Reading with Style discussion

Denise wrote: "Definitely, a big thank you to Rosemary and the other mods. Good wishes to all of you."
Yes! Yes!

I find the “young” style frustrating. Many current authors, rightly so, do not list birth dates or admit to their age in interviews.

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "I find the “young” style frustrating. Many current authors, rightly so, do not list birth dates or admit to their age in interviews."

Yes, I have had trouble too. Fortunately I figure for one, if he won a "40 under 40" prize last year he will work ...

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "I find the “young” style frustrating. Many current authors, rightly so, do not list birth dates or admit to their age in interviews."

I tend not to read young authors. They speak to a younger audience (including most current authors who haven't been publishing long). That said, I have a trilogy slotted that I hope to get to by a fellow who died before reaching the age of 50.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon

I have had the exact thoughts expressed by Kathleen (itpdx) and Elizabeth (Alaska). I love the Old style, and wonder if the younger group members groan when they see it like I groan when I see the Young style.

Hahahaha! I am going to *ahem* claim middle age ;), and I have actually found myself reading more younger writers this year, because their books are the ones attracting my attention, but I still have lots of favourite older writers that I have not completed.

Apple wrote: "Hahahaha! I am going to *ahem* claim middle age ;), and I have actually found myself reading more younger writers this year, because their books are the ones attracting my attention, but I still ha..."

It’s great that you can connect with both age groups!

I have found myself reading sci fi, fantasy and Asian fiction, all of which have lots of interesting young writers right now

I like to read a mix of older and younger authors, and my library book discussion groups lean toward recent books by younger authors. As Kathleen wrote, the younger writers often do not publish their date of birth. With so much identity theft, I think they are making a good choice. But it does make it difficult to claim the young style sometimes, even as you see a twenty-something author in the author photograph.

It's funny to see this discussion here. Just last evening, before we went out for dinner, I squeezed in a bit of RwS research and ran into the same problem. I looked in the obvious places for info on a particular author (her website, the publisher's website) and see a photo that she looks young in..... but no birthdate.

Here is a list of authors from the most recent database I have (late May 2024) who were born after 1974 and are still living. There are over 1000 of them. This list does not include authors who died young.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Here is a link to authors who died younger than 51. Again, this is from a May 2024 database, so won't include any you've claimed this summer.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Also, I have pencilled in for 20.3 Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta, born 1981. I have so many options, I may not get to her, but she's not on the list above, so thought I'd mention her.

#6 C Carbon
#10 Ne Neon
#91 Pa Protactinium
#88 Ra Radium

And for 20.4, I have Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran (1977-2014), who combos with 20.3.

#18 Ar Argon
#1 H Hydrogen
#95 Am Americium
#88 Ra Radium

Thank you for those lists, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Here is a list of authors from the most recent database I have (late May 2024) who were born after 1974 and are still living. There are over 1000 of them. This list does not include authors who die..."

Thanks for sharing those databases, Elizabeth (Alaska). I would never have thought of Curtis Sittenfeld, who works for the Elements task. Maybe I’ll get some Young points after all.

Thanks for the helpful databases, Elizabeth.

Yes, Elizabeth thank you for the databases.
I read a lot of nonfiction. I think many journalists, scientists, historians, etc. are into the meat of their career in their 40’s and their writing is not juvenile. I just wish there was some easy way to get the information on their age.

Love the new tasks. I've had fun today looking at combos and such.

Kathleen (itpdx) wrote: "I just wish there was some easy way to get the information on their age."

It seems they want to protect their privacy. I might be willing to give my age so someone could do the math, but I try to protect my actual birthdate. I am surprised when I see authors (or members) list their birthday, but not the year.

It looks like lots of combos this season. And I like the new rule about group reads. Will that be a permanent change or just for this season?

Denise wrote: "It looks like lots of combos this season. And I like the new rule about group reads. Will that be a permanent change or just for this season?"

I don't think we've decided for sure yet. Because we had task creators from both spring and summer, we had a smaller number of group reads than usual this season, so we decided to expand the task a bit. We'll see how everyone likes it this time.

Joanna wrote: "We'll see how everyone likes it this time."

This is something we had never considered and I'll just raise my hand to say I like it. The Group Reads task has always had the fewest choices and some of us like to use books we have - or at least limit the number of acquisitions per challenge. Expanding it to include all books by a specific author is a nice change.

Joanna wrote: "Denise wrote: "It looks like lots of combos this season. And I like the new rule about group reads. Will that be a permanent change or just for this season?"

I don't think we've decided for sure y..."

Thanks Joanna, nice to learn what inspired the change. I’m hoping it will be popular. Elizabeth mentioned some positive things about it. Also, I like the incentive to investigate other books by the Group Read authors. It seems like many times most of the authors are ones I’ve never read.

It also means that when you are nominating a book you can choose one that is later in a series.

I also like and appreciate the changes-a lot of times the books listed include a lot of books that I have already read and hardly ever re-read a book. Being able to use the author helps out a lot.

We have a challenge! I know the mods must feel a sense of accomplishment.

I'm excited for all of these tasks. It will be a wonderful season.

I love the fall tasks. The mods and task creators did a great job!

I agree!

The most exciting part, at the moment, is - if I stick with the plan(!!) - there is a possibility to read 17 owned books! That is a decent chunk out of the tower of books!

Also - I love 10.1 - this just proves that if you hang on to a book long enough eventually it will fit a RwS task! ha, ha......

I wanted to throw out a HUGE thank you to Elizabeth for graciously letting us use her spectacular Scrabble game this season! I can’t wait to play it!!

I had such a good time making that. I hope everyone has fun!

We didn't use the Series style for quite some time because it wasn't moderator friendly. The last time we did use it, I had cobbled together something so at least Kate could see what was going on.

This season we also have the Multiple style which was used (mostly) in the easy-going summers before we started with sub-challenge summers.

To get the compounding effect of the Series style means abandoning the use of the Multiple style. It's an interesting combination and one that increases the challenge strategies for us members.

I have 2 trilogies I hope to read this fall. They all obviously work for 20.7 Art, where I could get an easy 5 Multiple points, but I'd have to give up the Series points for the 2nd and 3rd installments by doing so. I feel fortunate that I was able to find additional places for them.

I had planned 7 books from a series in Scrabble, and am now desperately trying to move them to the main challenge.

And, how many different challenges can I schedule Poirot or Marple for ???

The first time we had the Series style, I read 5 Poirot mysteries.

Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and works for 20.8.

She also works for 20.3:
#47 Ag Silver
#85 At Astatine
#1 H Hydrogen
#89 Ac Actinium

That's 2! 😂

So far I have added a 10.5, but the new tasks pop up when I get up in the morning, and then I have to go to work, which might be okay for an hour as no one else is there, but I have a long wait until I can do a proper review 😭

Apple wrote: "So far I have added a 10.5, but the new tasks pop up when I get up in the morning, and then I have to go to work, which might be okay for an hour as no one else is there, but I have a long wait unt..."

Big smile!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "To get the compounding effect of the Series style means abandoning the use of the Multiple style. It's an interesting combination and one that increases the challenge strategies for us members."

Yes! I thought this was a cool combination for that reason. Thanks for noticing ;)

Valerie wrote: "Also - I love 10.1 - this just proves that if you hang on to a book long enough eventually it will fit a RwS task! ha, ha......"

Yes, thanks for this task mods! I would be happy to see it repeated occasionally. It's embarrassing how often I neglect to read a book because it won't earn RWS points.

Thanks Apple for stepping up as a mod.

Thank you, Apple, for helping out as a moderator!

That's nice that you are able to help out again, Apple!

Sunday, August 25, Ketchikan had a couple of landslides. In the larger one, a man was killed and 3 others injured. There was extensive damage to some houses and people have been evacuated. I think they can't yet return to their homes. I read today that some of the houses are slated to be demolished.

The smaller of the two landslides was near the library. It wasn't damaged but, due to hauling mud and debris from both slides, the library is temporarily closed.

We live a little over a mile from any of this and no damage or injuries here.

It’s a strange world we live in, Elizabeth. We have had high winds here every day except one for two weeks. Fortunately I think we have been death free, but the damage is extensive.

I think this has impacted 4 States, so almost half the country land mass wise, but these are the most populated parts.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Sunday, August 25, Ketchikan had a couple of landslides. In the larger one, a man was killed and ... We live a little over a mile from any of this and no damage or injuries here."

A mile is too close for comfort. I hope things stabilize, literally, and there is no more damage. I’m happy your library wasn’t damaged. I think I remember pictures you posted a few years ago, and the building was beautiful with breathtaking views. Was it caused by heavy rains, or is the cause known?

Denise wrote: "Was it caused by heavy rains, or is the cause known?"

Yes, heavy rains, which came on the heels of a couple of weeks of no rain. They say things are still fairly unstable. And we're having more rain today. I just hope things stay where they are!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Denise wrote: "Was it caused by heavy rains, or is the cause known?"

Yes, heavy rains, which came on the heels of a couple of weeks of no rain. They say things are still fairly unstable. And we're..."

Keeping my fingers crossed that you remain safe! Rain, rain, go away....

Apple wrote: "It’s a strange world we live in, Elizabeth. We have had high winds here every day except one for two weeks. Fortunately I think we have been death free, but the damage is extensive.

I think this ..."

We did have one death when a woman was crushed by a falling branch.

Which state are you Coralie?

Victoria. Not far from you. we got the weather before you but you got it worse.

I am sorry to hear of the disruption and loss of life in your lovely city, Elizabeth!

What is your favorite task this season?

I think 20.3 Chemistry is mine because it works for the most authors I want to read. BUT ... there are so many other good ones there must be at least 5 others I might put in the "favorite" category and no real clunkers.