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SP 19 Completed Tasks
15.3 AbC Ukraine - Maxim Rylsky Award
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
15 pts - Task
Season Total - 530 pts
10.6The Lurking Fear and Other Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
+10 task
+5 combo (10.3)
+10 oldies (1923)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 295
10.5 Civil WarAn Unobstructed View: A Personal Journey from Illinois to Arizona by Mark Johnson
I gave this autobiography only two stars which may be a bit harsh... but although a pleasant enough read, there is nothing compelling here.
The author is a gay man who had been married to a woman, has two sons approaching adulthood and works in public relations in Chicago.
One day, he meets another man in a bar who shares the exact same date as his birthdate. The two become a couple and marry in 2015. Woven between descriptions of life challenges and kind neighbors and such, the couple decide to move to Arizona. While passing through St.Louis, the author is hospitalized with heart issues. A lot of time is spent here...but eventually the author discusses the transition to the couple's new life in Arizona.
Task=10
Combo= 10 (10.8, 20.5)
Review=10
Task total= 30
grand total= 965
From Post 594Anika wrote: "20.4 Nefertiti
Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory
I've only read one other Philippa Gregory novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, which I quite enj..."
+5 Jumbo
From Post 597April wrote: "10.9 Sisters
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
+10 Task"
+10 Combo 10.8, 10.10
Can I please move The Identicals (Post 261) from 10.9 to 10.10? Since they're both 10 point tasks, it won't change my score. Thank you!
10.9 SistersPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Ever since reading and having reviewed Jane Eyre and stating that Pride and Prejudice came in a close second as far as the perfect love story, I've been wanting to revisit P&P to make sure it was an accurate statement. I stand by my original opinion: Jane is perfection--it has remarkably low lows to balance the glorious highs. But Pride and Prejudice is an absolute delight and the slow-burn of love between Elizabeth and Darcy is scrumptious. I love re-reading this one because there's always some detail that feels like new, that I've entirely forgotten...this time, I'd entirely forgotten about the existence of Colonel Fitzwilliam! Also, this is the first time I've listened to this book and it's absolute ear-candy. It has been so nice to revisit these friends...I imagine I'll be back in Longbourne before too long.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Oldies
+10 Combo (20.6, 20.7)
Task total: 45
Season total: 1255
15.4 AbCChile: 2010 Chile National Prize for Literature Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Task Total. 15 pts
Season total. 1035 pts
20.2 RebeccaDeath Of A Hollow Man by Caroline Graham
I think there are fewer installments in the Chief Inspector Barnaby series than there are episodes of Midsomer Murders, but I'll be glad to get to what there are. This one is set with a local theater group who is rehearsing for Amadeus. As I never saw the film, and don't really know the story of Mozart, I might have had a better mental foundation. (I am not a complete philistine; I have listened - and liked - his music, though you might have to tell me I'm hearing Mozart as opposed to Bach or Beethoven.)
Early on, I was cheering for one of the characters to be the murder victim. Another couple of chapters in and I saw another candidate. Maybe one will be killed by the other, I thought. Wouldn't that be justice served? It was past the one-third mark before the murder takes place. The entire cast and stage crew are suspects, some more suspect than others, of course. Barnaby and Troy do their interviewing and nothing makes sense. Nothing, as in why the setting, who had motive and opportunity.
I like how Graham goes about giving us fully-fleshed characters. Some are more so, of course, but even those who get less page time are real enough. My biggest quibble with the whole thing is the Barnaby's wife, Joyce, is part of the theater company. I had a bigger leap to suspend belief in that it seemed obvious he had a huge conflict of interest. This, of course, wasn't mentioned.
I enjoyed this, but it doesn't live up to my top rating for the genre. The Detectives group will reading the next in the series in September and I look forward to it.
+20 Task (born UK, 1931)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo 10.2 (1989)
+ 5 Oldies
Task Total = 40
Season total = 675
10.1 Square PegA Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Ugh! What a wretched story! Is Nora really stupid, vapid, and materialistic or is that what she's pretending to be because that’s what her husband expects of her? The entire premise of the play is flimsy(view spoiler)
Her husband is the worst: I think he would have been perfectly happy living with a mannequin--he could dress it up exactly as would please him, she'd always be slim and attractive (no macaroons for her!)...(view spoiler)
I know that some of my bias is a result of being a modern reader, but I quite disliked this. Perhaps down the line on re-reading I might end up enjoying it more or I'll understand it on a deeper level...but, honestly, there are too many books to be read and not enough life to fit them all into so I doubt it'll be one I ever revisit.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 LiT (translated from Norwegian)
+10 Oldies
Task total: 40
Season total: 1295
15.8 Awards by CountrySweden - Nobel Prize for Literature
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 385
10.9 Sisters (Coralie's Task)A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.3 - HISTORY; 10.8 - A)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 760
15.2 AbC Matilda by Roald Dahl
Denmark - Prijs van de Nederlandse Kinderjury
+15 task
890 Season Total
Task 10.3 ScrabbleIn honor of National Scrabble Day on April 13th, read a book with a 7-letter word in the title.
BRO THE R
The Expert System's Brother (2018) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.8)
Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15
Grand Total: 395 + 15 = 410
20.10 AsiaMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
This is a very enjoyable and evocative read. The premise is that this is the memoir of a (former) geisha as dictated to an American academic who she has become friends with in New York. The writing and the story are engaging right from the first page. It is her life story from childhood until her retirement (from being a geisha) which takes place in Japan before, during and after WW2. It seems to be historically accurate. It really is hard to believe this was Golden’s debut novel.
Even though you may think this book would be salacious, and the publisher says it is ‘erotic’, I didn’t find it so. Certainly, sex is part of a geisha’s life but is dealt with matter-of-factly here and that is not their main job. Don’t be expecting a Japanese version of ‘The Happy Hooker”. 4*
20 task
10 review
20 combo 20.7, 10.3, 10.8, 10.7
____
50
Running total: 955
Post 653 Bea wrote: "20.7 Anna KareninaRead one of the top 500 books from the Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once list.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
+20 Task..."
I'm sorry, Bea. This doesn't work for 10.5 because the match must come from the CW General's last name, which could then match with any of the author's names.
Post 660 Beth wrote: "RWS Finish: 100
MegaFinish: 200."
Congratulations! Well done!
10.2 Published xx81-xx90The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I always end up liking Stephen King books when I read them, but somehow I haven't read that many of them. I've always heard that the Dark Tower series is worth reading, but I knew little about it going into this book. This felt like more of a western and more science-fictiony than most of the other King books that I've read.
The story traces a lone Gunslinger through relatively bleak desert-type landscapes as he tracks the mysterious Man in Black and occasionally has to do dirty deeds like shooting and killing a whole town of people.
The narrator, George Guidall, is a very experienced narrator, but not one of my favorites. He reads this story in a matter of fact tone throughout that tells the story but does little to add to the suspense or the characters. If I continue the series, I'll have to look to see if anyone else has read them or perhaps switch to reading these in print.
+10 Task (1982)
+10 Combo (10.10, 10.8)
+5 Oldies
+10 Review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 770
10.5 Civil WarCrown Me by Geneva Lee
I can't believe I went down the rabbit hole of this series. These are bodice-rippers--good for light fun reading, distracting from the real world, but of limited literary value. I'm glad to be finished with these characters. In this book, the naughty prince will finally marry the heroine, but there's plenty of drama on the way to keep things interesting. The sex in these books is sort of Fifty-Shades-lite--strong possessiveness, a somewhat controlling male figure, but nothing too unusual. The next three books in the series focus on the best friend of the heroine in this trilogy, so readers will get a break from the actual royals for a few books.
+10 Task (Lee)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9 - heroine's sister is also in the book)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 795
10.5 Civil WarCovet Me by Geneva Lee
Books four, five, and six of the Royals Saga are actually about Belle, the best friend of Clara from books one through three. Belle catches her boring fiance sleeping with someone else around the end of Clara's series. This book picks up shortly after Belle's breakup when she is out job hunting and finds a job with a sexy but perhaps crime-connected attorney. Naturally, because this is a bodice ripper, by halfway through the book, Belle and her attorney have become an item.
This trilogy is more directly BDSM than Clara's story was. Belle and Smith are substantially more kinky than Clara and Alexander and Smith is involved with real criminals. There's better plot management through this book and a lot of build up of the relationship that made this an enjoyable read.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 815
10.5 Civil WarCrave Me by Geneva Lee
I tore through books four and five and half of book six, then I sort of lost interest in getting to the happy ending. This book is book five and continues the story of Belle and Smith. There's absolutely no reason to read this book without first reading Covet Me, the first part of the story of this couple.
This is a Shades of Grey style bodice ripper -- really rich man with dominating tendencies exploring light kink with a willing partner. Belle is no doormat and she comes across as a real character here, which makes the book enjoyable. Again, not literature, just fun.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 835
10.8 megafinishScrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland
Task total: 10
Grand total: 1585
15.6 AbCStill Life by Louise Penny
Canada--Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel
Task total: 20
Season total: 595
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 653 Bea wrote: "20.7 Anna KareninaRead one of the top 500 books from the Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once list.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by [author:Philip K...."
Oops, missed the bit about the last name.
20.1 Moll FlandersHeidi by Johanna Spyri
I can now check off another classic from the 1000 Children's Books You Should Read Before You Grow Up List. I listened to this book as I took my (almost) daily walks...which I think made it more tolerable than if I had read the text myself.
Of course, just being exposed to popular culture I knew some of the story...but I had never read the book. You may laugh when I tell you that it was a revelation to me that Peter the boy goat herder in this story was most assuredly referred to in one of the songs in The Sound of Music...DOH!!!!
Anyway...the story really is just too sweet and simple for modern day tastes it seems to me.
Although the author uses a light touch, there is also a lesson about religion here...something I can do without...especially in children's literature.
A generous 3 stars simply because Heidi is an iconic character... and accomplishing that is a true achievement in itself.
Task=20
Combo= 10 (10.8, 20.7)
Review=10
LiT=10
Oldie=10 (1880)
Task total= 60
grand total= 1025
Late to the party but I’ve been on a reading jag so why not get points?10.8 Megafinish
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister
+10 task
+10 review
Task total = 20
Season total = 20
(Profanity alert, skip this review if that bothers you (but also maybe read the book because cursing as “unladylike” is discussed))
This was hard to get through. At first I was so fucking pissed, I worried I would stroke out or something. Really, the conclusion should come at the start. It helps.
My male boss is unconsciously sexist, and I was starting to get REALLY MAD about it but I also thought it must just be in my head. I mean there was tons of evidence but surely I was just emotional. I took to reading this at work, displaying it prominently on my desk, and not backing the fuck down. Now that I’m not worrying about my interpretation of his shit, I have so much power. And oddly enough it’s made it easier. I’m not prioritizing his comfort above getting my shit done, and it’s freeing. I’m not as agitated because I’m not doubting myself.
The book alone did not get me there, but it did help focus me. At first, it was just overwhelming frustration, sadness, and anger. Things just seemed to be getting worse, on the national level and personally. I was seeing the bullshit that I had looked away from, and it hurt. So much. And reading about how women fought, and lost, and fought, and lost.... fuck.
But eventually... the “why even try” feeling faded and instead a sustainable anger took its place. I’m not going to make it easy, motherfucker.
Also by the end, the vastness of the problem made it easier to face rather than harder. There’s nothing I can do to fix this... I’m just one person. At first that was a reason not to try, but that’s the bullshit that keeps you down. But we don’t make progress in just one massive act by a single person. Never. So instead of changing the world like some superhero, the goal is to push back, to refuse to play nice, to take steps and do a damn thing, any damn thing.
20.2 RebeccaThe Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My dad loaned this to me, saying I would love it. I was skeptical... I used to love mythology but I was more in it for the magical creatures. The heroes eventually bored me, and as I got older the endless rape and punishing of women was something I just could not overlook. But dad was right. This was so much more interesting than the usual take. Its focus on Briseis is so necessary when we have countless tales of Golden Achilles.
More than a “her view” retelling, it’s a beautifully written story about survivors.
Highly recommended, even if mythology is not your thing. This is a book about people, not gods.
+20 task: 1943, UK. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_B...
+5 combo (10.3)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 55
10.9 SistersBoy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
What was this book even trying for? It starts out absolutely magical. Oh it’s strange and opaque and nothing makes much sense, but the world that is being built works. The characters, sketches as they are, work. There’s a sense of meaning underneath, of dream-logic, symbolism.
And then it all goes to hell.
It seems most feel the book falters when Bird becomes the focus, which is odd because she’s the most conventional of all the characters to me, dodgy reflections aside. The tone and style pivoted dramatically but I was still on board with it.
However, the big Rat-Catcher reveal followed by THE END? What....I don’t.... HUH?
I can make some arguments that it did fit right in with the themes of passing, of appearance, and of the trauma that those appearances can inflict, BUT. All that requires a lot of work on the part of the reader. And I don’t mean that in a “it’s too hard” kind of way... I mean that there are other, MUCH LESS CHARITABLE readings that you can walk away with.
It’s an unfinished draft of a book, and I cannot recommend it.
+10 task (Bird and Snow are sisters)
+5 Combo (10.4, Bird)
+ 10 Review
Task total = 25
Season total = 80
20.5 Myra Breckinridge White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Well. This book. It’s a challenge, that’s for sure. One the one hand there is a fairly conventional haunted-house story, layered over a coming-of-age story. But it’s not straightforward or easy... how much is about a supernatural world, and how much is just trauma-induced mental illness? Hmmm. After reading another of her books, I think messy dream-states is Oyeyemi’s sweet spot. There’s not going to be answers, maybe not even a cohesive plot. But there will be moods, feelings, suggestions.
It’s a very complicated Rorschach test.
However, this book really worked well for me. The characters are intriguing, even if they are tropes, and the house? I want more. Hill House has a very creepy little sister.
If you want something that’s all atmosphere, that will creep into your dreams... read this.
If you want something that has a logical flow or makes standard narrative sense, maybe take a pass.
+20 task (Miri and Ore are gay)
+10 review
Task total = 30
Season total = 110
10.3 ScrabbleThis House is Haunted by John Boyne
Does what it says on the tin. There are truly no surprises, no twists, no shocking reveals. It is as predictable as a cheesy romance, and I mean that as a compliment. Sometimes you want a specific thing. I’m not a fan of romance but my mother is. The variations on a theme are comforting and diverting, and don’t ask too much of the reader. I get why she likes them. And this is my “don’t make me think I just want a good story” genre.
Now plenty in this genre end up being trash due to poor writing, but this was well-written. If you can tolerate the Dickensian conceit, that is.
This is a perfect curl-up with some cocoa book. Wonderful for when you need a little creepy but you don’t want terror. 4 stars for suiting my mood, especially after some challenging books.
Grading without a curve, still a solid 3 stars. Not a classic, not a must-read, but still satisfying.
+10 task
+5 combo (10.8)
+10 review
Task total 25
Season total = 135
10.8 MegafinishEmpire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky
+10 Task
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 950
10.3 ScrabbleGhost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
+10 Task
+5 Combo 10.8
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 965
15.5 AbCFrance. Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger for Roman (2016). H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Task total 20 pts
Season total. 1055 pts
20.8 PoetryElizabeth Jennings: Selected Poems by Elizabeth Jennings
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.8, 20.2 b 1926 in UK on author page)
+ 5 pts - oldies (1980)
Task Total - 35 pts
Season Total - 580 pts
15.9 AbC 2nd RoundPhilippines - Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan
+30 Task
Season total = 705
(Thanks again for this one, Ed!)
15.7 AbCThe Child in Time by Ian McEwan
France--Prix Femina Etranger 1993
Task total: 20
Season total: 615
15.9 Awards by CountryIreland - Irish Book Awards (Novel of the Year)
Normal People by Sally Rooney
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 415
20.10 AsiaPeony by Pearl S. Buck
Setting is China
Review
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this book as it was very different from other books I’ve read set in China and quite different from her most famous work The Good Earth , which is the only other book of hers I read. A couple of summers ago we took a family vacation to PA and I forced the family to stop at the Pearl Buck house which is a museum now. The twins were awed by her Nobel Prize Medal but even more exciting was her typewriter! The staff had paper in it too so the kids could try to use it! The novelty of it! Kept them occupied for at least an hour, trying to figure out how it worked without electricity or anything!
Anyway it saddened me because the only books they had besides The Good Earth were used books people had donated for the shop to sell. I was told all others were out of print. So I bought about six off them!. Peony was one. It wasn’t like I thought it would be. I didn’t realize there were a band of Jewish refugees that had landed in China more than 1000 years ago and the story was about how they tried to maintain their Jewish identity as a separate people, with some die hards who refused to give up the dream of returning to Palestine. Because the Chinese did not persecute them and gave them full equal rights and treated them so well, it actually was harder to maintain their separateness than in countries that had the pogroms of violence and the strict laws curbing their freedom. They started intermarrying and bit by bit they assimilated, until their story was nearly forgotten. This is conflict of the story, the younger generations trying to choose between the two cultures. The author is very skillful in using the characters themselves to tell us all the POV’s, the loyalty to parents, the pull of the religion, but identifying with the culture they were born to. Why the Chinese are baffled by the angst and those that have a parent from each culture trying to walk fine line between the two. Ms Buck published this book in 1948, the year Israel became a sovereign state. I’m sure it was an inspiration in writing this book as groups of Jews from around the world were heading to their “homeland” in that day as a major historical event. In India there is also a similar Jewish community. When I visited in in 2006, there were only a handful left, their temple and their cemetery. Most had gone to Israel because of lack of marriage partners.
I just found a fictional bio about Pearl S Buck’s childhood in China titledPearl of China by Anchee Min maybe if I’m lucky enough to get through to finishing both challenges, I’ll have time to read it...........I’m a dreamer
+20 pts - Task
+ 5 pts - Combo (20.1 Peony is the name of the main character)
+ 5 pts - Oldies (1948)
+10 pts - Review
Task total - 50 pts
Season Total - 630 pts
15.8 AbCNever Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Sweden--Nobel Prize for Literature 2017
Task total: 30
Season total: 645
20.4 NefertitiCaesar by Allan Massie 228 pages published in 1993.
20 task
10 review
5 Combo 20.5
5 Oldie
40 task
100 finisher bonus
Season total 1030
This task proved to be my biggest "challenge". I spent much time looking for a book. Two that looked promising did not fit the task after all. I really was stuck reading this one. I tried to quit twice and would never have finished it if not for the task.
I feel that Allan Massie is an amazing historian. He should have written a standard history book. Instead he has a character nicknamed "Mouse", Decimus Brutus narrate the story of Julius Caesar. Normally in history books the writer will say something like "the Roman Legions were brutal" and "the lifestyle of Ancient Rome was decadent and despicable". That is what I yearned for. Yet, this is a novelized history and it gave me all the gory details I never wanted or needed to know.
The true history sections were informative and incredibly well written. The horrible philandering bedroom scenes were unnecessary and made me want to throw the book away. It seems that Caesar was one of the worst philanderers ever, with men and women. 2 stars.
10.3 ScrabbleThe Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde
I have to say that Oscar Wilde must be the only author who has written some works that I greatly admire...and others that don't even register as worth the time to read. Unfortunately, The Duchess of Padua falls into the second cubby-hole.
So...it was quite a surprise to see that Wikipedia attributes this quote to Wilde- "I have no hesitation in saying that it is the masterpiece of all my literary work, the chef d'oeuvre of my youth."
The plot is an over melo-dramatization of a youth who believes he must revenge his father by killing the Duke of Padua. During the planning of this event, The Duchess and the young man fall in love. Things go really badly from there.
Maybe this would be fun to re-read...but as a black comedy...total farce (that's where Wilde is at his best). Perhaps get Pia Zadora out of retirement to play the Duchess... and Kanye West to be the youth. Costumes by Ru-Paul. My last three sentences were more entertaining than anything in this play. One star.
Task=10
Combo= 5 (10.2, )
Review=10
Oldie=10 (1883)
Task total= 35
grand total= 1060
15.6 AbCSpain 1989 Premi de la Fundaci d’Amics de les Artes i les Lletres de Sabadell
Towpath by Jesús Moncada
Task total 20 pts
Season total 1075 pts
20.2 RebeccaThe Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
+20 Task (born 1912)
+ 5 Combo (10.8 S)
+ 5 Oldies (1964)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 670
20.9 True CrimeThe Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
This is a very readable investigation into a theft of scientific specimens (bird skins) from the Tring museum by a young fly tying enthusiast. I think part of the reason this book is readable is because the author explains how and why he became interested and makes it his story as well. I think you can read this without having a particular interest in birds, fishing or fly-tying. I am a birder, so it made the book (and theft) even more compelling. I think Johnson did a good job of investigating this story and tries his best to leave no stone unturned. He also tries to be as fair as possible to a couple of main players in this drama (Rist – the thief, and Baron-Cohen the psychiatrist). That said, in my mind they both came off badly. He shines a light on a strange sub-culture of enthusiasts (fly-tiers) who apparently have no qualms about pursuing their hobby at any cost. 4*
20 task
10 review
10 combo 10.3, 10.8
____
40
Running total: 1000 (this total should now match Kate's score sheet. I had forgotten to add a combo she found when I was on holiday).
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
The Enormous Room (other topics)The Address (other topics)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (other topics)
Sense and Sensibility (other topics)
My Brilliant Friend (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
E.E. Cummings (other topics)Fiona Davis (other topics)
Theodora Goss (other topics)
Jane Austen (other topics)
Elena Ferrante (other topics)
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The Guest by Hwang Sok-yong
This book was depressing, with a touch of hope, but well told. It is about a Korean American who goes back to North Korea in his old age as part of a special program. And it is about the political mess and resulting body count during the Korean War - and how badly the modern day government wanted to blame deaths on outsiders when the main character clearly remembered the internal strife, the same kind of government flipping, one day's loyalty is another day's treachery of class warfare, that I am more used to seeing in books on China. And grief. Horrible things, told from different perspectives, different voices as ghosts reconciled with each other. The shifting of time and character was well done, the layers pulling back from the truths that were unspoken by the living. It was poignant and very human and hard to read emotionally in many ways
+20 task
+10 review
+10 translated
+5 combo (10.8)
Task total: 45
RWS Finish: 100
MegaFinish: 200
Grand total: 1575