Reading with Style discussion

20.5 Boomer

In the City of Shy Hunters by Tom Spanbauer
(born 1946 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Spa...)

This is a novel that very few authors could write. Spanbauer combines deep imagination, deft plotting, out-of-this-world writing chops, and the fantastical taken seriously.

The novel is mainly about Will Parker, a 20-something new arrival in New York City who is searching for his first love, and about the friends he meets in New York. That sounds quaint -- Layer on that it's the 80s (AIDS is just starting to be understood), these characters are racially diverse, mostly queer, haunted by past and current horrors, and using a lot of drugs and sex to cope. The novel is about those moments where things change and there's no turning back.

There are few writers I know of that write this boldly. Spanbauer doesn't hesitate to write about the sexual, the mundane, even the disgusting -- and he doesn't write in a way meant to shock. His tenderness for his characters is so strong that every word he writes feels like simple truth. He never leaves me feeling like a voyeur - he lets me truly see these characters who are so very different from myself.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (512 pages)
+15 Combo (10.3: see GR bio; 20.3: currently 4.28; 20.9: “I rolled cigarettes, John poured the champagne. We toasted.”)

Post total: 50
Season total: 880

Claimed to date:
10.1 - 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 - 15.6 15.7 - 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 -

10.2 Halloween

One D.O.A., One on the Way by Mary Robison (Death word: D.O.A.)

This is minimalism done well. Robison's style is tight, and full of dark humor.

The story: Eve scouts film locations while dealing with her rich in-laws, her obnoxious husband and his awful-in-a-different-way twin, and more. Everyone is out of touch, considering they're living in a post-Katrina New Orleans. Robison points that out by peppering the story with heartbreaking crime statistics and also concealed-carry tips. Dark humor indeed.

The characters are 100% unlikeable, but Eve (the main character) is still enjoyable to read about. She's venomous, but quirky, and struggling to deal with life in a way that we can drum up some sympathy for.

I was interested in the Adam-and-Eve-style betrayals that happen in a moment, change everything and have no undo button. Katrina is one, and there any several others in the story. Above all, this book is about the ways that our culture of independence forces us to be hardened by tragedy if we want to survive. We have to get angry in our brokenness to be strong. We pay lip service to coming together and supporting each other, but our culture makes it nearly impossible.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.5: born 1949)

Post total: 25
Season total: 905

Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 - 15.6 15.7 - 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 -

20.10 Musical Mysteries

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Overall, I enjoyed this, despite mystery not really being my thing. It's a classic, which helps. There are certainly reasons it continues to be read (and put on as a musical) to this day. It does very much include the thing I dislike most about the mystery genre: an ending that ties up any and every loose thread, satisfies every curiosity, and sends surviving characters happily off into the sunset.

I enjoyed the first third as the mystery was set up and characters introduced most. I also loved the fantastical-seeming elements (disembodied voices, disappearing objects, the torture chamber). Their eventual explanations are pretty old-fashioned, but I forgive that since this was published in 1909.

I did find the phantom himself to be unbelievable as a character. I can accept the intense self-hatred hidden behind incredible pomp and need for control. But some of the evil things he does throughout the book are too evil for me to buy the very good things he does at the end. Especially given that Christine never offers him more than pity and obedience, something he already had from the Persian. It didn't feel like enough to change him the way the book asks us to believe.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.5: 8436 shelvings; 10.8: set in France; 20.1: see GR book info; 20.8: #6 on Best Gothic Books of All Time list;)

Post total: 50
Season total: 955

Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 - 15.6 15.7 - 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 20.10

15.8 CoA, 16-17 letters

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

+15 Task

Post total: 15
Season total: 970

Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 - 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 20.10

10.3 Back to School

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma (see GR bio for educator info)

This reading experience was fun, and I blasted through the book in two days. The book has been on my TBR for years and I couldn't remember why I added it, so I looked at some reviews before starting that had me going in with low expectations. But the story is fun, plot-wise, and the characters are interesting. I was pleasantly surprised and almost want to give this four stars, but I can't quite.

The novel is a complicated thicket of truth and lies that can't be untangled. What is truth and what is fiction? Which versions of characters are "real," if any? We don't know, can't know, and, as the book points out, don't really need to know. I enjoyed this for a while, but the nihilism of it started to bother me by the end. Which truth is true may not matter, but as that's the essence of the reading experience here, it leaves little to sink my teeth into.

Moreover, this is a first novel. It's impressive, but the writing has a lot of that first-novel flavor. You know, a little precious, a little overt. And, in this case, a little holier-than-thou, sophomoric even. It reminded me of a YA novel in that way -- that juvenile pretension drives me nuts.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Post total: 20
Season total: 990

Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3(x2) 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 - 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 20.10

15.3 CoA, 11 letters

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Díaz

+15 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 20
Season total: 1560

20.9 Anniversary

I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen

+20 task ("Frank, Sr., filled a champagne class and handed it to his son." - chapter 35)
+5 combo (20.3 - 4.20 rating)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 410

20.10 Musical Mysteries

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

+20 task
+5 combo (10.2)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 435

20.6 Awarded

Final Girls by Riley Sager

+20 task (ITW Thriller Award, Litsy Award)
+5 combo (20.4 - time and POV shifts)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 460

20.3 Ratings

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

+20 task (4.42 rating)
+10 Not a Novel

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 490

To replace the book claimed in post 759, which was too short:

10.5 Classics

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

Champagne: "There was a buffet breakfast, and everyone had a champagne glass, even himself."

+10 Task (301 users)
+ 5 Combo (20.9)

Task Total: 15

This is 35 points less than I claimed in post 759.

That should also give me the RwS and Mega finishes which I claimed previously.

So I think my total is now 1875.

Rosemary wrote: "To replace the book claimed in post 759, which was too short:

That should also give me the RwS and Mega finishes which I claimed previously."

Just excellent!

15.1

Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule

+15 task
+5 not a novel

Task total: 20
Season total: 635

10.1;10.2;10.3;10.4(x2);10.5;10.6;10.7;..;..;10.10
15.1;15.2;15.3;..;15.5;15.6;15.7;15.8;15.9;15.10
..;..;20.3;20.4;20.5;20.6;20.7;20.8;20.9;20.10

15.6 CoA, 14 letters

She Kills Me: The True Stories of History's Deadliest Women by Jennifer Wright

+15 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 20
Season total: 1580

15.8 Counting on Authors
Round 3
Southern Ruby by Belinda Alexandra

+15 Task (16 letters)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 2,045

15.10 Counting on Authors

Speak of the Devil: A Classic Mystery Novel by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

15 task
____
15
100 finish bonus
50 all female authors
50 all books >1996
______
215

Running total: 1080

Task 10.3 Back to School
Read a book written by an author who has a current or previous profession of educator.

Goodreads Bio states:
Presently, she teaches an array of literature and composition courses in the SUNY system as an associate professor.

An Unnatural Life (2020) by Erin K. Wagner

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 560 + 10 = 570

20.3 Ratings
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America by Adam Serwer


This is a collection of essays the author wrote with current introductions. Serwer places the near past into historical perspective, which was fascinating in some instances. My challenge with the book was remembering when an essay was written. I frequently had to go back to the beginning of the essay to ascertain the date of publication to set the writing in time. The biggest surprise for me was the history of professional law enforcement and police unions. Definitely worth reading to understand where the US is now.

+20 task
+10 review
Task total: 30
Season total: 530

20.3 Ratings

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

+20 task rating 4.22
+5 Combo 20.4

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 1790

15.5 Counting on Authors

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker

+15 Task (13 letters)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1805

15.6 CoA 14 letters

My Travels Around the World by Nawal El Saadawi

15 pts 15.6 CoA 14 letters
5 pts NAN essays
Female
Pre 1996

Female bonus 50 pts
Pre 1996 bonus 50pts
CoA Finish. 100pts

Task total. 220 pts

Total Season: 1385 0ts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 ... 10.7 ... 10.9 ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10

15.3 Counting on Authors
Round 3
The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

+15 Task (11 letters)

+100 Finishing
+50 All Female Authors

Post Total: 165
Season Total: 2,210

20.3 Ratings
Blood in the Water: How the US and Israel Conspired to Ambush the USS Liberty by Joan Mellen - 4.0 stars

+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo (10.3-see bio on GR, 10.7- the sailors on the USS Liberty, 10.8 - Israel, Egypt and on, over and under the Mediterranean Sea by ship, fighter jets and submarine)
+10 pts - Not a Novel

Task Total - 45 pts

20.5 Boomer

The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow

I admit to having only skimmed the Goodreads description of this. I just knew I wanted to read another by Scott Turow. His plots are good, characterizations of his main characters close to fully-fleshed, and the writing well above average. As to this latter, I smiled when I thought of writing that here. One of the great things about reading digitally is the easy access to a dictionary. I play some word games online and am always on the lookout. It isn't often I come across such words as arcana, protea, japery, anomie. (Yes, it's the 6-letter game that has become challenging. I didn't write down the 7- and 8-letter words I looked up.)

Anyway, this opens when Alejandro (Sandy) Stern arrives home from a short trip to Chicago to discover his wife has killed herself with carbon monoxide poisoning. This isn't a spoiler - it is the first page or two. From there family relationships become front and center, including that of his brother-in-law Dixon Hartnell. Dixon is a bigger than life character who built his futures trading business from the ground up. We know he cheats on his wife, but how much cheating in business has he done? This, in fact, is what the government wants to know and why Sandy Stern is his lawyer.

I especially liked the back story on Sandy Stern. Born in Argentina, Stern was an immigrant who automatically became a US citizen upon honorable discharge from the army. He was one of those immigrants who still became weak with sentiment—and gratitude—on the Fourth of July. What an idea this country was! Parts of this is dated. Stern has a car phone, but this is before cell phones. Stern learns something about his wife's medical condition and must make discreet inquiries from his neighbor who is an MD. Oh, Sandy, if only there had been an internet! There are computers, but copies of documents are stored on microfiche. I was OK with all of that, but perhaps those of a more recent generation would be less interested.

I think this is a series that need not be read in order. This is number 2. There are references to earlier cases, but only one of those cases actually happened in the first of the series, and its result isn't revealed. I'm not positive these characters will appear in subsequent installments, though it's possible some of the minor characters will populate them. I will be reading more, that's for sure. As much as I might praise this one, I can't bring myself to give it 5-stars, though it's certainly in the top 10% of my 4-star reads.

+20 Task (b. 1949)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.7, 20.3 - 4.05, 20.4 - several flashbacks to Sandy and Clara's meeting and early marriage)
+ 5 Jumbo (608 pgs)

Task total = 50

Season total = 815

20.8 Gothic

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
#68 on Best Books to Read for Halloween

+20 Task
+30 Combo (10.3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Ga... "In 2014, he took up a five-year appointment as professor in the arts at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York" ; 10.6 - Born Nov 10, 1960 ; 20.3 - 4.0 ; 20.4 - the novel starts when the narrator is an adult, and it goes back in time ; 20.5 - 1960 ; 20.6 - Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel 2014, Specsavers National Book Award for Book of the Year 2013)

Task total = 50

Season total = 520
10.1 ; 10.2 ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; 10.6 (x2) ; 10.7 ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; …
… ; … ; … ; 15.4 ; … ; 15.6 ; 15.7 ; … ; 15.9 ; …
20.1 ; 202. ; 20.3 (x4) ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; … ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10

Task 15.4 12 letters

Second Nature (1994) by Alice Hoffman (Goodreads Author) (Paperback, 272 pages)

+15 Task
+100 point for finishing all 10

Task Total: 15 + 100 = 115

Grand Total: 570 + 115 = 685

20.3 - Ratings

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Average rating: 4.36

Lexile: 830

+20 task
+10 combo (10.5, 10.9 - House found in St Stephen’s House)

Task total: 30
Season total: 30

20.3 - Ratings

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

Average rating: 4.30

Lexile: 860

+20 task
+5 combo (10.5)

Post total: 25
Season total: 55

20.3 - Ratings

The Beach Wedding by Dorothy Koomson

Average rating: 4.03

+20 task

Post total: 20
Season total: 75

10.2 Halloween

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon

+10 task

Post total: 10
Season total: 85

Post 946 Karen Michele wrote: "20.8 Gothic (Denise's Task)

Relic by Douglas Preston

+20 Task
+10 Combo: 20.3 Ratings /20.5 Boomer

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 1540"

I'm sorry, Karen. This title is too far down on the listopia to qualify for 20.8. Let us know which of your combos you'd like us to score it.

15.6 CoA
14 letters

The Black Swan. Mercedes Lackey. 10.22.21

+15 - task

Total task: 15
Total Season: 375 pts.

… ... 10.3 10.4 10.5 ... ... ... ... 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 ... ...
... 20.2 ... ... ... ... ... ... 20.9 ...

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 946 Karen Michele wrote: "20.8 Gothic (Denise's Task)

Relic by Douglas Preston

+20 Task
+10 Combo: 20.3 Ratings /20.5 Boomer

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 1540"

..."

Oops - sorry! You can just score it as Ratings and thanks!

15.2 CoA, 10 letters

Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir by Lisa F. Smith

+15 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 20
Season total: 1600

10.6 Birthday

Geronimo by Robert M. Utley

10 pts 10.6 birthday
5pts 10.3 Back to School
5 pts 10.7 Service. General Crook and a large number of other officers who negotiated with or fought the Chiricahuas
10 pts Not a Novel
10 pts Review

This book is a military history of the US Army’s campaigns against the Apache in New Mexico and Arizona during the mid to kate 19th century. The book covers both the military campaigns and the reasons underlying the conflict and places them within the cultural context of the various Apache groups. Unfortunately it tends to be rather dry leaning towards a description of the tactics of both sides. While the impact of the personalities can be seen, the individuals— even Geronimo— seem to get a bit lost. As most readers would guess, these conflicts did not end well for the Apache who were treated as prisoners of war into the 20th century.

Task total. 40 pts
Total Season: 1425 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 ... 10.9 ...
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10

10.1 TBR
A Column of Fire (Kingsbridge #3) by Ken Follett

+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.3 - 4.19 avg; 20.5 - born 1949)
+20 Jumbo (916p)

+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish

Post Total: 340
Season Total: 2,550

Finally finished this brick! -which I wouldn't have finished without Bea's support ;)

10.10 Group Read

Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Pg 201 "And bottoms up, " said Muriel, with the champagne. "Here's to all of us."

"Old Filth" is a touching character study of a famous retired judge, Sir Edward Feathers. Filth is an acronym for "Failed in London, Try Hong Kong." The story is told mostly in flashbacks to his earlier life.

Eddie's mother died shortly after his birth in Malaya, and his father was a British government official who had been shell-shocked in World War I. He was cared for by a loving native girl until he was four years old. Then he joined the Raj orphans being sent back to Great Britain for foster care to learn English and receive schooling. The trauma of foster care, and never belonging in a family inflicted emotional wounds on young Eddie. The waning days of the British Empire are also revealed through his experiences and adventures. The book takes Eddie through his marriage, and his feeling of loss after the death of his wife, Betty. The story ends with him traveling back to his roots--traveling alone.

"Old Filth" is a part of a trilogy, and I would love to read the next book told from the point of view of Betty. I enjoyed Jane Gardam's writing with its dry British humor, her understanding of the human spirit, and the interesting 20th Century colonial backdrop.

Great choice for a group read, Elizabeth!

+10 task
+10 combo 20.4 Non-linear; 20.9 Anniversary
+10 review

Task total: 30
Season total: 1185

15.4 CoA, 12 letters

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson

+15 Task
+5 Not-a-Novel

Task total: 20
Season total: 1620

Tien wrote: "

+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish"

Congratulations! Well done!

20.3 Ratings

Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith

+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.3 Back to School / 10.4 Truth and Reconciliation
+10 Not a Novel

Task Total: 40
Season Total: 1605

10.10 - Group Read

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Task: 10
Not a novel: 5
Combo: 20 (10.3, 10.4, 20.3, 20.6 - Worldcraft Circle of Native American Writers and storytellers for Nonfiction 2013 and Sigurn Olson Nature Writing 2013)
Post total: 35

Season total: 490

20.3 Ratings

We Want Our Bodies Back: Poems by Jessica Care Moore

+20 Task
+10 Not a Novel

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 1635

10.2 - Halloween
A Red Death by Walter Mosley

Task: 10
Combo 5 - 20.5 - born in 1952

Post: 15
Season total: 505

10.10 Group Reads

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair

10 pts 10.10 Group Reads
5pts 20.3 Ratings
10 pts Not a Novel
10 pts Review

Excellentbook. St Clair uses textiles, their manufacturing and use to discuss major historical and economic themes. She develops historical insights from the technology underlying wool, linen, silk, cotton, synthetic fibers and spider silk to present a fascinating book on the role textles have played in society and their uses from space flight to commerce. Highly recommend this book and thanks to Beth for suggesting it as a Group Read.

Task total. 35 pts
Total Season: 1460 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 ... 10.9 10.10
20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10

Task 10.3 Back to School
Read a book written by an author who has a current or previous profession of educator.

Goodreads Bio states:
…a former academic, adjunct, cashier, blueberry-harvester, and kentuckian, Alix E. Harrow is now a full-time writer…

A Spindle Splintered (2021) by Alix E. Harrow (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 128 pages)

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Grand Total: 685 + 10 = 695

15.2 Counting on Authors

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

+15 Task (10 letters)

Task Total: 15
Season Total: 505

15.10 Counting on Authors

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

+15 Task (20 letters)

Task Total: 15
Season Total: 520

10.9 Oxford

The Hanging of Margaret Dickson by Alison J. Butler

"She was a free spirit and she did as she damned well pleased."
"She paid for it too."
"Aye, she did."

Author Alison J. Butler has brought the true 18th Century Scottish legend of Half Hangit Maggie to life. Maggie Dickson was a headstrong, independent fishwife living in Musselburgh. She was a beautiful, lusty young woman who attracted men. When her husband disappeared she headed to Newcastle to find him, but stopped at a tavern along the way to shelter from the inclement weather. She accepted a job at the tavern where she met the handsome son of the innkeeper. Soon her actions led to legal trouble, and she was thrown into the filthy Tolbooth (jail). The rest of Maggie's remarkable history is an amazing tale.

Maggie's story appeared to be well-researched, and kept my interest. Unfortunately, a proofreader does not seem to have looked at the last part of the book.

+10 task (Margaret)
+10 combo 10.2 Halloween (hanging is a death word), 20.3 Rating 4.00
+10 review

Task total: 30
RwS finish: 100
Mega finish: 200
Season total: 1515

20.6 Awarded

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

+20 Task
Премія імені Максима Рильського (1988), PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation (2014)
+10 Combo: 10.5 Classics / 10.8 Mediterranean (Italy)
+10 Not a Novel
+20 Jumbo (909)

Task Total: 60
Season Total: 1695

20.5 Boomer
The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow 1952-GR bio

+20 - Task
+15 - Combo (10.4-Cherokee growing up on Navajo Reservation, 10.7-Thurston Crow and his father in Navy, 20.3-ratings 4.32)
+10 - not a novel

Task total - 45 pts