Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
SP 19 Completed Tasks
From Post 711Marie wrote: "20.6 Ellen Foster
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.8)
+10 Lost in Translation (read in french)
+5 Jumbo (652 pages)
Task tot..."
+5 Combo 20.7
From Post 749Ed wrote: "20.2 Rebecca
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
I loved this book. It is the book I wish I could write. It oozes with passive aggressiveness....my favorite type of ..."
+5 Combo 10.6
10.8 MegafinishNaughty in Niceby Rhys Bowen
Review
This is my first book by this author and in the series although it is not the first book in the series. Lady Georgina is a spy for the queen. She goes out and solves mysteries for the queen. The setting is the year 1933, before World War II. They make a reference to Hitler. While in Nice, France, Georgina, Georgie for short meets Coco Chanel and ends up modeling for her. While on royal business for the queen, Georgie finds one of her contacts dead after being seen with him on his yacht the night before. On top of that, someone has stolen the queen's jewels which Georgie was wearing at the fashion show. I found it interesting. I would like to read more of the series.
Task +10
Review+ 10
Total +20
Grand Total: 100
20.1 Moll FlandersEugénie Grandet by the magnificent Honoré de Balzac
Few things are better than discovering an author you truly enjoy and finding that he wrote a series of books spanning generations where the characters intermingle from book to book. Best of all, there are 90 books in the series, La Comedie Humaine by Honoré de Balzac. I read Letters of Two Brides because friends gave me an antique copy of the book (mine was published in 1902) and now I am hooked! I had to try another book by de Balzac and Eugénie Grandet is just as good.
There is a current vogue to view all European cultures as a monolith. What nonsense. There are a wealth of cultures and varieties of experiences to be found when reading European literature. I find myself transported to another place and time when reading of the details, in beautifully described passages, of life in France in the 1800s. Life under monarchy is exotic and fascinating to my modern eyes.
The tumultuous events of France in the 1800s provide the setting for Eugenie Grandet. The story brings in elements religious, social, and economic of the period while focusing on the family life of one girl with her parents. There is drama. There are twists and turns of the plot. There is even a scoundrel who turns slave trader and consorts with pirates.
Some readers will not like it. You will find sexism. That is one of the points the author is making. The father is a despotic character. There is racism, again in a negative light. If you dislike religion, warning, religion is treated respectfully.
I loved this book and look forward to reading more by this author. How wonderful that there are 88 more for me to read. I rated it a wholehearted 5 stars.
20 task
10 LiT
15 Oldie (1833)
10 Combos 10.3 Scrabble, 10.8 Megafinish
10 review
Total 65 points
Season Total 1140 points
(Last book for the season)
From Post 756Coralie wrote: "10.3 Scrabble
Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
+10 Task
+5 Oldies (published 1964)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1065"
+5 Combo 10.8
From Post 761Heather wrote: "20.6 - Wilkie Collins, similar to Bronte
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
+20 task
+15 oldies (published in 1859)
+5 jumbo (672pg.)
+5 combo (10.9 - half-sisters)
T..."
+5 Combo 10.7
From Post 777Katy wrote: "20.9 True Crime
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
This book was absolutely riveting! It tells the story of the rise and ..."
+5 Combo 10.3
10.10 Group ReadThe Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
Chris Baldry, a British soldier in World War I, was sent home suffering from shell shock. Although he was not physically wounded, he had a fifteen year memory loss. He was remembering life as a young man at age 21. One wonders if he is better off in a mental state outside reality. If he is "cured", he will be sent back to the front--to flooded trenches, cannon fire, and dead bodies. Which situation is really a state of madness?
Rebecca West also reminds us that the families of the soldiers are deeply changed by war. Some families lose the people they love. For others, the person that marched off to war with visions of glory returns as a different person. "The Return of the Soldier" explores wealth and class, spiritual beauty versus physical beauty, and love as we see how three women react to Chris Baldry's situation. This novella can be read quickly, but contains lots of food for thought.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.3
+10 oldie (1918)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 945
Task 10.3 ScrabbleIn honor of National Scrabble Day on April 13th, read a book with a 7-letter word in the title.
MIR ROR S
Island of a Thousand Mirrors (2012) by Nayomi Munaweera (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 242 pages)
Man Asian Literary Prize Nominee (2012)
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Asia (2013)
DSC Prize Nominee for South Asian Literature (2014)
Review: For 25 years – 1983 to 2008 – there was a civil war on the island of Sri Lanka (located just south of India). The author, Nayomi Munaweera, was born on Sri Lanka but left with her family because of the war. This novel, her debut novel, focusses on two young women, one from the wealthy ruling Sinhala group, the other from the poverty-stricken Tamil group. The first part of the novel describes their life on Sri Lanka, and their coming-of-age from childhood to young adulthood. They have a lot in common, despite their differing economic situation: each one has a younger sister she is close to, each one aspires to become a teacher. The second part of the novel records the destruction of war, especially as it affects the two young women (and their sisters!) that the first part of the novel introduced us to. The writing style is clear and poetic. I can see why this novel was nominated for so many prizes; I’d have nominated it also, if I had a vote. Recommended.
I was going to use this book for 20.10; however, I added up the pages, and it is set in Sri Lanka for 73% of the novel.
+10 Task
+10 Combo (#10.8 “I”, #10.9 “sisters”)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 435 + 30 = 465
10.1 Square PegTenant for Death by Cyril Hare
This is a Golden Age mystery by other than the well known women of the era and I liked it. The beginning provides a lot of information about neighborhoods and a few of their residents and I wondered how I was going to keep it all straight. I found myself just moving forward and not stressing about it. I felt sure, if the author was worth reprinting 80+ years later, the novel would be worth my while. And, for perhaps the only time in the novel, I was right.
This is the first in the Inspector Mallet series. I expected to have some background on him so as to justify reading the series in order. I quickly found there is no such background for Mallet. What we know of him is that he doesn't work nor think on an empty stomach. We might not be privy to the exact details of those meals, but eating is his favorite activity and he apparently has the girth to prove it.
I liked the mystery, too. There are coincidences in which some might find objection. There was at least one red herring - well, sort of a red herring - that I thought significant. It turned out to be significant yet not in the way I thought. My thoughts were almost entirely all wrong. The ending was not a twist as is sometimes in mysteries. It simply followed logic which I was unable to see. Yes, I have confessed many times that I am not a good guesser, and other readers might see the puzzle solved long before the end.
I'm quite content to give this a solid 3-stars and will happily read this author again.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1937)
Task total = 30
Season total = 990
And I'll be on to summer from here!
15.7 AbCVenezuela- Premio Internacional de Novela Romulo Gallegos Winners
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías
Task - 20 pts
Season Total - 800 pts
15.8. AbCSweden - Nobel Prize for Literature
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
Task - 30 pts
Season - 830 pts
10.1 Square PegDeep Water by Patricia Highsmith
+10 Task
+ 5 Oldies (1957)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 740
20.1 Moll FlandersWeetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
+20 Task (approved)
+15 Combo (10.2 1989, 10.3, 10.4 approved)
+ 5 Oldies (1989)
RwS Finish: 100
Post Total: 140
Season Total: 880
I was hoping for a Megafinish this season, but with 3 books to go for AbC I don't think I will make it! - unless I read all day tomorrow!
From the sublime to the ridiculous.....having achieved my first ever Megafinish last season, a family death this season meant a big slowdown in my reading. But I have finished a few, so I hope the Mods don't mind me posting them in a bunch this late. If it's a problem, feel free to ignore them.20.2 Rebecca
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
+20 Task (born Yorkshire, 1943)
+10 Combo (10.3, SILENCE 10.8 S)
Points this post: 30
RwS total: 65
AbC total: -
Season Total: 65
20.3 Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in LettersThe Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
+20 Task (born Yorkshire, 1943)
+5 Combo (20.5)
+5 Jumbo (508pp)
Points this post: 30
RwS total: 95
AbC total: -
Season Total: 95
20.5 Myra BreckinridgeThe Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
+20 Task (Johannes Brandt)
+5 Combo (10.8 M)
Points this post: 25
RwS total: 120
AbC total: -
Season Total: 120
20.5 Myra BreckinridgeFreshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
+20 Task (Ada)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 140
AbC total: -
Season Total: 140
20.8 Poetry (Beth's Task) The Long Take by Robin Robertson
+20 Task (born 1955)
Points this post: 20
RwS total: 160
AbC total: -
Season Total: 160
10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien) Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
+10 Task (G)
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 170
AbC total: -
Season Total: 170
10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien) Spring by Ali Smith
+10 Task (S)
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 180
AbC total: -
Season Total: 180
10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien) An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
+10 Task (A)
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 190
AbC total: -
Season Total: 190
15.1 AbCFrance - Prix Médicis Etranger (2018)
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Points this post: 15
RwS total: 190
AbC total: 15
Season Total: 205
15.2 AbCUK - Costa Book Award for First Novel (2006)
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Points this post: 15
RwS total: 190
AbC total: 30
Season Total: 220
10.10 Group readsThe Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
I haven’t read any West previously, so if this novel is an example of her writing I am interested in delving into her work. This is a short intense novel about a soldier’s return from WW1 with amnesia/shell shock. West’s writing is finely edited yet descriptive. The soldier is from the upper class, and the two women he returns home to (his wife, and his cousin) are portrayed as complete snobs and the worst sort of oblivious wealthy person. At least the cousin, who is the narrator, does develop self awareness and empathy as the story unfolds. The focus of the story is his memory loss – coping with it and trying to cure it. As with everything, West reminds us, there are consequences to be had. 5*
10 task
10 review
5 combo 10.5
10 oldie
____
35
+
100 RwS finish
200 Megafinish
_____
300
Running total: 1420
Valerie wrote: "100 RwS finish
200 Megafinish."
Congratulations! Well done!
Post 800 Ed wrote: "RwS bonus=100
Megafinish bonus= 200"
Congratulations! Well done!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Valerie wrote: "100 RwS finish
200 Megafinish."
Congratulations! Well done!"
Thanks! :)
Valerie wrote: "10.10 Group readsThe Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
I haven’t read any West previously, so if this novel is an example of her writing I am interested in delvin..."
Congrats Valerie!
and thanks Elizabeth!
10.1 Square PegBad Debts (Jack Irish #1) by Peter Temple
+10 Task
+100 RwS Finish
Post Total: 110
Season Total: 915
15.9. AbCUK - Specsavers National Book Awards
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
+30 pts - Task
Season Total - 860 pts
15.10. AbCDenmark. Hans Christian Anderson Literary Award.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Task points. 40 pts
Finisher bonus 10 countries. 150 pts
Megafinish. 200 pts
Total Season. 1545 pts
Mary wrote: "15.10. AbCDenmark. Hans Christian Anderson Literary Award.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Task points. 40 pts
Finisher bonus 10 c..."
Well done, Mary!
Mary wrote: "Finisher bonus 10 countries. 150 pts
Megafinish. 200 pts"
Congratulations! Well done!
20.1 Moll Flanders Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
+20 Task
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Oldies (first published 1965)
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 235
10.1 Square PegThe Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 245
I have one more book in progress, but I am not sure I will get it posted.
20.3 Ella Minnow PeaBridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries by Helen Fielding
This was a fun mental palate cleanser. I'm always a fan of our hapless heroine's antics...sometimes they can be a little repetitive (Daniel vs. Mark, again; Mum is self-involved, Dad knows all the right things to say; singletons vs. marrieds, again) and a little superficial and a little silly, but that's what makes these books so delightful and easy to read. It's like eating a cream puff: light, airy, of no nutritional value, gone in a moment, but left me with a smile--at least this one won't go directly to my bum, unlike the cream puff.
I love Bridget's voice in these diaries, I love how honest she is with the reader when talking about things that are often considered taboo, I love that she's not too hard on herself--she seems so real, so much like someone that I'd love to meet for drinks after work to laugh with. You go, Bridg, you'll be a great mum.
+20 Task (written as a diary)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.3: "Bridget"=7 letters)
Task total: 35
Season total: 1850
10.3 ScrabbleThe Wreck of the Barque Stefano Off the North West Cape of Australia in 1875 by Gustave Rathe
is an interesting account of a young Dalmatian mariner who was shipwrecked on the west coast of Australia in 1875. Of the 12 crew who made it to shore, only two survived longer than three months. They only barely survived because a group of Aborigines took the remaining two young men in and eventually linked them up with European settlers.
There is a tremendous amount of history to unpack from this short book. How the Aborigines of this area lived and what they ate. It even includes a glossary of Aborigine terms that they young survivors learned. The book shows some of the changes that were introduced to the Aborigines by European settlement as it was happening. The book also talks about what the transition from sailing ships to powered ships meant to trade and economies around the world. There is a glimpse of New Orleans in the early 1880s.
The author, the grandson of one of the survivors, researches the other survivor and a couple of the Australian European settlers, but he seems to have made no effort to learn more about the Aborigines that saved the young men and became their friends.
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 500
20.6 Ellen FosterThe Lazy Tour Of Two Idle Apprentices by Charles Dickens
+20 Task (Charlotte Bronte)
+15 Oldies (pub 1857)
Points this post: 35
RwS total: 225
AbC total: 30
Season Total: 255
10.1 Square PegOrdinary People by Diana Evans
+10 Task
Points this post: 10
RwS total: 235
AbC total: 30
Season Total: 265
15.10 AbCFrance - Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire
The City & The City by China Miéville
+40 Task
+150 Finisher (10 countries)
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 390
Season Total: 1,305
I've been lazy with posting so just rushed for the finish line -nevertheless, it's been a lovely season & am looking forward to the new! Thanks, mods!
Tien wrote: "+150 Finisher (10 countries)
+200 Mega Finish"
Congratulations! Well done!
20.5 Myra BreckinridgeLess by Andrew Sean Greer
This book is more than it seemed at first. I started listening to this earlier this spring, then I quit because I got bored with what seemed like just another navel-gazing writer story. Less reminded me of The Accidental Tourist, only in modern gay form. Then, after I finished another book I was listening to. I decided to give this another try since it won all these prizes. Right around the middle of the book, I suddenly came to like poor old Less. The book found its voice and its heart.
I particularly appreciated the discussion that Less has with another writer about whether his writing is bad or whether he's a "bad gay." Less struggles with this question--must his writing reflect well on gay men and their relationships?
The narrator for the audiobook captured a tone that fit Less's story perfectly. In a different novel, I might have found the narrator a little whiny, but it was just right here.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Grand total: 1055
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Mary wrote: "Finisher bonus 10 countries. 150 pts
Megafinish. 200 pts"
Congratulations! Well done!"
Thanks Elizabeth and Valerie. Just in under the wire but it counts!
If you’ve already read this post in the Socializing thread, just ignore it ;-) I’m just trying to get the word out to as many members as possible:Hey, everybody! For my summer season task, I want to get everyone involved—the old guard, the new members, the dalliers and lurkers, the hardcore reading-with-stylers...every member who’s interested in throwing in their two cents:
I’ve created this Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... and would like to invite you all to add your two all-time favorite books to this list...the books you recommend when someone finds out you’re a reader, the two books you come back to again and again, the two that have most shaped you as a reader or inspired you in some way.
Please have your choices added by June 7th at the latest, please and thank you! xo
15.10 AbCPakistan - UBL Literary Award for Translation
My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Task - 40 pts
Finish Bonus - 100 pts (7-9 countries)
Mega Finish - 200 pts
Task Total - 340 pts
Season Total - 1200 pts
20.7 Anna KareninaHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.3, 10.8, 20.6)
+ 10 Lost in Translation (read in French)
+10 Jumbo (759)
Task total = 55
Points total = 255
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
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)
More...
Valerie wrote: "20.9 True Crime
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
This is a very readable investigation ..."
+5 Combo 10.5