Reading with Style discussion
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SP 18 Completed Tasks
20.6 Dead SoulsCommonwealth by Ann Patchett
I may have gone into Commonwealth with a fairly low expectation because it didn’t seem to jump out as one of Patchett’s best from what I had read about it, but I liked it. I listened to the audio and I think the narrator was talented and that helped bring the story to life. In some ways it was like reading a short story collection because I was more engaged in some of the stories than others, but it came out with 4 stars. Patchett writes well and nails the personalities and quirks of her characters. It may not go down as my favorite by Patchett, but I’m glad I gave it a chance.
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.9 Double Trouble
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 660
10.5 Green StoneThe Day That Went Missing by Richard Beard
+10 Task (112 ratings)
+10 Not-a-Novel (Autobiography/Memoir)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 190
RtD total: -
Season Total: 190
Post 352 Heather wrote: "20.7 - title character is apprentice and half sister to Queen SabrielGoldenhand by Garth Nix No Lexile listed
Goldenhand is the 5th book in the Abhorsen trilogy and..."
I'm sorry, Heather. When there is no Lexile, it scores as 000, and the low lexile rule applies. Task, but no styles.
Post 354 Heather wrote: "10.9 - contemporary/mysteryEnd of Watch by Stephen King
Well, that was exactly what I was waiting on. The first two books were pretty much straight noir, which wasn..."
This has a Russian edition, so a combo for 20.4 (and I think your posted combo is for 20.5).
Post 361Ed wrote: "20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)Rain and Other South Sea Stories by W. Somerset Maugham
I thought I had read some of Maugham's other works...but GR indicates that I h..."
I'm sorry, Ed. This doesn't work for 20.10, which requires a 19th Century pub date.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 361Ed wrote: "20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)Rain and Other South Sea Stories by W. Somerset Maugham
I thought I had read some of Maugham's other works...but GR..."
oh...ok..I missed that part.
20.4 Night WatchFoucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
I feel like I’ve been reading this book forever. It's actually been about a month, but it feels like longer. I struggled to get into it, but persisted because I enjoyed The Name of the Rose when I read it years ago, and I really thought I would enjoy this too.
But no. Way too much explanation, and I couldn’t care about the characters or their convoluted conspiracy, so all their looooong conversations (where they explain things to each other for the benefit of the reader) were just tedious. The best part was the last 75 pages, which I read in one burst. But I was mostly just glad to be so near the end.
+20 task https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
+15 combo (10.2 author born in Italy, 10.9 mystery/historical, 20.9)
+10 review
+ 5 oldies (1988)
+ 5 jumbo (623 pages)
Post Total: 55
Season Total: 825
20.7 The Red QueenThe High King's Tomb by Kristen Britain
+20 Task the fictional King Zachary is a character
+10 Combo 10.3, 20.9
+5 Jumbo 679 pages
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 940
20.6 Dead SoulsSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson
This book is part of my A-Z Classic Author Challenge (Sci-fi version) for this year. I had to wait 4.5 months to get it via the library’s Overdrive system. I gather it is going to be made into a TV series?? Luckily, it fits in with this season’s tasks.
The novel hits the ground running, or perhaps sprinting would be more accurate. The opening sequences are a thrilling, fast ride. You can definitely see why someone would want to turn it into visual media. The setting is a near future dystopian world. There doesn’t seem to have been an apocalypse, rather it is the product of human cultural evolution. It seems to be the culmination of capitalism, greed and free will, with some anarchy thrown in. There are two main characters, whom I liked quite a bit; and their interactions were always interesting and kept the story moving along.
I’ve just finished the book, so perhaps I will change this opinion upon sleeping on it, but it seems like a rip roaring Western adventure yarn set in a hacker’s meta-universe. There is also humour and satire along the way, which I appreciated.
Overall, I liked this book, and it’s rating hovers between 3.5 or 4. For any who actually have taken note of my reviews, you know I rate generously, so here is the reason for 3.5… I had to take a day off reading the book (due to RL commitments) and I found it confusing to get back into it. I was squeamish about the age of the female considering the adventures she gets up to. That said, she is super kick ass, and one of the better female/feminist characters I’ve come across in a long time (maybe ever). Finally, about ¾ of the way through the book (when the action is getting intense) we have to stop for a long explanation of the whys of the story. I found that distracting, and oddly alternating between boring and interesting. Anyhow, I am definitely glad I read it and can see how it is/will become a classic of the sci-fi genre.
20 task
10 review
10 combo 10.9, 20.4
5 oldie
____
45
Running total: 425
20.6 Dead SoulsHonestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg
+20 Task
660 Lexile – no styles
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 420
20.1 The DoubleRhythm, Chord & Malykhin by Mariana Zapata
Review: I love Mariana Zapata, and I’ve been saving up some of her books for a rainy day. When I realized this one had twins in it, I decided to go ahead and read it. Unfortunately, some of the reviews I read ahead of time were right – this was not a great book. It had the makings of it – the relationships were all really interesting – but it was basically immature. The main character makes jokes all the time, which is fine, but half of them were homophobic or transphobic or derogatory against some group or another. It wasn’t necessary, and it disappointed me. Hopefully this was a one-off, and the rest of the books I’ve been saving up won’t be as disappointing.
+20 Task (the female lead is on a concert tour with her twin brother)
+5 Combo (10.8 – the tour is half in North America and then switches to Australia and Europe for the second half)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 455
20.10 My Comfort ZoneNorthanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Review: This is the last of Jane Austen’s novels I hadn’t read, and I knew it wasn’t going to be my absolute favorite. It’s a satire, basically, and I prefer Austen’s more straightforward novels, which always still have wit. This one reads much more like a parody, but it still basically wraps up in a bow. It took me over a week to read, which probably means I wasn’t into it. A friend of mine wrote her review basically saying she didn’t like Northanger Abbey at first because it wasn’t Pride and Prejudice, which is kind of how I felt. She managed to come to an appreciation of Northanger Abbey in the end though, so maybe upon more reflection or watching an adaptation I’ll feel the same way. For now, however, it’s just going to join the many three star ‘okay’ books I’ve read and tend not to remember much about.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.5, 20.2 - https://artifactsjournal.missouri.edu..., 20.4)
+15 Oldies (1817)
+10 Review
Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 515
20.6 Dead SoulsTheatre by W. Somerset Maugham
I must admit that I picked up this book with a lot of alacrity. After all, Maugham is one of my favourites. Unfortunately though, I did not feel that Maugham was in his element when penning down this work.
Like Maugham's other works, I expected to delve deep into the psyche of the characters in this book. It was not to be. This is not to say that the emotions are misplaced in the novel. On the contrary, as is Maugham's style, his characters are never black and white. In fact, if I look back at all the works of his that I have read (five until now), not a single character with the exception of Larry of Razor's Edge stands out as an exemplary one. This is testimony to the character development of Maugham. Most of his characters are more or less very real and sometimes despicable and that is how a reader can connect very well to Maugham's characters.
We are introduced to one such semi-likeable character - Julia Lambert who is a middle aged theatre actress. We are told quite repeatedly that she is one of England's finest. She has been in a marriage of convenience for a while. The marriage starts out very well and without much reason, Julia falls out of love with her husband. She begets a son whom she rarely nurtures. She is however devoted to her art and in the meantime has a couple of flings. She falls in love with a man half her age and the rest of the novel deals with Julia's anguish with society and her lover's betrayal and how her art redeems her.
In Maugham's seminal work - Of Human Bondage, the main character Philip is blinded by his love for Mildred. He "buys" her love by gifting her lavishly, by withstanding her whims and we see a similar kind of treatment of character of Julia towards Tom. The similarity however ends there. In the former, Maugham has evocatively brought forth the pangs of love that Philip feels and the desperation of his love and desperation at his lover's betrayal. In this novel though I found it a bit superfluous. Julia knows that Tom can never love her the way she loves him, lavishes on him and yet does not feel the desperation that she should have. Kitty Fane in The Painted Veil is more of a 'real' character than Julia.
I am not sure in what state of mind Maugham had written this work; but to me, it is not his best work. I give this book 3 stars.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.4)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1937)
Task Total = 45
Season Total = 235+45 = 280
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill
Another surprise. Despite being a theater fanatic...I had never seen any of Eugene O'Neill's works performed....nor had I read any. However, I had always loved the title of this one...."Mourning Becomes Electra". ..and wanted to read it one day.
Glad I finally did. This is a re-telling of the story of Agamemnon using a prominent American family in the immediate aftermath of the US Civil War. General Mannon returns to his New England home and tries to heal his relationship with his wife. The wife has been having an affair with a despised and illegitimate relative of the General...unknown to him. The daughter has discovered the truth...and eventually reveals that information to her brother...who also returns from the war. The brother's relationship to his mother is near incestuous. The plot sounds very similar to many of the other Elizabethan plays I read recently...but here, it works, O'Neill makes these implausible scenarios somehow plausible.... and the dialogue is also believable. Plots, secrets, murder, poison, intrigue, hauntings, gossip, love gone awry all around. 4 1/2 stars.
task=20
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=10 (1931)
task total= 50
grand total= 910
20.4 Night WatchLes Misérables by Victor Hugo
Review: This novel is like two books shuffled together, as one would do with a deck of cards. One books is the story of Jean Valjean, a convict continually on the road to moral salvation, and the other is a book of essays on subjects ranging from the battle at Waterloo to the evolution of the Parisian sewer system. It's not so much that the eassays weren't interesting, but that they seemed completely like apendices, without which the story would have been none the worse. And so, everytime the narrator said "A brief note on..." or "It is an interesting fact that..." I would whimper and my attention would almost invariably flag.
Jean Valjean's story, however, is interesting and engaging, but also very melodramatic. Through someone else's mercy and humanity he is forced to look at his life and decide what kind of a man he wants to be, and so begins his journey to becoming an upstanding citizen and a person of high personal integrity.
But I found Inspector Javert to have a much more interesting character arc. Through most of the book he is resolutely and single mindedly certain that Jean Valjean is a crook. In the end he is forced to confront the fact of the ex-convict's high morality, but he cannot reconcile this new worldview where the world is coloured mainly in tones of gray, so he fractures on the pressure of trying.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.9 (1436 pages), 20.10 (Victor Hugo born in France)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (pub. 1862)
+25 Jumbo (1436 pages in MPE)
Task total: 80 pts
Grand total: 135 pts
From Post 351Ed wrote: "20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
It is surprising to me that having been an avid theater patron ( I have subscribed to 3 or 4 theater..."
+5 Combo 10.4
Task 10.2 RavioliMarch 20 is National Ravioli Day - Read a book by an author who was born in Italy OR a book set in Italy.
Ties (2014) by Domenico Starnone; translated by Jhumpa Lahiri
Review: The novel is set in Italy, partly in Naples, Italy and partly in Rome, Italy. The first section is told in letters from the wife to the husband, the second section is told from the husband's point of view and contains a large amount of backstory, and the third section is told from the perspective of their children. The central issue of the novel is: how does a man’s infidelity affect each member of his family? (Unsurprisingly, the answer is: (view spoiler).) Author Jhumpa Lahiri translated the novel from the Italian. In her introduction she states “the entire novel is a series of tying and untying, of putting in order and pulling apart, of creating and destroying.” Fans of literary fiction will enjoy figuring out exactly what Ms. Lahiri means by that statement. And …. There’s also a cat, named Labes. Recommended for fans of literary fiction.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (#10.02 or #10.10, #20.6)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 215 + 30 = 245
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Beaux Strategem by George Bernard Farquhar
This Restoration Comedy was a quick and fun read. Two young men with a plan to catch two wealthy women. Their "stratagem" is for one to pose as a mysterious wealthy gentleman while the other is his servant. (Doesn't seem like a stratagem that would be expected to aid both men.) The "wealthy" man, Aimlee, sets his sights on Dorinda. The "servant" falls for Dorinda's unhappily married sister-in-law, Kate. The atmosphere is further complicated with an innskeeper and his daughter who are running a thieving racket, French prisoners in town, the drunken husband of Kate, and a French priest who actually turns out to be the Irish cousin of the "servant". Add in some swashbuckling and a happy ending too. Nothing very deep here...although the author probably helped depict the plight of women stuck in awful marriages. Nevertheless, a pleasant read...I'd like to see the play performed. 3 1/2 stars.
task=20
combo=10 (10.5; 20.6)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=20 (1707)
task total= 70
grand total= 985
20.9 JumboThe Night Watch by Sarah Waters
560 pages
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.9 - 34 history, 22 contemporary ; 20.4)
+5 Jumbo
Task total = 35
Points total = 165
10.10 Group ReadThe Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
I chose this for the group read task because I needed an award-winning short story or collection for another challenge, and there are plenty of science fiction award-winners here. I'm glad I picked it. I loved many of the stories, and I appreciated the way Liu interweaves Chinese (and Japanese) culture with the mainly American sci fi tradition.
I'd have liked to rearrange them, as I much preferred the first two-thirds of the book to the last third, but we can't have everything the way we want it. Warning: there is some stomach-churning violence in some stories.
My absolute favourites were 'The Paper Menagerie' about a boy whose mother makes origami animals that come to life, and 'Mono No Aware' about a boy who is evacuated from Earth before a meteorite strikes. But there are plenty more that I'd love to read again sometime.
+10 task
+10 combo (10.8 N.America & Asia, 10.9 historical (34 historical-fiction) & contemporary (17 contemporary + 9 contemporary-fiction))
+10 review
+10 not a novel
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 865
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar
Another Restoration Comedy from George Farquhar...and another funny romp. A bit surprising that in the early 18th century, a British author could be so ribald. Since Farquhar himself was once a recruiting officer, the reader must wonder how much of the story is biographical.
The reader learns all the tricks of the trade in getting men to sign up with the military... seduction, bribery, threats...just about anything goes if it might lead to a new recruit. There is also competition from another recruiter...and both men are also on the make for the town's available women. And of course, one of the women has a turn posing as a man for much of the play....only to have her father, the judge, reverse his "daughter's" impressment in the service when he discovers her true identity.
A quick fun read and I think some Hollywood producer could make a hit buddy film with an updated version. 3 1/2 stars
task=20
combo=10 (10.5; 20.6)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=20 (1706)
task total= 70
grand total= 1055
20.1 The DoubleThe Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Dostoyevsky's second novel is as dark as any I've read. Written in third person limited, we know only what Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin sees, hears, thinks and feels. From the very first pages it is apparent he is mentally unstable. I cannot see how it is possible that there could be a more unreliable character.
A little over a year ago, I read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. In that, Sacks describes people with perception disorders. I couldn't help thinking about those studies when reading this. Did that spoil it for me? I guess it depends. I hope my sympathy for Mr. Golyadkin was not different than those who have not read the Sacks.
The edition I read was from a volume that contains multiple titles by Dostoevsky and was translated by Constance Garnett. She is somewhat maligned as a translator with references to her extreme anglicization. It is entirely possible I am not getting the full Russian feeling when I read the Russians she has translated. So be it. I have tried a couple of translations where it is said they more faithfully reflect Russian syntax, and I found those not to my liking. I did like this, and I liked it both for the story itself and because it was quite readable. This comes in at a high 4-stars.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.4, 20.6)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (1846)
Task total = 55
Season Total = 420
15.6 - Reading the DecadesDarker Than Amber by John D. MacDonald
+25 (1966)
Task total: 25
Season total: 240
15.4 - Reading the DecadesThe Privateer by Josephine Tey
+15 Task (published 52)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 335
20.2 The Blazing WorldThe Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish
Well… Here is another difficult (for me) book to review. This review will contain ‘spoilers’…. but let’s be honest I’m taking it for the team reading this….
This is a novel from the Restoration era (one of the first English language novels). However, it is not a novel in the sense we would expect. There isn’t really a plot per se, nor any character development. All we know is that the ‘heroine’ (the Empress) was a beauteous lady, which is all it takes to have an adventure apparently! The beauteous lady ends up in another world: ‘The Blazing World” and having great wit is able to communicate (quite quickly) with the inhabitants. She meets the Emperor and it is true love, and they marry. She becomes the Empress of ‘The Blazing World” (the Emperor has no role, other than to love and support her).
It is a feminist “novel” in the sense that the Empress is the director of all the events (in the loosest sense). She definitely is the thought leader and the people’s leader. She organizes the world according to her thoughts and desires. This novel is also claimed to have been the first science fiction novel. That would be evidenced by the fact that the ‘beauteous Lady” was transferred to ‘The Blazing World” from our own. As well, the inhabitants seem to have qualities of sentient animals (hard to tell, because as I noted there is no character development or description). As well, we learn that there are other worlds, but do not visit them.
This book was a REAL chore to read. If it hadn’t been for the ‘styles’ game, I might not have stuck with it. The first ¾ is boring, in my opinion; and written in period spelling… ugh. It picked up a little when the author inserted herself into the ‘novel’ – but only a little. I enjoyed the epilogue the most (and not only because it was near the end!).
The science fiction aspect is weak. The feminist aspect is definitely strong. I tried to think how I would feel reading this ‘way back in the day’ when women weren’t supposed to be educated/read/think/etc. I think this book would have been quite revolutionary in it’s own way – men played minimal roles in the story, women had great adventures, the Empress imposed her will and stopped a war, women used their imagination, and there was a lot of writing about the thoughts/science/philosophy of the day (as the women thought about these things). I’m sure this was quite revolutionary in the day.
All of that said, I just can’t recommend this book to anyone. Sorry. It isn’t amusing like the plays of the period that Ed has been reading. A generous 2*
20 task
20 oldie (1666)
5 combo 10.5
10 review
______
55
Running total: 480
20.6 Dead SoulsWho Killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa
"Nothing's easy, Lituma. The truths that seem most truthful, if you look at them from all sides, if you look at them close up, turn out either to be half truths or lies."
As a mystery, it's not exceptional (the case breaks because people seek out our detectives and confess things), but I enjoyed reading it. It was a bit of a trip to read a "mean streets" noir that's set in rural Peru, where our detectives are relentlessly assaulted by the sun and must meet with witnesses by hitchhiking down the highway on trucks full of chickens. Maybe not hardboiled, when it's more like a cracked egg frying on a hot sidewalk. Still dark, vulgar, and crude, though, with a finger on the pulse of corruption and power, and Who Killed Palomino Molero? is populated with a cast that expects little safety, little protection, and little justice. Our protagonist, Officer Lituma, is young and hasn't yet developed a firm understanding of the darker complexity of humanity (or an understanding of women in general, but neither does his superior officer), but he's open to the helplessness and pity that the case reduces him to: "He was sorry for him, for Colonel Mindreau, for the kid, for the girl. He was so sorry for the whole world he felt like crying, damn it. He realized he was trembling. Josefino had described him to a T, he was a sentimental asshole and would always be one."
The language was sometimes wonderful. I loved this landscape description, as our detectives slowly trudge toward home on foot: "The highway snaked around slowly, descending toward Talara through an ocher landscape devoid of green and littered with rocks and stones of all shapes and sizes. The town was a livid metallic stain below them, stretched along a motionless lead-green sea. In the intense glare they could barely make out the outlines of houses and telephone poles." The setting of the book was its strongest element; that, and the twists in everything involving Doña Adriana and Lieutenant Silva's pursuit of her.
+20 Task -- S
+10 Combo -- 10.9 (43 Mystery, 20 Cultural > Latin America, confirmed in task thread), 20.4 (Russian edition)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies -- 1986
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 535
20.6 Dead SoulsHindutva by V.D. Savarkar
+20 Task
+10 Not a novel
+15 Combo (10.5, less than 1000 ratings, 10.7, 20.8)
+10 Oldies (1923)
Task Total = 45
Season Total = 280+55 = 335
20.7 - The Red QueenFirelight by Kristen Callihan
Going in I thought this was a series where all the books follow the same people, but despite the urban fantasy trappings it falls more along romance lines, with each book telling the story of a different couple. I've read Callihan before so I should have grokked this but, alas, I didn't, so that expectation not being met disappointed me when I reached the last page.
It doesn't take away from the book at all, though. The world building is great, the plot pulled me in and I like watching the hero and heroine do their thing. With an interesting combination of urban fantasy and romance Firelight could be a stepping stone between the two genres if you're looking to try one or the other out. It may take me a while to continue the series (I wanted more of this couple, damn it!) but I'm sure I'll get over myself eventually. ;)
+20 task (Benjamin Archer is a baron)
+5 combo (10.9 - historical and mystery)
+10 review
Task total: 35 points
Grand total: 335 points
10.7 - Neutral NameThe Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang
I've been wanting to read more nonbinary authors and this book looked fascinating, taking place in a fantasy world where children are born without gender. By puberty most pick the gender that suits them and switch from they/them to he/him or she/her pronouns. I love the idea and how it's executed.
The world building is good and sucked me in from the beginning. Set in Asia with elements from several cultures there's a magic system and fantastic creatures that are explained without being overwrought. Yang strikes this balance by throwing in just enough of the familiar (elemental forces, phoenixes, etc.) and it works with the lower page count.
The plot, however, left me less satisfied as time went on. In order to cover 35 years there are large jumps in time and while some work, especially while the twins are younger, the later skips left me wanting. While there's a Big Happening at the end it's not a resolution while also not being a cliff hanger. Gah. In sum I like the world, I like what Yang is doing and how they're doing it, but the story doesn't quite work for me at novella length.
+10 task
+5 combo (20.1 - the protagonists are twins)
+10 review
Task total: 25 points
Grand total: 360 points
10.9 - Double TroubleSome Girls Bite by Chloe Neill
The good:
- The older heroine (27, gasp) means that she has brains, isn't easily swayed by idiotic notions, and stands up for herself. No Too Stupid To Live women here!
- The world building is nicely paced and keeps you wondering about things without leaving too many unanswered questions. Neill manages to introduce not only vampires but also sorcerers, shifters, and nymphs without going into info dump mode - well done indeed.
- It's fun! Just the escape I needed from ~waves hands~ 2018 that I was looking for.
The not-so-good:
- Merit's descriptions of guys got to me, always talking about their lips and sexiness.
- More character diversity would have been nice, too.
This is a series I can binge on - great plot with interesting characters and sexy parts with some fights and female friendship thrown in.
+10 task (shelved contemporary and mystery)
+10 review
Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 380 points
20.6 - Dead SoulsWarday by Whitley Strieber
So. In 1988 the US and USSR had a limited nuclear war. Several cities in the US have been turned into craters and radioactive fallout is drifting over the landscape but there are survivors. The authors are making a trip around America five years after what has become known as Warday to see what has become of the country.
I don't want to tell you any more about the plot because the joy (if you can call it that) is discovering what has become of the US. We start off with so many questions and the authors steadily feed us answers on almost every page. They're reporters and they give us all kinds of perspectives - interviews, government documents, maps, polls, and more in addition to accounts of their own experiences.
Over the course of the book we see what Warday meant from myriad angles. What would happen to medical care and transportation after a nuclear war? How about industry and agriculture? Who would come to America's aid, and what would they expect in return? How about international trade? Banking? Immigration? Race relations?
But don't be mistaken, the book isn't a dreary slog. There's action and light moments that balance things emotionally as well as keep you reading. Warday has been an unforgettable experience and I highly, highly recommend it.
+20 task
+5 combo (20.9)
+5 oldies
+5 jumbo
+10 review
Task total: 45 points
Grand total: 425 points
20.6 - Dead SoulsSpy Who Couldn't Spell, The : A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
The story Bhattacharjee covers is fascinating - in December of 2000 an FBI agent got a hold of coded letters sent to the Libyan consulate. They were sent by a CIA analyst and offered to sell classified material to the foreign power at the price of millions to be wired to a Swiss bank account. It's information that could put the US military and security in grave danger, not to mention kick strategy back a decade or two if it falls into the wrong hands.
I was excited to dig in - a whodunit, yea! ...except that we learn who the culprit is early on. Heck, his name is in the first few lines of the jacket copy. From there we could have gone down one of several paths - a why-dun-it, a how-dun-it, or a how-they-caught-him-...it. But instead of picking one and committing Bhattacharjee gives us a little of each, and that lack of a single driving force made the read fall a bit flat for me overall.
Listening to the audiobook didn't help, either, as alphanumeric code gibberish doesn't translate well to the spoken word. Overall the story is interesting and at 1.8 speed it's a quick and fun listen, but while serviceable it didn't tip over into awesome.
+20 task
+5 combo (10.5)
+10 not-a-novel
+10 review
Task total: 45 points
Grand total: 470 points
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon by Henry Fielding
I listened to this Journal and enjoyed it despite the fact that not much happens. It's fairly ordinary...and yet interesting. Fielding, still a rather young man, had a series of illnesses and is advised to get out of London for his health. First, as a Justice of the Peace, he needs to take hold of a criminal gang problem. Then he goes to Bath. Eventually he realizes he needs to go elsewhere...and Lisbon becomes his destination.
Much of the story is about the difficulties in getting to Lisbon. The wind does not cooperate and they are stranded in small English towns along the way. Fielding gives a full account of problematic landlady (they stay ashore during one of their delays.) Meanwhile, his wife is suffering with a toothache...and when they are able to get a dentist...she is advised that it is better to not take the tooth out.
There is a surprising account of a small kitten falling overboard...and the Captain stops everything to reverse course and rescue the thing...and is successful.
Another chapter deals with Fielding dealing with nasty customs officials. On the voyage, Fielding also has to deal with difficult treatments...usually the draining of water on his belly. He died soon after arriving in Lisbon and this journal was published afterwards.
3 1/2 stars
task=20
combo=5 (10.5)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=20 (1755)
task total= 65
grand total= 1055
20.1 The DoubleA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
This book was approved in the help thread
Review: I'll be honest and admit that I listened to this novel, because I already owned it and it had a suitable length for finishing before the team challenge ended. Having just read Les Misérables I was not looking for another long and plodding story revolving around the French Revolution. Luckily for me A Tale of Two Cities is neither long (for Charles Dickens, at least) nor plodding.
It is the story of Dr. Alexandre Manette who is released from the Bastille after 18 years of unrightful imprisonment. His daughter, Lucie Manette brings him to London, where their lives are intermingled with that of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, both of whom are in love with Lucie. Against the backdrop of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, the characters attempt to navigate between a horrible and outdated aristocracy and a justified, but horrifying, angry mob, trying to keep their heads attached to their necks.
The novel was, above all, very well paced. Everything that needed to be told was told, but nothing more. And there is a section towards the end, that almost foreshadowed a filmic way of cutting between two intersecting paths, which actually had my pulse racing. Maybe I was starving for plot, but I enjoyed this novel very much.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.4, 20.10)
+10 Review
+15 Oldies (Published in 1859)
Task total: 55 pts
Grand total: 190 pts
20.5 The Queen's NecklaceInferno by Dan Brown
The novels centers on Dante's Inferno and a plastic bag containing dark things that Robert Langdon has to find before it is too late.
Review: Robert Langdon should really stop opening his door when important people come knocking. This fourth instalment in the series about the tweed-wearing professor has him waking up in Florence, confused and with no memory of how he got there. Of course, people soon start chasing poor professor Langdon and he has to make his escape with the bullets flying around him and elite troops hot on his heel. Luckily, he has the brilliant and extremely ressourceful Dr. Sienna Brooks to help him.
It soon transpires that someone has laid out a trail using the horrifying Inferno parts of Dante's The Divine Comedy, but what lays at the end of trail?
This is not great literature, but it is highly entertaining and thoroughly well researched. The central tenet regarding the disastrous overpopulation of the Earth was both interesting and chilling, and it actually made it possible to sympathise with the villain, a first for Dan Brown, I think.
+20 Task
+20 Combo
+10 Review (10.2 (set 81% in Florence and Venice), 10.3, 10.9 (Mystery and Historical), 20.4)
Task total: 50 pts
Grand total: 240 pts
20.8 Silent SpringMenaechmi; Or, the Twin-Brothers by Plautus
Review
Claims are made that this work is what Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was based on. This comedy of separated identical twin brothers who have the same name can only end up being a farce of mistaken identity. Neither brother is without a streak of questionable ethics so even though you look for it to get straightened out, you still can’t help but think it’s best when they leave together on a ship. It is a knee slapper though and would make a great high school play. Now I have to think of fifteen more words so I’ll say it was fun.
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.2,20.1)
+10 pts - Not Novel
+25 pts - Oldies (206BC)
+10 pts - Review
Task total - 75 pts
Season Total - 315 pts
Will this work?https://www.ebay.com/itm/In-Russian-b...
and for other Dumas works?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alexandre-Du...
Rebekah wrote: "Will this work?https://www.ebay.com/itm/In-Russian-b...
and for other Dumas works?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alexandre-Du......"
Thanks! The first one works, we'll see if we need the collection, which doesn't have the individual titles.
20.8 Silent Spring (Ed's Task)The Way of the World by William Congreve
Perhaps one of the better known Restoration Comedies, this play is a complicated fluff piece. I enjoyed the witticisms...but did have trouble keeping track of the characters and their relationships to each other. I found myself repeatedly returning to the "Dramatis Personae" page to sort it out. Mirabell is in love with Mrs. Millamant...and she feels likewise...but it takes a while before that can be made obvious. She has two other fools also pursuing her. Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort hates Mirabell. Mirabell also has a former lover in the picture as well as a current one. There is of course, as in almost all the other old plays I've been reading, a case of impersonation. Lady Wishfort's troubles are exacerbated by a daughter in a loveless marriage. Got all that? Well...this is a play that is probably best seen so that one can understand everything that is happening. I was more confused by the characters than when I was reading War & Peace. LOL Still 3 1/2 stars
task=20
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=20 (1700)
task total= 60
grand total= 1115
20.9 JumboThe Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
Review: It’s been years since I read the latest Outlander novel, and even longer since I’d checked in with Lord John Grey. I’ve been saving this one for a rainy day, but was strangely reluctant to read it going in. It’s just so long! By halfway through, however, I wanted it to be as long as some of her longer volumes. I’d forgotten how much I love just sinking into the world she’s created. It feels so familiar – I’m just visiting with old friends. This one exists during the time Claire and Jamie are apart, and I kind of felt like I already knew some of the story since I’ve read so far ahead in the main series. Still, I love reading about intimate male connections, and in many ways you can’t get more intimate than the on-again-off-again relationship John and Jamie have. John may love Jamie in a romantic way, but the real focus is on the friendship they form in spite of basically existing on opposite sides of war.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.3, 10.9)
+5 Jumbo (560 pages)
+10 Review
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 560
20.2 The Blazing World (feminism)Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bbell hooks
Review: I’d heard bell hooks interviewed, and kept meaning to read one of her books. When I realized the one I’d shelved on Goodreads wasn’t available at my library, I chose another. This book is meant to basically serve as a primer to feminism, which hooks defines as the desire to end sexism and sexist oppression. Since it was a bit of an introduction, I didn’t learn a whole lot I hadn’t heard before, but I still felt it was well worth the read. The one thing that did surprise me was her emphasis on female violence. It actually makes sense – her argument is basically that while more women are abused in partnerships than men, plenty of women parent children with violence, which contributes to the cycle. actually ends up reading more like a feminist memoir, which may or may not be a good thing – I think it depends on the audience. I doubt someone not predisposed to agreeing would get much out of this book, but I do think it hits enough on intersectionality that even people with a basic knowledge would get something out of the book.
+20 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 600
15.5 - Reading the DecadesThe Collector by John Fowles
+15 Task (published 63)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 350
10.2 RavioliRampant (Killer Unicorns #1) by Diana Peterfreund
750L so no style points
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 360
20.4 Night WatchThe Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Ruth Kettering is the unhappily-married only child of a billionaire. When her father gives her a fabulously expensive ruby necklace and warns her not to take it on the train to the French Riviera, guess what she does? Yes, she takes it along, and she is murdered on the train and the necklace stolen.
So who did it? Her estranged husband, who would have lost all access to her wealth if she divorced him, as she planned to, and who just happened to be on the same train? Her former lover, who had persuaded her to bring the necklace to France? Or someone else entirely? Luckily, Hercule Poirot is on hand to find out.
This isn’t one of Christie’s best, and it suffers from inevitable comparisons to The Murder on the Orient Express. I think the ending provides a good twist, though.
+20 task https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
+ 5 combo (10.9 mystery 1431 / historical-fiction 19 + historical 18)
+10 review
+10 oldies (1928)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 910
20.7 The Red QueenChristmas at the Castle by Marion Lennox
I enjoy Marion Lennox's Christmas romances at any time of the year, and I thought this was perhaps one of her most ridiculously, gloriously Christmas-y ones. (The protagonists visit Westminster Abbey while the choir practices Christmas hymns, ffs.) There was a lot to love in how over-the-top this whole set-up was, and I can imagine Lennox had a lot of fun writing it, because it was quite fun to read.
The characters didn't always work for me, however; Angus in particular never seemed to have much of a personality, and the heavy fantasy and Christmas holiday elements made it difficult for me to imagine how the characters' relationship in their ordinary lives would proceed. A pleasant read, but not one of Lennox's stronger books.
+20 Task -- main character is a fictional Earl
+5 Combo -- 10.5 (44 ratings)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 570
Post 373 Cory Day wrote: "20.10 My Comfort ZoneNorthanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Review: This is the last of Jane Austen’s novels I hadn’t read, and I knew it wasn’t going to be my absolute favor..."
This doesn't fit 10.5, but does fit 10.9, so maybe your combo is a typo. If you meant something else, let us know.
Post 391 Kazen wrote: "10.9 - Double TroubleSome Girls Bite by Chloe Neill
The good:
- The older heroine (27, gasp) means that she has brains, isn't easily swayed by idiotic notions, a..."
BPL has a Russian edition, which I'll try to get added to GR later. Combo with 20.4.
Post 397 Rebekah wrote: "20.8 Silent SpringMenaechmi; Or, the Twin-Brothers by Plautus
Review
Claims are made that this work is what Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night
was based on. This comedy..."
I don't see a Russian edition - where did you find one?
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "Will this work?https://www.ebay.com/itm/In-Russian-b...
and for other Dumas works?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alexandre-Du......"
If we do, I'll contact the seller and ask for them : )
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Reading with Style
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Rain and Other South Sea Stories by W. Somerset Maugham
I thought I had read some of Maugham's other works...but GR indicates that I have not. I probably read some of his stories in anthologies. Anyway, for some reason, I get him confused with Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh...both of whom I don't always find compelling. I found Maugham to be very easy to follow and very distinct. He was writing in a straightforward style while others were experimenting with their techniques (e.g. Faulkner). However, I have to admit, I had to flinch all too often when he uses the "N" word, "half-caste", "Kanaka" and makes mysogynistic remarks which are not necessary to the stories. I contrasted this with E.M. Foster's Passage to India (published just three years later), which I am listening to simultaneously. Foster uses those terms or equivalents only in the mouths of his characters.
Having said all that, I did find the stories in this collection to be worth the time. Most of the stories take place in Samoa during the missionary period. The title story, Rain, was a surprise for me. As I read it, I realized I knew the story. Well, toward the middle of the story, we learn that the flamboyant woman character is Sadie Thompson. Ahhhh...I had seen the play not that long ago. There was also a movie version as well...which I saw even more moons ago.
Anyway, 4 stars with an asterisk for the issues mentioned above. I'll be putting his other works higher on my TBR list....many are already there because they are on the Boxall 1001 list.
(Note, the book has an alternative title- The Trembling of a Leaf.)
task=20
combo=15 (10.7; 20.6; 20.10)
Review=10
NaN=10
Oldie=10 (1921)
task total= 65
grand total= 865