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SU 2016 Completed Tasks
My spreadsheet is showing a score of 735 points, but the readerboard is showing 725. Did I miss a deduction?
Review for previously posted bookPost 673 - The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
Review:
I gave this book 4*, which is a high rating for me and is given to books whose stories I enjoy. This one was full of well-developed characters that were just quirky enough to make me want to visit Broken Wheel and get to know them. Each had a hidden hurt that had been stuffed down inside but that influenced who they became in later life.
Then Sara arrives from Sweden to visit her penpal Amy only to find out that Amy has died. The town of Broken Wheel takes Sara under their wing and tries to make her visit a good one regardless. Sara tries to repay the kindness but finds it hard to give back to this selfless group of people. So she opens a bookshop for the town in Amy's name...and the towns people start to find healing through the books Sara recommends to them. And, then it comes time for Sara to leave...
Oh, go read the book for the ending. It is a good one.
Additional task points: 10 (Review)
Review for previously posted bookPost 674 - Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds
Review:
I gave this book 3*, which is a rating I use for books I like but for varying reasons did not thoroughly enjoy. I chose this book for a task, and because it had good reviews. However, I am not very much interested in military history and battles. So, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book by the end.
The story centers on one particular battle in Afghanistan. The Taliban were infiltrating Southern Afghanistan and trying to re-take Kandahar Province. NATO planned an action to stop this and Captain Rusty Bradley with his Special Forces Unit and their Afghan Army allies were to serve as a diversionary force in support of the main attack on the Taliban. The story describes all the movements of these troops as they work to carry out their assignment and introduces the reader to the men of both units and their heroism in this critical battle. By the time I finished this book, I had a profound respect for both Americans and the Afghans who fought so bravely for this piece of land.
BTW - The Lions of Kandahar are the Afghanis.
Additional task points: 10 (Review)
Review for previously posted bookPost 675 - Murder Must Advertise
Review:
I gave this book 4*, which is a high rating for me and is given to books whose stories I enjoy. This is a cozy mystery with fun characters and a simple mystery. This is also one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers.
I remember reading her stories along with other cozy writers - Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Josephine Tey - back in my 20s. However, forty-plus years have intervened, and I have forgotten many of the stories that I had consumed so quickly back then.
So, this book was a quick way to get re-introduced to a writer I had once enjoyed.
In this story, Lord Peter Wimsey pretends to be an ad writer named Death Bredon in order to investigate the death of Victor Dean, an ad writer of Pym's Publicity. As he investigates, he discovers that Victor's death is more than just ordinary murder but that it is entwined in a big drug-running enterprise. Of course, he has to solve it and, in the process, gets quite caught up in both his persona as Death Bredon, ad writer, and his persona as the harlequin toying with the queen of drug distribution.
Quite a fun story with many side twists and plot lines. Thanks, Amanda, for this recommendation.
Additional task points: 10 (Review)
Review for previously posted bookPost 676 - The Cat's Table
Review:
I gave this book 3*, which is a rating I use for books I like but for varying reasons did not thoroughly enjoy. In this case, it took me a while to figure out that this is a story told in memory of what occurred. It also took me a bit to get straight where the ship was coming from and where it was going and who were all these people that were being described. However, each chapter slowly added to my fund of knowledge, and the book began to make sense about halfway through. Initially it felt like connected short stories. Later I realized it was a full novel. Perhaps part of my misunderstanding and slow discovery of this book was due to listening to it read as opposed to actually reading it myself.
This is the story of three boys and a miscellaneous group of adults seated at the "cat's table", a seating as far from the Captain's Table as could be on the ship, and the adventures the boys had while on the ship. Definitely an interesting fictional memoir.
Additional task points: 10 (Review)
20.1 South AmericaThe House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo(20.7-Iowa, 20.10)
+10 pts - LiT
Task Total - 40 pts
Grand Total -415
15.9 FYTS: Time TravelerPlanned for: 2014 -1964 (1969 skipped)
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth
Published 1974
+40 Task
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 1,095
10.8 Come to the Fair (Karen Michele's Task)Sideshow by Nicole Smith
Review
Of course, it was a reading challenge that got me to search for a particular sort of books at the library that landed me this book! And what an amusing read… totally unexpected despite the GR description of hilarious and rollicking. There aren’t many books that actually make me laugh (even if they’re shelved under humour) but this one did. Of course, I tried to contain as much as I could whilst reading on the commute which leads me to an apology to my fellow commuters who noticed my ugly contorted face & shaking body as I tried to hold back laughter; I swear I’m not certifiably insane.
As with all funnies, I do think that most times, there is something really sad behind it all. That was the feeling I got at the start of this little novel and each time, she put on or remove her stage make up. However, she was always very quick in pushing it to the back of her mind and got busy in the pleasures of life. Oh, the shenanigans they got up to!
The hilarity stems mostly from the characters. I think if I just read an extract of what I thought was funny in the book, without knowing the characters or the book, I wouldn’t think it funny at all. Interestingly, most of the characters were “un-named”, rather they were known by their Royal Stage Names: The Prince, The Duke, The Duchess, The Lady, The Courtesan (our main character whose perspective we enjoyed) Or their role in the troupe except… for one guy… or two…
Right now, I’m wondering whether I’d still find it as hilarious if I re-read it. Yes, I am considering a reread because it was so much fun!
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.7 - S)
+10 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,120
From Post 750Ed wrote: "20.1 South America
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
I read Borges other collection of stories...Book of Sand for a different task this season....and enjoyed that more th..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 754Joanna wrote: "10.3 Opposites
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Review:
This book was selected by one of my online book clubs and it seemed like a good time to reread this since the first t..."
+5 Combo 10.5
Louise Bro wrote: "My spreadsheet is showing a score of 735 points, but the readerboard is showing 725. Did I miss a deduction?"The error is mine. I have found and corrected it. Your total should be correct as of the next Readerboard update (coming very soon).
Task 10.10 Group ReadsMurder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey #10) (1933) by Dorothy L. Sayers
+10 Task
+10 Combo (#20.5 (as of 08/22/16) – #43; #10.7 – “M”)
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 480 + 20 = 500
20.6 WarCharlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
I found myself comparing this to other war titles by this author. In both Birdsong and Where My Heart Used to Beat there were two timelines. The look back at the war experience was an essential part of those novels. This is a WWII novel, told entirely during war time. Yes, there were two characters who had participated in The Great War, but there were only a few paragraphs telling how that war had wounded them, primarily psychologically.
This involved civilian participation in the war. Important is the French resistance, though it wasn't a resistance story in itself. Those of us who haven't been living under a rock know about the deportation of Jews to concentration camps. This novel gives us a more historical view of the collaboration of the French government with Germany in this deportation process. Although certainly not a political novel, the reader is told more about the politics of the time in a way that I had been aware of only peripherally.
There is nothing essentially wrong with this story and the writing, but it falls short of what I hoped to read. I missed having the dual timeline. The main characters somehow misse being completely believable, while some of the minor characters are absolutely believable. On the positive side, I was reminded of a quote in Elizabeth Strout's most recent novel: "You'll write your one story many ways. Don't ever worry about story. You have only one." Faulks continues to remind us that war experiences have a ripple effect to subsequent generations. This sits right on the fence between 3- and 4-stars.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.7, 10.9)
+10 Review
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 730
10.10 Group ReadsMurder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.7, 20.5)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1195
20.2 The Gods!Goddess of Buttercups & Daisies by Martin Millar
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 1245
10.1 Square PegThose Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
+10 Task
+10 LiT
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 320
Season Total: 1565
Congrats Kate! That's some impressive reading.
Um, sorry, Kate - I'm also confused :/The last update, I believe Readerboard has me at 970 whilst I had 985 which I didn't ask about because I thought I may have miscalculated Bingo points so I've just adjusted my totals to the Readerboard.
Now, I have my total at 1,055 but it's 1,045 on the Readerboard. I've gone back over my totals but not sure if I've missed a note somewhere?
10.9 It's PersonalMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Real life is such a disappointment for Emma Bovary. The beautiful young French woman loves to read novels filled with sophisticated men, romance, and riches. But she is married to Charles Bovary, a goodhearted but incompetent country doctor. Although Charles adores her, Emma finds him boring and longs for a passionate, cosmopolitan lover. She has no interest in mothering, and leaves her daughter's care to the servants. She creates a web of lies to cover up the debts she runs up with her extravagant spending.
As a middle-class woman in the 1840s, Madame Bovary does not have the career opportunities that would be open to a man. So there is no way for Emma to obtain the funds she needs for an idealized life. Emma is always looking for more--lovers, excitement, material goods--but nothing will ever live up to her dreams. The self-absorbed woman feels trapped with no way to escape her provincial life.
Author Gustave Flaubert slowly and skillfully builds the story to its inevitable conclusion. The life of Emma Bovary culminates in a perfect storm of despair and tragedy. Flaubert has created an unforgettable character--Madame Bovary.
+10 task
+10 canon
+ 5 combo 10.7 first letter
+10 LiT
+10 review
Task total: 45
Grand total: 870
15.5 FYTS: Time Traveler2015 - 1965 Skipping 1990
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
+25 Task
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1120
10.1 Square PegThe Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden
+10 Points
Task Total: 10
RwS Finish: 100
Post Total: 110
Grand Total: 1230
15.6 5YTS: Time TravelerThe Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters
Pub. 1991
Task total: 25
Grand total: 1020
15.7 5YTS: Time TravelerMountain Blood by Will Baker
Pub. 1986
+25 Task
+5 Nonfiction
Task total: 30
Grand total: 1050
20.8 KotickA Passage to India by E.M. Forster
I just didn't seem to engage with the reading of this one, but I can't tell if it was simply the telling or the story itself. I seemed to miss the crucial incident completely. I am not sure if my mind wandered completely away, or if it wasn't gone in to, but I really didn't feel like going back and listening again and bore out the consequences of it with a little confusion.
Only a couple of characters seemed anywhere near interesting and likeable, so for the most part I didn't really care what happened to anyone. The moral the story seemed to be that English and Indian are too different and can't mix so shouldn't bother trying, even if there are exception to the rule (Fielding) it is still going to be rough sailing, so still not probably worth the bother. Oh dear!
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (20.3 - James Tait Award 1924)
+10 Canon
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 765
10.9 - It's PersonalThérèse Raquin by Émile Zola
Orphaned Thérèse is brought up by her aunt, pushed into marriage with her sickly cousin Camille, and emotionally buried alive in her aunt's haberdasher's shop in a Paris sidestreet. Along comes Camille's strong and lusty childhood friend Laurent. He and Thérèse fall into a passionate affair that leads to terrible consequences.
A similar theme to Crime and Punishment in some ways, although developed differently. Perhaps there was something of this in the spirit of the age, since Dostoyevsky's work was published the year before Zola's. Thérèse Raquin is a much shorter book with punchy sentences and very short chapters, giving it a much more modern feel than most novels of the mid to late 19th century. There's something about the way the characters break down that felt a little melodramatic to me. I preferred the first half to the second. But I think this would be a good introduction to Zola.
+10 Task
+10 LiT (from French)
+10 Review
+100 RwS finish
+200 Mega finish :)
Post Total: 330
Season Total: 1410
Task 20.7 U.S. (Rebekah's Task)Read a book whose author has initials that exactly match US State Abbreviations.
MS: Mississippi
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe (2013) by Mary Simses
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 500 + 20 = 520
10.10 Group ReadsOut of Africa by Isak Dinesen
Review
This book has been on my radar for a very long time but I’ve never really gone out of my way in researching the author’s background. The book also did not provide any background as to who the author is (I know her name which is on the cover of the book and that she’s in Kenya and that’s it) or why she’s in Kenya or how it was all arranged to be so. I was about 2/3 of the way through the book before I thought that’s what really bugging me about the book and went online to search for a bit more info. In a way, that actually helped me enjoy the book a little more than I would have. I didn’t particularly enjoy the book; it is rather like extracts of diary entries of personal reflection of author’s life on an African farm so I felt disjointed reading it because whilst there a chronological feel to the main part, there were plenty of past reflections. I did like some of the anecdotes but what’s really clear is the author’s love for her farm, her adopted country.
+10 task
+15 combo (10.6 Biography-920; 10.7 ; 20.7 ID=Idaho)
+10 review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,145
20.10 Meta fictionOranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Review: This was kind of a weird book, which seems to be par for the course for this task. It was surprisingly readable considering the non-linear way parts of it were told – in the middle of the relatively grounded story, suddenly it would switch to dream-like fairy tales and then head back into the main plotline – but I’m still not sure how to think of it. The main storyline is basically a coming of age story about a young lesbian growing up in an incredibly strict Christian home, and the fairytale bits did tie into the same themes, but I ended the book wondering if I just missed pieces or if they were never truly explained.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7)
Task Total: 35
RwS Completion Bonus: 100
Grand Total: 1320
20.4 Go For the Gold!Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
+20 Task
+10 Canon
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Jumbo 500+
+5 Combo (10.4 Darkest #15)
+5 Combo (10.7 First Letter)
Post Total: 55
RwS Finish: 100
Season Total: 755
Task 10.7 First Letter (Tien's Task)Read a book with a title that starts with a letter found in OLYMPICS.
Some of Your Blood (1961) by Theodore Sturgeon
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 520 + 10 = 530
⚜Chalmation⚜ wrote: "RwS Finish: 100"Congratulations, Chalmation!
Rosemary wrote: "⚜Chalmation⚜ wrote: "RwS Finish: 100"Congratulations, Chalmation!"
Thanks! Now for the Mega....3 books in 4 days...500+, 400+ and 300+ pages!
Task 10.6 Traveling the DDC wayRead a book shelved in the 900s (900-999) at the Brooklyn Public Library, using the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya (2016) by William Carlsen (Hardcover, 544 pages) [972.81]
+10 Task
+05: Jumbo 500-699 Pages:
Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15
Grand Total: 530 + 15 = 545
20.6 WarSuite Française by Irène Némirovsky
#19 on WWII list
Review: Suite Française consists of the first two books in what Némirovsky planned as a five part masterpiece on the German occupation of France. It was never finished because Irène Némirovsky was interned in Auschwitz in August 1942 and died a month later of the typhoid fever. We will never know how the completed work would have turned out, but if the first two volumes are any indication, it would have been a masterpiece indeed.
The first novel is a very episodic view of what happened in July 1940 when many citizens of Paris evacuated the city in anticipation of the German occupation. There isn't much of a plot, but there is a very large cast of characters, and the reader is given glimpses of the different journeys. There are naively heroic schoolboys and shallow upper middle class citizens who care more for their collection of porcelain than their fellow human beings.
The second novel has a more limited cast of characters as it centers mainly on Lucille Angellier and her friendship with the German officer who Lucille and her mother-in-law has been forced to accomodated in their house. This novel poses the question: "What is the difference between occupator and occupied?"
The author does several things really well. Firstly, she is the master of "showing, not telling". Secondly, she has a sharp pen and skewers her characters on it indiscriminately. The word "satire" comes to mind, though the book is not laugh-out-loud-funny. Thirdly, the characters she draws are fully fledged, living, breathing people.
Lastly, I am very impressed at how nuanced she is able to look at the occupation force. Being of jewish descent, she must have been surrounded by rampant discrimination and hateful propaganda while writing this book, and still she is able to view the German soldiers as human beings. I doubt I would have been able to do that.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.7, 20.3 (Prix Renaudot 2004), 20.7 (Indiana))
+10 LiT (Read in Danish)
+10 Review
Task total: 55 pts
Grand total: 935 pts
20.3 Winners!Girl at War by Sara Nović
Lexile 770, so no combos
+20 Task (ALA Alex Award 2016)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 215
FYTS total: 30
Season Total: 245
20.6 WarThree Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Xavier Bird struggles on crutches as he descends from the train in northern Canada in 1919. He is in terrible pain and addicted to morphine since a war injury resulted in the amputation of his leg. The relentless horror in the trenches of the Western Front have also taken their toll emotionally. His aunt Niska, an Oji-Cree medicine woman, takes Kavier home in a three day journey in her canoe.
The Canadian government had a forced residential education program, attempting to eradicate the First Nation's culture, but Niska had escaped into the bush as a teenager. She later rescued her nephew Xavier, and his friend Elijah from the harsh environment of the school. They were taught the skills of tracking and hunting game, and both became skilled marksmen. The two young men volunteered for service in the Canadian Army, mostly because Elijah had a taste for adventure. Their skill with rifles is soon recognized, and they become an expert sniper and scout team. The taking of lives has a different cumulative effect on each of the two friends. While one becomes repelled by the bloodshed, the other turns into an obsessive killer.
The First Nation has a long tradition of storytelling. As Niska paddles her canoe, she tells Xavier stories from her youth to distract him from his pain. In flashbacks, Xavier relives the years on the Western Front in morphine-induced memories. Xavier's supply of morphine is running low. Will Niska be able to heal her troubled, broken nephew?
The Canadian Second Division fought bravely in Flanders, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and the Somme. Joseph Boyden has melded history, First Nation culture, and good storytelling to create an absorbing tale. The author's family background is part Ojibwa, and includes military men. Boyden's World War I story pulled me down into the trenches, and into the sniper's nest. I'm looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
+20 task (#23 on WWI list)
+10 review
Task total: 30
Total: 900
+100 for RwS Finish
Grand total: 1000
(I think I'm a few points different than your calculations, but we'll go with whatever your total is.)
FYTS: Time Traveler2015 - 1965
15.7 1980
The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara
+25 Task
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1300
Cory Day wrote: "20.10 Meta fictionOranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Review: This was kind of a weird book, which seems to be par for the course for this task. It wa..."
+5 combo for 10.2
Tien wrote: "Um, sorry, Kate - I'm also confused :/The last update, I believe Readerboard has me at 970 whilst I had 985 which I didn't ask about because I thought I may have miscalculated Bingo points so I'v..."
Hi Tien, was this cleared up ? I am just working on the database and wanted to check if I need to do some investigating for you.
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
My Name Is Red (other topics)Pop Goes the Weasel (other topics)
Generation Chef: Risking It All for a New American Dream (other topics)
Signs of Attraction (other topics)
In Our Own Hands: Essays in Deaf History, 1780–1970 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Orhan Pamuk (other topics)James Patterson (other topics)
Karen Stabiner (other topics)
Laura Brown (other topics)
Sara Nović (other topics)
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Burmese Days by George Orwell
I chose this novel because I will be traveling to Burma in October (India & Vietnam too). Certainly different than the other Orwell books I had previously read (Animal Farm & 1984), it is just as dark. An indictment of the British colonists as their Empire in Burma was beginning to be challenged. Orwell depicts the complete racism and bigotry of almost all the English characters. One, however, John Flory, is slightly less so...and takes the side of an Indian doctor who wants to join the British Club...the first non-Causcasian to be considered. This initiates problems with not only the other Brits...but also with a Burmese official who wants that "honor" for himself. In the middle of the turmoil is also the desire that Flory has for an awful new arrival from Britain, Elizabeth... who ends her affair with Flory when a new officer arrives...but the officer leaves her without saying a word. Elizabeth is particularly bigoted - so I found it hard to understand why Flory or the officer would want her. I don't think the novel will give me any good vibes while traveling in Burma (which is now known as Myanmar)... probably feelings of regret. Orwell lived and worked in Burma for quite a while.... so, he no doubt was reflecting the truth of his times...unfortunately.
task +20
Review +10
total =30
grand total= 1015?