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Spring 2013 Rws Completed Tasks - Spring 2013
20.1 Jane Austen's lifetime:Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist
The general outlines of the story are familiar: a decent hard-working man is unfairly treated by someone in a position of authority and, as all attempts at legitimate redress fail, he takes it upon himself to punish the wrong-doer. I found the first quarter of the novel, the depiction of the wrongs done to Kohlhaas and his efforts to achieve justice through the legal system, engrossing. But after his initial act of vengeance, my interest flagged. It felt like the narration drew back at that point, as if the third-person narration shifted from one that overheard the thoughts of Kohlhaas to one that only observed and reported his actions. I am not sure if there was a difference in the writing, or if the initial act of vengeance was too disproportionate, causing me to lose my empathy for Kohlhaas. In any case, I found the rest of the novel to be more matter-of-fact and dry after this point, except for an odd twist or two at the end.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 oldies (pub. 1810)
Task total: 45 points
Grand Total: 530 points
20.5 In honor of Emma:Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
The reasons this lovely little novel was a best-seller in 1950s France are not terribly relevant today -- the shocking overt sexuality of its day seems rather tame compared to blandest TV shows of today. It opens with a charming sentence: "A strange melancholy pervades me to which I hesitate to give the grave and beautiful name of sadness". However, don't expect much introspection. The protagonist, 17-yer old Cecile, lives a frivolous and dissolute lifestyle with her Don Juan father until the presence of Anne, a friend of the family, threatens their peaceful existence. Unfortunately, Sagan's writing is unable to transcend the frivolity she describes and this story remains all surface. Except for a few rare moments, Anne is nothing more than a cardboard cut-out and the relentless first-person narration of the enfant terrible somehow avoids depth of emotion; her rendition of a tragic event left me unmoved. Nonetheless, it is a delightful novel, perfect for a quick summertime read!
+20 task
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub. 1954)
Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 565 points
20.3 - In honor of Pride & PrejudiceCat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
BPL YA Assignment, 790 Lexile, Bloom’s Canon
I am a fan of Kurt Vonnegut's work and Cat's Cradle has been waiting on my to-read list for a long while now. I find that the more familiar I am with Vonnegut, the more I like his sharp satire and wit. I do think it helps to have some memory of, or connection to the subject, time period and societal norms he's writing about as well. In this case, I was intrigued by the focus on the day "the bomb" exploded. Of course, I enjoyed all of the sub plots and twists and turns that Vonnegut throws into the mix. Ice-nine, Bokononism and connecting "soles" were among my favorites. Quite enjoyable!
+20 Task: 120,719 and 4.18 Rating
+ 5 Combo: 20.6 - In honor of Northanger Abbey/ satirist
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1963)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 1985
The PlusThe Chouans by Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)
This added further to my knowledge of the French Revolution. It takes place in 1799 in Brittany, where people of deep religious conviction resided. The Republic had virtually outlawed religion and gave the churches themselves "to the people." Though France and Napoleon were carrying on battles throughout Europe at this time, France itself had been relatively peaceful for a few years. The Chouans, those Breton Catholics, rose up in honor of God and King. Vive le roi!
There is a lot of plot to this. It opens with a skirmish between the Republican "Blues" and the Chouans at a promontory called La Pelerine. Much of this novel is the conflict between these groups. There is also a rather nice romance between a beautiful woman hired by the Blues (at 300,000 francs) to bewitch the chief of the Chouans - the Gars - and to betray him so that he could be killed. As the reader gets deeper into the novel, it becomes quite a good thriller.
Though there is the excellent plot, Balzac manages to find a way for decent characterization as well - decent, not excellent or perfect. Here he finds a way to express rage:
On this occasion the tone of smothered rage with which he uttered the words made his two friends silent and circumspect. Even the pits of the small-pox which dented that veteran face seemed deeper, and the skin itself browner than usual. His broad queue, braided at the edges, had fallen upon one of his epaulettes as he replaced his three-cornered hat, and he flung it back with such fury that the ends became untied.I've often been surprised at Balzac's ability to draw believable women. On the other hand, this, his first novel, missed the mark slightly.
There is one thing remarkable about women: they never reason about their blameworthy actions, - feeling carries them off their feet; even in their dissimulation there is an element of sincerity; and in women alone crime may exist without baseness, for it often happens that they do not know how it came about that they committed it.The edition I read is in the collection: Works of Honore de Balzac where Katharine Prescott Wormeley was the translator. I have no way of comparing this translation, but I thought it read wonderfully as you might know from my 5-stars.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.1, 20.9)
+10 Review
+15 Oldie (pub 1829)
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 695
10.9 Time for DinnerAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle
+ 10 Task #3 on non-fiction list
Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 890
10.2 Memory DayWild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
shelved as a Biography at BPL
Review:
This biography shot to the best-seller about a year ago. Ms Strayed lays her soul bare as she recounts her life at 26 as she tackled a solo trek on over 1000 miles of the grueling Pacific Coast Trail. The reason for her trek was to find herself and find peace after the devastating death of her beloved mother who was the center of her world and her family. In the four years after her mother’s death, Ms Strayed embarked on a series of self-destructive acts that culminated in the dissolution of her marriage. At this point she devised the plan to hike the PCT. Initially I was shocked by the behaviour that she spiraled into before her backpacking trip and I shook my head at the manner in which she was ill prepared for the grueling trek. However, as the book progressed I became to accept the author, warts and all. She is brave and fearless, both in conquering the trail and in the telling of her tale.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.5 female author, single female perspective)
+10 Review
Total task +25
GRAND TOTAL = 470
20.9 Heretically Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Review: I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, and especially since seeing the movie adaptation of the musical. I wanted to know whether the plot holes that were evident in the movie were a fault of the source material or the adaptation. In the end, I definitely fall on the side of the adaptation, with one exception – the romance. Perhaps it was simply that in the 19th century people spent less time getting to know each other before falling in love, but I was tired of reading about the love at first sight thing when I read Tolstoy, and this wasn’t any better.
But other than that, the novel is a classic for a reason. It may be long, and Hugo may drone on about things that have nothing to do with the story, but he also drones about things that are absolutely relevant – to the story, to the times, and to today. Hugo’s insights into poverty and the unfairness of France’s justice system during and after Napolean were woven between the story and sidebars. Both serve to illustrate the hopelessness that can be present in a life from birth – and how different people born to different circumstances end up taking drastically different paths. I wish his words were less pertinent today, but there is also hope present in his words, illustrated most clearly by Jean Valjean’s rise from hopelessness into love and belonging, despite the rather abrupt and not entirely happy ending.
+20 Task
+25 Combo (10.3, 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4)
+15 Oldies
+25 Jumbo
+10 Review
Task Total: 95
Grand Total: 650
10.9 DinnerGarden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Review: What a breath of fresh air after the heaviness of reading Les Miserables! This debut novel by Sarah Addison Allen is part magical realism and part small town tale. Claire lives in Bascom, North Carolina, born to a family that has ‘gifts’, and whose garden produces special food. She caters most events in her town, putting together dishes that can make people feel certain ways, but she’s not able to emotionally connect with anyone else. Her family has always been a little odd, with their gifts being both used and made fun of by the community, and when her sister comes back to town she has to confront that tension. The Waverleys may not be the only family with special gifts, though, and peeking into the lives of other town members was fun. This book was for me the best blend of light and fun with serious and meaningful, fantasy with reality, and finding oneself with finding love.
+10 Task (#7 on Nouvelle Cuisine list)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 670
20th Century - Chronologician15.6 – To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction by Joanna Russ (pub 1995)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 695
20th Century - Chronologician15.7 – The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (pub 1994)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 720
20.8 TrumanThe Dream: A Memoir by Harry Bernstein
Review: This is the follow-up to Bernstein’s first memoir, The Invisible Wall, which told the story of his youth spent growing up in a poor section of a mill town in England, on a street divided between Christians on one side and Jews on the other. The Dream tells the story of Harry’s family’s move to the United States in a search for a better life – a life that is not so easy to grasp as the dreams his mother spins for her children.
Bernstein’s life was a challenge, both in England and in the United States. His mother did everything she could to provide the dream life for her family, but circumstance and his father caused her to never have in reality what she envisioned. This book is in many ways a tribute to her and to the other woman he loved, his wife Ruby, whom he meets and marries toward the end. Harry managed to grow up and have a wonderful life. His mother’s story was more tragic, but she managed to instill a lasting ability to continue dreaming – and that skill was probably what led Bernstein to finally, at age 96, to become a published author, even after losing the love of his life.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.3)
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 750
10.2 Memoir/BiographyThe War by Marguerite Duras
Review: This is a short but powerful book, put together from a collection of writings French author Marguerite Duras wrote during and after WWII but discovered and published much later. France’s relationship with the war and the Holocaust has always struck me as incredibly complicated, with some members of the country cooperating with the occupying Germans and others members of the Resistance movement. Perhaps this leads to there being not as much published about the French experience as the German or Polish one, or perhaps I’ve just missed it, but despite reading many books about this era I’d never read one from this perspective.
Duras does not forgive or excuse anyone in the vignettes she tells. She explicitly states that the atrocities perpetrated by the Germans are not a German problem – they are a human problem. After the war ends, she places herself in a room interrogating a German sympathizer as he is tortured, and while she herself never throws a punch she counts herself as one of the torturers. Her thoughts veer widely from one extreme to another, and is thus probably the most honest portrayals of an occupied nation and what happens when the occupiers lose that is available.
+10 Task (shelved as biography)
+10 Combo (10.3; 20.5 – Duras’s memoir about herself during and after WWII)
+5 Oldies (published 1985)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 785
20th Century - Chronologician15.8 – Masques (Sianim, #1) by Patricia Briggs (pub 1993)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 810
20.5 - In honor of EmmaThe Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman 900 Lexile
Prague is a city I want to visit, but I certainly hope that when I do I have an easier time than Nora and her friends do! Of course, they are involved in a Da Vinci Code type mystery (but not a copy-cat story) with high stakes including the murder of Nora’s best friend, Chris. Deception plays a major role in the unveiling of the many mysteries of the Lumen Dei. The story of the past is told in letters as the current day action unfolds. Wasserman’s writing is exciting and she leaves us unsure of some of her characters until the end. If you enjoy a good mystery and strong writing, The Book of Blood and Shadows is highly recommended!
+20 Task: Written by female, narrated by Nora
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 - For the Ides of March: 6 shelved murder, not mystery at BPL
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 2020
20.1 In Honor Of Jane AustenMrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures by Douglas William Jerrold
born 1803
Review:
Mr Caudle's wife has died, but continues to nag and harangue him from beyond the grave. He exorcises her ghost by writing down everything he can remember of the lectures that she gave him every night when she had him at her mercy in the marital bed.
The lectures are really very funny, with Mr Caudle being blamed for everything that goes wrong in Mrs Caudle's life and also having to give in to her every whim, from a house in the country to a trip to France. I'm not convinced that the henpecked husband is quite as innocent as he makes out, but he is certainly browbeaten.
It's amusing and also provides an interesting perspective on the mid-19th century English family life of a prosperous small business owner/retailer.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Oldies, pub.1846
Task total: 45 points
Grand Total: 535
20.7 Persuasion- pub posthumouslyThe Castle by Franz Kafka
Review
I had trouble staying on track with this book. In fact I think I literally “lost the plot”. When the book finished mid-sentence, I didn’t feel so bad. The story was about a man named K. who arrives in a strange snow-covered land. When he first tries to spend the night at an Inn, an official from The Castle rudely awakens him and tells him he doesn’t have permission to visit the village so he mustn’t sleep there. After an almost vaudevillian comedy scene involving a loud telephone call, the official, and the only telephone being above K’s bed, there is still no conclusion to the dilemma. K. protests that he had arrived by order of The Castle to do his job, which is land surveyor. Scene after scene occurs where K. gets the run around several times over. The villagers are at times hostile and at times sympathetic but they all assure him that the way The Castle operates their village makes perfect sense and is the best. Castle officials are elusive. Mostly they are mentioned for coming to the village to take a lover. It seems the lovers are the only people that have actual intercourse with the officials. (pun intended) Meanwhile K. becomes engaged, is granted a job as school janitor, and is given two “assistants” who only cause him problems bringing out the worse in K. He learns of another family that was sorely used by a Castle official and rather than the villagers sympathizing with the family, they ostracize them. K. wanders about the village, never being able to complete a night’s sleep.
Trying to make more sense after listening to this on audio, I googled more about the book and it’s author. Learning he wrote this book and another while dying of T.B. explained a lot. At one time he had told a close friend, Max Brod. Allegedly Kafka told Brod he would end it with K. lying on his death bead and word from The Castle comes saying although he really isn’t yet ben giving permission to reside in the village, due to special circumstances he will be allowed to live and work there. Later it is said he told Max Brod he would not finish it and to burn it and other works after his death. Brod did not but instead took it upon himself to quickly and heavily edit the book so that it would be fit for publication. This has led to several controversies about what the theme and message of the book was. There have been guesses it is spiritual, among other things but the explanation I tend to agree with to agree with was the rising anti-Semitism in Germany and Eastern Europe. The Jews were forced to exist as ‘Non-residents” or even non-people in a land they had lived in for generations. K.’s struggle to try to do his job he was told to do, to be treated with human dignity and held to all sorts of supercilious rules and traditions is very emblematic of what the Jewish people were suffering in the years leading up to WW II.
When I view it in this light, I find the book outstanding in it’s message and political nuance.
As far as my intellectual reader persona, I was much relieved to find that Kafka had not finished so that this was basically a draft of what was probably meant to flow and re written enough to make the story more cohesive.
+20 pts - Task
+ 5 pts - Combo (10.3 the plus)
+10 pts - Review
+10 pts - Non-Western
+10 pts - Oldies (pub 1926)
Task Total - 55 pts
Grand Total - 975 pts
That's So twentieth Century - chronologican15.10 - 1998
A Quaker Book of Wisdom: Life Lessons In Simplicity, Service, And Common Sense by Robert Lawrence Smith
I LOVE this book. It was a book my daughter used in her class when she attended Scattergood Friends School. It will be on my permanent bedside shelf with The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth, Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama and The Gospels
+15 pts - Task
+10 pts - Bonus
+100 pts - Completion Bonus
Task total - 125 pts
Grand total - 1100 pts
Rebekah wrote: "+100 pts - Completion Bonus"
Very nice, Rebekah!
20.5 EmmaFlora by Gail Godwin
+20 Task (author and narrator are both female)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1590
Rebekah wrote: "That's So twentieth Century - chronologican15.10 - 1998
A Quaker Book of Wisdom: Life Lessons In Simplicity, Service, And Common Sense by Robert Lawrence Smith
I LOVE this book. It was a book my ..."
Yay, Rebekah!
20.8 PresidentiallyMurder in the White House by Margaret Truman
+20 Task (author name Truman)
+5 Oldies (1980)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1615
20.10 InitiallyConfessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.5-author/narrator is female)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1640
15.4 20th Century - Chronologician - 1993Cleopatra's Sister by Penelope Lively
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total=25
Grand total=785
Rebekah wrote: "That's So twentieth Century - chronologican
+100 pts - Completion Bonus"
Congratulations, Rebekah!
20.5 - In honor of EmmaThe Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant
Engaging characters, an interesting plot full of secrets, and a solid writing style and voice make this book well worth reading, but the small town in Germany where the story unfolds was what drew me strongly into the book and kept me eagerly reading. Germany’s folk and fairy tales are woven into the story of children who simply have vanished from their town, both in the present and in the past. Katharina Linden’s recent disappearance has caused fear and worry in the town and Pia wants to solve the mystery. Blame is assigned to a logical “villain”, but the reader is left wondering throughout whether this is too obvious a solution. Helen Grant lived in the town of which she writes, which adds authenticity to the voice. Some very scary things happen as the book progresses. I expected it to be a bit lighter despite the disappearances when I began the book, but it turned out to be a mixture of coming of age and a chilling mystery!
+20 Task: female author, main character Pia
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 2050
Congratulations Rebekah! :)10.8 Spell It Out
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
Review:
I see a lot of people have shelved this as a mystery but there wasn't much that was mysterious about it really. No murders or even thefts.
Miss Julia has been recently widowed and is quietly enjoying her freedom and wealth when a young woman turns up on the doorstep with a child who she says is Miss Julia's husband's. Miss Julia is left holding the baby - although in fact he's a 9-year-old boy - the mother disappears, and suddenly everyone is trying to get their hands on the money left by the wayward deceased, including the local pastor.
It was rather slow in places but I think that was part of the charm. It also seemed delightfully oldfashioned, although I think set around the time it was written, in the 1990s.
+10 Task (AR)
+ 5 Combo (20.5, female writer, female main character Miss Julia)
+10 Review
Task total: 25 points
Grand Total: 560
Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "20.8 TrumanThe Dream: A Memoir by Harry Bernstein
Review: This is the follow-up to Bernstein’s first memoir, The Invisible Wall, which told the story of his youth spent growing up in a poor sect..."
There is a small addition error here:
720 (post 831) + 20+10+10 (this post)=760.
Rebekah wrote: "That's So twentieth Century - chronologican15.10 - 1998
A Quaker Book of Wisdom: Life Lessons In Simplicity, Service, And Common Sense by Robert Lawrence Smith
I LOVE this book. It was a book my ..."
Congrats on your finish! Sounds like a great ending to your decade.
BTW, the Bonus for a Chronologician Finish is 150, so I show your total to be
20.9 - Index Librorum ProhibitorumStrait is the Gate by André Gide
The bare-bones story has all the elements of a classic romance story -- two sisters fall in love with their cousin, who loves one of them in return and confides his feeling to the other. One sister sacrifices her love for the other's happiness, only to be outdone by her sister's greater sacrifice. And so on. But instead of the outward emotion and societal constraints that one would find in a novel by the Brontës, Gide's characters are quietly intense and the prose is poetical. In this novel, the barriers are internal and the struggles are personal. At times, the aestheticism of the main characters made it a very difficult read -- their inner world was so foreign to me. I found it to be a beautiful novel best read on a peaceful, contemplative day.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (pub. 1910)
Task Total: 40 points
Grand Total: 605 points
20.7 - In honor of PersuasionThe Decay of the Angel by Yukio Mishima
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...)
The Decay of the Angel is the fourth book in The Sea of Fertility. The tetralogy is narrated by Shigekuni Honda and spans 60+ years of his life. In the first volume, Honda is a law student who is an unwilling party to his friend's (Kiyoaki Matsugae) destructive love affair and eventual death. In each of the successive novels, set at approximately 20-year intervals, Honda becomes involved in the life of a young person he believes to be Matsugae's reincarnation.
I found The Decay of the Angel to be the most beautifully written volume of the tetralogy (perhaps due to the translation -- three different translators were used for the four volumes). The opening pages with excessive description of the sea were off-putting, but I soon settled into the flow of the language and enjoyed the imagery. Although I did not always grasp the motivations, I enjoyed the character of Tōru and was fascinated by Honda's conflicted relationship with him. The end was baffling, yet somehow fitting. Overall, The Sea of Fertility is a remarkable series and one I plan on re-reading in the future, hopefully after I gained better insight into Buddhism and Japanese culture.
+20 task
+10 non-Western
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub. 1970)
Task total: 45 points
Grand Total: 650 points
Rebekah wrote: "20.7 Persuasion- pub posthumouslyThe Castle by Franz Kafka
Review
I had trouble staying on track with this book. In fact I think I literally “lost the plot”. When the book finished mid-sentence, ..."
Sorry, Rebekah, as the Czech-Republic is considered part of Europe, Kafka is not considered non-western.
From Post 815Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "20.10 Initially
Lover At Last by J.R. Ward
Review: This is the eleventh book in a series I just shouldn’t still read, and probably won’t after this installment. For the last few books, the only ..."
+5 Jumbo, most popular edition has 591 pages
20.3 Pride and PrejudiceMatilda by Roald Dahl (Lexile 840)
First time I've read this book (but I have seen the movie, which held to the book quite well for the most part). It was such a fun modern-day fairy tale: the sweet and brilliant girl trapped in a family of dishonest dimwits meets an angel (Miss Honey, her teacher), defeats a demon (Miss Trunchbull), escapes her home life to live with her sweet teacher with whom she lives happily ever after.
But it's the witty writing and the way that Matilda devises her revenge against those who are unkind and brainless (namely her father) that brought a childlike glee into my heart. I laughed out loud as her father realizes he's dyed his ebony locks a sickening shade of orange or when his porkpie hat has to be cut off his head after having been superglued on.
Roald Dahl is absolutely genius at writing books that children revel in and make the adults reading them to their kids feel just like kids again themselves. Love love love. Now I need to go see the Broadway production!
+20 Task (195,225 ratings, 4.22 average stars)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1988)
Task Total = 35
Grand Total = 1620
Rebekah wrote: "That's So twentieth Century - chronologican
+100 pts - Completion Bonus"
Congrats on your finish, Rebekah!
10.10 Group ReadsThe Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
+10 Task
Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 1630
Jayme! Thanks for the great recommendation! I'm so excited for the next one to come out!
Kate S wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "20.7 Persuasion- pub posthumouslyThe Castle by Franz Kafka
Review
I had trouble staying on track with this book. In fact I think I literally “lost the plot”. When the book finishe..."
Ok.thanks for the extra bonus pts.
15.7 20th Century ChronologicianThe Informers by Bret Easton Ellis
published 1994
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total: 25
Grand total: 570
20.4 In honor of Mansfield ParkThe Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Review:
This is Jeannette Walls memoirs of her unconventional upbringing by her bright but alcoholic father and her artistic put bipolar [the author never labels it thus but I strongly feel that this was the case] mother. Neither hold jobs for very long stretches and when they do, the money is squandered. The family endures all kinds of hardship due to her parents short comings - not enough food, inadequate clothing, questionable shelter, neglect - to name a few. The Walls parents love their children the only way them seem to know how. At times I had to put the book down and take a break as it became overwhelming. Yet Ms. Walls tells her story in a very matter of fact way. Ms. Walls and her three siblings have to fend for themselves and find their own way out of their hard life. It is a fascinating memoir.
+20 Task
+10 Combo - 20.3 (4.18 rating out of 305,902 ratings AND 20.5 (female author telling her own story)
+10 Review
+40 Total Task
GRAND TOTAL = 510
20.10 Initially The March by E.L. Doctorow
This is definitely not a book for people who don’t like to follow lots of different characters. Fortunately, I am not one of them. The characters come and go as the army marches through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina (not being American I could have done with a map), picking up new threads and dropping old ones as they join the march or leave it (by death or choice). Apart from General Sherman, the one character who runs through the entire story is Pearl, the white Negro who, after a short time as a drummer boy finds her vocation as a nurse. I really enjoyed this book although I suspect it would have been more rewarding if I knew more of the historical background.
+ 20 Task
+ 15 Combo (10.3, 10.5, 10.7)
+ 10 Review
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 945
20.8 Presidentially Give Me Back My Legions! by HHarry Turtledove
+ 20 Task
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 965
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Task 10.6 Murder not mysteryThis book was shelved as "murder" 21 times (as of today), but is not located in the Mystery section at BPL
Sharp Objects (2006) by Gillian Flynn
Edgar..."
Wow, I would never have filed Sharp Objects under YA! Anyways:
Grand Total: 595 – 15 = 580
Task 10.8 - Rosemary's task - Spell it out:
Read a book by an author whose first and last initials can be found consecutively (forwards or backwards) in the words "March April May":
Star Island (2010) by Carl Hiaasen
Review: This novel is a comedic look at America’s celebrity culture. The premise: a talent-free thin blonde female “singer” is a drug-and-alcohol mess. She also makes a lot of money with her albums (think: lip-synching), and thereby the people near her have an incentive to keep her earning money. Her parents have hired a look-alike actress to portray the “singer” at public events when the “singer” is too wasted to attend herself. This is played for laughs, and the ending is appropriate to a comedic novel. The setting is south Florida, an area that the author knows well. The author additionally adds humorous events unrelated to the main novel. Overall, an easy to follow, somewhat wacky, humorous novel – the perfect “beach read”.
+10 Task
+10 Style:3. Review (10 points)
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 580 + 20 = 600
20.10 Initially The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
Lexile 1120
+ 20 Task
+ 5 Oldies (published 1938)
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 990
10.4 In celebration of Irish American MonthSkulduggery Pleasant by Derek LandyLow Lexile
+10 Task: Landy was born in Ireland
Grand Total: 2060
Notice of changes to previous posts...I'd like to move some books around to push to complete RWS tasks instead of the 20th Century ones.
Post 858 - listed The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis for 15.7.
I'd like to move that to:
20.6 Northanger Abbey
The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis
Review: I would classify this as a collection of interlinked short stories more than a novel. That said, the pieces fit together quite neatly it made the collection greater than a sum of its parts to have the links.
The narrators for the audiobook were average. They read the stories competently but weren't especially compelling and occasionally slipped into voices too whiney even for the insipid valley-girl characters that populate the stories. They did manage to convey the general apathy of the characters.
Overall, I'm just not a huge Bret Easton Ellis fan. I understand that he's capturing a slice of moral decline and narcissistic wandering overprivileged drugged out characters. But I find it hard to care at all what happens to any of them. When one of them turns serial killer (American Psycho) or vampire (this book), I end up yawning.
+20 Task (on the satirists list)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.3)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 580 (570 - 25 + 35)
20.5 - In honor of EmmaHouse of Danceby Beth Kephart830 Lexile
Beth Kephart reaches my heart in every one of her books I read . It’s not just the situations, but the way she writes. She describes the emotions in the story and they simply resonate deeply without the need for what I call “teenage angst” found in some YA books I read. Rosie’s grandfather is struggling with cancer and he is estranged from his daughter, Rosie’s mother. Rosie takes over visits and hatches a plan involving The House of Dance remembering her grandfather’s love of dancing. She is on a journey of self discovery and love and that comes through strongly in this story. The characters are realistic and the plot evolves naturally through Kephart’s wonderful prose. Highly recommended!
+20 Task: female author, main character, Rosie
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 2090
Next move...In post 167, I listed How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse for 20.6 with 20.10 as a combo.
I'd like to move this to 20.10 with 20.6 as a combo.
The points remain the same.
Grand total: 580
Next move...In post 755, I listed Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison for 15.6.
I'd like to move that to:
20.5 Emma
Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison
Review:
Powerful and compelling autobiography. Having the author read this work herself for the audio version (on cassette!) really brought the short work to life for me. She was able to pack so much emotion into this telling and to really highlight the repetition of the "two or three things I know for sure" theme. If only I knew anyone else who still listened to cassettes, I'd send this along to share it. Alas, I must be one of the last people out there who still has a cassette deck in the car and doesn't mind pulling out the old tapes once in a while.
+20 Task (female author autobiography)
+10 Review
+0 Combo (sadly, listed as 818 instead of B)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 585 (580 - 25 + 30)
Last move (at least for now)...In post 622, I listed No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court by Edward Humes for 15.5.
I'd like to move that to:
10.1 Square Peg
No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court by Edward Humes
Review:
This is top-notch nonfiction writing. The author was granted access to a public interest space (juvenile court) that is often closed to the public and appears to have managed to interview lots of relevant folks--judges, lawyers, juveniles, family members, victims. The book is a bit dated at this point: it covers 1993-1994; gangs are huge, juvenile crime is up, crime in general is up, computer technology is relatively uncommon. I spent much of the book wondering how the statistics have (or haven't) changed in the past 20 years.
After reading about Judge Dorn, the central juvenile judge profiled in the book, I wondered what became of him. For others similarly curious, see this article: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/.... It seems that he went on to become mayor of Inglewood for over a decade then managed to get mixed up in small-potatoes corruption and take a plea that banned him from public office.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 580 (585 - 25 + 20)
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
The Betrothed (other topics)Brighton Rock (other topics)
The Princess Diaries (other topics)
Insatiable (other topics)
The Storyteller (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Alessandro Manzoni (other topics)Graham Greene (other topics)
Meg Cabot (other topics)
Tess Gerritsen (other topics)
Elizabeth Bowen (other topics)
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Moral Disorder: and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood
+20 Task (author and main character are both female)
+5 Combo (10.8-MA)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1550