Reading with Style discussion
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SP 20 Completed Tasks

15.6 Blackjack
Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baagby Rohinton Mistry
8 spades (author born in India)
8 diamonds (pub 1987)
2 clubs (250 pages)
+20 Task
+5 Before 1995
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 400 (assumes mid season with a previous total of 375)

Favorite Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton
10 spades - short stories
Ace diamonds - 75-199 pg
9 diamonds - commonwealth
15 task
5 oldie
5 not a novel
_____
25
Running total: 25

The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind
Ace diamonds (77 pgs)
Queen diamonds (100% in Paris, France)
+15 task
+ 5 Before 1995 (1987)
Task total=20
Season total=20

Santa Fe Edge by Stuart Woods
7 Diamonds - title begins with S
3 Clubs - 300-399 pages
10 Clubs - published 2010
+15 task
Task total: 15
Grand total: 15

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
This is a very charming book. Jansson is able to compellingly evoke the thoughts/feelings of an elderly woman (~85 years old) and a child (~6 years old) as they spend their time on a remote Finnish island. Moments are intensely observed although sometimes broadly explained. The ocean/sea is an important character, and anyone who has lived by the sea (or on an island) will find the writing particularly evocative. I thought the story/vingnettes were lovely and nostalgic. The telling is definitely economical, but you can still picture the various characters and situations that arise. Other reviewers have mentioned the ‘pure, beautiful magic in the natural world�, and I agree that is the strength and beauty of this book. 4*
20 task
10 review
10 1001 list
5 oldie
______
45
Running total: 70

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
I have been disappointed by crime noir novels....and this was no exception. This was my first, and perhaps my last, reading of any of Chandler's works....so, I had hopes that this would be different. It wasn't. It is hard to not nostalgically remember and imagine Humphrey Bogart in the role of Marlowe in the film version. Somehow, I could enjoy and allow more leeway for the exaggerations in the film than I can in the novel. Some of the analogies that Chandler uses are worthy of multiple eye-rolls. It is quite amazing how few people become even the slightest bit alarmed when a loaded gun is pointed at them. I used to live and work in Los Angeles....so, I did "get" the sense of place that Chandler evoked with his descriptions of buildings and neighborhoods and such. I also think that the plot was a bit too convoluted. Plot twists are fine.... but this was a short book....with too many turns. Two stars.
Task=20
Combo= 10 (10.6; 20.10)
Review=10
1001=10
Oldie=10 (1939)
Task Total=60
Grand Total=60
Tasks Completed=1
20.4 (60)

The Heather Blazing by Colm Tóibín
2 clubs, has 243 pages
8 spades, author born in Ireland
K spades, title word ending -ing
total 20, 3 cards
+15 Task
+ 5 Before 1995 (1992)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 20

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
This is the 21st book I’ve read by this author.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo
[20.8 - character drinks tea, quote from page 48: “He was in the act of eating meat-pie, washed down by exceedingly black tea.”]
[20.10 - author appears on the list of English crime fiction authors]
+10 oldies (first published 1936)
Post total: 40
Season total: 40
Review
I think Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels are my ultimate comfort read. They’re almost without exception well written and entertaining, and yet they’re easy enough to read that I can normally enjoy them even when I’m tired or lacking concentration.
My favourite Poirot book to date is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and although The A.B.C. Murders wasn’t quite up to that standard it was still one of the best books in the series. I thought the plot was clever and I especially liked that once the mystery was solved it was possible to look back and see little clues dotted about. One of my frustrations with some other Poirot books is that the resolution sometimes relies on information that is only introduced at the end, which denies the reader the fun of trying to guess the murderer’s identity before it’s revealed.
It was fun to have Hastings back as narrator with his usual unintentionally humorous judgements about the case. I also liked the occasional shift to third person perspective which seemed to work well for the plot.
Overall, another good read by (in my opinion) one of the greatest ever writers of detective stories.

The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
Heart 8: more than 75% in Africa
Spade 10: title word ending in -ing
Total = 18
Task total = 15
(I had to watch to make sure I didn't go over 50% on Saturday!)

The Salaryman's Wife (Rei Shimura #1) by Sujata Massey
10 diamonds (11 books in series)
J diamonds (set 100% in Japan)
+15 Task
+5 Female
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 20

Last Stories by William Trevor
8 Spades (author born in Ireland)
7 Spades (7 letters in "stories")
2 Clubs (224 pages)
+15 task
+ 5 Not fiction (Not a Novel-short stories)
Task total=20
Season total=40

Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
7 spades - seven letter word
9 spades - 2009
5 hearts - US
15 task
5 not a novel
5 female
____
25
Running total: 95

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
Lexile 770
I always love the world of Tortall and this was no exception, although I didn't realize I was reading about an existing character's childhood. So I watched Arran grow with fresh eyes, enjoying his interactions with professors and friends, but wincing as he passed over signs that one friend might not turn out as well as he would hope, not realizing previous books had established that clearly. I especially liked how Pierce fleshed out more interactions with the Gods, since those have had such troublesome results in previous books. It's a nice coming of age book, with somewhat meandering tensions and challenges but a clear building arc of something greater coming that will be addressed in a future book.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.3,20.8)
In chapter 18 - Yadeen, caught in the act of drinking tea, choked slightly and lowered his cup.
Task total: 40
Grand total: 40

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
2 Hearts (#2 in series)
9 Diamonds (100% in UK)
10 Diamonds (series >10)
+15 Task
+5 Female author
Task total: 20
Season total: 20

I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections by Nora Ephron
7 Hearts- Author's Initials in SEVEN
4 Diamonds- Pronoun in Title
King of Spades- "ing" in Title
7+4+K=21
Task=15
NF=5
Female=5
Task Total=25
Grand Total=85
Tasks Completed=2
15.1 (25)
20.4 (60)

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman
6 heart - 'x'
10 diamond - series 10+ titles
2 clubs - 200 - 299 pg
15 task
5 oldie
5 female
____
25
Running total: 120

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Heart J 10 (anti-hero)
Spades 5 (pub date in 50s-1955)
Clubs 3 (300-399 pages)
18
+15 task
+ 5 oldie
Task total: 20
Season total: 20

The Blue Fox by ó
8 of Spades - author born in Iceland
6 of Hearts - title has an x
3 of Spades - 3 word title
Ace (1) of Diamonds - has 112 pages (between 75 and 125)
Hand value: 18
Task total: 15
Grand total: 55

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
I enjoyed this Christie mystery...I think my eighth..... but I had qualms about the ending. This novel is the third in the Miss Marple series. Here a body is found improbably in the library of one of Miss Marple's friends and neighbors. For most of the mystery, the focus is on the potential suspects which I found to be refreshing (rather than on Miss Marple) and well written...easy to follow the leads and detect what might or might not be red herrings. Miss Marple is of course charming and wise... but the novel ends with her full explanation of the case and how she unraveled it.... only I still question her logic and to me, the unnecessarily complicated motives and actions of the guilty party or parties. Worth the read...but I can only give it three stars due to my disappointment with the ending.
Task=20
Review=10
Combo= 5 (10.4)
Oldie=10 (1942)
Task Total=45
Grand Total=130
Tasks Completed=3
15.1 (25)
20.4 (60) ; 20.10 (45)

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
When I first read the description for this, it almost sounded like an Omani version of Fiddler on the Roof--focused on three sisters and their non-traditional marriage choices in a restrictive society. Nope.
This bounces all over in time and place, showing a country and society in flux. While the non-linear nature of the narrative was at times confusing (I could only find this as an audiobook at my library, which even further confuses things as you don't have the visual distinction of changing chapters to show a definitive change in direction), it was beautifully written and the way that the story blossoms is remarkable.
This was the first book originally written in Arabic to win the Man Booker International Prize and it was written by a woman. Impressive!
+20 Task (originally written in Arabic)
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 30
**Set in Oman, so that should make it green on our group project :-)**

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
Jack club - j
King diamonds - Antigua
15 task
5 female
5 oldie
______
25
Running total: 145
(Already listed for Antigua, so doesn't help with project. :( )

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli Saslow
King of spades (rising)
10 of clubs (pub. 2018)
Total = 20 (2 cards)
+15 task
+5 NAN
Task total: 20
Season total: 20

A Spot of Folly: Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem by Ruth Rendell
10 Clubs (pub. 2017)
7 Diamonds ("Spot")
2 Diamonds (Barbara Vine)
+15 task
+ 5 Not fiction (Not a Novel-short stories)
+ 5 Female
Task total=25
Season total=65

A Fresh Start (Quick Reads) edited by Fanny Blake
10 spades (short stories)
Ace diamonds (75-199 pages)
= 21
+15 task
+5 not fiction (short stories)
Post total: 20
Season total: 60

Cover Her Face by P.D. James
Ace spades (1st in series)
10 diamonds (series with 10 or more titles)
= 21
+15 task
+5 published 1962
+5 female author
Post total: 25
Season total: 85

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Spade 7 - (curious)
Spade 10 - essays
+15 Task
+ 5 female
+ 5 Nonfiction
Task total = 25
Season total = 40

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
“The mayor drank his tea alone, ignoring Snake while she rebandaged his leg.�
Review: I read a piece that Ursula LeGuin wrote about Dreamsnake that was published in her book Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000�2016, with A Journal of a Writer's Week. LeGuin calls the book “beautiful, powerful, and highly entertaining�. With which I agree. She points out that there is one character in the book, Merideth, whose gender is never revealed. LeGuin pictured Merideth as male and I pictured Merideth as female. Very interesting.
This is biological science fiction. The main character, Snake, is a healer in a system that uses snakes. There is biofeedback, gene splicing, etc. in the story. Dreamsnake is an adventure story with a young woman as the main character. She faces moral and intellectual as well as physical challenges.
Enjoyable!
+20 task
+10 review
+5 oldie (1978)
Task total: 35
Season total: 55

The Redemption of Time by Baoshu
4 Hearts (400p)
6 Clubs (6 letters in author's name)
10 Clubs (pub. 2019)
+15 Task
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 35

Evil in My Town (Serenity's Plain Secrets #6) by Karen Ann Hopkins
Review
Well, this was so much better than the last 3 books!! My main gripe was the proofreading and how the Mayor's name keeps changing between Fred and Ed. The solution here, it appears, is to avoid naming the guy at all... He is merely 'the Mayor' in this book. I'm not sure whether I agree with this solution but it certainly made me feel less annoyed.
In this instalment, the alternate POVs are between Serenity and her niece, Taylor. Taylor is sixteen and one morning as she arrived at school, a student took to shooting those in the hallway. As the perpetrator died, Serenity was left to investigate the background of this student and what, if anything, made him snap. As always, things are never what they seemed and the miasma of evil that has been hovering in this community has not gone but grown even darker.
Enjoyed the mystery though I do have to suspend belief (over the past few books as well) as to how casual it seems that the Sheriff have others in to assist her... I'm sure the rule handbook has been thrown out somewhere! Just seems completely unlikely that these would be allowed in real-life investigations. Nevertheless, good story.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 55

Return to Grace (Home Valley #2) by Karen Harper
"Over cups of tea, while Nate made a cell phone call about a moving van, the three women chatted until Hannah saw Mr. Sterling sitting in the driveway." ~@46%
Review
I'm not a fan with series where each instalment features different protagonists. I like that constant in my series and so I started to read this with some misgivings especially noting that the protagonist, Hannah Esh, left the community when the man she loved betrayed her and had to marry another woman. He's still there. He's now widowed. And of course, he still loved her...
Hannah returned due to a misadventure she had while in the area which require some medical attention. As she's left before she was baptised into the church, she was not shunned and was even more welcome to stay at home with her family. Her misadventure, however, has messed up other people's dirty schemes and she & her loved ones are more in danger than ever.
The ending (I'm referring to the romance) was predictable, of course, and while I can appreciate the sweetness, it also kind of annoyed me... I guess, no matter who you are, you just have to follow your heart. The mystery part was very engaging and I'm actually keen to read the next book in the series.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Post Total: 30
Season Total: 85

A Cold-Blooded Business by Dana Stabenow
4 spades (4th in series))
10 diamonds (series has 10 or more titles)
2 clubs (231 pages)
4 clubs (main page genre mystery)
+15 Task
+5 Female
+5 published 1994
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 25

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Chapter 5 - At night she twisted and chafed, as if the quilt were a burdensome weight on her body, and woke before dawn to make tea and stare again out their kitchen window toward the sea.
I loved how this book took the idea of doorways between the worlds and twisted it again, more akin to The Starless Sea than the Seanan McGuire series in feel. It began feeling like a child's journey but grew into a multi-layered story of adult concerns and contradictions and failures. There were a number of key plot elements that delighted me that I can't talk about or I will take your experience of feeling them peeled and revealed. For all it's in many ways an adventure book, there was a dreamy feel to it, of nesting dolls and echoing stories. It is the coming of age, finding your way, story of a sheltered (by money) mixed race girl in the early 1900s but she has more to discover than most. Reading it was a very satisfying experience.
+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.2)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 90

10.2 Letters Read a book with more than 20 letters in the title.
On the Banks of the River of Heaven by Richard Parks
Total Points: 10

Every Body on Deck by G.A. McKevett
10 Clubs (pub’d in �10s, 2017)
10 Diamonds (series has 10 or more titles, this is # 22)
+ 15 Task
+ 5 Female author
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 30

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
Review: Jodi Picoult is known for writing about controversial subjects, and she sets this novel in a Mississippi women's health clinic that offers abortions. George, a disturbed gunman, has shot several people at the clinic, and has taken the others hostage. Hugh, a police negotiator, has been talking to George all day trying to get the hostages released. Two of Hugh's family members are in the building. He tries to create a bond with George by talking about their daughters as one father to another. Father/daughter relationships are an important part of the story.
The book starts at 5 pm, and the story is told in reverse chronology going to 4 pm, 3 pm, 2 pm. . . back to the morning. It ends with an epilogue at 6 pm. So we know which hostages have been shot in the first chapter, and find out their backstories and reasons for being at the clinic later in the book. The author presents characters that are both pro-choice and anti-abortion, and they all have valid reasons for their opinions. Dr Ward's pregnant mother died after using an abortion medicine given to her by a voodoo priestess, and his goal is to prevent other women from dying from unsafe abortions. Some of the hostages have appointments for other women's reproductive health issues.
I found the book to be well-researched, showing a diverse group of women from a range of socioeconomic and racial groups. Picoult writes about contemporary women who feel very desperate about their situations. The story addresses a "hot topic" issue that concerns politicians, courts, religious institutions, medical workers, and everyday people. I found the reverse chronology storytelling a bit confusing until I knew the characters. The reverse timeline also meant that the highest tension was at the beginning of the book, instead of building up to a tense ending. "A Spark of Light" is a book designed to make the reader think about the issues.
Quote for 20.8 combo: "She had already called Hugh to wish him a happy birthday and she had finished a cup of tea." (pg 348)
+10 task
+ 5 combo 20.8
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 45

The Sea Queen by Jovee Winters
Queen of Hearts - title with letter Q
Seven of Diamonds - title begins with am S
Ace of Spades - first in a series
Total of 18
+5 for female author
Task total: 20
Grand total: 110

Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros
I very much enjoyed this series of stories....most of which are set in San Antonio, Texas which I visited last year for the first time. The stories are written mostly as if the narrator in each is the same person...although there is at least one example where that could not be the case. Some of the stories evoke the childhood of a Mexican American little girl....some stories have the girl in Mexico for various reasons. The book was perfect for me because it is written with Spanish exclamations and slang interspersed with the English.... or words which just don't have an English equivalent. My Spanish language skills are just above minimal....and I could understand, with the help of context, what was being conveyed. My husband, IS Mexican...and he served as my glossary when I couldn't quite understand the point being made. One of the stories had an epigram in Spanish which translated to "I'm dying and you're doing nothing!"
This has now become how my husband and I initiate faux arguments for laughs now.
My favorite story, Eyes of Zapata, relates the difficult life of one of Emiliano Zapata's lovers....one with whom he had two children. The story evokes the awful realities of the Mexican Revolution in a personal way..... much as I had also experienced in Victor Villasenor's Rain of Gold. Four stars verging on 5.
Task=20
Review=10
Combo= 10 (10.2; 10.3)
Oldie=5 (1991)
Task Total=45
Grand Total=175
Tasks Completed=4
15.1 (25)
20.4 (60) ; 20.6 (45); 20.10 (45)

The Blue Fox by ó
10 hearts (historical fiction - book was first published in 2003 and is set between 1868 and 1883)
7 hearts (author’s initial appears in SEVEN)
= 17
Post total: 15
Season total: 100

10.2 Letters Read a book with more than 20 letters in the title.
[book:On the Banks of t..."
Welcome back, Nick. And never fear, we'll try to watch out for your extra points!

Grand Union: Stories by Zadie Smith
10 spades (short stories or essays)
9 spades (book published in a year ending in 9)
+15 Task
+ 5 Not fiction
+ 5 Female
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 25

A Christmas Odyssey by Anne Perry
Perry was approved in task help thread, post 7
On occasion I’ve picked up one of Perry’s Christmas novels as a seasonal read that isn’t too sappy. The Christmas books she writes always have a mystery in them. This one is darker than I recall the others being. A wealthy man asks his friend (who is minor character in one of her long running series) to help him find his son. It turns out the son has been finding pleasure in Victorian England’s dens of iniquity. Most of the iniquities are alluded to but they include hard drugs (opium, cocaine) and variety of sexual fetishes. Safe to say, there is no tea mentioned at all here! They manage to find the son and save him from the crime boss he is beholden to and get him in home for Christmas eve. The story moves along quickly and makes for a solid short read. However, I’m glad I wasn’t hoping for more of a Christmas theme. 3*
10 task
10 review
5 combo 20.10
_____
25
Running total: 170
I've noticed Ed tracking his tasks at the bottom of his posts. In that spirit, for this season only since I'm one of the ones crying about too many books on hand.... I'll keep myself honest by tracking books used that I have hard copies of (starting here).
4 owned/6 tasks

From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell
This was the single book I started in the last season, in my unsuccessful attempt to finish CYOA! I'm not sure why I hadn't read any Ruth Rendell yet - she is right up my alley, as I like most of the well known female British mystery writers. I enjoyed this book - it felt like a very typical mystery, some twists I didn't catch right away, some clever characterization, some witty dialogue, but nothing particularly special. A fun read, that's it. However, I was reading an essay at the back of the book which describes Rendell's later work as really innovative, so I will probably read more.
+20 task (near-constant tea-drinking! Including "He finished his tea, crumpled his napkin and helped himself to a cigarette" on page 133)
+5 combo (20.10)
+5 oldies (pub 1964)
+10 review
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 40

Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
9 of clubs (title starts with N)
10 of clubs (published in 10s - 2019)
+15 Task
+5 Not fiction
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 60

Me by Elton John
9 spades (published in year ending in 9: 2019)
10 clubs (published in 10s)
+15 Task
+5 Not a novel
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 40

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
Tea must have been mentioned about 100 times in this book.
p725 and when the tea had finished steeping, poured him a cup� as he sipped at his tea
+20 Task
+20 Jumbo (914 pgs)
Post Total: 40
Season Total: 65

Journey to the Center of the Earth (Extraordinary Voyages #3) by Jules Verne
avg. rating 3.86 with 139,784 ratings
Review
Firstly, it was a huge mistake on my part to attempt this by listening to the audiobook on Librivox. Terrible recordings; quality of actual sound & readers just did not engage me at all. I found it to be really boring and... unbelievable. I read the last 10 chapters online and while that was much better, it was also so much worse.
Suspend all disbelief, a Professor found an ancient document written in secret code which told of the way to reach the interior/center of the Earth. What would you do but dragged your unadventurous and reluctant nephew on a risky adventure. This nephew was just as frustrating in all the negativity he threw in all misadventures they experienced. Maybe they should have just been swallowed by that volcano but then again... we'll be missing out on this journal, hey!
The movie might be more entertaining, I think...
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 - 28 letters)
+10 Review
+10 1001 books
+15 Oldies (pub. 1864)
Post Total: 50
Season Total: 135

One Renegade Cell: The Quest For The Origin Of Cancer by Robert A. Weinberg
Queen of Hearts (Quest)
5 Clubs (science>biology)
6 Clubs (Robert)
+15 task
+ 5 Not fiction
Task total=20
Season total=85

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
2 hearts, 2nd in series of 3
6 clubs, both names are 6 letters
Q spades, book is about King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn
total 18, 3 cards
+15 Task
+ 5 Female
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 40

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
This is a mystery story told from the perspective of an old man who was involved as a teenager with the parties to a crime. It is written holding back the nature of the crime and with an implicit assumption that the reader has more knowledge about events than they do. I found this to be very distracting until some of the threads started to be tied together in the middle of the book. The crime is cleverly disclosed and the characters are compelling. I would recommend
10 pts 10.8 Go to Jail
5 pts. 10.2 letters
5 pts 20.8 Cup of tea. P. 13-14. “At the end of the meal my father led Miss Channing and my mother into the parlor at the front of the house for a cup of tea.�
10 pt Review
Task total: 30 pts
Season total: 30 pts
.... .... .... .... .... .... .... 10.8 .... ....
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Wounded and the Slain (other topics)A Dreadful Murder: The Mysterious Death of Caroline Luard (other topics)
Love Medicine (other topics)
Stable Groom (other topics)
The Making of the President 1960 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
David Goodis (other topics)Minette Walters (other topics)
Louise Erdrich (other topics)
Bonnie Bryant (other topics)
Theodore H. White (other topics)
More...
Please use the add book/author link for the book titles. When claiming combo points, tell how the book qualifies, and provide a link if requested in the task description.
If using an outside source to qualify a book for points or combo, please be sure to post in the appropriate task thread prior to posting in this thread.
Sample RwS Post
10.4 High Five Day
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
(insert 100+ word review here)
+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.6 Richard Adams - 700,000 + ratings, 4.25 avg rating)
+15 Oldies (pub'd 1844)
+25 Jumbo (1276 pgs
+10 1001
Post Total: 75
Season Total: 375 (assumes mid season with a previous season total of 300)