Reading with Style discussion

10.9 Anniversary

All the Broken Places by John Boyne

"All the Broken Places" is John Boyne's sequel to "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." While the first book was a YA story, this sequel is directed to adult readers. Gretel, the narrator, was twelve years old when her father was the commandant of Auschwitz, one of Hitler's death camps. At the present time, she is 91 years old and living in a luxury flat in London. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of the guilt she is carrying for the disappearance of her nine-year-old brother, and her family's association with the atrocities at Auschwitz. Gretel spent years on the move after the war ended--going to France and Australia before settling in London. Psychologically her past was always with her, and it affected her own relationships.

The book raised lots of questions about guilt, complicity, moral obligation, and evil. Should anyone think that a twelve-year-old child had a real knowledge of what was happening in the camp, or any kind of power to change things? Are children guilty for the sins of their parents? Should people who lost loved ones in World War II or the Holocaust take vengeance into their own hands and hurt the families of the Nazis? Should Gretel have reported what she saw and identify the Nazis that worked at the death camp during the trials after the war--at a terrible cost to her own security?

John Boyne is a good storyteller as the book alternates between her past and her present situation where 91-year-old Gretel suspects that a neighbor's son is a victim of abuse. Bringing attention to herself could bring the whole new life that she created crashing down.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 95

10.1 - Rewind

The Protector by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 Combo - 10.2
-5 Combo error post 20

Task total: 10
Grand total: 35

10.1 - Rewind

The Kill Promise by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 Combo - 10.9 - 340 pgs

Task total: 15
Grand total: 50

15.2 HDYGG

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Vegetables:
NAPA CABBAGE - New Half-Way Tree

Herbs:
LEMON VERBENA - 392 pages

2 Plants this post
10 Plants in the garden

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Grand total: 50

20.7 International Travel

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon

This was completely different than most of this series - or *any* mystery series. A very nervous man is at the train station of Neuschanz on the Netherlands/German border with a ticket to Bremen. When in the toilet, his suitcase is swapped for one that looks identical. In Bremen, the nervous man is followed - by Maigret, as it turns out. When the nervous man realizess that the suitcase has been switched, he pulls out a gun and commits suicide. Maigret witnesses this, so there is no question that it is suicide, not murder. This is the first chapter.

What follows is Maigret investigating why this man would commit suicide. The novel is so short that to describe even a footstep further might wander into spoiler territory. Maigret had no more idea where the investigation would go than did this reader. I love this series and, for me, this is probably one of the better installments. 4-stars.

+20 Task (Maigret lives and works in Paris; he is in several cities outside France, but also at home in Paris at one point)
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.5 [Man on the Moon], 10.6 - 1931, 20.5 - hyphen, 20.10)
+10 LiT (French)

Task total = 60

Season total = 165

10.1 Rewind to Winter

Vie éternelle mode d'emploi by Grégory Panaccione

(#1 and #2 read last challenge)

+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel

Task total = 10

Points total = 30

10.1 (x2) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …

20.4 The Fighting Temeraire

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
#44 on the list

+20 Task
+25 Combo (10.4 - born 1957 ; 10.9 - 480 pages ; 20.5 ; 20.9 - not to spoil but there's a murder and several people involved ; 20.10 - set 50% in Denmark and 30% in Greenland)
+10 Lost in Translation (published in danish, native language french)
+10 1001

Task total = 65

Points total = 95

10.1 (x2) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …

20.4 The Fighting Temeraire

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, 970 Lexile

+20 Task, #6 on list
+5 Combo: 10.3, Chronicles of Narnia #3

Task total: 25
Season total: 75

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

In this fourth book in the Palliser series, Phineas Finn from book two returns to try again for a seat in parliament. MPs at that time were unpaid, and he is not well off, so he also needs to be appointed to some government post to earn his living, which makes his situation precarious. Many of his friends also have stories that are deservedly continued and given happy endings or not. It’s hard to give more detail without spoilers for that other book.

I found the first part slow - I couldn’t get interested in the politics where nothing very important seemed to be under discussion, and Phineas’s treatment of women doesn’t endear him to me - but just when I was considering switching to something else, Trollope threw in a murder and the plot took off. I still found this disappointing compared with others in the series.

This was my carryover book. I listened to the audio.

+20 Task (several POVs including Phineas, Mme. Goesler, Lady Eustace)
+ 5 Combo 20.7, Phineas makes a short trip from England to Germany to visit Lady Laura
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo (768 pages)

Post total = 45
Season Total = 60

10.5 Golden Broadway Shows

Call It Sleep by Henry Roth

David Schearl is a young Jewish boy growing up in New York in the tenements of New York in the early years of the 20th century. He’s desperately close to his mother and afraid of his father’s violent moods. His parents arrived as immigrants from Austria, they speak Yiddish at home (which is rendered in standard English in the book) and at first, when he’s not yet old enough to go to school, he struggles with English - which is written phonetically (“I god sumtin tuh show yuh”), so I struggled with it sometimes too. That worked well for getting the feeling of the family being in a foreign land.

David’s emotions are up and down all the time – he’s generally a fearful child, but there are moments of joy – and he lives in the moment, worrying about tomorrow but never thinking of next year and rarely remembering the past. I was completely caught up in his young life and loved this book.

+10 Task (Don't Call Back)
+10 Combo (10.6 1934, 10.9 462 pages)
+10 Review
+10 1001 list

Post total = 40
Season Total = 100

20.7 International Travel

Girl A by Abigail Dean

I was planning to read this for the “hidden identity” task last season, but didn’t quite get to it. Instead of consigning it back to the deepest TBR shelf, I picked it up this season.

Lex (Alexandra) is known to the world as Girl A after escaping from a horrible family situation where her parents kept the children imprisoned and worse. Lex’s escape freed the remaining children who were then dispersed to different adoptive homes under new names. Now they have jointly inherited the house where they suffered so much, and Lex needs to find them all, hoping to have them agree with her plans for the house. In the process, she has to face the past.

20.9: conspiracy between the two parents and one other person to cause major physical suffering to the children

+20 Task (Lex takes a trip from the UK to Greece to attend a wedding)
+ 5 Combo (10.9 352 pages)
+10 Review

Post total = 35
Season Total = 135

20.10 World of Crime

Maigret in Court by Georges Simenon

A woman has been killed in her Paris flat for the secret store of gold that she kept in a vase. Her throat was cut, and the child she minded during the day was also murdered. Her nephew is on trial for the crimes, but Maigret has a doubt.

I’m not a big fan of courtroom detective stories, but this one fairly soon moves away from the trial and concentrates on what led up to it and follows from it. I wouldn’t say it’s a favourite Maigret for me, but it was an enjoyable short read. I would have given 3.5 stars if that were possible.

20.9: conspiracy to commit theft and murder

+20 Task (set entirely in France)
+ 5 Combo (20.9)
+10 Review
+10 LiT, French

Post total = 45
Season Total = 180

15.3 HDYGG?
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Flowers:
tHe musEum of extRAorDiNArY thinGs - HYDRANGEA+
the muSeum of extraoRdInary thingS - IRIS

Vegetables:
Greenwich Villange - GARLIC

Herbs: page count = 368
6--CHIVES
8--ROSEMARY

Count: 2 flowers / 1 vegetable / 2 herbs
Total count (overall) : 3 flower / 6 vegetables / 6 herbs

+15 Task
+5 Flower Bonus

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 50

15.3 HDYGG?

First to Fly: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille, the American Heroes Who Flew For France in World War I by Charles Bracelen Flood

Flowers:
fIrsttofly:thestoryofthefaYetteescadrLLe,theamericanheroeswhoflewforfranceinworldwari - LILY
firSttoflY:thestoryofthelfAyetteescaDrIlle,theamericanheroeswhoflewforfranceinworldwari - DAISY
firsttofly:thestoryoftHeLfayetteescadrille,theAmerIcanheroeswhoflewforfranceinworlDwAri - DAHLIA
firsttofly:thestOryofthelfayetteesCadrille,theamericaNhEroeswhoFLEWfORfranceinworldwari - CONEFLOWER +5

Vegetable:
France - FENNEL (there is a lot on the ground; it's probably very close to the 51% requirement, but over)

Herbs: 256 pgs
No Herbs (pages on other books)

5 Plants this post
16 Total plants in the garden

+15 Task
+ 5 Flowers bonus

Task total = 20

Season total = 185

10.6 Modernism
Rilla of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables #8) by L.M. Montgomery
1030L

Review
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧

What is made clear to me by this audiobook is that I really needed a reread of Anne of Green Gables. Rilla of Ingleside reminds me somewhat of Anne though of course, she is her own character being a mix of Anne & Gilbert. She was 15 at the beginning of the novel and was just coming out of that awkward teen years which the war quickly work that out of her and 19 at the end of the novel having experienced loss but also many other blessings. She wasn't quite as dramatic as Anne even if there were some funny moments, they weren't as comical.

I just realised that I keep comparing her to Anne (her mother!); I guess now you know just how much I missed & therefore needed to read Anne again. Other than that, Rilla of Ingleside was a tolerable & wholesome read.

+10 Task (pub 1921)
+5 Combo (20.3 - family cat called Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde depending on what mood the cat is in)
+10 Review

Post Total: 25
Season Total: 75

20.10 world of crime
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
Set in Botswana
Task +20
Grand total: 40

20.10 World of Crime

Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt

Set in Iceland

+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.9 - don't want to spoil but if needed i can give you more context by message)
+10 (written in swiss german, my native language is french)

Task total = 35

Points total = 130

10.1 (x2) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; 20.10

15.3 HDYGG

Stoner by John Williams

Flowers:
StOnER - ROSE

Vegetables:
Columbia - CUCUMBER
Missouri - MUNG BEAN

Herbs:
288 pp - ROSEMARY (8)

4 Plants this post
14 Plaints in the garden

+15 Task

Task total: 15
Grand total: 65

In post 39:
Connie wrote: "10.3 St Patrick's Day

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Eugene Parkson came running home from the park with bloodstains and dirt on his clothes. The neurodiverse 14-y..."

Sorry. The MPE for this is the hardcover with 387 pages. No combo with 10.9.
-5pts

In Post 46:

Kim wrote: "10.6 Modernism

The Maltese Falcon. Dashiell Hammett

Review:
I alternated reading the book with watching the movie, which helped me better understand the story. It was ..."

+10 1001

10.2 The Dispossessed

The Twins by Tessa de Loo

Read a book with a two-word title starting 'The'.

+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.3 St. Patrick's Day (1993)
+10 LiT (translated from Dutch)
+10 1001

Post total = 35
Season total = 35

20.7 International Travel

Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope

Phineas travels from Great Britain to Belgium to fight a duel! (approved in help thread)

+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.9 Anniversaries (752) / 20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin(Phineas, Violet, Glencora and others - pre-approved)
+10 1001
+10 Jumbo (752p)

Post total = 50
Season total = 85

15.1 HDYGG?

The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides

My initial planting is a big one! I used letters in the order they appeared in the title/subtitle if you are double checking them all.

Flowers +40

THe AccIDeNtal highwayman: being the tale of kit bristol, his horse midnight, a mysterioUS princess, and sundry magical persons besides = DIANTHUS +5
thE accidentAl hiGhwAymaN: beIng the tale of kit bRistol, his horse miDnight, a mysterious princess, and sundry magical persons besides = GARDENIA +5
the aCcidEnTaL hIghwayMAn: being the tale of kit briStol, his horse midnight, a mysterious princess, and sundry magical persons
besides = CLEMATIS +5
the acCidental HighwaYman: beiNg THe tAle of kIt bristol, his horse midnight, a mysterious princess, and sundry magical persons
besides = HYACINTH +5
the accidental highWayman: bEing thE TalE of kit bristol, hiS horse midnight, A mysterious Princess, and sundry magical persons
besides = SWEET PEA +5
the accidental highwayman: beinG the tale of kit bristol, his hoRsE Midnight, a mysterious prIncess, ANd sUndry magical persons
besides = GERANIUM +5
the accidental higHwayman: being the taLe of Kit bristOL, His hOrse midnight, a mYsterious prinCess, and sundry magical persons
besides = HOLLYHOCK +5
the accidental highwayman: being the tale of kit brIstol, his horse midNight, a mystEriOus priNcess, and sunDry mAgicaL persons besiDes = DANDELION +5
the accidental highwayman: being the tale of kit bristol, his horse midnight, a mysterious princEss, and suNdrY magical PersOns besides = PEONY

Vegetables:
great britain = GARLIC
england = ENDIVE

Herbs: page count = 304
3--RUE
4--DILL (I'll be planting peppermint a bit later;)

13 Plants this post
13 Total plants in the garden

+15 Task
+40 Flower Bonus

Task total = 55
Season total = 140

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

The Nun by Denis Diderot

The Nun pretends to be the true memoir of an 18th-century French nun persuaded to take vows by her mother because she was the product of an affair, is not her legal father's daughter, and is an embarrassment with no hope of a dowry. Vows taken, she says she was forced into it and seeks a way out, but this brings the wrath of a sadistic mother superior down upon her head. Her tribulations go to the other extreme when she is moved to a different convent where the mother superior loves her all too much.

Although fictional, the book scandalised French society with its portrayal of the darker side of life in a convent. Themes include the rights of the individual and the right of women to have some say in their destiny, since I don't think men were sent to monasteries in the same way - at least not by the 18th century. I gave it 4 stars.

For the task: most of the book is from the POV of Suzanne, but there are also a number of letters from the POVs of Mme Madin and the Marquis de Croismare.

+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.2)
+10 Review
+10 LiT, French
+10 1001

Post total = 55
Season Total = 235

Karen Michele wrote: "15.1 HDYGG?

The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides

My initial planting is a big on..."

For your vegetable plantings, You can claim Garlic for Great Britain and Endive for England (or Europe), but “Great” is not a place so couldn’t be accepted on its own.

Also: kudos on the massive initial planting!

Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "20.10 world of crime
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
Set in Botswana
Task +20
Grand total: 40"

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but the official language of Botswana is English.
If you read something by the author last season, you could use it for 10.1 or if you choose to use it for the subchallenge I see some potential plants you could use (“Lupine” in the title, Garlic and Beet for Gaborone, Botswana, and Parsley for MPE page count)…

15.4 HDYGG?
Silver Under Nightfall (Reaper #1) by Rin Chupeco

Flowers:
siLVER UNDEr nightfAll - LAVENDER+

Vegetables:
[Kingdom of] Aluria - ARTICHOKE

Herbs: page count = 512
5--THYME

Count: 1 flower / 1 vegetable / 1 herb
Total count (overall) : 4 flower / 7 vegetables / 7 herbs

+15 Task
+5 Flower Bonus

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 95

20.5 Surprised!

A la poursuite d'Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti

+20 Task
No style point as it's mostly an illustrated guide

Task total = 20

Points total = 150

10.1 (x2) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; 20.10

10.1 Rewind to Winter

Chapeaux melons et hordes de huns by Giorgio Albertini

(#1 and #2 read last challenge)

+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel

Task total = 10

Points total = 160

10.1 (x3) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; 20.10

20.1 The National Gallery

The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing

I am so glad this book picked up on my screen somewhere, I think it was Goodreads. It gave me a lot to think about, and a lot of artists and performers to look up and observe whilst I made my way through the many names of outsiders and embodiments of loneliness mentioned in this book.

If you enjoyed Johann Hari's Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions, you will also enjoy this. If you are interested in art, particularly of the 1960's onwards, or have an interest in gay and AIDS history, you will enjoy this.

The book focuses on various artists, firstly Edward Hopper, who I had a small familiarity with, Andy Warhol, who I had a teenage obsession with (or, at least with The Factory, but isn't this a Gen X thing?), David Wojnarowicz, whom I didn't know, and Henry Darger, who I surprisingly had watched a documentary on about 20 years ago. Many others are mentioned - photographer Nan Golden, performance artist Klaus Nomi, Valerie Solanis (the woman who shot Andy Warhol), and a couple of Hitchcock films are also referenced, but the main focus would definitely be Warhol and Wojnarowicz, which is why the gay and AIDS history becomes relevant.

There is so much more I want to explore after reading this, I just can't tell you all the thoughts and feelings this narrative, and it is a narrative in that it is Laing's exploration of her own period of loneliness and how it leads to her research of these various artists, raised for me. It was somewhat overwhelming, particularly since I completed this in to days.

Well written, well researched, and oh, so relevant to our current world. 6 out of 5 stars.

+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (20.5 - semi colon)

Post Total - 35
Season Total = 165

15.1;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; ...; ...; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

20.5 Surprised!

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
apostrophe

I had not originally planned to read this when it was plastered EVERYWHERE when it first came out. My mind changed when, one day, my husband wanted me to listen to an episode of Maron that he had just listened to and thought was incredible - the episode where he interviews Jennette McCurdy. We spent that day's car trip listening to the interview, and then I decided to give this a go.

I have, only recently, seen one episode of iCarly, and a little bit of one episode of Sam & Cat, so I really don't have any sense of McCurdy's work, or who she even is, but this isn't really that important. What is the main focus is the relationship she has with her mother, the driving force behind her acting career, and how this impacted her relationship with food and her body.

I listened to the audiobook, and McCurdy keeps this very disturbing upbringing relatively light - it is shocking, but it is never dark. You understand how this upbringing could occur between a child who loved their ill parent (not realising that there is a mental illness beyond the physical one).

This one is for anyone who is interested in the mindset behind food and body issues, celebrity, and weird family dynamics. 4 stars.

+20 task
+10 review

Post Total - 30
Season Total = 195

15.1;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; ...; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

10.3 St. Patrick's Day

Hit Parade of Tears by Izumi Suzuki
First published 2023

This is another text that kept popping up in front of my eyes on a screen, so I filed away for later without really knowing much about it.

Now, I have read quite a bit of Japanese fiction, and am used to the quirky, unusual nature it often expresses. Much of it is magic realist in nature, which is a genre I enjoy.

That said, this collection of short stories was seriously disturbing. Aliens, madness, and a missing brother, who in one story ends up dismembered, all appear across the collection. Sometimes it was hard to tell where one story finished and another began, even though each was introduced by title.

I didn't realise that Izumi has been gone for nearly 40 years, but it appears that not much of her writing has been translated into English, which is why her name is new to me. That said, I am not sure hers is a body of work I feel the need to revisit, 3 stars.

+10 task
+10 review
+10 LIT

Post Total - 30
Season Total = 225

10.3;
15.1;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; ...; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

15.3 How Does Your Garden Grow

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

no herbs being used here
setting- France = fennel

flowers:
THe art thief: a true story of love, crIme ANd a DangeroUS obsession = Dianthus +5
the art thief: a trUe story of love, crIMe and a dANGERous obsession = Geranium +5
thE aRt thief: a true story of LoVE, crime anD A dangerous obsessioN = Lavender +5

plants this post = 4
total plants = 12

15 task
15 for Dianthus, Geranium + Lavender
______
30

Running total: 125

10.9 Anniversaries (Apple's task)

The God Desire by David Baddiel
112 pages

I first became aware of David Baddiel many years ago when Fantasy Football League screened on television, I would guess at the time of the 1998 World Cup, and i have to admit to having had a little crush on him. A grungy, intelligent, funny man with an English accent, what is not to love?

I had also been aware of his various controversies in regards to his atheism and Judaism. Baddiel, whilst and atheist, does identify as Jewish, and it is in this book that he discusses both of these things.

It is an intelligent, funny, and relatively short text, I found it interesting in that it is a book by an atheist who understands the desire and need for religion, including his only longing for it, whilst dismissing it at the same time because of the exact same reasons.

Obviously, not a book for everyone, 4 stars.

+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.3 - published 2023; 10.5 - as approved in help thread)

Post Total - 30
Season Total = 255

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; ...; ...; ...; 10.9; ...
15.1;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; ...; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

15.4 How Does Your Garden Grow

The Quest for Christa T. by Christa Wolf

the quEst foR chriSTA t = aster

Garlic = Germany
Endive = Europe

185 pages = horseradish, rosemary, thyme

Plants this post = 5
total plants = 17

15 task
______
15

Running total: 140

OMG - so tedious - I do not recommend this book. :(

Anika wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "15.1 HDYGG?

The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides

My initia..."

Thanks, and I see what you mean about Great. I'll go ahead and use your suggestion England = ENDIVE to keep the points and totals the same.

15.4 HDYGG?

The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Flowers:
theSIlenceoftheRaIn - IRIS

Vegetables:
Rio de Janiero - RUTABAGA
Brazil - BEET
South America - SPINACH

Herbs (256 pages):
5 - THYME
6 - CHIVES

6 Plants this post
22 Total plants

+15 Task

Season total: 200

15.2 HDYGG
Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet

Flowers:
SoldiErs hEArT rEading literature through Peace and War at west point -SWEET PEA, +5
sOlDierS heaRt reAdiNG literAture through peace aNd war at west Point -SNAPDRAGON, +5
soLdiers heart reading LIterature through peaCe And war at west point -LILAC
soldiers heart reading literature through peace and waR At wEST point - ASTER
No Vegetables
Herbs: 259 pages
5 - THYME
Plants this post: 5
Total plants: 8
+15 points
+10 flower points


Points this post: 25
Season total: 115

20.5 - Surprised !

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982/Cho Nam-Joo

Task: 20
Lost in translation: 10

Post total : 30
Season total : 30

10.9 Anniversary

Off the Record/ Camryn Garrett
MPE page count 311
Lexile score H610 L - no style points

Task: 10

Post total : 10

Season total : 40

15.2 HDYGG?

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

Flowers

LAnD of mIlk And Honey= DAHLIA

Vegetables:

none this time

Herbs: page count = 240

0= PEPPERMINT

2 Plants this post
15 Total plants in the garden

+15 Task
+ 0 Flower Bonus

Task total = 15
Season total = 155

Task 10.5 Golden Broadway Shows

Broadway Show:

49. Same TIME, Next Year

The Caltraps of Time (1968) by David I. Masson (Paperback 224 pages)
Review: SF Masterworks is a collection of about 200 books reprinted by Gollancz. They chose books that are ‘important’ in science fiction over the past century or so, mainly books that are out-of-print or not widely known (although they do include The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and Dune by Frank Herbert). Here are two different links with the lists of what has been published by SF Masterworks:
https://sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/list...
I love the covers for all these books! Kudos to whomever designed the covers.

The Caltraps of Time is one of the SF Masterworks books. David Masson (see: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?... ) (b. 1915 d. 2007) ) wrote ten novelettes / short stories in his lifetime. The first seven stories, published 1965-1967 in New Worlds SF magazine (edited byMichael Moorcock) were collected in The Caltraps of Time. He was an active participant in the late 1960s “New Wave” style of science fiction (see: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ), wherein writers ‘experimented’ with literary forms. Experimenting included non-linear storytelling, non-heroic protaganists, and plots that were wildly different from 1950s action-adventure stories. The seven stories all reflect the 1960s “New Wave” style. I particularly enjoyed the stories featuring time travel. Recommended for science fiction fans only.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 20 + 20 = 40

Task 15.02 HDYGG?

A Sprinkling of Murder (A Fairy Garden Mystery #1) (2020) by Daryl Wood Gerber (Paperback 338 pages)

Flowers:
A SPRinKLing of mURder – LARKSPUR, +5

Vegetables:
California = Cucumber

Herbs: pagecount = 338

3 = thyme
8 = rosemary

4 Plants this post
12 Total plants in the garden

+15 task
+05 flower bonus

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 40 + 20 = 60

15.2 HDYGG

The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey

Satapur (fictional kingdom) : Spinach
Kolhapur: Kale


4: Dill
9: Chamomile

4 plants this post
13 plants total

15 pts 15.2 HDYGG


Task Total: 15 pts
Correction 10 pts Post 31
Season Total: 110 pts


Post 94

… … … … … … … … … …

… 20.2 … … … … … … … …
15.1 15.2 … … … … … … … …

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Told from the points of view of Isabel, an archivist of the Fleet, Eyas, a caretaker who takes car of the dead and funeral rites, Kip, a boy about to finish school and bored of Fleet life, Tessa, a mother and daughter who is part of the fleet, and Sawyer, an offworlder who has come to try Fleet living, as well as anthropological reports on fleet living by and alien observer who has come to visit.

What is the Fleet? It is a group of ships that carry the descendents of the last Humans that left Earth. They are still living on the same ships, recycling the same materials, and carrying the same ethos forward with them. Not everyone, particularly the younger generation are happy with this existence, and many are leaving, but some are returning.

Whilst this is the third in the Wayfarer's series, each book is only loosely linked, and I think you could probably pick up any book and you would follow it reasonably okay.

What does flow through each of the books is the sense of community, of belonging, of finding your tribe and where you belong. They will mostly leave you feeling good about the human, and the alien, race.

4 out of 5.

+20 task
+10 review
+510combo (10.3 - 3rd in series); 10.7 - pg.2 Space list)

Post Total = 40
Season Total = 295

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; ...; ...; ...; 10.9; ...
15.1;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

15.2 HDYGG?

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Vegetables
Napa Cabbage - Set 100% in North America

Flowers
hILLbilly elegy: A Memoir of a family and cUlture in crisis ALLIUM

hillbiLLy elegy: a memoir of a family And culture in CrIsis LILAC

hillbilly elegy: a mEMOir of A family aNd culturE iN crisis ANEMONE

HiBIllly elegy: a memoIr of a family and CUlture in criSiS HIBISCUS+

hillbilly eleGy: a memoir Of a fAMILy anD cultuRe in crisis MARIGOLD+

Plants used this post =6
Total plants used = 10

+15 points
+10 flower bonus

Post Total = 25
Season Total = 320

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; ...; ...; ...; 10.9; ...
15.1; 15,2;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; ...; 20.9; ...

20.9 Beware the Ides of March

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd 4 stars

The main character, Eliza, conspires with her slaves to learn to grow and process Indigo. In return, Eliza will teach the slaves to read (against the law in 1700 South Carolina).

Review
In the mid-1700's Eliza Lucas, still a child, settles in South Carolina with her family from Antigua. When she reaches age 16, her father finds it necessary to leave the family and return to their holdings in Antigua so that he can move forward in his attempt to become the English Governor there. Her brothers are away at boarding school, her mother is unfit to handle it, and so Eliza is given the responsibility of running the planation in South Carolina.

Educated, intelligent and head strong, Eliza takes on the challenge. With her love for botany, she is the perfect fit. Society shuns her, no woman should be in charge, and besides that she treats her slaves like humans. Elizas ambition eventually lead to Indigo becoming the major export of the South Carolina Colony.

This HF is about a real woman who took the reigns to save her planation by learning more about the planting and processing of Indigo. Eliza plans to save her plantation with the crop, but needs guidance from the slaves, some who are willing to help, some not so much. It is an interesting story, but I wish there had been more information about the later years of Eliza and the industry.

A wonderful coming of age story that told me about a woman I knew nothing about. Recommended for HF and History fans.

+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total 30
Season Total 105

30.1 Go for the Green Redux

Rattlesnake by Arturo Arias

Set in Guatemala

+30 Task
+20 Combo: 10.4 Baby Boom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_...
/ 20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin (Tom Wright, Sandra Herrera, Pascal and others) / 20.9 Beware the Ides of March (multiple coups and conspiracies) / 20.10 World of Crime (Guatemala - Spanish)
+10 Lost in Translation

Task total = 60
Season total = 215

15.5 How Does Your Garden Grow

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

vErA wong's unSoLICTed advice for Murderers = clematis +5

pgs 339 = chamomile
veg = San Fran = spinach

plants this post =3
total plants = 20

15 task
5 bonus flower - clematis
_____
20

Running total: 160

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bowl, and Violin

True Biz by Sara Nović

+20 Task, told mainly from the points of view of February, Charlie, and Austin (with a few chapters from some minor characters thrown in for good measure)
+5 Combo, 10.10

Task total: 25
Season total: 100