Reading with Style discussion

From Post 329

Heather wrote: "20.8

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
lexile 1000

Oh my, but was that depressing. I’m not sure why I chose to read about th..."

+5 Combo (10.8 BlOod, trIaNGle)

10.5 Goodreads Authorized

The Crypt Thief: A Hugo Marston Novel by Mark Pryor

I read Mark Pryor's first Hugo Marston mystery, The Bookseller, on a long plane trip, and enjoyed it, but wasn't sure if it was just because there were few other distractions on the plane! However, I feel more confident now saying that yes, I enjoy this series. It's definitely light popcorn-y reading, not a deep read, but enjoyable and smoothly written. He keeps the pace up and kept me guessing a bit, which can be hard to do the more murder mysteries I've consumed! I appreciated that the romance angle, though present, was not unduly emphasized, and not all the "good guys" are perfect angels. I would definitely read the rest of this series when it comes out!

+10 task
+5 combo (10.6 -his most recent published book)
+10 review

Task total: 25 points
Grand Total: 25

10.5 Goodreads Authorized

The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way by Amanda Ripley

I was somewhat reluctant to read this book -- as an educator, I have heard more than enough about Finland, among other nations-with-higher-test-scores-than-ours. I felt like I had probably gotten my fill of the Finns, despite admiring quite a lot about their system. However, I'm glad I read this in the end. Although I took issue with some of Ripley's conclusions and assumptions along the way, the book kept me thinking and responding, and I got some new ideas...what more, I suppose, can you ask from a nonfiction book? I always find Ripley's writing to be engaging and easy to read, and would suggest this book to anyone interested in a quick crash course on some different international approaches to education, with the caveat that I think there's more to some of her stats and oversimplifications than meets the eye.

+10 task
+5 combo (10.6 - her most recent published book)
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (nonfiction)

Task total: 35 points
Grand Total: 60 points

20.5 Disturbing

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (shelved 36 times as "disturbing")

Well, I would agree with the characterization of this book as disturbing. I'm a bit late to the party on this one -- this book has been on my radar and on my TBR for some time now, and I'm glad I finally read it, though for the first 50-100 pages, I wasn't sure I'd keep going. In the end, I pushed through only because I didn't want to give up after I'd invested some time into it up front, and after getting over the hump of the first 100 pages or so, I didn't want to stop until I knew how things played out. I found pretty much every character hugely dislikable, though I gather that's the point. However, I did find them to be realistic, if exaggerated, and I felt compelled to read on just to watch them move forward in their dysfunctional and disturbing ways. So, oddly, highly recommended.

+20 task
+5 combo (10.5 - Goodreads author)
+10 review

Task Total: 35 points
Grand Total: 95 points

From Post 334

Phoebe wrote: "20.6 - 20th C

The Stand by Stephen King

Review:
Well, a Stephen King classic, that's for sure. The characters were nicely portrayed and their development was believab..."

+5 Combo 20.9 (over 500 pages)

From Post 341

Connie wrote: "20.7 Group Reads Redux

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

This delightful book is narrated by Budo, the imaginary friend of Max Delaney. Eight-year-o..."

+5 Combo 10.5 (GoodReads Authorized)

Karen GHHS wrote: "10.4 Chinese New Year

The Tin Horse by Janice Steinberg

RwS Finish: 100"

Congrats, Karen! Very impressive. (Sorry I missed this earlier)

Kate S wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "10.4 Chinese New Year

The Tin Horse by Janice Steinberg

RwS Finish: 100"

Congrats, Karen! Very impressive. (Sorry I missed this earlier)"

Thanks! I just kind of snuck it in there;) I've read some great books this challenge!

TtPR - Seafarer

15.2 Canada
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
(fits A & B)

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task total: 20 pts
Grand Total: 175 pts

10.5 Goodreads Authorized Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K.Paul. She is a goodreads author.

Review
This is the first book I have read by this author. She writes Fantasy and Christian fiction. If you don't like Christian fiction, this may not be the book for you. I wasn't bothered by it. To summarize, Cora Crowder is looking buy a Christmas present. She walks into this old fashioned bookstore. She finds a ticket to the magical Christmas ball. The other recipient of this magical ticket is her boos Simon Derrick. Some Christmas matchmaking is involved with magic.
I liked this book a lot. I liked the fact that Simon's sister has Downs syndrome. She was shown in a position light. I absolutely wanted to go to this Christmas ball. You get to dress up in costume. There is food, dancing, and games. Who would not want to go?

Task +10
Review +10
Book Total: 20
Grand Total: 145

10.2 - listed as fantasy 1,714 times

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

Unseen Academicals is yet another installment of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. It can serve as a standalone novel, however it makes more sense when read AFTER at least The Color of Magic, which explains a lot about the wizards of this fantasy world. As is true of all of the Discworld books, each one uses a theme (or multiple themes) from modern life and plays with them. In Unseen Academicals, he plays with soccer and modeling in a highly amusing fashion. Again, I have literally laughed out loud reading this one, but that happens with most of his books. If you’ve read and enjoyed other Discworld books, I’d definitely suggest picking this one up.

+10 task
+10 review

task total: 20
grand total: 605

TtPR Seafarer

15.4 Colombia: A, B & C

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

+ 15 Task
+ 10 Bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 855

10.5 – Goodreads authorized

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Living in the Seattle area now, but not having grown up here, I love reading about the earlier days of its history. Songs of Willow Frost tells the story of the difficult lives of Chinese immigrants in the early 1900s. The story is sad and the writing expresses the pain and struggles in simple, but rich prose. Jamie Ford is also a master at making the sense of place an important part of the story without breaking the flow of the plot. In some ways the story was predictable, but only because it was true to the reality of the time period and the plight of the single Chinese mother with few options. Highly recommended!

+10 Task
+. 5 Combo
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 880

Kate S wrote: "From Post 341

Connie wrote: "20.7 Group Reads Redux

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

This delightful book is narrated by Budo, the imaginary frien..."

Re: +5 combo for 10.5 GR authorized

Thanks, Kate!

Kate S wrote: "From Post 319


Rosemary wrote: "I went back and edited post 310 to add "not a novel" - just saying in case you already counted it.

10.5 Goodreads Authorized

[book:The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley, Who Planned to Live..."

We are giving you the +5 combo for 10.8. We use the most popular edition of each book for most things, and in that spirit, we will do the same here. :)
"

Ooh thank you! :)

Task 20.10 - Between the Wars: Read a book written by an author born between the Civil War and WWI (1866-1913).

Edward Eager
Born: in Toledo, Ohio, The United States On:January 01, 1911
Died: October 23, 1964

Half Magic (Tales of Magic #1) (1954) by Edward Eager (Hardcover, Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition, 217 pages)
Lexile 830L
Review:What a delightful children’s novel! I wish I had found it when I was in elementary school, I would have really enjoyed it then. (And wanted my OWN magic coin, LOL). The premise is that a family of 4 young children from 1 family (3 girls, 1 boy) find a magic coin. An idly stated wish comes true. Once the the kids figure out how the magic works, they use the coin to play, with amusing consequences. The story is aimed at the K-3rd grade group of children; however, Lexile gives it 830L, not really sure why. (Maybe the K-3rd grade children of today are not as advanced in reading ability as were the K-3rd grade children of the 1950s?) The ending is such that a sequel is possible. (Checking goodreads, I see that there IS a sequel.) Recommended for elementary school readers who are reading chapter books.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1939-1989)

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 250 + 35 = 285

10.2 Reindeer
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
Lexile 900

+10 task (shelved 1447 times as fantasy)
+5 Oldies (published 1968)

Task total: 15 points
Grand Total: 565

10.1 New Year's Resolution

The Courage To Start: A Guide To Running for Your Life by John Bingham

+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.6-debut;10.8-Author)
+10 Not a Novel

Post Total: 30
Season Total: 360

10.4 Chinese New Year

Dog on It by Spencer Quinn

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.5-GR Author)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 375

10.7 Keep It Short

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander

+10 Task (Frank O'Connor Award 2012)
+10 Not a Novel (short stories)

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 395

10.5 - Goodreads authorized

Memoir of the Sunday Brunch by Julia Pandl

+10 Task (Goodreads author)
+ 5 Combo (10.6 - Pandl's debut book)
+10 Not-A-Novel (memoir)

Task total=25
Grand total=365

20.5 Disturbing

Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.

+20 Task (shelved by 32 people as disturbing)
+5 Combo (20.1 published 1964)
+5 Oldies (1964)

Post Total: 30
Season Total: 425

20.6 20th Century

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.1-published 1964; 10.2-shelved as fantasy by 1672 people)
+5 Oldies (1964)

Post Total: 35
Season Total: 460

From Post 322:

Coralie wrote: "TtPR – Seafarer

15.10 (10th Stop): South Korea
The Bird by Oh Jung-hee

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task total: 125 points

Well-Travelled Bonus: 100

Grand Total: 500"

I show an addition error here.

425 (post 309)+125 (post 322)=550

Kate S wrote: "From Post 322:

Coralie wrote: "TtPR – Seafarer

15.10 (10th Stop): South Korea
The Bird by Oh Jung-hee

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task total: 125 points

Well-Travelled..."

I just like round numbers too much.

10.10 - Group Reads

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

+10 Task
+5 Combo: 10.4 - Chinese New Year (dog)

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 15

20.7 - Group Reads Redux (2012/09/01-2012/11/30)

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand


+20 Task
+5 Combo: 10.6 - Beginnings/Endings (Unbroken is Laura Hillenbrand's most recent book, published in 2010)
+10 Not-a-Novel (nonfiction)

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 50

10.5 - Goodreads authorized

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

+10 Task
+5 Combo: 10.6 - Beginnings/Endings (first book by author)

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 65

10.6 - Beginnings/Endings (most recently published book)

Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris by Ann Mah

+10 Task
+5 Combo: 10.5 - Goodreads authorized
+10 Not-a-Novel (nonfiction)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 90

10.6 - Beginnings/Endings (first published book as author)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

+10 Task
+5 Combo: 10.5 - Goodreads authorized
+10 Not-a-Novel (nonfiction)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 115

10.3 Edgar Allan Poe

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver

+10 task
+5 (Combo 10.5)

Task total: 15
Grand total: 80

10.8 - BINGO! (title: OranGe is the New Black: My Year In a Women's Prison)

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman

+10 Task
+5 Combo: 10.6 - Beginnings/Endings (first book by author)
+10 Not-a-Novel (nonfiction)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140

10.5 Goodreads Authorized

Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron

+10 task

Task total: 10
Grand total: 90

Goodreads Authorized

Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron

+10 task

Task total: 10
Grand total: 100

10.6 Beginnings/Endings

The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron

+10 task
+5 (Combo 10.5)

Task total: 15
Grand total: 115

20.5 - Disturbing

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

+20 Task
+15 Combo (20.6, #188; 20.9, Daytona 500, 559 pp.; 10.6- debut novel)
+5 Jumbo (559 pp.)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 60

20.9 - Daytona 500

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

+20 Task (771 pages)
+ 5 Combo (10.6 - published September 18th 2013
+10 Jumbo (771 pages)

Task total=35
Grand total=400

10.8 – BINGO!: Cory (Bigler)’s task



Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

John Corey Whaley's debut novel is filled with both suspense and humor. This novel won the Printz award a couple of years back and sounded intriguing, but I thought it was written for a slightly younger audience. I was mistaken about that, so was pleasantly surprised by the maturity and depth of the book. This was a case of wrongly judging a book by its cover, although the belief that a rare woodpecker pictured on the cover is alive and well in the small town, Lily Arkansas, in which the book takes place is an interesting part of the story. The bulk of the plot is about the disappearance of Cullen's younger brother, Gabriel, and what has happened to him. The mystery keeps the pages turning, but the humor in the writing was the biggest plus for me. Whaley uses a style similar to Lemony Snicket in The Series of Unfortunate Events and I found that added a lot to the writing style. I was a bit confused by the many characters and the three different plot focuses that Whaley employed. Partly, it kept the mystery more engaging, but I think dates for the different sections would help the reader have a better sense of the whole. Overall, though, it was different and interesting until the last moment!

+10 Task: thINGs cOme Back
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 – Beginnings/Endings (debut)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 905

10.2 - Fantasy Novel
A Feast for Crows

I hesitated reading this particular volume in George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series after reading so many complaints that the novel drags and includes too many new characters while omitting many readers' favorite voices. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading it, however. I found myself engrossed and interested in the new characters and their environments, and I found I did not miss reading about the characters who were not included. Perhaps this is because I know I can pick up the next book, The Dance of Dragons, and read about them any time I choose.

The book follows shortly after the conclusion of the battles and bloody conflicts featured in book three, and A Feast for Crows is about picking up the pieces, or fighting for the scraps, of what remains. The novel's title makes reference to this. With many of the main players from the earlier books out of the running, Martin introduces us to new characters from the Iron Islands and Dorne who have been biding their time and waiting for a chance to stake their own claim. In addition to the new characters and milieus, Martin deftly depicts the marauding bandits and reformers scrabbling over the remains of a war torn central Westeros and the political machinations and power plays of the remaining leaders in King's Landing and relatively untouched Vale of Arryn. Characters relate rumors of what may be happening further afield, but we are reminded time and again of the dangers and difficulties of traveling in the aftermath of war, and information is slow to spread. All in all, I think Martin was clever to constrain his story geographically and I really enjoyed it.

+10 task
+10 review (I tried to make it spoiler free - hope I succeeded)
+5 combo (20.9)
+25 jumbo (1060 pages)

task total - 40
Grand Total - 175

10.6 Beginnings/Endings

The Recruit by Robert Muchamore (Lexile 660)

+10 Task (as far as I can tell this was his first book)

Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 115

10.6 Beginnings/Endings

The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Review: I met Susan Gregg Gilmore at an event in September, and listening to her talk about the research she did for The Funeral Dress captivated me. When I finally got around to reading the book, I wished more of that research had come through. That’s partially me – I have an affinity for milltowns, although usually industrial northeastern cities rather than Appalachian towns with single factories – but the book may have benefited from a little more length and more time showing the town rather than a single woman’s struggle across a week’s span. Still, Gilmore has a knack for taking difficult situations but creating hope around them and also for making me cry. And she’s a really nice person!

+10 Task (most recently published book, September 2013)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.5)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140

10.5 Goodreads Author

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Review: This was a fun book to read in the stressful time before Christmas, when my reading slowed way down and light reads were about all I could handle. It had an added bonus of being in the same vein as a Janet Evanovich novel, so it was another good one to get for my sister-in-law for Christmas.

The Spellmans are a multi-generational family of private investigators – something that makes them interesting, but also makes them a little different and messes with their personal lives. The structure of the book was a little off-putting – narrated by the older daughter Izzy, it moves back and forth in time as she’s answering police questions, and it’s well into the book before it is clear why she’s being questioned in the first place.

Still, the characters are awesome, and once I understood a little better the structure was fine. If the following books are written in the same way I think it’ll take less time to adjust, although I’d really prefer it be written in a more straight forward way. I’ll be picking up the next in the series at some point, although it joined the list of 190+ series I’ve started but not finished…

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.6 – as far as I can tell it was her first book)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 165

20.5 Disturbing

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (770 Lexile)

+20 Task (Shelved 6 times as disturbing)

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 185

20.9 BIG Books

Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

Review: I’d heard all over the internet how wonderful Wool is. Then a coworker said she loved it and wanted to reread it right away. And when I started looking for books my family might like for Christmas, this went right to the top of the list – a twofer, since I thought my brother and dad would both like it. So, I read about half of it before deciding to buy it for both of them, then put it down to savor it and get a little more done. After Christmas, I inhaled the second half.

It’s the story of a society that lives in underground silos in a world that has obviously gone through something awful. To question what happened, to wonder what’s outside, or to want to leave results in the ultimate punishment – cleaning. To be sent to clean is a hideous kind of death, but to think too hard about what happens to those who clean is suicide. So the society lives – until a series of cleanings start to break down the delicate balance. It was published as separate stories, but I didn’t hear about it until it and its sequel (really a prequel) were published as omnibus editions. I’m glad – it would’ve been agony waiting for each installment.

+20 Task (509 pages)
+5 Combo (10.5)
+5 Jumbo (509 pages)
+10 Not-a-Novel (I’m pretty sure this counts as interconnected short stories, but let me know if not)
+10 Review

Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 235

10.5 Goodreads Author

Unbroken by Rachel Caine

Review: This is the last in the Outcast series, which was a spinoff to Caine’s interesting urban fantasy Weather Warden series. The world and the plot are involved and complex, so I won’t attempt to explain. Having read the three previous Outcast books and all nine Weather Warden books a while ago, I’d forgotten how frantic the pace was. Caine’s chapters are long, and the books are absolutely packed with action and angst. She never gives her characters room to breathe, and I found myself feeling the same. After a while, however, it’s less of a page-turner and more of a workout. I loved both series for a while, but I do wish she’d turned down the stakes just a tad so we could get to know the world and the characters in a more low-key kind of environment. I recommend both series, but really know what you’re getting yourself into if you start – it won’t give you much of a break.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 255

10.5 Goodreads Author

Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

Review: I started the new year off by reading a nice light historical romance. I’ll be putting Kinsale into the rotation for historicals – it was cute and fun but with enough depth that I bought the relationship. The best part was that the pair – Callie and Trev – knew each other as children and had pursued a romantic relationship as well as being best friends until being ripped apart – so it was believable that within a few weeks they’d fall in love. There were some dropped plot points and some unbelievable occurrences, but overall it was just what I needed. If you like historical romances with relatively smart, independent heroines this is a good one. I only wish there were more with the same characters.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 275

10.7 - Keep it Short

Faithless: Tales of Transgression by Joyce Carol Oates

+10 Task (won PEN/Malamud Award in 1996)
+ 5 Combo (10.3 Detective fiction author)
+10 Not-A-Novel (short stories)

Task total=25
Grand total=425

20.5 - The "disturbing" book

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

My review:
I am really glad that i have found this great novel. Some years ago i saw the movie - and it was really interesting and twisting. But the book was even better. I truly like the way Palahniuk is writing this one. The realistic and rustic language and self-person view. I will certainly read more of Palahniuk's masterpieces!

Novel made me think about the meaning of our existence, sometime pointless in some sort of way but sometimes even over-worthy. Are we really living the right way? Maybe the world needs some change? The growing consumer cult is soaking all of us in so rapidly that in some moments we kinda wake up and realize how pathetic our life is. I understand the narrators point of view on this matter but Tyler's methods?! Maybe too harsh.

After reading this one i wondered is there somewhere The Fight Club? Has this book influenced some activists into realizing Tyler's plan?

But I guess we will never know, because the first rule of The Fight Club.... Never speak about The Fight Club!!!


+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.6., 10.5.)
+10 Review

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 40

10.8 BINGO
Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

Review: This is a memoir of an American woman (married to an Englishman) having and raising three children (including twins) in Paris. It is very interesting to see the contrast in parenting philosophies. Although Druckerman does some reading and interviewing of experts this is mostly anecdotal. And she writes with some good humor about her own experiences.

I got a kick out of her descriptions of "les gros yeus" (the big eyes). In our American family we called it "the look" and it was effective on me and my siblings. I used it with some effect on my kids and I see my son has also developed it. Druckerman's parents evidently didn't have it because the idea seemed new to her.

She seems to have been raised in or around New York City and a lot of her comparisons to American child raising seem to be comparisons to friends there. Some of what she has absorbed are extremes of what I have observed in the US.

I was intrigued by her listing in the glossary "tetine--pacifier. It's not uncommon to see these in the mouths of French three- or four-year-olds". But she does not discuss this in the body of the book at all!?!

And now I am really curious about child-raising attitudes in other cultures. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie "Babies" which explored the first year of life of four babies in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo. The movie hinted at some of the differences in these disparate places.
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-novel (non-fiction)
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 245

10.10 Group Read

The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski

Irma Seidenman had been living under a false identity as a Polish officer's widow in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. She is recognized by a former acquaintance, and is arrested for being a Jew. A group of Polish people set up a plan to rescue her.

The interconnected chapters of the book are each devoted to a particular character or incident. Together, the stories give a composite picture of the people in Warsaw during World War II, and a glimpse into the future for them. The well-written book had complex characters thrust into difficult, often tragic, situations.

In many ways, Poland--situated between Germany and Russia--was also a character in this book. "Was this country merely the territory for foreign armies to march across, the land behind the front lines, the strip of ground between them?....The outpost of the free world, squeezed in between tyrannies."

+10 task
+ 5 oldie (pub 1986)
+10 review

Task total: 25
Grand total: 350