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SP 24 Completed Tasks
10.4 Baby Boom 1950-59A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Here I am again, with another series I am deep into – this is instalment #12. I read #11 ten months ago, so I kind of forgot that the Gamache’s had moved to Three Pines. This was not detrimental to my enjoyment of the story in any way. Gamache comes out of retirement to take on the role of Commander of the Surete Academy. He makes some interesting staffing choices(!), while trying to change the ingrained culture of the school. Since this is a ‘murder mystery’ someone ends up dead and bulk of the novel is a complex cat and mouse chase. I thought the mystery was very interesting – especially given the secondary characters. There is a lot going on in this novel – a Three Pines historical mystery, a murder, the subtleties of the main character’s relationships, and a conspiracy…. oh, and ideas about forgiveness and kindness. All and all an excellent read. 5*
>This is one of those mystery series that you must read in order.
10 task
10 review
5 20.9 (there is def. a conspiracy which is completely uncovered towards the end of the novel)
_______
25
Running total: 1060
Post 442 Connie wrote: "20.6 Fruit, Dish, Bottle, and ViolinThe Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
All the windows are boarded up on the last house on Needless Street with ..."
+5 Combo 10.9
20.10 - World of CrimeCockroaches by Jo Nesbø
+20 task
+10 Lost in Translation - Norwegian
Task total: 30
Grand total: 325
10.5 - Golden Broadway ShowsJustice for Loretta by Leeanne James
+10 task - Love FOR Love
Task total: 10
Grand total: 335
How Does Your Garden Grow? 15.9The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared. Jill Conner Browne
Flowers:
the sweet potato queens' book of love: a fallen southern belle's look at love, life, men, marriage, and being prepared - hellebore+
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared - allium
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love:A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared - anemone
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared - gardenia+
Plants this post: 4
Total plants: 43
Flower bonus: 10
Task total 25
Season total 340
10.2, 10.6
15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9
20.1, 20.7
How Does Your Garden Grow? 15.10Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii. Robin Jones Gunn
Flowers:
Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii - astilbe
Vegetable:
Heart of Palm - Hawaii
Herbs
0, Peppermint - 320 pages
Plants this post: 3
Total plants: 46
Flower bonus:
Task total 15
Finishing bonus +150 for 45+ plants
Season total 505
10.2, 10.6
15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 15.10
20.1, 20.7
10.3 St. Patrick's DayAn Elderly Lady is Up to No Good (Äldre dam #1) by Helene Tursten
published 2013
Review
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
I've seen this book around but I have to admit that the cover didn't call to me so I never really looked into this. However, as I found the audiobook and it was quite short and fits a couple of challenges *wink wink*, I gave it a go and what a surprise! And by the way, I still haven't really read the book description before I started the audiobook so this was a very interesting surprise.
What a HOOT! This Octogenarian Swedish lady puts on acts of being weak and addled when in fact, she has full brain capacity (and more!) and is rather strong physically. This book is actually a collection of short stories featuring Maud and her misadventures. The first one was a total shock for me because I had no idea what to expect and the second one just cemented just how demented this character really is. Then again, I do think that there is just not enough protection for our elderlies and just so easy for some people to take advantage of them so really, good on her for standing up for herself!
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.4 - born 1954; 10.5 - GOOD; 20.10 - Swedish)
+10 Review
+10 LiT
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 485
10.9 AnniversariesLa Brute et le Divin by Léonard Chemineau
141 pages
+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Points total = 555
10.1 (x3) ; 10.2; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; … ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; …
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … (12 plants)
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
15.5 - How Does Your Garden Grow?The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
Cosmos (The SChOOl for Good MotherS)
Potato (Pennsylvania)
Rue (336)
+15 Task
Task total = 15
Points total = 570
10.1 (x3) ; 10.2; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; 10.5 ; 10.6 ; … ; 10.8 ; 10.9 ; …
15.1 ; 15.2 ; 15.3 ; 15.4 ; 15.5 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … (15 plants)
20.1 ; 20.2 ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; 20.6 ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; 20.9 ; 20.10
Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view.
The Renegades of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
The story is told from the eyes of many characters, most prominent
Jayge, Lady Thella and Piemur
Review:
I am reading the story of Pern chronologically, and glad I chose that route. This book was # 11 for me. I am glad that I chose this route as things are now coming together for me and I have a greater understanding of all things Pern.
4-5 Turns (a year is a turn for us) are covered in this fairly short story. One of things I love about McCaffery is that she wastes no time in getting on with the story. If life is calm and simple in Pern she just moves on to the next time something happens, good or bad.
In this episode of Pern McCaffery introduces us to people, who for some reason or other, are Holdless, leaving them vulnerable. Thread has not fallen for a long time and people have become complacent. With this complacency tension between the Holders, those who own land and are protected by the dragons, and the Holdless have surfaced. Some of the Holdless turn to violence for relief and become known as The Renegades.
Within the story of the renegades McCaffery also takes us to the sparsely occupied Southern Continent again. We learn more of the back story of major characters and some events previously mentioned in earlier books. As the continent is explored many revelations are revealed and grand discoveries of the first settlers of Pern are made.
Needless to say, I adore this story and am in for the long haul.
+Task 20
+ Review 10
Task Total 30
Season Total 540
Mary wrote: "15.6 HDYGGThe Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman
15 pts 15.6 HDYGG
Leek: Los Angeles County
Cucumber: California
Garlic: Golden Coast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal....
Potato: Pacific Coast https://www.britannica.com/place/Paci...
Rutabaga: Ring of Fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of..."
I apologize that I'm so behind on scoring HDYGG!
We applaud your ingenuity in searching for scoring opportunities; sadly, we can't accept "Golden Coast," "Pacific Coast," or "Ring of Fire."
It must be a proper geographical location (city, state, country, planet, county, etc.), not a generalized area. The "coasts" are too general and the Ring of Fire is underwater/on the ocean floor, not in L.A.
Plant total for this task is 3.
15.7. HDYGGBehind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia An account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence amongst the Women of the East by M.E. Hume-Griffith
LILY behind the veIL in persia and turkish arabia an account of an engLishwomans eight Years residence amongst the women of the east
CROCUS behind the veil in peRSia and turkish arabia an aCCOUnt of an englishwomans eight years residence amongst the women of the east
BORAGE BEhind the veil in persiA and tuRkish arabia an account of an enGlishwOmans eight years residence amongst the women of the east
COSMOS behind the veil in persia and turkish arabia an account of an englishwOManS eight years residenCe amongst the wOmen of the eaSt
ANEMONE behiNd the vEil in persia and turkish Arabia an account of an englishwomans eight years residence amongst the woMEN Of the east
BEGONIA behind the veil in persia and turkish araBia an account of an englishwomans eight years resIdence amONGst the women of the EAst
DIANTHUS beHind the veil in persia and tUrkish arabia an account of an englishwomans eight years resIDeNce AmongSt the women of the easT
GARDENIA behind the veil in persia and turkish arabIA an account of an englishwomaNs eiGht yeArs
15 pts 15.7 HDYGG
10 pts Flower bonus
8 Plants this post
35 plants total ( Adjusted for post 463)
Task Total: 25 pts
Season total =825 pts
Post 464
10.1 10.2 10.3 … 10.6 … 10.8 … 10.10
… 20.2 20.3 … 20.5 … 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 (35 plants)
Anika wrote: "Mary wrote: "15.6 HDYGGThe Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman
15 pts 15.6 HDYGG
Leek: Los Angeles County
Cucumber: California
Garlic: Golden Coast. https://en...."
Thanks for the clarification. I will adjust my total.
10.3 St Patrick's DayThe Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
"We looked for Ruthie for six straight weeks, right up until it was time to go home, after the berry fields were empty and we'd pulled the potatoes from the ground . . . No one spoke about her, but when we passed the small stone where I saw her last, a sandwich in her hand, I just knew we were leaving Ruthie behind."
Every summer, Joe's Mi'kmaq family traveled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick berries at a farm. Joe was the last person to see his four-year-old sister, and he was left with a lifelong guilt that she disappeared without him noticing. Had she walked away, or was she kidnapped? The local police couldn't be bothered helping an indigenous family from another country.
Norma grew up as the only child of a judge and his troubled, overprotective wife. She sometimes has dreams of a different past. Norma wonders why there are no baby pictures of her, and why her skin has darker tones than her parents. Her mother suffers from depression from past losses, and spends hours in bed with headaches.
Author Amanda Peters is of both Mi'kmaq and European heritage. She included elements related to her Mi'kmaq background such as some of Joe's siblings being forced to attend white boarding schools in Canada. Other things such as the loss of a child, damaged marriages, and deaths of family members are problems that could occur in any culture.
The story is told with alternating chapters about Joe and Norma. The disappearance of Ruthie had never-ending repercussions in her remaining birth family members. The book covers fifty years since that fateful day in 1962. How does one forgive after learning the truth, heal emotionally, and move forward in their life? This is a book that will pull at your heart with empathy for all that were hurting.
+10 task (pub 2023)
+10 review
Task total: 20
Season total: 480
20.7 International TravelThe Legacy of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
A very satisfying conclusion to this trilogy that starts from a wonderful concept--a person whose blood will create copies of the person. But the copies are sometimes violent, trying to kill the original. The trilogy explores the life of the original "Molly" and, in this book, some of the copies. This book does not stand alone. You must read the other two books in the trilogy to understand this one at all. But each book is only about 125 pages, so you can really read the trilogy together as a single book.
Overall, there's a lot of background stuff happening that's never fully explored. There are shady governmental agencies involved, but they mostly lurk in the dark corners of this book and never become central or fully formed.
I loved the atmosphere of these books and the overall story arc. I'm not sure why the author/publishers decided to make this a trilogy of novellas instead of a more cohesive longer book.
+20 Task (UK-->Samoa)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.3 - third in trilogy; 10.9 - 151pp)
Task total: 40
Grand total: 390
20.10 World of CrimeThe Resistance Man by Martin Walker
Setting is France
Review:
Back in St. Denis with Chief of Police Bruno and as always it was a delight. The gastronomic delights of the French countryside and the fine wine were flowing. I believe, as one character classes them, I have become "one of Bruno's women". No sexual context there (lol), it is just that Bruno is that type of man who has many women as good friends.
A lot going on in this story: the death of an old Resistance man, the inclusion of a train robbery from the same era. Robberies of antiques and the history of Frances nuclear weapons program. I like Walker's research into the history of this era and the are of Périgord and find I learn something new each time. This book receives the 4th star as until the very end I was stymied as to "who-did-it".
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total 30
Season Total 570
15.7 HDYGG?Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd
Flowers:
quEeRcItyGAyloNDonfromtheromAns - GARDENIA+
tOthEPreseNtdaY - PEONY
queercitygaylondoNfromtherOMaNstotheprEsEntdAy - ANEMONE
Vegetables:
London - LEEK
England - ENDIVE
Herbs: 288 pages
2 = LEMON VERBENA
Plants this post = 6
Total plants = 21
+15 Task
+ 5 Flower bonus
Post Total = 20
Season Total = 1010
10.4 Baby BoomNight Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson
+10 Task, b. 1959
+15 Combo: 10.3, pub. 2023; 10.5, "The NIGHT That Made America Famous"; 10.9, 320 pages
Task total: 25
Season total: 650
10.5 Golden Broadway ShowsMen We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
+10 Task, "Of Mice and MEN"
+5 Combo: 10.3, pub. 2013
Task total: 15
Season total: 665
10.8 ElementalWith the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (810 Lexile)
+10 Task, Fire
+15 Combo: 10.9, MPE 392 pages; 20.1, one of the main characters is a visual artist (drawing and painting); 20.7, Emoni (who lives in Philadelphia) and her cooking class have a week-long exchange experience in Spain
Task total: 25
+50 Half-way Bonus, completed all 10-point tasks
Season total: 740
20.7 International TravelThe Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
+20 Task, the gang lives in London and they take a day-trip to Paris
+15 Combo: 10.9, MPE 400 pages; 20.1, Julian is an artist and teaches art classes at Monica's Cafe; 20.6, from 6 different POVs
Task total: 35
Season total: 775
15.5 HDYGGFinding Me by Viola Davis
304 pp - PEPPERMINT
1 plant this post
16 total plants
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Grand total: 405
15.8 HDYGG?Round Here and Over Yonder: A Front Porch Travel Guide by Two Progressive Hillbillies by Trae Crowder
256 pages
6 = CHIVES
rOuNDherEANDoveryonderafrontporchtraveLguIdebytwoprogressivehillbillies = DANDELION*
roundHereandoveryonderafrontporChtravelgUideBytwoprogreSSIvehIllbillies = HIBISCUS*
roUndhereandOveryoNdERaFrontporchtravelguidebytWoprogressivehiLlbillieS = SUNFLOWER*
roundhereandoveryonderafrontporchtravelguidebYtwoprogressivehillbiLLIes = LILY
roundhereandoveryonderafrontporchtrAvelGuidebytwOprogRessivehillBilliEs = BORAGE
+15 Task, 6 Plants
+15, Flower Bonus
Task total: 30, 42 Plants
Season total: 805
Karen Michele wrote: "15.6 HDYGG?The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk
Flowers
thE MAN whO spokE sNakish = ANEMONE
Vegetables:
Herbs: page count = 442
4 = DILL
2 Plants th..."
Sorry, Karen, but DILL was already claimed back in post 73.
Plant total for this post is 1.
Kim wrote: "How Does Your Garden Grow? 15.10Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii. Robin Jones Gunn
Flowers:
Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii - astilbe
Vegetable:
Heart..."
Congrats on your HDYGG garden finish!
The DispossessedRead a book with a two word title starting with The
The Extraby Megan Walker
Task +10
Grand Total: 160
10.1 Rewind to WinterYou Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World by Ada Limon
+10 Task: I read poetry by Ada Limon for the winter challenge.
Task total = 10
Season Total = 805
20.9 Beware the Ides of March (Joanna's task)These Little Lies by Gretta Mulrooney
+20 2 people conspire to a murder
+15 Combo: 10.4 Baby Boom(Born 1952 - added in help thread) / 10.9 Anniversaries (321) / 20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin (told through the viewpoint of Siv, other officers and some suspects.
Task total = 35
Season Total = 840
20.3 The Madonna of the CatEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
+20 Task: Eleanor has a cat
Task total = 20
Season Total = 860
10.5 Golden Broadway ShowsBetween Beirut And The Moon by Naji Bakhti
+10 Task: the chosen word is Moon
+10 Combo: 10.9 Anniversaries (300) / 20.3 The Madonna of the Cat (the father has a cat named Ninnette
Task total = 20
Season Total = 885 (edited)
10.10 Group Reads The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Thanks, Connie, for making this a group read! I really enjoyed it. The premise is clear from the GR summary -- one day, out of nowhere, a box appears for every adult on the planet, containing a string that reflects the length of your life. From that moment, of course, everyone has a decision to make - open the box or not? The book chronicles, through multiple POVs, the way this all plays out for individuals as well as for society. I was interested in the political ramifications that Erlick spins out - like that there would end up being tension between "long stringers" and "short stringers" as people end up separated into camps - and equally interested in the ways people mobilized together to cope with the knowledge that they received (and the many ways that that knowledge impacted people - think about decisions like marriage, children, careers...). I found this a great blend of intellectually fascinating and emotionally resonant.
+10 task
+15 combo (10.2, 20.6 - told from many POVs including Jack, Nina, Hank, Amie, Ben...), 20.7 - a trip from the US to Italy is an important plot point))
+10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 270
20.6 Fruit Dish Bottle and ViolinElla Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
20 pts 20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin. Letters by many people including Ella, Tassie. Mittie, and Tom
5 pts 10.4 Baby Boom
10 pts Review
Allegory highlighting the dangers and risks of unchecked political power used to implement laws with little grounding in common sense.
This novel is both a commentary on unthinking adherence to nonsensical governmental edicts or, alternatively a commentary on the dangers of unexamined religious convictions being imposed on everyone regardless of their beliefs or the need for conformity.
Very entertaining book. The premise is humorous and the author does a very good job in sticking to writing constraints that are increasingly difficult. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in an off beat read.
Task Total: 35 pts
Season total =860 pts
Post 484
10.1 10.2 10.3 … 10.6 … 10.8 … 10.10
… 20.2 20.3 … 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 (35 plants)
20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and ViolinThe Manor by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Singer writes in his Preface, that this was originally written in 1953-1955 as one book, though, for technical reasons, published in English in 1967 and 1969 as this title, The Manor, and The Estate. I have an edition that includes both titles and hope to get to the second before too much time passes. The cover of my edition describes it as "saga of a family and an epoch".
The epoch is that of Poland following a failed uprising in 1863. This is an event about which I am still completely clueless, not even knowing it happened. The Count Janpolski and his sons had participated and had to flee their Estate. Calman Jacoby, a wealthy Jew of Jampol, offered the Russians to purchase a leasehold of The Manor, which he was granted. Jacoby had four daughters, the eldest already of marriageable age. The story follows Jacoby and his daughters and their husbands.
Calman Jacoby practiced Hasidism, a strict form of Judaism and there is much about this form in the book. The times, however, were trending toward a less strict form of the religion. Also, they lived among non-Jews. Anti-semitism was rife. It was interesting to me that those who practiced this strict form of religion could keep with it despite so many obstacles. I wouldn't normally quote from an ending, but I think it gives little away. They made him a kind of partner in sharing the Torah's treasures. Among these shelves of sacred books, Calman felt protected.
There was another quote much earlier that I found so relevant to not just today, but certainly also the last several decades. The government is definitely sick, but terrorism can't make it well. I was struck by this sentence, written 70 years ago. Singer's writing style is easy to read, and perhaps that makes it easy to think of him lightly. There is more here than one might think, but it doesn't feel like heavy reading either.
I have to admit there were sections when I wish he'd either tell us more or just skip it all together. As I say above, I'll be happy to get to the second part, but that doesn't mean this is ravingly good. I think it climbs into the 4-star group, but just barely, and I might even be exaggerating a tad.
+20 Task - Jacoby, Ezriel, Clara, Lucian, many more
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9 - 442 pgs)
+10 Lit - Yiddish
+10 1001
Task total = 60
Season total = 900
Anika wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "15.6 HDYGG?The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk
Flowers
thE MAN whO spokE sNakish = ANEMONE
Vegetables:
Herbs: page count = 442
..."
I'm sorry my record keeping has been so messed up! I'll do better next season:)
Task 10.9 Anniversaries (Apple's task). Read a book whose page number (most popular edition) ends in 2, 5, 1, or 0.
Pagecount: 282
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life (2020) by Christie Tate [616.8915] (Hardcover 282 pages)
Review: Christie Tate was clinically depressed in her early 20s. On the advice of a friend, she begins therapy with Dr. Rosen. After a handful of sessions, he tells her that she would benefit from being in Group Therapy. This book is a memoir of her time in Group Therapy, roughly from 2000 – 2010. Her initial therapy goals were to have normal relations with people she can call friends; and, to have a healthy romantic relationship resulting in becoming married with children. In 2020, Christie Tate reports that both therapy goals have been achieved. She still goes to Group therapy every week so she doesn’t backslide into the lonely, clinically depressed mess she was when she first began therapy.
Part of the therapy was for Christie Tate to exhaustively detail her interactions with men (including what happened in the bedroom!) Dr. Rosen believes that all secrets are toxic. He fundamentally believes that privacy itself is toxic. Christie Tate finds this attitude helpful because she sees secrets / privacy as barriers to the emotional intimacy she craved. She used everyone’s real life names in this memoir (!) though to be fair, only their real life first names. In 2019 she applies this attitude to other parts of her professional life. In 2019 she was writing a column / blog about her life as a mother, and included details about her daughter’s life. Her daughter objected, and asked her to stop. Here’s the article about her daughter’s objections:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2019...
Overall, the book held my attention. While I’d recommend the book as a “good read”, I’m not convinced that privacy is as toxic as Dr. Rosen believes.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 330 + 20 = 350
Task 20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and ViolinRead a novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view.
POV’s include: Daleina (teenaged girl training to fight the malevolent Spirits); Ven (30ish man who is training Deleina); Sata (a fully trained 30ish woman who fights the Spirits – Sata’s section is only one chapter, but still a different POV); Queen Fara (monarch of the country)
Combo: Task 10.5 Golden Broadway Shows
Broadway Show:
53. A Letter for QUEEN Victoria
BPL shelves this book in the Adult Section.
The Queen of Blood fits the “New Adult” label better than “Young Adult” or “Adult”. “New Adult” is halfway between “Young Adult” and “Adult”.
The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia #1) (2016) by Sarah Beth Durst (Goodreads Author) (Mass Market Paperback 388 pages)
+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.5 Broadway Show)
Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25
Grand Total: 350 + 25 = 375
20.3 The Madonna of the CatWyrd Sisters (Discworld #6) by Terry Pratchett
Nanny Ogg's cat's name is Greebo
Review
I didn't find this one to be as funny as earlier books so I wasn't keen on it so much. I did find traces of Hamlet & Macbeth (eg. three witches, ghost of dead king, handwashing, etc) so I found these mix and twist rather clever and somewhat interesting. In the end, however, I just couldn't care for these witches. Or rather, I just wasn't keen for the not-peaceful way they have between them. I do enjoy funny cranky squabbles but I didn't find theirs funny at all.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.9 - 265p; 20.6 - 3 witches plus a few others)
+10 Review
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 525
20.5 - SurprisesYesterday: A Reverse Harem Romance by A.S. Oren
+20 task
Task total: 20
Grand total: 355
20.6 Fruit, Dish, Bottle, and Violin A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian
+20 task (told from many POVs including Maddy, James, Jia, Casey, Kelly, and Padma)
+5 combo (20.9 - 440 pages)
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 395
10.5 - Golden Broadway ShowsAll Mine by Blake Pierce
+10 task - ALL Mine
Task total: 10
Grand total: 365
20.7 International Travel Castle Shade by Laurie R. King
+20 task (story takes place while characters are on a trip of about a week to Romania from the UK)
+20 combo (10.4 - author born 1952, 10.9 - 360 pages; 20.8 - Sherlock Holmes is a main character, 20.10 - mystery taking place in Romania)
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 435
20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here The Lantern's Dance by Laurie R. King
+20 task (Sherlock Holmes)
+30 combo (10.4 - author born 1952; 10.5 - "dance"; 10.9 - 300 pages; 20.5 - apostrophe; 20.6 - POVs include Holmes, Mary, and Lakshmi; 20.7 - characters travel from UK to France for a week or so; 20.10 - mystery set in France)
Task Total: 55
Season Total: 490
20.9 Beware the Ides of March The Firm by John Grisham
+20 task (grand financial conspiracy is the main part of the plot)
+25 combo (10.2; 10.4 - author born 1955; 10.9 - 501 pages; 20.6 - POVs include Mitch, Abby, and Ray; 20.7 - characters travel from US to Grand Cayman several times)
+5 jumbo (501 pages - the MPE is a young reader adaptation so I linked the next most popular one that is a full text)
Task Total: 50
Season Total: 540
15.8 HDYGG?Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard
Vegetables:
North Uist - Napa Cabbage
Plants this post = 1
Total plants = 22
+15 Task
Post Total = 15
Season Total = 1025
10.7 Strange New Worlds Network Effect by Martha Wells
+10 Task (Space list, page 1)
+ 5 Combo (10.9 350 pages)
Post total = 15
Season Total = 1040
20.10 Ides of MarchChangesby Mercedes Lackey
MC uncovers a plot to kidnap the daughter of a council member.
Task + 20
Combo +10 10.3 published in 2013, baby boomer born 1959
Book total: 30
Grand total: 190
20.5 Surprised!Mrs Sidhu’s ‘Dead and Scone’ by Suk Pannu
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
Even as I know that there are many Asians (Indians) living in the UK, I still felt this book to be a little jarring in that an Indian protagonist in a cozy mystery novel. This is probably due to there aren't many of this particular voice in this genre and that means, we need a lot more of them.
As we know there is a certain formula / trope with cozy mysteries and that is, a nosey body protagonist and a full span of imagination. Mrs Sidhu is an Indian aunty who is wildly intelligent and remarkably curious about everything but she is also, therefore, struggling at being pegged into a hole she does not fit. She wanted more out of life and "helping people" specifically dead people is what she wants to do.
The novel was really rather interesting to start with as Mrs Sidhu falls headlong into a trap of her own making but then it took a turn which I did not quite like as I found it terribly convenient (view spoiler). However, the consequence of her bungling imagination was not quite funny as it was rather sharp but it was definitely the pinpoint of her growth as a character; loved the ending after all.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.3 - pub 2023)
+10 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 560
15.6 HDYYGA Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw
AkILLerinkingsCove LILAC
akilleRInkIngScove IRIS
Kings Cove KALE
British Columbia BEET
432 pages 4=DILL
Season 16 flowers/5 vegetables/8 herbs
+15 task
Season total: 155
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Teacher (other topics)
A Man's Head (other topics)
Redoubt (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ed Yong (other topics)Ariel Lawhon (other topics)
Freida McFadden (other topics)
Georges Simenon (other topics)
Mercedes Lackey (other topics)
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Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
+20 task
+10 combo (10.6 - 1936, 20.7 - about 75% ..."
20.7 is your main task, so for the second Combo here, I think you meant 20.10. If so, it needs to be set more than 75% in France. Can you confirm that, please?
(I have scored it that way in the database)