Reading with Style discussion
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SP 18 Completed Tasks
10.9 - Double TroubleUnnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
I love listening to this series on audiobook - the narrator played Peter Wimsey in the BBC series and is masterful with all the voices and accents required. I'm sad to say that this is my least favorite installment so far, though. A large part of the mystery hangs on who is related to whom and the intricacies of inheritance law, and verbally sketching out family trees doesn't work well on audio. I relistened to sections to keep relations straight only to find out that it didn't matter, anyway. Oh, well. It doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the series as a whole and I'm looking forward to digging into the next volume on a literary rainy day.
+10 task (Historical and Mystery)
+10 combo (10.3, 20.6)
+10 oldies
+10 review
Task total: 40 points
Grand total: 160 points
20.4 - Night WatchImmortal in Death by J.D. Robb
I read book two of the In Death series five years ago but I was still able to jump in to book three with no problems. The series follows Eve Dallas, a homicide detective in New York circa 2058, and her friends and coworkers as she solves murder cases. Robb is a pen name for Nora Roberts so there's a small romantic storyline, as well. The mystery is engaging and kept me interested, so no problems there. Being the third book in the series the world is built out enough that Robb can flesh out minor characters. I like the crew surrounding Eve and Rourke and look forward to following them through dozens more books.
+20 task
+15 combo (10.3, 10.7, 10.9 - contemporary and mystery)
+10 review
Task total: 45 points
Grand total: 205 points
From Post 131Rachelccameron wrote: "10.1 Square Peg
The World's Worst Children by David Walliams
Low Lexile no NaN Styles
+10 Task
Grand Total: 120 pts"
While this does have a low lexile, it is not shelved at the Brooklyn Public Library, so it is good to go on styles.
+10 Not a Novel
From Post 128June wrote: "10.9- Double Trouble
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
+10 task
+10 combo - 20.4, 20.9
Post total: 20
Season total: 140"
+5 Jumbo
Welcome Lalitha.Lalitha wrote: "Please bear with me if I am making any mistakes!
20.4 Night Watch
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
What a lovely book. There are times when a classic comes you..."
+5 Oldies
Although, this doesn't change your point total as a single combo (10.9) is only 5 points, not 10.
10.7 Neutral NameLock Nut by J.L. Merrow
This is the fifth (and possibly last?) in a humorous series about gay plumber Tom Paretski, who has a psychic ability to find hidden things, which helps him find plumbing leaks but also involves him in murder investigations. The series follows his romance with private detective Phil Morrison. They were engaged in the previous book, and now they’re planning their wedding.
This is definitely a feel-good book and you’d want to have read at least some of the others in the series, because the murder here is hard to take seriously. I don’t know if I can even summarise it, but it involves the death of the ex-husband of a porn actress friend of a friend of Tom and Phil’s. It’s really a backdrop to the romance at this stage in the series.
I hope this isn’t the last in the series because I like Tom and Phil, but if it is, we are leaving them in a good place.
+10 task
+10 combo (10.3, 10.5)
+10 review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 265
20.10 Comfort ZoneYeoman of the Guard by W.S. Gilbert
+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.5 Green Stone 28 ratings
+5 Combo 10.7 Neutral Name
+5 Combo 20.1 Double - features character swapping/mistaken identity
+5 Combo 20.8 Silent Spring play published 1888
+10 Not A Novel
+10 Oldies
Task Total: 60pts
Grand Total: 220 pts
15.8 Reading the DecadesThe Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq
+25 Task (published 98)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 375
10.1 - Square PegSugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My review:
I read the first book in this series last year and it became a sort of guilty pleasure for me. The writing wasn’t great but the characters were fairly interesting and as the books are very easy to read I kept turning to them when I wanted an easy but entertaining book.
There have always been some aspects of the series that I disliked, particularly the way the characters are walking gender stereotypes - the women mostly like to wear fancy clothes and gossip while the men like fishing and watching sports. I’ve always been able to overlook that if I enjoyed the story but unfortunately I found the plot of this book so poor that it made it hard for me to ignore the other things that have always annoyed me about the series.
I might give this one more try as I do quite like the main characters and want to see what happens to them, but after this book I don’t imagine I’ll be reading all twenty or so in the series!
+10 review
Post total: 20
Season total: 165
20.1 The DoubleThe Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
So, this is the third "Revenge" play in a row that I've read and this is the better of the three. Here, the Duchess, a widow, is a sympathetic figure who falls in love with a courtier who is below her station. The story is based on real events. Her twin brother, Ferdinand, is the chief villain who can't abide the reports that his sister is having an affair.... and his anger is not assuaged when he learns that she married her lover. Her other brother is an evil Cardinal and also seeks to revenge himself against his sister...but his reasons seem less obvious. Add an amoral assassin and other intrigues (including a very strange episode which involves Ferdinand acting out as a wolf!) and you have one dark and bizarre story. I gave the first two revenge plays 2 stars and 3 stars respectively....and I would give this one 3 and a half if I could...but 4 is too much.
task=20
combo= 15 (10.2-set in Italy; 20.7; 20.8)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie= 25 (1614)
task total= 80
grand total= 225
20.10 Comfort ZoneMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Madame Bovary is an interesting book and I think if I set aside some of my current and modern ideals I am sure to like and even connect with the protagonist.
Who is Madame Bovary? Three characters share the name but I am sure the author intended to have Emma as the main character. A woman whose thirst for true love (inspired mainly by the novels she reads growing up) and lofty ideals of romance marries a vapid doctor and settles in rustic France of early 19th century. Soon she regrets marrying the man and indulges in a couple of affairs, becomes extravagant in her lifestyle and consequently neglects her husband and her daughter.
Without throwing out any spoilers here, I can understand the frustration of Emma. In those times, it seemed rare for a man and his wife to connect intellectually. We never hear about Monsieur Bovary talking to his wife about his interests, aims, desires etc . Infact, we can only surmise that his goal in life was reached the day he married a beautiful woman. He never once asked his wife as to what she wanted from a marriage. The first spoken words from Emma in the novel says 'Why did I have to marry this man?' Having grown up without a female confidante, she echoes these words to a dog which speaks about the depths of solitude in her heart. Deprived of any happiness in her insipid marriage, Emma craves for happiness outside. Sadly, this seems to be the case even today in thousands of marriages. It is I believe important for two individuals to connect with mind and heart, be it in friendship or relation.
The book is without doubt well written but I do not see this novel as progressive, despite the setting of this novel. I would have given it a 4 stars if that were the case.
Task = 20
Combo = 20 (10.4, 10.9, 20.2, 20.4)
review = 10
Oldies = 15
Task Total = 65
Season Total = 45+65 = 110
20.6 Dead SoulsReservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 is a slow tale of real life. Based on the disappearance of a young girl, it reminds us that life continues through grief and lack of resolution. Some patterns must continue and others are better broken. Another Goodreads poster in the Roundtable group (thanks, Kai) mentioned the repeating themes as like a piece of music and the story does unfold like a symphony based on Theme and Variations. I loved the addition of the natural world and it’s patterns and seasons. I tend to mark time that way and am so excited that I have blooms on my tulip tree and hear the bees and hummingbirds outside. I love to watch Great Blue Herons and they also have a place in the story. I had a bit more trouble with some of the characters. Those identified with specific actions like the potter with his creations worked well, but I had sometimes forgotten who others were when I came to them again and that confusion made the book 4 stars instead of 5 for me (there is construction going on in my house, so I may have to do a re-read in silence and then perhaps with my concentration unbroken by noise it will rate 5 stars). I also loved the tension in different sections when (view spoiler). I am glad to see that this book won the Costa prize and I look forward to reading more of Jon McGregor’s work.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 260
20.9 JumboBuddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann - 731 pages
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.9 -> 119 Cultural>Germany + 86 Historical Fiction + 20 Historical; 20.4 -> Будденброки)
+10 Oldies (1901)
+10 Jumbo (731 pages)
Task Total: 50
Season Total: 65
10.3 SeriesTo Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
Chief Inspector Alan Grant meets American photographer Leslie Searle at a party, and a few weeks later finds himself investigating the man's disappearance in highly suspicious circumstances. It seems to be a classic “village murder” centering on the big house and the pub, but where's the body?
I thought I'd read all of Josephine Tey's few books so this one came as a surprise. I haven't always enjoyed them, but I think this was one of her best. It's not quite so full of impossible coincidences as some, and the main characters are well drawn. And I didn’t guess what was going on—or certainly not the reason for it.
+10 task (4 in series)
+10 review
+ 5 oldies (1950)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 290
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 122 Anika wrote: "20.1 The DoubleThe Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne
This one started out well enough...perfect couple have perfect daughters (identical twins, b..."
Thanks for doing the investigating on my behalf (and for the extra points)! You rock <3
10.5 Green StoneFrontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women
I love reading the stories of unknown heroes and this was filled with them: 12 stories of remarkable women who challenged and changed their worlds when the odds were against them. There was a gold rush "boomer", the first Mexican-American to publish in English, the artist and writer on whom Wallace Stegner based the character Susan Burling Ward in "Angle of Repose" (and whom he blatantly plagiarized!), the first female state senator (who won in a race against her husband!), a freed slave who moved West in search of her children who were sold away from her, the best stagecoach driver in the West (who wasn't revealed to be a woman until after her death), a fearless suffragette in Oregon, and a woman fighting sex-trafficking in San Francisco's Chinatown. These women were inspiring, indomitable, and inimitable. They were doing remarkable things that women were discouraged from or outright not allowed to do, a couple of them found themselves in jail a time or two, yet they fought against the odds and prevailed.
While the writing in this book was at times simplistic, I enjoyed the inspiring stories enough to overlook it.
+10 Task (752 ratings)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (20.6. Reading it, I definitely thought it'd fit for 20.2 but it doesn't have sufficient shelvings as "feminist")
Task total: 35
Season total: 145
20.3 SanctuaryManhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.9 Historical 82x, Mystery 24x)
Points this post: 25
RwS total: 105
RtD total: -
Season Total: 105
Task 10.9 Double TroubleGenres: Mystery, Historical
The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (Flavia de Luce #9) (2018) by Alan Bradley
Review: This is the ninth entry in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series. It is June 1952, in rural/small town England. The novel opens 6 months after the end of book #8 in the series. Flavia and her sisters go on a vacation to a nearby town with Mr. Dogger (all round servant and close personal friend of Flavia’s father). Flavia quickly discovers a recently deceased young man. She decides that since the local police are not doing a good job of investigating the death, she will do an investigation and uncover the truth of the young man’s demise. Flavia is a precocious 12? 14? year old girl, much enamored of chemistry. The local constables don’t appreciate her meddling – this is her 9th time doing so, after all.
As with many long-running series, there are returning characters from previous novels. The characters jump right in without any backstory explanations (those explanations came in the previous novels). This is a series best read in order of publication. Recommended for those who enjoy offbeat mystery novels.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 100 + 20 = 120
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Crucible by Arthur Miller
This play was written in the 1950s and is ostensibly about the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts during the Puritan era. But...what it is REALLY about is the witch hunt for Communists during the McCarthy era. Here, a young woman participates in a pagan lark...but when confronted throws blame on others. The twisted justice system permits those who confess and name others to escape the death penalty. As each person is accused of being a witch or communing with the devil, the accusations mushroom. Of course, almost everyone is innocent.
Miller does a superb job of portraying the dilemmas that confront so many people... but the true heroes are those who refuse to confess and are thereby condemned. They have saved their honor and rescued others from accusations.
Don't rely on the play as a strict retelling or interpretation of the Salem Witch Trials. Miller has at times combined the attributes of several real people...and of course there is no record for much of the dialogue in the play. Nevertheless, this must have hit many a nerve in the 1950s.... and should probably wrack some nerves today too.
4 stars.
Task=20
combo= 5 (10.9-Historical-1898 & Mystery-22)
NaN=10
Review=10
Oldie=5 (1953)
task total= 50
Grand Total= 275
(Does not count toward the Styles challenge because I finished 3/9/18).
20.6 Dead SoulsWhale Music by Paul Quarrington
This was an unexpected surprise. I picked this book for my A-Z classic authors challenge because Q is an awfully hard letter to fill. Paul Quarrington was a Canadian author, and this book won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction in 1989. It was also nominated for the Stephen Leacock Medal (which is for humour). You may be familiar with the title from the movie of the same name that was released in 1994. I was unfamiliar with Quarrington’s work, but from what I read about him he wrote humorous books about subjects that are sad and/or difficult.
This novel is about a reclusive, and very famous, rock star, Des Howl. It is told in his, unreliable, voice. This makes the tone very interesting and funny, because he makes no bones about having a lot of issues due to heavy drug and alcohol use and their attendant mental health results. I think it helps if the reader knows that the character, Des, is based on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. You don’t need to know the details of Wilson’s issues, you just need a vague idea and then buckle up for the ride.
This book is very readable and made me laugh out loud from start to finish. I find that rare, even in supposed humorous writings. Des’ story is told in set pieces, and the final ones made me laugh harder than I have in a very long time. I wish I owned the book just so I could read those bits again. It wraps up in a very charming and satisfying way. 5*
20 task
5 oldie
5 combo 10.5
10 review
____
40
Running total: 245
20.4 Night WatchThe Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
+20 Task
+ 5 Oldies (published 1974)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 400
15.9 Reading the DecadesA Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
+40 Task (published 07)
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 440
20.8 Silent SpringPeter Freuchen's Famous Book of the Eskimos by Peter Freuchen (non-fiction published 1961)
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.5 -> 130 ratings)
+10 Not A Novel (non-fiction)
+5 Oldies (1961)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 105
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories by Muriel Spark
Here are an eclectic collection of eleven stories by one of my favorite authors, Muriel Spark, Several of the stories involve Brits in the African colonies..or the reverse. The title story involves a young woman living in Africa who tries to make a go of it in post-war England...with predictable difficulties. One of my favorites is The Portobello Road in which a woman narrates the story as a ghost of her friendship with a man who was a friend and who moves from England to Rhodesia....and when she visits him, he reveals his secret that he is married to his non-Caucasian wife. This secret clashes with her promise not to reveal it when the man moves back to England alone, and announces that he plans to marry one of their mutual friends...while still secretly married to the wife in Africa. Muriel Spark always pleases me by telling a story from the point of view of an individual whose shoes I will never walk in. I'm forced to contemplate things that I never expected to confront. 4 stars.
Task=20
Review=10
combo= 10 (10.8-Africa and UK*; 20.4)
NaN=10
Oldie=5 (1958)
task total= 55
Grand total= 330
*-Six of the stories takes place exclusively in the UK; Two take place exclusively in Africa, two take place in both Africa and the UK, and the location of another is unspecified.
20.2 The Blazing WorldThe Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
+20 Task
+ 5 (combo 10.3, 3rd book in the series)
+5 (combo 10.7, neutral name)
+10 Review (see below)
Task Total: 40
Season total: 75
___review____
Wow. Again, wow. And yet, still not the perfection of the first book in the trilogy. (As with my review of The Obelisk Gate and The Fifth Season, I will try to keep the review high-level so as to avoid spoilers, but would recommend that those sensitive to such not read beyond the first paragraph of this review.) At the outset, let me say that the trilogy wraps up in a very satisfying way. That does not mean that everything is sunshine and roses, but the end is conclusive and as a reader I was left satisfied. My important questions were answered, and those that were probably not important were easily cast aside. I was not knocked off the tee and into space, as I expected to have been after book 2, but it was still REALLLLY good, and I would recommend it to most, if not all, even with my nit-picky caveats below.
(view spoiler)
So in the end, would I recommend this book? Yes, but only if you have read the previous two. I would advise giving yourself some space to breathe and rest comfortably in the notion that you will either remember or re-figure the details that made the world of the Stillness. Would I recommend the trilogy? Yes, without reservation. To anyone and for many reasons.
20.1 The Double The Secret History by Donna Tartt
As it turned out, I had read this about 15 years ago and only had hazy memories. I think I probably liked it more this time around. The story is of a group of eccentric classics students at a small college who descend into some twisted morals and near-madness. The storyline itself is interesting but requires a little bit of putting aside the feeling of "What's wrong with these incredibly, incredibly privileged young people making insane decisions and living absurd lives?" However, as weird as it sounds, if you can and want to put that aside, it's a good read. Having read The Goldfinch, and liking it, I can see where this fits right into Tartt's style -- wordy, slightly weird, brooding characters that aren't quite likable, sprawling plots.
+20 task (the twins are major characters)
+25 combo (10.9 - myst, contemp; 20.3; 20.4 - Тайная история; 20.6, 20.9)
+5 jumbo (559 pages)
+5 oldies (published 1992)
+10 review
Task Total: 65
Season Total: 180
10.9 Double Trouble The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
This was my second time reading this beautiful, creepy little book -- I reread it for a book club. Talking about it in a club made all the difference to how much I enjoyed the book. I realized, on this second read and discussion, how much this book feels right in the classic Gaiman style -- some religious allusions, lots of symbolism, timeless-feeling children, creepy parents, fairy tale feel, magic. The story is pretty simple: A lonely young boy meets the family at the end of the lane - 3 generations of women who have some unique powers and roles in managing the unseen magical creatures of the world. And like any fairy-tale-ish world, the boy makes a mistake and doesn't listen, with frightening consequences.
+10 task (shelved contemporary 323x and mystery 65x)
+10 review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 200
10.5 Green StoneStormbound Surgeon by Marion Lennox
When Sydney-based surgeon Joss reluctantly visits his family in the tiny coastal town of Iluka, he doesn't plan to stay long. But a storm intervenes, physically cutting off the village from the outside world and stranding not just Joss but also a pregnant woman in need of an emergency Cesarean. Joss may be the only doctor available, but he's not completely without help: at the local nursing home, nurse Amy manages to rustle up a surprising but efficient crack team of elderly retired health professionals who can assist her and Joss.
Amy's in a bad situation, and not just because of the storm. Due the conditions of a manipulative will (the sort of unbelievable estate planning that exists nowhere in the real world but everywhere as a plot device in Romancelandia), she's actually forced to make her life in an empty mansion if she wishes to inherit her evil stepfather's home. The will stipulates that if she fails to live there for ten years, the nursing home will be sold off to be a resort and the stepfather's evil nephews will inherit the house and money, and they'll also probably continue their uncle's legacy of ruining the town for the residents. Amy hates the isolation and the poverty of her situation--every spare and not-so-spare coin goes to the taxes and upkeep of the terrible mansion, as well as put toward her own work trying to meet the town's medical needs--but she loves the town of Iluka and loves its mostly elderly residents, and she can't let it be destroyed.
The external plot is pretty laughable--it's mustache-twirlingly silly! The stepfather was fairy tale evil, and Amy is trying to make do under fairy tale martyrish conditions. But Lennox balances this out with down-to-earth personalities of the characters (Joss and Amy are hard-working and competent medical professionals, and they make each other smile and laugh frequently), the interestingness of the medical emergencies featured (as always, Marion Lennox writes the best rescue scenes--Lionel's kites, omg), and the charm of the small-town community and the reassurance of people who care and come together. This is why I love Lennox's romances so much: they situate relationships in families and in communities, never losing sight of the the human responsibility we have to each other, to help each other.
This book was published fifteen years ago, and it holds up more-or-less well in content, but the style was a bit jarring; there was so much head-hopping within individual scenes, and not enough time spent in Amy's head for her side of the emotional dynamic to be fully developed. I also got wry amusement from Joss arguing out loud with himself, in carefully spaced dialogue that was strange to follow. Still, I found Stormbound Surgeon really enjoyable and the exact sort of light read I wanted right now.
+10 Task -- 12 ratings
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 185
20.2 The Blazing WorldHunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
You may know Carrie Brownstein from her role on "Portlandia" or from her years in the band Sleater-Kinney. Or, like me, you may not know her at all (I've only seen one episode of "Portlandia" and didn't have any idea who she was and I missed the whole Sleater-Kinney bandwagon--I was living in Europe when they hit it big and by the time I was back in the U.S., my musical tastes had passed the punk/grunge/riot grrrl stage). I have friends who'd read and recommended this one and I've been in the mood for memoir and it was available at my library: the trifecta which creates the perfect storm for My Next Book. Speaking of trifectas--this girl could not describe ANYTHING without giving it three modifiers...most of which were just a list of three synonyms. Irksome. And towards the end of the book, EVERYTHING was "quotidian." :-/ Grrr.
While it was interesting to get a behind-the-scenes look at being in an "it" band of the '90s, as a narrative it was unfulfilling. She started with talking about her family life when she was young, but only glancingly. Fine. I get it. You don't want to divulge, keep some things private. I, as a reader, want to read a book that isn't choppy, disjointed, and meandering. I did not get that.
The rest of the book talks about the evolution of the band: their feminist leaning, the creative process of the songs and albums, life on the road, the health problems she suffered while touring.
While her writing style was often overwrought and several topics she began felt underdeveloped and jerky, it was an interesting look inside the head of an extremely creative, passionate young woman. 3*
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (20.6)
Task total: 45
Season total: 190
10.5- Green StoneTwisted by Marjorie Brody
Ratings : 70
Review:
This unknown YA novel is more of a psychological book which deals well with sexual assault which occurs to Sarah at a high school dance. It delves into the family dynamics as well as the consequences. This book is pretty dark given the topic discussed. It is realistic and heart-breaking. But the only hint I will give is this book is aptly named. There are revelations which occur in the last ten percent of the novel which will further shock you.
This is told from dual perspective of Sarah and Judith Mireille ( whose life somewhat mirrors Sarah). It does take a while for the stories to merge.
The writing is compelling but heavy on foreshadowing and pacing is somewhat uneven. Be aware that the timing and setting are not easily identified but this will not detract from this reading experience.
If you are tired of the usual YA fare or want a book with mental illness done well, this would be an option. Once you don't have a trigger for sexual assault.
+10 task
+10 review
Post total: 20
Season total: 180
20.6- Dead SoulsCastle Cay by Lee Hanson
Letter: N
+20 task
+5 combo- 10.7
Post total: 25
Season total: 205
20.4 Night WatchThe Daydreamer by Ian McEwan (Мечтатель)
Lexile 840
+20 Task
+10 Not A Novel (short stories)
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 135
20.4 - NIGHT WATCHThe Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis
Russian edition: Серебряные слитки
+20 task
+20 combo (10.2 , 10.7,10.9,20.5)
+5 oldies
Post total: 45
Season total: 250
15.10 Reading the DecadesThe Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
+40 Task (published 16)
+50 completion
+50 Different decades and years
+50 Decades read in order (ascending)
+50 Years read in order (descending)
Post Total: 240
Season Total: 680
15.2 RtD2006 - Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister
+15 - task
Season Total - 70 pts
20.1 - The DoubleUndiscovered by Sara Humphreys
I downloaded this on a whim after a stressful day at work - dragon romance where the hero and heroine meet in their dreams? Yes, please.
Zander and Zed are identical twins, which is unheard of among dragon shifters. They were cursed five hundred years ago, leaving Zed in dragon form and Zander in human, both immortal and unable to shift. They have to do something or other to lift the curse and Rena is hired on to help. Oh, and being twins each guy is sure that Rena is their one and only mate.
This is a book to gulp down in one go because the more you think about it the less sense it makes. Narrative threads are dropped and the main conflict is solved when Zed wakes up with no memory of troublesome events. How convenient. Add in poor characterization and, while not awful, I can't say I'm a fan.
+20 task
+10 combo (10.5, 20.6)
+10 review
Task total: 40 points
Grand total: 245 points
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
Reading Borges is a trip. Labyrinths is the perfect title because his stories lead you in unpredictable directions. Often, it is difficult to know whether the elements in a story (such as a reference to an ancient writer or text) are fictional or real. Borges is not just a lover of the word but he clearly believes that writings have some magical power by themselves. He is also enamored of paradoxes which he often presents to the reader. He discusses the nuances between Argentine sensibilities in literature and those of Spain. He makes the reader confront all pre-conceived notions. As fascinating a character as he is (and sometimes he IS a character in his own stories), I would have been in fear to have had him as a professor. I'm often lost. Sometimes I feel like I am re-reading Stephen Hawkings' "A Brief History of Time". I get the general concept...but I can never wrap my mind around it all. That's both frustrating and exciting. 4 stars.
task =20
combo= 5 (10.8*)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie= 5 (1962)
task total= 50
grand total= 380
*There are 23 stories in the collection and 10 Essays and 8 pieces entitled Parables. Argentina is the setting for 6 pieces with Uruguay in 2. European countries: UK-1, Ireland-1, Czech. Rep.-1, Italy-1, Germany-1, Poland-1, Spain-2; African countries- Egypt-1, Mauritania- 1; Asian entity-Babylonian Empire-1; others unspecified locations. Some pieces have more than one location as a setting.)
20.9 Jumbo (Kate S's Task)Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
+20 Task (mpe=560pp)
+5 Combo (10.9 Historical 35x, Mystery 23x)
+5 Jumbo
Points this post: 30
RwS total: 135
RtD total: -
Season Total: 135
20.9 JumboRomola by George Eliot
+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo (10.2,10.6,20.10)
+15 pts - Oldies (1863)
+15 pts - Jumbo (840)
Task Total - 65
Season Total - 135 pts
Post 196 Rebekah wrote: "20.9 JumboRomola by George Eliot
+20 pts - Task
+20 pts - Combo (10.2,10.6,20.6, 20.10)
+15 pts - Oldies (1863)
+15 pts - Jumbo (840)
Task Total - 70 pts
Season Total..."
Not sure if you had a typo here for 20.6, but Eliot doesn't have any repeating letters.
20.6 Dead SoulsThe Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
At the beginning, The Great Alone had me turning the pages and absorbed in the story. I find Hannah’s writing a bit simplistic, but the plot drove the story along. I’m interested in PTSD and what it does to a person and in the mindset and difference between living in the wild with a love of the natural world and “going off the grid” due to fear and hate and the violence that can come out of a closed community. The characters all felt authentic and the plot made sense. I enjoyed the time period as I was in college 1971 to 1975, so I remember Vietnam and its aftermath. I felt angry all over again for the plight of women still prevalent at that time, like the inability to get a credit card in your own name. Things were changing gradually, but sometimes I forget how much was and is still in place against the rights of women. Then I reached the second half of the book and although I was still gripped by the individual characters I had gotten to know and kept turning the pages to find out what happened to them, the plot took some jumps that felt abrupt and just didn’t ring true to me. Many reviewers loved it all the way through, so it may just have been a different story than I wanted to hear told. I’m conflicted about how to rate this book because I attempt not to pull my rating down because of personal taste and I did have trouble putting the book down even when it became a stretch to buy into some aspects of the plot. I went back to read through some of the other reviews and there are already over 4,000, so I just read the first page and along with many 5 star reviews are mentions of the problems I found in the book in Melissa’s, abby’s, Maxwell’s and KAS’ reviews. I’m going with 4 stars after reading through the reviews, because despite its faults, I am still thinking about the characters and life in these isolated parts of Alaska.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 290
20.8 JumboJoseph Balsamo by Alexandre Dumas
I can rely on Dumas to tell a good story in comfortable prose. In this case, the story is set about 20 years prior to the Revolution. There are multiple plot lines and it is full of court intrigue. The characterizations are adequate. I say "adequate" because it would be unfair to suggest we know any of the many characters well, though each is distinct and recognizable. A few, such as Louis XV, were more caricatures. There were a few instances of authorial intrusion. Trollope uses this literary device frequently, but I did not expect it with Dumas.
This woman, whom we have not before taken the trouble to sketch, because she was one of those characters whom the painter keeps in the background, so long as he has no occasion for them — this woman now advances in the moving picture of this history, and demands her place in the immense picture we have undertaken to enroll before the eyes of our readers ...I think one of Dumas' strengths is to put the reader squarely in the setting.
A violet flame, changing to green and then to white, wrapped the horses — the hind ones reared, snuffing the sulphurous air — the leaders, as if the ground had given way beneath their feet, fell flat; but almost instantly the horse upon which the postilion was mounted regained his feet, and, finding his traces snapped by the shock, he carried off his rider, who disappeared in the darkness, while the carriage, after proceeding ten yards farther, was stopped by encountering the dead body of the lightning-stricken horse.I started to read this as Joseph Balsamo until I noticed a huge discrepancy in the page count. I learned Dumas published this originally in serial form from 1846-1848 and then the entire novel was published in two volumes. These two volumes are often published separately in English as the above Joseph Balsamo and Andree de Taverney, or the Downfall of French Monarchy. I found this edition contains both volumes. As it happens, there are several chapters at the end that are summarized by the editor (translator?) and then the Epilogue is included in what I think is its entirety. I must admit that, while I was surprised at the summary of several ending chapters, I was beginning to feel some fatigue closing in on 1500 pages anyway. The first volume is definitely better than the second volume and taken as a whole sits toward the middle or lower half of my 4-star group.
+20 Task (1594 pgs)
+15 Combo (10.5, 20.7, 20.10)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (1848)
+25 Jumbo
Task Total = 85
Season total = 145
20.7 The Red QueenA Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Review:
I am probably not the last person to read the opening book of The Song of Ice and Fire series, but it seems like it. I also have not seen The Game of Thrones TV series. This is an exciting fantasy/adventure book with lots of characters and moving parts. The title is a good summary of the plot as we read about how characters with various designs on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms play the game or get drawn in reluctantly.
I enjoyed the read, although it takes some persistence to get into the book as it starts with seemingly disconnected scenes. I found that many of the main characters had very good character development but some were left at one dimension-evil. I also got tired of Martin’s costume descriptions. They must have made it easy for the designers of the TV series but I would have been happier if he had left most of them in the script.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 jumbo
+ 15 combo 20.1, 20.9, 20.4
Task total: 60
Season total: 195
15.3 - Reading the DecadesMurder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
+15 (1933)
Task total: 15
Season total: 80
20.6 - Dead SoulsThanksgiving by Janet Evanovich
Non-consecutive V's
+20 task
Task total: 20
Season total: 110
20.6 - Dead SoulsFear Itself by Dan Greenburg
Non-consecutive R's
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3 - 3rd book of series, 10.5 - 133 rating)
Task total: 30
Season total: 140
15.4 - Reading the DecadesThe Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth
+15 (1944)
Task total: 15
Season total: 155
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20.6 Dead Souls
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
I'm in a bit of a trend reading books about murderous/dangerous high school and college students - just read S.T.A.G.S and am in the middle of The Secret History. So it's an odd but enjoyable mini-pattern for me! This is a fantastic addition to that collection. The story follows four high school students who were all in detention when a classmate dies unexpectedly, and not from natural causes. The four are being investigated and at the same time trying to solve things themselves. It reads like a clever, fun locked-room type of mystery, since the solution has to lie within the room and within those four people. Definitely recommended if you like YA and suspense!
+20 task (M)
+5 combo (10.9)
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 115