Reading with Style discussion
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SP 20 Completed Tasks
15.4 Blackjack Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
3 of spades
5 of hearts (set entirely in New York)
9 of spades (pub 2019)
Task total: 15
Season Total: 175
15.5 Blackjack The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner
3 of hearts (#3 in UNSUB series)
7 of spades (corners)
Jack of clubs (darK)
+5 female author
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 205
20.9 Women in TranslationThe Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad
Written in Norwegian
This book was amazing. I felt very present in a culture unfamiliar to me. I understand why some readers find the author/journalist's removal of herself objectionable and the detailed emotional states that she describes questionable. But if she carried the spirit of the lives into her words, then I think it was worth it to present something human based in fact instead of a typical journalistic or anthropological portrait. It's not like she claims otherwise. At least in the introduction. I did not research it further. I feel the author captured a broad range of emotion and perspectives related to this rather well off, and still not living so well, family. And yet, I am glad that I am not a part of it, restricted and dependent.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (20.7)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 690
15.4 Blackjack (Round 2)Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels #1) by Anne Bishop
A Spades (first in series)
10 Diamonds (10 in series)
+15 Task
+5 Female
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 980
20.3 Theodore H WhiteCity of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
+20 Task (Jackson)
+5 Combo 10.8 – MC spends time in jail
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 530
10.1 Thirst for MoreLost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Read all his books
+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.4, 20.8 - "Miss Havisham sat down, drank three cups of tea")
Task total = 20
Points total = 195
15.5 Blackjack (Round 2)Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tehani Croft Wessely & Tansy Rayner Roberts
3 Clubs (320 pages)
7 Spades (7-letter word: history)
10 Spades (short stories)
+20 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,005
10.4 High Five DayThe Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
Several weeks ago, I went to the library to return some books...and noticed a posting that the library was going to be closed the next day due to the coronavirus and the closure would be for several weeks. I quickly decided to grab some books without being able to resort to any lists or plans. I knew I would soon need an audiobook I could listen to in my car. My branch library is small....and the selection there is small. I saw that this audiobook was about Truman Capote....and having recently re-read Breakfast at Tiffanys, I chose this one. I'm glad I did.
I'm not usually attracted to books by or about celebrities and I didn't expect much from this one. But the work drew me in. The story focuses mostly on a young Truman Capote, having moved to New York City and his friendship with Babe Paley...the wife of CBS CEO Bill Paley. Babe became well known for her fashion sense. Capote also became friends to varying degrees with Babe's circle of fashionable friends in the City....the "Swans". Capote was drawn to celebrity and a few chapters are spent on a huge party he holds for New York's most famous people after he became hugely successful
A few chapters later, Capote has become a cartoonish character (the one I remember seeing on television as a teen). He also hasn't had any literary success in a while...and decides to publish a story which uses his friendships to reveal confidences behind barely-concealed characters. One of the "swans" even commits suicide after reading the story.
This is a fictional account...but based on facts. The audiobook had two different readers...and they did an excellent job...truly and surprisingly engaged me. This is probably a 3.5 stars for me...so, I'll round it up to 4 because I would probably try another historical fiction by this author.
Task=10
Combo= 10 (10.2,10.8*)
Not sure if this is sufficient for 10.8, if not, please deduct 5 combo points... but a small part of the novel deals with Capote's visits to the prison in which his "characters" from In Cold Blood are incarcerated.
Review=10
Task Total=30
Grand Total=1010
Tasks Completed=23
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (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)
20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.10 (50)
15.9 BlackjackThe Silent Executioner by Marcel Allain
Heart A - pub'd in 1911
Heart Six - title has an X
+30 Task
+ 5 b4 1995
Task total = 35
Season total = 475
10 Owned/ 15 Read
Hi Kate: please see post 456 - I changed the task for this book, but didn't want to mess with this original post.10.2 Letters
The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams
This was another book I was able to listen to that is part of the Hoopla bonus borrows promo. Now this is how an audio book should be – a good narrator and a really good story. This is the first book in the series so significant part of the book is setting the scene and introducing the main characters. I enjoyed this aspect of the book and I found the characters to be interesting. The members of the Secret Society are four women who have lived some life and three of them are in Miracle Springs to start over. I thought the way Adams unfolded their backstories was very clever. The mystery was tricky, but the reader is given the information once the women figure it out. I liked that, no red herrings or undisclosed clues. 4*
10 task
10 review
5 combo 10.8 (one of the mc - Estella, is framed for a murder and arrested. She spends a significant part of the story in jail.)
____
25
Running total: 1100
18 owned/29 read
Post 368 Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "It's A MysteryTraitor's Purse by Margery Allingham, Publ. 1940.
+20 Task
+10 Oldies
+5 Combo, 10.1 (8th book I've read by Allingham)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 95"
Sorry, Don. 10.1 cannot be used for combo.
20.7 Annie DillardTasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat by John McQuaid
This was an interesting exploration of the sense of taste. He touched on human evolution, as it related to taste and anthropological evidence of humans developing various (pleasurable, or at minimum palatable) flavors. Before he delved into this he reviewed the role taste has in ‘lower forms of life’ in the evolutionary chain to explain how we got to where we are now. I found this quite interesting, and learned things along the way. I liked his anecdotes about various flavors or taste sensations, sometimes they added a humorous element. Ultimately, I learned that the sense of taste is complex and although it can be manipulated it is poorly understood. 3*
20 task
10 review
_____
30
Running total: 1130
18 owned/30 read
15.6 Blackjack (Round 2)Fair Blows the Wind (Talon and Chantry #2) by Louis L'Amour
2 Hearts (2nd in series)
7 Clubs (pub 1973)
10 Hearts (Historical fiction set in late 16th century)
+20 Task
+5 Pub. 1973
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,030
10.10 Group Reads - Anika's choiceThe Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa pub. 2012
I had originally toyed with the idea of using this book for women in translation, but I found another book for that spot.
The books I love the most I believe are the most difficult reviews to write, and I love this book. I easily rated it an unhesitating 5 stars. There are cliches: an orphan/stray who brings joy and a cherished pet. The book has foreshadowing in abundance, so early on the reader can predict the ending, yet not completely. Still, there was so much that was fresh and different in how this book was written. The book uses a split narrator style which I enjoyed. Also, it is set in modern Japan and I enjoyed the descriptions of lifestyle and landscape found in the book. I did cry. In fact, my husband heard me and had to come investigate. This is one of the best books I have read in quite a while.
10 task
15 Combo 10.2, 20.8, 20.9,
Tea reference for 20.8 Page 114 with his, but later drank only barley tea. He had never been much of…
10 review
35 Task total
170 Season total
15.5 BlackjackKafka Comes to America: Fighting for Justice in the War on Terror - A Public Defender's Inside Account by Steven T. Wax
Jack of clubs (K)
King of spades (fighting) = 20
+20 task
+5 NAN
Task total 25
Season total: 200
15.10 BlackjackThe Comforters by Muriel Spark
9 Diamonds (set in UK-commonwealth country)
Queen diamonds (set in UK – Western Europe)
+45 Task
+5 Female
+5 Oldies (published 1957)
Task Total: 55
Completion bonus 25+ cards 150 points
Season Total: 730
Post 380 Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "10.6 Richard AdamsLilac Girlsby Martha Hall Kelly
183,939 users, 4.29 rating
Task+ 10
Combo +10 20.8 "I made tea in the kitchen as it grew dark.", 20.5 50% set in..."
I'm sorry, Jayme. New York is not one of the cities for 20.5. The Female style is available only for Blackjack, not any of the 10- and 20-point tasks.
10.8 Go To Jail I read The Princess Casamassima by Henry James.The first scenes, the first 50 pages of this Henry James novel, concern arranging a meeting between the young man (boy?) named Hyacinth, who will become the novel’s protagonist, and his natural mother. Hyacinth has not known it, but his natural mother is in prison. One character early on says to the woman who has brought up Hyacinth, “If he is the illegitimate child of a French good-for-naught who murdered one of her numerous lovers, don’t shuffle out of sight so important a fact” (25).
Hyacinth visits his mother in prison before she dies, then he must, as Victorian heroes do, go forward into his own life. His question for his life is to what extent his natural mother’s past influences his own destiny. Is he fated to be a base creature like his mother, even though he was brought up by a modest seamstress to go into a middle-class lifestyle?
And then he meets the Princess Casamassima, the high class lady who will lead him into high class society – while simultaneously encouraging his base nature. Her intention is to encourage him to a life of crime, albeit high class crime. The intent is political assassination, making this one of Henry James’ most political books, something which his Victorian high class sensibilities was a little uncomfortable with. Oh, the politics is couched with confrontations by class and gender and sexual frustration, as in all Henry James. But this novel does not work quite as well of others which investigate gender differences in Victorian society. The book ends up an examination of the early stages of the anarchist movement in Europe, though there is a lot of tea drinking in parlors.
Points This Post: +10
Style Points:
+5 Combo – could be used for 20.8 My Cup o’ Tea
p. 59 “Millicent partook profusely of tea and bread and butter…the tea was strong and the bread and butter thick.”
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (608 pp)
+10 Oldies (1886)
Total Points for Task = 40
Total Points So Far: 525
20.2 August Wilson The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson pub. 1912, 212 pagesBecause of current uncertainty, I deliberately was searching out free book sources online. I found the text of this book on a university website. Having no idea what it was about, I actually read the first four chapters before I researched the author and realized I was reading a novel. James Weldon Johnson writes of his perceptions of social stratus of people in the United States in the 50 years or so after the Civil War.
I rated the book 4 stars. The text is an interesting story told in first person, and I cared about what happened next to the character. As far as literature goes, once the reader gets past the first few chapters he or she might feel that the plot is simply too coincidental and contrived at points. Still the historical detail and the thoughts and emotions expressed were fascinating. I am glad I read the book.
I believe the reason this book was on the University website where I found it is because Johnson and in particular this book, were highly influential upon the writers who became known as "Harlem Renaissance" writers.
20 task
15 Combo 10.2 20 letters, 10.5 Sherlock Holmes, 20.3 surname
10 review
10 Oldie
55 task points
225 season total points
15.1 Blackjack (2nd Round)Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood
D10- series has 10 or more titles (20)
H-Ace-two 1's in pub. date (1991)
10+Ace=21
Task=15
Female=5
<1995=5
Task Total=25
Grand Total=1035
Tasks Completed=24
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (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)
20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.10 (50)
10.10 Group ReadThe Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
I enjoyed this - a very sweet story - but don't have time to write reviews tonight.
Tea:
"She'd boil the tea in a small pan, then add the milk, transforming its colour to that of a muddy river after a downpour."
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.2, 20.8, 20.9)
Post total: 25
Season Total: 515
15.6 Blackjack At Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell
3 spades, 3-word title
4 spades, 4th in series
5 spades, pub 1957
9 diamonds, set over 75% in UK
total 21, 4 cards
+20 Task
+ 5 Pre-1995 (1957)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 540
20.9 Women in TranslationClaudine at School by Colette
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.5 1900)
+10 Oldies
Post total: 35
Season Total: 575
Post 413 Tien wrote: "15.5 Blackjack (Round 2)Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tehani Croft Wessely & Tansy Rayner Roberts
3 Clubs (320 pages)
7 Spades (7-letter word..."
The covers of all of the editions show Tansy Rayner Roberts listed first and I have edited all editions to reflect that. You should also get the 5 Female points.
10.4. High Five DaySo Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
10 pts 10.4 High Five Day
10 pts Review
5 pts Oldies
Beautiful description of a small town and its citizens driven by the murder of one of the main characters. After this event the book goes backward to describe the people and the events that lead up to the murder. However this is not a murder mystery, the murder occurs but the book is truly the story of a boy growing up amid things he does not understand and may never understand. Highly recommended
Cards used 15.1 -15.5 = 13
Task total: 25 pts
Season total: 490 pts
10.1 .... 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 .... 10.8 .... ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 . .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 .... 20.8. .... ...
15.7 Blackjack (Round 2)In the Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard
Q Clubs (LGBT on book page's genre)
K Clubs ('palace' in title)
+20 Task
+5 Female
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 1,055
15.4 - BlackjackQuilt as You Go by Arlene Sachitano
9 spades (published 2009)
Queen hearts (letter Q in title)
+15 task
+5 female
Task total: 20
Grand total: 480
20.8 - My Cup of TeaYellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
+20 task - Kindle loc 2203 - Lisbeth acknowledged Emily, who arrived with the tea tray. Lisbeth rose, poured herself a cup of the hot beverage, and added two teaspoons of sugar...
Task total: 20
Grand total: 500
15.5 Blackjack Round 2Married Love and Other Stories by Tessa Hadley
2 Clubs (232 pgs.)
6 Clubs (Hadley)
10 Clubs (2012)
+20 Task
+ 5 Not a novel (short stories)
+ 5 Female
Task total=30
Season total=715
10.2 LettersDeath Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
10 pts 10.2 Letters
5 pts 10.3 Conjunctions
5 pts 10.4 High Five
5 pts 10.5 Sherlock Holmes
5 pts 20.6 Katherine Anne Porter
10 pts Oldies
10 ptsReview
Two missionary priests are assigned to New Mexico as the bishop and his vicar. This is the story of religious believers who work with the population and demonstrate a religious devotion which largely respects and works with the cultural practices of the population. The descriptions of the land are super and the discoveries of the missionaries about themselves and the people they serve are inspiring
Cards used 15.1 -15.5 = 13
Task total: 50 pts
Season total: 540 pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 .... 10.8 .... ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 . .... .... .... .... ....
.... .... 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 .... 20.8. .... ...
10.1 Thirst for moreThe Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
It was so good to get back to this series. I’ve fallen a bit behind, so this task was a good one to encourage me to catch up. I’ve liked this series right from the beginning. The characters are interesting and memorable, so that even though more time than I would like has passed since I read the last book, I can still remember them and their inter-relationships. I also like that the characters lives are picked up after some time has passed (eg. Ruth’s daughter, Kate, is 6 now!). The mystery was complex and had some interesting elements. The forensic archeology was more of a background element this time out, but acted as the jumping off point for the rest of the story. Griffiths has really built well fleshed out, complicated characters (whom you can imagine meeting in your own life) and that certainly is the strength in this instalment. 4*
10 task
10 review
____
20
Running total: 1150
18 owned/31 read
Task 20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)Read a novel in which a character drinks or brews a cup of hot tea. Please include the sentence when claiming the book for points. See help thread for ideas.
pp. 264-265: “This younger sister then said that she and her older sister had another cup of tea and a chat on a second occasion. This time, while tablets girl once again made the tea , the younger sister once more heard her speak of bad things that had to be held on to.”
Milkman (2018) by Anna Burns (Paperback, 352 pages)
WINNER Booker Prize (2018)
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 190 + 20 = 210
20.10 It's a Mystery (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s Task)White Heat (Edie Kiglatuk #1) by M.J. McGrath
on the Wikipedia page, she's Melanie McGrath
Review
Edie Kiglatuk is only half Inuit. Add to that, she is also a woman. Even if she's one of the best guides in the community, she's not really given the respect she deserves. And after sticking her nose into the last death in the area which became a murder conviction of the victim's wife, she's not well liked in the community.
The book opens with Edie in the midst of her guiding 2 foreigners when one of them was shot and ended up dead. While she was pressured to let the thing go as a hunting accident, there were things that bothered Edie about it. It wasn't until someone she loved died that Edie felt there were bigger things at play and she wants justice done.
I really like Edie with her broken past and even as she's trying to better her life, she'd fall down now and again but got back up again. Her tenacity in being her better self and for answers is both admirable and rather scary; but she's looked danger right in the eye and charged ahead. Thankfully, she had help, albeit reluctant ones to begin with. Police Sergeant Derek Palliser tried to enforce the law but... there are only so much one man can do in a hard country. They didn't see each other very much but when they do meet, it's rather sweet & funny.
A complex mystery with many unexpected players set in a beautifully harsh country peopled with broken but tough characters.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.8 - "Once she pitched camp, Edie pulled out her thermos and drank tea, while the light spun from south to north and the bright stare of the midnight sun shed its shadows from her spot around the fire." @p. 157)
+10 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,090
20.9 Women in Translation (Kate S's Task)An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
I was hooked just by the title.
This is a set of five stories about an 88 year-old Swedish woman who takes no guff. Give her any reason to doubt your motives and she springs into action. That action, however, is thoughtfully planned and takes full advantage of her age. These stories are just fun to read. Very clever...and it is the type of book that I like. Until I read, Anna Karenina, I always considered The Count of Monte Cristo to be my favorite book. There is something about passive aggressive protagonists that reflect my predilections I think...although I hope I was never so callous. But I do recall in my career as a Labor Union negotiator.... setting many argumentative traps that my adversaries would walk into unawares.
I also notice that lately, I have been reading a lot of books, and enjoying a lot of books, with elderly female heroes..... the Mrs. Pollifax series, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, Notorious RBG; the Miss Marple series, the Agatha Raisin series (although to be fair, Agatha is middle aged), etc
Four stars...and I really hope there are more of the stories to come.
Task =20
Review=10
Combo= 5- (10.2)
Task Total= 35
Grand Total=1070
Tasks Completed=25
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (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)
20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.9 (35); 20.10 (50)
15.6 Blackjack Round 2Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking
King Hearts (Hawking)
Jack Clubs (Black)
+20 Task
+ 5 Not a novel (essays)
+ 5 Pub'd 1995 and earlier (1993)
Task total=30
Season total=745
20.8 My Cup of TeaThe Draycott Murder Mystery: A Golden Age Mystery by Molly Thynne
This mystery is the group read for April in another GR group. This novel was published in 1928, in the time of the ‘golden age’ of mysteries, written by Molly Thynne. This is her first mystery (although not her first novel). It is well constructed and charming. I guessed early on who the perpetrator was, but I enjoyed following the amateur investigator, Mr Fayre as he worked out the solution. The motive was interesting and sophisticated. I would consider this a fairly ‘straight forward’ mystery from the Golden Age. I will probably read the rest of her mystery novels (she only wrote six in total), however with two of them under my belt I can see why her work hasn’t stood the test of time as some of her contemporary's has. 3.5*
Ch 11, first sentence - 'Fayre was only half-way through his first cup of tea when Cynthia cornered him.'
20 task
10 review
10 oldie
5 combo 10.2
_____
45
Running total: 1195
19 owned/32 read
From Post 359Karen Michele wrote: "20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)
The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford
+20 Task: He took a drink of his tea and said, "The milk is sour, Mother" loc 1574
Task Total..."
+5 Oldies
From Post 360Karen Michele wrote: "20.9 Women in Translation (Kate S's Task)
The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
+20 Task
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 560"
+5 Oldies
From Post 361Karen Michele wrote: "20.9 Women in Translation (Kate S's Task)
Where The Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.4 High Five Day / 20.8 My Cup of Tea “Tsuyuko took a s..."
+5 Combo 10.2
From Post 378Rosemary wrote: "10.8 Go to Jail
Three Novellas by D.H. Lawrence
All of these novellas are set during or just after the First World War, showing the effect of the war on men, and the..."
+5 Combo 10.5
From Post 391Beth wrote: "20.10 Mystery
A Breach of Promise by Anne Perry
I liked the novel. It read well. I was a bit surprised that a key ending seemed to happen near the middle of the book a..."
+5 Combo 10.8
Task 20.5 Jeffrey EugenidesRead any book - fiction or nonfiction - set at least 51% in Detroit (Michigan), St. Louis (Missouri), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Buffalo (New York), or Cleveland (Ohio).
Set in entirely in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).
To Brew or Not to Brew (Brewing Trouble #1) (2015) by Joyce Tremel
Review: This cozy mystery is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has all the elements for a successful cozy mystery: heroine, aged 30ish, currently romantically in dating mode; she has an off-beat profession, usually as a small business owner; she has family and/or close friends in positions related to the local police force; there is at least one pet (dog or cat); friends include a stereotypical gay male and/or a sassy black female friend; lingering descriptions of food are frequently included in the novel; the murder(s) happen off¬-screen; the murderer is arrested at the end. One reads a cozy mystery for its coziness and predictability, combined with flashes of humor and of romance.
This particular cozy mystery stars a 30ish romantically unattached heroine who is in the process of opening a specialty “craft beerpub”, with beer brewed on the premises that is sold in the seating area, combined with pub food. Early on, a person is murdered on the premises. Our heroine feels she must solve this murder in order to have a successful opening. Her father is a semi-retired homicide detective. Friends include a sassy black female. During the novel, she acquires a playful kitten and a romantic interest. The pub food descriptions – yum! And the murderer is punished at the end. All the elements are there for the classic cozy mystery. The flashes of humor were appreciated, and the romance was more believeable than is usually the case in cozies.
I especially appreciated that the heroine did sensible things, like not hiding evidence and like calling the police when untoward things happen.
Recommended for readers of cozy mysteries.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 210 + 30 = 240
10.1 Thirst for MoreStorm Cursedby Patricia Briggs
I have read the first 5 books by this author.
Task +10
Grand total: 120
15.8 Blackjack (Round 2)The Satapur Moonstone (Perveen Mistry #2) by Sujata Massey
3 Spades (3-word title)
6 Clubs (6-letter name: Sujata)
J Diamonds (100% set in India)
+30 Task
+5 Female
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,125
10.6 Richard AdamsYear of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Reading this in the middle of a pandemic gave me an added perspective. We are at home, isolated, and it seems a perfectly reasonable response. Yet I see in comments elsewhere that apparently this made Plague worse in Eyam, the town on which the novel is based. I suppose I should read more as to why this was so, but I probably won't. I have sooo much reading to do.
I like the way Brooks writes. Here, she used a sentence structure that was just stilted enough (but not too stilted) to help me feel in the 17th Century. I also learned some new words: gavins, hirsel, branks, and others. Branks is especially hideous and am so glad it is no longer familiar. I also had a good feeling for the town, or at least I think I did. I had the impression it was in a hilly sort of place. After I finish here I will investigate, as this was a real town, based on true events.
The characterization of the main character, Anna, is quite good, and is certainly adequate for the two supporting characters of the Rector Michael Mompellion and his wife Elinor. The characterization of the time period I thought also good. Brooks also makes it quite clear that few were educated. It was interesting to ponder how far our knowledge of medicine has come in 350 years. Others have commented the ending is weak. I won't argue with that, but I'll certainly say it wasn't anticipated.
I'm glad I read this. It was just what I wanted to be reading at this time. I read her March (4-stars worth) exactly a year ago and am glad to have her Caleb's Crossing awaiting my attention. This was a good, solid 4-stars.
+10 Task (128,639 ratings; 4.01 avg.)
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Season total = 495
11 Owned/ 16 Read
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wounded and the Slain (other topics)A Dreadful Murder: The Mysterious Death of Caroline Luard (other topics)
Love Medicine (other topics)
Stable Groom (other topics)
The Making of the President 1960 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
David Goodis (other topics)Minette Walters (other topics)
Louise Erdrich (other topics)
Bonnie Bryant (other topics)
Theodore H. White (other topics)
More...
The Hangman by Louise Penny
Ace of diamonds (87 pages)
10 of diamonds (series is up to 17!)
Total = 21
+15 task
+5 female author
Post total: 20
Season total: 160