Reading with Style discussion

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 367 pages published 1984.

I read the second publishing which included additional chapters and a resequencing by the author. It is billed as the "definitive" edition.

I enjoyed this book although I was tempted to put it down after the first chapter. Erdrich's writing style is understated and beautiful. There will be an occasional descriptive passage that is just lovely, but she never gets lost in effusive prose that would be more appropriate to 19th Century literature. She is succinct, choosing carefully symbols which then are given the focus. The novel has a very thin plot line, because each chapter is essentially a short story which illuminates the character of or a turning point in the lives of people in this multi-generational story. Thankfully there are clear time indicators as she jumps from one generation to the next. Erdrich boils down the one or two most important elements of life and focuses fully on those. Often very intense actions are written about in her understated way making them seem like part of a flow. She speaks of characters who let go in order to ride the waves of time. This is a unique piece of literature.

Note: this is my last entry for this season. Thank you to the moderators and everyone else who make this a fun group and who nudge me a little in my book choices.

20 task
15 combos 10.7 (June), 10.9 Trilogy, 20.8 tea Page 103 she burned tobacco, sage, gave me some tea.
10 1001 books
10 Review
5 Oldie (1984)


Task total 60 points
Season total 350 points

20.3 Theodore White

The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is well-known for stories of subtle terror (The Haunting of Hill House, The Lottery, etc.). This is a departure in that it is non-fiction, discussing a dark time in U.S. history with which many people are familiar, but she does it in such a way that the horror becomes almost personal.
The evil perpetrated by the lying mouths of a few people and the inaction/assistance of those with the power to put a stop to it leads to the death and undoing of hundreds--it feels a little too familiar and oh-so-unsettling. It was a relief to hear a little from the perspective of people outside of that situation (visitors from New York or Boston) to realize that it really was an isolated incident of a town gone mad and not the prevailing mindset of the times--but the fact that a five-year-old child was accused and imprisoned, a pious grandmother was tossed in jail, twenty people lost their lives, and hundreds of people lost their property and livelihood all because of the ravings and accusations of a group of the town's Mean Girls (and the head Mean Girl's mother?!) is terrifying. I hope that there is a hell and that those girls (and ESPECIALLY the mother) are in some circle of it.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1956)
+25 Combo: 10.2 = 27 letters; 10.4; 10.8; 20.6; 20.7

Task total: 60
Season total: 1745

10.4 High Five Day

Might as Well Be Dead by Rex Stout

The edition I read has an introduction by John Katzenbach. I read the first screen load or two, before he started talking about this specific book. Wolfe probes personalities until he uncovers the nasty vein that pulses beneath the surface, regardless of how well hidden it might be. In actuality, almost all the real “action” of a Nero Wolfe novel is cerebral. This is because in most cases, Archie and the other operatives go out and do things, but we learn about them when they come back to the office to tell Wolfe. Then Wolfe thinks. There was actually a bit more onsite action in this one, just to make sure we know not all action is cerebral, I guess.

What I love about this series is the relationship between Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Archie knows Wolfe is a genius, but doesn't mind disparaging him when it is deserved (to the reader, never to Wolfe). In this, for example, Archie actually has to tell Wolfe that the morgue never closes, and Archie makes sure we readers recognize that the genius Wolfe doesn't actually know everything worth knowing. I also love Archie's observations about people. Archie describing people often includes some back-handed compliments. Fred Durkin, big and burly and bald, knows exactly what he can expect of his brains and what he can’t, which is more than you can say for a lot of people with a bigger supply.

It would be a rare review by me when I don't mention the writing. I sort of complained about Christie's prose in the last book I read. I don't think I can actually proclaim the prose is better than Christie's and get away with it, but, for me, there *is* something a cut above. There is a cadence to Stout's prose that appeals to me in the same way as does Raymond Chandler's. Stout, of course, has not a hint of noir and I'm hard put to better explain exactly what I mean.

Despite being my 3rd mystery in a row, I was delighted to find myself reading this. That may color my rating, which comes in in the low 4-stars.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1956)

Task total = 25

Season total = 1565

26 Owned/32 Read

And that will do it for me this season.

20.8 My Cup of Tea

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
Lexile 860

Faith's father is a fossil hunter and collector of rare plants, and Faith longs for nothing but to follow in his footsteps. But they are living in the 19th century, and neither of her parents will accept any future for her beyond the traditional roles of a lady. They try to force her into ladylike pursuits just as they force her left-handed little brother to use his right hand.

But then, on a remote island, Faith discovers her father's journal and the story of a plant so rare that some collectors will stop at nothing to get it - even murder.

I enjoyed this and loved the illustrations by Chris Riddell in the edition that I read.

Tea: "Faith ate a nursery breakfast of weak, cold tea and eggs boiled soft to the point of liquescence."

+20 Task
+10 Review

Post total: 30
Season Total: 1785

20.3 Theodore White

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

I've never heard of this author or any of his books before now. To be honest I was just looking for an audio book, any audio book (preferably one that fit an RwS task), to listen to while I was working out in the yard. I saw this one and grabbed it on a whim, not even bothering to read the blurb since I saw that it was a nominee for the Pulitzer so assumed it was a worthy read. When I started listening and realized it would fall into the category of "Western", I was a little disappointed: not my favorite genre.
How misplaced was my disappointment!? It was such a fantastic little book--made me feel all of the feels and the writing was luminous. So glad I happened upon it! It's like listening to your grandpa recount the story of his life, bouncing between seemingly-insignificant remembered moments and momentous occasions in a scattered chronology, mixing joy and heartbreak, hope and devastation in such a way that you're not allowed to dwell in any emotion for too long...There was no Pulitzer awarded for 2012 of the three nominees, which is disheartening. This one really deserved it. (And I'll choose it for my group read selection if I get to choose one--it's a really short book and I'm guessing most libraries carry it...just a heads up for anyone interested in this title who is trying to get their hands on all their books for summer season before Monday.)

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 30
Season total: 1775

15.10 Blackjack (round 2)

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

♠9 (pub. date year ends in "9" = 2019)
♥Q (title/subtitle contains a "Q" = "Queen") = 19

Task total: 45
+150, 25 cards used
Season total: 1970

That's it for me this season...we're about to head out to the mountains for the weekend and won't be in range to post anything else. Cheers to a fantastic season and can't wait to see what everyone is reading this summer!

From Post 741

Karen Michele wrote: "20.10 It's a Mystery (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s Task)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 720L

+20 Task
+20 Combo: 10.2 Letters (23)/ 10.5 Sherlock Holmes / 10.6..."

+5 Combo 10.4

From Post 743

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "20.8 cup of tea
A Study in Sableby Mercedes Lackey
"Let's have a proper tea." P 34
Task+ 20
Grand total: 230"

+5 Combo 20.6

The Readerboard is crediting me with an RWS and Mega Finish that I haven't earned.

10.1 Thirst For More

Miss Julia Lays Down the Law by Ann B. Ross

A newcomer to Abbotsville society, Connie Clayborn, upsets everyone by wanting to make over the whole town when she only moved in five minutes ago. Miss Julia is as antagonised as anybody, so when she happens to be the one to find Connie's dead body, she's suddenly at the centre of a murder investigation.

This was definitely a comfort read for me. It’s the seventeenth in a series, and I’ve read almost all of them over a period of 5 years or so. Most of the plot, as always, stems from Miss Julia refusing to do what any normal person would do – confide in her husband, break a confidence, etc. The books are so formulaic and yet always entertaining.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.2)

Post total: 25
Season Total: 1810

15.8 - Blackjack (second round)

Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Ace diamonds (75-199 pages)
6 diamonds (published in 60s - published 1966)
=17

+30 task
+5 female author
+5 published 1966
+5 not a novel

Post total: 45
Season total: 1025

10.6 Richard Adams

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Well.....finally I found a Hemingway work that I liked (not loved...but liked.) I'm not a fan of the choppy sentence style that Hemingway is so known for.... but in this war novel, it worked fairly well.
My biggest problem with Hemingway is that his dialogues always sound so unbelievable to me. Here there were a few moments that made me twinge (especially when the main character's love interest, Catherine, is talking)... but overall I was able to treat these as quibbles. The story of an American serving as an ambulance driver in Italy (and for the Italian forces during WWI) was believable and well told. The right touch of war difficulties and romance. I thought the parts of the stories featuring Italian soldiers and clergymen who befriend the main character, Frederic, to be particularly good character depictions. Much of the story is probably based on Hemingway's actual experiences. I could probably be persuaded to give this novel more than three stars...but, 4 out of five seems like too much for my tastes...so, a 3 it is.

Task=10
Review=10
1001=10
Oldie=10 (1929)
Task Total=40
RWS Finish=100
Mega Finish=200

Grand Total= 2055

Tasks Completed=40
✔10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (30);10.5 (45); 10.6 (340); 10.7 (25); 10.8 (45); 10.9 (30); 10.10 (35)
✔15.1 (25); 15.2 (30); 15.3 (30); 15.4 (20); 15.5 (30); 15.6 (30);
15.7 (30); 15.8 (40; 15.9 (45); 15.10 (205)
✔2nd Round- 15.1 (25); 15.2 (25); 15.3 (15); 15.4 (25); 15.5 (30;
15.6 (25); ); 15.7 (30); 15.8 (35); 15.9 (40); 15.10 (205)
3rd Round-15.1 (20)
✔20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.3 (65); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.9 (35); 20.10 (50)

Ed wrote: "Grand Total=1710-15 (difference with Kate's accounts)= 1695"

There is a combination of factors at work here.

I have corrected my missed +5 bonus from an earlier post, but there is also an arithmetic error from post 542. You claimed 20 points for a 10 point task. We should match when I update the Readerboard tomorrow.

Valerie wrote: "Unsurprisingly, to me anyway, my on-going total is different from Kate's. It appears that according to the official scoresheet I should have 10 more points. I haven't included it above, since I can't see where I went wrong."

In post 342, you added only 40 points for the post total, you earned 50.

20.8 My Cup of Tea

Hearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell

The final volume of "A Dance to the Music of Time" series shows life as a circular dance with the younger generation repeating the same steps to the dance as the older generation moves out of the circle. In "Hearing Secret Harmonies" a 1970s hippie cult camps overnight at Nick and Isobel Jenkins' home in the English countryside. Isobel's niece has been mesmerized by the cult leader, Scorpio Murtlock. He leads the group in pagan rituals often tied to the seasons and the sites of ancient standing stones.

The book ties in mythology, literature, art, and spiritualist characters from earlier books. The Seventies was a time of youthful rebellion, sexual freedom, and experimentation with drugs. Kenneth Winderpool, a college administrator now, embraces the new age. Russell Gwinnett is researching Gothic symbolism of mortality, and also comes into contact with the mystic cult. The occult rituals of the group become increasingly sinister, and there is a power struggle between two of the members.

The twelve books in the series have been following Nick Jenkins' observations about life since he was a teenager. It is the satirical view of someone in the British upper class, well-schooled in literature, art, music, history, and culture, like the author himself. Nick and his friends are getting older. However, the circular Dance of Life will continue moving to the Music of Time.

+20 task Pg 83 "I can always manage a cup of tea."
+ 5 combo 10.2 Letters
+10 review
+10 1001 book
+ 5 oldie (pub 1975)

Task total: 50
Season total: 995

Kate S wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Unsurprisingly, to me anyway, my on-going total is different from Kate's. It appears that according to the official scoresheet I should have 10 more points. I haven't included it ab..."

Oh my goodness. Thank you for spotting that, and explaining it.

15.6 - Blackjack

Feed by Mira Grant

2 of diamonds (author also publishes as Seanan McGuire)
5 of diamonds (599 pages)
Ace of spades (book 1 in Newsflesh series)

+20 Task
+5 Female author

Task total: 25
Season Total: 420

15.7 - Blackjack

Judge's Jewel by Cyndi Raye

Jack of clubs - title has a J or K
Ace of diamonds - has 75 - 199 pgs

+20 task
+5 female

Task total: 25
Grand total: 700

15.8 - Blackjack

The Flood by Ian Rankin

2 of clubs - has 200 - 299 pgs
8 of diamonds - orig pug date in the 80s
9 of diamonds - set 75% in a commonwealth country

+30 task

Task total: 30
Grand total: 730

20.8 My Cup of Tea

The Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair

Born in the middle of the 19th century, Harriett Frean is an only child brought up to believe herself better than other people and to behave in a self-sacrificing and decorous manner. Following these unquestioned principles, she moves through life making a lot of wrong choices, always aware of something dangerous lurking around the corner like the bad man in the lane behind her childhood home.

This is a short book, just a novella - the copy I have is 180 pages but with well-spaced print and large margins. It's a series of episodes in a life, often very insightful, but not the most cheerful of reads.

Tea: "I always get up at five to make Robin a cup of tea." p 128

+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.5)
+10 1001 list
+10 Oldies (1922)

Post total: 65
Season Total: 1875

20.7 Annie Dillard

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan

Early on, in the planning stages I had slotted this book in for this task – I saw that I could get it from one of our local partners. Then about 11.5 weeks ago, I started to think the libraries might be shut and I hastily ordered this. I was working our last open day, and it hadn’t arrived so I gave up on it and hoped it would fit in the Summer season. Then at the end of last week, in anticipation of my little library’s curbside service I received an email that it was here waiting for me! They aren’t doing any loans from/with our local partners so I can only think it somehow made it to the library the last day staff were there 10+ weeks ago and has been in quarantine ever since.

That is a lot of pressure to put on a book for review! What if it’s not as good as I hoped… Well, luckily it is. Pollan has written a very readable and well researched book about the intimate and intertwined relationship between human desires and four representative domesticated plants. The desires and the plant discussed are: sweetness + the apple, beauty + the tulip, intoxication + marijuana, and control + the potato. I appreciated the research Pollan put into this book and his cogent arguments, which have a wide base. I finished the book thinking ‘who can I recommend this to?’. 4.5*

20 task
10 review
______
30

Running total: 2505

Post 806 Lynn wrote: "20.6 Katherine Anne Porter

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 367 pages published 1984.

I read the second publishing which included additional chapters and a resequencing..."

This doesn't work for a combo with 10.7 as no part of the author's name is on the list.

I don't think I will finish another book today, so thank you mods and everyone for a great season that helped to give me a sense of purpose in this difficult spring!

10.5 Sherlock Holmes

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

I listened to about 90% of this book, and read the final four chapters (for convenience, not as a critique of the narrator).

As I listened to the first part of the novel, maybe up until the 2/3 mark, I appreciated this work for it’s historic significance rather than anything else. However, I couldn’t develop any empathy for this wealthy group of vacuous women and paternalistic men, who couldn’t have gotten anything done without their servants (and slaves). They all just seemed so useless, especially Edna (the main character). Maybe that was Chopin’s device – make Edna so shallow that any reader couldn’t help but notice her awakening.

The last third (or so) of the novel was much more interesting. Here, Edna is finding her way to personhood. She revives her interest in sketching and painting and has some success with it. Gradually she divests herself of friends, family, and acquaintances who try to keep her tied to the conventions of society. She tries to live her life without the conventions and restrictions, unfortunately she has tied her happiness to a man she is in love with. Sadly, he doesn’t have the courage to break with tradition. The ending was not a surprise, but tragic, nonetheless. 3.5*

10 task
10 review
10 oldie
10 1001 book
10 combo 20.4, 20.6
______
50

Running total: 2555

My final book for our spring season!

15.7 - Blackjack

Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities by John Warner

Jack of Spades (John)
King of Spades (killing)

+20 Task
+5 not a novel

Task total: 25
Season Total: 445

20.3 Theodore H White

Deadline by Mira Grant

+20 task (grant)
+5 combo (20.8 - "Mahir sipped his tea, grimaced, and continued." page 381)
+5 jumbo (584 pages)

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 475

20.3 Theodore H. White

San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant

+20 task (Grant)
+5 combo (20.8 - "I'm going to want a cup of tea in front of me...She leads me to the kitchen where she fills the electric kettle and sets the water to boil." Loc 52 on my Kindle!)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 500

Thanks for another wonderful season, mods!!

20.3 - Theodore H White

If She Saw byBlake Pierce

+20 task

Task total: 20
Grand total: 750

Thanks for the great season!

20.3 Theodore H White

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson

+20 task
+10 combo (10.2, 10.8 - main character is "confined in a private palace" and enlists help to escape “the walls of his prison”)
+10 1001 books
+10 review
+15 oldies (first published 1759)

Task total: 65
Season total: 1090


Review
This book was not at all what I expected. Firstly, it was far more enjoyable and easy to read than I anticipated, and secondly it was surprisingly relevant to today’s world despite being over 250 years old.

The premise is quite simple and not a lot really happens. Rasselas, a prince of Abyssinia, is imprisoned in Happy Valley, a beautiful place whose inhabitants are provided with all the “necessaries of life” and know only “pleasure and repose.” However, Rasselas longs to escape and eventually he enlists a poet named Imlac to help him and his sister escape the valley. Once freed they set out to explore the world and discover what it means to be happy.

The book is full of sharp observations about people that feel as accurate today as when they were written. Rasselas fears that he is more unhappy than any of his friends, but Imlac corrects him:
"Every man [...] may by examining his own mind guess what passes in the minds of others. When you feel that your own gaiety is counterfeit, it may justly lead you to suspect that of your companions not to be sincere. Envy is commonly reciprocal. We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself."
Even earlier in the story, Imlac issues a warning to Rasselas which many people today would do well to remember:
"Do not disturb your mind [...] with other hopes or fears than reason may suggest; if you are pleased with the prognostics of good, you will be terrified likewise with tokens of evil, and your whole life will be a prey to superstition."

I rarely re-read anything, except for a handful of my very favourite books, but I think I’d actually like to revisit this book in a few months time as I feel like there are many lessons I could take from it which I perhaps missed this time because of my assumptions about the book’s relevance today.

Thanks to the mods for a great season!

20.1 Edmund Morris

The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H. White

20 pts 20.1 Edmund Morris
5 pts 20.7 Annie Dillard
5pts 10.2 Letters
5 pts 10.4 High Five Day
5 pts 10.9 Trilogy
5 pts Oldies
10 pts Review

This is the best book I have read this year. White effectively presents the politics, personalities and strategies behind the 1960 Nixon and Kennedy Presidential campaigns. Along the way he provides context about the racial, demographic and social changes that influenced the political climate of the time. In today’s context, White’s observations are still relevant.

Despite the risk of an old political book seeming dated, this book is engaging and draws the reader in. Highly recommended

Task total: 55 pts
Season total: 1115 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8. .... 20.10

15.9 - Blackjack (second round)

Stable Groom by Bonnie Bryant

5 hearts (set 75% in a US state - set entirely in Virginia)
6 clubs (six letter author name)
10 diamonds (part of series with 10+ titles)
= 21

+30 task
+5 female author
+5 published 1995

Post total: 40
Season total: 1130

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 806 Lynn wrote: "20.6 Katherine Anne Porter

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 367 pages published 1984.

I read the second publishing which included additional chapt..."



Oh sorry. I read the task incorrectly. I was looking for characters with those names.... June is a character in the book. Sorry for the inconvenience.

15.10 - Blackjack (second round)

A Dreadful Murder: The Mysterious Death of Caroline Luard by Minette Walters

9 diamonds (set in commonwealth country - set entirely in the UK)
10 hearts (historical fiction - book was published in 2013 and is set in 1908)
=19

+45 task
+5 female author
+ 150 completion bonus

Post total: 200
Season total: 1330

That’s my final book for the season. Thank you Elizabeth and Kate for organising such an enjoyable challenge. And thank you to everyone who has posted reviews in this thread which have led to my TBR being even longer than it was in February!

10.3 Conjunctions

The Wounded and the Slain by David Goodis

+10 task
+10 combo (10.2, 10.4)
+ 5 oldies (1955)

Task total=25
Season final total=1545

Thank you mods, and all participants, it was lots of fun as always!

Congratulations to all participants!

Now on to summer!