Reading with Style discussion
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FA 20 Completed Tasks
20.3 - ProlificThe Cyanide Canary: A True Story of Injustice by Robert Dugoni
+20 task
+15 Combo ( 10.2 -TCCATSOIRG - scat card sort goat cast, 10.7 - Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, 20.5 - More wine Joe? Wine, do you want more wine?
+10 not a novel
Task total: 45
Grand total: 1535
20.3 ProlificThe Sentinel by Lee Child
20.3 20 pts Prolific
10 Review
The latesr Jack Reacher novel written in collaboration with his brother, the was a disappointment. The first third of th book is a series of fights with no connecting plot. Not until half way thru does a plot begin to develop. As always Reacher is on the side of right but in this episode the bad guys seem peripheral to the story andthe good guys/victims are not very interesting. It is hard to become very engaged.
The plot outline was potentially interesting but this book reads as if the plot were phoned in.
Task total: 30 pts
Season total: 1325 pts
... 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 ...
... 20.2 20.3 ...20.5 20.6 ... 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 ... ... ..
30.1
30.1 Go for the GreenA Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry (860 Lexile)
I recently re-read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter which features the daughters of notable literary characters: Dr. Jekyll's daughter in addition to Mr. Hyde's daughter, the daughter created by Dr. Moreau, a "daughter" assembled by Dr. Frankenstein...and then one I thought was a figment of the author's imagination: the poisonous daughter of Dr. Rappaccini. Upon further research, Dr. Rappaccini and his unfortunate daughter feature in a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (which was later made into an opera!?). The "poisonous maiden" story has been traced back to a traditional Indian fable and has been retold several times in varying forms of media. Poison Ivy from the Batman comic books stems from this tale (no pun intended). This book is the most recent installation in this vein--and is utterly forgettable and should really not be bothered with at all.
The story is told from the POV of Lucas, a wealthy and privileged Texan high-schooler who spends his summers at his father's hotel in San Juan. He's *boring*. He's useless as a story teller and as a character full stop. Ugh.
The descriptions of the island itself are a sensory carnival and I loved that little bit. It's supposedly "magical realism"--but I've read A LOT of magical realism and this just did not reach that level for me. It was confusing with no reward for sticking it out. I would have DNF'ed, but was hoping for some sort of payoff. Nope. Epic Fail. Gave it 2 stars (only because I reserve one-star ratings for books that lack any semblance of editing, have an awful story line, AND are written in a way that even a Junior High student would be embarrassed to claim authorship).
+30 Task (Set 99% in Puerto Rico)
+20 "Blue" country
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2 AFASPMS: PASS; 10.8: Puerto Rico, USA, Dominican Republic; 20.5 "He was enjoying a glass of red wine.")
Task total: 75
Season total: 1885
20.8 BedtimeThe Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Lovely. Lyrical. Mawer gives us a domestic drama, both in the sense that the main character is a house and that the tale is about the family that has it built. The story starts post WWI and continues through WWII and beyond. As historic fiction, it is interesting to see the newly created Czechoslovakia trying to find itself post-Hapsburg. Mawer’s language is lovely. He does stretch credulity a bit trying to tie up loose ends by setting them in the house.
Wine: “They ordered moleche, soft-shelled crabs, and a white wine called Soave.”
+20 task
+20 combo 10.4, 20.5, 20.10, 10.8 Czechoslovakia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland ...
+10 Review
Task total: 50
Season total: 670
15.9 Power of Ninepublication years, numerical order
The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey
+15 Task (pub 1981)
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 1205
30.1 Go for GreenSouth Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Island at the Edge of the World: South Georgian Odyssey by Stephen Venables
30 pts 30.1 South Georgia
30 pts White country
5 pts 10.2 Scrabble IATEOTWSGO SV. Save
5 pts 10.4 Pilgrim
5 pts 10.7 nonfiction
5 pts 10.8 Jetsetter South Georgia United Kingdom Nepal
5 pts Oldies
10 pts Review
10 pts Not a Novel
Another book about polar explorers and mountaineers, this time focussing on South Georgia. This expedition took place on 1989 and was focussed on mountaineering rather than on scientific study of the island. Venables not only describes his groups adventures but also includes considerable amounts of information on the history of the island including whaling and sealing as well as the precipitating events of the Falklands War. In addition there are evocative descriptions of the bird and wild life of the islands as well as the scenic beauty. Very well written
Task total: 105 pts
Season total: 1430 pts
... 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 ...
... 20.2 20.3 ...20.5 20.6 ... 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 ... ... ..
30.1
20.5 WineNeverseen by Shannon Messenger
"after he had too much fizzleberry wine"
+20 Task
(no style points since it is weirdly only 750L)
Task total = 20
Points total = 695
Post 856 Norma wrote: "20.3 - ProlificThe Cyanide Canary: A True Story of Injustice by Robert Dugoni
+20 task
+15 Combo ( 10.2 -TCCATSOIRG - scat card sort goat cast, 10.7 - Washington, ..."
Just in case you track such things, this doesn't work for 20.5 because that task requires a novel. As non-fiction, this works for 10.7 (and your 10.7 claim is really for 10.8). There is no change in score.
15.10 Power of 9Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
+15 Task (author b. 1990)
+100 Power of 9 completion
+50 Single criterion (birth years)
+50 Numerical finish (chronological)
Task total: 15
Bonus total: 200
Grand total: 1585
15.6 Power Of NinePublication years in order, 1954
No Time for Sergeants by Mac Hyman
Task Total - 15 pts
Season Total - 870
20.5 WineThe Virgin by Tiffany Reisz
I got sucked into this series earlier this year as I began seeking escapist romance novels to distract me. These books are best read in order, so if you are finding your way here without reading the rest of the series, you should go back and read The Siren. If you like it, read the series. If it isn't for you, no reason to be here. These are popular enough that I was able to download them from my library.
This book goes back and tells the backstory of how Kingsley met Juliette in Haiti and in parallel chapters tells the story of Nora/Elle during the year she retreated to a convent to stay with her mother (a nun) and avoid her lover (a priest). I enjoyed reading more about these characters, but this felt more like a loosely held together short story or two rather than a complete novel. I think the author may be running out of steam for this series and these characters.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.8 - Haiti, New York, Scotland)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 1620
20.6 Civil WarNeverhome by Laird Hunt
Review
I think the only reason I had this book on my tbr was because I found it on a list for 'girl as boy' as in a girl disguised herself as a boy. It's a favourite trope of mine. While I liked the setting and the author also has interesting prose, I didn't particularly enjoy the novel.
From the beginning, I thought the protagonist sounds a little strange. I chalked that up to maybe it was the way they speak at that time & noting her demographic as well. However, when the twist came about in the end, and the whole novel sounds a bit more like psychological thriller, I was disappointed as I'm not a fan of this genre.
Still I'm glad to have read it as I don't read much set in the American Civil War so this was an interesting setting in time & place for me.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1,860
20.4 SimilarOn Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Devastating. Intense. Beautiful. Beyond that it is hard to know what to say exactly about this novel. It is a letter from a son to his Mother, a very educated and literate son and an uneducated and illiterate Mom. The narrative structure is not conventional, it jumps around time and place, but it makes complete sense. It covers, on the small and personal scale, the Vietnam War, the immigrant experience, living in poverty, the opioid crisis, and being gay and experiencing your first love. It reads like it was Vuong’s actual experience growing up. It’s raw but written so beautifully. 5*
20 task
10 review
10 combo 10.2 oewbgov = wove, 10.8 Connecticut, Virginia, Vietnam
_____
40
Running total: 1895
10.2 ScrabbleGhosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy by Margaret Sullivan
This book is a quick review of what has happened to local newspapers. It follows the financial decline that has meant that the number of reporters has been cut dramatically and many newspapers have gone out of business leaving news deserts. Sullivan describes what the impacts are on communities and local governments. She writes of the strategies that some are using to survive and some of the other local news organizations that might fill in.
There are no simple answers.
Scrabble gtnljatcoadms. Coats
+10 task
+20 combo 20.2, 10.4, 10.7, 10.8 NY, Ohio, Michigan ...
+10 NAN
+10 review
Task total: 50
Season total: 720
Post 870 Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "10.2 ScrabbleThis book is a quick review of what has happened to local newspapers. It follows the financial decline that has meant that the number of reporters has been cut dramatically and many n..."
We need the book, please! ;-)
EDIT: Kate, if Kathleen doesn't see my prompt, I believe it is meant to be Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy by Margaret Sullivan
10.4 PilgrimLaura by Vera Caspary
+10 pts - task
+15 pts - Combo (10.3,10.10,20.5)
+10 pts - Oldies
+100 pts - Completion Bonus
Task Total - 135 pts
Season Total - 1005 pts
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 870 Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "10.2 ScrabbleThis book is a quick review of what has happened to local newspapers. It follows the financial decline that has meant that the number of reporters ha..."
Oh Boy! How did I do that?
You are correct. It is Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy by Margaret Sullivan
30.1 Go for the GreenBallad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein
This book was HILARIOUS. You could probably guess that by the title alone, but in case you were wondering: hilarious. There is nothing better than a book of non-fiction that reads more like outrageous fiction. It helped that I listened to it (reading the Hungarian names was too frustrating--I can never decipher the proper pronunciation and after a lifetime of having my name mispronounced I am picky about getting names right...when I'd realized I'd mispronounced "Hermione" in my head for the first three Harry Potter installments, I was absolutely sick to my stomach)...it was like listening to a radio play, what with the sound effects, full cast, and interlude music. There's the Hungarian version of the Keystone Kops with the nicknames Dance Instructor, Bigfoot, and (my absolute favorite) Mound of Asshead. The Whiskey Robber is forever taunting them and their inability to catch him.
And our self-styled modern day Robin Hood is the Whiskey Robber--he didn't show up sober to a single one of his robberies, indulging in shot after shot of his favored Johnnie Walker Red before executing his plans--his early ones conducted with an obviously fake gun.
While this does follow the tale of our hapless (anti-)hero, it is also a history lesson about an oft-overlooked (underappreciated?) area of the world that has been the crucial keystone between East and West for hundreds of years. It also clearly depicts the difficulties and despair of this country and its populace left in the wake of the collapse of communism and the growing pains (and corruption) involved in starting over as a "democratic" country. I highly recommend this one (especially the audio version), utterly gratifying.
+30 Task (96% in Hungary)
+20 "Blue" country
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+20 Combo: 10.2 TBOTWRJR: ROB; 10.7; 10.8: Hungary, Romania, Tunisia, USA, and more; 20.2
Task total: 90
Season total: 1975
10.4 PilgrimThe Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales by Kate Mosse
+10 Task
+10 Combo: 10.2 Scrabble! (TMBAOHTKM BATH) / 10.7 Non Fiction
+10 Not a Novel
Task total: 30
Season total: 1045
30.1 Go for the GreenThis Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
+30 Task
Task total: 30
Season total: 1075
Karen Michele wrote: "30.1 Go for the GreenThis Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
+30 Task
Task total: 30
Season total: 1075"
What country?
20.10 Another BirthdayNeuromancer by William Gibson
This is a book I'm glad to have read but also thrilled not to be reading any more. I know this is a classic of the genre and that in 1984 when this was published this basically created a brand new kind of cyberpunk fiction. But I thought the actual book was somewhat confusing and sort of boring to read. It was thickly plotted (maybe even too thickly), but still felt like not much was really happening.
The narrator for the audiobook could have been better. He had a quiet voice and he seemed to stumble a bit over the language where lots of slang terms were made up as part of the world-building. So maybe I'd have liked the book better with a different narrator or if I'd read it in print. Someone should find the guy who narrates The Causal Angel and get him to do this one. That narrator managed a really complicated text with lots of strange words and made it comprehensible.
+20 Task (b. 1948)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1984)
+15 Combo (10.8 - Japan, Russia, Turkey; 10.3, 20.9)
Task total: 50
+100 RWS finish
+200 Mega finish
Bonus total: 300
Grand total: 1970
Joanna wrote: "+100 RWS finish
+200 Mega finish"
Congratulations! Well done!
20.3 ProlificTigerlily's Orchids by Ruth Rendell
Tiles: TORR Word: ROT
Wine quote: "But when the cheap red wine appeared and he had poured it out into cracked cups she drank some of it."
+20 task
+15 combo (10.2, 20.2, 20.5)
Task total=35
Season total=1100
10.4Poems of the Sea Ed by J.D. McClatchy
+10 task
+10 combo 10.2 - SOP, 10.7
Task total: 20
Grand total: 220
10.2 ScrabbleEllie and the Harpmaker by Hazel Prior
Scrabble: EATHHP Word: EAT
"Ellie and the Harpmaker" is the charming debut novel of Hazel Prior, a professional harpist. Ellie, the wife of a controlling man, comes upon an isolated workshop when she's out walking. She meets Dan who makes beautiful Celtic harps. Ellie has a list of things she wants to do before she turns 40, and learning to play the harp is among her wishes. Although it is not spelled out, Dan seems to have autistic tendencies, feels uncomfortable in social situations, and loves the world of nature.
As their friendship grows, Ellie appreciates having music and simple pleasures in her life. Both Ellie and Dan are lonely people who need someone with sensitivity in their lives. Ellie is always on edge since her husband is emotionally abusive. Someone is hiding an important secret from Dan.
This was a heartwarming story with lyrical descriptions of harps and nature in the Exmoor countryside. It's a lovely book to pick up when you want to relax with a "feel good" read.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.8 Jetsetters (England, Italy, Thailand)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 1390
10.7 NonfictionDear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World by Jennifer Palmieri
Like having coffee with a woman mentor, this book blends advice with war stories and tries to make sense of the ways that women still face an uphill struggle to be taken seriously in a male-dominated world, particularly in rooms where power is wielded. The author served as the director of communications for Clinton and Obama and had worked on the John Edwards campaign. She has seen the ways that women's voices can be valued and the ways that Hilary Clinton faced a complicated set of expectations and rules that would never apply to a male candidate. I appreciated the author's optimism that this is a moment in history that ultimately will end with progress and a better world. I appreciated her compassion for people who are feeling left behind or left out of changes that I see as progress. Overall, this was just the book I needed to help me move forward with optimism that we can repair the country and put things on track again after the period of peril that I've felt since 2016.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a novel
+5 Combo (10.2 - DMPAOLTTWWWRTWJP = PLOT)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 2005
10.4 pilgrimMayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
I thought this was very appropriate for this task (smile)
+10 - task
+15 - combo (10.2 - Macaws, chomps, 10.7, 10.8 - England, Holland, colonial US, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont)
+10 - Not a Novel
Task Total - 35
Season Total - 1040
20.5 WineA Ghost In The Machine by Caroline Graham
While mysteries must of necessity be all about plot, there are a few writers who manage characterizations as well. Caroline Graham is one of them. If one were to complain, it is that her characters are for the most part not ordinary citizens and in many cases quirky, even several degrees off center. And those aren't the ones most of us will suspect of being the perpetrator. In this installment there are both regular folk and the several degrees off center.
One fellow - who, by the way, is one of the regular folk - became very interested in medieval weapons in his youth. In his mid-adulthood, he recognized that he could have some of them built in full size. He acquired an abandoned school building which had the requisite space, had it renovated to accommodate an apartment, and proceeded to have his machines built. One of them was the machine in the title. The "ghost" of the title is a little less obvious, but let me also share that there is a woman who professes to be a medium and is the feature at The Church of the Near at Hand.
Chief Inspector Barnaby is a crusty no nonsense policeman. To be honest, I don't know how he puts up the Sergeant Troy. They have worked together for a number of years. It is nothing short of amazing that Troy seems to have so little aptitude for the work. The interplay between the two provides some comic relief for the reader.
"How about if he was in disguise?" asked Sergeant Troy.I think this is my favorite of the series and am so sorry it is the last. It is a bit longer than any of the previous ones. I was anxious to read the end, to see how it all worked out -as usual, there was so much I failed to factor in. This morning, I was sorry I didn't have it still to turn to, to be able to spend a bit more time with Tom Barnaby and Gavin Troy. I'm tempted to make an exception and give it 5-stars, but I'll restrain myself and see it twinkling toward the top of my 4-star group.
"How about you giving up Agatha Christie for Lent?" said the DCI.
+20 Task ("She opened a bottle of Vouvray demi-sec.")
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.2 - agitmcg = Magic; 10.4, 10.5)
+ 5 Jumbo (512 pgs)
Task total = 50
Season total = 1030
20.3 ProlificPoirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
Eleven short stories, I think none of them longer than 20 pages, all narrated in the first person by Captain Hastings. We almost never watch any episodes, but we do have a set of DVDs. We had not watched any for nearly a year, but did choose to watch some just last month. As luck would have it, two of the episodes were stories in this collection! I do not like to have another's interpretation of a novel or story in my mind when I read. It's impossible to not picture David Suchet as Poirot, of course. I was somewhat amused that these two stories differed enough from the print version for me to not have that imprint. Of course, the solution to the mystery was entirely faithful and I did know it in advance.
Captain Hastings couldn't help but remark (more than once) that sometimes Poirot's vanity was nearly insufferable - especially his vanity regarding his superior "little grey cells". But I also found it worth noting that the assistants of literary detectives are also a bit wanting in the brain department, and little do they know it. In one story Hastings remarks I fancy that Poirot is sometimes a little inclined to underestimate my mental capacities. No, Hastings, it is you who overestimate your mental capacities.
This is a collection worth picking up. I was thrilled it was available free with my Prime membership. It fulfills a hard to find year (1924) in my personal challenge to read a book by a woman author in each year of the 20th Century, and also ticks a spot in a similar personal challenge for mysteries. I do like short stories and, for me, this was better than many of Christie's later installments in the series.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.2 - piac = Cab; 10.4; 10.7; 20.7)
+10 Not a Novel
+10 Oldies (1924)
Task total = 70
Season total = 1100
15.10 Power of 9 round 3In order of publication date
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson
1990
+15 task
+50 single criteria
+50 in order (09 - 90)
+100 Completion
Task total = 215
Season total = 2230
And with that I am DONE. Don’t think I’ll try for an ultra-mega-finish again - it was a bit much!
20.10 Another BirthdayHappy Birthday, Elizabeth!
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen
b. 1941
I had a book that probably would be considered more serious slotted for this task, but I realized, after looking at it for a couple of days, I needed something light. Well, this was just what the doctor ordered. It was lively and fun.
I’ve jumped around in this series, and this one is completely out of order (from what I’ve read previously). However, if you’ve read the first couple in the series you will have the main characters down and be able to jump right in. This one was possibly a bit more frothy than others because she is planning her wedding while solving a mystery. I like the characters and their (sometimes fraught) relationships; and it felt like Bowen had particular fun writing this instalment. Bad things do happen in the ‘Royal Spyness’ series, but it falls in the historical cozy category which for me makes it a fun light read. 4*
20 task
10 review
15 combo 10.2 ffamawrb - farm, 20.3, 20.5 - champagne was drank at the wedding
_____
45
100 RwS finish
200 Mega finish
_____
300
Running total: 2240
Valerie wrote: "100 RwS finish
200 Mega finish"
Congratulations! Well done!
(and thank you!)
20.3 ProlificFools' Gold by Dolores Hitchens
Wine: "By now his dad should be asleep, fogged out on wine, but his mother might be up."
Two guys recently out of juvenile detention are looking at nothing but dead ends since they have prison records. Karen, an innocent orphan girl, hears about a stash of money being kept at her guardian's home by a big man from Vegas. The two inexperienced guys plan a heist, but things get complicated when some older thieves also get involved. Everything that could possibly go wrong happens in a series of twists and turns.
Even though the teenagers are planning a crime, the book is written in a way so the reader also has some empathy for them. You start thinking of them as clueless teenagers with the cards of life stacked against them. Eddie, a half-Mexican boy with an alcoholic father and an unhealthy mother, has a softer side even as he follows the lead of his friend Skip. Karen is confused and looking for love. Except for an ex-con uncle, Skip's family is no longer in his life.
This book is the inspiration for the 1964 French film by Jean-Luc Godard, "Band of Outsiders." I haven't seen the film, but the book, "Fools' Gold," is well written with interesting characters.
+20 task
+10 combo 10.9 Autumn Leaves (gold); 20.5 Wine
+ 5 oldie 1958
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 1435
JournalistRead any book by an author who has earned a living as a journalist.
The Question of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak
GR bio lists as journalist...and a post was added to the thread.
Task: +20
Combo: +5 (10.2 TQORLP = top, lot, pot, rot, port)
Task Points: 25
Season Points: 260
Post 874 Anika wrote: "30.1 Go for the GreenBallad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by [author:Julian..."
20.5 is for novels. But gosh, this sounds fun - and interesting!
20.8 BedtimeThe Power by Naomi Alderman
A page-turning dystopian novel in which women suddenly develop a lethal power that gives them the edge over men. The "battle of the sexes" soon becomes more like a civil war.
I was disappointed with this after seeming to see it mentioned everywhere in glowing terms. I had trouble believing that such a majority of women would behave the way they did (some individuals yes, but not that all of society would go that way), but mainly, nothing I'd seen had prepared me for how much detailed description of violence there would be - gruesome deaths, rapes - and I didn't like that aspect at all.
10.2 letters TPNA, word PANT
10.8 USA, UK, Moldova + more
20.5 "President Moskalev of Bessapara lays on roast pheasant and Hasselback potatoes with sweet cabbage for Mother Eve of the New Church, and they toast each other in good red wine."
+20 task
+20 Combo (10.2, 10.4, 10.8, 20.5)
+10 Review
Task total: 50
RwS finish: 100
Season Total: 1355
20.5 WineAll the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny
20 pts 20.5 Wine
5 pts 20.2 Journalist
5 pts 10.2 Scrabble ATDAHLP pat
5 pts 10.5 Monster Redux
10 pts Review
The most recent installment of the Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series. The book finds Armand, Reine Marie, their children and grandchildren in Paris and in the middle of a mystery and intrigue. This is the first book in the series that explores Armand’s relationship with his son Daniel and further builds on the family and professional relationships with his son in law Jean Guy and daughter Annie.
The characters are exceptionally well written and the mystery is engaging and a real cliff hanger. Penny’s forte is her characters and this is one of her best books. Not a spoiler, but the crimes are solved but not tidily. I look forward to the next in the series
Task total: 45 pts
Season total: 1475 pts
... 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 ...
... 20.2 20.3 ...20.5 20.6 ... 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 ... ... ..
30.1
20.8 Bedtime (Bryony's Task)How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
Review
Beautiful... beautiful writing.
I must admit that it took me a bit of time to get into as I found it a slower pace than my usual bit of reading these days but when it grabbed you, it haunts you. The story is told from one protagonist's point of view but he has lived many lifetimes so there were jumps between time and place following his life highlights that led him to the present. The present where he is questioning about life and living, or better put: breathing vs. living life.
This is a novel to be savoured; one that encourages a slow and contemplative reading yet at times, you just need to know what's happening. It may be one to read through just to know the story and then re-read slowly to just revel in the author's prose. How to Stop Time really did stop time for me... I emerged feeling invigorated for life.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.8 - UK, France, Australia, etc; 20.2 - journalist; 20.5 - "She sipped her red wine." @p.86)
+10 Review
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish
Post Total: 345
Season Total: 2,205
PS: Mods, if you need a book nomination for a group read for me, this is it ;)
20.3 - ProlificThe Last Agent by Robert Dugoni
+20 task
+20 Combo (10.2 - TLARD - lard, dart; 10.4; 10.8 - USA, Russia, Denmark; 20.5 - I'm hoping it's lasagna again, I brought red wine)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 1575
10.3 SingleTinkers by Paul Harding
This is a sweet story that traces the lives of two men, one the father to the other as the younger lies dying. It answers, sort of, the question why the elder disappeared and showed up briefly on Christmas many decades later. As much as I like the span of time and the exploration of death and nature, this is just too literary for me. It spends a lot of words that probably have deep meaning and symbolism but which I only occasionally dimly saw.
+10 task
+5 combo 10.8 Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 745
20.10 Another BirthdayHappy Birthday, Elizabeth!
A Naturalist at Large: The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich by Bernd Heinrich b. 1940
On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful to have finished reading this book. It took a long time not because of the length, but because of the content. Each of the 35 essays was a science lesson, I thought. The essays were grouped by subject: earth & trees, insects, birds, mammals, life overall. Many of the essays involved wildlife around and even inside his cabin in Maine. In one instance, he rescued a sapsucker found while on a run and they developed sort of an understanding, then nature took over and sapsucker healed and left. A quote from the Arctic bumblebee chapter: "To see how seemingly arcane details have importance is exciting, because it rings of coherence, and that is the closest thing there is to truth and beauty in this world."
+20 Task
+20 Combo: 10.2 (nab),10.7, 10.8 (many places: Sulawesi, USA, Canada, Israel, Germany, Botswana, Maine, California, Minnesota, Alaska, Michigan, more), 20.3 (approved in thread 20+books)
+10 Not a novel
+10 Review
Task Total: 60
Season Total: 385
15.7 1963- chronological orderMen in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani
+15 -pts - Task
Season Total - 1055 pts
20.10 Another BirthdayThe Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John R. Bolton (born Nov. 20, 1948)
+20 pts - Task
+15 - Combo (10.2 - WARMTH, 10.4, 10.8-( NY, Wash.DC,VA,FL,MD,TX,Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Iraq,Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Saudi Arabia, UK, France, just to name a few)
+10 pts - Not a Novel
+5 Pts - Jumbo (528 pg)
Task total - 50 pts
Season total - 1105pts
Rebekah wrote: "20.10 Another BirthdayThe Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John R. Bolton (born Nov. 20, 1948)
+20 pts - Task
+20 pts - Combo (10.2 - WARMTH, 10.4,..."
Sorry, Rebekah. This doesn't count as a combo for 10.7 because it is a memoir
30.1 Go for the GreenCry Argentina: Saving South Georgia by Ian Sykes
Review
My library shelved this book as fiction but it is based on true historical event (1982 Falklands War). According to the author's note, he's tried to write an 'unbiased account'. I'm not sure what sort of research he has done etc however I do feel that this book reads somewhat like narrative history. The main incidents are probably quite easy to look up but he has inserted many conversations which could be assumptions on his side. Again, not sure if he spoke to eyewitnesses etc.
I don't know very much about this war so this was quite educational from my perspective. I did have a bit of a struggle following ships' names and which Captain is responsible for which ship. However, it's been an interesting informational read even if I'm not quite sure how much is fictionalised.
+30 Task (60.31% set in South Georgia)
+30 Task Bonus (White)
+5 Combo (10.8 - UK, Argentina, South Georgia)
+10 Review
Post Total: 75
Season Total: 2,280
15.10 Power of NineRound 2
The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
+15 Task (309 pages)
+100 Completion
+50 Single Criterion (MPE)
+50 Numerical Finish
Post Total: 215
Season Total: 2,495
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Reading with Style
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The Modeen Factor by Frank H. Jordan
+20 task - they sat gazing at the coastal vista,sipping their wine
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.7 - Australia, Afghanistan, Iraq)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 1490