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SP 2017 Completed Tasks
20.5 FoundationHome from the Sea by Mercedes Lackey
+20 task
+5 combo (10.2)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 575
10.8 Anthology (Beth's Task)The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry by J.D. McClatchy
+10 task
+5 length
Task total: 15
Grand total: 590
20.9 National Doctor's Day (Kate's Task)The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett
approval in task thread
review
An epistolary by which we read through letters written by 5 different people; a family but one (a companion). It started of a little confusing as the header does not tell who the writer is (you find it as they sign their name off on the letter) however after a while you'd note that there are pairings of writers & receivers so you know from whom perspective we are reading. Each writer has his/her own style and most are easily read; one is obviously of lesser education and a little hard for me to read due to the spelling but thankfully her letters are usually short. It always amazes me how an author managed to set out plots just by letters! Despite the title though Humphry Clinker only came onto the scene at around 20% of the book and then, he's really not the main character in it... I found this so very strange. This novel is descriptive of English life in the 18th century: traveling for health, courting, and is full of variety of characters who met a variety of failures/successes in life.
"...what flagrant injustice we every day commit, and what absurd judgment we form, in viewing objects through the falsifying mediums of prejudice and passion."
+20 Task
+15 combo (10.2 - 5 words in title; 10.3 - UK born; 10.7 - memorial)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 55
Grand Total: 520
Task 10.6 Spring EquinoxCARRIE
VAUGHN
Martians Abroad (2017) by Carrie Vaughn (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 288 pages)
Review: Martians Abroad is an adult book about a young adult college-aged woman named Polly. Polly and her twin brother, Charles, were born and raised on Mars. Their mother sends them to an elite college on Earth to complete their education. Most of the novel is set on Earth at the elite college. It has the boarding school Harry Potter feel to it, with classes, and cliques, and potential romantic interests, all while our POV characters are studying esoteric subjects. The twist here is detailing how Mars-raised teens adjust to Earth, with its dome-free outdoors, freestanding water, and higher gravity (among other things). There’s an overarching plot, a mystery to be solved by our intrepid twins –
(view spoiler)
The author does an excellent job of showing how a teen raised on Mars would view life on Earth. Additionally, I enjoyed reading about a young woman for whom romance is low on her list of priorities.
JPL and my local library shelve this book in the Adult section. I can see the librarian holding this book in his/her hands, saying to themselves: Young Adult? Adult? Young Adult? Adult? And then deciding to shelve it in Adult because of one or two intense scenes in the novel.
Recommended for those looking for coming-of-age novels and for those interested in fiction about Mars.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 305 + 20 = 325
15.8 AotD 1991-1982 Time TravelerDifferent Prizes
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
task = 15
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
task=15
oldie=5
task total=20
grand total = 575
20.1 Lord of the RingsThe Last Detective by Peter Lovesey
It was interesting to read a detective novel written by a short story author--this book is broken up into sections that read like short stories told from the perspective of different suspects in the murder of the "Lady of the Lake" (the victim was found floating dead and naked in a reservoir lake near Bath), tied together by the narrative of the police action. At times, it felt disjointed...tangents that seemingly have nothing to do with the murder at hand, so tangential that at some points I wondered if I'd somehow gotten a corrupted audiobook that somehow had sections of another book inadvertently added in. I suppose I'm just used to reading more straightforward mysteries (though, that being said, it's not my favorite genre so I don't have a lot to compare it to). Finally, though, it came together and in a rather satisfactory conclusion. I like that the Chief Superintendent is old school, preferring actual detective work rather than relying on technology to get the job done (the title referencing the fact that he was the last of his kind in his department, reluctant to adopt a reliance on technology.)
This is the first of 16 Peter Diamond mysteries...I don't know if I'll read another (but, really, only because I'm not a huge fan of mysteries...other than those written by Louise Penny and Robert Galbraith. If I end up becoming a mystery junkie one day down the road, I may revisit this series).
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2; 10.3: born in Whitton, Middlesex)
Post total: 40
Season total: 705
10.4 International Question DayWhat I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
+10 Task (BPL YA designation; low Lexile)
Task total: 10
Season total: 715
10.8 AnthologyYou're a Horrible Person, But I Like You: The Believer Book of Advice by Eric Spitznagel
I had never heard of The Believer before reading this book. According to their website, it is "a bimonthly literature, arts, and culture magazine. In each issue, readers will find journalism and essays that are frequently very long, book reviews that are not necessarily timely, and interviews that are intimate, frank, and also very long. There are intricate illustrations by Tony Millionaire and a rotating cast of guest artists, poems, a comics section, and regular columns by Nick Hornby and Daniel Handler." It also contains a monthly advice column, written by a rotating cast of ridiculously funny people. Some of my favorite funny people (Patton Oswalt, Aziz Ansari, Amy Sedaris, David Cross, Fred Armisen, Mindy Kaling, Zach Galifianakis, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, and Rainn Wilson to name a few) were guest advice-columnists, which is how I ended up finding this book in the first place. It was, as you would guess, hilarious. It was at times, however, raunchy and vulgar so I couldn't recommend it across the board, and there were a few of the comedians that really fell flat for me, but they can't all be winners and I still laughed a fair bit and it was a quick read so yay, go team.
I looked for a while to find an example that made sense as a stand-alone letter (each advice-giver responded to seven or eight questions and a lot of the advice ended up having running jokes that wouldn't make sense if you were reading them individually--or, at least, wouldn't be nearly as funny) and found a couple:
Dear Aziz [Ansari]:
Every time I think of her, I get so dizzy that I want to throw up. Am I in love?
Just Gavin
Cleveland, OH
Dear Gavin:
This happened to me once, too. You used old milk in the macaroni you just made.
Don't eat any more!
Aziz
*****
Dear Jim [Gaffigan]:
I was in Oklahoma a few months ago and I ordered the "vegetable of the day" for lunch. They brought me a dumpling with a side of macaroni and cheese. I was previously unaware that either of these items was in the vegetable family. What else classifies as a vegetable in Oklahoma?
Ashley
Eugene, OR
Dear Ashley:
How is the weather up there on your high horse? As far as I know restaurant menus in Oklahoma are not determined by the state government. I'm pretty sure they never were. I suppose the notion of the "vegetable of the day" in Oklahoma is pretty funny. Ha, ha, ha. Kind of like a good hamburger in India or a non-snobby Ashley in Oregon.
Jim
*****
I think my favorite section was Daniel Handler (a.k.a: Lemony Snicket)'s. All of his answers were one-word responses except for the last letter of his column--the one letter that had the perfect set-up to be answered with a one-word response--and his answer took two pages.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 735
Task 15.5 Spur Award for Best Novel (1976)
(note: I'm going to be doing all Spur Award, sequentially, 1972-1981)
The Spirit Horses (1976) by Lou Cameron (Mass Market Paperback, 183 pages)
Within the first few pages we learn that “spirit horses” is the name Native Americans gave to camels.
+15 Task
+05 Oldies (published before 1992)
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 325 + 20 = 345
15.4 AotD Time TravelerAgatha Award Best First Novel (1988-1997)
Zero at the Bone by Mary Willis Walker
Won the award in 1991.
+15 Task
+ 5 Oldie (1991)
Task Total: 20
15.5 AotD Time TravelerAgatha Award Best First Novel (1988-1997)
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
Won the award in 1992.
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
15.9 AotD 1991-1982 Time TravelerDifferent Prizes
Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon
1983 Drama Desk Award
task = 15
oldie=5
not a novel (play)= 5
task total=25
grand total = 600
20.9 - National Doctor's DayBloodstream by Tess Gerritsen
+20 task
+5 Combo (20.5)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 295
20.5 - FoundationsThe Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
+20 task
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.9)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 325
15.1 AotD Time LeaperOn Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry
+15 Task (Walter Scott Prize 2012)
Points this post: 15
RwS total: 210
AotD total: 15
Season Total: 225
10.4 Intl Question DayWhere'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
I really enjoyed this book. I added it to my GR TBR shelf last season, but when I read the synopsis again at the start of this season I wasn’t sure if I really would like it. So, thanks to whomever read it last January!
The story is odd and enjoyable. Because it is set in current times there are characters that are very recognizable (eg. the private school moms, the recovery group member, etc). I see that other reviewers (on GR) have called this a satire – I would say it is in the broadest sense.
Really all you need to know is that Semple wrote for Arrested Development (probably just about the last TV show I watched). So she has the writing chops and imagination to come up with crazy situations and make them very readable. She also knows how to move a story along, which makes this a fast and fun read. 4*
10 task
10 review
5 combo 10.2
___
25
Running total: 505
Valerie wrote: "10.4 Intl Question DayWhere'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
I really enjoyed this book. I added it to my GR TBR shelf last season, but when I read the synop..."
I read it last season.
15.8 AotDThe Mountains Of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold
+15 Task (SF Chronicle Award 1990)
+5 Oldies
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 475
10.6 Spring EquinoxVivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle (840 Lexile)
Vivian Apple lives with her parents in Pittsburgh. Her parents are "Believers"--ardent followers of the the Church of America, a new religion that thinks that America is God's chosen land, that capitalism is God's way of rewarding us, and that the Rapture will happen on March 24 (okay, I think that was the date--I listened to it so can't flip through the pages to find the exact date). Vivian, however, does not believe the hype and will not become a Believer. The night of March 23, she throws a party with her best friend, Harp (Harpreet Janda, an Indian-American spitfire), to celebrate the Rapture (or, as they assume, the day that people--their parents, specifically--will realize that there is no such thing as the Rapture, that the Church of America is bunk, and that normalcy will return). When Vivian returns home, her parents are nowhere to be found and there are two people-sized holes in their bedroom ceiling. The news states that thousands of people were taken in the Rapture and chaos ensues.
I don't think I gave too much away there...all of that happens in the first chapter. If I did, my apologies.
I loved this book. I loved that Vivian starts out as a really good kid who does what everyone expects of her (refusing conversion to the church being her one "rebellion") and evolves and becomes a kick-ass, relatable character by the end. There are lots of twists and surprises along the way, but nothing that makes you smirk with disbelief. I love YA and love post-apocalyptic novels and this was one of the best I've read in a while.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 755
15.7 AotD Time Traveler/Different AwardsMemory Wall by Anthony Doerr
+15 Task (The Story Prize 2010)
+ 5 Not-a-Novel
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 685
From Post 434Lagullande wrote: "10.3 English Language
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
+10 Task (born in London, UK)
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 210
AotD total: -
Season Total: 200"
+5 Combo 20.1
10.3 English LanguageThe Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 Spring Equinox
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 700
10.3 English LanguageAll's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
+10 Task
+10 Combo: 10.2 3, 4, or 5 / 10.7 Dead Poet's Society
+10 Canon
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 730
From Post 440Rosemary wrote: "20.3 Evicted
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
In this book Jon Ronson turns his attention to victims of internet shaming. Some of the people he focuses o..."
+5 Combo 20.5
From Post 456Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "10.8 A Wrinkle in Time
The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein, pub. 1957.
The Door into Summer is by one of my 3 favorite science fiction writers, Robert A. Heinlein. ..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 457Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "10.2 3, 4, or 5
Confucius for Christians: What an Ancient Chinese Worldview Can Teach Us about Life in Christ by Gregg A. Ten Elshof
Confucius for Christians was ..."
+5 Combo 10.4
10.5 CircusThe Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.2 3, 4, or 5
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 745
10.6 Spring EquinoxBlood of the Dawn by Claudia Salazar Jiménez
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.2 3, 4, or 5
+10 Non Western
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 770
20.2 RebeccaEndless Night by Agatha Christie
not YA, BPL
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.3 English Language / 10.7 Dead Poet's Society
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 800
20.5 Foundation Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.2 3, 4, or 5
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 825
Kate S wrote: "From Post 440Rosemary wrote: "20.3 Evicted
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
+5 Combo 20.5 "
I see it! 20.6 :)
20.1 Lord of the RingsOut of the Blackout by Robert Barnard
A group of children was sent to the Gloucestershire countryside to escape the nightly bombings during the London Blitz in 1941. One little boy, Simon, arrived without any identification, and his name was not on the list of evacuated children. Fortunately, a childless couple took Simon in and raised him in a loving home. But Simon always wondered about his birth parents.
Years later Simon is walking through London and recognizes his early childhood neighborhood. His search for his origins brings him into contact with some unsavory people. He also finds out information about the British homefront during World War II, an extremist political group, and reasons for his childhood nightmares. In this interesting historical mystery Simon learns that bombs were not the only things causing terror in his London home.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.2, 10.3
+10 review
Task total: 40
Grand total: 365
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 93 Ashley wrote: "20.6 My Name is RedOrlando by Virginia Woolf
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2,--Orlando: A Biography; 10.3-UK; 20.10)
+10 Canon
Task Total: 45
Grand Tot..."
Edited
10.6 Spring EquinoxThe Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
This novel is a historical fiction which reads like an Agatha Christie mystery…and includes her as one of the main characters. After her divorce, Christie broods about her situation while traveling on the Orient Express where she meets Katherine Wooley and Nancy. Wooley was also a real person who worked as an archaeologist in Iraq. The three women become acquaintances, if not friends, and all three visit and stay a while at the archaeological dig…where Wooley meets up with her husband. About three quarters of the way in, there is a plot twist which I felt was a bit contrived…only to learn that it was based on very good speculation of what happened in reality. Part of the story is also about how Christie meets her second husband, Max. This was a good read…and has prompted me to read a few other books including Wooley’s own book, "A Taste of My World" and Christie’s "Murder in Mesopotamia"- whose main character is based on Wooley. I’d give it 3 1/2 stars if I could…but grading on a curve today…so, 4 stars.
task= 10
review=10
combo= 5 (10.3)
task=25
grand total= 625
20.1 Lord of the RingsMr. Scarborough's Family by Anthony Trollope
I do so love reading Anthony Trollope. There is something about his prose that strikes my reading ear just perfectly. The cadence is suits me. There are other authors of course who also suit me though they might be quite different, but when I read even the opening sentences of a Trollope novel, any tension between my shoulders just vanishes.
Unfortunately, Trollope's prose is the best of this one. I also thought the plot pretty good. And though good prose is one of the elements that is essential for my enjoyment, plot is perhaps the least important. And even with a decent plot, I thought Trollope had less to say than he took up pages to say it. Lastly, his characterization wasn't up to what he has shown in the past. There was just something missing all around.
This novel was completed before he died, but not published until after his death. From the above, I decided he was just tired and feeling his age. Not that I think Trollope ever got old - I am older today than Trollope was when he died. I know I have slowed and I suspect Trollope was no longer at the top of his game in many ways. I so hoped for at least 4 stars, but this one slips below the line between 3- and 4-stars.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.7)
+10 Review
Task Total = 45
Grand total = 425
10.1 Square PegThe Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman
You'll want to fill your freezer with your favorite ice cream before starting this book. It's a rags to riches story about a Russian Jewish immigrant girl, Malka Treynovsky, who is transformed to a successful Ice Cream Queen, Lillian Dunkle.
Six year old Malka and her family arrived in New York City in 1913. They found that America was nothing like what they saw in the moving pictures, and were living in poverty. Three months later a horse pulling a cart of Italian ices ran over Malka and crippled her. She was abandoned by her family, but taken into the household of the Italian peddler where she learned the basics of making ice cream and changed her name to Lillian.
She married Albert Dunkle, a handsome but illiterate man, who is an excellent mechanic. Between Lillian's business sense and Albert's mechanical ability, they go from a single ice cream truck to hundreds of franchises across America. They had their big breakthrough when they developed soft serve ice cream. Although Lillian was the driving force behind Dunkle's Ice Cream, constantly creating new flavors, it was the man who got the credit in that era. As Lillian achieved fame and success, she also became brassy and obnoxious. She was so totally consumed by the business that she did not give time to personal relationships.
There's a lot of dark humor, Jewish and Italian expressions, and historical details in the story. While Lillian is often unlikable in her later years, a look back at her history as the homely, abandoned, crippled girl makes one understand many of her actions. At times the older Lillian seemed a little over the top, but then the real Leona Helmsley would come to mind. It's an interesting story of a complex character--and the ice cream is an added enticement.
+10 task
+ 5 jumbo (505 pages)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 390
15.3 AotDTime Traveller | 1 Award
Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport by Anna Krien
Winner of Davitt Award for True Crime 2014
+15 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 540
Task 20.8 Yours, Mine, and Ours (Amanda)Read a book where a character is taken up by a new author.
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit (1995) edited by Mike Resnick (Hardcover, 374 pages)
Review:The editor “assigned” stories to science fiction/fantasy authors working in the mid-1990s. pp. 3-4: “….the authors were told that they could place Holmes in any era or any setting they chose, as long as each story had a science fiction or fantasy element and Holmes remained recognizably Holmes.” The title page states: “Authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle”. The result was this anthology of 26 short stories, all by different authors, all published for the first time in this book in 1995. The editor divides the stories into four sections: past, present, future, and after death. Various people and elements included in one or more of the 26 stories include: Dr. Watson; Moriarty; Dr. Fu Manchu; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (as a character in the story); Alice from Alice in Wonderland (as a character in the story); Charles Babbage (real life 19th century inventor of the first mechanical computer); vampires; time travel; and the British Museum (located in London, England). H. G. Wells is mentioned frequently but never makes an appearance. Recommended for fans of short fiction starring Sherlock Holmes.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.2, #10.8 “anthologies”)
+10 Review
Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 345 + 40 = 385
10.2 3,4,5The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
+10 Task (oh, and Lexile is 840, if anyone was concerned)
+ 5 Combo Lewis born in UK
+10 Review
Points this post: 25
Season total: 80
---
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
** spoiler alert ** This was my favorite of the series, thus far. It took the longest to read because my son developed a taste for a certain wizard...but once we had a break in that series I was able to convince him to return to this tale which we started, but only enough to get interested. C'est la vie.
SO why my favorite? This tale had one of the finer 'quest' arcs, for one. The assignment was clear and the instructions laid out...but yet the quest itself remained interesting. Nothing goes according to plan (as is often the case) and the characters had to make it work. And that is my second favorite bit...the characters were likely Lewis's best-developed characters. Puddleglum the marsh-wiggle lives up to his name and fame.
My complaints? Generally, I didn't think that Lewis had to fall back on another (view spoiler). The latent sexism in this (now our (view spoiler)) wasn't so very latent. I also wasn't sure why the Prince, once discovered, spoke in an odd, overly-formal, "knightly" speak. It was beyond inaccessible, and largely unnecessary.
As for the religiosity, I didn't have any particular problem with it this time. Alsan is up-front, tells Jill "Hey, I'm speaking to you clearly now [in Alsan's country/heaven]...I won't be clear when you are on your quest." My son's question, which would have been mine as well, was "why not?" And yet, that is the way of the world. Any believer will likely still tell you that what they believe in doesn't speak to them clearly...it is one of the facets of belief.
Gabriel wrote: "(Contains minor spoilers, so I didn't post it here, should I?)Yes. You can hide spoilers behind the spoiler tag. < spoiler > and close with < / spoiler > taking out the spaces.
15.9 AotDDifferent Prizes
I read When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge by Chanrithy Him, Oregon Book Award for Nonfiction
+15 Task -- 2001 Oregon Book Award for Nonfiction
+ 5 -- Not a Novel
Post total: 20
Season total: 145
completed:
2008 The White Tiger Man Booker Prize
2007 The Missing Bram Stoker Best Novel
2006
2005 Camouflage Nebula Award
2004 Out There National Outdoor Book Award
2003 Perma Red Spur Award Best Novel of the West
2002 That They May Face The Rising Sun Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award
2001 When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge Oregon Book Award for Nonfiction
2000 The Mighty Walzer Bollinger Wodehouse Comedy Award
1999 A Small Death in Lisbon CWA Golden Dagger Award
15.6 AotD Time TravelerAgatha Award Best First Novel (1988-1997)
Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
Won the award in 1993.
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
15.7 AotD TravelerThe End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize
+15 Task
Grand Total = 440
15.4 Awards of the Decade Time travelerHome by Marilynne Robinson
2009 Orange Prize for fiction
15 task
_____
15
Running total: 520
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Letters to the End of Love (other topics)Made in the U.S.A. (other topics)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (other topics)
The Goldfinch (other topics)
The Boy on the Bridge (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Yvette Walker (other topics)Billie Letts (other topics)
Arthur Conan Doyle (other topics)
Donna Tartt (other topics)
M.R. Carey (other topics)
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We have been allowing the wor..."
Then thanks for the points.