celebrate Oktoberfest Message 5

Please remove Blank Confessionfrom this task

Task Total: -10
Grand Total: (also includes -45 for House of Leaves message 267) 360

RwS Task

10.2 - Celebrate Oktoberfest

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I have wanted to read House of Leaves for a long time. I really enjoy delving into experimental literature and it was certainly that! Stories within stories, extended footnotes and words going sideways and upside down, just like the very frightening house itself. Sometimes all of these distractions got to be a little much, but all in all it drew me in and the intensity of some of the scenes was incredible. I was left with a lot of questions that were unresolved, but I like that. I particularly enjoyed the poems and letters near the end of the book. I think I would benefit from a re-read, but it will be awhile before I want to take on the 709 pages again! Recommended to those who enjoy a really different reading experience!

+10 Task: Author born in the United States
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo (709 pages)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 390

10.9 To Be Continued
Something Witchy This Way Comes by H.P. Mallory

+10 task
+10 review
+ 5 combo (10.7-ghosts, witches, vampires)

Task Total=25 pts

Grand Total=100 pts

The review:
I just finished the latest installment in the Jolie Wilkins series last night and I'm already looking forward to number six coming out (H.P., you better be busy writing!). Something Witchy This Way Comes was slightly different then the previous books. The first part of this book deals with the aftermath of Sinjin's time travel from The Witch Is Back while the rest of the book gives us a more in-depth look at the Lurker society. This book provides answers to some questions ( i.e. if Jolie is "so much more" than just a witch what exactly is she) and introduces some new questions that will likely be answered in the next book.

While I'm continuing to enjoy this series, I do feel like this book was a little short for all that was introduced in it. I would have liked to have read more detailed information about the Lurkers. I feel like these new characters weren't as developed as the older main characters. We spend quite a bit of time with Luce and I know that the author intends for there to be some mystery surrounding this character but I would have liked a deeper look into his mind and thoughts...at least something on the level that we've received with Rand, Sinjin, and many other characters. Maybe in the next installment?

That being said, I am glad that I have discovered this series (and my new favorite character, Sinjin). Each book is the perfect fun and light read for those times when you need something fun and light. ;) I received Something Witchy This Way Comes as an e-ARC and am happy that I did, as I doubt I would have known about this series without the ARC.

Jenifer wrote: "10.9 To Be Continued
Something Witchy This Way Comes by H.P. Mallory

+10 task
+10 review
+ 10 combo (10.7-ghosts, witches, vampires & 10.8 seven letters in author's last name)

Task Total=30 pts

..."

The 10.8 author requirement is for an author's first name, so no combo for 10.8.

Oops, sorry. I'll correct it.

10.3 Garfunkel

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Review:
This was so funny! Fielding's 18th century is very different from Dickens' 19th.

Tom Jones is constantly falling into bed with women and being forgiven by the love of his life. Men can get away with anything except dishonesty, it seems. But it's not all one-sided. Ladies seem to be able to do what they like with whoever they like after they are married, though they must be pure as snow before.

The author does amazing things at the end, to make Tom apparently fall irretrievably into the dirt and then have it all turn around. I wasn't totally convinced he would be faithful to Sophia but maybe it was realistic that this wasn't what mattered.

Recommended for anybody who likes reading classics but finds the Victorians too good to be true.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+20 Oldies (pub.1749)
+25 Jumbo (1024 pages)

Task Total: 65 points
Grand Total: 390

20.7 Women of Achievement Month

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Review: I've seen the movie, but only once or twice, so reading the book I had a vague memory of what happens but it wasn't enough to distract me and notice all the changes. It was a quick, light read... I expect that Sophie Kinsella was influenced by Fielding in her Shopaholic books. It has the same vibe, and the same questionable math (I really don't see how Bridget can maintain a relatively steady weight with her erratic calorie consumption, but I expect that's not the point. Really, I think books following people who basically make messes of their lives but still come out on top must make us normal people feel ok to be messes ourselves - and I like that.

+20 Task (I'd hoped maybe Bridget wouldn't have any conversations that weren't about guys so I could claim this for Square Peg, but she talks to her mom a couple of times about things like luggage and makeup)
+5 Multiple
+10 Review

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 380 (after adjusting previous post to add a combo)

10.7 Monsterfest IV

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Review:
American twins Valentina and Julia Poole inherit their aunt's London flat, only to find that their aunt's ghost is still living in it. There's also her lover downstairs and a middle-aged man with OCD upstairs.
I thought this was marvellously inventive. I didn't have a lot of sympathy for the characters - they all had something unlikeable about them - but I enjoyed the plot (even though I guessed what Elspeth was going to do). I didn't totally understand why Valentina did what she did, but Audrey Niffenegger must have a wonderful imagination, and I loved the parts about Highgate Cemetery.

+10 Task (pub.2009, contains ghosts)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.7 the twins have conversations about London, clothes, their aunt, etc; 20.8 http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/a...)

Task Total: 30 points
Grand Total: 420

10.3 Garfunkel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson

+10 task
+10 combo (20.6 Gothic, 20.5 Dr. Jekyll)
+10 oldie (1886)

Task total 30

Total points 30

10.4 Fall Colors

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (white for the white rose of the House of Lancaster)

+10 task
+5 combo (20.8 Veteran, 1987-present)

Task total 15

Total points 45

10.5 International Day for the Elderly

The Joy of Writing: A Guide for Writers Disguised as a Literary Memoir by Pierre Berton (He was 83 when he published this)

+10 task
+10 combo (20.8 Veteran, 1954-2004, 10.2 Cdn)

Task total 20

Total points 65

10.7 Monsterfest

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff (Monsters emerge from the UnderRealm)

+10 task
+10 combo (20.4 Huff is a lesbian, 20.8 Veteran 1988-present)

Task total 20

Total points 85

Oh! I just saw Rosemary's review of Her Fearful Symmetry in post 303 (which I claimed points for in post 175) - I hadn't realized that Niffenegger published a novel in 1986. Would it be possible to add 5 combo points for "20.8 - Veteran Authors" to my score for that book, bringing my total for that book to 30 and my overall total to 240?

Thank you!

Melanie wrote: "Oh! I just saw Rosemary's review of Her Fearful Symmetry in post 303 (which I claimed points for in post 175) - I hadn't realized that Niffenegger published a novel in 1986. Would it be possible to..."

Yep - we'll catch that for you!

RwS Task

20.8 - Kate S’ Task – Veteran’s Day, November 11th:

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

On Rollrock Island, there are no little girls. The sea holds secrets and keeps the islanders in their closed community. The ancient lore of the selkie is retold in this beautiful book by Margo Lanagan, one of the most talented authors writing for young adults today and hailing from Australia. The book is told as a series of seven linked stories and follows the voices of the island witch (the one who can call the women from their seal skins for a price) and her protege, a father, a son, and a newcomer from the mainland among others. The poignant and lyrical writing pulled me in from the first story. If you are looking for literary fiction and a magical story, then this one’s for you.

I've requested a lexile for this book because most of Lanagan's books range from 820 to 900. Infact, if you are looking for short stories or color words that will combo, her collections Red Spikes and Black Juice are top notch.

+20 Task: Margo Lanagan has published from 1991 to 2012/ no lexile yet, just published

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 410

RwS Task

20.9 - Elizabeth (Alaska)’s Task – National Author’s Day, November 1st:

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Between my love of Paris and my recent reading of books by Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and the recent book The Paris Wife, reading Hemingway's memoir of his writing life in Paris seemed like a must and I totally enjoyed it. It is bitter sweet, though, how he writes about the suicides of his companions and the severe alcohol problems of F. Scott Fitzgerald from the voice of his younger and more positive self (or maybe more self centered self) in his Paris life with Hadley, The title The Lost Generation is defined by the struggles for self worth evident in this memoir as Hemingway describes Fitzgerald. I also found his conversations with Gertrude Stein a fascinating insight into the attitudes of the time. Since I primarily read fiction, I appreciate having this task take me into the memories of this great writer and giving me insight into the whole group of Paris writers at the same time.

+20 Task: Memoir of Hemingway, a writer
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.3 Garfunkle / 20.8 Veteran’s Day (1925 – 1952) / 20.10 Suicide Prevention
+ 5 Oldies (1964)

Task Total: 50

Grand Total: 460

20.8 - Kate S' Task - Veteran's Day, November 11th

The Moon And Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

+20 Task Published from 1897-1948
+10 Combo (10.3 and 20.4 )
+10 Oldies

Total Task Points: 40

Grand Total: 40

10.6 Political Season

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

+10 Task

Season Total: 710

10.7 Monsterfest IV

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

+10 Task
+10 Jumbo (734 pages in most popular edition)

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 730

20.2 Rural Setting

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3, 20.8)
+10 Oldies (1885)

Season Total: 770

15.3 - 3rd book - letter D
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
+15 Task

Grand Total: 110 points

20.4 - Carmilla (repeat)

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

This story was creepy and atmospheric, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The setting had all the requisite ingredients such as ground fog, moonlit scenery, a crumbling ancient cemetery, an extinct family and their abandoned ancestral home, mysterious unexplained deaths in the neighborhood, and a ghastly climactic scene. A young girl named Laura was living with her father in relative isolation in the Austrian countryside. A carriage overturned near their home, and they agreed to give temporary shelter to a young girl who was in the carriage, Carmilla. Carmilla turns out to have some strange behaviors and habits, and simply goes missing periodically. Carmilla also begins to profess absolute love and adoration for Laura. Perhaps I dozed off, or was so dense it went over my head, but I just didn't see any lesbianism. None of the events had any sexual overtones, at least not to me. This story was just the right amount of "creepy" for my tastes, and I wish I had read it closer to Halloween!

+20 Task
+20 Combo (10.2 born in Ireland; 20.6 #9 on Top 100 Gothic Novels; 20.7 Carmilla and Laura don't talk about men; 20.8 Le Fanu published from 1838 to 1872)
+5 Multiple
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1872)

Task total=65
Grand total=370

15.3 Know Your ABC's (third book)

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

+15 task

Grand Total = 115

20.1 Frankenstein

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (890 Lexile)

Review: 'The Lovely Bones' is the story of a murder, but not in the way of a typical mystery or thriller. From the first chapter, we know what has happened to Susie Salmon, and we know the identity of her murderer. Instead of wondering what has happened, we follow the effects Susie's death has on her family, her friends, her community, and on Susie herself.

While there were parts of this novel that were perhaps too descriptive or too sentimental, in the end I found it to be a successful examining of many things - of life, of loss, of love, of growing up - and of letting go.

+20 Task (2002 Bram Stoker First Novel Winner)
+5 Combo (20.7 - passes Bechtel Test - Susie has conversations with other girls/women about Heaven)
+10 Review

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 415

15.4 - 4th book - letter E
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

+20 Task

Grand Total: 130 points

20.4 Carmilla

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Review:
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of those classics of which I've heard often lately, but which I didn't have to read for school and so far haven't read at all. It is also one of those book that I intended to read for quite some time. So I simply had to get it when audible offered it for free as part of their whispersync-for-voice promotion.
My first impression of the book was that it might belong to the average book and that I might quickly tire of it. However, this impression was quickly replaced (if I can remember correctly sometime during the second or third chapter) by a feeling that this is really a very good book. It shows the depths of the human soul and how a “nice person” can be changed for the worse when making the false choices and being flattered one time too many.
This certainly belongs to the books that everyone should read at least once. The audiobook is also quite good. I liked the narrator immensely and can recommend that as well.


+ 20 Task (http://www.glbtq.com/literature/wilde...)
+ 10 Oldies (pub. 1890)
+ 10 Review
+ 15 Combo (10.2: born in Ireland; 10.3; 20.6)

Task Total: 55
Grand Total: 425

RwS

10.2 Oktoberfest

Irish Author

Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts by Samuel Beckett

Review:
I am not often a reader of plays, so I may not be the best judge of what is good. I chose this play to read because I had heard of it and thought it was an important play.

I didn't understand it. It was tedious to read - especially the several pages of Lucky's "thinking" . The play covered two days - one day for each act. The location was in a field under a tree. The primary characters were two men who might have been friends but certainly knew each other. Much of the conversation between the two men was circular which was cute at first but became tedious by the end. Mr. Beckett never did explain their relationship nor the reason they were waiting for Godot.

I do not understand why this play was so important. Perhaps it would have impacted me differently if I had actually seen it on stage. However, reading it is not what I would recommend.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.8 approx 50 years of publishing)
+5 Oldies (published 1952)

Points: 30

Total Points: 30

RwS


10.8 Lucky Sevens

Option B: 7 Letters in Author First Name

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Review:
This book was made into a movie and the ads made me think that Mickey Haller was a down-and-out lawyer that worked out of a car (a Lincoln). Well, partly right. He is a lawyer and he does own Lincolns, but he is not yet destitute although he is skating on the edge.

Mickey's clients are frequently the petty criminals, many of whom may be guilty. However, he is skilled enough to get many of them set free or at least with reduced sentences. He is also a man who has had multiple marriages with ex-wives still part of his world and often helping him in his work. And, he has a daughter with whom he is trying to re-build a relationship.

Enter the client - Louis Roulet - who Mickey thinks is his salvation, "a franchise client", who can be billed top fees because he has the money and will pay anything for his defense. At first, Mickey thinks he has the perfect client - rich and innocent. But, then the investigation starts to point to an old crime and Mickey finds that a previous client who was convicted of a brutal murder was innocent of the crime he now suspects Louis committed. How does he get the previous client out of jail and convict his own client of both crimes?

The ending was perfect! But, getting to the ending had me on tenterhooks with worry about Mickey and those he loved.

+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.2 USA author, 20.8 pub 1992-2012)
+10 Review

Points: 30

Total Points: 60

RwS


10.9 To Be Continued...

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

Review:
What a delightful series the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is! This is book #12. And, I can tell you that reading them is order is nice but not required. Each book can stand alone but there is a continuation of events that make reading them in order feel like reading one big book.

In this story, Mma Robotswe has a client whose cattle have had their legs cut...a really evil act in the Botswana culture where cattle represent one's wealth. She must solve this puzzle and find out who would do such a thing!

And, her assistant detective, Grace Makutsi is getting married and, of course, there is the issue of finding the right shoes and then struggling with telling her finance about their destruction. Will he still want to marry her?

Finally, is Charlie a father? Seems a girl he was dating has had twins and Charlie is ignoring them.

These are the types of inquiries that Mma Ramotswe must solve as the primary detective of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. And, solve them she does with her understanding of the people involved and a bit of creativity.

Delightful books for light, fun reading.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.8 published from 1978-2012)

Points: 25

Total Points: 85

Know Your ABC's

I am attempting K-T alphabet and 25 year span.

Book 1: K

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

published 1998

Points: 15

Total Points: 100

Bea wrote: "Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts by Samuel Beckett

I do not understand why this play was so important. Perhaps it would have impacted me differently if I had actually seen it on stage. However, reading it is not what I would recommend. ..."

This is definitely a play that needs to be seen, rather than read. And seen as performed by an Irish/British company (they "get" the humor; all the American productions I've seen take it too seriously). It was important probably for all the reasons it is so difficult to read -- it defied the theater conventions of the time (it was written/performed around the time of A Streetcar Named Desire, The Crucible), by combining an old style of performing, vaudeville clowns, with the bleak message and inaction/lack of plot of nihilism. The success of this play changed the then accepted conventions of theater, for both the audience and playwrights, and allowed theater to take different, less realistic/naturalistic forms.

Liz M wrote: "This is definitely a play that needs to be seen, rather than read... The success of this play changed the then accepted conventions of theater, for both the audience and playwrights, and allowed theater to take different, less realistic/naturalistic forms.
..."

Thanks, Liz. Perhaps if I get the chance to see it, I will try it out again.

Bea wrote: "Thanks, Liz. Perhaps if I get the chance to see it, I will try it out again..."

~grin~ Thanks for indulging me; I work in the performing arts & have studied/read/seen this play many times.

20.8 Veterans' Day

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

Review: It's the time of year when I look through my to-read list and pick some things I think might work as Christmas presents. I'd hoped this would work for my brother, who loves space operas, but I'm undecided.

'Shards of Honor' is a science fiction story, and a story of political intrigue, and a romance, but seems little more than a sketch of any of those things. It is one of Bujold's earliest novels, and the first in her Vorkosigan saga, functioning as a kind of prequel to her later Miles Vorkosigan series (and it's possible those ones will resonate more with my brother).

The story centers around Cornelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan, people from different worlds and different cultures who are thrown together injuring a war. It turns out neither truly belongs in their own culture, but they understand each other. In the sequel to this one, the culture clash is supposed to come to the forefront, and I'm looking forward to the fleshing out of the world and the characters.

+20 Task (Bujold has published since the 1980s and continues to publish today)
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo (20.7 - passes Bechtel Test - upon arrival at prison camp, Cornelia talks conditions/war with other female prisoner)
+5 Oldies (published in 1986)
+10 Review

Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 460

10.5 International Day for the Elderly

A New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Rundell

Review:
I found this hard going and had to read it a little every day for 2 weeks but I'm not into cooking at all, and from a social history point of view it was fascinating.
There are hundreds of 'receipts' along with instructions for keeping and preparing food and, at the end, notes for servants, e.g. how to clean various types of furniture. It even tells you how to make black ink. In fact, the book probably includes everything that an early 19th-century cook in a middle class family (or her mistress) would need to know.
I was amazed how much meat they ate, and how they used every last bit of an animal to make one thing or another. There seems to have been an infinite variety of ways to prepare meat, but much less information about vegetables. Presumably that was just a question of taking whatever was in season, boiling it and adding one of the many sauces or gravies. The quantities are huge too: one recipe calls for 150 oysters. I suppose that would be for a party, but all of the recipes are obviously written for a large household including family and servants.
Some of the recipes (especially the puddings, sweets and preserves) could easily be made today if you wanted to. Others include ingredients that we might have trouble finding, e.g. calf's heads, sorrel juice and clary flowers.

+10 Task (Mrs Rundell was 61 when first edition was published, approved in help thread)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (pub.1806)

Task Total: 35 points
Grand Total: 455

20.3 In Honor Of Edgar Allen Poe's Tales

Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes by Mollie Panter-Downes

Review:
Mollie Panter-Downes wrote for the New Yorker from England through the Second World War and after. While the stories in Good Evening, Mrs Craven were set in England during the war, those in Minnie's Room were written later (1947-65). Many of them show people whose lives have been battered by the war and its aftermath. They're sometimes bleak, sometimes hilarious. The characters are ordinary people made interesting by details that pick up on their charming, absurd or pathetic individuality.
My favourite was 'The Old People' (1950) which had me laughing out loud over and over again with its portrait of a family forced to take the grandparents along on their annual seaside holiday. Here's a quote: "Cecily sometimes noticed [another hotel guest] gazing at her father-in-law with romantic respect, as though he detected on the old man's food-spotted waistcoat a plaque that said 'In this building, now ruined, Edward Munroe Darlington lived for many years'."

+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (last story written 1965)

Task Total: 35 points
Grand Total: 490

20.10 Suicide Prevention Day

Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist

Review:
Michael Kohlhaas is a classic in German literature. I found the book by accident and really enjoyed it.
Michael Kohlhaas tells the story of a horse-dealer of the same name, who encounters injustice by the rulers of his country and is determined to fight for his rights and obtain justice. When his law-suit fails to achieve the desired results he is even prepared to take up arms against. This story is based on real events that happened in Brandenburg and Saxony (both Germany) during the mid-16th century.
I could probably relate to the story all the more because I study law, so the legal problems that make up a large part of the story interest me on a professional basis as well. But I found it even more intriguing for the moral aspects it presents and the questions it raises. Where does one’s right to fight for justice end? While this is set in a time and society quite different from the present, I found that the questions and values presented in this book have not become outdated.
This is really a recommended read for everyone. And while I’m at it I have to praise the LibriVox narration once again. I listened to the German LibriVox solo narration, which was really good. I’ve also noticed that LibriVox also has an English narration of the book, but haven’t listened to that, so I can’t say anything about the quality of that version.


+ 20 Task Points (Kleist shot himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich...)
+ 10 Review
+ 15 Oldies (pub. 1810)
+ 5 Combo (20.4: http://www.glbtq.com/literature/kleis...)

Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 475

15.6 6th Book F-2007

Oystercatchers by Susan Fletcher

+20 Task

Grand Total = 155

my review

An added note: I would not have found this author had it not been for an RwS task a few seasons back that asked for a winner of the Whitbread Prize. Each season I find there are gems yet to be discovered.