Reading with Style discussion
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SP 24 Completed Tasks
15-7 HDYGGKillers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
The 2nd half of the book takes place in England as the women plan and execute their revenge
Flower Lilac kILLers of A Certain age
Vegetable Endive England
Herbs-368 Chives (6), Rosemary (8)
Total Plants 4
Garden Total 32
Task Total 15
Season Total 585
15.9 HDYGG?Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
MPE 320 pages
0 = PEPPERMINT
Paris = POTATO
France = FENNEL
+15 Task, 3 Plants
Task total: 15, 45 Plants
Season total: 820
20.9 Ides of MarchThe Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
If there is such a genre as literary mysteries, this certainly is one among them. This is all based on Dumas' real book, The Three Musketeers, but also a book Pérez-Reverte made up, title shortened to The Nine Doors. Corso has come into the possession of one draft chapter of the Musketeers and is asked to verify its authenticity. From another channel, he has the same commission about the fictitious book.
I haven not read the Dumas title, though I have read others by him and have enjoyed them. Given the title, one can assume there will be a lot about Alexandre Dumas in this. Corso meets a number of people who are well versed in the life of Alexandre Dumas. This is not a biography by any means, but I learned things I perhaps should have known. One character reminds Corso:
"... Dumas lived life to the full, enjoying all his pleasures and his fame. He lived and had a good time, stood on the barricades, fought in duels, was taken to court, chartered boats, paid pensions out of his own pocket, loved, ate, drank, earned ten million and squandered twenty, and died gently in his sleep, like a child.”From the few titles I've read, and what I learned about Dumas' most famous novel, he seemed to write what he was living. I had fun reading about them. And, I think Dumas would have been pleased to see an influence on Pérez-Reverte. Although there are no sword fights in this, the novel turns into quite an adventure. There are bad guys and trouble along the way.
I continue to enjoy this author and though I don't anticipate being a completist, I know I have more to in my future. Still, this is probably only a weak 4-stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+30 Combo (10.3 - pub 1993, 10.4 - b. 1951, 10.9 - 442 pgs, 20.6 (examining magistrate; Balkan; Corso), 20.7 (from Spain to both Portugal and France), 20.10.
+10 LiT
+10 1001
Task total = 80
Halfway Finish = 50
Season total = 1030
10.10 Group ReadsUprooted by Naomi Novik
I was thrilled to see this one pop up as a Group Read, because this is my carryover read from last season.
I listened to the audiobook for this with my twelve year old daughter. The narrator for the audiobook reads the book with a distinctive accent that contributed to the feel of this book as a sort of fairy tale or legend from the "old country." It felt like the sort of story told by a grandmother (yours, or the one down the hall or next door, or that you only see at the library on rainy Saturday afternoons).
I've read several books by this author and I'm very impressed by her range. My favorite by her is probably A Deadly Education (and the rest of the trilogy), followed by His Majesty's Dragon (and the rest of the Temeraire books), followed by this one. I thought the overall character voice here was not quite as strong as in the other two series that I've enjoyed. I liked the main character, but she didn't have as much spunk and sass as the protagonist from A Deadly Education, nor was she as distinctive as Lawrence or his dragon companion in the Temeraire books.
Still, entertaining and recommended.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 425
10.5 Golden Broadway ShowsYou Can Paint Dazzling Watercolors in Twelve Easy Lessons by Yuko Nagayama
10 pts 10.5 Golden Broadway Shows. « You » from As You Like It »
No styles Art Book
Task Total: 10 pts
Season total =870 pts
Post 506
10.1 10.2 10.3 … 10.5 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)
15.6 HDYGGThe Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man by David von Drehle
Vegetable:
Kale - set in Kansas
Flowers:
the book of Charlie: WisdOm From thE Remarkable americaN Life Of a 109-yEar-old man - CONEFLOWER +5
tHE bOok of chaRLiE: wisdom from the rEmarkaBle american life of a 109-year-oLd man - HELLEBORE +5
The Book of chArlIe: wiSdom from the remarkablE american life of a 109-year-old man - ASTILBE
Plants this post: 4
Plants in garden: 22
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total: 25
Grand total: 450
15.10 HDYGG?Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs
New York = NAPA CABBAGE
Manhattan = MUNG BEAN
dropdeadhealthyonemanshumblequestforbodilyperfection = PANSY
dropdeadhealthyonemanshumblequestforbodilyperfection = DAHLIA
dropdeadhealthyonemanshumblequestforbodilyperfection = COLUMBINE
5 Total Plants, +5 Flower Bonus
Task total: 20
+150 Finisher Bonus, 50 total plants
Season total: 990
10.4 Baby BoomAngels of Albion: Women of the Indian Mutiny by Jane Robinson
10 pts 10.4 Baby Boom https://viaf.org/viaf/search?query=lo...
5 pts 20.5 Surprisedd!
5 pts 20.9 Ides of March. The conspiracy theory of the Rebellion is discussed. This appears to be a contemporary view of the Rebellion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_... that the author appears to support although that theory is still debated
10 pts Review
The history of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 told from the perspective of British women associated with the Indian Civil Service, the British military, or commercial interests in India. Interesting, the author acknowledges that the history of the Rebellion has largely neglected the perspective of the Indian participants and focused on the British perspective. Following these comments, she then proceeds to do exactly that.
However, the history is interesting because Robinson relies on primary sources (eg letters and diaries) written by British women who lived through the rebellion as well as some personal histories written by these women in the decades after the events. This provides a personal perspective on the events that differs from the more standard histories focusing on the military perspective.
I recommend this book because it brings in women’s experiences into the historical narrative but would like to see a through history from the Indian perspective.
Task Total: 30 pts
Season total =900 pts
Post 509
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 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)
Post 468 Joanne wrote: "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. T..."
+5 Combo 10.3
Post 479 Karen Michele wrote: "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
Seaso..."
+5 Combo 20.5
Post 484 Mary wrote: "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, Tas..."
+5 Combo 20.5
Post 487 Deedee wrote: "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
[book:Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved ..."
+5 Combo 20.5
Post 491 Katy wrote: "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)
+..."
Katy, your previous total was 270, so the total here should be 295, not 395
Post 494 Katy wrote: "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;..."
This is 50 points, so we have your total at 385 here, and 435 to post 500
Post 498 Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "20.10 Ides of MarchChanges by 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 ..."
(Task is 20.9)
Just to note, this book was originally published in 2011, but it is #3 in a series, so still fits 10.3 :) No change in points.
Task 10.4 Baby BoomRead a book by a Boomer Generation author born in the 10 years 1950-1959.
Loren D. Estleman was born in 1952.
Shoot (Valentino #4) (2016) by Loren D. Estleman (Hardcover 240 pages)
Review: Shoot is the 4th novel in a mystery series starring Valentino, who is a mild-mannered UCLA film archivist. The first three novels in the series were well-balanced between (1) a mystery involving 1920s movies and also involving a murder; and, (2) setting up relationships amongst recurring characters. Alas, #4 lost its balance. There was no murder. The mystery is solved by a character casually mentioning the solution in passing to Valentino. And the characters didn’t have much to do. Indeed, without reading the first three books in the series, it would be difficult to figure out why they reacted to each other the way they did. In this novel, the author centers on the awesomeness of The Western Film, 1920 – 1950 timeframe. There’s a lot of name dropping interspersed between sadness that such amazing films are no longer being made. There is a helpful filmography of early Western films in an appendix.
Valentino’s best friend Kyle is a widower in his 60s. He’s now engaged to a law student, early 20s and still in college. The earlier books tried to persuade the reader that this is a normal and natural pairing, arguing that the pair have a similar sense of humor and common interests. In this book, the attitude is: forget justifying the 40 year age gap, this couple is in love! and hey, wedding planning can be humorous!
Recommended for those who like Western Films and would enjoy the name dropping. For readers who like mysteries, the first three entries in the series make better choices to read.
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.9 pagecount ends with “0”)
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 = 25
Grand Total: 375 + 25 = 400
Task 10.5 Golden Broadway ShowsBroadway Show:
21. The 5th Dimension WITH Jo Jo’s Dance Factory
Stay with Me (2017) by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Hardcover 260 pages)
+10 Task
+05 Combo (#10.2 pagecount ends with “0”)
Task Total: 10 + 05 = 15
Grand Total: 400 + 15 = 415
15.8. HDYGGThe Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama
DELPHINIUM tHE aUDacIty of hoPe thoughts oN recLaIMing the american dream
HYDRANGEA the AudAcitY of HopE thoughts on ReclAiminG the americaN Dream
GERANIUM the audacity of hope thoUGhts on reclaimINg thE ameRican dreAM
15 pts 15.8 HDYGG
15 pts Flower Bonus
Task Total: 30 pts
Correction Post 512 5 pts
Season total =935 pts
Post 519
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 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 15.8 (38 plants)
20.1 The National GalleryMurder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane #1) by Andrea Penrose
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
An intriguing pair of characters, I thought, and each with their own secret. I love, of course, how A.J. Quill isn't who he seems. It's one of those books with 2 perspectives when you're gearing for the time these 2 meet but then after that, I wasn't particularly excited anymore. The mystery was all right, I guess, but when it travelled down towards secret societies and experiments, I got rather bored. A near 12 hours in length in which I was mostly entertained by the characters and that include the secondary characters supporting these 2 main protagonists which include a cranky old Scottish doctor, 2 "weasely" rascals, an unconventional valet, and others.
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.9 - 340p)
+10 Review
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 595
15.8 HDYGGEndeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World by Peter Moore
Flowers
snapdragon+ - eNDeAvOuR: the ShiP ANd the attitude that chaNGed the world
dahlia - endeavour: tHe ship anD the AttItude thAt changed the worLd
Herb-432 pages
2 Lemon Verbena
Task Total 15
+ 5 points for Snapdragon
Task Total 20
Season Total 610
Total Plants 3
Garden Total 33
10.3 - St. Patrick's DayFor You by Blake Pierce
+10 task - published 2023
+5 Combo - 10.9 Anniversaries - 155 pgs
+5 combo - 10.5 - Golden Broadway Shows - Love FOR Love
Task total: 20
Grand total: 385
10.3 - St. Patrick's DaySo Long by Blake Pierce
+10 task - published 2023
Task total: 10
Grand total: 395
10.9 - AnniversariesFear the Truth by Sally Rigby
+10 task - 232 pgs
+5 Combo - 10.3 - published 2023
Task total: 15
Grand total: 410
20.9 Beware the Ides of MarchThe False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Lexile: 710
My feelings about this book are completely tainted by how much my twelve-year-old daughter loves this book. She loves it so much that even though she's already read it herself both in print and as an audiobook, she's now listening to the book with several different people. She has a little notecard to keep up with where each person is in listening with her--mom's on chapter 12, dad's on chapter 42, friend A is on chapter 34, etc. It's endearing and lovely to see her becoming a reader in her own right.
This is a middle grade book--the characters are relatively straightforward and mostly solidly good or solidly bad. But the title character is entertaining and it's fun to follow his story. He's kind of sarcastic, which was a touch irritating at times, but mostly fine enough. I predicted the plot, but appreciated it unfolding anyway.
The narrator for the audiobook is good. I hope they keep the same narrator for the next books.
+20 Task (the plot centers on a conspiracy to put an orphan in to substitute for a dead/missing prince)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9 - 342 pages)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 485
20.3 The Madonna of the CatA Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope on the Streets by James Bowen
Early on in the season, I felt like I kept happening upon books where characters had pet cats--but had the books slated elsewhere. Now that the time has come to actually fill this task, I can't find a pet cat to save my life!
Enter the reliable memoir of life with a cat--there are A LOT of them!
This audiobook just happened to be available immediately at my library so it was a pretty obvious choice which one to read.
James, a recovering addict, spends his days busking on the streets of London just trying to make enough money for a bite to eat. Heading into his flat one night, he hears a weak meow and spots a handsome--though clearly roughed up--ginger tom.
Thus begins one of the sweetest feline love stories I've ever heard.
Not just because Bob is extraordinary--he absolutely is. Getting an insiders look at the struggles facing someone who has hit rock bottom and is just trying to stay afloat was eye-opening and (while this book would have benefitted from a better edit) I'm so glad I read it.
+20 Task, Bob's human is James ;-)
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.5, "CAT on a Hot Tin Roof"; 20.5, colon; 20.7, James briefly visits his mother in Australia
Task total: 45
Season total: 1035
20.2 The Virgin of the RocksWorld of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
If you enjoyed How To Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery or How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler, I think you would quite enjoy this book!
+20 Task
+15 Combo: 10.5, "In PRAISE of Love"; 10.9, MPE 165 pages; 20.6, colon
Task total: 35
+50 Half-way Finish, 20-point tasks
+200 MegaFinish
Season total: 1320
15.9 HDYGG?The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil
Flowers:
OfyoUngTorLesS - LOTUS
Vegetables:
Austria - ARTICHOKE
Herbs: 176 pages
6 - CHIVES
7 - PARSLEY
Plants this post = 4
Total plants = 26
+15 Task
Post Total = 15
Season Total = 1055
20.9 Beware the Ides of March System Collapse by Martha Wells
I enjoyed this completion of the situation that began in Network Effect, but listening to it immediately after replaying the amazing Network Effect, it felt like a bit of a placeholder. We're getting to know a new team but I didn't have much reaction to any of them, and I'm a little disturbed by the suspicion that Murderbot's development is making it more and more like an average human, so instead of celebrating diversity, we're supposed to be happy that it's becoming more "normal". I will definitely still buy the next one immediately, but if it continues in that direction I may just keep rereading the first five ;)
+20 Task ((view spoiler))
+15 Combo (10.3 2023, 10.7 on page 3 of the list, 10.9 245 pages)
+10 Review
Post total = 45
Season Total = 1100
Rosemary wrote: "Post 491 Katy wrote: "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..."
Ha, thank you! That's quite a math mistake :)
10.7 Strange New Worlds System Collapse by Martha Wells
I am always a fan of Murderbot -- so I was excited to get into the next installment! This was a bit tricky at first, because this one, number 7, directly follows the events of number 5 (not sure entirely where number 6 fits into the timeline!). So it took me some time to really get into the story, but once I did it was hard to put down. In the story, Murderbot and its humans are trying to rescue some groups of colonists from the predatory corporation also seeking out those same colonists, but for more nefarious ends. Meanwhile, they're trying to avoid the alien contamination they escaped in book 5, and Murderbot is dealing with some medical issues of its own. The plot isn't quite as detailed as some of the other books, but there are some killer events and moments nonetheless. Probably don't need to tell other Murderbot fans, but this is indeed recommended! :)
+10 task
+5 combo (10.3 - pub 2023)
+10 review
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 460
20.1 The National Gallery The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.6, 20.6, 20.9 previously claimed)
+10 1001 list
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 505
20.10 World of Crime Bad Kids by Zijin Chen
This was a wild ride! I really enjoyed it. There are a few distinct storylines that end up intersecting -- and all of them are pretty twisted. The book opens with a man (Zhang) pushing his elderly in-laws to their death off a mountainside, so you know that right away these characters will not be your favorites. Then we meet a middle school student, Zhu Chaoyang, who reconnects with an old friend and his new friend, both recently escaped from a dismal orphanage. I don't want to spoil the many, many surprises, but you can expect a lot of twists and turns. None of the characters are totally likeable but they're all interesting, and this was definitely unputdownable for me!
+20 task (mystery set in China)
+5 combo (20.6 - povs include Chaoyang, Zhang, and Yan Liang)
+10 review
+10 lost in translation (translated from Chinese)
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 550
Sorry, the last couple of weeks have been nuts... I graduate tomorrow and I've been a bit scrambled. It's mostly in France - starts in media res and they're in the air but the story starts in France, they land in England, then most of the rest of the book is set in Paris or in the air between the two with a little bit in London. Rosemary wrote: "Post 437 Heather wrote: "20.7 International Travel - travel back and forth between England and France
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
+20 task
+10 combo (10.6 ..."
10.3 St. Patrick's Day - published 2023System Collapse by Martha Wells
I love me some Murderbot, just like everyone else. However, I think this was probably my least favorite of the books so far. It just seemed like it was trying to make a character that we’ve grown to love *because* of their snark and sarcasm and attitude into something they weren’t. I also wasn’t terribly fond of the team – they were kind of a nonentity until the *very* end of the book, in my opinion. It was just a let down compared to the previous books, I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll read the next one… and the next… and the next. I just wasn’t terribly happy with this one.
+10 task
+15 combo (10.7 - on page 3 of the list, 10.9 - 245 pages, 20.9 - spoiler but someone else has already put that up)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Season total: 255
10.10 Group ReadsThe Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
My statewide Overdrive wait time for this book is, as of today, 392 days! This should give anyone a clue as to its popularity, keeping in mind my state has a total population of under 750k. My husband has read all things local and is a BIG reader of almost anything having to do with boats. So I bought him a copy. I had not intended it to be for me, but a member of my online group had recommended it for this season's challenge. (Thank you, Kathleen!)
This all takes place in the first half of the 1740s. England and Spain were at war. The HMS Wager and five other ships set out to cross the Atlantic, to round the tip of South America, and accost a Spanish galleon on the Pacific side of that continent. The Spanish galleon was expected to be filled with gold and vanquishing that ship would bring wealth both to the nation and to the men on the ships.
So much was not known about the world at that time. Certainly, Cape Horn at the tip of South America was not mapped. Little was known about the weather, that there are high winds nearly all the time. The cause of scurvy was not known, so the British did not yet know to carry limes on board (which eventually caused British seamen to become known as limeys). It was also not yet known what happens to human minds in the later stages of starvation, nor what happens to their bodies when starvation is reversed too quickly. None of us can know how we might behave when stranded, without food and without communication, in a part of world where it is unlikely we'd be noticed.
David Grann tells a good story and I found this quite readable. I must note that he is also filled with 21st Century opinions about European exploration and the conquest of the Americas in particular. He alludes occasionally that perhaps Europeans were too certain of their superiority. Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don't - the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out. Such things made me wince and I thought it unnecessary to include them in a book about people and conditions 275 plus years ago.
As I began, and until about 1/3 in, I thought this probably 4-stars worth. As I continued to read it got better, I came to better know the characters and their situation. I chose to ignore the 21st Century attitude. And so I have colored in that final star.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+25 Combo (10.2, 10.3 - 2023, 10.9 - 331 pgs, 20.5, 20.09)
Task total = 45
Season total = 1075
10.5 Golden Broadway ShowsIn the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
Brief LIVES
+10 task
+10 comb (10.3 - Published 2023; 10.9 - 432 pages
Post Total = 20
Season Total = 975
...; ...; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x2); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
30.1 (x2)
10.1 Rewind to WinterThe Light of Day by Eric Ambler
I read two Eric Ambler books for Ticket to Ride last season
+10 task
+15 combo (20.7 - Arthur lives in Greece but travels to Turkey with the criminals for a week; 20.9 - Arthur Simpson is trying to infiltrate a criminal conspiracy - is it weapons or is it drugs? ; 20.10 - Turkey, and partially Greece)
Post Total = 25
Season Total = 1000
10.1; ...; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6; ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x2); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
30.1 (x2)
10.6 ModernismStrong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
Published 1930
+10 task
+5 combo (10.9 - 240 pages)
Post Total = 15
Season Total = 1015
10.1; ...; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6 (x2); ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x2); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10
30.1 (x2)
20.10 World of Crime (Rosemary's task)The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg
Set in Sweden
+20 task
+10 LIT
+ 5 combo (10.3 - published 2003)
Post Total = 35
Season Total = 1050
10.1; ...; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6 (x2); ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x2); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10 (x2)
30.1 (x2)
10.2 The DispossessedThe Cabin by Jørn Lier Horst
+10 task
+10 LIT
+10 combo (10.9 - 400 pages; 20.10 - Norway)
Post Total = 30
Season Total = 1080
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6 (x2); ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x2); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10 (x2)
30.1 (x2)
20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and ViolinThe Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Chapters from the viewpoint of Aleisha, Mukesh, Izzy and Indira - possibly one each to Aiden and Chris also, and one to Naina
+20 task
Post Total = 20
Season Total = 1100
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6 (x2); ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x3); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10 (x2)
30.1 (x2)
10.6 ModernismThe Trial by Franz Kafka
+10 task
+10 LIT
+10 1001
+10 combo (10.2; 10.99 - 255 pages)
Post Total = 40
Season Total = 1140
10.1; 10.2; 10.3; 10.4; 10.5; 10.6 (x3); ...; 10.8; 10.9 (x3); 10.10 (x2)
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6;
20.1; 20.2; 20.3 (x4); ...; 20.5 (x3); 20.6 (x3); 20.7; 20.8; 20.9; 20.10 (x2)
30.1 (x2)
Heather wrote: "Sorry, the last couple of weeks have been nuts... I graduate tomorrow and I've been a bit scrambled. It's mostly in France - starts in media res and they're in the air but the story starts in Franc..."Thank you, that's fine. Congratulations on your graduation!
10.10 Group ReadReflex by Dick Francis
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
I really didn't think Dick Francis' books would appeal to me. I'm not one for horses or racing but I have read a handful and have enjoyed most of them and this one was actually... lovely.
I'm still not one for horses or racing so those details just slip through me. The protagonist, aside from being a jockey, is also a photographer so there were details about photography and such and these details also mostly escapes even if a particular bit helped his solve one little bump. But it is this character and his beautiful development; his tough unemotional appearance, his soft heart, and at the end, his strength in facing up to his faults and enemies. A win for the good ones!
+10 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 615
15.9 HDYGGKing of Foxes -Takes place in the City of Olasko
Vegetable-Onion
Plants this task 1
Garden Total 34
Points this task 15
Season Total 625
10.2 The DispossessedThe Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
Goodness, I am absolutely slayed by this book. I knew nothing about it going in, other then the GR description which is kind of a bare-bones precis of the book. Which is good, otherwise it would be easy to spoil the beautiful writing, the perfect pacing that unfolds the story, and what Denfeld is saying along the way. I can’t think of a single criticism of this novel. It is about death row in a corrupt prison, but this is just the jumping off point to make us as readers, and human beings, to examine ourselves, society, the things we do to each other, and how we got here. As one of the authors giving a review on the back of the book says: ‘…one of the most beautiful, heart-rendering, and riveting novels I have ever read.” I agree completely. 5*
10 task
10 review
50 1/2 way bonus
______
70
Running total: 1135
10.1 Rewind to Winter (ok per thread)Dark Moon by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Dark Moon is the third and final book in the E-Day trilogy and it was quite the ending. I have to say that this series is pretty much brain candy for those who like robots, guns, weird sci-fi, and super cliched war movie tropes. It’s all about a war for the fate of humanity who relied too heavily on AI and got bitten by it, then started fighting each other about who had the better idea as to how to save the survivors. This book, while entertaining, tried to shove just about EVERY war movie trope possible into one – POWs, prison camps, treasonous commanding officers, etc. and mash them up with all the good sci fi ones – human-robot hybrids, survivors living in the remains of bombed out buildings, spaceships that suck people up with tractor beams, the whole nine. And it had the most predictable ending humanly possible if you’ve read the series. That said, it was indeed brain candy. It was entertaining and I don’t regret reading it. It’s a solid 3 out of 5 if you like Starship Troopers kind of sci fi.
+10 task
+25 combo (10.3 - 3rd book in series, 10.5 - Man on the Moon, 10.9 - 442 pages, 20.7 - main character travels all over the world and to the moon in the span of about a month or two and returns to his home in Japan, 20.9 - spoiler but it starts as a war for the fate of humanity and devolves into a whose idea to save us is better and there's morally questionable planning behind the backs of *everyone* involved.)
+10 review
Task total: 45
Season total: 300
20.10 World of CrimeThe Fire Kimono by Laura Joh Rowland
20 pts 20.10 World of Crime Japan
5 pts 20.9 Ides of March. Conspiracy to overthrow Sano as well as conspiracy around the central murder
5 pts 10.4 Baby Boom
5 pts 10.8 Elemental
10 pts Review
This was a well structured mystery that ties together several disconnected elements into a very appealing mystery. Not only does the palace intrigue continue from earlier installments, the central mystery requires the a clever detective to solve the seemingly impossible cold case.
Additionally tension has been added by the incorporation of interpersonal relationships between the main characters
Rowland has hit her stride with this novel and the preceding one even though there was some unevenness in earlier books in the series. I recommend this series to any mystery lovers!
Task Total: 45 pts
Season total =980 pts
Post 549
10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 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 15.8 (38 plants)
20.5 Surprised!The St. Zita Society by Ruth Rendell
+20 task (period in title)
+ 5 combo (20.7-British residents June and Princess Susan Hapsburg vacation in Florence, Italy for a week)
Task total=25
Season total=65
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
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Redoubt (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ed Yong (other topics)Ariel Lawhon (other topics)
Freida McFadden (other topics)
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Mercedes Lackey (other topics)
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The Women by Kristin Hannah
"The Women" is a compelling novel about the American nurses in the Vietnam War. In 1966, Frankie McGrath made a quick decision to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps with only a few months of nursing experience. There were generations of male ancestors who were honored as military heroes in her family. However, her parents were horrified that their sheltered daughter would join the military. Frankie was going from a Catholic women's college and lunches at the country club to a wartime environment.
Frankie was idealistic, but she soon got hit with the reality of the horrific injuries she would be treating. She slowly learned to be a very skilled surgical nurse. Her two roommates offered emotional support when things seemed too overwhelming and heartbreaking.
Frankie's final year in the military was especially traumatic since she had suffered too many losses of people she loved, and suffered from post-traumatic stress. When she returned home, she didn't get a hero's welcome, even though she had spent years saving lives. Many Americans opposed the war, and they could not separate the sacrifices of the service members from the questionable government decisions and lies to the public.
Kristin Hannah wrote a riveting book based on historical events, and incorporating fictional characters that readers could care about. Although I was younger than Frankie, I remember the 1960s and 1970s. The author transports us to the era with the classic rock hits, expressions, fashions, cars, newscasters, protests, and the more casual lifestyle. The book has an important message that women can be heroes too, and should be recognized for their sacrifices. They also deserve help with any physical, emotional, and mental health issues that develop from their service. This is a story that will have readers laughing and crying on an emotional rollercoaster with Frankie and her fellow nurses.
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.9 (480 pages)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 505