Reading with Style discussion
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FA 20 Completed Tasks
10.6 BannedBrave New World by Aldous Huxley
#10 on list
I....I did not like this.
Firstly, this suffers from the Casablanca-effect. Even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve seen it. BNW is such a part of sci-fi history that it’s completely familiar. Still, when there’s great artistry, even something that is familiar can wow you when you finally read the original. And I feel like I *should* have at least appreciated it, but I hated the writing style. HATED IT. I had to abandon ship and try an audiobook, which thankfully was much easier to get through.
I will say the first part of the book, where the baby factory is toured, is good in the audiobook.
But ultimately, I was not in the mood for Problematic. I am just tired.
Does this book “hold up”, yes... it does. It is a classic? Yep. But I didn’t like it.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldie (1932)
+15 Combo (10.2 BNWAH - ban, 20.3, 20.9 #103 on list)
Task total = 45
Season total = 590
10.1 Short WorksMy Own Collection:
All written by Celia Fremlin
9 stories, 106 total pages
(Dates are original publication dates in magazines.)
1. The Magic Carpet (1970) 7 pages
Despite her ceaseless efforts, Hilda Meredith cannot keep her 4-year-old twins quiet enough to ward off complaints from neighbors in her apartment building. In just seven pages, Fremlin delivers a chilling story with a Shirley Jackson-type ending.
2. Golden Tuesday (1972) 7 pages
William's wife Eleanor has become chronically ill, and William has gone from being an entitled husband to having to be her full-time caretaker. If she would just pass on, he would be free to be with his young girlfriend, so he thinks...
3. Accommodation Vacant (1992) 18 pages
A young couple facing eviction suddenly finds a too-good-to-be-true solution to their housing problem. The plot stretched credibility a little but still the story was enjoyable.
4. Guilt Feelings (1987) 13 pages
A young mother tries to get two hours of peace and quiet each week by telling a white lie. The consequences are ghastly.
5. The Postgraduate Thesis (1984) 20 pages
A young woman rents a picturesque cottage for the summer, saying that she is researching rural superstitions. There are a couple of nice twists and an unexpected ending.
6. The Special Gift (1967) 9 pages
This really creepy story about the meeting of a group of aspiring writers doesn't quite follow Fremlin's typical pattern. But it was very good!
7. Drown Her on Saturday (1987) 8 pages
A gold digging young man thinks he has planned the perfect murder of his middle-aged victim. Another great twist at the end.
8. A Case of Maximum Need (1977) 12 pages
An unmarried 87-year-old lady has been getting obscene phone calls for years. I know I keep saying "twist" and "surprise ending," but this was the biggest twist in the whole group.
9. Don't Tell Cissie (1974) 12 pages
Cissie had always tagged along with her friends on every outing, and always managed to ruin things through clumsiness or just bad luck. She was still being a nuisance when they had all retired. Another surprise ending, this time with a supernatural twist. This was my favorite story of this group. I loved it!
My opinion of Fremlin's writing has increased even more after reading these short stories. They might have been even more fun than her novels. A lot of the subjects are the same as in her novels-- overworked, under-appreciated wives/mothers, won't-lift-a-finger husbands, landladies, roommates and boarders, meddlesome neighbors, and cantankerous relatives. The conflict in a couple of the stories was caused when someone told a seemingly harmless lie, but unforeseen events turned things serious and caused great harm to some of the characters. Every story was either 4 or 5 stars in my book.
Anthologies:
1. Ellery Queen's Veils of Mystery
2. Blood Threat and Fears : Thirty - Three Great Tales of Psychological Suspense
3. Women of Mystery III: Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine; also in The Deadliest Games: Tales of Psychological Suspense from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
4. Women of Mystery
5. Verdict of 13: A Detection Club Anthology
6. Fifty Years of the Best from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
7. Winter's Crimes 19
8. Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense
9. Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers
+10 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel
+ 5 oldies (1967-1992)
Task total=35
Season total=285
20.5 WineThe Mistress by Tiffany Reisz
I'm finally released from the grip of this series. This book provides a satisfying conclusion to the four-book set. There are more books in the series, but the next book goes back in time to retrace the history of the characters, so it isn't as urgent to read it to know what happens next. Not to say I won't get sucked into reading more about these characters...
Unfortunately, part of what entranced me with this series was that it started out sex-positive and with characters who liked what they liked without apology or the need for trauma in their past. In the third and fourth books, the author backs off from that stance and gives them trauma in their past after all. Boo! These books also wanted to amp up the plot a bit more than even my general suspension of disbelief would allow and I found the kidnapping plot overwrought and sort of silly. Still, for literary erotica, this is top notch.
+20 Task ("He held a steep glass of red wine in his hand, raised it to his lips and drank.")
+10 Combo (10.4, 10.8 - Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and more)
+10 Review
Task total: 40
Grand total: 295
15.1 Power of Nine
(publication years)
Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac (published 1945)
Task total: 15
Season total: 15
(publication years)
Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac (published 1945)
Task total: 15
Season total: 15
20.3 Prolific
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
Bertram's Hotel is famous for its old-fashioned, genteel atmosphere. When Miss Marple goes to stay there, it appears that not much has changed, outwardly at least, from a previous visit she made in her youth. However, she begins to suspect that all is not quite as it seems: something is not quite right.
This isn't among my favourites of Agatha Christie's novels that I've read. The murder occurs late in the book (to be honest I was beginning to doubt that there would be one), and I found it hard to tell where the plot was heading -- although I'm sure all the clues were there if I'd been paying more attention. Being Christie, though, it was still a good read.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published 1965)
+5 Combo (10.2 - ABH AC - cab)
Task total: 40
Season total: 55
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
Bertram's Hotel is famous for its old-fashioned, genteel atmosphere. When Miss Marple goes to stay there, it appears that not much has changed, outwardly at least, from a previous visit she made in her youth. However, she begins to suspect that all is not quite as it seems: something is not quite right.
This isn't among my favourites of Agatha Christie's novels that I've read. The murder occurs late in the book (to be honest I was beginning to doubt that there would be one), and I found it hard to tell where the plot was heading -- although I'm sure all the clues were there if I'd been paying more attention. Being Christie, though, it was still a good read.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published 1965)
+5 Combo (10.2 - ABH AC - cab)
Task total: 40
Season total: 55
10.2 Scrabble!
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
+10 Task (SCATSOD JR - cats)
+10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
Task total: 20
Season total: 75
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
+10 Task (SCATSOD JR - cats)
+10 Not-a-Novel (short stories)
Task total: 20
Season total: 75
20.2 - JournalistHis Wife's Sister by A.J. Wills
+20 task
+10 Combo (10.2 - HWSAJW - jaws, saw; 20.5 - I set the dishwasher to run on an eco wash, while Lucia retired to the lounge with a glass a wine)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 235
10.4 Pilgrim I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
Review:
I think the fact that we are all here on Goodreads and participating in this group (I'll admit my involvement fluctuates from season to season) is indicative of our bibliophilia and perhaps for some of us, our bibliomania.
Regardless of the amount I am reading, I love books. I love books so very much and I adore the idea of reading all the time and being surrounded by books, hence why both my virtual and physical TBR's are probably longer than I could get to in 2 lifetimes. If only authors would stop writing and give me about a decade to catch up!
All that to say that if you are like me, this book is absolutely for you. Bogel writes short, accessible, delightful little essays on being a reader. I could easily have read this in one sitting but I've been parcelling out through the month to savour and enjoy. More than an ode to books, she also explores a reader's journey and the places books and reading have in our lives. In that way, it is also a mini book on psychology, why we do and think the things we do.
Highly recommend! Great for gifting! Also, a bunch of books she referenced piqued my interest so that TBR has grown yet again.
+10 Task
+5 Combo 10.2 Scrabble : Barb
+5 Combo 10.7 Non-Fiction -approved in comments
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 40 pts
Grand Total: 65 pts
From Post 167Deedee wrote: "Task 10.7 Non-Fiction (Ed's Task)
Read a Non-Fiction book that is NOT a biography, autobiography or memoir.
The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It (2020) by [author:Robert B. Rei..."
+10 Combo 10.2 and 20.10
From Post 183Valerie wrote: "30.1 Go for the Green
Death by Proposal by Jaden Skye
100% Aruba
This is another entry in the Caribbean mystery novellas by Jaden Skye. This time Cindy (the recu..."
+5 Combo 20.3
20.5 WineThe Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
Oxford professor Gervase Fen is drawn into a murder centering on the local theatre. When a young woman whom everyone hates is found shot dead, there is no shortage of suspects. The police think it's suicide, but Fen is convinced it's murder.
This was Edmund Crispin’s first novel, and I’m hoping the others will improve. Fen is the kind of annoying amateur detective who knows by instinct what has happened and goes around speaking in obscure (to me) quotations. Oddly, he has a wife called Dolly who is the kind of “little woman” who stays at home with her knitting – this was the one point where Fen differed from other amateur detectives, and I think it was a mistake. Generally though it’s a worthy golden age detective story, if rather long-winded.
* For 10.2 Scrabble: Tiles COTGFEC Word COT
* For 20.5 Wine: "drinking good wine at a gulp"
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.2)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1944)
Task total: 45
Season Total: 285
10.9 Autumn LeavesThe Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun
In this fourth in the series, published after a gap of almost two decades since book 3, reporter Jim Qwilleran is ironically appointed restaurant critic for his paper right when he has decided to diet and lose some weight. Reconnecting with an old flame, he moves out to the community where she and her husband are making pottery, only for her to disappear.
This is definitely a cosy mystery series, centering around cats, one of whom has apparently learned to type. The villain is obvious from the start, but the question is whether murder has happened, or something else.
* For 20.5 Wine: "Maus tasted the wine and sent it back"
+10 Task
+15 Combo (20.2 on list, 20.3 https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/li... , 20.5)
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1986)
Task total: 40
Season Total: 325
30.1 Go for the GreenThe Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
100% set in Malaysia
An exotic setting, magic realism, superstitions, a quest and a love story – this novel has it all. The story is set in 1930s Colonial Malaysia (the British are the colonizers at this point). There are various threads that take time to come together, and the atmospheric writing keeps it compelling. Overall, Choo carries it off well. I did particularly like that the main characters (even the British) were more ordinary working people (rather than wealthy landowners). My small quibble is the ending, I thought it wasn’t as strongly written as the rest (particularly as it relates to Ji Lin and Shin). 4*
30 task
20 one book country
10 review
____
60
(corrected) Running total: 485
Task 20.5 WineRead a novel where a character(s) drink wine.
There are many instances of the characters drinking wine. Here’s one of the instances:
p. 75: “When the wine was brought, Alan invited the proprietor to drink to a speedy victory. The old man held up his glass, saying: ‘Niki, niki, niki,’ then told them the Italians would be on their knees before the month was out. He had no doubt of it.”
Friends and Heroes (Balkan Trilogy #3) (1965) by Olivia Manning (Hardcover, 363 pages)
Review: This is book #3 of the Balkan Trilogy. Book #1 The Great Fortune introduces our main characters, Guy Pringle (a British college professor of English) and his wife, Harriet (the main POV character). Guy is teaching English at the British University in Bucharest, Romania. Book #1 begins on September 01, 1939, the day the Germans overran Poland. Book #2 The Spoilt City begins literally the same day as the last chapter of Book #1, and ends with the Germans occupying Bucharest. Our POV character and husband flee to Athens, Greece. Book #3 begins the same day as the last chapter of Book #2. I suppose these books can be read stand-alone. There is a deeper appreciation of character if read in sequence.
Olivia Manning’s writing style is brisk and informative. She has an eye for the significant detail. The characters all seem like real people, with the normal combination of virtues and flaws that real people have. I appreciated how the various characters reacted to world events – they didn’t know in 1940 that Bucharest would fall to the Germans, nor that the Nazis would be defeated in 5 years.
Olivia Manning wrote a six-book series of novels. She based these novels on her experiences during World War II. Olivia Manning had married a British professor of English; they were in Bucharest on September 01, 1939, and wound up fleeing to Athens, Greece, when the Germans took over Bucharest. One (male) commentator dismissed her novels precisely because of the autobiographical elements. I think the autobiographical elements helped keep the story ‘real’, and the people noble AND flawed.
The Balkan Trilogy (#1-3) were published 1960-1965; the continuation of the story in the The Levant Trilogy (#4-6) was published 1977-1981. (Olivia Manning died in 1980.)
Overall, I’d highly recommend all the books in the Balkan Trilogy, preferably read in order. I’m intending to continue with the Levant Trilogy, beginning with #4 The Danger Tree.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+05 Combo (#10.2 Tiles: FAHOM Word: FOAM)
+05 Oldies -25 to 75 years old: (1945-1995)
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 05 + 05 = 40
Grand Total: 135 + 40 = 175
20.9 InitiatedThe House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#133 on list.
I started this with high hopes. I remember reading The Scarlet Letter in high school, and once I got used to the style I loved it. My notes as a hopeful reader and commentary from she who knows better:
LOL, right off the bat I think I’ll be OK with this. The full page of exceedingly formal “any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental” amused me. Yeah, I can get into the stiffness of Hawthorne.BRING IT.
Oh you sweet summer child
LOL again “I could tell you about the family and it would be SUPER EDUCATIONAL but it would take too long so let me summarize”. I’m actually giggling. I’m finding the long-windedness charming. Makes me slow down and enjoy the book.
Not for much longer, dearie...
DAMN, Some pretty painful burns there for poor old Hepzibah...
Just wait, half the book is reminding you how how dried up and horrible she is, in case you forget...
OK, Nate, I get it. Phoebe is young and pretty and does housework like magic. She just has a talent for it! Dude never dusted in his goddamn life.
oh there’s more
WAIT, day one and she’s running the shop, making yeast, brewing beer, baking cakes... all with a smile and looking like the very breath of spring? Ridiculous standards for women never change.
AND THAT CREEPER IN THE ATTIC got her to be the gardener too? Phoebs, my girl, GTFO!
it was here that I started to realize that the style was probably not why this was in the DNF list
Haven’t we already gone over this to death already? Hep is a nasty crone, Phoebs is a lovely maiden. Are you getting paid by the word, man? MOVE ON
hahaha and there’s still 2/3rds of the book to go!
Wait... didn’t we already go over this? WE KNOW THIS STORY. The whole first chunk of the book, that you said was going to be brief (liar!) was this damn story! Though TBH creeper tells it a bit better.
I already know where this is going, don’t I?
I did
WELL THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG.
This was a short story’s worth of material, drawn out. The same freaking tale was told over and over again, like this was a serial and people were dropping into the story at random times. But apparently this was published as a novel? WHY? WHY? WHY?
This is a ghost story only because I died of boredom and am writing this review from beyond.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 oldie (1851)
+10 combo (10.2 THOTSGNH - ghost, 20.5 “the tongues of many of the guests had already been loosened by a surreptitious cup or two of wine or spirits.”)
Task total = 55
Season total = 645
15.2 Power of Nine(reading in order by publication date, starting with 09)
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
+15 Task (pub 2018)
Task total=15
Season total=300
(16/122 Mysteries Challenge)
20.3 ProlificThe Inexplicables by Cherie Priest
+20 Task
+10 Combo 10.2 TICP->PIT, 10.4
Task total = 30
Season Total: 240
10.2 ScrabbleTime and Again by Jack Finney
Simon Morley, an artist working for an advertising agency, is bored with his job. When he is approached by a government agency to work on a secret project, he is intrigued by the idea of a new adventure. This project will take him from 1970 back to 1882 in New York City to unravel a mystery. His instructions are to limit interactions with other people to avoid changing the future. But that becomes difficult as he tries to protect Julia, a lovely young woman, from marrying a man who would make her life miserable.
The book takes a nostalgic look at New York City with very detailed descriptions of the buildings, people, entertainment, and the modes of transportation. Photographs and sketched illustrations of the Victorian era are beautiful, especially scenes of horse-drawn sleigh rides in Central Park. The book picks up its pace in the second half as Simon and Julia find themselves in several dangerous situations. The ending had an unexpected twist.
The sketches, supposedly made by Simon, helped transport the reader to another time and place. Simon's musings about history makes us realize that every era has its problems. Modern technology has fixed some problems, but created many new ones.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the publication of this classic. "Time and Again" is an enjoyable book full of adventure, mystery, romance, and history. Simon's sense of excitement and wonder when he was in 1882 New York was infectious, and I always loved picking up the book again.
Scrabble tiles: TAAGJF Word: FAT
Wine: pg 444 "Julia had a glass of wine, I had whiskey-and-soda, and Julia relaxed."
+10 task
+10 combo 10.8 Jet-Setter (New York, Montana, France, Colorado); 20.5 Wine
+10 review
+ 5 oldie pub 1970
Task total: 35
Season total: 255
15.4 - Power of NineSunset and Sawdust by Joe R. Lansdale
+15 task - 336 pgs
Task total: 15
Grand total: 250
20.2 JournalistThe Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom by Helen Thorpe
Helen Thorpe spends time during the 2015-16 school year in a Denver classroom for newcomers. These are high-school-age teens arriving in the US with little or no English language. Most are refugees. They come from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America. Some only speak one language, others speak and read and write four or five. Some have been attending school for years, others have had their education interrupted once or several times. Many have suffered trauma. The teacher, Mr. Williams, has two hours a day to teach them English, to make the feel comfortable at the school and to aid their understanding of the U.S. Mr. Williams has amazing support from the school administration, and from the school community (students, parents, volunteers).
Thorpe gets to know some of the families and lets us know of the challenges for and the support provided for refugee families when they arrive.
The progress that the kids make over the year is truly amazing. But we begin to see the effects of Trump's campaign.
Thorpe writes well, clearly and with sympathy.
Scrabble tiles TNFRFAHIAACHT, words: fair, rain
+20 task
+10 review
+10 NAN
+10 combo (10.7, 10.2)
Task total: 50
Season total: 170
30.1 Go for the GreenSolar Federation by S.E. Mulholland
+30 Task (set mostly in Uzbekistan)
+10 Combo 10.2 SFSEM->MESS, 10.8 Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan
+20 blue on spreadsheet
Task total = 60
Season Total: 300
10.8 JetsettersLive and Let Die by Ian Fleming
Another excellent Bond adventure. Unfortunately, there is some racism that current readers might find off-putting. But if you stay with it, and dig deeper I think you will see that it is a product of it’s time. Certainly, Mr Big who is a black man, is an extremely capable and intelligent ‘Bond criminal mastermind’. I felt that Fleming was empathetic to Black people (in a 1950s way). Bond cuts a swath through New York, Florida and Jamaica (and by swath I mean body count!). Fleming writes about Jamaica lovingly, and the descriptions of the beautiful countryside make you want to go visit! This was a very readable installment. 4*
10 task
10 review
5 oldie
15 combo 10.2*, 10.4, 20.2
_____
40
*laldif = laid
Running total: 525
20.7 P.I. Wilde Thing by Janelle Denison
Steve Wild “is the best P.I. in town, and the only person who might be able to help Liz track down her irresponsible, free-spirited cousin”
Well, this is my own fault. After The House of the Seven Gables, I wanted something mindless and frothy. Why not a romance? Except, I rarely like that genre. Worse, this is “Contemporary Romance” - smut. Now, smut can be great! In moderation. But reading a lot of smut in one sitting... not great. The smart thing would have been to ration this book out over a few nights... giving myself something steamy to fall asleep to, but did I do that? No.
And there’s nothing to this book but the smut. The plot is barely there - soapy stuff just there to hang the sex scenes on. I know, I know... no one is reading this for plot...but it would have been nice to have some development. Ultimately this was unsatisfying because the characters are so hastily sketched - there’s nothing to care about. There’s nothing to them but heaving chests and ripped abs.
As smut, this was fine but as a story, not so much.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 Combo (20.3, 20.5 “Thank you,” she said, immediately feeling the warm, calming effects of the wine.)
Task total = 40
Season total = 685
20.7 P.I.How Like an Angel by Margaret Millar
This was to me a rather confusing story about a private detective, an isolated extreme religious cult, and several citizens in a small California town. The detective got mixed up with the cult when he sought shelter there overnight, after gambling losses in Reno left him afoot. One of the cult members secretly hired him to locate Patrick O'Gorman. This led him to the small town of Chicote, which he discovered had been stunned by a recent case of embezzlement at the bank and the disappearance and assumed death of a local family man.
This was my third Millar novel and I did not enjoy it nearly as much as Beast In View and Banshee. I stayed confused about who was who and which characters were friends/allies and what their motivations were. It got more confusing as the cult eventually became more entangled in the plot. Their names were off-putting to me--Brother Light of the Infinite, Sister Karma, Brother Crown of Thorns, Sister Contrite, Brother Behold the Vision, ugh.
It wasn't until the last chapter that Millar seemed to switch gears and suddenly started writing more in the style of her other two novels I have read. I stayed interested enough to finish the book because I wanted to know what happened. But I am so glad this wasn't my first of Millar's books.
Scrabble tiles: HLAAMM word: HAM
+20 task
+10 combo (10.2, 20.3)
+10 review
+ 5 oldies (1962)
Task total=45
Season total=345
(17/122 Mysteries Challenge)
10.3 SinglesFeed by Mira Grant
I've enjoyed books by this author's other name, Seanan McGuire, but this is my first under this name. This was perfect pandemic reading. No really. This is a book about the world going on after a zombie disease is released and the world has to adapt to the constant threat. There are moments where the book falls into silliness, especially the completely cliched religious-fanatic villain, but overall this was entertaining and well realized. This author wasn't afraid of emotional moments or hard choices for the characters and the heroes weren't completely flawless. I haven't read a lot of zombie books, but this felt like a top-notch version of the trope.
The narrator for the audiobook also did a great job managing the multi-format text--reading some emails, blog quotes, and messages in ways that allowed a listener to follow what was happening without the visual cues.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (599pp.)
+10 Combo (10.8 - London, California, Texas; 20.5 - main character drinks a glass of champagne - I didn't get the exact quote)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 330
Sorry to dump these all at once: we had a giant wind storm here two weeks ago—hurricane-force winds (120+ mph), which is not normal for this area! We had three 80-foot trees in our back yard blow over, taking out the power and cable lines (and the neighbor’s fence). It took eight days to get power and we JUST got our internet hooked back up!30.1 Go for the Green
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
I haven’t read a ton of Christie, but every time I do I always end up asking myself why I don’t read more. There’s always a wonderful tangle of characters and motives to be unraveled and it’s done with spectacular panache—especially in the person of Hercule Poirot. I love that the people who have been killed are pretty villainous so you’re not all that sad they’re gone from the narrative (and you almost sympathize with the killer: “Thank heaven you had the gumption to knock that horrible character off!”). I don’t really know what else to say about this one…Christie’s books remind me of the New York Times Sunday Crossword: you put in the time, you figure out the puzzle inside the puzzle and feel a sudden thrill when it finally cracks, you finish it, you forget about it.
+30 Task, set 66% in Jordan
+20 “Blue” Country
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1937)
+15 Combo (10.2 AWDAC: CAD; 10.8: Israel, Jordan, U.K.; 20.3)
Task total: 85
Season total: 410
30.1 Go for the GreenThe Last Book by Zoran Živković
I found this one for free on Kindle Unlimited and thought I may as well throw it on my Kindle shelf. I wasn’t planning on reading it straight away…I didn’t really know anything about the book or author, just knew it was set in Serbia. Out of curiosity (and insomnia) I decided I’d read a few pages to see how I liked it: I ended up reading half of the book that night. The writing felt a little stilted at first, but I chalked that up to the translation.
A man has been found dead in a bookstore. A detective (who just so happens to have received his degree in literature) is sent to investigate. He meets the proprietress, they have fig tea, and the rest unfolds neatly: the kind of “neat” that you might encounter in an M.C. Escher piece. It bends and folds and makes your head hurt a little at the amount of meta going on, but it makes sense in a very convoluted way.
I really liked it, definitely “my kind” of mystery.
+30 Task, set 100% in Serbia
+20 “Blue” Country
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.4; 20.3—has written 30 100+ page books, both fic and non-fic; 20.10: born 1948)
Task total: 75
Season total: 485
10.4 PilgrimThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The leaves are starting to change and we’re getting cooler days—one morning when we had no power, it was freezing in the house and I lit the first fire of the season in our stove. Once all was warm and cozy, I knew it was time to break out this Washington Irving classic. The atmosphere he conjures in this book fit my mood precisely: a time and place that’s a little stuffy, a little rustic, a goofy character who takes himself far too seriously, and a terrifying moment on a covered bridge in New England. Yes, please, and thank you! I don’t quite know what it is about reading books from that era (Hawthorne, Thoreau, and even to a certain extent Alcott), but for me those books are best enjoyed in the fall. The story is great and the writing—underrated. I really should branch out to read more of his stories as I find I just read this one over and over and I really do love it so much…
+10 Task
+15 Oldies (pub. 1820)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2: TLOSHWI: WHILST; 20.5 “The story-teller, who was just putting a glass of wine to his lips as a refreshment after his toils, paused for a moment…”)
Task total: 45
Season total: 530
10.8 JetsetterThe Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
This. This I need to get a physical copy of to place on the shelf next to Harry Potter, Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, Every Heart a Doorway, Alice in Wonderland, His Dark Materials, and Stardust. It is the stuff that dreams are made of. It is childhood on a page. It is magic and sprawling and I didn’t want it to end. I loved the story-within-a-story aspect that propels our protagonist. The imagination that went into this story and these characters and the journey of the book…just so good. The writing is lovely, which is not something I can always say when it comes to Fantasy. (view spoiler)
+10 Task: Kentucky, Vermont, Maine (and soooo many more places)
+10 Review
+5 Combo: 10.2 TTTDOJAEH: JOTTED
Task total: 25
Season total: 555
10.2 Scrabble!The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
I really need to quit my IRL book club. I’ve been in it for a year and a half now and have read TWO new books…everything else has been a re-read, including this one. Not to say I didn’t love this book: I did. It’s just that I read it for the first time in MAY: recently enough that I remember the basics of the story but long enough in the past that I don’t recall it well enough to discuss it…
Starting this book is a little unsettling (even though I’ve already read it)—you feel a little unbalanced, like you’re missing something or not quite catching on and have to start and restart the book a couple of times…but then you just have to let yourself trust. It’s almost like learning how to float on your back: you feel as if you’re drowning and you fight it and water is getting in your mouth and up your nose and you’re sputtering and then you suddenly get the right arch to your back with arms and legs outstretched and you’re floating. That’s what this book feels like to me. A fight, a struggle, confusing and senseless until -CLICK- it all comes clear.
It’s told in a scattered timeline from three perspectives: that of a child who has been found to have powers that could decimate a city, of a woman who has lost her son and is determined to find her daughter, and of a young woman embarking on the beginning of her career (and what a strange and wonderful “career” it is).
That’s really all I can say because otherwise this would turn into a multi-page description/synopsis and none of us want that.
+10 Task, TFSNKJ: TSK
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 575
15.3 Power of 9pub years, numerical
Mosquitoes by William Faulkner
+15 Task (pub'd 1927)
Season total = 175
10.5 Monster Redux The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
I liked this book MUCH more than I expected to. I thought it would be a light, fun read, and in some ways it was - I laughed aloud a few times, and it was an addictive read. And the plot is basically summed up in the title! But as I got closer to the end, I felt like there was more to it than met the eye. The author's forward hints at this - he writes "I wanted to pit a man freed from all responsibilities but his appetites against women whose lives are shaped by their endless responsibilities. I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom." I kept coming back to that because the book had SO much to say as a metaphor for race and gender relationships and biases. I think it's a truism to say that societies fear the monsters that represent their biggest real fears. Here, the vampire is bleeding the town and its people dry, he's bleeding family relationships dry, he's poisoning relationships between black and white residents of the town, he's pulling away all the veneer and making the ugly parts visible - particularly the ways women are treated.
+10 task
+5 combo (20.5 - "Kitty downed her entire glass of wine in a single gulp." - chapter 19)
+10 review
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 225
20.5 Wine The Herd by Andrea Bartz
This was a fun read if you enjoy psychological thrillers. The Herd is set around a trendy all-women coworking space (called The Herd) in Manhattan, founded by minor celebrity Eleanor Walsh. On the eve of a major business announcement, Eleanor goes missing. The story is told in alternating chapters from the perspectives of Katie and Hana, sisters from Michigan who are longtime friends of Eleanor. Hana and Eleanor (along with their third friend, Mikki) were best friends in college and work alongside Eleanor at The Herd. Katie, the younger "tagalong" sister, is a journalist and recently came back to NY after a bad research experience back in Michigan. All of the women are caught up in the search for Eleanor and its ultimate revelations. The book did keep me guessing, and while I don't necessarily think it's the best of the genre, I enjoyed reading it.
+20 task ("Katie finished her glass of wine" - chapter 6)
+15 combo (10.2 - bath from THAB, 10.8 - NY, MA, and MI, 20.2)
+10 review
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 270
20.5 WineThe Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan
The three redheaded Sweeney sisters-Liza, Maggie, and Tricia-were devastated when their father died. William Sweeney was a complicated man, a well-known author, and a Yale professor. They held a big Irish wake to honor his memory. The next day they met with his lawyer, and the three women were shocked to learn that there was a fourth Sweeney sister who grew up in their neighborhood. On top of that, they cannot find their father's manuscript for his last book and he already spent the advance.
Family secrets, sibling rivalry, and sisterly love are themes in this story. The women are dealing with this new sibling relationship in a small coastal Connecticut town where news travels fast. There have been both pressures and perks associated with being the daughters of a difficult, but brilliant, literary icon with a taste for whiskey. "The Sweeney Sisters" is an entertaining book full of family drama. 3.5 stars.
Wine: pg 52 "Sure you don't want to skip the run and have some wine instead?" Maggie asked, pouring another splash into her glass.
+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.8 Jet Setter (CT, NY, CA, Washington DC)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 290
10.7 Nonfiction Visual Literacy Skills - How to See by Carrie Patterson
10 pts 10.7 Nonfiction
10 pts Review
10 pts Not a Novel
A very nice overview of visual literacy and what it means for the casual, want-to-be artist. Beginning with the mechanics of perception, Patterson then presents an overview of the principles of design including exercises and references designed to reinforce the concepts. She also give suggestions on how to approach the problem of creating art including providing suggestions for moving towards a more creative life.
Overall, a good high-level review and a useful summary
Task total: 30 pts
Season total: 335 pts
... 10.2 ... ... ... ... 10.7 10.8 ... ...
... 20.2 20.3 ...20.5 20.6 ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
10.2 Scrabble! Oz: Ozma of Oz by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
OOOESSY => SOYS
+10 Task
(no style points, graphic novel)
Task total = 10
Points total = 180
10.4 PilgrimMomoko, une enfance japonaise by Kotimi
+10 Task
(No style point, kids book)
Task total = 10
Points total = 190
15.5 - Power of NineWoodrose Mountain by RaeAnne Thayne
+15 task - 345 pgs
Task total: 15
Grand total: 265
20.3 ProlificMischief by Charlotte Armstrong
Mr. and Mr. Peter O. Jones and their nine-year-old daughter Bunny have come to New York where Mr. Jones is to make a speech. His sister is supposed to babysit Bunny, but backs out at the last minute. Out of desperation, they accept the offer by the hotel's elevator operator (a stranger to them) of his niece to fill in. It is clear from the minute the young woman walks in the room that something is very wrong with her. But Mrs. Jones wants to attend the speech to support her husband, so in spite of her misgivings off they go, and chaos ensues.
We eventually learn a piece of unsettling information about the babysitter. But there is no insight into her mind and no explanation for her behavior. My favorite mysteries are the ones where the author gets inside the characters' heads. Actually the book reads more like suspense or thriller than mystery. The writing was choppy and I kept having to re-read sentences that were awkwardly worded.
Armstrong has written well over 30 books and I will try another before giving up on her.
Scrabble tiles: MCA word: CAM
+20 task (bibliography)
+15 combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.4)
+10 review
+ 5 oldies (1950)
Task total=50
Season total=395
15.5 Power of 9 The End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee
pgs 245
reading 09 to 90
page # locked in message 14
(questions thread)
15 task
_____
15
Running total: 540
From Post 168Norma wrote: "10.7 - NonFiction
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen
+10 task (true crime)
+10 Combo (10.2 -..."
+10 Not a Novel
From Post 210Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "20.3 Prolific
Mary, Maryby James Patterson
Total: 20
Grand Total:60"
+10 Combo 10.4, 20.3
10.8 Jetsetters The Nesting Dolls by Alina Adams
Ukraine (Odessa), Russia (Siberia), USA (Brighton Beach, New York)
+5 bonus 10.2 Scrabble = Tan, Data, Tad
Task Total = 15
Season Total = 60
10.5 Monster ReduxAn Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
This was such a fantastic book!
During a reading challenge, I end up with a lot of meh books and some unexpected gems. This is why I keep doing them - who knows how long it would have taken me to get to this if not for a prompt.
So, how to review this... well, it’s a book about slavery and trauma, featuring neurodiverse and queer characters. So, there is a lot of bad stuff. But it is so rich and inventive, it was not a misery-porn book.
It’s honest, not gratuitous. It’s also set on a massive spaceship and has a science-mystery thing going on too. It’s a lot of stuff mashed up, and it’s excellent. Well crafted, with fully realized characters who know who they are and are unapologetic about it. Recommended.
+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.2 AUOGRS - sugar)
Task total - 25
Season total = 710
15.1 Power of 9Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
I alternated this with An Unkindness of Ghosts and a line from that describing life on the white upper-decks sums this one up perfectly:
“Everybody doing nothing very slowly”
+15 task (born 1909)
Season total = 725
20.5 - WineDarkness Drops Again by Melissa E. Manning
+20 (I'll have a glass of wine poured)
+5 Combo (10.4 - DDAMEM - made, dammed)
+10 error post 168 - not a novel
Task total: 35
Grand total: 300
15.1 Power of 9Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
15 pts 2009
Task total: 15 pts
Season total: 350 pts
... 10.2 ... ... ... ... 10.7 10.8 ... ...
... 20.2 20.3 ...20.5 20.6 ... ... ... ...
15.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (other topics)Animal Dreams (other topics)
The Willows (other topics)
This Mournable Body (other topics)
This Mournable Body (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
John Berendt (other topics)Barbara Kingsolver (other topics)
Algernon Blackwood (other topics)
Tsitsi Dangarembga (other topics)
Tsitsi Dangarembga (other topics)
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The Wilful Eye edited by Isobelle Carmody & Nan McNab
YA but not found on BPL
Review
There were 6 stories overall and each accompani..."
I'm sorry, Tien. For technical reasons, this task does not allow combos.