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SP 19 Completed Tasks
From Post 55Marie wrote: "10.4 Animal
The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.3)
+10 Lost in Translation (published in finnish)
Task total = 2..."
+5 Combo 20.6
From Post 65Rebekah wrote: "20.6 Ellen Foster
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts Combo (10.8, 20.1)
Task Total - 30 pts
Season Total -55 pts"
+5 Oldies
Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 39Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "10.3 Scrabble
Charles Evans Hughes by Merlo J. Pusey, pub. 1951
Charles Evans Hughes is a great example of..."
Got it. Thanks for clarifying.
20.7 #25The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
+20 task
+10 combo (10.7, 10.8 - H)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 30
15.1 - Nobel Prize for Literature (Sweden) - Kazuo IshiguroThe Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
+15 task
Task total: 15
Grand total: 45
15.3 Awards by Country Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Japan - Kaien magazine New Writer Prize
15 task
____
15
Running total: 205
10.9 - SistersStrong Tea by Sheila Horgan
+10 task (sisters Cara and Teagan)
+5 Combo (10.8)
+5 jumbo (post 19)
+5 Combo (10.9 - post 20)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 80
10.4 AnimalLion in the Cellar by Pamela Branch
Murder is not the problem in this kooky 1950s comedy - it's getting rid of the bodies that's the hard part. The regulars of the Carp public house in a London backwater juggle a stuffed lion with the victims of an axe murderer and a strangler. Those who aren't murderers are mostly blackmailers or thieves … except for Sukie and Hugh Chandor, who are roped in because Sukie, who comes from a family of psychopaths, is easily convinced that she must be one too.
I enjoyed this lighthearted but bloodthirsty romp, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Pamela Branch’s small oeuvre.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1951)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 140
15.2 AbCPoland--Ryszard Kapuscinski Prize
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich
Task total: 15
Season total: 30
10.3 ScrabbleAlice Springs by Nikki Gemmell
7 letters in "springs"
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.8)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 130
10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien)Morrigan's Cross (Circle Trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.8)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 145
10.5- Civil WarUnion general: Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler
Book: Imago by Author : Octavia E. Butler
Task: 10
Combo: 15 (10.2- published in 1989; 10.8, 20.5- Jodahs identifies as male in childhood but has both male and female mates as an adult)
Oldies: 5
Post: 30
Season total: 45
20.2 RebeccaA Christmas Beginning by Anne Perry
+20 Task
+5 Combo 10.8
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 185
20.3 Ella Minnow PeaCode Name Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein
I first heard of this book when it was one of the choices of the wonderful Audiobook Sync summer program, where they pair different young adult audiobooks together to provide interesting comparisons. I can't even remember what book this one was paired with, presumably something else about WWII.
While this book is marketed as young adult, it didn't feel like a young adult novel. This is a war novel, complete with Nazi interrogations, harrowing plotlines, and strong emotional pulls. I woudn't be quick to recommend this to young readers unless they're fairly well-versed in WWII history and are prepared for the themes here.
The plot is so well done that I don't want to spoil it here. I definitely recommend this one to folks looking for an interesting look at women spies in WWII. It's an interesting counterpart to The Alice Network, which traces female spies in both WWI and WWII.
+20 Task (journals kept by the two main characters)
+5 Combo (10.7)
+10 Review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 100
Task 10.8 Megafinish Read a book where the first word of the title starts with a letter in MEGAFINISH. (Leading articles can be ignored or included as benefits the reader).
Flourless to Stop Him (A Baker's Treat #3) (2015) by Nancy J. Parra
+10 Task
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 20 + 10 = 30
10.8 MegafinishThe Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac
+10 Task
+5 Oldies (published 1958)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 200
20.1 Moll FlandersMargot by Jillian Cantor
It's been a loooong time since I've last read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank; I'd entirely forgotten that she had a sister. When I tried to find anything about her on the internet, I found a few school pictures and no information other than what one would find in Frank's diary. This book takes someone who is in plain sight (considering Anne Frank's diary was the 10th best-selling book in the WORLD, according to a 2012 statistic) yet somehow still hidden and gives her a voice.
Margot Frank died in Bergen-Belsen, a couple of days before her famous sister. In this book, Jillian Cantor saves her: she jumps from the train and survives, making her way to Philadelphia to start a new life as Margie Franklin.
This is one of the best revisionist-histories I've ever read, everything seems possible, viable, something you wish could have been reality. It was slowly paced, sometimes claustrophobic, very internal and introspective--it felt like the mirror image of The Diary of a Young Girl, complete with the expulsion from the hidden place at the end.
Margot/Margie was entirely believable as a survivor: harboring hope that others she loved had made it, too; experiencing survivor's guilt (most specifically in regards to her sister); feeling the need to stay hidden in order to remain safe.
I like that the book is set when the movie The Diary of Anne Frank was released: her sister becomes very much an active character and someone she has to confront, despite the fact that she is long-departed.
Sometimes it felt repetitive, the same flashbacks over and over with a few more details revealed each time. I know that's how memory work and I recognize it's a device to lay the groundwork for the reader, delivering additional information piecemeal, but sometimes it bogged things down for me. That is the only reason this is getting 4.5 stars from me. Otherwise, it was a compelling, quick read. Definitely recommended.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8; 10.9)
Task total: 40
Season total: 70
10.7 Olive Kitteridge (Rebekah's Task)The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
I came late to the Jeeves books, so I look forward to reading through the series. I think I like reading about silly but mainly kind, mild mannered men and laughing at their antics! Jeeves provides stability and gets his way more often than not. Book 2 is a series of vignettes about the love life of Bingo and the help he gets with it from Jeeves. Bertie is also involved, but is not the focus of the book. P G Wodehouse is successful at timing the humor perfectly with the plot and the narrator, Jonathan Cecil, captures that ability with his reading. I couldn’t quite go with 5 stars, but I anticipate giving that rating at some point in the series.
+10 Task
+10 Combo: 10.6 Public Domain /10.8 Megafinish
+10 Review
+10 Oldies
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 170
20.9 True CrimePicture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story by Shanna Hogan
I've become a fan of true crime in the past five or so years (thanks to my husband's love of the genre). While I've read a couple of books (Ann Rule...well, she rules), we mostly watch true crime documentaries or listen to podcasts. I was excited to see this task to try out a new (to me) author in the genre. I wasn't familiar with the case (it all went down in the years I was living alone and didn't own a tv), though I had heard Jodi Arias's name and knew she had murdered someone.
While I liked the structure of the novel (thrown into the crime scene, followed by backstory, jump to the investigation and trial, epilogue in the author's voice), that was about all I liked.
I kinda hated the victim. NO ONE deserves to be killed in such a grisly, senseless manner but *GOOD NIGHT* he was awful! The author reiterated how great he was and how motivational, how he'd overcome the awful circumstances of his birth and became a great success, how he was so religious and moral...yet he was "successful" in what sounds like a Ponzi scheme, he repeatedly betrayed his religion and cheated on the various girls he was dating, and then the big one: he poked the beast and thought there would be no repercussions. He knew she was crazy--he would call her a sociopath to her face, he would insult her at every turn (then text her to come over for a booty call), everyone who knew her told him he should be careful yet, just like the kid who thinks the lion in the zoo is soooo cute he climbs over the barricade to pet it and inevitably gets mauled, he "poked" her one too many times until crazy did what crazy does and she offed him. I repeat, though: NO ONE deserves to be shot/stabbed/near-decapitated for simply being a jackass. Just cuz I didn't like the guy doesn't mean I'm condoning what she did to him.
And she did do it. No questions. No matter how many lies she tells or how many different stories she weaves.
Anyway. I gave this one two little tiny stars. The writing was far too subjective in my opinion. I feel like true crime should be more like reporting--it should be objective, fact-based, and written clearly and concisely enough that sentence structure and syntax don't become distracting to the reader. This one failed on all three counts.
It was well-researched and thorough, thus the two stars rather than one.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.3)
Task total: 35
Season total: 105
15.2 AbCIreland - Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award (2003)
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 155
20.8 PoetryThe Zoo in Winter: Selected Poems by Polina Barskova
Born 1976 - https://bombmagazine.org/articles/pol...
This is one of those translations that makes me wonder what the work is like in the native language, because I found most of these poems incomprehensible more than a phrase at a time. The language use is often unexpected - "shovels change into his pocket with a squeamish hand" for example - and I find the titles referring back to classic literary characters interesting, but I can rarely draw connections even with that hint. I did particularly like one titled "Happiness" about being the clay on the wheel becoming the pot that felt like a unique take on the metaphor. In the Russian are the poems easier to understand with references I am not catching? Or are they just as fragmentary and presumably intended to evoke an emotional state?
+20 task
+10 translated
+10 review
Task total: 40
Grand total: 170
20.10 Asia (Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task)Kim by Rudyard Kipling- set entirely in India
I read Kipling's Just So Stories and The Jungle Book fairly recently and was not enthralled. So, I did not expect much with Kim. And although Kim was more enjoyable for me, I still came away with out all the warm fuzzy feelings I see others gush about.
The book is set entirely in colonial India. I visited India just 2 years ago and got a taste for how the country was shaped by its history and by colonialism in particular.
I appreciate that Kim was no doubt ahead of its time when published in 1901....depicting Indians of many different faiths and motives...not mere cartoon characters. But, the book hasn't aged well in my opinion. A teenage boy, son of an English soldier, becomes embroiled in a spy plot while also striking up a deep friendship with an aged itinerant Tibetan lama. I found the pilgrimage portion of the story more interesting than the spy aspects. I came away wondering what really motivated the boy. He seems to be a kind but cunning child, innocent to some degree...but alert and aware. Another notch on my 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List. I would have given this 2 1/2 stars if I could...but rounded up to 3 stars.
Task= 20
Review=10
Oldie=10 (1901)
Task total=40
Grand Total= 155
Post 109 Heather wrote: "20.7 #25The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
+20 task
+10 combo (10.7, 10.8 - H)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 30"
Heather, I don't see this on the group bookshelf, so it doesn't qualify for 10.7. If you meant a different task for the combo, let us know.
Post 117 Tien wrote: "10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien)Morrigan's Cross (Circle Trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.8)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 145"
This does not qualify for 10.8 because the series name is not really part of the title.
Post 122 Heather wrote: "10.7 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
+10 task
+5 combo (20.7 -#123)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 60"
Heather, I don't see this on the group bookshelf. We'll score it for 20.7.
20.8 Poetry (Beth's Task)Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah by Patricia Smith
A collection of autobiographical poetry. Smith writes about her parents, part of the Chicago-bound branch of the Great Migration, and her own girlhood in Chicago and the heavy pull of Motown on her life (inner and outer) growing up. These strands become one interconnected origin story, as those elements are all connected, as her poem "Why a Colored Girl Will Slice You If You Talk Wrong About Motown" attests.
I read so little poetry and am inadequate to write about it, but what I really liked about this collection was her amazing use of structure and form, and just how playful she could get while digging deeply (lke in the thirteen-by-thirteen-by-thirteen architecture that holds up the incisive "13 Ways at Looking at 13"). The way Smith writes about music was particularly good: she recreates the experience of letting music into your life, about it creating its own kind of gravity within you that projects into something bigger. The details and the relationships that build up and return made the entire collection resonant.
One of my favorite poems was the titular "Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah", in which Smith's mother names her Patricia Ann, while her father was hoping for the name Jimi Savannah.
+20 Task -- author born in 1955
+10 Combo (10.3 SHO-ULD-A; 10.8 S)
+10 Review
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 145
20.5 Myra BreckinridgeSnowmancer by Olivia Helling
This was a cute but odd fantasy romance, with something of a fairy tale feeling. It was dark in the grim consequences of failure and the horror that approached, but written more lightly and with so many facepalms at the obliviousness of one of the main characters, both princes (sort of). The attraction was written in from the beginning, although the switch over to YES was a bit abrupt, it at least followed life threatening situations (and the passing through of a cultural barrier of one character) so seemed reasonable. The world building was reasonably interesting although not deep and I liked how something mentioned at the beginning had much more relevance than originally implied.
+20 task
+5 combo (10.8)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 205
Task 10.9 Sisters (Coralie's Task)Read a book that features sisters. At least two sisters must be active in the book.
The sisters are 16 year old Liv and 13 year old Mia. Even though the description on goodreads does not refer to Mia, she is present for a large number of scenes in the novel, usually tagging after her older sister.
Dream On (Silber #2) (2014) by Kerstin Gier; translated from the German by Anthea Bell (Young Adult) (Hardcover, 328 pages)
Lexile HL800L
Review:This is part two of a Young Adult trilogy. It is really necessary to have read part one, Dream a Little Dream, before this one, as the characters and major plot points are continued and not re-introduced from part one.
Part One begins as 16 year old Liv and 13 year old Mia move with their divorced mother to London. (The divorce was amicable and Dad lives in Zurich.) Liv and Mia begin attending the local school. There are the normal high school incidents with girl friends, mean girls, and very cute boys. In Part One, Liv learns how to ‘lucid dream’, wherein she experiences dream life as almost as real as waking life. She learns to ‘visit’ other people’s dreams – including several of her classmates. Part One ended with action packed scenes. Dream on is Part Two. It begins a month or so after the end of Part One. Liv is still having normal high school incidents with the girls and the cute boys at her local school. Mia is eagerly listening to her sister’s tales, and often expresses opinions and occasionally meddles in Liv’s activities. Liv still wanders Dreamland. Halfway through the novel, the plot begins to heat up. Several plot elements are resolved at the end, but there are still a few outstanding. Part Three (from the goodreads reviews) will resolve the remaining plot points.
I’d recommend this novel for those looking for a YA adventure story starring teenaged girls.
+10 Task
+10 Lost in Translation (translated from German)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 30 + 30 = 60
20.6 Ellen FosterAutobiography of Anthony Trollope by Anthony Trollope
I had a hard time picking for this task, so when I saw a memoir about life as a novelist, I was very interested. Trollope was a civil servant for many years and took a workmanship approach to writing. No inspiration or muses here. Just writing, even when inconvenient. And accepting years of minimal reward until success was gained. He talks little of his emotions, but there are a number of places where they shine through the more passive words he uses. I am actually interested in trying one of his novels now, although I never was before.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (1883)
+15 combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.8)
Task total: 55
Grand total: 260
15.3 AbCU.K.--T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry
The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos by Anne Carson
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 120
10.3 ScrabbleThe Scarlet Messenger by Henry Holt
I’m sure I haven’t read this actual book before, but I’ve definitely encountered all the elements of the plot, some of them several times, in other Golden Age mysteries.
We begin with a respectable young Englishman who encounters a girl who appears to be in danger, on a train to Calais. Someone close to the girl is then murdered. There’s a South African diamond mine and a man who might or might not have been cheated out of it; a jewel robbery; a big house with faithful (or are they?) servants; a will; a pair of jealous brothers … the list goes on and on.
I unravelled the mystery before the halfway mark because of another familiar strand, which I won’t reveal. But to be fair, Henry Holt wrote this in 1933, so the other books may have borrowed from him, not vice versa.
+10 Task (scarlet)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.8 S)
+10 Oldies (1933)
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 190
15.2 Awards by CountryThe Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar
USA-Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography
Task total: 15
Season total: 110
10.1 Square PegBig Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
This book was published in 2013, so I'm sure in many ways it is outdated, but it introduced me to some good ideas that I expect are still foundations of improved implementation. The general idea is that instead of asking a small group of people, getting a little specific data, and then saying that group is like the whole, computers today let you look at alllllll the data and it doesn't need to be exactly right and you don't need to understand why - just find the relationships. This is how the awesomeness that is Google Translate works. The writing was solid and there were many good little stories included. It followed the general theory of intro/bullets/summary and conclusion so there was some repetition but I felt it was useful more than annoying.
+10 task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 280
10.2 DecadeThe Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
+10 Task (published 1990)
+5 Combo 10.8
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Oldies
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 230
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 117 Tien wrote: "10.8 Megafinish (Lagullande's Task via Tien)Morrigan's Cross (Circle Trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.8)
Post Total: 15
Season T..."
Firstly, my apologies, not sure what I was doing when I claimed for the same task for the combo!? Careless is all.
Secondly, I'm not sure what you mean by "This does not qualify for 10.8 because the series name is not really part of the title."?
20.6 Ellen FosterMemoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
+20 Task
+25 Combo 10.3, 10.8, 20.3, 20.4, 20.5
+10 Lost in Translation
+5 Oldies (published 1951)
Post Total: 60
Season Total: 290
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 109 Heather wrote: "20.7 #25The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
+20 task
+10 combo (10.7, 10.8 - H)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 30"
Heather, I don't see thi..."
I was using the search wrong. It was searching *my* shelves, not the group bookshelf. Sorry!
Tien wrote: "Secondly, I'm not sure what you mean by "This does not qualify for 10.8 because the series name is not really part of the title."? "Boy, I was deep into this (not!). I was thinking you were claiming for 10.3 Scrabble - Trilogy is a 7-letter word. (In my defense, 10.3 and 10.8 are the most claimed combos so far this season, but you'd still think I could tell the difference on screen.)
10.8 MegafinishThe Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
I've been on hold for this one for *months*! I didn't particularly plan on using it this season, as it's basically useless as far as points go, but I only got a two-week checkout and didn't want to wait another few months on hold.
This book was charming. I've only seen a few episodes of shows in which they've appeared and don't consider myself a fan, but I've heard them speak as actors (as opposed to characters) and was always impressed. As was repeatedly recommended in the comments left on the goodreads page for this book, I got the audiobook. It was a conversation between two people who love and respect each other. They tell their meet cute and about their low-key wedding day. They talk about how they make their 18-year marriage work with all of the other things pulling them every which direction. They talk about the families they grew up in, about their love of reading and jigsaw puzzles and gelato. They talk about pursuing your passion and creativity. They talk about attraction and sex and the whole first half is peppered with junior-high-level body part references, which was hilarious coming out of the mouth of a 60-year-old woman and 48-year-old man.
The thing that struck me most was how very devoted to each other they are. It was so nice to hear, not just from two people in Hollywood but from two people >period<.
It wasn't a groundbreaking work by any means, but it was a fun listen. And I love that they like to listen to audiobooks while assembling jigsaw puzzles. My kind of people.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 140
10.7 Olive KitteridgeThe Joey Song: A Mother's Story of Her Son's Addiction by Sandra Swenson
+10 Task
Task Total = 10
20.10 AsiaThe Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
I have mixed feelings about this. I was anticipating a mystery and there is a murder where the perpetrator is not immediately known. I think the mystery is less of the novel than are the historical aspects. India was a very multi-cultural society. Perveen Mistry is Parsi, the household Mistry Law represents is Muslim, the setting is the time of English rule. The novel doesn't try to tell us about other religions/sects, but there are references to let us know they exist.
The novel begins in 1921 and that time is dominant. But we also learn of Perveen's backstory and there are flashback chapters in 1916/1917. I feel certain the author was already looking ahead to more in this series and felt compelled to provide Perveen Mistry with a personal history. In any case, in both of the time periods the rights of married women and how they are treated under the law are at issue. One of the things I found interesting was the difference in Muslim law and Parsi law and that the courts applied them as appropriate.
While I liked learning about this time, there are some implausible scenes and some courses of action seem out of character. I think Massey tried to do too much with this novel and she ended up rushing some parts in order to tie things together at the end. I enjoyed my time with it, for the most part, and will read the next in the series. We'll see if I'm interested beyond that.
+20 Task (100% in India)
+ 5 Combo (10.3)
+10 Review
Task total = 35
Season total = 80
20.10 AsiaThe Fool (Khent) by Raffi by Raffi
Novel written about the Turko Russian war in the 1870s’. Part adventure story, part romance and part commentary of the cultural and social challenges that the Armenians faced. Written about 40 years prior to the Armenian genocide, the cross cultural conflict and hatred illuminate many of the underlying causes for one of the worst tragedies in 20th century history.
The book itself is well written and well paced with Varden an Armenian patriot and contrabander as the central character. I would recommend it to a reader who is interested in an unexpected read.
20 pts 20.10. Asia - Armenia
5 pts.10.8 Megafinish
5 pts. 10.2 Decade (1881)
10 pts Translation
10 pts Oldie
10 pts review
Task total. 60 pts
Season total 230 pts
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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 Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
20 task
10 published 1937
Task points: 30
Season points: 55