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FA 21 Completed Tasks
Post 999Karen Michele wrote: "10.5 ClassicsThe Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.6 Birthday / 10.8 Mediterranean (Italy)
+10 Not a Novel
+20 Jumbo (909)
Task Total: 60
Seaso..."
Should you be tracking these things, this doesn't qualify for 10.6 - October is the month of death. On the other hand, there are 2 awards for this, so a combo for 20.6!
20.4 Non-LinearTrainspotting by Irvine Welsh
I suspected this would be a challenging book going in, and it was – not the least because a great deal (most?) of it is written in Scottish slang and dialect. Luckily I’ve known enough Scottish people and heard just enough Scottish spoken to get the gist (most of the time – some slang is very opaque).
The story is told episodically from different character’s point of view. They are all mates who grew up in Leith (a part of Edinburgh). It is set in Thatcher era UK, and there is little opportunity for the working class and AIDS has become prevalent in gays and IV drug users. They spend their time chasing their various highs (heroin, alcohol, speed, hash, sex, fighting…..). Much of the story is told from Rent Boy’s (Renton) POV, and he is a mostly on/off again heroin addict.
Welsh tells a raw, real story. This was real life (and still is for some) and boy is it shitty. There is some really graphic content (mostly to do with drug use), and sad endings for some. I think this is a book you need to spend time away from to digest it’s content. There is a lot of underlying social commentary (about Britain and Scotland of the era, and the UK in general). It’s also a story about choices made in a life – to stay in school or not, to stay where you grew up or not, to be friends with people even if you don’t particularly like them but they are practically family. I think Welsh did a good job with all of this, especially considering this was his first novel. 4*
20 task
10 1001 list
10 review
25 combo 10.5, 10.6, 20.2, 20.3, 20.5
_______
65
100 RwS finish
200 Megafinish
_____
365
Running total: 1445
20.1 SeriallyMartin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
So...the irony.... this novel was supposedly Dickens' own favorite.... but, as it turns out, it was my least favorite of those I've read so far...which admittedly isn't that many. Dickens continues his creations of a multitude of eccentric characters...he's excellent at at. Here, a drunken nurse, a misanthropic old man, the loyal and resourceful servants, the evil villains, the churlish daughters of one of the villains, etc. However, this novel is more dark than light...and as it turns out...a murder mystery. An interesting part of the story has two of the characters migrate from London to the US.....during the Civil War....only to meet failure and to return. But Dickens' take on the American character at the time from an outside source is enlightening.
Having said all that, the story seemed too drawn out and unnecessarily convoluted to interest me. A key sign is that I often confused characters....meaning, the text wasn't able to keep my full attention. I don't think I missed much though. Just meh...2.5 stars which I won't upgrade to a 3 star review on GR.
Task=20
Combo= 10 (10.5; 20.9-p.263- …he got down from the table, and produced, from a basket outside the door, a bottle of champagne, and three glasses.”
p.259- One moderate big ‘un could convey a dozen of champagne, perhaps,’ observed the colonel.”)
Review=10
1001=10
Jumbo= 15 (830p)
Task Total=65
Grand Total= 335
20.3 RatingsThe Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
The book opens as Beth Harmon is told her mother has been killed in a car accident. There are no flasbacks to her younger years and we know nothing about her home life. It is as if she is born at age 8 and fully formed. Sent to live in an orphanage, she is an excellent student. As a reward, she goes to the basement to clean erasers. I think most of us would not see this as a reward, but as it happens, on these trips to the basement she sees the janitor poring over a chessboard. Mr. Shaibel is not a willing teacher, but teach her he does. Chess becomes her reason to live.
I have mentioned this book to two of my backgammon friends who I know are also chess players. Each offered the information that this was a Netflix series last year. Apparently it was well-received. I will never see it, but I am skeptical how it could have faithfully followed the book. I make no bones about the fact that I no longer watch movies, so my skepticism is both general as to most books and specific as to this one. How can it show fear without facial expressions? Beth was careful not to let her opponents see it, but it was there. Can it show how Beth played chess in her mind? Just two examples of my skepticism.
I loved this book. Although I have sat at a chess board and moved pieces around, this book shows clearly that I never really played the game. There are *lots* of chess moves that I did not follow. What I did follow was how hard the very top players work to continue to be the very top players. I could be a good backgammon player should I decide to work so hard, but I would never be a top player no matter how hard I worked. I do not possess brilliance. And I don't work that hard - not even at reading!
I remember there was a film with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason (I was in high school!) and I'll be happy to now instead read The Hustler. Yesterday another title by Walter Tevis was on one of the kindle deals emails. I snapped it up, even though I have no business adding more books when I already have so many. I like the way Tevis writes and his characterizations are excellent. I'm not in the least shy about giving this title 5-stars.
+20 task (4.21)
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.3 (see thread), 10.5, 10.9, 20.9- "During the party at the Embassy, a waiter came by with a tray of champagne.")
Task total = 50
Season total = 865
And much as I'd like to, I think I can't squeeze another in for Fall. See you in the Winter Challenge Completed Tasks thread!
20.3 RatingsBewilderment by Richard Powers
Wow!
Richard Powers weaves a story that includes astrobiology, neuroscience, natural history around a man, Theo, cooping with the death of his wife and the challenge of a son who does not fit in society’s box for a 9 year old kid. The solution the school and doctors propose is medication. The father struggles to find another answer for his bright, talented son. Also woven in is Theo’s speculation on what life could be like on other planets.
Powers has once again grabbed my imagination and heart.
+20 task
+5 combo 10.3
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 565
15.9 CoA, 18-19 lettersComfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 1635
20.9 AnniversaryThe Human Factor by Graham Greene
+20 task p133 ‘Champagne will help,’ Castle said.
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 1825
15.4 Counting on AuthorsThe Singapore School of Villainy by Shamini Flint
+15 Task (12 letters)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1840
20.7 ExophonicThe Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
+20 Task
+30 Combo (10.5 ; 10.6 - 8 November 1954 ; 20.2 - Best Anti heroes in Books #54 ; 20.3 - 4.13 ; 20.4 - a lot of recollections from the narrator ; 20.5 - 1954)
+10 1001
Task total = 60
Season total = 580
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 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
15.9 Counting on Authors18-19 letters
The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lilian Jackson Braun
Task Total: 15
Completion Bonus: 100
Season Total: 560
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 999Karen Michele wrote: "10.5 ClassicsThe Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.6 Birthday / 10.8 Mediterranean (Italy)
+10 Not a Novel
+20 Jum..."
Thanks, Elizabeth --- is it ok to edit the two books you noted? I see that I claimed 20 task points for this one, so I need to switch it to awards and then add combos to the anthology. I thought that if it had a lexile we still had to go with that, so no lexiles at all for anthologies is good news!
Karen Michele wrote: " is it ok to edit the two books you noted? I see that I claimed 20 task points for this one, so I need to switch it to awards and then add combos to the anthology. I thought that if it had a lexile we still had to go with that, so no lexiles at all for anthologies is good news!"Kate will be working on them today, but it should be OK for you to make changes now.
20.3 RatingsLast Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
+20 Task
+. 5 Combo: 20.9 Anniversary (p 247 ...with an entire bottle of the cheap champagne and pulled up an extra chair...)
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 1720
From Post 905Deedee wrote: "Task 10.9 Oxford (Rosemary's Task)
Oxford University colleges:
ALL Souls College
For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History (2009) b..."
+10 Not-a-Novel
From Post 920Bea wrote: "10.5 Classics
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.1 - published serially in Bentley's Miscellany 1837-1839 [Wikipedia])
Task Total: 15
Season Tot..."
+5 Jumbo
+10 1001 books
From Post 934Valerie wrote: "20.6 Awarded
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
This was like having your favorite candy after some medicine (yes, I mean young Werther). These novellas are great..."
+5 Combo 20.3
15.8 CoA, 16-17 lettersFirst Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
+15 Task
+50 All female authors
+100 Finisher bonus
Task total: 165
Season total: 1800
20.5 BoomerThe Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia A. McKillip
+20 task born 1948
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 1860
20.1 SeriallyGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens
I started Great Expectations in high school or junior high and did not finish it. Decades later, I tried again and found it pretty exciting. The middle part was not that interesting, but the last third was suspenseful. The pace and content of the chapters seemed to fit the serial format.
Dickens tells the story of Pip, an orphan who lives with his abusive sister and her saintly husband, Joe. Pip wanders alone in marshes and has an encounter that shapes the rest of his life. While serving as an apprentice to Joe, a blacksmith, Pip receives an anonymous gift for education in London to become a "gentleman." He hopes that this elevation in status will catch the notice of Estella, a cold-hearted girl of his age. Much happens in the book and the cast of characters consists mostly of eccentric, unkind, or abused/violent people. Miss Havisham and the descriptions of her living conditions were very creepy and I didn't enjoy those parts at all and I don't desire to see a movie of this book. Pip learns life lessons.
4.5 stars rounded to 5, but behind David Copperfield and Dombey and Son. P.S. I find that some Dickens' character names have an amusing sound (e.g., Mr. Pumblechook.) :)
+20 Task
+10 Combo 10.5, 20.6 (two awards)
+10 1001
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo
Task Total: 55
Season Total: 100
20.8 Gothic (Denise's Task)Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
This one was a re-read with several decades since my first reading. Note of caution: if you read the Penguin Classics edition (I had the library's copy with photos of movie actors on the cover) beware that the chapter notes at the end of the book contain major spoilers! Jane Eyre is a 19th-century woman of character and principle - independent and ahead of her time, yet vulnerable to attention from someone with a secret. I read from the paperback and listened to the audiobook; the narrator, Anna Bentinck, was excellent. She did voices for Jane *and* Mr. Rochester. Five stars.
+20 Task (#1 on Best Gothic Books of All Time)
+20 Combo 10.3, 10.5, 20.2 (Mr. Rochester named in Wikipedia anti-hero list), 20.3
+10 1001
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo
Task Total: 65
Season Total: 165
20.1 SeriallyTreasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Action-packed adventure story full of ship terminology; listening and reading at same time helped. This classic includes (in)famous characters who happen to have their own Wikipedia pages--Long John Silver, Dr. Livesey, Jim Hawkins, others. Lots of drunkenness, fighting, murder, a knifing, a drowning, abandonment, peril, violence-I was surprised at the content for what I thought was a children's book -- more like PG-13 in the unabridged version.
+20 Task
+20 Combo: 20.2 antihero (#145) 10.5, 10.6 (November), 10.7 Service (Doctor Livesey was a soldier*) *from his Wikipedia page "Some years previously, he had fought in the Battle of Fontenoy, and was wounded in action during the battle."
+10 1001
+10 Review
Task Total: 60
Season Total: 225
From Post 953Bucket wrote: "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. Ther..."
+5 Combo 20.2
From Post 968Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "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 curre..."
+10 Not a Novel
From Post 991June wrote: "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: 2..."
+5 Combo 20.5
20.7 ExophonicInland by Téa Obreht
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 595 (includes 15 points added by Kate)
One more to go to finish 20s.
20.8 GothicMy Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
#26 of 150 on list (Best Gothic Books of All Time)
Task: 20
1001 List: 10
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 625
Finished!
Bea wrote: "20.8 GothicMy Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Task: 20
1001 List: 10
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 625
Finished!"
Woohoo! Yay Bea!
Post 1014 Karen Michele wrote: "20.3 RatingsLast Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
+20 Task
+. 5 Combo: 20.9 Anniversary (p 247 ...with an entire bottle of the cheap champagne and pulle..."
I'm sorry, Karen. This one is YA Fiction at BPL and doesn't yet have a Lexile. Task, but no styles.
http://catalog.brooklynpubliclibrary....
15.8 Counting on Authors This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf
+15 Task (16 letters)
+50 All female authors
+100 Finisher bonus
Task total: 165
Season total: 685
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 931 Rebekah wrote: "20.3 RatingsWhat Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry
+20 pts Task
+10 pts - Combo (20.3- s..."
Thanks for catching that! It is a typo. The author qualifies for 10.3 and that was the combo I meant to type.
From his GR bio “ Bruce D. Perry is an American psychiatrist, currently the senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas and an adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.“
15.5 CoA, 13 lettersA Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
+15 Task
+100 Finisher
+50 All female authors
Post total: 165
Season total: 1160
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 15.5 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
Last post for me! Thanks, mods, I really enjoyed this challenge!10.5 Classics
The Trial by Franz Kafka (5,562 shelvings)
What makes The Trial interesting is its dark (very dark) humor. Josef K.'s situation is so ridiculous and so unfair and so completely unchangeable that all one can do is laugh. We're laughing to lessen our fear and frustration, but we're laughing all the same.
I also thought about how, as bizarre as Josef K.'s situation is, we've all experienced it to some level. The trial is just an extreme version of the strange bureaucratic processes we face in dealing with insurance companies, the justice system, or the DMV, that do little but set up roadblocks and ensure we understand as little as possible.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 1001 LIst
Post total: 30
Season total: 1190
Claimed to date:
10.1 10.2 10.3(x2) 10.4 10.5(x2) 10.6 10.7 - 10.9 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10
20.1 20.2 20.3(x2) 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 - 20.9 20.10
20.5 BoomerExit Strategy by Martha Wells
I love Murderbot! :)
20 task
5 combo 20.3
______
25
Final total: 1500
20.1 SeriallyMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
This 19th-century classic has been on my TBR for about four years. I noticed quickly Flaubert's detailed, precise descriptions. Usually, descriptions with much detail tax my patience, but his were sometimes beautiful and fit the story. However, I wondered if the translation choices had something to do with making the text read beautifully in English despite translation from the original language of French. Also, Flaubert wasn't always precise and after much mention of Emma's dark/black eyes, they suddenly became blue in one paragraph. I thought it was a publishing error, but other readers noticed it and attributed the change to the author.
Emma Bovary goes from living with her father to living with her husband Charles, a physician who serves patients from rural areas and villages. Emma quickly becomes bored. After an overnight stay at a chateau for dinner and dancing, she dreams of being part of that set. Things progress from there and provide only temporary satisfaction for Emma. Meanwhile, Charles lives a life of duty and doesn't share Emma's wanderlust, nor is he much aware of it, although he loves Emma dearly. In the end, a few characters continue on their merry way. Can't say more.
+20 Task
+25 Combo 20.2 (#42 on best anti-heroes in books list), 10.5, 10.7 (Emma's father-in-law Monsieur Charles-Denis-Bartholome Bovary was an army surgeon's aide forced to leave the service about 1812. Binet the tax collector has "fought at Bautzen and Lutzen, and taken part in the French campaign..."; 10.8 (France), 20.9 Part I, Chapter VIII "Iced champagne was served and the feel of the cold wine in her mouth gave Emma a shiver that ran over her from head to toe."
+10 1001
+10 Review
Task Total: 65
Season Total: 290
15.1 Counting on AuthorsTrent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley
+15 9 letters
Points this post: 15
RwS total: 325
CoA total: 45
Season Total: 370
10.1 .... .... .... .... .... 10.7 .... 10.9 ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
20.1 .... 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 .... .... 20.9 ....
20.2 Anti-heroDeath of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
This famous play depicts a family living the United States in the previous century. I was expecting more focus on Willy Loman, the 60-year old protagonist, but there were actually three other characters with a lot of dialogue: wife Linda and two thirty-something sons. The sons and Willy talk big dreams and nothing comes to fruition. Willy interrupts everyone and refuses to face or accept reality most of the time; he eventually loses touch with reality and the present. I listened to the L.A. Theatre Works dramatic presentation with Stacy Keach as Willy Loman and I occasionally referred to the script. Interesting, but a real downer and the whole on-the-road company-man salesman/American Dream idea seemed to be from the distant past.
+20 Task (#109 on Best Anti-heroes in books)
+30 combo: 20.6 (awarded), 10.2 ("death"), 10.3 back to school (posted in thread by Mary), 10.5 classic, 10.6 (October), 10.9 (champagne - in Mary's post. Act Two: Happy: "I sell champagne, and I’d like you to try my brand. Bring her a champagne, Stanley.")
+10 Review
+10 Not a novel
Task Total: 70
Season Grand Total: 360
20.3 - RatingsMoominvalley in November by Tove Jansson
Average rating: 4.3
+20 task
Post total: 20
Season total: 105
10.8 Mediterranean My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
10 pts 10.8 Mediterranean
10 pts Review
This has been on my TBR list for a long time. I am not quite sure what Ithink of it. The relationship between Lenu and Lila is central to the story but it seems to be rather oddly described. The narrator is an adult even elderly Lenu but the narrative voice is not either that of a child who does not understand everything or that of an adukt looking backwards with 20/20 hindsight. I found this distracting. I also found the inclusion of explanatory language such as “he spoke in dialect” to be a weakness probably in the translation. Standard English is used for all the characters regardless of their background or likely the type of Italian they are speaking, and it seems to cut into the potential strength of using nonstandard English to indicate social or economic class.
Task total. 20 pts
RWS Finish 100 pts
Mega Finish 200 pts
Total Season: 1780 pts
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 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
Hi KateCould you double check the reader board? As of Post 1000, I think I have 1460 pts ( not 1510). We tied out on the totals through post 950; there might be a glitch somewhere but I don’t see it!
Thanks.
Post 1040 Mary wrote: "RWS Finish 100 pts
Mega Finish 200 pts"
Congratulations! Well done!
Pos 1028 Bea wrote: "Finished!
"
Congratulations! Kate will get your RwS and Mega Points!
20.4 Non-linearBeyond This Point Are Monsters by Margaret Millar
+20 Task (Lots of flashbacks; trial testimony details were set in the past)
Task total=20
Season total=585
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Beyond This Point Are Monsters (other topics)Justified Secrets (other topics)
Merciful Secrets (other topics)
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Veiled Secrets (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Margaret Millar (other topics)Shawn McGuire (other topics)
Shawn McGuire (other topics)
Shawn McGuire (other topics)
Shawn McGuire (other topics)
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Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith
+10 Task - low lexile
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 1575"
We stopped checking the Lexile for short story collections and anthologies. I see this qualifies for 20.3 as a combo. If you know of another combo let us know.