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SU 22 Completed Tasks
50.58 B3 Booker Prize, winners and nomineesThe English Patient. Michael Ondaatje
This book has been on my radar for a few years, and this challenge gave me the impetus to read it. Sadly, it was everything I don't like about Literary Fiction, and I'm ready to go back to some light reading soon.
+50 - task
+5 - review
*+5 - published in 1992
Post total: 55 + *5
Season total: 2285 +*5 (2290)
B:
I:
N:
G:
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(view spoiler)
50.53 I19 - Author first nameThe Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
+50 Task first name is Iain
Task total = 50
+50 Bingo: Tenth Bingo B5, I19, N36, G54, O63
Post Total: 100
Season Total: 1770
30.47 N36 not a novelThe Junction by Norm Konyu
This was an eerie, haunting story with absolutely gorgeous art. It’s an unusual style for a graphic novel, but it works so well. The characters do not have much in the way of features, so expressions are rendered in the tilt of a head or a subtle change in the semi-circle of a mouth. And there is so much in the textures and layering of color. It looks simplistic but it has depth.
To the story - Lucas vanished when he was 11, then returned 12 years later, still 11. He kept a diary that investigators hoped would hold clues, but seems to be nonsense.
I thought I knew what the big reveal was, but I was wrong. Close, but not quite. Konya does something unexpected, and I could not stop thinking about it.
+30 task
+5 review
Task total = 35
Season total = 1665
B
I20
N36
G
O
30.48 O74 title contains OnlyWe Only Find Them When They're Dead, Vol. 1: The Seeker by Al Ewing
I started my review by saying there was a lot of action packed into volume 1, and actually it’s not true. It just feels like it, because the pacing is breakneck.
The story centers on the 4 person crew of an autopsy ship - there are giant humaniod gods in space, and they are dead. But their corpses are mined for all sorts of things, and ships race out to stake claims and cut away bit to sell. Of course, giant corporations are in control, and to prevent miners from having too much independence via the black market, there are escort ships that monitor the action and they WILL blow you up if you try to sneak anything.
Paula is one of the escorts, and she really hates Georges and is just looking for a reason to take him out. Georges meanwhile believes that there are living gods and he is desperate to find one.
SPACE CONFLICT ensues, and it’s all very colorful and fast and exciting.
+30 task
+5 review
Task total = 35
Season total = 1700
B
I20
N36
G
O74
30.49 B7 Best booksThe Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
4.10 rating
This was a crispity crunchity delight of a novel. It’s a balm to the 2020-2021-2022-ravaged soul. In the afterword, Scalzi explains that he was writing a NOVEL but… 2020. And he just couldn’t. So he scrapped his srs bzns work, and his brain flooded with the fun stuff in one mega burst of inspiration. Kaiju! Aggressive tree crabs! Poopfruit! “Homeopathic physics” (lolol)!
Besides the super fun plot, I loved the characters. I loved that they were diverse in an organic way, it’s never “look I’m being inclusive!” There is an important non-binary character and we only know they are enby because they/them pronouns are used. Just used. ZERO exposition, and I mean zero. I loved that Jamie Grey is a gender neutral name and we never know what the MC identifies as. No attention is drawn to this in the text, I just noticed and appreciated it.
Recommended.
+30 task
+5 review
Task total = 35
Season total = 1735
B7
I20
N36
G
O74
50.59 I25 ITW Thriller Award (winners and nominees) - found on page 9 of the listThe Poacher's Son. Paul Doiron
As a rule, I prefer cozy mysteries to suspense/thrillers, so I was a little concerned that this would turn out to be something I didn't like, but I did. It moved right along, and the parallel storyline about the world of being a game warden in Maine was interesting. My heart went out to the main character, as I found what he had to cope with to be unfathomable.
+50 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 55
Season total: 2345
B:
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(view spoiler)
20.1 - N31: A New to me author Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer
Page count of PB: 818 - 5 points
Task 20
Post : 25
Season total: 425
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29,22, 17
N 34,44,39, 42,43, 31
G56,52,49,59
O 65,66,71
20.2 - G58 - Ghost or Paranormal Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Task 20
Post : 20
Season total: 445
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29,22, 17
N 34,44,39, 42,43,31
G56,52, 49,59,58
O 65,66,71
20.3 - O69 - author read before The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
Task: 20
Bingo #4 - B2, I22, N42, G49, O69 = 50
Post: 70
Season total: 515
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29,22, 17
N 34,44,39, 42,43,31
G56,52, 49,59,58
O 65,66,71,69
20.4- I16 - No I in author name The Warrior by Stephen Aryan
Task : 20
Post : 20
Season total: 535
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29,22, 17, 16
N 34,44,39, 42,43
G56,52, 49,59,58
O 65,66,71,69
20.5 - O72 Set in Ohio Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Task: 20
Post: 20
Season total : 555
B4,7,6,2
I24,21,29,22, 17,16
N 34,44,39, 42,43,31
G56,52,49,59,58
O 65,66,71, 69, 72
15.17 B1 Title has 1 wordJarrettsville by Cornelia Nixon
MY HOUSE WAS right across the road from the hotel, and I heard the shots. At first I thought it was the usual high spirits, the Yanks congratulating themselves all over again. Every damn year since Lee betrayed us all and signed the truce, they got themselves up like peacocks, plumed hats, gold braid, and swords they did not know how to use, and pranced around a meadow for the ladies to admire. Then they would repair to the hotel that I was cursed to live too near and pour whiskey down their gullets all night long. They got so full of themselves, they would sing weepy battle hymns and lie about the glory they had shed. I could hear them perfectly.And so begins this very interesting novel. The shots heard were that of Martha Jane Cairnes shooting Nick McComas in April 1869.
Each of the chapters and sub-chapters is told in the first person by various characters. This first chapter, set in 1869, is told by various observers of the event and its immediate aftermath. Following that first chapter, the novel skips back to April of 1965 and we learn what leads up to that day in 1869 that opens the novel. I thought each of the voices was distinct and revealing of both their own character and that of others. With one exception, no one has a second first person narrative, but most have at least cameo appearances in the narratives of others. Martha Jane and Nick each get their own fairly long chapter.
Not every narrator is as explicity offensive as is that of the opener, but he isn't the only one to be so openly brazen about the "righteousness" of the South and hatred of the Northerners. The time and setting is that of Maryland recovering from the defeat of the South in the US Civil War. I have no sympathy for them while I can understand how many continued to believe in their cause. Some narrators were those who fought for the North and/or had been abolitionists before the war began.
In this way, it is not just the story of how Martha Jane Cairns came to shoot Nick McComas. Martha and Nick were real people and the shooting was a true event. The author is careful to reveal how she researched their story and shares some of the contemporaneous newspaper accounts. Overall I liked this novel, but I didn't just love it and can't quite find a 5th star.
+15 Task
+ 5 Review
Task total = 20
Season total = 460
15.16 N 39 Non human main characterAcorna's Triumphby Anne McCaffrey
Task +15
Grand total: 240
B
I
N 38,39
G
O
20.21 I29 (288 pages)The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeyser
Review
I had a hard time rating this book. I'm giving it 3 stars but that might be generous. I live in Alaska and have actually worked at Alaskan resorts and this book does an extremely good job of depicting that seasonal lifestyle realistically. This book felt incredibly real to me. Beyond that, though? I can't say I enjoyed it at all. The character was supposed to be just barely out of high school, but she felt several years older. And it was straight up a depressing read. If you want gritty realistic Alaskan fiction, this hits that nail on the head, but it's not fun.
+20 task
+5 review
+50 BINGO
Task total = 75
grand total = 580
BINGO 1 = B9, I16, N37, G58, O71
BINGO 2 = B15, I17, N36, G47, O68
BINGO 3 = B13, I28, N31, G59, O62
BINGO 4 = B7, I29, N42, G54, O69
BINGO 5 = B__, I__, N__, G50, O__
Numbers Used = 7,9,13,15,16,17,28, 29,31,36,37,42,47,50, 54, 58, 59, 62, 68, 69, 71
15.17 G56 Giggles-humorSqueeze Me by Carl Hiaasen
I have read a couple of Hiaasen’s books and enjoyed them. This is first time I have read an audio edition. I hadn’t noticed how raunchy they are before. I guess you can elide the gutter language when reading in print.
But again, a fun read, poking fun at the wealthy and those who have no understanding of the flora and fauna of the world they inhabit. Most of the good and bad guys get their just rewards.
+15 MPG Humor
+5 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 465
30.50 G46 Set in GermanyYou Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann
Hmm. I wanted to love this, at it has the seeds of a truly freaky story, but ultimately there was not enough meat on the good bones.
A screenwriter, his wife, and young child head to a very remote AirBnB in a picturesque German town. The story is told via his notebook - there are scenes from his project and diary entries… he’s supposed to be writing the sequel to his hit comedy, but soon the screenplay reflects the tension in his marriage. And something else…
I saw some reviews that compared this to The Shining, but the above is all they have in common. This is not a ghost story or even one about personal demons. It’s much more like House of Leaves, but not nearly as scary. HoL made me afraid of my closet for a good while… this threatened but never delivered on the terror. It’s a shame, because it’s all there - just in outline.
Still - while I was not scared reading it, some scenes are still bubbling in my brain and they might make tonight not very restful….
+30 task
+5 review
+50 BINGO
Task total = 85
Season total = 1820
B7
I20
N36
G46
O74
50.54 - O72 Set in: Ohio, Oklahoma Oregon, or Ontario (Canada)Egg Drop Dead (Noodle Shop Mystery #5) by Vivien Chien
100% Ohio
+50 Task
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 1,870
50.55 - B15 Boxall's 1001 Books (any on shelf)Dracula by Bram Stoker
+50 Task
+5 pub. 1897
+50 BINGO (B15 - this post #; I19 - post #648; N40 - post #709; G60 - post #680; O72 - post #768)
Post Total: 105
Season Total: 1,975
50.56 - I20 Author born in the 20s, any centuryShattered by Dick Francis
born 1920 as per GR profile
+50 Task
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 2,025
50.57 - N44 Author has 2 sets of double letters in nameThe Night Ship by Jess Kidd
Review
"The dead can't hurt you, Gil. It's the living you need to watch out for."
I read a history book on Batavia a few years ago so I knew the horrific things that went on then. I was curious though with the last line of the book description, "two children, hundreds of years apart, whose destinies are inextricably bound together." This seems like a timeslip sort of read to me which is a favourite of mine.
Of course, then, there are 2 perspectives: Mayken in 1629 as a passenger of Batavia and Gil in 1989 as boy coming to live with his grandfather on Beacon Island. Neither fit their expected moulds and seek to express their individualism which attracted scorn and more. There wasn't actually a huge link between them but what there was keeps making me think that there was going to be more. Sitting back after the read, however, I thought what there was was rather sweet in its poignancy and nothing more is needed.
The Night Ship is a story of grief and courage; the depravity of people and also the loving side of human nature. It's all bound up together is a messy knot but you just can't give up hope. A terribly riveting read as I could truly imagine myself being tossed about by the waves on a ship made of wood and all kinds of horrible smells abound. I was completely mesmerised by the characters and very much under their spells as I just needed to know what happens to them at the end.
+50 Task
+5 Review
Post Total: 55
Season Total: 2,080
50.60 N38 NICKEL: first letter of title is found of "nickel"It's Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake. Claire Christian
Noni Blake is in her mid-thirties and searching for her best life. She lives in Australia, teaches high school and has spent the last few years getting over the break up of a long term relationship and loss of a hoped for child. She decides to take six months to travel to Europe and see and do things and people and just be happy to be her. The problem arises when she meets someone whom she has a fling with, but it turns out not to be a fling. For me, the point of the book was finding out and wholly accepting who were are.
+50 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 55
Season total: 2400
B:
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(view spoiler)
30.37 N39 MPE Page count 300-399Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater
+30 Task (340 pages)
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 1070
30.39 B12 Banned booksUlysses by James Joyce
+30 Task
+. 5 Jumbo (783 pages)
+. 5 Pre- 1997 (1922)
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 1140
Task 15.19 G49 MPE Page count 400-499The Swan Gondola (2014) by Timothy Schaffert (Goodreads Author) (Hardcover, 458 pages)
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 390 + 15 = 405
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
[Bingo #1: B3, I6, N32, G51, O61]
[Bingo #2: B6, I22, N38, G53, O63]
15.18 I22 Title has 2 wordsDeath's End by Liu Cixin
15 pts 15.18
5 pts Review
An adventure with humanity struggling against enemies? They cannot see and don’t understand. The universe and humans’ relationship within it, the nature of time and civilization, the role of threats and possibilities are all explored. Difficult to follow on occasion and at the end a metaphysical exposition on the nature of life and civilization.
Task Total: 20 pts
Season total: 440 pts
Bingo #1. B4 B5 B6 B7 B13
Bingo #2 I16 I17 I27 I29 I30
B9
I22
N32 N38 N41 N43
G54 G56
O
60.61 B6 BEARDS: First letter of title is found of "beards"A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons. Kate Khavari
A new mystery series taking place in 1923 in London, England at the University where Saffron Everleigh is a research assistant in the botany department. When her mentor, Dr. Maxwell, is accused of poisoning another professor's wife, Saffron and Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, work together to solve the mystery, and end up with their lives in danger, as a result.
I look forward to further adventures for Saffron and Alexander, and her friend, Elizabeth in future installments.
+60 - task
+5 - review
+50 Bingo #11: B3; B6; B13; B14; B15
Post total: 115
Season total: 2515
B:
I:
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(view spoiler)
50.51 B9 100-199 pagesFeed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo
112 pages
At first, I struggled with this novel, because I could not suspend my disbelief with the premise. The technology that allows Sean to experience the mind of a wolf is brand-new, as in she is the first human subject. A wild animal? Wild-wild, not even zoo-wild.
Soon enough though, I fell into the world of the story and real-world logic stopped mattering and he story-logic made sense. Shady private funding hoping to exploit dying species using VR is absolutely plausible.
This is a deeply engrossing, slightly depressing story of “catastrophic selfishness” as one character puts it. Sean is desperate for connection, and thinks she will find it via her neural link with the wolf. However, as in all her relationships, Sean takes but does not willingly give. Even as she acknowledges her hubris and culpability, Sean is still seeking to justify, to remain the hero of her story.
I thought this would be a “woman finds power in going feral” book, but it’s about invasive entitlement and destructive desire.
Recommended
Review of advanced copy via NetGalley
+50 task
+ 5 review
Task total = 55
Season total = 1875
50.54 I18 - InspirationalGilead by Marilynne Robinson
+50 Task
Task total = 50
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 1820
50.55B12 - Banned booksThe Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
+50 Task
+5 Oldies pub 1958
Task total = 55
Post Total: 55
Season Total: 1875
20.26 n31 New to Me AuthorWest with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
This is the story of an 105 year old man, in a VA hospital, reflecting back on (and writing down) the defining story in his life. The novel is based on true events. In 1938 the San Diego Zoo had bought a pair of young giraffes that then had to be shipped from Kenya. The giraffes made it to New York City through a massive hurricane and then had to be driven across country. Our protagonist (Woody Nickel) was a Dust Bowl orphan of seventeen, who has also just survived the hurricane, when he first lays eyes on the giraffes. From there the story unfolds.
Right from the first paragraph, this story flows. It is being told from Woody’s point of view, and the pacing of this ‘coming of age’ story is spot on. However, this is more than a coming of age novel. There are subtle kindnesses, first love, oblique (but still powerful) allusions to the lack of rights for blacks and women; and most importantly the bigger question of what we as a species lose when we kill off all the other species we share the earth with. And, of course, there are giraffes. They are never anthropomorphized in the novel, but they still have a lot of charm! 5*
20 task
5 review
_____
25
Running total: 815
20.27 n40 Book pub'd in the 40s, any centuryThe Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
This is a short satiric novel by Waugh. It was written after he had spent some time in Hollywood when there were discussions about filming ‘Brideshead Revisited’. While he was there he visited Forest Lawn cemetery, which (apparently) inspired him to write this novel. The satire is directed at the British expats in Hollywood, the film business and the funeral business in LA. I found the parts with the British expats the most amusing. 3.5*
20 task
5 oldie
5 review
_______
30
Running total: 845
20.28 n32 Neighbors - on another GR group's bookshelfhttps://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Weekend at Thrackley by Alan Melville
This was Melville’s first novel (he had published short works previously), and he did quite well here. The novel is more of a thriller than a mystery (in the usual sense). We (the reader) suspect early on who the ‘bad guy’ is, but what is he up to exactly? Melville seems to be trying out various elements here – gothic, country house mystery, a small romance. There is some humor as well. Overall, I quite enjoyed this Golden Age mystery. Although, as a contemporary reader you do have to suspend disbelief a little (particularly if you have read a lot of mysteries). There were some elements that seemed very modern, considering it was written in 1934. 4*
20 task
5 oldie
5 review
_____
30
Running total: 875
20.29 n44 Author has 2 sets of double letters in nameThe Fourth Side of the Triangle by Ellery Queen
I didn’t realize, until I read GR and Wikipedia, that this is a ghost written instalment of the Ellery Queen mysteries. I liked the way it was structured, that worked quite well. ‘Who did it’ was not a surprise though and telegraphed very early on (even though you aren’t 100% until the very end). One of the younger main character’s attitude towards marriage REALLY surprised me – given the backstory he was assigned, and that this novel was written in 1965. I did like it overall though. It was a good way to spend an afternoon. 3*
20 task
5 oldie
5 review
_____
30
Running total: 905
20.30 n37 Non human main characterFugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Ah, Murderbot. I enjoy these Murderbot instalments so much! I wish they were longer, but I guess Wells has to crank them out to satisfy fans like me, who just want more, more, more. This is a little bit of a low key instalment, in that there is just one murder (which Murderbot had nothing to do with). The world building is interesting though, and the solution to the mystery (of the murder) involves a lot more information about this universe. 4*
20 task
5 review
____
25
50 bingo #6 n31, 32, 37, 40, 44
_____
75
Running total: 980
owned books used: 23/30 (3 ebooks)
40.42 O68 Author name does not contain the letter O.To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters
+30 Task
Post total: 30
Season Total: 1330
50.56 I24 - In search of AdventureLight Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton
+50 Task
Task total = 50
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 1925
Task 15.20 N35 NoirThis novel has MPG of Mystery > Noir
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1935) by Horace McCoy (Paperback, 128 pages)
Review: Noir mysteries typically feature cynical heroes and a bleak outlook on human life. This short novel certainly fits the genre. Our protagonists (I hesitate to call them heroes) are aspiring film actors/actresses. To make money, and gain exposure to hiring directors, they sign up to compete in a dance marathon. The website https://www.historylink.org/file/5534.... says: Dance Marathons (also called Walkathons), an American phenomenon of the 1920s and 1930s, were human endurance contests in which couples danced almost non-stop for hundreds of hours (as long as a month or two), competing for prize money. As reflected in this novel, the dance marathon was brutal for the participants. The novel includes random acts of violence, both physical and emotional. The title is the last line of the novel and fits the novel very well. Recommended only for a bleak, gloomy, depressing reading experience.
Additionally – Jane Fonda starred in a 1969 movie based on the book (see: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi21305101... )
+15 Task
+05 Review
Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20
[Bingo #3: B4, I21, N35, G49, O75]
Grand Total: 405 + 20 + 50 = 475
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
[Bingo #1: B3, I6, N32, G51, O61]
[Bingo #2: B6, I22, N38, G53, O63]
20.24 - G52 - Goodreads Choice AwardFinal Girls by Riley Sager
+ 20 task - 2017 horror nominee
Task total: 20
Grand total: 530
20.22 I27 (Poirot is a private detective) The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Review:
After reading A is for Arsenic and watching a couple of the newer, very well done movie adaptations of her novels, I'm now on a half-hearted mission to read some Agatha Christie. I've read her before, but always found her books to be pretty mediocre. This is her first novel, and the first appearance of Poirot, and I kept my expectations low. It was better than I thought, and although this is beside the point, I think Kenneth Branagh did a fabulous job portraying Poirot and imagining him as the character as I read helped keep me engaged. This wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't great. My biggest gripe with it was the ending, where basically Poirot gives us a long-winded explanation for everything that in a better book would have been revealed more subtly to us over time.
+20 task
+5 review
+5 old (1920)
Task total = 30
grand total = 610
BINGO 1 = B9, I16, N37, G58, O71
BINGO 2= B15, I17, N36, G47, O68
BINGO 3= B13, I28, N31, G59, O62
BINGO 4= B7, I29, N42, G54, O69
BINGO 5 =B__, I27, N__, G50, O__
Numbers used 7,9,13,15,16,17,27,28,29,31,36,37,42,47,50,54,58,59,62,68,69,71
50.52 O75 (author lived to 75+)Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 by Stan Lee
(Died at 95)
Classic old-school comics were never my thing (especially Marvel), so I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It was cute, it was funny, it was full of WHAM-POW action.
It’s not mcuh to my taste, but it wasn’t tedious, offensive, or too juvenile. Honestly, I was expecting at least one of those three pitfalls.
I enjoyed the fore- and afterwards in this collection, because I had no idea that modern superheroes started with the Fantasic Four. Before this series, heroes were aspirational, not flawed. The Four are annoying. They fight constantly. They have huge egos. They even go bankrupt after investing in bad stocks! And super-powered does not mean super-intelligent (Johnny forgets there is no air in space… I mean….)
The main plot of each issue is essentially “wouldn’t this be cool?!” There’s no depth or layers - but it took me back to playing pretend as a child. There’s something to be said for having few narrative rules. And there are so many scenes that tickled me. The resolution of the Skrull issue… the Sub-Mariner’s reveal after a hot shave…the way that in-universe, comic books are superhero newspapers (or Tiger-Beat-esque fan mags)…
There’s a ton of happy energy and imagination in these pages.
+50 task
+5 review
+5 oldie (1987)
Task total = 60
Season total = 1935
B9
I
N
G
O75
10.10 O70 - Published in the 70sFear of Flying by Erica Jong
This is a book that I've felt like I should read for a long time. It's got this classic mystique about it, and is the origin of zipless fucks, which is such a great term. Just the fact that anyone was willing to put out female sexuality in it's raw form--neurotic, irrational, not always nice--is important. The actual character can be insufferable. And maybe hasn't aged as well as Jong would have wanted--I imagine she cringes in rereading some of these passages. And maybe the whole book isn't exactly fun to read.
So, I'm glad to have read this, but I'm not sure I'd exactly recommend it.
+10 Task (pub. 1973)
+5 Oldies
+5 Review
Task total: 20
First Bingo - B7, I17, N36, G50, O70
+50 Bingo
Post total: 65
Grand total: 210
60.62 O69 Often: Author you have read beforeDeep in the Valley. Robyn Carr
I've read many books by Robyn Carr, but this was a brand new series for me. It's a companion series to the Virgin River books, but better. The characters June Hudson and John Stone are peripheral characters in that series, but here we learn their individual stories. It was a nice change of pace.
+60 - task
+5 - review
Post total: 65
Season total: 2580
B:
I:
N:
G:
O:
(view spoiler)
20.24 I30: Published in the 30s Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Enjoyed this one! Of course I've heard of it many times, always been a vague to-read, but it was nice to actually read it. I enjoy a good locked room mystery and this one, plot-wise, was fun and twisty. I did roll my eyes a little at Poirot - I know it's part of the fun and part of the character, but some of his sheer arrogance is both funny and somewhat grating. What do you mean you haven't solved the mystery? What's wrong with you? Then he reveals something that no one else could have ever guessed. I definitely would not have wanted to be his friend, but reading about him is fun.
+20 Task (pub'd 1934)
+ 5 Oldies
+ 5 Review
Task total: 30
Season Total: 665
50.58 - B13 Bridesmaid: Book nominated for 2+ awards, never a winnerPiano Lessons: A Memoir by Anna Goldsworthy
+50 Task
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 2,130
50.57 O72 - set in OhioThe Squirrel-Cage by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
+50 Task
+5 Oldies pub 1912
Task total = 55
+50 Bingo: Eleventh Bingo B6, I18, N42, G47, O72
Post Total: 105
Season Total: 2030
15.18 I22 Title has 2 wordsDark Passage by David Goodis
The Goodreads description is as brief and accurate as any I would want. It tells us only the beginning: that Vincent Parry was convicted of the murder of his wife and sentenced to life at San Quentin. He managed to escape prison and return to San Francisco.
The book is written in third person limited and we know what Parry is seeing and thinking at all times. One would not think reader sympathy would be with an escaped convict. There are reasons to believe he was wrongly convicted. For much of the novel I thought the style and cadence of the writing is much like the hard-boiled writers, though there is no detective in this. He got another good look at her. She was twenty-seven if she was a day. Give her a big break and call her twenty-six. He saw lines under her eyes that told him she didn’t get much sleep.
Goodis manages to create tension for the reader - even fear for Parry - through his writing. There were passages when Parry thought he was being pursued by the police and he was afraid and what would he do and could he escape through the window, where is the fire escape. My extended run-on sentence here is only a glimpse of what Goodis manages to do to have the reader feel how trapped Parry felt.
Not long after the serial publication of the novel, it was made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I have not seen the film, but I can certainly see each of them in this - Bogart in particular. I want to thank my Goodreads friend, Denise, for leading me to David Goodis. This is superb noir and, for me, crosses over that 4-/5-star barrier.
+15 Task
+ 5 Review
+ 5 Before 1997 (1946)
Task total = 25
Season total = 485
10.1-N31 New To Me AuthorClara and Mr. Tiffany
A wonderful HF about the woman behind the glass of Tiffany lamps and windows.
In 1893 Clara Discroll, an artist. was an employee of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Funded by his wealthy father, Louis operated a stained glass operation, and Clara took over "the women's department" which helped establish Tiffany as master of glasswork.
Clara lived in a boarding house with other bohemian artists from all fields of the arts. It was an eclectic group and they forged lifetime friendships. I enjoyed their stories immensely .
I had never heard of Clara before reading this book and I found her a fascinating woman. Not only an artist, but for the era she lived in, a strong independent woman.
+10 Task
+5 Reveiw
Task Total 15
Season Total 15
Joanne wrote: "30.31-N31 New To Me AuthorClara and Mr. Tiffany
A wonderful HF about the woman behind the glass of Tiffany lamps and windows.
In 1893 Clara Discroll, an artist. was an employee o..."
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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)
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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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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Omnibus by Philip K. Dick
b 1928
I should have read the book. As a graphic novel, this was tedious. I did not care for the art, nor how medium was used. This was not an adaptation, but an illustrated version of the novel. And it suffered for it - for example, there are boxes with “he said” underneath the dialog bubbles… come ON.. I tossed it aside after the first part, but found myself going back because the story is so interesting.
I was surprised at how very little the film Blade Runner has in common with its source book - the film takes the setup and goes off on its own. Blade Runner 2049 felt closer to the text.
So… I didn’t like this format but I did like the text. It’s meatier than I expected and I really just should have read the book format.
+30 task
+5 review
+5 jumbo
Task total = 40
Season total = 1630
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