Reading with Style discussion

Carolyn wrote: "I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here goes... I have been checking the reader board and noticed my name and points do not seem to be on there. I double checked my posts (#47..."

GAH!!! I did something very bad to the spreadsheet this morning & I thought I fixed it, but apparently I have just been moving the problem around. Maybe the third time is the charm?

Thanks for letting me know I goofed!

10.9 - Kate's Task - 11 in '11
B) - Read the 1st book in a series by an author who has published at least 11 books. The series does not need to be 11 books long

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston

Boston has written 19 books.

I feel as if I did not like this book as much as I should have and that could be partly because I listened to it on an audiobook. The narrator made it sound spooky, but I think my imagination could have run wild with it if I had read it with my eyes. Boston creates a world around a house in England that is ripe for exploring and our young main character does just that. He finds mysteries and treasures as he searches his new home and as a reader I was brought back to all that was mysterious as my sisters and I explored our haunted woods as children. The atmosphere was definitely well set and I plan to read the rest of the books in the series.

+10 Task
+10 review
+5 Combo (10.5 989 ratings)
+5 Oldies (pub 1954)

Task Total = 30

Total this Post = 30

Grand Total = 120

20.7 Baby It's Cold - Sweden
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo(10.6 Q, 10.8 Denae's pick, 20.8 - the 2 lovers are both writers one of their books is mentioned by name, The Blue Whale)
+10 LiT pts - Swedish
+10 pts - Review

Review
First of all, I want to thank Denae for picking this group reads book. It was a book that gives an in-depth look into our future as we now cope with issues such as ageism, national healthcare, dealing with elderly parents, economy based governments as well as the everly increasing demand for high tech, lifesaving interventions medically, always pushing its limits. You could see this scenario in our near future as being a possibility. The characters, although at first seeming “dispensable”, get into your mind and you begin to care for them. One chapter especially brought tears to my eyes. Through all this is the thread of a Romeo/Juliet type of love story. One thing that I noticed about this book is that while many dystopian stories have the medical profession as cold, purely scientific people, the kind that would be present at a torture session to keep the prisoner alive so he could be tortured more, this book shows the caregivers as caring, even ethical humanists. As a nurse I would like to think that I would object and support what is ethical rather than what is convenient. If you like Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, this would be a good book to read using a different angle on the same ethical issues. I give it 5 stars although I don’t know if I give it more emphasis as my own 50th birthday fast approaches!

55 pts - Task Total
985 pts - Grand Total

10.7 Personality Type

I tested this time as ENFJ, which is a change from the ENTP that I was the last time I took this.

Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices by Noah Feldman

Full disclosure: the author, Noah Feldman, was a professor of mine during law school. So I might be predisposed to like his book and/or his writing style and to give him the benefit of the doubt on his legal conclusions.

Part biography of Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William Douglas, and Robert Jackson, part review of their theories of constitutional law, I don't know how much appeal this book would have to a non-lawyer, but I found it fascinating. The stories of how these four justices came to know Franklin D. Roosevelt such that they were appointed to the court was great and the details of the infighting between the justices made the book lovely to listen to.

The narrator for the unabridged audiobook version did a nice job with what could have been a fairly dry text. There's not much dialogue, so no opportunity for a narrator to showcase voices for different characters, but Cotter Smith kept the narration moving and handled the text well.

+10 Task (N-F author)
+10 Combo (10.5 [164 ratings], 20.6)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (513 pages in the most popular version, though I read the audiobook)

Task total: 35

20.6 Bleak House

The Litigators by John Grisham

John Grisham is always a fast read, but usually an unsatisfying one for me. I'm reminded of why I stopped reading his books way back around the time of The Firm or The Client. Grisham just doesn't really care if he gets the law right as long as it makes the courtroom story interesting, which is sort of distracting when I know what it should be. His underdog characters are also so unrelentingly pure of heart as to be sort of boring to read. And the ending of this book was far too neat and tidy for my liking.

All that said, I finished the book quickly and was interested enough to stick it out until the end.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.10 [pub. 2011])

Task total: 35

Grand total: 525

Charlene wrote: "20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ninni Holmqvist

Review:

Dorrit Weger is not yet 50. She has no husband, no children, it's just her and her dog. She..."

Charlene wrote: "20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ninni Holmqvist

Review:

Dorrit Weger is not yet 50. She has no husband, no children, it's just her and her dog. She..."

Charlene, I just finished this book and it fits 20.8 Fictional Fiction too. Remember that Dorrit found Johannes book in his apartment? It was called The Blue Whale. That's another 5 pts!

20.4 In Honor of A Christmas Carol

Marjory Fleming by Oriel Malet

Review:
The main character of this fact-based historical novel is a small girl who lived in Scotland in the first years of the 19th century. Despite dying before her ninth birthday, Marjory Fleming left a vivid journal, letters and poems on which Oriel Malet has based this portrait of a wilful, talented child with unusually strong attachments.
Written in the 1940s and set in 1806-11, this leaps neatly over the Victorian era so there is no soppiness. Marjory is drawn as a difficult but rewarding child. There are rather too many characters called Isabella (I counted 6) but that’s real life for you.
This is the kind of book that you don't forget. I loved it.

+20 Task (pub.1946 set 1806-11)
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.5 Underrated)
+ 5 Oldie 1937-87

Task Total = 40

Grand Total = 1180

10.7 - Denae's Task - What's Your Type?

My type is ENFJ so I read Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

I don’t know if I’ll continue reading this series. It’s good for a quick read but really didn’t give me much as a reader. Some bits were funny and others were just plain stupid. I did like the tension between Stephanie and Morelli that was much more evident in this installation of the series. The story itself seemed quite extreme and unrealistic- in real life, Stephanie would never be chasing a murderous, coffin-stealing crazy person and Morelli wouldn’t have let it happen as a police officer. I’m also pretty sure Stephanie should have been more scared and cautious, but I guess that’s what fiction is for!

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.7: US)

Task Total = 25

20.8 - Liz M’s Task - Fictional fiction

Delirium by Lauren Oliver includes references to the Book of Shh, a guide to the dystopian society in which the book is set.

I could not wait for this book to be over, but by the time I got to the end, I wanted more. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the second book. I may have had my fill of dystopian teenage girl books but this one just seemed too slow. I enjoyed the tid bits from the Book of Shh and the later sprinklings of poetry and prose as Lana's world grew. The love story was pretty good but there seemed to be too many other things going on. What's the story with her family? Why is this world like this and for how long? What do they do during the procedure? I guess this is what second books are for but again I'm not sure I'm interested enough to read on.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.10 (2011))

Task Total: 35

Total this post: 60

Grand total: 180

10.3 Home for the Holidays
The Night Gardener (Washington, D.C) by George Pelecanos

I’ve been meaning to read something by Pelecanos specifically because his book are set in D.C. I live in the Virginia suburbs. This follows several interlocking homicides in the downtown, including a cold serial case, which are being pursued by several police investigators both active and retired. I wish I would have enjoyed it a little more. I’m tempted to describe it as “hard boiled”, and there certainly are a couple hard boiled detectives. I knew Pelacanos's writing is supposed to be gritty and sometimes I enjoy that. But, I feel like what this is the opposite of “chic lit”. All the main characters are men who spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be men , drinking, checking out women (even when it inappropriate), and thinking about or having sex. There is family man--so not totally hard boiled. The women in the book are presented in contrast to the men and from a male viewpoint, not always objectified but pretty stereotyped. That said, there were some interesting relationships that were developed between the men and their families and friends. I gave it two stars. It was good enough to finish, but left me feeling paranoid that half the population might be judging me by the quality of my ass.

+10 Task
+10 Review

10.9 11 in 11

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
(first book in the Hercule Poirot series)

+10 Task
+10 Oldie (pub. 1920)
+5 Combo 20.10

10.2 NYE Count Down
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Lexile 740)

And the counter point to The Night Gardener...

I remember loving this book as a kid, but I couldn’t remember the details of it. Awhile ago, I had started to read it aloud to my eldest son and put it aside. Its told third person limited from young teen Meg Murray’s point of view. While the Falcon doesn’t mind a female lead character, there’s a bit of hand holding and teenage self--consciousness going on the beginning that was giving him cooties. I decided to re-read it myself before plowing ahead with him.

Aside from some initial hand holding, there really is no romantic element in this. There it is a bit of a religious element that I didn’t remember. As a kid, I was very happy to meet a girl who understood math and physics. But, it is a fight--Good vs. Evil and God is mentioned overtly, though not in a way that is problematic for my family. I enjoyed the adult read through, and I think the Falcon will like it. Since it is told from Meg’s perspective, its got a different bent than many of the books we’ve read with adolescent boy protagonists. There’s a lot more exploration of emotions and relationships than he is used to. I think I may be tricky here. I see that the trilogy has been newly released in audio to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. The Falcon is incredibly fond of audiobooks. I think he would appreciate this more with a more dynamic reader than myself, and also without his mom watching his reactions. And, since he saw me read it this week, he’ll know we can discuss it if he wants.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldie (pub. 1962)
+5 Combo 20.10

post total=75
grand total=470

Task 10.5 Underrated - Bastion Falls by Susie Moloney (14 ratings on GR)

Well this wasn’t all that and a bag of chips! I had high hopes after reading Moloney’s newest novel The Thirteen and really enjoying it. She’s a local author, born here in Winnipeg, so I’m always interested in local talent. One thing I will say: there was snow and a lot of it. I started to see white so if this was the intention, it worked. And the novel started off well, with a good story developing and how she introduced us to the main characters to get us into it…but somewhere in the middle, if fell off for me, like the whole point of the novel got lost. I found the ending to be anticlimactic and I was kind of relieved when it was over. Overall, I was somewhat disappointed.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.7 - Author is from Canada)
+10 Review

Task total=25
Grand Total=300

Liz M wrote: "nsfancy wrote: "Argh! According to my records I read The Pale Horse (320 pgs, the only edition available from my library) so first problem is I linked the wrong edition. I guess I then used the inf..."

Thanks Liz, I have to admit I felt a little stutter of the heart when I first read your message. Only last week I finished my CiV list for the third time :).

Rebekah wrote: "Charlene wrote: "20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ninni Holmqvist

Review:

Dorrit Weger is not yet 50. She has no husband, no children, it's jus..."

Charlene wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "Charlene wrote: "20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ninni Holmqvist

Review:

Dorrit Weger is not yet 50. She has no husband, no children..."

??????????

20.8 - Liz M’s Task - Fictional fiction

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.7 - Elizabeth (Alaska)’s Task - Baby it's cold outside,20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbers)
+5 Oldies (published 1962)

Total Points: 35

Grand Total: 250

Task 10.7 - What's Your Personality Type?: ISTJ

Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2) (2011) by Michael J. Sullivan (Goodreads Author) (Paperback, 692 pages)
Review: Theft of Swords is an omnibus containing The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha, the first two books in Michael J. Sullivan’s RIYRIA Series. This omnibus includes a glossary, a map, an author interview, and a teaser for the next omnibus (containing books #3 and #4). In the author interview, Mr. Sullivan says that he set out to write a fantasy adventure tale; and he lists Buffy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as influences. He additionally says that he deliberately chose a straightforward style: “I wanted to keep it simple.” Mr. Sullivan succeeds in his goals. The good guys are good, the bad guys (mainly associated with the Church) are bad; there are swords and knights in shining armor and damsels in distress and a mysterious wizard. No romance is present – if you are looking for witty repartee between one of the damsels and the men around her, you won’t find it in this omnibus. Both books in the omnibus end at a natural stopping point, with a mental “To Be Continued” after the last page. Recommended for when you are looking for a light fantasy read.

+ 10 Task
+ 10 Style: 1. Combo (5 points) (also fits: 10.5 underrated, 20.10 “2011”)
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
+ 05 Style: 5. Jumbo (5 to 25 points): -500 Pages: 5 Points

Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 + 05 = 35

Grand Total: 795 + 35 = 830

10.10 Group Reads

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline



I love love loved this book! It was a little bit Ender's Game, a little bit Hunger Games, a bit of 1984, a little bit anything-by-Douglas Coupland and a whole lot quest-style video game. It's set in a dystopian future where fossil fuel is just about depleted, the environment is sorely compromised (not so far off base, really...and considering it's only set 30 years in the future, it's not too far a stretch), most people are living in abject poverty, and the only place that people of the world can go to escape their bleak reality is the OASIS--an alternate reality created by "Anorak" Halliday. When Halliday dies, he reveals that he has hidden an "Easter egg" somewhere in the OASIS and whomever finds it will inherit his billions. The world population goes crazy, trying to find this egg. People study Halliday's memoir, Anorak's Almanac, trying to discover clues to the egg's location. The book is rife with '80s allusions and geeks out big time with game-speak. Definitely a guilty pleasure. Can't wait to read more from this author! Love the way his imagination works.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo
-20.4 (set 30 years in the future)
-20.8 (Anorak's Almanac plays a huge role in this book)
-20.10 (pub. 2011)

Task Total = 35

Grand Total = 625

Task 20.4: A Christmas Carol

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

REVIEW:
There are several things I like about the book. It has history of the Chinese culture and I find that very interesting, in fact, I first began to read this genre after discovering Amy Tan by accident many years ago. Lisa See uses a compelling story to tell about the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants starting in the late 1930s. The book also addresses the gap between classes in Shanghai and then later in the US. There are actual historical events and references in the book, but the story and characters are works of fiction. The main characters, Pearl and May, are sisters bound together not only by blood but by their circumstances in life. I got to know the characters and am going to now read the follow-up,Dreams of Joy , to see what happens to their niece and daughter, Joy.

+20: task
+10: review
+10: combo(10.8-Chinese New Year & 20.2-Tale of Two Cities--China and USA)
+40: task total

RwS TOTAL: 240

15.8 - CiV (P-Q-R; 181-220/581-620; 1929-1940)
Coonardo by Katharine Susannah Prichard
206 pages / Pub.1929

+65 Task

20.1 - Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Pub. 1859

I can't believe that it took me so long to read this book. The size has always been the issue but I realised now, that it shouldn't be. The language was pretty easy for a classic. So, if this is what stops you from reading it, don't let it stop you any longer!

I found the epistoraly-like narrative slightly disconcerting; the changes in narrators with their own styles of writing. However, other than a slightly unbelievable twist near the end, I thorough enjoyed the story for its genre.

+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.2 - England / France)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies
+5 Jumbo (500+ pages)

20.2 - In honor of A Tale of Two Cities
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
Set in US & UK with a little bit at the end in the Swiss Alps

By chance, this is the fourth mystery book I've picked up in a row. In a way, it might not be such a good thing especially following up from an amazing work by Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None.

The premise of this book is the missing diary of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes has been found. However, this amazing find was followed by a murder and Harold White, a new member of the Sherlockian, was unable to resist the temptation of this Sherlockian mystery.

There 2 lines of stories: present day (as per above) and 1900s (starring Arthur Conan Doyle & his sidekick, Bram Stoker). Arthur Conan Doyle has had enough of Sherlock Holmes and yet, because of Holmes, he was embroiled in investigating some murders. But what's really happened? What was in that diary of his?

I have to admit that I didn't particularly enjoyed the present-day storyline. Mainly due to the fact that I didn't find the characters to be endearing at all. I also found they were under-developed. Admittedly, there really is only ONE main character still...

4 stars rating only because I really liked the second story line set in the 1900s and the ending.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.10 -Pub. 2010; 20.4 -half of the book is set in 1900s)
+10 Review

10.6 - The Uncommon Letter
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.8 -Japan)
+5 Jumbo (500+ pages)

Total this post: 175 points
Total to date: 1,040 points

3 more books to the "finish"...!!

20.4 A Christmas Carol
The book is set in 2067
Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Review: This is a standard romance in which a man and a woman meet and fall in love but do not admit it to themselves let alone each other because there is some impediment to their relationship. But in the end it is all solved and the couple lives happily ever after. We don't get the happy ending in this book because it is Book One of how many I can't tell. This romance involves vampires in line with the current fad in romances. Painter has created a complex world of othernaturals, including vampires, and humans including some who have specifically been bred to feed vampires. The characteristics of the many breeds of othernaturals seems very fluid and even surprises the characters that inhabit this world. Ghosts that can become corporeal and return to life. Witches that cast spells and maybe can reverse them. I don't find these characters interesting and I don't care what happens. I will not be reading the rest of this series.
+20 Task
This is a YA book and I can't find a Lexile score on it yet. I am posting combo points in hopes that it scores high enough
+10 combo 20.10 published in 2011 and 10.5 underrated (currently 870 ratings)
+10 review
Task total: 40
Previous total: 535
New total: 575

Thanks Liz! I honestly didn't realize that there a different ways to write Russian names...

20.9 The High Road
De Ontdekking van de Hemel by Harry Mulisch

Review:
I can't quite believe it took me so long to finally read this book, but I'm quite happy that I waited - not that I ever planned on learning Dutch, but at least I read this in its original version, which is brazenly erudite ("what, you don't speak English, German, French? You haven't brushed up on architecture, art history, astronomy? Well, that's too bad for you") and funny at the same time.
The tone of voice is primarily what makes this a really good read - it is irreverent, ironic, airy and humane - and that pulls you back in and forward every time. The story spans about 18 years and is a historical portrait, a Bildungsroman, a psychological novel, a religious treaty and a mystery adventure at the same time.
(view spoiler)[The only letdown, and the reason for 4 stars, is the ending, which felt rushed, like Mulisch arrived at page 750 and realized he would have to finish this at some point, so he went for fairy tale (and Deus ex machina, no pun intended) solutions.
But then again, (hide spoiler)]I'm already looking forward to reading this again.

Task: 20
Review: 10
Combo: 15
(20.2 The Netherland, Italy, Israel; 20.4 pub 1992, starts in 1967; 20.10 pub 1992)
Jumbo: 20 (927 pages)

Total: 65
Grand Total: 300

First, as Liz M made me realise, there was an error on my previous post message (334 - 03 jan. 09:12)
20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbers : The Night Circus
+ 20 Task
+ 15 Combo : 20.7 (USA), 20.4, 20.2
Task Total = 35 (and not 30)
==> Previous total : 100 (and not 95)

Here are my tasks :

15.1 - Christmas in vegas
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde : E-F - 461-500/861-900(471 pages) - 2001-2012
+ 15 Task
Task Total = 15

20.8 - Liz M’s Task - Fictional fiction
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
Great Samuel Pepys Fiasco
+ 20 Task
Task Total = 20

Grand Total = 135

Task 20.10 Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston pub 2012

+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.8 character Simon Blaine is an author having written "Wandering Above the Sea of Fog" among others, 10.5 Underrated at 143)

Task total 30

Total points 605

CIV

15.4 S-T-U, 181-220, 1917-1928

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers S author, 214 pages, published 1923

Task Total: 30 points

20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston
630 Lexile Score

+20 Task (Canadian Author)

Task Total: 20 pts

Post Total: 50 pts
Grand Total: 585 pts

CiV

15.6 Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers 192 pgs, pub 1930
S-T-U, 181-220 pgs, 1929-1940

+45 Task

15.7 In the Cage by Henry James, 144 pgs, pub 1898
I-J-K, 141-180 pgs, 1892-1904

+55 task

Total this post 100

Total points 705

20.10 Fade Sag Crumble: Ten Las Vegas Writers Confront Decay (2012)

+20 task total

grand total = 20.10

Task 10.3: Home for the Holidays--Mississippi

I read Ingredient for Murder by Sue Clifton

REVIEW:
I was anxious to read this book because the author is a personal friend of mine and gave me an autographed copy of it. I'm glad that I read it because it was really good. The sisters in the book like to travel together each year and share some pretty neat special powers: visions and intuition. It is set in Mississippi, which is where I was born, raised, and have lived all my life. It is neat to recognize places within the book. The murder mystery takes twists and turns, but the true story is revealed in the end. The South is known for eccentric characters and this book certainly delivers. I enjoyed the historical references and like how things were embellished to make them more exciting. The story ties together neatly in the end and there is a happy ending after all. Read it and let Dr. Sue know what ya think!

+10: task
+5: combo (10.5 underrated)
+10: review
+25: task total

RwS TOTAL: 265

Task 20.10 Play the Numbers - The Next Always by Nora Roberts (published 2011)

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Nora Roberts. For the most part, I totally love her books! She has a real knack for creating stories and characters that are believable and likable and leave you wanting more. That’s where the hate part comes in and hate is such a strong word and of course I don’t mean it. What I do dislike is reading the first book in a trilogy when the next book hasn’t even been published yet. I don’t like that, not at all. But of course, I enjoyed this novel like I know I will enjoy the next two in this trilogy when they are released. A quick enjoyable read that's highly entertaining with a lot of laugh out loud lines!

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total=30
Grand Total=330

nsfancy wrote: "Task 10.10 Group Reads The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.5 - 648 ratings, 20.8, 20.10 pub 2011)

Task total 25

Total points 285"
This book definitely works for 20.5-Autobiographal

[Edited per comments in Elizabeth's Message 689]

Task 20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside (US Author)

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

This southern fiction classic is a dreamy, hazy meandering walk through an unnamed southern town in an unnamed southern state (although I suspect it to be the author's home state of Georgia) through the eyes of an imaginative 12-year old during World War II. The characters were developed superbly and the use of language was creative and unexpected. With all the focus on The Help these days, it is hard not to pay attention to the characterization of Berenice, the family's black maid, and her relationship to Frankie and John Henry. These relationships were central to the story. McCullers presents Berenice with a genuineness and honesty that would have been difficult to achieve in a contemporary work of southern fiction. McCullers was writing about her times at the time and this results in less cliche and, instead, feels very real.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1946)

Task Total = 35

Grand Total = 240

Kelli wrote: "Task 10.1 Square Peg

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

This southern fiction classic is a dreamy, hazy meandering walk through an unnamed southern town in ..."

This book can't be used for 10.1 Square Ped because McCullers is from the United States so it would work for 20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside. If you haven't used your US author for that task, you could just move it.

20.8 Fictional Fiction

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson

Review:
This is all about a fictional book called ‘Disturber of the Peace’ which has been written by Miss Buncle. 'Miss Buncle's Book' is a lovely story of the mayhem that ensues when a young woman writes a book in which all the characters in her small village are instantly recognisable. The setting has the same 'feel' as Agatha Christie's villages, without the murder: all of the characters would be equally at home in St. Mary Mead. There's the bluff Colonel, the unwordly vicar, the overworked doctor, the woman with a Past, and plenty of skeletons in the closet. I loved it.
The writing style is perhaps over simple but this is exactly the way that Miss Buncle’s own writing is described: in a style so simple that the reader wondered whether it was written by a genius or a simpleton.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.5 Underrated, 10.9 1st in series, author wrote more than 11 books)
+10 Oldie 1862-1936 (pub.1932)

Task Total = 50

Grand Total = 1230

Rebekah wrote: "nsfancy wrote: "Task 10.10 Group Reads The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

This book definitely works for 20.5-Autobiographal ..."

Actually, it is a novel and it is not included on the required wiki pages, so it does not work for 20.5.

20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbers

I read Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

+20 Task (pub. 2011)

Task Total: 20

20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbers

I read Virals by Kathy Reichs - Lexile score is below 700 so no style points

+20 Task (pub. 2010)

Task Total: 20

Grand Total = 250

Camille wrote: "Task 10.3: Home for the Holidays--Mississippi

I read Ingredient for Murder by Sue Clifton

REVIEW:
I was anxious to read this book because the author is a pers..."

I think this may also be eligible for Combo 20.10: Play the Numbers, pub. 2011. Someone please let me know so I can adjust my totals. THANKS!!

Camille wrote: "Camille wrote: "Task 10.3: Home for the Holidays--Mississippi

I read Ingredient for Murder by Sue Clifton

REVIEW:
I was anxious to read this book because the ..."

If you click on the linked title & go to the book page, just under the description it will tell you the published date (edition), followed by the first published date (the light grey date in parenthesis).
In this case, the book is listed as published in 2009.

RwS Tasks

20.4 – In honor of A Christmas Carol:

Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet(1945-1962, last 20 or so pages do end the book in 2001) 820 Lexile

Mal Peet has taken an isolated, but important moment in history and used it as the focal point of a novel about two young people in love. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and the fear of annihilation that I went through as a young person during JFK's presidency. Set in England, where Clem and Frankie have to keep their love a secret because of their different backgrounds, and in Washington D. C., where Kennedy struggles with his decision and with those who advise and/or oppose him, an engaging story is told. Mal Peet is a writer for the mature teen reader and for the adult reader as well. He has an excellent way with words. Life: An Exploded Diagram is highly recommended for historical fiction fans!

+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 20.10 Play the Numbers (2011) / 10.6 Underrated 146 / 20.2 Tale of Two Cities (England & US)

Task Total: 45

20.10 – Sam’s Task – Play the numbers

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, 2011

This book turned out to be different than I expected, but was definitely good. I thought that the story would revolve around Ava and the Swamplandia! theme park and although that was the background of the story, it turned out to be more about coping with loss and family ties. I was intrigued by the book because I lived in Florida when I was three and there was a pond across the street that my mother was convinced was full of gators. My dad says it might have been just frogs, but needless to say, my mom was afraid to let me out of her sight! In Swamplandia! the mother and daughter actually wrestle the beasts, so I was hooked. Even though there was less about the actual show than I expected, the Everglades and its dangerous swamps figured into the plot in a big way, so I was not disappointed. The writing was strong as well, so it was a winner overall!

+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo: 10.3 Home for the Holidays (Florida)

Task Total: 35

20.10 – Sam’s Task – Play the numbers

The Future of Us by Jay Asher no lexile available

This book is a must for Facebook fans. After loading an AOL CD (the year is 1996), Emma and Josh discover themselves on Facebook fifteen years in the future. The fun begins as small details in the present that change also change the Facebook pages of the future. The Future of Us is also full of insight into how we use social media. Great fun!

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Points this Post: 100
Grand Total: 1585

20.8 In Honor Of A Christmas Carol

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Review:
In this short novel Susan Hill does a wonderful job of evoking both the gothic era and the desolate marshes of the East Anglian coast. The characters - living and ghostly - are vividly drawn and you can completely understand how the main character is drawn into a sequence of events that inevitably links his own life with past tragedies. It is free of 20th-century self-analysis and evokes a time when life and death were all that mattered. If I had not known it was written by our contemporary Susan Hill, I could have completely accepted this as a story by a 19th century master such as Wilkie Collins.

+20 Task (pub.1983, set approx 100 years earlier)
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldie 1937-87 (pub.1983)

Task Total = 35

Grand Total = 1265

10.4 Love is in the Air
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (on illicit love list)

+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.7 ENFP, 20.4 root canal)
+10 pts - Oldies (1911)
+10 pts - Review

Review
What a tragic story! This novella or long short story of Wharton’s starts hitting the dismal button at the start. This particular edition had a rather lengthy introduction that I found apropos of nothing after reading the actual book. Elizabeth Ammons, a professor of Tufts University goes into great detail about the times the book was written and set in but more than anything wanted to prove Toni Morrison’s pronouncement that “All American literature engages in an ‘encounter with racial ideology’” She proves this by the one sentence in the entire book that mentions physical characteristics of the locals because Ethan was given “great height” by narrator yet “natives” are “lank and stockier having come from a foreign breed.” Prof Ammons says this is ‘signifier of color’ in a book whose racial prejudices are hidden. While there may be proof Wharton held a racial prejudice on the same level as most Americans in the early 1900’s, why pointing this sentence out to prove the book has racial undertones is so important, I don’t know. To make your enjoyment of the reading of it less??? However with the exception of that one sentence there is no “them” and “us”. It is very New England and Yankeesque. Setting the story in the brutal winter is the perfect atmosphere for this novel. A love triangle that includes Ethan’s wife and her cousin, a poor relation sent to live with them and help with housework. Certainly shocking for the times but if it was written today, it wouldn’t seem like they had been so immodest since all the got to was a kiss and that’s towards the end. Although many claim to long for a simpler time when strict values were heeded, this book makes one glad to have been born in the “age of Aquarius” so to speak. When double suicide seems preferable than leaving his wife or even putting his foot down when his wife sent the girl away, penniless and friendless during a harsh winter , maybe some strict values(?) are good riddance. I gave it 5 stars. The prose is beautiful. The twist at the end caught me out though, it was so well done.

Task Total - 40 pts
Grand Total - 1025 pts

Liz M wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "nsfancy wrote: "Task 10.10 Group Reads The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

This book definitely works for 20.5-Autobiographal ..."

Actually, it ..."

I think I got it. If it is an novel autobiography like David Copperfield

Then it has to appear on the list, right?

10.6 Uncommon Letter
Sword of Avalon by Marion Zimmerman Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. Both authors have an uncommon letter. Z for Zimmerman and X in Paxson.

Task +10
Style +15 (Underrated 220 reviews) Review

Review
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Book Total: 25
Grand Total: 475

20.10 Play the numbers task

I read New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb. This book was written in 2011.

My review:

I love this series, the characters, and the relationships that come into play throughout the story. The premise of this series is a futuristic homicide cop married gorgeous billionaire meets murder. Lt. Eve Dallas is one bad-ass cop and her husband Roarke is a heartthrob that totally, completely, and utterly loves “his cop.” I thought this story was very good. If I had one complaint it would be that the ending really came too quickly; everything was wrapped up very quickly at the end. This installment did put an end to one of the questioning situations throughout the series though. I look forward to the next book.

Task +20
Review +10
Task Total = 30

GRAND TOTAL = 625

Rebekah wrote: "I think I got it. If it is an novel autobiography like David Copperfield

Then it has to appear on the list, right?...."

Correct!

20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Review:
What can I say about the classic whose name has entered the language as a synonym for "long and difficult book"? I took it slowly, starting with 20 pages a day, but I enjoyed it and read twice that much on many days, finishing in about 6 weeks.
It is set during the Napoleonic wars, including the French invasion of Russia and capture of Moscow in 1812. I read this many years ago as a student and skipped most of the war bits the first time around. This time I read them and enjoyed them.
The peacetime/civilian parts of the story felt to me more sedate, less dramatic, than 'Anna Karenina', which I read last year. Natasha Rostova has something of Anna Karenina's spirit but Natasha is not the main character here. Besides, the switching between war scenes and society, as well as between characters and families, means that the action flows more like a tide than a single current.

+20 Task (Russian author)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (20.1 pub.1869, 20.4 pub.1869 set 1805-20)
+10 Lost in Translation
+10 Oldie 1862-1936
+25 Jumbo 1000+ (1350 pages)

Task Total = a massive 85

Grand Total = 1350

Rosemary wrote: "20.7 Baby It's Cold Outside

War and Peace by [author:Leo Tolstoy|8
"Task Total = a massive 85"

and you deserve it!!!!!!

20.5 Autobiography

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints by Dito Montiel
211 pps; pub. 2003

Review:
http://lemondedelivres.wordpress.com/...

+ 20 task (it is a non-fiction autobiography)
+ 10 review
+ 15 Combo (20.7 Montiel is from the US, 20.9 "Saints", 10.5 underrated)

Task Total = 45

Grand Total = 150

20.10 Play the numbers

I read Barcelona Calling by Jane Kirkpatrick. This book was published in 2011.

My Review:

I really read this book simply because it was one electronic book available immediately from my library while I was traveling. I was surprised with only a few ratings, but it was really a nice little story. The entire focus of the book is a woman trying to get her novel published, and noticed by Oprah. She is surrounded by a group of women that plan out these elaborate themes to help her get her book noticed (and chosen) by Oprah to be on her book club list. There is a story within a story type of framework because she tells the story of now (U.S.) and the story of what happened in Barcelona (Spain) within the book and when she visited there. I don’t want to give away the ending, but it was a nice story that proves sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you plan, but sometimes the surprises are even better than what you planned! You never know whose life you can impact!

+ 20 task points
+ 10 review points
+ 5 combo (10.5 underrated...only 16 ratings)
+ 5 combo (20.2 two countries...US/Spain)
+ 5 combo (20.8 fictional fiction)
+ 45 task points total

GRAND TOTAL: 670

Deana wrote: "20.10 Play the numbers

I read Barcelona Calling by Jane Kirkpatrick. This book was published in 2011.

My Review:

I really read this book simply because it wa..."
Does it have fictional fiction in it?

20.2 In honour of a Tal of Two Cities

By David Nicholls

Review:
I thought that the way the author centered each chapter around the 15th of July was a unique and interesting way to tell the story. Unfortunately I had a hard time getting really into this book because it reminded me too much of relationship with my best guy friend, coincidentally also named Dexter. I also found the writing to be lacking in terms of description, or sometimes it gave too much. I enjoyed the book, but it is not one I would read again.

+ 20 Task (takes place mainly in England, but also France and Greece)
+ 5 Combo (20.8)
+ 10 Review

Task total = 35

Grand Total: 115 point

Task 20.8 Fictional Fiction (Fictional Book Referenced: The Spiritist's Handbook)

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

I just didn't like it. My boyfriend and I read it together and we both felt a real sense of disappointment. Did we just not "get" the hype? Were we missing something? I felt disjointed most of the time like it was really two novels spliced together - one trying to work its way under the magical realism genre and the other a sort of coming of age humorous one. The result for me was muddled, and maybe I just don't like magical realism or maybe Russell was working just a little too hard at making this a quirky novel. It hit me hardest when I realized what was happening to Ava....and didn't care. Yup, I just didn't care what really happened to any of these characters and, in the end, that's not the way to endear the reader. Oh well.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.10 (Published in 2011)

Task Total = 35

Grand Total = 275

20.1 From Dickens' Lifetime
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, published 1847

Review:
Oh Jane, Jane, Jane. You started off a bit bumpy, but then you got a nice flow, and then all of a sudden, you went bumpy again and continued thus till the end. You tried my capacity to dispense with my disbelief more than a little.
I respect your character, but sometimes, you seemed like a foil to me, a mean to transport a philosophy rather than a real person. I sometimes found your actions puzzling and your fate too well ordered and crafted. In the end, I'm glad that you found happiness, and happy to have spent time with you, and maybe someday, I will get you. Until then, you have to contend with just an middling response.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+15 Oldies
+5 Jumbo
+10 Combo (10.4, 20.3: #21 on exceeded expectations list)

Total: 60
Grand total: 360

Task - 10.2 - New Year's Eve : word: Time, Clock, Watch, Hour, Minute, Second.

The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974) by Lin Carter

The first 2/3rds of the novel was written as a Western, with humans as the "cowboys" and Martians as the "Indians", and the setting being the wide-open red dusty terrain of Mars. The last third was more science fictiony, with Mars-specific conditions driving the plot, and a sense-of-wonder ending. The attitudes expressed are mildly sexist, endorsing the traditional roles for men and women under the assumption "that's just how men and women ARE". This is normal for everyday, non-prize winning 1970s science fiction. Recommended for when you want to read a science fiction adventure story.

+10 Task
+ 05 Style: 1. Combo (5 points) (also fits: 10.5 underrated)
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
+ 05 Style: 4. Oldies (5 to 25 points): -25 to 75 years old: 5 points (1936-1986)

Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 + 05 = 30

Grand Total: 830 + 30 = 860