Reading with Style discussion

Joanne wrote: "20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

The White Rose

The character Raven, from previous books, reappears . Other characters in the series saw him killed, or so they thought.

+20 Task
Season..."

Just wanted to follow up on this: from your description, it sounds like it's a character who was introduced earlier in a series who appears later in the same series. Is that accurate?

If so, it wouldn't work for this task: "Regular series books won't work as they are the same character written by the same author working in an already established 'world'."
If it's a character who was introduced in one series that pops up in an entirely different series, then you're good to go.

20.7 International Travel

Humus by Gaspard Kœnig

The book is mainly set in France, but at one point one of the main character travels to San-Francisco, USA, for business

+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.6 - 2 main characters, Arthur and Kevin, but there are occasional points of view from other characters)

Task total = 25

Points total = 205

10.1 (x3) ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; … ; 20.10

10.4 Baby Boom

La malédiction du pétrole by Jean-Pierre Pécau
Born 1955

+10 Task
No style points, graphic novel

Task total = 10

Points total = 215

10.1 (x3) ; … ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; … ; 20.10

Anika wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "15.3 HDYGG?

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg

Flowers

thE vOLuptuous DelIghts of peANut butter aND jam= ..."

Thanks! Sorry about my confusion. I will use lupine instead (I re-did the post).

10.4 Baby Boom Author Born in '50's

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown

Brown was born in 1951

Daniel James Brown is a favorite NF writer for me and he does not disappoint with this account of the Donner expedition of 1846-47. Right off I must tell the squeamish, this is not a book for you. Brown holds nothing back and tells the horrific events of the demise and and the small survival rate of the party.

Brown takes a personal interest in one of the party, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves. Brown also attempted his best to follow the route of the party.

Newly married Sarah, is excited to begin a new life with her husband Jay, She sets off from Illinois, not only with Jay but her entire family, with anticipation of a better life in the west. Eventually in Missouri the family connected with the Donners' who were going to attempt a newer, unproved route to California. Browns decision to highlight Sarah, though tell the story of a host of people, was a great choice, The story of Sarah made my enjoyment (not a good word for this subject matter 🙄) of the book better and connected me to the party.

As I said, this is not a book for those with a weakness for gore. However, the history and reality of what these people went through is astonishing and well worth the read for those interested in history.

+10 Task Total
+10 Review
Season Total 190

15.6 HDYGG?

The Struggles of Brown, Jones and Robinson, by One of the Firm by Anthony Trollope

Flowers:
thEstRuGglsofBrOwn,jonesAndrobinsonbyoneofthefirm - BORAGE
theStrUggLEsOFbRoWN,jonesandRobinsonbyoneofthefirm - SUNFLOWER +5

Vegetables:
Great Britain - GARLIC

Herbs (254 pages)
4 - DILL

4 Plants this post
31 Total plants

+15 Task
+ 5 Flowers

Task total = 20

Season total = 280

15.4 HDYGG?

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz

Herbs
320 pages
Peppermint 0
Lemon Verbena 2

Flowers
four lost cIties: a secret history Of the urBAN aGE BEGONIA
foUr LOST cities: a secret history of the urban age LOTUS

Plants used this post =4
Total plants used = 21

+15 points

Post Total = 15
Season Total = 465

...; ...; 10.3; ...; ...; ...; ...; ...; 10.9; 10.10
15.1; 15,2; 15.3; 15.4;
20.1; ...; ...; ...; 20.5; 20.6; 20.7; ...; 20.9; 20.10

20.1 The National Gallery

A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry (800 Lexile)

This was my gateway drug to reading. It's the first book I remember having chosen for myself...not one recommended to me by someone else, read to me, or borrowed from a teacher's classroom. I just picked it up from the older kids' section at our local library (I was in third or fourth grade and felt like I was being so grown up) and that was that. There was no book jacket, no blurb, had no idea what it was about but I liked the picture on the front. Thought I'd reread it forty-odd-years later to see how it stood up to memory. It was just as good as I remembered.

Meg's family rents a house in rural Maine for the summer so her dad can finish writing his book. Her sister, Molly loves flowers, is beautiful, a cheerleader, popular, and kind. She fits right in with the kids her age when they move. Meg--not so much. The only friend she makes is a septuagenarian who shares her love of photography.
As the summer progresses, Meg's art improves and Molly gets sick.

I loved (and still do) the contrast/foreshadowing of fleeting (Molly's love of flowers that die so quickly) vs. lasting (Meg's love of taking and developing photographs that that become a frozen moment that will last forever).
It's a lovely, gentle book that makes me yearn for a simpler time.
Still a five-star read for me (though that might be colored by a bit of nostalgia).

+20 Task, Meg is a photographer and a lot of the book is interpreted through that artistic lens
+10 Review
+10 Combo: 10.5 - "to" from "A Gala Tribute to Joshua Logan"; 10.9 - MPE 120 pages

Task total: 40
Season total: 180

15.9 How Does Your Garden Grow

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

Flowers:
hILLbilly elegy: A memior of a family and Culture in crisis LILAC
hillbilly ElEgy: a MemiOr of A family aNd culture iN crisis ANEMONE
hillbILLy elegy: a meMior of a fAmily and cUlture in crisis ALLIUM
hillbilly eLeGy: a memioR Of a faMily AnD culture in crisis MARIGOLD +5
HillBilly elegy: a memior of a famIIy and cultUre In CriSiS HIBISCUS +5

NAPA CABBAGE Set in North America

264 pages = Chives, Dill

Plants this post = 8
Total plants = 39

15 task
10 flower bonus - marigold, hibiscus
_____
25

Running total: 280

15. 3 How Does Your Garden Grown

Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones

Flowers
Borage: Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty
Catmint: Magna Carta": The Birth if Liberty
Veg:
London-Leek

Total Plants 3
Season Planting 10

Points this task 15
Season Total 205

Veg London Leek

10.9 Anniversary
Tea Time for the Traditionally Builtby Alexander McCall Smith
221 pp

Task +10
Grand total 95

15.2 HDYGG?

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Illinois = ICEBERG LETTUCE

447 Pages
7 = PARSLEY

tHE Devil iN the white citY muRder mAGic And madness at the fair that changed america = HYDRANGEA
the devIl in THe white city mUrDer magic aNd mAdneSs at the fair that changed america = DIANTHUS
the devil in the white city murder magic and madness at the fair ThaT ChaNged AMerIca = CATMINT

+15 task 5 Plants total, +10 Flower Bonus

Task total: 25, 11 total plants
Season total: 205

10.4 Baby Boom

Crazy As Chocolate by Elisabeth Hyde

Author born 1953 https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/edu...

+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.5 "as" from As You Like It)

Post total = 15
Season Total = 395

10.5 Golden Broadway Shows

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Carola Dunn

+10 Task ("for" from Love For Love)

Post total = 10
Season Total = 405

10.5 Golden Broadway Shows

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

Twin sisters--Rose and Fern. Which one is "the good sister"?

Rose and Fern are fraternal twins who are very different. Rose is short and round while Fern is tall and slender. Fern has sensory processing problems, and works at a library. Rose is a married interior designer who spends a lot of time helping Fern, even when she doesn't need help.

Fern finds out that Rose would love to have a baby (not a spoiler, it's on the cover). She would like to pay Rose back for all her help in the past. Can Fern help Rose with her dream?

We learn about the sisters' lives from chapters in alternating points of view--with Rose's memories written in diary form. They were raised by a mother who had her own challenges. As the book progresses, the two sisters have some differences in their memories of the past and hidden family secrets are exposed. Fern meets a man who understands how her unusual mind works in some humorous "meet cute" scenes.

This is a book that's hard to put down as you try to grasp the truth about this dysfunctional family. There's some enjoyable humor in addition to the psychological suspense and mystery. The author has neurodiverse children so her depiction of Fern seems authentic. 4+ stars.

+10 task (good)
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 225

10.9 Anniversaries

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

I’ve dipped into the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries here and there over the years, and now looking back over the series list I seem to like the first few a bit better than ones written just a couple of years later. This one falls into the first group. Even though it is the fifth in the series, it still is somewhat of an origin story. This is the mystery where Peter meets Harriet Vane, who becomes his love interest.

In this instalment, I liked the character of Lord Peter more than I had previously – maybe Sayers fleshed him out more here. I also found Bunter’s role amusing and was put in mind of Jeeves (although at one point Lord Peter tells Bunter not to talk like Jeeves!). The mystery was a good one and Peter had to use all of his resources to puzzle it out. Overall, a very good example of a Golden Age Mystery. 4*

10 task
10 review
______
20

Running total: 300

20.5 Surprised!

Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide by Cecily Wong

About two years ago, I attended a festival... and there was a food truck serving Mozambique dishes...and they were delicious. That was the start of a project my husband and I started to not only actively seek out national dishes from every country...but to keep track of them. The project expanded to include state and regional dishes as well. My close friend gave me this book as a gift.... and it is not only a fascinating read about food and food oddities from across the globe... but served as a guide for our project. Many times, I would read about a dish (Hot Mambo, for example from Haiti- a spicy peanut butter) and then order it online. I read every word...but this is a great book just to browse through also. Five stars.

Task =20
Review=10

Task total=30
Season Total=155

Books read=5
Tasks Completed: 4
10.9
20.3; 20.5 (2x); 20.10

15.10 How Does Your Garden Grow

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

inTO the rIVErLands =violet

no herbs
Setting = Ahn = artichoke

plants in post - 2
Total plants in garden= 41

15 task
100 finisher bonus for 41 plants
______
115

Running total: 415

Anika wrote: "Joanne wrote: "20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

The White Rose

The character Raven, from previous books, reappears . Other characters in the series saw him killed, or so they thought.

..."

It is the same author, but a different series, does that work?

10.7 Strange New Worlds

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Space: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/... (the first 3 pages)

+10 Task

Task total = 10
Season total = 315

20.4 The Fighting Temeraire

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Read one of the first 150 on this list of Boat Books.

+20 Task

Task total = 20
Season total = 335

10.6 Modernism

Design for Living by Noël Coward

I have always liked any Noel Coward plays I've read or seen performed and expected this to be equally enjoyable. Sadly, it wasn't. Perhaps, a modern staging could make it work. A woman and two men are caught in a mostly amicable three-way relationship. Should be plenty of ammunition for comedy. However, I didn't like any of the characters. A cast of hoity-toity snobs, full of themselves. It just didn't work for me.


Task =10
Review=10
Combo=5 (10.9)

Task total=25
Season Total=180

Books read=6
Tasks Completed: 5
10.3; 10.9
20.3; 20.5 (2x); 20.10

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Read a novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view.
Told by many family members over the generations: Orvil Red Feather and many others.

+20 Task

Task total = 20
Season total = 355

15.4 HDYGG?

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica

Flowers

nInETeen cLAwS and a Blackbird = ASTILBE

Vegetables:

Herbs: page count = 154

5= THYME

2 Plants this post
23 Total plants in the garden

+15 Task
+ 0 Flower Bonus

Task total = 15
Season total = 370

Joanne wrote: "Anika wrote: "Joanne wrote: "20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

The White Rose

The character Raven, from previous books, reappears . Other characters in the series saw him killed, or so they thought...

It is the same author, but a different series, does that work?."

That would work, Joanne, but which is the other series that the character is from? We can see that The White Rose is in the series "The Chronicles of the Black Company", but we don't know what other series the character of Raven appeared in.

We just need a little more explanation with characters that are not from well known books!

Rosemary wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Anika wrote: "Joanne wrote: "20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

The White Rose

The character Raven, from previous books, reappears . Other characters in the series saw him ..."

Ok, now that I am looking deeper at it, the books really are all one series(the one that I was thinking about is labeled book 1.5 here on GR's, which makes it part of the same series-no worries though I have another book that will fit it here.

Joanne wrote: "Rosemary wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Anika wrote: "Joanne wrote: "20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

The White Rose

The character Raven, from previous books, reappears . Other characters in th..."

Thanks, Joanne! I see that the book you read is #3 in the series, so we will score it for task 10.3. You don't need to repost.
So your total now is 195.

15.3 HDYGG

The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

ASTER: ThE miStRess of bhAtia
2: Lemon Verbena
Daikon: Dadar Parsi Colony
Watercress: Western Coastal Plain (of India) https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/coast....

4 plants this post
17 plants this season

15 pts 15.3 HDYGG

Task Total: 15 pts
Season Total: 175pts


Post 178

… 10.2 … … … … … … … …

… 20.2 … … … … …10.8 … …
15.1 15.2 15.3 … … … … … … …

Post 133 Joanne wrote: "10.8 Elemental (Tien's task)

Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy byMatthew Campbell

In 2011 in the waters of ..."

You claimed 10 Combo points but only named one Combo task, but I see it also fits 10.5, so that's fine. No change to points.

Post 135 Apple wrote: "10.10 Group reads

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

I listened to the audiobook of this text, which made it very hard to remember t..."

Sorry, Apple, task 20.6 requires a novel, so this book doesn't qualify for that Combo.
-5 points

Post 138 Deedee wrote: "Task 20.3 The Madonna of the Cat
Read a book where a character has a pet cat. Tell us the name of the character (and if you like, the name of the cat).

Mariana Pineda agreed to take care of her be..."

The score for this post is 35, so your total is 95 at this point.

Post 20 Norma wrote: "10.1 - Rewind

Nothing Left by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 combo points missed post 9 - Combo - 10.9 - Anniversaries - page number ends in 0, 330

Task total: 15
Grand..."

Norma, the book claimed in post 9 White Nights doesn't work for a 10.9 combo because the 330-page edition is a Kindle edition. The MPE has 328 pages.
So we have your total 5 points less, 115 as at post 150.

20.9 Beware the Ides of March

Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson

This mystery is a joint writing project of the a well-known Icelandic author and the Icelandic prime minister. Like other such projects, the book is uneven and a little disappointing. The plot set up forms the basis for a good mystery but unfortunately the resolution of the story lacks punch.
Several cliched writing devices are used including an unrealistically effective conspiracy to keep the murder a secret, the surprise unveiling of the true murderer, and an inexperienced investigator who manages to bring threads of the mystery together to wrap things up where the police couldn’t.
The book is a quick read and enjoyable but ultimately it is unsatisfying.


20 pts 20.9 Beware the Ides of March
5 pts 20.10 World of Crime
10 pts LiT
10 pts Review

Task Total: 45 pts
Season Total: 220 pts


Post 183

… 10.2 … … … … … 10.8 … …

… 20.2 … … … … …… 20.9 …
15.1 15.2 15.3 … … … … … … …

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

The Reader's Companion to Cuba by Alan Ryan

I have had this book on my shelf for a long time and finally got around to reading it... and glad I did. The book is an anthology of essays written by over a dozen people about their visits to Cuba... including Anais Nin, Pico Iyer and Anthony Trollope. Some accounts are from visits during colonial times. But there are also tales from the Batista years and after the revolution. Hemingway's first wife revisits their home...mostly unchanged. I was disappointed to read Trollope's account (because I admire his writings) because he not only supports colonialism...but wants the Americans to kick out the Spanish to start their own vassal state. Langston Hughes visit includes a story about how he was barred from a beach because he was Black. He had to involve muckety mucks to get that sorted out unfortunately.
Cuba is one of the few places I have yet to visit...and this ignited my wanderlust.

Task =20
Review=10
Combo=5 (20.5)

Task total=35
Season Total=215

Books read=7
Tasks Completed: 5
10.3; 10.9
20.3; 20.5 (2x); 20.6; 20.10

Task 15.03 HDYGG?

Now Is Not the Time to Panic (2022) by Kevin Wilson (Hardcover 246 pages)

Flowers:
NOw is not thE tiME to pANic = ANEMONE

Vegetables:
Tennessee = Tomato

2 Plants this post
14 Total plants in the garden

+15 task

Grand Total: 95 + 15 = 110

15.3 HDYGG?

Gaining Ground: A Story Of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, And Saving The Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard

Berryville = BEET
Clarke County = CUCUMBER

320 pages
3 = RUE

gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = LILAC
gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = MARIGOLD
gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = GARDENIA

6 Total Plants, +10 Flower Bonus

Task total: 25, 16 total plants
Season total: 230

Task 20.5 20.5 Surprised!
Read a book with one of the following punctuation marks in the title: exclamation mark ! question mark ? brackets ( ) apostrophe ' quotation marks " hyphen or dash - forward slash / colon : semicolon ; comma , ellipsis ... period .

For 10.7 Combo:
On March 24, 2024:
Located on Page One of SPACE list.

For 20.6 Combo:
Three segments in the novel, each from a different POV. (First segment: Moon-watcher; Second segment: Dr. Heywood Floyd; Third segment: Astronaut David Bowman)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey #1) (1968) by Arthur C. Clarke (Paperback 297 pages)
Review: I saw Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” when it first came out in 1968. I enjoyed the movie but didn’t understand the last 20-30 minutes. Looking at fan accounts online, I noted that several people posted that if you read the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, then the ending makes sense. I decided to give it a try.

The novel reads as being a bit …. Dated. The Cold War is in full swing, the USSR is a major player in the novel (as opponent), and women are relegated to being secretaries and stewardesses. Everyone is of European ancestry. Clarke includes a digression into the existence of a Tablet that can access all the world’s Newspapers with just a touch of a fingertip(!). How might that work? How do humans react to having all that information literally at their fingertip?

Some of the suspense is gone from the reading experience … anyone in techie fields already know about the computer HAL and what it did.

I appreciated the clear, straightforward style of writing. I know it isn’t considered “artistic” but it is understandable, which is a good thing.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.7 on Page One of SPACE list; #20.6 three POV’s)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40

Grand Total: 110 + 40 = 150

20.9 Beware the Ides of March (Joanna's task)
Munich by Robert Harris

Review
Firstly, this book isn't my usual cup of tea but I remembered having enjoyed a book of this author's, Enigma, some years ago. So, in seeing this copy at the local street library, I took a chance. Secondly, I don't know anything about the Munich Agreement so this was a whole of learning and I really couldn't tell you exactly where the book diverged from real history.

This book really blew my mind in that I really hadn't known anything about the Munich Agreement and this made it hard work for me to determine who's who except for the main protagonists (2 POVS: Legat for the British & Hartmann for the Germans) and Chamberlain. I enjoyed my random forays into espionage fiction but this one was very amateurish (in that protagonists aren't really spies but fallen into the roles) so it was a little bit frustrating and yet, the suspense was real.

Munich isn't truly about espionage though but about the people; all the people involved from the high-flyer to the lowest ranking civil servants to their families and the people they served. The drama, the human interest in the novel is really what propelled me to the end of the book.

"- but there was life to be lived before then, and a battle to fight, and a cause that was worth dying for."

+20 Task (conspiracy to work against Hitler)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.4 - born 1957; 20.7 - MC travelled to Munich from UK)

Post Total: 40
Season Total: 200

20.1 The National Gallery

Alison by Lizzy Stewart

This graphic novel is the story of Alison Porter, a painter in London 70s.

+20 Task
No style, graphic novel

Task total = 20

Points total = 235

10.1 (x3) ; … ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; … ; … ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; … ; 20.10

20.3 The Madonna of the Cat

Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu

In this graphic novel, the author tells several stories about her life, the first one being about her cat, Fumée.

+20 Task
No style, graphic novel

Task total = 20

Points total = 255

10.1 (x3) ; … ; 10.3 ; 10.4 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
20.1 ; … ; 20.3 ; 20.4 ; 20.5 ; … ; 20.7 ; 20.8 ; … ; 20.10

Rosemary wrote: "Post 20 Norma wrote: "10.1 - Rewind

Nothing Left by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 combo points missed post 9 - Combo - 10.9 - Anniversaries - page number ends in 0, 330..."

Rosemary, thanks for catching this error, but Joanne caught in post 33 and I deducted the 5 points in post 52, so i believe I should have 120 points.

20.8 Fancy Meeting You Here

Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond E. Feist

Note: In my review I mention a group who take Talon in after the destruction of his family. These men are members of the Magicians Guild (who include Pug and Narick) who have been in previous series of this this world. The Magicians in the world live much longer than normal men, which explains how they could appear in a book years after the Rift War.

Review:

The story of a young boy, who when the story begins, is going through his test to enter adulthood and have his "Naming" ceremony upon his return. While he is away from his village, an attack by a Duke of the Kingdom results in his village being burned and all the occupants slain. He returns during the end of the pillage, and is wounded and assumed dead by the enemy. Men passing through the village find him and take him to be tended to. Who/what these men are builds through-out the story as Talon is healed and than taken into their group and trained to become a fighter for their cause. The years move by quickly in this tale and by the end of the story Talon has become a force to be reckoned with. The memories of his slain family and friends never leave him and his desire for revenge and justice for them become his main priority.

This is the first of a series that is set years beyond the Rift War and set in a part of the Kingdom that has only been skimmed over. I enjoyed learning more about the people and the places in this setting. The world that Feist has created and the magic system in place are both some of the best in Epic Fantasy.

The last series I read of Feists really was disappointing. In his defense he was experiencing the loss of his marriage and he had co-authors for that series to help him through. Anyway, with this new series he seems to have over come the trauma and is back!

+20 Task
+10 Review
Total Task 30
Season Total 230

Valerie wrote: "15.10 How Does Your Garden Grow

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo"

Congrats on how quickly you grew your garden!!

In reviewing your posts, I found a few things that I think will make you happy :-)

Post 85 15.4: You only claimed plant total 5 for this post, it was actually 6 (ASTER, GARLIC, ENDIVE, HORSERADISH, ROSEMARY, THYME), +1
Post 99 15.5: You can also claim CUCUMBER (California), +1
Post 117 15.6: You can also claim SWEET PEA, +1 (also +5 Flower Bonus since it's an 8-letter claim)
Post 159 15.9: You can also claim ONION (Ohio) and LILY, +2

With those additional plants, your garden total is 46 which gives you the +150 bonus points rather than just +100! Well done you, master gardner!

10.1 Rewind to Winter

High Stakes by Dick Francis

+10 Task
+10 Combo (20.7 the MC takes a brief trip to Miami from the UK; 20.9 three people are involved in a major fraud conspiracy)

Post total = 20
Season Total = 425

10.6 Modernism

The Box Office Murders by Freeman Wills Crofts

+10 Task (1929)
+ 5 Combo (20.9 several people are conspiring (view spoiler)[in murder and counterfeiting (hide spoiler)])

Post total = 15
Season Total = 440

Anika wrote: "Valerie wrote: "15.10 How Does Your Garden Grow

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo"

Congrats on how quickly you grew your garden!!

In reviewing your posts, I found a..."


Oh my! Thank you, Anika - I was worried I would miss a plant! Sorry for all the extra work, but happy to have the points!

20.2 The Virgin of the Rocks

Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer

Similar to Gastro Obscura which I also completed reading recently, this book is a romp through oddities in nearly every nation in the world. Strange museums, ossuaries, buildings, hidden caves and many other marvels. This is not an assortment of the usual tourist attractions... but places and bits of history the reader probably has never heard about. I love these types of books... and wish the "Obscura" people would come out with some other editions soon.
One example- for the State of Utah... Pando.... a "forest" of aspen trees is actually just one organism... with 40,000 "stems... and weighs 13 Million pounds.
Five stars.

Task =20
Review=10
Combo=5 (10.9)

Task total=35
Season Total=250

Books read=8
Tasks Completed: 6
10.3; 10.9
20.2; 20.3; 20.5 (2x); 20.6; 20.10

20.9 Beware the Ides of March

Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline

Lisa Scottoline combined fact and fiction as she wrote about Sicily in the early 1800s. "Loyalty" is a book about justice, injustice, family, ambition, power, and loyalty.

There are four main storylines about various families that weave together at the end. The first one involves the kidnapping of young boys from wealthy families. The lawyer Gaetano Catalano attempts to find the boys and the kidnappers at great personal cost to himself.

A second thread spotlights the twin Fiorvanti brothers who need to protect caravans carrying lemons as they travel to market. They hire former criminals to guard the caravans against bandits, and the men take blood oaths of loyalty to the family. The term "mafioso" meant "strong, bold, and daring" without the negative connotations that soon became attached to it. A lust for power leads to tragedy in the family.

The third storyline involves Mufalada who births a beautiful albino daughter--but the villagers think the pale child is cursed. Alfredo is featured in a fourth thread. He raises goats (who he calls his daughters) and makes cheese. Alfredo is harboring a dangerous secret.

Although I've read quite a few books set in mainland Italy, I had not read much about Sicily. I enjoyed the descriptions of the lemon groves, the fishing villages, the mines, the villas, and the Sicilian cuisine. Conditions were brutal and lawless in the early 1800s in Sicily, and the police were corrupt. It was fertile ground for the Sicilian Mafia to become established. The book combined historical fiction with mystery and suspense. Lisa Scottoline is a good storyteller who kept my interest.

+20 task (lots of conspiracy in the Mafia and by the kidnappers)
+15 combo 10.3 St Patrick's Day (pub 2023); 20.6 Fruit, Dish, Bottle, and Violin (more than 3 points of view); 20.10 World of Crime (set in Italy)
+10 review

Task total: 45
Season total: 270

15.7 HDYGG?

The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece by Kevin Birmingham

Flowers:
thesinnerANdthEsaint:dostOevskyandthegentlEMaNmurdererwhoinspiredamasterpiece - ANEMONE
thesinneRandthesAInt:dostoevskyandtheGentLemanMurdererwhOinspireDamasterpiece - MARIGOLD +5
thesinnerandtHesaint:dostoevskYAndthegentlemanmurdererwhoiNspiredamasTerpIeCe - HYACINTH +5

Vegetables:
No Vegetables

Herbs: (416 pgs)
1 - HORSERADISH

4 Plants this post
35 Total plants

+15 Task
+10 Flowers

Task total = 25

Season total = 305

30.1 Go for the Green Redux

The City of Your Final Destination: A Novel by Peter Cameron

Here is another book that has languished on my kindle for a really long time. I enjoyed this novel about a lost soul PhD student, Omar Razaghi. He has been awarded a prestigious scholarship to write a biography of an obscure Uruguayan author, Jules Gund. The catch is he needs the authorization of the executors of the estate. His girlfriend (another PhD candidate) encourages him to travel to Uruguay to speak to them directly. He shows up unannounced on the doorstep of the executors and this is where the story takes off.

Cameron has an interesting way of writing in this novel – more formally than I expected. There also seemed to be an unknowable quality to many of his characters. The motivations of the executors are never really explained, but this works very well here making the interactions more like real life and more poignant. To say much more will give too much away. 4*

The majority of the novel takes place in Uruguay.

30 task
10 review
20 combo 10.4, 10.9, 20.6*, 20.7**
______
60

Running total: 535

*we hear from: Omar, Deirdre, Arden, Adam, Pete, Caroline
**Omar travels from Kansas to Uruguay and back