Reading with Style discussion
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FA 2017 Completed Tasks
Reading GloballyThe House of the Spirits
Isabel Allende
country: Chile
contintent: South America
task: 15
seaaon total: 30
reading globallyTo Capture What We Cannot Keep
Beatrice Colin
country: France
continent: Europe
task total: 15
season total: 45
reading globallyThe Scholl Case: The Deadly End of a Marriage
Anja Reich-Osang
country: Germany
Continent: Europe
task total:15
season total: 60
Reading globallyMy Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante
country: Italy
continent: Europe
task total: 15
season total: 75
20.71984
George Orwell
task: 20
combo: 10.4, 10.5, 10.8, 20.10 - 20
review: 10
oldie: 5
post total: 55
season total: 130
1984. It's been more than 45 years since I originally read this book, and it was far scarier this time than the first time. I listened to it instead of reading it, so I was forced to actually hear all the gory details both of the treatment of people and of the manifesto (when I read a paper or digital book, I am prone to skip over torture and other nastiness). What frightened me about the book this time is how it shows that the type of "Big Brother" surveillance that one fears is going on now with our own and foreign intelligence agencies could potentially morph into a totalitarian society where human beings are subjugated to the paradigm of the doctrine.
20.5[Officer and a Spy|18007532]
Robert Harris
task: 20
combo: 10.2, 10.8 - 10
review: 10
post total: 40
season total:170
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris . I enjoyed Pompeii by this author and particularly like historical fiction, and this book did not disappoint. Covering the infamous case of the miscarriage of justice in the Alfred Drefus spy case in France in the late 1800's, the book brought both the guilty and the innocent to life for me. The extent of the cover-up and the self-justification of those involved is horrifying to me and makes me somewhat cynical about the integrity of those we expect to uphold our laws and values. It made me want to learn more about the historical case - I am in the middle of the non-fiction account The Dreyfus Affair by Piers Paul Read as we speak.
10.8[Add to dictionary Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears|11881117]
Mark Batterson
task: 10
non-fiction: 10
review: 10
post total: 30
season total: 200
the circle maker. This book was recommended to pastors/laity of medium-sized churches to help them think about praying bigger and not limiting God to just the scope of a human's imagination. Using both scripture and actual examples from his own experience, the author teaches the importance of "praying circles" around your biggest dreams and greatest fears. I found it to be more simplistic than I had anticipated (just keep praying about it until it happens), but it did make me re-evaluate the scope of my prayers and the importance of using prayer as a tool to discern God's will for me and my church.
20.4 NighttimeForgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick Lexile 980
Today is Leonard's 18th birthday and he has big plans to "celebrate": after school (so he can attend his favorite teacher's class) he's going to kill himself, but not until he has delivered specially chosen gifts to people who have touched his life in some way and killed his former-best friend.
I'm a little bit in love with Leonard...he has so much soul despite the fact his parents are soulless (and completely absent. Literally. He lives alone in Philadelphia while his mother pursues her career in NYC and his father is...um...somewhere?). I love his quirks, I love that he cuts school in order to watch adults doing their thing in order to assess whether or not he thinks he's up to the challenge of growing up. I love that he has spent his lunch hour for the three years of his high school career listening to a kid from his class practice his violin in the auditorium. I love that he was finally able to be honest about the amount of pain he was in to someone who was in a position to help.
I HATED his mother (though I like that the author didn't suddenly make her sympathetic at the end--she was awful to begin the story and ended awful, so at least she was true to form). I HATED his former-best friend. But the book wouldn't have been good without the "villains".
This was a good, quick read from the author of The Silver Linings Playbook.
+20 Task (entire book happens within a 24-hour period)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8, 20.10)
Task total: 40
Season total: 905
Task 20.2 The HouseRead a book where a dwelling-place (house, castle, cottage, villa, church, prison etc.) is a "character" in the sense that the story revolves around the dwelling, it's history or former inhabitants.
Rooms (2014) by Lauren Oliver (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 305 pages)
Review: I wasn’t sure which book would fit task #20.2 so I watched the posts and saw this one read by Karen Michele and claimed for #20.2. I also saw that she had given it 4 *’s. (Thanks to Karen Michele!) I know that the author Lauren Oliver usually writes YA books although this one is not YA. I checked the book out from the library and now have read it. I gave it 3 *’s but that was because the ending was so very sorrowful.
The writing style was clear and easy to follow. The characters were well-drawn as to personality. (And, yes, the rambling old house is a “character” in the story.) In the novel, the various ghosts are confined to the house until such time as they confront and deal with the personal issues they had whilst alive. And, wow, what personal issues!! All the characters in this novel had very bad luck, both the living and the dead. All the characters in this novel then compounded their bad luck with bad decisions, resulting in distressing outcomes. Overall, while the novel is well-written, it is not really my “cup of tea”.
+20 Task (Room)
+10 Combo (#20.3 ghost, #20.7 single word title)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 385 + 40 = 425
10.6 Governor General's AwardAge of Minority: Three Solo Plays by Jordan Tannahill
This is a set of three solo plays written by a Canadian author who was only 25 years old when the volume was published. Each play begins with a brief essay by the actor about his or her experience. The author was the actor for the third piece. All the pieces were first produced in Toronto. The first play, Get Yourself Home Skyler James depicts a teenage girl working at a fast food restaurant, trying to get her distraught girlfriend to come out of the freezer. The girl recounts her journey as a lesbian, joining the U.S. military with her previous girlfriend…only to be harassed by her fellow troops…and causing her to flee to Canada. The second play, rhiannaboi95, similarly relates the self-told story of a gay boy who becomes something of a YouTube sensation for his impersonation of pop star Rhianna…causing himself and others much anxiety.
The third play, Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes is based on the true events of the 18 year old boy who became one of the first victims trying to cross the Berlin Wall in 1962.
I very much enjoyed each of the works….and would like to see them on the stage. The right mix of emotions, monologue, sentiment and significance about outsiders. Four stars.
task=10
review=10
combo=5 (10.8)
not-a-novel=10
task total=35
Grand Total= 1390
20.7 - Single WordAfterwards by Rosamund Lupton
(prev claimed in #451, but adding review)
This wasn’t great. It had moments where it worked, and moments where I hated the narrator so much.
Following a fire at a primary school, leaving mother and daughter in comas and fighting for their live in hospital, we join the mother in a weird out-of-body experience, where she is a floating spirit able to move around with whoever she wants, listening in to their conversations. How this happens isn’t explained, nor is the fact that the only people affected like this are the mother and daughter - all the other coma patients are stuck in their bodies, but our two are sufficiently special (they aren’t) that they can float about and chat to each other.
The mother, our narrator, is chatting constantly, addressing herself to her husband (lots of 2nd person narration going on here. Reviewers generally hated this, and the present tense, but listening to it on audio was only intermittently annoying. I also got to escape the abuse of italics commented on.) Her chat is either about solving the crime or meditations on love and the meaning thereof. Endless meditations on love and the meanings thereof. Ye gads, I could TOTALLY have lived with about 90% of that chat cut.
Both the solution to the mystery of who set the fire and the ending of the book (will they/won’t they live) were predictable. That said, I did enjoy the unravelling of the mystery, with our narrator being privy to information the detectives didn’t, but being too dumb to pull it together properly, so swooning with amazement at the reveals.
2*
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post = 30 (10 new)
Season total = 1045
10.8 - Double Letter NamesScrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
This is an autobiography delivered via essays, which sounds a bit odd, but is a decent enough way of getting through the interesting or relevant stories without having to plough too much through regular teen drama. On the downside, the picking and choosing does mean that some stories I’d’ve liked to hear are glossed over - the move from struggling auditonee to successful actor is glossed over super-quick, for instance.
Kendrick has a light touch over the emotional impact of events - this is entertainment, not a soul-baring exercise to help others deal with things. That’s not to say it’s not honest, which it is; ditto thought-provoking, as Kendrick explores concerns about growing up, becoming an adult, becoming a functional adult...
Overall, Kendrick’s head isn’t a bad place to spend some time in.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
Post= 30
Season total = 1075
20.7 - Single WordBelgravia by Julian Fellowes
set in 1840
Julian Fellowes, he of Gosforth Park and Downton Abbey fame, turns his hand to an earlier age, though remains in the familiar zone of the clashes between upstairs/downstairs and old money (nobility) / new money (trade).
We have an opening chapter set in 1815, on the eve of Waterloo, to meet the spurs to the plot, then hop forward 25 years to 1840, to watch the fall out play out. All the stock characters are there: autocratic lords and ladies, servants faithful and faithless, clever up-and-coming youths and indolent, entitled ones. And they are, by and large, stock characters, running through a fairly stock plot, which, after a few twists and turns, ends up with happy endings for the good and the wicked get what they jolly well deserve.
I thought it was meh - there were some promising moments, but it all got tied up way too neatly all too quickly, with little ruffling of emotions. Even the jealous son had a Damascene conversion, based on very little indeed.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo 10.8; 20.5
Post= 40
Season total = 1115
20.5 - OldBeauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
set in medieval era world
pub 1978
900 lex
Retellings of the Beauty and the Beast story can be problematic, especially through a feminist gaze - the handing off a daughter to pay for her father’s crime, the Stockholm-syndrome isn’t actually love - or at least, not healthy love, generally the Beauty having little to no agency and being used for the Beast’s own ends.
McKinley’s version can’t get around all of these issues, though she does manage to soften down some of the lack of agency. What it does achieve is to tell the story well, populating it with real feeling characters, giving me, at least, enough to work with to happily disengage more critical faculties and to just enjoy the story. Quality escapism.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldie
Post = 35
Season total = 1150
20.7 - Single WordHexed by Kevin Hearne
(prev claimed in #450, but adding review)
This is the second in a long-running urban fantasy series, the premise of which is that our hero is the last Druid, who has managed to hang around for millennia, and who is a personal (very personal!) acquaintance of a number of Irish goddesses.
The first in the series was fun, and this one is too, though I do have qualms. This felt more like a filler story which was padded out - to its detriment - than a full-fledged story. A #1.5 in the series, if you like, not #2. There were fights - fisticuffs and trickery - which I enjoyed a lot; Hearne can write good action. What there wasn’t was much in the way of interesting plot or character development. It was linear, and served only to set-up number 3 in the series.
However, there was plenty of Oberon, the wolfhound sidekick, who is totally the reason for reading this series, so I’m not that upset, and will be reading #3 soon enough.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post= 30 (10 new)
Season total = 1160
20.5 - OldArrow's Flight by Mercedes Lackey
(prev claimed in #448, but adding review)
set in medieval era world
pub 1987
The second (in publication order, anyway) in the Valdemar books, this focuses on our plucky heroine’s struggle with her magic powers. In book 1 Talia was, even if she didn’t think so, brilliant, wonderful, awesome, learning how to be the best Herald in the history ever. Everything came easy, in terms of learning at least. Now she’s sent out to learn the actual ropes, and things rapidly go to pot. Of course, it all comes good in the end, and she’s better than ever for having dealt with the knocks and come out the other side.
Things I genuinely liked: the portrayal of sex as a healthy itch for both partners (and of whatever sex), not tied up with slut shaming or the like; magic horses, because who doesn’t love magic horses?!.
Things I was less keen on: Talia is piss-poor at communication. Which is probably an issue, given she’s a Herald, which is a job all about communication. A growth area for sure!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldie
Post = 35 (10 new)
Season total = 1170
Post 465Jane wrote: "20.71984
George Orwell
task: 20
combo: 10.4, 10.5, 10.8, 20.10 - 20
review: 10
oldie: 5
post total: 55
season total: 130
1984. It's been more than 45 years since I origin..."
Just posting in case you need to fix your own records. This doesn't qualify for 20.10, but it does qualify for 20.9, so your points are the same.
20.5 - OldArrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey
(prev claimed in #449, but adding review)
set in medieval era world
pub 1988
The last in the first (publication order) Valdemar trilogy, the subtle seeding of the Bad Guy comes to fruition in this one. But not very well.
The main part of the book is more piss-poor communication (see review of Arrow’s Flight) between Talia, her soul mate (locked at first glance. sigh. bleurgh.) and his best friend, the guy Talia scratched her itch with (no strings attached) in book 2. Of course, as this is the main element of the book, they can’t just be adults and say “it was NSA, I am fated to love you”, but instead sigh and mope and assume that there’s mind-reading skillz going on.
Luckily the Bad Guy, and his Puppet Master, plot line is there, which explodes in the last quarter of the book, with rape, torture, death and heroic magic. Our heroine is saved and united with her fated love, but nothing else is resolved.
Frustrating, I think, is the one-word review.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldie
Post = 35 (10 new)
Season total = 1180
10.4 ThankfulAnimal Farm by George Orwell
(#60 on the given list. Lexile score 1370)
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.5, 10.8, 20.9)
+5 Oldies (1945)
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 245
20.5 - OldThe Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After by Patricia C. Wrede
(prev claimed in #454, but adding review)
set in 1830/40s
Epistolary novels can be hit or miss, in my experience. The first in this series was a hit, but this one is definitely a miss.
The plot was a mess, with random things chucked in at various points to… I dunno… make it more interesting? more exciting? Whatever the authors’ intention, it didn’t work for me.
So, what was the plot: one couple dump their kids on their best friends and go scouting round the North of England for a missing German magician, linked to the railway boom and ley lines, stone circles and a political power grab. The family with the kids have a snooper and acquire a mystery girl and… that’s about it for them.
At the unravelling I could see there was maybe an attempt to do some world-building, possibly with a view to another novel. If so, I’ll be passing.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post = 30 (10 new)
Season total = 1190
20.5 - OldTraitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell
(prev claimed in #453, but adding review)
set in medieval era world
Oh, this was a fun ride! The start of a fantasy sequence following the attempts of three friends, and brothers-in-arms to try and fulfill the last orders of their deposed king. The three are members of an elite group, who used to deliver the King’s justice before a coup overthrew him. Now they are scorned as traitors and turncoats.
Our main man, who has an inevitably bleak backstory, is snarky, angry and has a somewhat suicidal bent, which makes him willing to take outrageous steps in order to continue to try and do Right despite attitude of the new rulers of the land, who lean more to the view that Power is ends enough.
I enjoyed learning about the world in dribs and drabs, meeting the various players, who were all nuanced enough not to feel stock.
Overall fresh, fun, entertaining, and I’m looking forward to the next in the series!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo 10.8
Post = 35 (10 new)
Season total = 1200
15.5 Reading GloballySetting: Italy
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 305
10.8 - Double Letter NamesInsatiable Appetites by Stuart Woods
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 295
10.4 ThankfulThe Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
#199 on list
Review
Horror has never been one I'm comfortable with. I do not watch horror movies and ever since reading Frankenstein in the middle of a stormy night sitting by my bedroom door with only the hallway light on (sleeping parentals), I have never truly enjoyed a horror novel. Whilst this book isn't really scary, there were some hair-raising moments. I think I was more confused than anything else. I think there's supposed to be a lot of reading between the lines and I wasn't prepared for that. I did enjoy the story in itself and the other world sense to it all. I love the characters from the flea-monster, the old lady and the powerful female line (they did not need any males on the farm; they'd only get in the way), and the confused bookish little boy. They were well-made & well developed.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.3 - 7 times)
+10 Review
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 590
20.4 NighttimeThe Art of the Engine Driver by Steven Carroll
Review
A family of 3 (Vic, Rita, and their son, Michael) is walking down the road to an engagement party hosted by one of their neighbours. As they're walking down the road, the book delved into the family's past, their current situation & predicament, and even where they will be in the future though of course, the characters themselves do not currently know of their futures. Then as they walk past each house in the neighbourhood, the book also delved into each neighbour, their past, current situation, and future. The book culminated at the party and subsequent consequences of events. The language is evocative as I can truly imagine the sticky Australian summer's night but it was hard keeping up with who's who except for the main family.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.8 - carroLL)
+10 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 625
10.2 Spy. Shelved 37 timesSingle & SingleJohn le Carré
I have never read anything by this English author. It turns out though that I have seen several of the movies made from his books. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which I could not follow. The Night Manager which I loved. The Constant Gardener which I like and A Most Wanted Man that I really like the actors in this but should probably watch again. I realized early on that this book would be just as difficult to read as his movies are to follow. I understood all the illegal dealings but then I didn't. Does that make sense? The transitions to the next sentence had me back tracking to figure out if we were still in a flashback or in current time. I liked the main character even with all his flaws. I almost stopped reading during the multiple pages describing his magic show. I skipped a few pages then I was good to go. I was unfamiliar with several of the English phrases and words but so was the Kindle dictionary. I probably won't pick up another le Clarre book. I will watch and rewatch his movies though. I just prefer a spy thriller that is not such a challenge to understand.
10 task
5 10.8 double letter
10 review
25 total
From Post 474Cat wrote: "20.5 - Old
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
set in medieval era world
pub 1978
900 lex
Retellings of the Beauty and the Beast..."
+5 Combo 10.4
From post 440Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.1 Square Peg
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by [author:Gret..."
+10 Not-a-Novel
15.9 Reading Globally Country: Venezuela
The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka
+40 task
Season Total: 355
10.8 Double LetterMiss Julia's School of Beauty by Ann B. Ross
Miss Julia has recently remarried - or has she? Returning from her honeymoon--spent at Dollywood --Julia discovers that the "preacher" who married them at a drive-in wedding chapel may not have been authorised to perform marriages. Horrified at the idea that she may have been living in sin, she at once ceases "marital activities" and banishes poor Sam to the guest room. Meanwhile, Hazel Marie is organising a beauty contest to raise money for police dogs, and Julia is roped in to rehearse the contestants.
I enjoyed this sixth book in the series. Some of the books have very little plot, but this one had plenty of genuinely funny situations. Miss Julia is a treat, Sam is lovely, and my only worry is the racial stereotypes.
+10 task
+10 review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 600
15.7 Reading GloballySetting: Hong Kong
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 975
15.8 Reading GloballySetting: Argentina
The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri
+25 Task
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 555
10.7 Big WordsGeorge Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade
I wanted to like this book. The subject matter is fascinating, the history compelling--the telling of it not-so-great. I don't like when non-fiction authors inject dialogue or fictionalization events into a history book: I just want the facts, better yet when told in an interesting and engaging manner (like Bill Bryson and Erik Larson). This guy...the dialogue he throws in is absurd and anachronistic in tone, The research and fleshing-out of it was underdeveloped and felt like I was reading a dumbed-down version that is aimed more towards the YA set.
The best thing about it was the fact that it was relatively short.
(Also: listened to it on audio. As soon as they said, "read by the author," I knew it was a bad sign. He was a TERRIBLE reader! Every sentence was read in the same urgent, forceful tone. He mispronounced enough words that it became a notable distraction and his accent was unbearable. I was dying for this one to be done.)
+10 Task ("Revolution")
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.5)
Task total: 40
Season total: 945
10.10 Group readsBeyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope by Jimmy Carter
Wow. Just: wow. This man is absolutely remarkable. I didn't know much about him other than the fact that he was a farmer from the South (he was a little before my time...I was just a kid and had no concept of what "politics" were) and the fact that he works with Habitat for Humanity. This book gave me a new appreciation for our 39th President, especially in light of our current office-holder.
After leaving office, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, established the Carter Center, dedicated to bringing peace to nations in unrest, healing the neglected sick of the world, and teaching skills to create a better life in very real and palpable ways. He traveled to unstable nations to encourage and assist in their election processes, doing everything he could to make sure that the voters were not being intimidated or the vote falsified in any way. He went to places where illnesses that are all but extinct in the first world but make life near-unlivable to thousands in the third world, diseases that are largely ignored as the W.H.O. and U.N. focus on epidemics such as AIDS, and brought medicines and strategies to prevent the spread of these diseases.
He is a humble, hardworking man who has dedicated his life to the betterment of humanity and I am astounded at the contrast between his goodness, compassion, and empathy and the current state of affairs, where "helping" people who have lost everything consists of throwing a few rolls of paper towels at them.
I'd vote for Jimmy Carter, any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.8)
Task total: 35
Season total: 980
15.4 Reading GloballyJazz and Palm Wine by Emmanuel Dongala
+15 task
+15 first visitor to Congo
Task Total = 30
Grand Total = 280
10.8 Double Letter NameDeath at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
+10 task
Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 300
10.8 Double Letter NameThe Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
+10 task
+5 oldies
Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 315
10.7 Big WordsThe Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm
(entirely set in Germany)
I enjoyed this novel which uses the device of a middle-aged German man returning to his roots to prove that he knew the person who invented curried sausage (a common street food in Germany). The man returns to Hamburg and tracks down the whereabouts of the woman who operated the stand that he frequented as a boy. The woman, Lena, is residing in a retirement home and is more than welcome to discuss her "invention". The discussions takes place over several visits. The curried sausage is not the important part of the story. We learn about Lena's failed marriage and how the war affected her. We see Lena have an affair with a deserter...and how she protects and harms him. This novel is a clever insight into the difficulties endured by civilian Germans as World War II was ending without concentrating on the grimmer aspects and during the occupation. It is also a story about Lena's specific circumstances... a character who is hard to dislike. A point of view we rarely hear. Oh...and the reader does learn about how Lena put together her curried sausage recipe. Four stars.
task=10
review=10
combo=5 (10.8)
task total=25
grand total= 1415
10.8 - Double Letter NameStranger than we can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century by J.M.R. Higgs
This is a very entertaining look at the 20th Century, an attempt to put it into context and explore and explain the reasons and upheavals that occurred across science, art, politics and philosophy.
Higgs’ thesis is, much simplified, that the 20th Century was a period of change, to move society from Empire (with imposed behaviour and values flowing from the top) to a networked society (with behaviour and values arising from compliance to the network response). He makes this argument by exploring key points through the century, explaining how discoveries such as Einstein’s theory of relativity (time depends on the indivdual’s perspective) to Cubism (Picasso is exploring how different perspectives are equally valid ways of depicting something) or birth control (individuals taking ownership of their body) helped create the capitalist, individualist way of life. He sees hope that the new technologies arising from the internet and “digital native” generation will start to form a more balance society, where individualism is permitted, but with feedback from the network to reward good behaviour and curb bad.
Whether one agrees with the overarching thesis or not - and certainly it is very Western-centric (there’s a throwaway line “explaining” that difficulties with religious extremism - especially arising from the Middle East - is because the strong hand of dictators has prevented the exploration of what it means to be individualistic society, causing the clash) - he presents his snippets of history in a very engaging, relatable and understandable way. This isn’t, and has no real pretentions to be, a rigorous scholarly exercise; it is thought-provoking and entertaining, and recommended.
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel (non-fiction)
+10 Review
Post total = 30
Season total = 1235
20.6 ClergySidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
+20 pts - Task
+ 5 pts - Combo (10.10)
Task Total - 25 pts
Season Total - 975 pts
20.1 Gothic AuthorsSkeleton Crew by Stephen King
+20 Task
+10 Not a Novel
+ 5 Jumbo (612)
+ 5 Oldies (1985)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1015
20.6 - OldTo Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn
set in 1814
Despite my bad experience last time out with Quinn, still I persevered. And this one was worth it. All the necessary parts were present and correct: feisty, entertaining heroine, handsome, slightly emotionally constipated hero, some comic turns plus a baddy or two to generate the requisite scrapes (running away from EEEEvil guardian, capturing a spy ring) to throw our couple together and get the crucial “I love you”s exchanged.
And my gentle mocking of the formula to one side, (and it’s a winning one, no doubts about it) there is sufficient interest, especially in Caroline’s character to raise it above the dull formulaic and into good read.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2; 10.8; 20.10)
Post total = 45
Season total = 1280
10.8 Double Letter Names (Cat's task)Cooking the Books (Corinna Chapman #6 by Kerry Greenwood
grEEnwood
Review
I'm rather glad it's the last in the series so far as I can see... Something about this series bothered me and I think it's the repetition. There were just statements being repeated over & over and of course, this last installment with the making of a soap opera turned it into a soap opera beginning with a lost baby then (view spoiler) and then another bit and another bit which were just stereotypical of a soap opera. Meh! There's a reason why I don't watch soapies. On the other hand, I did enjoy the other line of mystery of lost bearable bonds and love all the foods mentioned, of course!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 645
20.8 Mother-DaughterMessage from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love by Xinran
A painful and eye-opening read, this book shows (through several personal stories of mothers of daughters) what often happens to girl babies in rural China and why.
The wish for a boy in Chinese families wasn't just about the one-child policy, as we tend to assume in the West. That policy only operated for one or two generations and wasn't enforced in the most impoverished areas where the child mortality rate was high. The emphasis on having a boy born first goes back much, much further in Chinese history, due to religious practices involving the first-born child.
I expected this book to say "Isn't it terrible how many Chinese babies have been removed from their country/culture to be adopted by Westerners." In fact it says the opposite. The message here is that many of those babies (who were virtually all girls, plus a few disabled boys) wouldn't have had a life in China, i.e. they would have died by either murder or neglect. A lot of them only survived because Westerners were willing to pay to adopt them, despite being loved and missed by their mothers. The pressure from parents-in-law to get rid of them one way or another was just too great.
I'm the eldest child in my family, and it's scary to think my parents would have been under pressure to get rid of me in that culture, so that my younger brother could be the "firstborn"!
Unfortunately Xinran can't back up her statements with statistics, because there aren't any. Very few records of any kind were kept in China in the 1990s, which is the period she talks about most, when she was living there and researching this book. The evidence is anecdotal, but it's heartrending.
+20 task (approved)
+10 review
+ 5 combo (20.10 Xinran)
+10 not a novel (nonfiction)
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 645
20.6 - ClergyMiddlemarch by George Eliot
+20 task (approved)
+ 15 combo ( tasks 10.5/10.8/20.7)
+10 review
+10 Oldies (first published in 1871-2)
+20 Jumbo (using MPE- 904 pages)
Middlemarch was initially published as a serialized novel in 1871-2. This is the seventh book written by Mary Ann Evans who chose the nom de plume of George Eliot. This is one of her most successful novels. This classic has been hailed not only as literature but as a good historical novel. Once you read the novel you will understand that Middlemarch is not just the name of a village in the middle of England but a way of life.
As a nineteeneth century novel, it is quite dense and requires patience to become invested. A good idea may be to listen via audio-book to immerse yourself into the tale. I listened partially to Libriovox narrator Margaret Espailler who did a great job, especially when it came to the French, Italian and Spanish prequel to each chapter. The novel was captivating as you become invested in the village through the eyes of varying characters. My favourite initially was Celia Brooke but was won over to Dorothea. Be prepared to understand the restrictions placed on women and men due to societal expectations, the naivety of most of the characters and the major disappointments which arise almost throughout the novel. Despite some duller moments, I really enjoyed this book, especially the plot twists in the latter 30% of the novel. Can't wait to re-read this novel. But need some background reading to better understand the issues highlighted. My ignorance of British history and certain clues meant I missed some of the finer points.
Recommend for those who love historical fiction, classics, character study and lovers of Victorian literature.
Task total: 75
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Reading with Style
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Borne (other topics)The Woman in White (other topics)
A Few Days in the Country and Other Stories (other topics)
Slave: My True Story (other topics)
Dead Woman Walking (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jeff VanderMeer (other topics)Wilkie Collins (other topics)
Elizabeth Harrower (other topics)
Mende Nazer (other topics)
Sharon J. Bolton (other topics)
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a-z
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
(this is an excellent book!!)
40 task
15 first to Virgin Is, US (St. Thomas specifically)
100 alphabetical
50 4 continents
_____
205
Running total: 685