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WI 11-12 Completed Tasks
20.8 Fictional fictionOne Day by David Nicholls
+20 task ((view spoiler))
+ 5 combo (20.2 - UK, India, France)
Task Total: 25 points
Grand Total: 250 points
Liz M wrote: "Arow wrote: "20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbersI read Delirium by Lauren Oliver
+20 Task (pub 2011)
Task Total = 20"
+5 combo 20.8-Fictional Fiction"
Hi Liz, I forgot to claim combo points due to it being YA. I realize now that it has a score of 920.
I appreciate you catching that! I will update my records and going forward will include it in my grand total.
Thanks!
20.10 - Sam’s Task - Play the numbersI read Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close.
Review:
I don't know how I feel about this novel. It reads like a collection of short stories that are vaguely tied together as the characters all know each other but the reader does not necessarily feel like they know all the characters discussed. At the same time, the reader feels like they are reading a really basic memoir about a group of individuals who once upon a time knew each other.
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close follows a group of women from the age of 22 to 32 and takes the reader through snippets of the characters lives by looking at events that happened surrounding life altering events such as, weddings, child birth, breakups, graduation and first jobs. The stories are interesting enough but I just didn’t care about them. I felt like I was reading stories that my girlfriends and I share over bottles of wine. I guess I just felt that I would rather listen to my real life friends’ problems instead of fictional characters.
All in all it was a quick read and filled some time. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, as I did want to see what happened. I just wish it had been written in a different method and had made the characters come to life.
+20 Task (pub 2011)
+10 Review
Task = 30
Grand Total = 455 points
Liz M wrote: "In post 743, Erin wrote: "Point this Post: 75Grand Total: 375 ..."
In post 774, Erin wrote: "20.4 The Christmas Carol
The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters
Book..."
Thanks! Updated my points
20.9 - Krista’s Task - Take the High RoadThe Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Review: When my son was a cub scout, his troop had an Indian story talker come to a meeting. The audience consisted of a couple dozen boys 6-12, their siblings of a range of ages and their parents--a restless and noisy group. The story talker calmed and mesmerized the audience-even those too young understand his words. His stories, told in every-day language, were from a magical world. Somehow Alexis has translated that oral tradition to words on paper in this collection of short stories. I sank into the world of the Spokane Reservation where he grew up.
This is an early collection of Alexis' work. While they are very good, his more recent work shows that he has matured as a writer. The humor is more organic and the pathos and wisdom expressed more subtly.
+20 Task (Heaven)
+10 Review
+5 Combo 10.6 - The Uncommon Letter Alexie
Task total: 35
Previous total: 835
New grand total: 870
20.3 Great ExpectationsA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens #182 on Exceeded Expectations
+20 - Task
+25 - Combo (10.4 #3 Unrequited Love, 20.1 pub 1859, 20.2 France and England, 20.4 set in the late 1700's, 20.6 Three trials for Darney's life)
+15 - Oldies (pub 1859)
+10 - Review
Review
The novel with one of the most famous first and last lines is well-known but maybe not so well read. Many can recognize the first line “It was the best of times it was the worse of times”. This motif continues throughout the book with two chief subjects being identical in looks but opposite in personalities. Through a long narrative that begins with Lucy’s father being “resurrected” from the dead by being sprung from prison. He has lost his mind after more than a decade of captivity for no charge that he knows of other than being witness and whistle blower on the cruelness of the Evremonde family. His daughter, Lucy has been raised in England for her safety but now returns to Paris to bring her father home from the safehouse of the Defarge wine shop. Returning to England and after much rest and restoration, he comes to himself and is overjoyed to be with the daughter he never knew.
Meanwhile the heir to this monstrous Evremonde family has renounced his family and his heritage and travels to England to provide for himself with his own work rather than on the oppression of others. He changes his name to Charles Darnay. (very similar to Charles Dickens). In London he meets up with his doppelganger, Sydney Carton at court. Charles is being tried as a spy against England for the French. Sidney is able to unravel the case by showing that the accuser could not tell the difference between himself and Darnay so how can he know who he claims to have seen.
Lucy and her father are at court as witnesses for the defense. Both Charles and Sydney fall in love with her. However Sydney knows Lucy could never be happy with his dark moods and cynical view on life as well as his alcoholism. Charles does win the hand of Lucy but neither of them ever knows his connection to the family that caused her father’s abuse.
An important figure in this story that again draws on the resurrection theme is Jerry Cruncher, an employee of a bank that is also a “resurrection man”. One who digs up corpses to sell to doctors. After the panic and fear in France, he repents and states he will no longer engage in such an activity although it may have helped doctors save lives.
During the Revolution, Charles is called back to France to help a friend and he himself becomes a prisoner. After two trials, he is found guilty of being the heir to the harsh family that so abused a peasant family and sentenced to the guillotine. Madame Defarge of the wine shop is a member of that family and wants to see Charles, his wife and child all annihilated although there is much respect for Lucy’s father. Again the Defarges are a pair of opposites. Monsieur Defarge, the rescuer and restorer of Lucy and her father and Madame Defarge, the destroyer of this family.
In the end, Carton changes places with Darnay in prison and is executed in his place. Before his death the Bible verse, “I am the resurrection and the life” is repeated over and over by Carton until he speaks his famous last line, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”, again making resurrection a major point and again the motif of pairs of opposites, death and life, sin and redemption.
Task Total - 70 pts
Grand Total - 1445 pts
Liz M wrote: "Leigh wrote: "Liz M wrote: The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips
+5 20.2 Tale of Two Cities
I just sat here for like 5 minutes going through the whole plot in my ..."
I claimed the combo for 2o.2, he has a Czech wife and Czech mother-in-law that gets on his nerves and Czech sons. He returns to the US near the end of the book when his father gets out of jail. and his step-father dies.
Christin wrote: "10.10 Group ReadsDaughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
I had read another series by Marillier, The Children of the Light Isles, so I had been meaning to pick up t..."
Christin you can get combo points for 20.3. It's #146 on the Exceeded Expectations list
Congratulations to Kazza and Rosemary!!
Marie wrote: "20.5 - Autobiography or autobiographical novelTender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
+ 20 task
+ 10 Oldies (1934)
+ 30 Combo (10.3, 10.4, 10.6, 10.7, 20.2, 20.8)...
Marie,
Unfortunately, this book is #41 on the Crazy Love list & it needed to be in the top 25. It does not qualify for 10.4.
And I need a little help with this one -- remind where the book is set besides France. Finally, please provide your four-letter type. Thanks!
20.4 Christmas Card-"Bumped" by Megan McCafferty
(takes place in the year 2036)
This book has a Lexile score of 950L
Task +20
Style +15 (Combo Sam's Task 20.10 published 2011, Review)
Review
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book Total: 35
Grand Total:580
Rebekah wrote: "20.3 Great ExpectationsA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens #182 on Exceeded Expectations
+20 - Task
+25 - Combo (10.4 #3 Unrequited Love, 20.1 pub 1859, 20.2 France and England, 20.4 set in the late 1700's, 20.6
+15 - Oldies (pub 1859)
+10 - Review ..."
nsfancy, Anika
+10 combo for 10.4 & 20.2
10.3 Home for the Holidays (Florence, Italy)I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
When I first read the premise of this book I have to admit I was immediately intrigued. I studied in Florence for a short bit when I was in college and the history surrounding the assassination of Giuliano de Medici, along with the political upheaval caused by Savonarola, was still greatly talked of throughout the city. I also studied Art History in Florence so a mystery book from the point of view of the supposed Mona Lisa during this time sounded fascinating. This book did not disappoint. The history is most definitely tweaked to create a better storyline but the story is engrossing enough to make up for it - I ran through the entire thing in about a day!
A lot of supposition has been made over the years whether Mona Lisa was a real person, a female version of Da Vinci himself, or some other figure. I liked how the book attempted to hint at each of these and somehow include a couple. It was definitely an inside joke in a way for those who know all the theoretical contention surrounding the figure of Mona Lisa.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.7)
+5 Jumbo
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 585
10.6 The Uncommon Letter Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee
+10 Task (z in author's last name)
20.2 A Tale of Two Cities
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
+20 Task (France-US-Spain-etc)
+5 Combo (20.4-looks back in time through much of the book)
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
+20 Task
20.3 Great Expectations
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
+20 Task (Exceeded)
+5 Oldies (pub 1954)
20.9 Take the High Road
What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris
+20 Task (Angel in title)
+5 Combo (20.4-Historical)
Post Total: 105
RwS Finish: 100
Mega Finish: 200
Season Total: 2495
Liz M wrote: "Kate S wrote: "20.3 In Honor of Great ExpectationsBeloved or Despised
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
+20 Task (7th on Exceeded Expectations List)
+5 Combo (10.2-#14 on GREAT Love ..."
Liz, You Rock!! Thank you for making sure we all get all available points for the books we read!! I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this group!!
Rebekah wrote: "Christin wrote: "10.10 Group ReadsDaughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
I had read another series by Marillier, The Children of the Light Isles, so I had been..."
Liz M wrote: "Christin wrote: "20.3 Despised Book
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - 740L
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total = 35..."
+5 combo 20.7-US Auhtor
Chris..."
ooh, thank you for catching these! I've updated my written list of them for myself with the points ^_^
20.1 Dicken's LifetimeJourney to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
+20 Task
+10 Translation (initially French)
+10 Oldie (1864)
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 625
10.2 - NYE CountdownThe Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
If hard-pressed to describe this book in one word, I would have to choose the word "amazing." I was very surprised to see some of the reviews and I'm glad I didn't see them before picking this book up; it would have been a real loss to miss out on this book because of negative reviews. But, to each their own.
From the first page I found the book difficult to put down. I adored the candid narrative style and found it very engaging. Unlike a previous reviewer who disliked all the characters, I found them all quite sympathetic. They may not be appealing all the time but they are as real as fictional characters can be. If you are looking for archetypal figures you won't find them here. Rather, you will find a cast of sometimes-flawed, multi-dimensional humans who develop and grow as the book progresses.
Wally Lamb picked a number of touchy real-life subjects to tackle in one book, including addiction, mental illness, sexual abuse, family secrets and lies, war, and not least of all, the Columbine massacre. Each of these was handled in a gripping, poignant and respectful manner. His descriptions of PTSD were spot-on and bring this important issue to life.
The ending was a stunning and fitting end to an all-around excellent book. Even as so many things are falling apart, Caelum finds redemption and hope, and not in a hokey, cliched manner. I will certainly hang on to this book to read again and recommend to others.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo (740 pages)
Task total = 30
Grand total = 240
Kazza wrote: "I may be 5-15 points off - I'm too confused to fix it so I'm happy to take whichever lower totals you've got for me :) ...">grin< Thank goodness! Because I have your total as 1965 (instead of 1970)& am too tired to go back & find the discrepancy.
nsfancy wrote: Task total 185Total points 1095 ..."
Your previous total (post 788) was 985. 985 + 185 = 1170.
At the moment, I have your grand total as 1325, which is 90 more points than your 1235 ( also there are the extra points for The House at Pooh Corner & Tale of Two Cities).
Let me know if these adjustments get our respective scores in close enough agreement.
Rebekah wrote: "10.2 NYE CountdownLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
55 pts - Task Total
1150 pts - Grand Total ..."
Your previous total (post 793) was 1135. 1135 + 55 = 1190.
My grand total for you is 1485, 40 points more than your posted 1445.
Task 15.9 – Christmas in Vegas1953-1964 I-J-K 141-180/541-580
9th book claimed – 75 points
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) by Shirley Jackson (Paperback, 176 pages) 5*
Grand Total: 1475 + 75 = 1550
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "10.3 Home for the Holidays The Long Goodbye by Raymond ChandlerI grew up in southern California and I love reading Raymond Chandler if for no other reason than he takes me back to the...
+10 Task
+ 5 Oldies (pub 1953)
Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 885 "
+10 review
Liz M wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "20.3 Great ExpectationsA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens #182 on Exceeded Expectations
+20 - Task
+25 - Combo (10.4 #3 Unrequited Love, 20.1 pub ..."
No combo for 20.4 and 20.1?
I think it was claimed for Anika and nsfancy.
Rebekah wrote: "No combo for 20.4 and 20.1?I think it was claimed for Anika and nsfancy. ..."
Rebekah, your points were fine. I was letting nsfancy & Anika know that you found 10 more points than they had, so they could add them to their scores.
20.2 A Tale of Two CitiesState of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The story is set in the US and Brazil.
Review: This is an above average suspense novel. A MD/PhD drug researcher is sent to the Amazon to try to find out how the research is going on a potential new drug and what happened to her friend/co-worker who died down there on a similar mission. The story poses a number of interesting dilemmas about medical ethics, protection of indigenous cultures, drug development, protection and development of pharmo-active species, etc.
The motivations of Dr. Swenson, the investigator in charge of drug research at the jungle facility, are complex and not clearly explained on many issues. The wrap-ups of both mysteries are a little too tidy to be believable.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo 20.10 (published 2011)
Task total: 35
Previous total: 870
New grand total: 905
20.7 Out Stealing Horses by Per PettersonThe narrator, age 67, recalls the summer when he was 15, which he spent with his father in a somewhat remote cabin in eastern Norway. It was a summer that changed everything for him. Trond has become a fine man, at least in my opinion, but has become removed from the world, both physically and emotionally. Why did that happen?
I am left thinking that we make decisions in life based on who we are at the time. Sometimes life presents dramatic circumstances that change us in such a way that we are no longer the same person, and the decisions made no longer apply. In this regard, Out Stealing Horses is as much the story of Trond's father as it is of Trond. We can see that often what happens to the parent affects the child, perhaps even carrying for generations. An incident toward the end of the book says maybe it doesn't always have to be.
I started to award this book 4 stars, feeling it left too much out. As I wrote my thoughts on this, I came to see it is a book that I will remember and think about for a long time. That must be the definition of a 5-star book!
+20 Task (Norway)
+ 5 Combo (20.4, looks back to 1948)
+10 Review
+10 Translated (from Norwegian)
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 945 (maybe, Liz keeps finding more points!)
Task 10.8 Chinese New YearThe Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan
My review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
10 points task
+10 points review
+5 combo 20.10 numbers(published 2001...contains 1 & 2)
+5 combo 20.4 future/past (this book looks back more than 25 years)
+5 combo 20.2 Two cities (takes place in China and U.S.)
=35 points for the task
GRAND TOTAL: 870 points
20.9 Take the High RoadAngels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
+20 task
Grand total: 720 points
Liz M wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "No combo for 20.4 and 20.1?I think it was claimed for Anika and nsfancy. ..."
Rebekah, your points were fine. I was letting nsfancy & Anika know that you found 10 more points tha..."
Oh, okay! I thought it meant I could only claim those two combos! (smile) I should have looked back to see if anyone else had claimed them. When I find more points I try to let the poster know they are able to add points to their score.
20.9 Take the High RoadWhere Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.7 my type is ENFP, 20.2 takes place in England and Italy)
+10 pts - Oldies (first pub in 1905)
+10 pts - Review
Review
This is one of Forrester’s most unsatisfactory books. I felt the ending meant there was to be a sequel as it had a dangling feeling. The book is a study on the contrast of the English Culture, cold, dignified, avoid scandal at all costs and self-righteous and Italy which is warm, jovial, passionate and more true to self, or “it is what it is” and non-judgmental. What is at stake is the future of an infant born to a rich English widow and a common Italian rogue. The English family wants him to avoid scandal and so society sees that they are “doing right” by him. The Italian father wants him simply because he is his progeny and he loves him. The essential question as stated by the character Miss Abbott, “Do you want the child to stop with his father, who loves him and will bring him up badly, or do you want him to come to Sawston (England), where no one loves him, but where he will be brought up well.” The question becomes moot at the end of the book. There is also an unresolved and surprising love triangle the creeps up suddenly in the last chapter.
Task Total - 50 pts
Grand Total - 1535
20.8 Fictional FictionCornelli by Johanna Spyri
Aaaaaarrrrggghh!
This was going to be my last book to complete the challenge for 10.1. I get to the next to last chapter and a child brings out his favorite book Funny Journeys!!
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - LiT German
+10 pts Oldies (Cannot find exact date of when it was fist published but she wrote her fist book in 1871 and died in 1901)
+10 pts - Review
I couldn't find the Lexile score but it was very similar to Heidi which has a score of 960
Review
This is a sunny Sunday school story, another book by Johanna Spyri on the same pattern as her well-loved book Heidi; although without all the gut wrenching drama of Heidi that still brings tears to my eyes. Cornelli is a rich little girl, motherless with a busy traveling father and lives in the country. He is a cheerful, happy little sprite of a girl who is loved by all. Her father brings his spinster cousin and her friend to his home to act as housekeeper while he goes on a long trip. (Sound familiar?) The spirit of Frau Rottenmeier lives in this cousin and abhors Cornelli’s behavior of going to the kitchen every day, going to look at the baby goat in the stables and picking berries. It seems only proper that she reads although she may visit the elderly Mrs. Martha who is a substitute grandfather. Cornelli’s character completely changes and it is laid to her obstinate, uncivilized behavior. The more she is scolded, the more bizarre she becomes but no one seems to relate the two. The key is a simple misunderstanding reminding us how children can take what adults say literally. Fortunate a sickly boy comes to stay with Mrs. Martha for the country air. They become fast friends (Peter & Heidi, Clara & Heidi?). The result being that when he returns to town he becomes ill again and begs Cornelli to visit. He is the only one that understands Cornelli. Cornelli goes and stays with the boy, his younger brother, two sisters and his loving kind but desperately poor widow mother. Of course the mother meets Cornelli’s rich father who is so grateful for bringing out Cornelli’s true personality. He loves her four children and he ends up making arrangements for all the children to board with mother in town for the school year and stay all summer with him in the country during the summers where the mother can be housekeeper. Everyone’s fondest dreams come true and they live happily ever after. Cornelli grows up to marry her friend and her father marries the mother and they have adorable twin babies that all the children dote on. OK I just made up that last sentence just now, but just know that’s what’s going to happen! ;)
Task Total - 50 pts
Grand Total - 1585 pts
20.4 A Christmas CarolThe River Wife by Jonis Agee
Book takes place from 1811 through the 1930s.
+20 Task
+5 Combo [10.5 761 ratings]
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 475
20.4 – A Christmas CarolThe Scottish Prisoner: A Novel by Diana Gabaldon
+20 Task (published in 2011, set in 1760)
+10 Combo (20.2 – set in England and Ireland; 20.10 – published in 2011)
+5 Jumbo (518 pages)
Task Total = 35 points
Grand Total = 445 points
Liz M wrote: "Amy W wrote: "+10 Task+15 Combo (20.4 – set 30 years in the future; 20.8 – the fictional Anorak’s Almanac plays big role; 20.11 – published in 2011)
Task Total = 25 points..."
+5 combo 20.2-Tale..."
Thank you for catching all that!
10.9 11 in 11Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
First book in the Wallander series; author of way more than 11 books.
This its the first Detective Wallander book by the highly acclaimed Swedish author Henning Menkell. I enjoyed reading about the detective and enjoyed the musings about immigration and racism in Sweden, but found the secondary characters almost completely lacking in interest. The cold weather and Swedish countryside came through and added interest to this book that surely would have been less compelling if set in Cleveland instead. Also, I listened to the audiobook version. The narrator did a fine job with the text and the voice of Wallander, but his voices and accents for other characters were distractingly strange. Some characters randomly sounded like weird German stereotypes while others sounded like they were meant to be rural American southerners. Still, if be interested in reading another Wallander book if I happened to pick one up. If they use there same narrator, I'll probably choose there print version instead.
+10 task
+10 LiT (Swedish)
+5 combo (20.7 - Sweden)
+10 review
Task total: 35
20.1 Dicken's Life
Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm
I've been reading these on the kindle reader on all my I've been reading these on the kindle reader on all my devices over the past three months. They served as the perfect diversion when waiting in line or on hold or other short waits. Some of the stories were familiar, though some were only familiar because of the cleaned up Disney versions. Other stories were completely unfamiliar but wonderful in their handing out rough justice to the good hearted and harsh curses to the arrogant or mean spirited. Yet other stories were just completely weird or incomprehensible. But since the collection is free and reasonably typo-free through the Gutenberg project, it's worth the download to have some short stories to use as gap filters that are better than paying yet another round of soduko on the blackberry. over the past three months. They served as the perfect diversion when waiting in line or on hold or other short waits. Some of the stories were familiar, though some were only familiar because of the cleaned up Disney versions. Other stories were completely unfamiliar but wonderful in their handing out rough justice to the good hearted and harsh curses to the arrogant or mean spirited. Yet other stories were just completely weird or incomprehensible. But since the collection is free and reasonably typo-free through the Gutenberg project, it's worth the download to have some short stories to use as gap filters that are better than paying yet another round of soduko on the blackberry.
+20 task
+15 oldies (1812)
+10 LiT (German)
+5 combo (20.10 - pub. 1812)
+10 review
Task total: 60
RWS Finish: +100
Grand total: 795 + 35 + 60 + 100 = 990
10.5 UnderratedFancies and Goodnights by John Collier
223 ratings
I adored this collection of short stories. Before picking up this book, I'd never heard of this author, but now I'll look for his other work. There stories are full of the very odd - e.g., men who find themselves strangely and unexpectedly turned into plants, strange inhabitants of department stores, and love affairs with mannequins. Of course, not every story grabbed me, but there were enough germs to make this a fast and highly entertaining read. I've shared the book with my mother and am looking forward to passing it on to another friend I think will really like it when my mother returns it.
+10 task
+5 oldies (1951?)
+10 review
Task total: 25
Grand total: 1015
20.7 - Baby it's cold outside (Author from the United States)Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker
I read this book straight through while sitting at the airport waiting for my husband to come in on a red-eye flight. Another reader put it perfectly, (I'm paraphrasing at best,) that this is a quick but definitely NOT easy read.
This book certainly has some jaw-dropping moments. The subject matter of female genital mutilation is tougher than a reader can really anticipate. Walker makes very effective use of few words to describe the pain and horror that the Olinka women/girls undergo, making the reader cringe but not feel judgment toward the women.
The narrative style is a little unusual where it switches between first person perspectives of a number of characters. Once you get used to it, however, it really works. As the reader you are able to see how the confusion around Tashi (Evelyn) affects everyone involved.
Overall, I believe this is a very important book and should probably be assigned reading in school, not in spite of the material but because of it. I know many people would balk at that suggestion but that type of conservative, head-in-the-sand approach is exactly what allows this kind of violence to survive. It is so easy to lose perspective of what has been gained in Western societies as far as human and civil rights, and we should remember that not everyone is so fortunate and if we can, embrace the "secret of joy:" resistance.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.10 - published 1992)
Task total = 35
Grand total = 275
Joanna wrote: "RWS Finish: +100"Very good, Joanna!
Congratulations Kate S and Joanna! :-)
10.2 NYE CountdownEleven Hours by Paullina Simons
Review:
Didi Wood, nine months pregnant, is abducted from a shopping mall and driven across Texas by her kidnapper. She's not rich and there's no obvious reason why anyone would want to kidnap her, but this guy has a crazy kind of reason of his own. Meanwhile, her husband is with the FBI agent trying to track her down.
I found this an easy read and went straight through it at one sitting, so I’d say it’s a page-turner. There's not much depth to the characters and I couldn’t understand why the bad guy didn’t get what he wanted in a much simpler way, but it is very well paced and I think that’s what kept me interested.
+10 Task ('Hours')
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.5 Under-rated)
Task total = 25
10.5 Under-rated
Doreen by Barbara Noble
Review:
Nine-year-old Doreen lives in cramped conditions with her working-class mother in wartime London. As the air raids worsen, Mrs Rawlings begins to think that she should have allowed Doreen to be evacuated with other children. Then, through a woman who works in the offices she cleans, contact is made with a well-off childless couple living in the country who are willing to take Doreen, and the child is bundled off.
Doreen is a lucky evacuee, placed in a good home where she is cherished. But as time goes on, a tug-of-love conflict develops between her mother who is missing her in London and the childless Francie Osborne who wants to treat Doreen as if she were her own child.
This is an enjoyable, slow-moving story that raises some important questions about the care of children and the bond between a child and its natural parents.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldie 1937-87 (pub.1946)
Task total = 25
Grand total = 2505
RwS Tasks10.5 – Underrated
686 Ratings
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh 760 Lexile
I love retellings of all kinds and this updated Orpheus and Eurydice tale is no exception. Jack is absorbed in his copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses when he is hit by a car. When he recovers, strange things begin to happen. He has never come to terms with the death of his mother and he ends up in the underworld to try to find her with a young girl named Euri by his side. Of course, since it is a retelling of a familiar myth, parts of the book are predictable, but the added intrigue of Jack’s mother and father’s story and the up to date New York City setting make The Night Tourist well worth the read. There is a sequel which I hope to get my hands on soon.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
20.4 – In honor of A Christmas Carol:
The Watch That Ends The Night: Voices From The Titanic by Allan Wolf
(1912 Titanic, pub 2011) 750 Lexile
I am usually a reader that avoids reading or knowing anything about a book before reading it. I don’t like to know anything about what’s going to happen or the book is at least partially spoiled for me. The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices From the Titanic was, of course, an unavoidable exception to that rule. That said, I was drawn in immediately, because regardless of knowing the inevitable outcome, I also knew that there were some survivors and since the book was written through the voices of a wide range of characters including the rats and the undertaker working at the site after the tragedy, workers, an orchestra member and passengers both rich and poor, the book was completely engaging. The author also used interesting verse and alliteration through out, so that the reader is surrounded by the sounds of the great ship. Allan Wolf set the classes aboard ship apart through some narrated verse about the promenades of the group through his use of rhyme. For the first class, “Our feet well shod. We promenade.” , as the third class walks with “Our clothes handmade. We promenade.” The author uses the juxtaposition of the groups to great effect throughout. In his Author’s Note, Wolf says, “When it comes to historical fiction, history is the birdcage; fiction is the bird.” He includes the facts about his characters in these notes as well. Don’t miss this one!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Combo: 10.6 Underrated (237) / 10.2 New Year’s (Watch) 20.10 Play the Numbers (2011) / 10.7 What’s Your Type (N-F in Title)
Task Total: 50
20.10 – Sam’s Task – Play the numbers
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson 710 Lexile
What a page turner! Jack the Ripper appears to be back, but in today’s London. A copy cat killer is on the loose and Rory has just come from Louisiana to London to attend Wexford, an elite boarding school located smack dab in the middle of the killer’s territory. Grisly details are a part of this book, so be prepared for a mature murder mystery. Maureen Johnson spent a lot of time researching in London for The Name of the Star (I follow her on Twitter where she wrote about her progress) and so if you know a lot about Jack the Ripper, the details will be accurate. If you are a fan of murder mysteries and boarding school settings as I am, then this book is definitely for you. Who are The Shades of London (the series title) and how does the paranormal figure into this story? You’ll have to read it to find out. Maureen Johnson is an excellent author and she has further proved her range of ability as an author with The Name of the Star!
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
20.10 – Sam’s Task – Play the numbers
Lost Voices by Sarah Porter 880 Lexile
Legends of the mermaid have always held a fascination for me. I loved the premise of Lost Voices: girls in troubled situations are those that become mermaids. Luce suffers at the hands of her uncle and falls to the sea, turning into a mermaid and finding that she is a part of a tribe of mermaids that are no fans of humans. They fulfill the role of the sirens, singing to sink the boats and kill all aboard. Luce is not sure what to do. The mermaids expect her allegiance, but she is not comfortable with causing the deaths on the sea, especially because she believes that the mermaids may have killed her father and left her with only her uncle as a substitute parent . The opening of the book is strong. It’s a first book, and it lagged at times, but it was overall an engaging story based on mermaid lore. It definitely burst my Little Mermaid bubble! Book 2, Waking Storms, will be out this summer and I plan to read it.
+20 Points
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 Underrated 845 Ratings
Task Total: 35
Points this Post: 135
Grand Total: 2700
20.3 Great ExpectationsThe Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Lexile 810
#1 on the Exceeded Expectations list
Review: I have a couple of problems with this book. The first is the premise. While we have some historical precedents of fighting to the death as entertainment, I can't think of any that involved children or that forced the victims' families and friends to watch. I don't see how this would help suppress rebellion in the repressed populations. I also think that it is difficult to believe that a 16 year-old raised in the environment depicted would seem so politically clueless.
As is often the case in YA literature, character development is sacrificed for lots of action and appearances. Outside of Katniss and Peeta, we have no idea where any of the other characters are coming from.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo 10.6 Uncommon letter
Task total:
Previous total: 905
New Grand Total:
20.2 Tale of Two CitiesThe Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy - Paris and London
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.6, 10.9) (+5 Combo 20.4)
+10 Oldie (published 1903)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 670
20.4 Looking BackThe Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.8, 20.2, 20.10)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 705
Rebekah wrote: "20.8 Fictional FictionCornelli by Johanna Spyri
Aaaaaarrrrggghh!
This was going to be my last book to complete the challenge for 10.1. I get to the next to last chapt..."
This wouldn't have worked anyway because it is also underrated so can I get the extra 5 combo points?
10.7 What's your type? (INTJ)The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
Review: Mystery novels aren't entirely my thing, but this one, I enjoyed. Nesbo weaves an intricate web of past and present, lies and truths, revelations and mysteries. His detective, Harry Hole, is flawed and broken, not hard-boiled, but real. He has problems and he makes mistakes, and no, he's not a genius, that's why it's so enjoyable to tag along - like Hitchcock, Nesbo manages to keep up the suspense by telling us things his protagonist has no clue of, and surprises with a couple of twists here and there, but his solutions don't rely too heavily on coincidences - sure, there are some, but everyone as human as Harry deserves a lucky break once in a while.
And, if I had to choose a Scandinavian holiday destination based on crime novels, Norway surely is the place to be. At least the sun shines once in a while, and there seems to be a summer. I'm thinking, Bergen, possibly.
Task: 10
Review: 10
Combo (20.2, Norway, South Africa, Austria, Russia), 20.4 (parts set in 1944), 20.7 (Norway), 20.8 (character writes a book about the war): 20
LiT: 10
Task total: 50
Grand total: 730
Connie wrote: "10.7 What's your type? (INTJ)The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
Review: Mystery novels aren't entirely my thing, but this one, I enjoyed. Nesbo weaves an intricate web of pas..."
Connie, I see this is part of a series. Do you need to know what happened in previous ones, or is this like others, where it's just the detective that ties them together?
Well, neither, I'd say. There are hints to some of the events of previous books (I guess), but they're not relevant to the case at hand. There is a story arch in this one that I hope will span into the next books, as it wasn't resolved, so I wouldn't say it's just the detective tieing them together either.You can definitely start with this one, without waiting until the first two are translated :)
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Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault
+20 Task ('heaven')
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (20.4 pub.1969, set c.350 BC)
+ 5 Oldie 1937-87..."
+5 combo 10.9-11 in 11 (fir..."
Thanks Liz, I will go through and add 10 to my total from the point where I think you are up to :-)
Thanks for all your work on checking everything, it must be a huge job!