Reading with Style discussion
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SU 22 Completed Tasks
Claiming first bingo - posts 160, 449, 450, 451, 501:Bingo=50
Season total=110
B 4
I 26
N 31
G 60
O 75
30.41 B5 memoirStitches by David Small
This packs a punch.
There is so much emotional abuse going on here, but the book holds it at a distance. The art shows the glowering looks, the protective hunched posture, the constant neglect, and it makes you feel it. But at a remove, a bit of space to make it a little safer.
This is a deeply sad story that is also very resilient. The ending was powerful.
+30 task
+ 5 review
Task total = 35
Season total = 1400
B5
I
N
G
O
15.14 I30 Book published in the 30sThe Lake District Murder by John Bude
15 pts 15.14
5 pts Review
5 pts pre 1995
Very clever murder mystery with a motive that is unusual and carefully plotted out. A series of insights leads the detective down a criminal path that must be related to the murder but the connection is not clear. The reader knows it will all tie together in the end (these stories just do!), but it is not clear how. Very well done!
Task Total: 25 pts
Bingo #2 50 pts
Season total: 350 pts
Bingo #1. B4 B5 B6 B7 B13
Bingo #2 I16 I17 I27 I29 I30
B9
I
N32 N38
G56
O
30.46 O73 OutdoorsSnow Falls. Gerri Hill
+30 - task
Post total: 30
Season total: 1605
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
30.47 I27 Main character is a Private Eye (not a police detective)U is for Undertow. Sue Grafton
3.5 rounded to 4 stars - Kinsey Millhone is probably my favorite modern female sleuth. She is independent, smart, and fallible enough to be human. In this book, Kinsey is approached by an unreliable witness (he was 6 at the time) who thinks he has information about a twenty year old case. The timeline then goes back and forth between the 1960s and the 1980s, as the pieces fall into place. And Kinsey, true to form, is still using her note cards, typewriter and the public library for information. You go, girl!
+30 - task
+5 - review
+50 - Bingo #9: B12, I27, N34, G47, O73
Post total: 85
Season total: 1690
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
15.17 N43 Title has three wordsThe Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
"Even in death the boys were trouble."
"The Nickel Boys" is inspired by the real Dozier School for Boys with its unmarked graveyards in Marianna, Florida. The segregated Dozier School does not deserve to be called a school since little schoolwork was done. It was the staff, not the boys, that committed the crimes at the reform school that was open from 1900-2011. The boys were whipped, sexually abused, put in solitary confinement, and even murdered. Some of their food and supplies, provided by the State of Florida, were sold to people in town with the money kicked back to the directors. The boys worked on a farm, made bricks, and did work out in the community to support the school with some of the funds pocketed by the directors. When anthropology students from the University of South Florida found a graveyard full of murdered youths, the truth about the Dozier School emerged. Parents had been told that their murdered sons had run away from the school or other lies. Author Colson Whitehead's fictional story, set in the 1960s, about the Nickel School is partly based on testimony by formerly incarcerated boys.
Elwood Curtis was an intelligent black adolescent in the Jim Crow South who admired the teachings of Martin Luther King. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he hitchhiked, and was picked up by a guy in a stolen car. Elwood was sent to Nickel, and was severely whipped within 24 hours for trying to break up a fight. Elwood, who believed in social change, was befriended by Turner whose philosophy was to always stay unnoticed, under the radar, to survive. All the boys were significantly traumatized by their time in Nickel.
"The boys could have been many things had they not been ruined by that place. . . . They had been denied even the simple pleasure of being ordinary. Hobbled and handicapped before the race even began, never figuring out how to be normal."
"The Nickel Boys" is an important book to read. While everyone was mistreated, the prejudiced staff treated the black residents even worse than the white boys. It was a difficult book to read in some parts since it's troubling to read about violence directed toward children. There needs to be real oversight of both juvenile reform schools and adult prisons. Author Colson Whitehead wrote an excellent novel with a surprise near the end of the book.
+15 task
+ 5 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 435
30.37 G57 Guardian 1000The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
+30 task
+5 1997 or earlier ( 1984 )
Post total: 35
Season total: 1075
15.12 N 44 double letters in the author's nameAcorna's Rebelsby Anne McCaffrey
two n's in Anne and two ff's in McCaffrey
Task +15
Grand Total: 130
20.30-B1-One Word TitlePouliuli by Albert Wendt
This book is set in Samoa... and I appreciated the aspect of learning something about Samoan customs and characters. Unfortunately the novel did not work for me. Flashbacks in times and dual story lines...and I'm still not sure if some of the characters as children were some of the later characters as adults. And what is worse, I stopped caring. The primary story concerns the leader of an extended family unit who begins to feign insanity. I never really understood why. To be able to escape responsibilities? As a way to aggravate certain family members. A scheme to exact some revenge on a foe. Don't know...and didn't care by the end. A big disappointment. (By the way, the tile word means 'darkness".)
Task=20
Review=5
Oldie=5 (1977)
Task Total= 30
Grand Total=825
B1; ___;B3;B4;B5*;___; B7*; B8*;B9*;B10;B11: ___; ___;B14*; ___;
I___; ___;I18*;I19*; ___; I21*; I22*; ___;___; ___;___;I27*; ___; ___; ___;
N31;___;N33*;___; ___;N36*;__; N38*;___;__; __;N42*; N43*;N44; __;
G _ ;G47; ___; ___; ___; G51;G52;___;G54; ___; ___; ___; __; __; ___;
O61; ___; ___; ___; ___; ___;___;___;O69;O70; ___; ___; __;___;O75
Task 15.15 O65 Title has 5 wordsA Murder for the Books (Blue Ridge Library Mysteries #1) (2017) by Victoria Gilbert (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 325 pages)
Review: A Murder for the Books is a typical cozy murder mystery. One can go through a checklist of attributes and find them all here.
1/ Single white female protagonist, aged 20 – 40 years old, that is recently widowed – divorced – broken up with a longterm boyfriend? Yes. Protagonist recently broke up with longterm boyfriend.
2/ Occupation: librarian / journalist at a small local newspaper / owner-manager-and usually cook at a local restaurant / owner-manager of a trendy hobby-like small business (like Yarn Shop or Craft Beer or Handmade Pottery or whatever)? Yes. Protagonist is the library director at the small town’s local library.
3/ Quirky sister / cousin / best friend / business partner? (Often quirky best friend / business partner is non-white.) Yes. This cozy mystery’s quirky friend was raised by 1960s hippie grandparents. Quirky friend is white; however, the protagonist’s aunt’s good friend is an African American.
4/ Gay-positive character? Well, this cozy mystery mentions that the single female protagonist’s younger brother is gay. Usually these mysteries have a stereotypical male gay character who gives really good relationship advice (but not this one).
5/ Cozy living arrangement? Yes. Protagonist lives with her aunt. (Who is described as being rather elderly at the advanced age of 64 years old. Grrr.)
6/ Relationship with local police / detectives? Yes. The local detective is dating quirky best friend.
7/ Protagonist solves the murder mystery, despite having no training or experience in detective work. Yes.
8/ Mystery solved and murderer punished? Yes.
Some cozy mysteries add unique elements to set themselves apart from the crowd. Some have ghosts; some have older protagonists; some try really hard to make the reader laugh out loud. Not this one. I gave it 3 stars.
+15 Task
+05 Review
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 310 + 20 = 330
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
[Bingo #1: B3, I6, N32, G51, O61]
[Bingo #2: B6, I22, N38, G53, O63]
30.48 - B8 Author first name is Bob, Brian, Barry, Beverly, BarbaraEverybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People by Bob Goff
+30 Task
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1,535
30.48 I23 Set in: Italy, Iran, Indonesia, Iceland, Indiaset in Mumbai, India
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Katherine Boo
This book has been nominated or won many prizes including Pulitzer, National Book and Andrew Carnegie Medal to name a few. The author spent more than three years documenting the people living in extreme poverty in Annawadi, a settlement that grew up from the marshlands near the Mumbai airport. The people exist by sorting through garbage for items that they can resell to recyclers, from scraps of metal to cigarette butts. They live, as best they can, crammed into tiny huts with no running water, a communal bathroom, next to a lake of sewage.
This book is nonfiction that reads like fiction. The stories of the various people, Abdul, who holds out hope that garbage sorting will lead to a better life for his family, Asha, the wannabe slumlord, and crippled "one-legged" Fatima, are told with compassion. This is a hard book to read. Don't read it, if you are triggered by suicides, police corruption, individual lives that are given no value, and filicide. But if you do read it, you will never forget it.
+30 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 35
Season total: 1725
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
30.41 G59 - GYPSUMUtopia Avenue by David Mitchell
+30 begins with U
+5 Jumbo 574 pages
Task total = 35
+50 Bingo: eighth bingo B8, I21, N41, G59, O62
Post Total: 85
Season Total: 1240
30.42 N38 - NICKELKnot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold
+30 begins with K
Task total = 30
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1270
30.43 B5 - Biography etcBridge Burning and Other Hobbies by Kitty Flanagan
+30 memoir
Task total = 30
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1300
30.44 G50 - Author born in 50’sMidwinter Magic by Stella Riley
+30 born1950
Task total = 30
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1330
15.15 G54 Title has 4 WordsDeath on the Riviera by John Bude
15 pts 15.15
5 pts Review
5 pts pre 1995
Detective Inspector Meredith and Acting Sergeant Stang are sent to the Riviera to investigate a counterfeiter and get caught up in a murder case. Both cases are convoluted with lots of red herrings. The final solution is unexpected and somewhat unfair to the reader. But it is a good story and quick read. Great characters and the relationship between the French and English police is well developed.
Task Total: 25 pts
Season total: 375 pts
Bingo #1. B4 B5 B6 B7 B13
Bingo #2 I16 I17 I27 I29 I30
B9
I
N32 N38
G54 G56
O
30.31- B12-Banned Bookssee- https://guides.hmcpl.org/bannedbooks/...
banned for sexual content and violence
Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
This is a graphic novel and a bit bizarre. The premise is that some strange phenomena has killed all living male beings....with the exception of Yorick Brown and his pet monkey. Brown's mother just happens to be an anti-choice member of the US Congress. His sister has joined a band of violent Amazons. His girlfriend is in Australia. The Amazons are hunting him down because they are in favor of the all-woman new world order. A quick read...amusing to a degree.
Task=30
Review=5
4th BINGO= 50 ( B1, B3, B4, B10, B12)
Task Total= 85
Grand Total=910
B1*; __;B3*;B4*;B5*;___; B7*; B8*;B9*;B10*;B11:B12*; __;B14*; ___;
I___; ___;I18*;I19*; ___; I21*; I22*; ___;___; ___;___;I27*; ___; ___; ___;
N31;___;N33*;___; ___;N36*;__; N38*;___;__; __;N42*; N43*;N44; __;
G _ ;G47; ___; ___; ___; G51;G52;___;G54; ___; ___; ___; __; __; ___;
O61; ___; ___; ___; ___; ___;___;___;O69;O70; ___; ___; __;___;O75
Post 619 Ed wrote: "30.31- B12-Banned Bookssee- https://guides.hmcpl.org/bannedbooks/...
banned for sexual content and violence
Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
This is a graphic novel..."
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Only the books on the linked list work for B12.
I do see you haven't yet used O66, No O in Author Name. Do you want us to score it there?
EDIT: Follow-up discussion in the B Column thread changes my thoughts here.
15.13 G60 Book pub'd in the 60s, any centuryLong Summer Day by R.F. Delderfield
Paul Craddock has come home from the Boer War having been shot through the knee. He endured more than one operation. Medicine of today would have had this injury treated and Paul sent on his way. In 1901 his recovery was often iffy - and he knew it. The reader, of course, knows he makes it - the book is 600 or so pages long and we can't have the hero dying in the first chapter. Recovery left Paul with an optimistic outlook on life and he intended to make the most of his opportunity. It didn't hurt that while he was in hospital, his father died, leaving him nearly £30,000 pounds.
Early on I recognized this as my definition of a comfort read. It has good writing and decent characterizations. There are no unusually tense moments. It is not a family saga in the usual sense, but the setting lends itself to that sort of feeling. Paul used his unexpected wealth to purchase an estate in Devon. He respected his tenants and they returned their absolute loyalty. No book that runs without a bit of conflict could be truly interesting and so there are bumps in the road for Squire Paul.
This is the first in a trilogy. I hope to find a place for the next two installments before too much time passes. I'm not the only one to give this 5-stars.
+15 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 Before 1997 (1966)
+ 5 Big (834 pgs)
Task total = 30
Season total = 320
Task 15.16 O75 75 Years: Author is AgedPeter Lovesey, who is still alive, was born on September 10, 1936.
Wobble to Death (Sergeant Cribb #1) (1970) by Peter Lovesey
+15 Task
+05 1997 or earlier
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
Grand Total: 330 + 20 = 350
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
[Bingo #1: B3, I6, N32, G51, O61]
[Bingo #2: B6, I22, N38, G53, O63]
O61 Opposite words in title 
The Sisters Brothers
The book reminds me of Japanese literature. It has narration by a character of day-to-day life. It may not contain any point whatsoever; just the life of a person. This book tells the daily routine of two brothers from the time when people used to travel on horses and no one brushed their teeth. This brushing teeth has been given importance in the story! Anyways, I would enjoy such type of writing if there has some point to it. Here, there is no point, no development of any kind. It is uninspiring and uninteresting for me. I am not a fan of it.
+10 10.7th book
+5 review
+50 BINGO -- B1, I16, N31, G46, O61
65 total
155 season total
15.13 B4 Before: Historical FictionThe Lady Chapel by Candace Robb
Historical Fiction 73 users
Review:
It's been awhile since I read book one of this series, so I had forgotten much of the backstory. For once, I was glad that Candace Robb, the writer, helped me out with small snippets of it.
Still and all, this story is fascinating at the look into history of the time and the politics of it all. A king wanting to finance a war so he could obtain another crown. Merchants and their products caught up in the conflict as the government of the time manipulated the price, thus sparking the merchants to find a go around for their business. And long memories of hatred and revenge for injuries done by those seeking to not be punished for their crimes against the king.
All this intrigue and several murders included would be enough for a medieval story, but this one contains wonderful characters whose inner home lives and personalities are as much of the story as not.
Loved this look into the past.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 310
B - 4,
I -
N -
G -
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
15.14 B5 Biography, Autobiography or MemoirThe Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece by Eric Siblin
This book has all three designations on Main Page.
Review:
In case you didn't notice, this book is nonfiction, although it reads a bit like fiction. It also has been shelved as biography, autobiography, and memoir, which seems a bit confusing until the reader realizes that the biography part is about the composers and performers and the autobiography/memoir part is about the writer himself.
This is the story on two levels of a search for the background lives of J.S. Bach (supposed composer of The Cello Suites) and Pablo Casals (the first performer to bring them to life) on one hand as well as the story of the search for the story itself and its impact on the writer.
Listening to Casals play The Cello Suites as each suite was discussed made for an interesting read.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 330
B - 4, 5,
I -
N -
G -
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
15.15 I17 Title word ends in -ingA Few Right Thinking Men by Sulari Gentill
Review:
I didn't really see the point of this book. And, the mystery was not really compelling.
Mostly it seemed to be a comment on the Sinclair family as representing the elite of Australia post WWI and the political struggles within Australia. Artists are assumed to be communists...and probably were for the most part. There was definitely an idea that the elite of the time/place were the right thinking men, although I was as unsure of that as I was of who the communists were. Seems the right thinking men were the ones in control.
The mystery moved around the fact of Rowland Sinclair's (senior) death. (There were 2 Rowland Sinclairs in this book...the uncle and the nephew. The uncle was beaten to death. The nephew wanted to know who did it and why.)
The only character that I liked well was Edna. She was an independent woman of her time, a sculptress...and a bit of free-thinker. But, she was a side character and not really needed for most of the story. Too bad.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 350
B - 4, 5,
I - 17,
N -
G -
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
15.16 I29 MPE Page count 200-299The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
Page count: MPP 257 pages, MPH 296 pages...most popular by ratings was Kindle 263 pages
Review:
Another new series for me. This one is set in France and is a story that tries to explain the reason the wines from a particular valley were so exceptional. It is also partly a medieval story in that witches were burned and tortured and innocents were swept up in the rage and fear of evil. And, there is the non-magical man who falls in love with a vine witch despite his fear of superstitions. A very believable fantasy that I devoured.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 370
B - 4, 5,
I - 17,
N -
G -
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
15.17 N36 Not a NovelBooked by Kwame Alexander
Review:
This is a novel in verse. Its background and underlying thread is soccer...and the idea of participating in the World Cup in Dallas. But, interwoven through that love by 12 year old Nick is the devastating issues of being bullied and having his family break up through divorce. It is a story of secrets and hopes and reality, of loss and gain, and of growing up.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 390
B - 4, 5,
I - 17,
N -
G -
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
NOTE: I am not sure you will let this one count, so no Bingo claimed.
Bea wrote: "15.7 N36 Not a NovelNOTE: I am not sure you will let this one count, so no Bingo claimed."
Go ahead and edit your post to claim the bingo. While it is a novel, it's construct is unlike that which we designate as such.
15.18 G49 MPE Page count 400-499Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
Page count = 414p
Review:
Oh, my, but 007 is not my cup of tea. And, given that the writer, Jeffery Deaver, is a writer whose books I really enjoy, this book was a big disappointment.
I suspect that part of the issue for me is my prior knowledge from the ether about 007. Ian Fleming's character is very popular in the general social culture of most ages. He is a dashing, courageous, highly specialized spy who always comes out on top with a martini in hand.
Since I am not a re-reader of books, knowing so much about the character before reading this iteration of his story, did not bode well for me nor the story. It just was not surprising enough to live up to the hype. It felt two dimensional to me. I think it would have worked better as a movie where the action is prime and story less so.
Task Points: 15
Review Points: 5
Total Task Points: 20
Season Points: 410
B - 4, 5,
I - 17,
N -
G - 49,
O -
First BINGO (B6, I27, N31, G58, O67)
Second BINGO (B9, I28, N32, G54, O63)
30.49 I21 INFLOW: First letter of title is found in "inflow"Lowcountry Summer. Dorothea Benton Frank
The book irritated me most of the way through. Most of the characters were unlikeable, especially Caroline and the teenage girls. The death of one of the few likeable characters, halfway through the book almost made this a DNF for me. The fact that it was an audio book with an enjoyable narrator/reader, and that I could listen to it while doing other things, made me decide to finish it.
+30 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 35
Season total: 1760
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
30.32-G57-Guardian 1000Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau
Well...if you are a big fan of Jerry Lewis' brand of comedy...perhaps you have a French sense for what is funny...and you might like this zany novel. I had never been a fan of Jerry Lewis...and although I love madcap comedies.... I missed the humor here. (I understand a film was made in France based on this book.) The premise is that a young girl (Zazie) from the provinces is left (dumped) with her Parisian uncle by her irresponsible mother. At times, Zazie seems to be a teenager or in her twenties due to her brash and insulting comments. At other times, her innocence seems to peg her as about 10 years of age. Either way, she's an annoyance...and that is supposed to be the running joke. She causes havoc wherever she goes. I don't think I laughed once however. A bomb for me.
Task=30
Review=5
oldie= 5 (1959)
5th BINGO= 50 (G47,G51;G52,G54,G57)
Task Total= 90
Grand Total=1000
B1*; __;B3*;B4*;B5*;___; B7*; B8*;B9*;B10*;B11:B12*; __;B14*; ___;
I___; ___;I18*;I19*; ___; I21*; I22*; ___;___; ___;___;I27*; ___; ___; ___;
N31;___;N33*;___; ___;N36*;__; N38*;___;__; __;N42*; N43*;N44; __;
G _ ;G47*; __; ___; ___; G51*;G52*;___;G54*; __; __;G57*; __; __; ___;
O61; ___; ___; ___; ___; ___;___;___;O69;O70; ___; ___; __;___;O75
30.50 I29 MPE Page count 200-299 (295 pages)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Jesse Andrews
I've had a run of meh books lately, this one being worse than the last. Greg and Earl are high school seniors, definitely not in the in crowd, just trying to make it through their last year. They make parodies of films, although none are very good. Greg's mother makes Greg visit Rachel, a girl he was friends with in 6th grade, who now has leukemia. They make a film for/about her. My take on this book is that it's trying to channel John Green, but failing.
+30 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 35
Season total: 1795
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
30.49 - G51 Glass Slipper: Any retellingAccomplished: A Georgie Darcy Novel by Amanda Quain
Review
Being a big fan of Pride and Prejudice, I was terrifically excited to see a retelling from a likeable minor character, Georgina Darcy. I'm not usually a fan of contemporary YA but this (!) I had to read. Set in today's New York, it's not necessary for language to be Austenesque and all we expect is that these characters to be true to the originals. Amanda Quain has done a great job fitting these characters into today's world of teen (including fan-fics and instagram!).
Accomplished is a very easy and fast read. It is what I would termed fluff or brain candy because it was just so easy for the eyes & brain but so much fun to read. I must admit that I wasn't too keen on Georgie to begin with but she did have her issues to deal with and she matured in the end and grew on me somewhat. Her naivety and very low self-esteem were to her detriment but the amount of time she spent lamenting over her ruined life and Wickham I really could have done less with. I just don't like the fact that we're giving Wickham more air time lol
I loved seeing Georgina Darcy growing up and owning it. I loved seeing Fitzwilliam Darcy from her sister's perspective and their relationship. I also loved seeing (what little there was to see) Fitz with Lizzie Bennet. A cute retelling though possibly not for the hardcore fan of the classic. It was an entertaining & comfortable read for a grey day.
My thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for this copy of book in exchange of my honest thoughts
+30 Task
+5 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,570
30.45 O71 - First book in seriesWhat the Duke Desires by Sabrina Jeffries
+30 born
Task total = 30
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1360
30.38 I29 MPE page count 200-299The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
+30 task (page count 277)
+5 1997 or earlier (1995)
+50 7th bingo: B13, I29, N41, G53, O74
Post total: 85
Season total: 1160
30.50 - O70 Book pub'd in the 70s, any centuryGreenwitch (The Dark Is Rising #3) by Susan Cooper
+30 Task
+5 Pub. 1974
+50 BINGO (B8 - post #612; I26 - post #518; N32 - post #597; G51 - post #634; O70 - this post)
Post Total: 85
Season Total: 1,655
15.17 - I22, Title has 2 wordsThe War by Michael McDowell
+15 Task
+5 1997 or earlier (1983)
+50 Bingo (B11, I22, N33, G58, O64)
Task total = 70
Season total = 375
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
15.18 - G50, Author born in the 50s, any centuryThe Fortune by Michael McDowell
Born 1950
+15 Task
+5 1997 or earlier (1983)
Task total = 20
Season total = 395
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
15.14 I27 Main character is a Private EyeThe Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout
It felt too long since I'd read one of this series. What makes this series different is the first person narrative by Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe's assistant. His "reports" are full of wise cracks and slang and his attitude is just plain fun. He refers to Wolfe's girth as being "one seventh of a ton". Other typical quips are "I gave him a sawbuck" and "I'd marry her if she didn't have so much money".
This particular episode, first published in 1965, strikes directly at J. Edgar Hoover and the illegal over reach of the FBI. Rachel Bruner, a wealthy widow, her employees and associates are being openly tailed and their phones tapped. None of them is under investigation for anything. She wants Nero Wolfe to get them to stop. As he believes there is no way to force the FBI to stop doing anything, he declines. Until, that is, she puts a check for $100,000 on his desk and says it is just a retainer, his to keep whether or not he succeeds. And so, for the reader, the fun begins.
Is this one of the better installments of the series? Maybe not, but I did enjoy it thoroughly and I'm inclined to give it 4-stars. I admit it might not be worth that 4-star, but I can't resist (any more than Wolfe could resist that retainer!).
+15 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 Before 1997 (1965)
Task total = 25
Season total = 345
20.25 - B12 - Banned booksHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
This is the second book in the Harry Potter series. Harry is in his second year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and has to face his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort, once again under another name.
I listened to the audio read by Stephen Fry and loved it.
+20 Task (202 shelvings for "banned-books")
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 25
Season Total = 735
20.26 - I24 - In search of... Adventure!Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Third in the Harry Potter series and the most exciting so far! Sirius Black, convicted murderer of many and betrayer of Harry's parents, has escaped from the prison of Azkaban, which is guarded by the terrifying Dementors. Sirius Black is headed for Hogwarts and the Dementors follow, and it's hard to know which is worse. Harry has a new broom that promises him victory on the Quidditch field... but where has it come from, and is it safe?
I loved this on audio too, and I will defintely continue with the series!
+20 Task (Adventure main page genre)
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 25
Season Total = 760
20.27 - O74 - Title has On, Off, Out, Over, OnlyThe Land of Later On by Anthony Weller
After taking a suicidal overdose four years after his life partner Lucy died, jazz pianist Kip finds himself in an afterlife where people can visit any time and place they want, or opt to be reborn and lose all their memories. Guided by Walt Whitman, Kip sets out to search for Lucy.
This started out really well but went gradually downhill. The biggest problem for me was that it was all talk. Instead of Kip discovering the potential of this afterlife for himself, he just sits down with Walt Whitman in different locations, and Walt tells him all about it.
+20 Task
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 25
+50 Bingo: Fifth Bingo; B3, I24, N32, G59, O74
Season Total = 835
20.28 - G55 - Title has a word with a double GJack Maggs by Peter Carey
Jack Maggs is a former convict returning to London in 1837 after transportation to New South Wales. Determined to find a man called Henry Phipps for reasons we will eventually discover, he takes a job as a footman at the house next to Phipps's and waits for his quarry to appear. But meanwhile, his life is dangerously complicated by events in the house where he is employed and by a "mesmerist" friend of his employer.
I loved this exploration of an apparently respectable middle-class London world with murky depths and shameful secrets, in which Maggs appears like a mixture of avenging angel and clumsy foreigner, stirring up the past.
+20 Task
+ 5 Oldies (1997)
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 30
Season Total = 865
20.29 - N37 - Non-human main characterThe Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
First volume of The Lord of the Rings. Clearly an astonishing book, but it has become very familiar. It didn't impress me quite the way it did when I first read it as a teenager. But I decided not to mark it down for being a victim of its own success, so I gave it 5 stars. It is an amazing work of imagination, especially in the way that the world and all the different characters are developed in this first volume.
+20 Task (main character Frodo is a hobbit)
+ 5 Oldies (1954)
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 30
Season Total = 895
20.30 - N45 - Set in: Nicaragua, Norway, Netherlands, New ZealandThe Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
Rob Sutherland has a younger brother Charley who makes characters appear out of books. Like Sherlock Holmes and, of course, Uriah Heep, but plenty of others. These then become living, breathing people who struggle to fit into the modern world, until or unless Charley "puts them back" into their books. It used to be fun. But now that Rob and Charley have grown up, it causes a lot of tension between them - especially when it becomes clear that someone else is also "summoning" characters out of books.
I really loved this in many ways. The relationship of the brothers with its lifelong bond but tormented jealousy is so well done. But I thought the book was a little too long, and I couldn't sympathise with Rob given the way he treats his longtime girlfriend - not only does he not trust her and constantly put her second to his brother, but when she is in mortal danger and possibly dead, does he rush to her aid? No. Does he even care? Apparently not. Her name barely crosses his mind for 50 pages or more.
It's a fun book, but it could have been even more fun for me if there had been no girlfriend so we could believe Rob was basically a good guy, and that would have made the book shorter too.
+20 Task (100% in Wellington, New Zealand)
+ 5 Review
Task Total = 25
Season Total = 920
15.13 I26 InternationalThe Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
A fascinating true story of Cold War espionage. This is the story of a KGB double agent, Oleg Gordievsky. His information and his analysis of the Soviet leaders were important parts of the Cold War thaw and downfall of the USSR. Macintyre writes the story well including suspense and human errors.
+15 task
+5 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 325
50.51 - I19 Author first name is Ian/Iain, Isaac, Ivan/a, Isabel, IrisA Shadow on the Glass (The View from the Mirror #1) by Ian Irvine
+50 Task
+5 586 pages
Post Total: 55
Season Total: 1,710
15.17 B2 - Title has 2BRiot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
Task - 15
Post total: 15
Season total: 355
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29
N 34,44,39, 42
G56,52,59
O 65,66,71
15.18 N43 - 3 word title Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
Task- 15
Post total: 15
Season total: 370
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29
N 34,44,39, 42,43
G56,52,59
O 65,66,71
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (other topics)The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm (other topics)
The Fairy Caravan (other topics)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold (other topics)
Fascination In France (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Harold S. Kushner (other topics)Beatrix Potter (other topics)
Toshikazu Kawaguchi (other topics)
Barbara Cartland (other topics)
C.J. Sansom (other topics)
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Simone Veil, l'Immortelle by Pascal Bresson
Biography in a graphic novel format of Simone Veil, french health minister in the 70's who is a holocaust survivor and passed the abortion law in France.
+15 Task
Task total = 15
Season total = 305
B:
7,3, 11, 5I:
28,23N:
36,37, 33G:
59,47, 58O:
61,68, 64, 71