ŷ������

15.2 - Blackjack (second round)

The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

3 spades (3 word title)
7 spades (7 letter word in title)
7 clubs (published in 1970s)
=17

+15 task
+5 female
+5 published 1970

Post total: 25
Season total: 730

10.7 In Memoriam

Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham

Marc Reiser and Erica Drake meet at a party in Quebec in 1942. He is a Jewish lawyer. She is a Gentile journalist. They both feel a strong bond almost at once, but when she tries to introduce him to her father, Marc is snubbed by the older man who doesn't want his daughter "mixed up with a Jew", and things only get worse from there.

This is a romance at heart, but a serious one that deeply explores the bond between two people, although Marc and Erica are a little too good to be true.

I had no idea there was so much antisemitism outside of fascist countries during the Second World War. It's not only antisemitism, either. Charles Drake was almost equally horrified by the idea of his son marrying a French-Canadian Catholic until he realised it was inevitable. It sounds as if the social groups hardly mixed, except at work.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.3)
+10 Oldies (1944)

Post total: 35
Season Total: 925

10.8 Go to Jail (Joanna's Task via Anika)

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

This is the sequel to The Three Musketeers. I think I benefitted by reading this about forty five years after the first book because I don't remember the first book having as much of an intricate plot and complicated politics. I think I added a lot more knowledge in my travels to France and in my education to appreciate more of the historical context. Anyway. here, the Three Musketeers are reunited. They had lost touch with each other for the most part during the intervening twenty years. Now, the Queen Regent has a lover who the public hates ...and who is ruining the treasury. Her son will become ruling King in about a year. Charles, the King of England faces removal by Cromwell....while Charles' wife is in exile with the French royals. The Musketeers actually receive conflicting commands from the Queen and her lover who acts as Prime Minister. They nevertheless renew their promise to always be there for each other....and they do so through a slew of difficult situations. I particularly enjoyed (being a former Labor Union negotiator) how D'Artagnan, near the end "negotiates" with a humbled queen. He does it so well that he changes her desire for recrimination against the Musketeers to praise and trust. Four stars
BTW.... there are multiple mentions of prison...approved in help thread.... even three of the Musketeers are imprisoned for a while.

Task=10
Review=10
Jumbo=10 (788p)
Oldie = 15 (1845)
Task Total= 45

Grand Total=1400

Tasks Completed=35
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (30);10.5 (45); 10.7 (25); 10.8 (45); 10.9 (30); 10.10 (35)
��15.1 (25); 15.2 (30); 15.3 (30); 15.4 (20); 15.5 (30); 15.6 (30);
15.7 (30); 15.8 (40; 15.9 (45); 15.10 (205)
2nd Round- 15.1 (25); 15.2 (25); 15.3 (15); 15.4 (25); 15.5 (30;
15.6 (25); )
��20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.3 (65); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.9 (35); 20.10 (50)

10.8 Go to Jail (Joanna's Task via Anika)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Review
I probably missed the whole point of this novel. I loved Crime & Punishment but I can't seem to get into this novel at all. I managed to finish it, barely...

The novel is centred on these 3 brothers, Dmitri, Ivan, & Alexei Karamazov and their relationships with each other and their father. From the very beginning, readers are told that there is a particular disagreement between the father, Fyodor and Dmitri which involved money and a woman both fell in love with. Dmitri has even threatened to kill his father because of it.

The first 60% of the novel sets up background of these brothers. Their mothers, their father's neglect, their being taken away from their father until such time until each returned either because of curiosity or need for money. There does not feel like anything happen in this part of the novel except for a lot of running around from one end of the village to the other, visiting each other and other friends, etc with a lot of gas-bagging. So much talk, so little action.

When what I expected was to be the climax of the novel arrived, it was so underplayed that is was really anticlimactic. The investigation, trial, and end of the novel came quite quickly that in the end, I'm not even sure if anything has been achieved... except that I read this chunkster (yay for me!)

+10 Task
+15 (10.5 - pub 1879; 10.6 - avg 4.32 with 230,816 ratings; 20.8 - "Mitya at first refused the cup Nikolai Parfenovich kindly offered him, but then asked for it himself and greedily drank it.")
+10 Review
+10 1001
+10 Jumbo (796 pages)
+10 Oldies (pub 1879)

Post Total: 65
Season Total: 1,625

10.6 Richard Adams

Richard Adams would be 100 this year. In honor of his Watership Down, read a book with over 100,000 ratings with an average rating over 3.75.

I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.

108,780 ratings
4.04 avg rating

Task = + 10
Oldie = + 5

Points This Post: 15
Total Points so Far: 675

Task 20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)
Read a novel in which a character drinks or brews a cup of hot tea. Please include the sentence when claiming the book for points. See help thread for ideas.

p. 91: “Mori was pouring himself another cup of tea , slowly, all his concentration on the iron kettle. Once he had set it down again, he sat holding the cup, very still and breathing the steam.��


The Lost Future of Pepperharrow (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street #2) (2020) by Natasha Pulley (Hardcover, 512 pages)
Review: This is a sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. It is the kind of sequel that assumes the reader knows the characters and the events from the first book very well. If a reader is interested in The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, definitely read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street first. There’s not too much I can say about this novel without spoiling the plot of both novels. What I can say is this: The novel is set primarily in 19th Century Japan and there are significant fantasy elements. Neither book #1 nor book #2 are what I would call “steampunk�� even though a character in both of the novels is a maker of watches. The tone of the novel is mainly cynical, occasionally positive, and interlaced with events both strange and bizarre. Look at the cover:

The cover is related to events in the novel (which as we readers know is not always the case).

The ending resolves the plot of this particular novel -- no unresolved what-happened questions, -- while leaving open the possibility of a book#3 in the series.

Recommended for readers of fantasy who wish to read something original, bizarre and very different from the typical ‘quest�� fantasy novels; and, additionally, who can tolerate the frequently downbeat tone of the prose.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (#10.2 (more than 20 letters in the title), #10.4 (exactly 5 words in the title))
+10 Review
+05 Jumbo 500-699 Pages:

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 + 05 = 45

Grand Total: 340 + 45 = 385

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I adored Ng's first book and am disappointed in myself that I didn't get to this one before it was made into a tv series (which I haven't yet seen, but I have seen commercials thus know who was cast in the roles which swayed my understanding and interpretation of the characters).
The ethical questions raised in this book made my brain hurt and made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin and that is something I value highly in a novel, especially in one where I'm not necessarily expecting it (I hadn't read the book flap or any reviews before jumping into this one...only knew the author and the setting). Each of the characters was clear in my mind, had believable motives, and acted truly (I never thought, "Yeah, so-and-so would never do that," which happens so often in books to move the plot along). I especially appreciate the empathy with which Ng writes: there were characters I wanted to hate and see no good in, but she always shines a light on the good in them to reinforce the point that no matter how terrible a person seems there is some good in them (and also: no one, no matter how good they seem, is always good).

+20 Task (Cleveland, Ohio)
+10 Review
+15 Combo: 10.2 = 21; 10.6 4.11 avg. stars, 572K+ reviews; 20.8 "She pulled an extra mug from the cupboard and put the kettle on...At the stove, Mia pretended to busy herself with opening a tea bag..."

Task total: 45
+100 RwS Finish
Season total: 1005

20.4 Robert Penn Warren

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

After The Professor's House, I was more than willing to give Cather another try. And, as this is on the list The Great American Novel, this one seemed like a good candidate. I think I'll need to read another to decide whether or not Cather is really for me.

I thought this was more inter-connected short stories. That construction works well in Olive Kitteridge, one of my all time favorites, but I think it did not work well in this. There is only the breath of a plot. Cather seemed to hold herself slightly away from her characters and so I watched them as they went about their lives, but I was never really with them.

Despite my complaints above, Cather's writing makes this easily read. Perhaps it also helped that I have been through New Mexico so that it was easy to picture the scenery. I felt that the historical setting was accurate. Both of these elements rescues this novel. For me, it doesn't quite climb into the 4-star group.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+25 Combo (10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 20.6)
+10 Oldies

Task total = 65

Season total = 1010

19 Owned/25 Read

15.7 Blackjack Round 3

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

7 spades (beloved)
7 hearts (S)
3 clubs (302 pgs.)

+20 Task
+ 5 not a novel
+ 5 female

Task total=30
Grand total=1240

10.6 Richard Adams

Aesop's Fables by Aesop

111,850 ratings, average rating 4.05

Review

This is a difficult book to review. I was prompted to read it as I have been reading a children’s book of selected Aesop’s fables with my family and I wanted to set it in context of the original collection. Of course I soon discovered that there isn’t really an agreed original collection as the fables were not even collected together until centuries after Aesop’s life and it’s likely that fables from other sources have been added over time. (As a side note, I found this Wikipedia article on the history of the fables an interesting read.)

I was surprised by how many fables are included. I’m familiar with the most famous of them but there were literally hundreds I’d never heard before. Inevitably a collection of hundreds of fables does become a little repetitive and it’s fair to say I think it’ll be a while before I want to read anything else involving talking animals! In retrospect, I wish I had read a few stories a day over a longer time, instead of reading the whole book in a week as I think that added to my sense that it was quite repetitive.

That said, there are many positive lessons to be taken from this collection and in many ways it still feels relevant, despite being over 2500 years old. I will also enjoy telling my children some of the less well known fables that I wouldn’t have come across without reading this.

+10 task
+10 review
+10 1001 books
+25 oldies (dates from 560 BC)

Post total: 55
Season total: 785

15.6 Blackjack

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

20 pts 15.6 Blackjack

10 diamonds. series has 10 or more titles
Jack Spades. Author name could be shortened to Jack (could include longer forms of the name: Jacqueline, Jackson, etc.

Cards used 15.1 -15.6 = 15

Task total: 20 pts
Season total: 735 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 .... .... .... ....
.... 20.2 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8. .... 20.10

20.2 August Wilson
The Killing Moon (Dreamblood #1) by N.K. Jemisin

Review
I feel that this novel started a bit slow but that could be me trying to settle in into a new universe with its own culture, names, and jargons. It took some time but the plot itself was fairly fast moving so when I've immersed myself in this new world, I found the novel to be thrilling.

The Killing Moon is a novel so pertinent in our society today. It speaks of corruption and power and the consequence of greed. Each protagonists fought for their own reasons: justice, faith, and love but ultimately there is one ultimate goal.

I enjoyed this novel and feel that it could really be a stand alone even as it is actually a duology. I feel happy to leave the world in its current state and will wait for my curiosity to poke its head up about what happens next to these protagonists before I pick up book 2.

+20 Task
+10 (10.9; 20.6)
+10 Review

Post Total: 40
Season Total: 1,665

10.1 Thirst for More

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

+10 Task
+10 Combo (10.6 - over 1million ratings, 3,98 ; 10.9)
+5 Oldies (1995)

Task total = 25

Points total = 350

15.7 Blackjack

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

20 pts 15.7 Blackjack
5 pts Female

5 hearts setting (75%) in one of the US 50 states
10 clubs orig. pub date is in the 10s (xx10-xx19)
3 clubs has 300-399 pgs

Cards used 15.1 -15.7 = 18

Task total: 25 pts
Season total: 760 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 .... .... ....
.... 20.2 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8. .... 20.10

Blackjack 15.7- (2nd Round)

The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
S7-7 letter word in title- "Elusive"
C7-pub. in '70s-(1971)
H6-X in title- "pollifaX"
7+7=6=20

Task=20
Female=5
<1995=5 (1971)
Task Total= 30

Grand Total=1430

Tasks Completed=36
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (30);10.5 (45); 10.7 (25); 10.8 (45); 10.9 (30); 10.10 (35)
��15.1 (25); 15.2 (30); 15.3 (30); 15.4 (20); 15.5 (30); 15.6 (30);
15.7 (30); 15.8 (40; 15.9 (45); 15.10 (205)
2nd Round- 15.1 (25); 15.2 (25); 15.3 (15); 15.4 (25); 15.5 (30;
15.6 (25); ); 15.7 (30)
��20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.3 (65); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.9 (35); 20.10 (50)

10.4 High Five Day

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Points This Post: 10
Total Points So Far: 685

Post 659 Tien wrote: "10.8 Go to Jail (Joanna's Task via Anika)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Review
I probably missed the whole point of this novel. I loved Crime & Punishme..."

Sorry, Tien. 10.5 is for years 1887-1927 - so this is too early.

Blackjack 15.4
Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
6 of clubs-6 letters in the author's name-Tamora
Jack of clubs-J or K in the title-knight
4 of spades- 4th in a series
Blackjack-20
Task +15
Female author +5
Book Total: 20
Grand total: 210

15.3 - Blackjack (round two)

The Self-Care Project: How to let go of frazzle and make time for you by Jayne Hardy

10 clubs (published in 10s - 2017)
2 spades (word to in subtitle)
7 diamonds (title starts with S)
= 19

+15 task
+5 female author
+5 nonfiction

Post total: 25
Season total: 810

15.10 Blackjack

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

��2 (author publishes under two distinct names: Stephen King also publishes under the name Richard Bachman)
��8 (original publication date in '80s of any century: pub. 1987)
♥K (author's name has "King" in it) = 20
+5 Pre-1995 publication

Task total: 50, 29 cards used
+150 Finish bonus
+200 MegaFinish
Season total: 1450

Anika wrote: "

+150 Finish bonus
+200 MegaFinish"

Congratulations! Well done!

Change

In Post 276, I claimed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for 10.6.

I'd like to move that to 10.2.

This doesn't change my score.

Grand total: 920

10.6 Richard Adams

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The audiobook knocks this out of the park. By having the book read by a host of narrators, the rockumentary style comes through perfectly. I actually had to go look up whether this was fiction because it was so believable. This is an ode to 1970s rock bands--the music, the times, the journalism about them. The characters felt like real people with complicated, sometimes infuriating, thoughts and actions.

This is an author to pay attention to. Her previous book, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, was similar in structure: a journalist writing about an aging film star. In both of these books, there are unexpected feelings among these stars, c0mplete with nearly too cute twists, but I was willing to forgive these slight quibbles because the books were just so much fun.

Highly recommended, particularly in audio format. I read that this is going to be turned into an Amazon TV series with Reece Witherspoon. I'll be looking out for that when it is released.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 20
Grand total: 940

10.10: Group Read.

Kathleen (itpdx): Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow.

Points This Post: 10
Total Points So Far: 695

20.8 - My Cup of Tea

Cross Her Heart by Melinda Leigh

+20 task ( pg 126 - Get her some tea with extra sugar from the break room. Tea would be much appreciated, but I don't use sugar. "Do you always do what Marge says?" Bree sat down and sipped the tea.
+5 Combo (10.7)

Task total: 25
Grand total: 625

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter

Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde

I learned about this book from one of the members in my face to face group. It isn't something I would normally have come across, nor even something I would normally read. (My face to face group is called The Free Style Book Club - we don't have a monthly read, we just get together to share our love of reading and books.) Anyway, it sounded interesting, so when it came up on a Kindle deal I bought it. Yeah, I'm a sucker for those $1.99 deals and my "in my possession" shelf shows it.

I was unfamiliar with the author. It wasn't until I'd finished this that I realized she is the author of Pay It Forward. This philosophy comes through in Luis Velez. I was ready for a feel good book. I'm not sure I was ready for some of the underlying messages in this, but in the end they didn't interfere with my enjoyment of reading the novel.

Her writing style is pleasant enough and her characterizations were also good enough. "Good enough" doesn't mean great, but I can hardly lodge a complaint. I don't necessarily read for plot, but this had one that kept me turning pages. There is little more here than a feel good book, but sometimes that's OK. This comes in at the lower portion of my 4-star reads.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo (10.4)

Task total = 35

Season total = 1045

20 Owned/26 Read

15.1 Blackjack (round 2)

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh

♦A (75-199 pages = 160 pages)
��10 (short stories or essays = collection of essays) = 21
+5 Pre-1995 published
+5 Not-a-novel

Task total: 25, 2 cards used
Season total: 1475

Thank you for the congrats, Elizabeth <3

15.2 Blackjack (round 2)

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

♠A (1st in series)
��4 (main page genre adventure, western, mystery, or thriller = mystery and thriller)
��4 (400-499 pages = 482 pages) = 19
+5 Pre-1995 published = 1992

Task total: 20, 5 cards used
Season total: 1495

10.8 Go to Jail

Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Review: What is it like inside a women's federal prison? This is a very interesting description of the author's year-plus long incarceration as well as her trip through the federal judicial system. She learns of the other inmates' struggles and humanizes them. We learn what outside support was invaluable, what inner strengths she called on and how the other inmates supported each other.
It certainly is pretty concerning to read about conditions in the prison in Danbury, CT as well as the transfer prison in Oklahoma and the temporary holding prison in Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is easy to see how prisons can be come hot spots as well as how difficult it must be on the prisoners and their families to have visitation closed down.
I have not seen the Netflix series.
Another book Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx recounts lives that I think are similar to the lives of some of Kerman's fellow inmates.

+10 task
+5 combo 10.4
+10 review
Task total: 25
Season total: 345

10.7 In Memoriam

The Holdout by Graham Moore

This was an interesting one to review. It should have been right up my alley - I got on the hold list at the library as soon as I heard about it. And I did find the plot reasonably engaging - it kept me reading. But even as I read, and especially after finishing, there were some flaws that did bug me. I didn't love a lot of the main characters, and while they were distinct, I didn't feel like they were especially well developed as rounded people. There were also some plot holes - the overall concept, without spoilers, is that some years ago, a jury in a high profile trial acquits the defendant because of one juror - the holdout, and main character. Now a TV station is doing a reunion/retrospective of the case, everyone still assumes the defendant was in fact guilty, and blames this one woman. A murder occurs at the reunion. The concept was interesting but by the end I was still left thinking...wait, but why? So...mixed review. It's a quick, light read that is relaxing if you like mysteries and are willing to let go of some plot holes for a reasonably entertaining story.

+10 task
+5 combo (20.8 - "Crystal made ginger tea" (page 230)
+10 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 225

20.3 Theodore H. White

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

+20 task
No styles - low Lexile

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 245

My Cup of Tea

Blackout by Connie Willis

This is a reread for me - it's one of my favorite books of all time, and given everything going on in the world, I felt the need for some comfort reading. And it was exactly the right choice. If you don't know Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel series, the premise is that it's 2060 and we've mastered time travel, so universities (at least Oxford!) are filled with historians who actually go and do their research on scene. Most of her books in this series spend the majority of time in the past, but have scenes of those left back at Oxford. I love the whole series for a number of reasons -- the range (humor, adventure, tragedy...), the characters, the writing style, and because since childhood I've wanted to time travel! But this and its sequel are my favorites. In Blackout, the historians are traveling to England during WWII -- different specific times and places, but due to some mishaps, they end up together, in London, during the Blitz. Polly, Mike, and Eileen are trying to survive the Blitz, avoid giving away that they're actually from the future, get back to that future despite technical difficulties, and also do the very human work of carrying on relationships, obligations, and so forth with the people who belong to that time.

+20 task ("'Oh you poor lambs,' she said and insisted on making them toasted cheese and pouring Eileen a cup of tea." page 324)
+10 review
+5 jumbo (610 pages)

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 280

My Cup of Tea

All Clear by Connie Willis

This is the sequel to Blackout, which I just raved about in the prior post :) All Clear continues the story left off in Blackout - the obstacles grow steeper, the stakes grow higher, and of course the war continues to grow in its danger. While All Clear still has moments of levity, I think its tone is much more serious than Blackout. It's a touch less engaging in some ways, but by the time you're onto the second book, I find that you can't stop and just want to know what happens to these people. Without giving away important plot points, I'll say that what I love most about this book is the themes that emerge as the book continues. I walk away with the message that we all have a role to play in any crisis or challenge, and we can all rise to the occasion, that the small acts of kindness (or cruelty) can have enormous impacts, that our lives matter, and that in the end, humans can come together for good and have tremendous strength and ability to grow. I love those messages (and they seem perfect for our current time!) and that's a big part of why I will likely find myself rereading these books for years to come.

+20 task ("She bustled off to make him tea and a soft-boiled egg." 22% on Kindle)
+10 review
+5 jumbo (656 pages)

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 315

15.8 Blackjack

The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death by Colson Whitehead

30 pts 15.8 Blackjack
5 pts Not a Novel

2 clubs has 200-299 pgs
8 Clubs Title plus subtitle has 8 words
9 clubs title starts with an N

Cards used 15.1 -15.8 = 21

Task total: 35 pts
Season total: 795 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... ....
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 . .... ....
.... 20.2 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8. .... 20.10

15.8 Blackjack (Round 3)
Patriot Games (Jack Ryan #1) by Tom Clancy

6 Clubs (6 letters in author's last name, Clancy]
7 Spades (7 letters word in title, Patriot)
8 Diamonds (published 1987)

+30 Task
+5 Pub 1987

Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,700

10.10 Groupreads

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

10 pts 10.10 Groupreads
5 pts 10.8 Go to Jail
5 pts 20.3 Theodore White
5 pts 20.8 Cupof Tea p 35 Dina whisked his empty tea glass out of his hands and clucked her tongue
10 Review

Thisbook combines religious imagery, fantasy characters (jinn), political change and cyber stalking/security in a way that should not work but does. Set in an unnamed Arab emirate, the title character Alif finds himself in touble with state security because of his online actions to follow a woman he believes he loves. Through a number of plot twists it appears that not only is Alif’s life changed but he is part of a change in society.

While this book is a good story ( and I don’t generally like fantasy), the religious undertones are facinating. There is a layer of allegory that argues for faith and the need for religious belief that is subtle but pervades the book. Similarly, social and political injustice is addressed albeit less subtly than the religious themes.

Cards used 15.1 -15.8 = 21

Task total: 35 pts
Season total: 830 pts

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 .... 10.10
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 . .... ....
.... 20.2 20.3 .... 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8. .... 20.10

15.8 Blackjack Round 3

The Jealous One by Celia Fremlin

3 spades (3-word title)
Ace diamonds (198 pgs.)
6 diamonds (1965)

+30 Task
+ 5 female
+ 5 Pub'd 1995 and earlier

Task total=40
Grand total=1280

Repost because I did not realise that this was on the 1001 books list. It is.

10.4 High Five Day

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Task + 10
Style 1001 books + 10

Points This Post: 20
Total Points So Far: 705

20.4 Robert Penn Warren.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, # 39 on the list.

Task + 20
Combo 10.2 more than 20 letters in title +5
Oldie +10 (1940)

Points this Post: 35
Total Points So Far: 740

15.10 Blackjack

Ghost Stories by M.R. James

7 spades, 7-letter word in title
A hearts, pub 1931 (counting 11 points)

total 18, 2 cards

+ 45 Task
+ 5 Before 1995
+ 5 Not a novel
+150 Finisher bonus with 27 cards

Post Total: 205
Season Total: 1130

15.4 - Blackjack (round two)

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Jack spades (96 on best antiheroes list)
8 spades (author born in country beginning with I - Beckett was born in Ireland)
=18

+15 task
+5 published 1952
+5 not a novel

Post total: 25
Season total: 835

20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)

The Twins at St Clare's by Enid Blyton

[Spanish language edition is shelved as Juv Fic at BPL. Lexile is 770.]

”Every one had packets of sandwiches to eat at half-past twelve, and the train steward brought bottles of ginger-beer and lemonade, and cups of tea.�� (ebook location 110)

Review

Lately I’m turning to reading as a distraction from current events, and nothing quite says comfort reading like revisiting your favourite books from childhood. Which is how I found myself picking up the first in Enid Blyton’s St Clare’s series, which I read over and over again as a child.

I really enjoyed reading this, though perhaps more because of the happy memories it brought back than because of the quality of the book. It’s a fairly typical boarding school story, there’s even the obligatory midnight feast! It’s predictable and somewhat formulaic and yet there’s something so reassuring about knowing that the ‘bad�� characters will usually be reformed, and there will be a happy ending.

Re-reading this has made me question whether I would encourage my children to read Enid Blyton’s books today. They are certainly quite dated now and include many stereotypes and offensive words that I wouldn’t want my children to accept. This book isn’t the worst for this, but there is a subplot where a character is mocked for being less “well-born�� than the other pupils and told that she talks “like the daughter of a dustman.�� I loved these books so much that I instinctively want to share them with my children but re-reading them now makes me unsure.

+20 task
+10 combo (10.4, 10.9 - first of six books in the St Clare’s series)
+10 review
+10 oldies (published 1941)

Post total: 50

Season total: 885

15.3 Blackjack (round 2)

The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty

��3 (3-word title)
��5 (setting at least 75% in one of the 50 U.S. states = 100% in Georgia)
♣J (title contains a "J" or "K" = Killing) = 18
+5 Female

Task total: 20, 8 total cards used
Season total: 1515

15.9 Blackjack (Rd 2)

Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique

30 task
5 female
____
35

**99.9% set in US Virgin Islands

Running total: 2130

29 owned/50 read

15.9 Blackjack

Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro

Club Ace 11 (one novel)
Club 7 (pub 1971)
Club 2 (200-299 pages)
20

+30 task
+ 5 female
+ 5 oldie (pub 1971)

Task total: 40
Season total: 620

Blackjack 15.8- (2nd Round)

Dr. No by Ian Fleming

D-King-set in Carribean- 95% in Jamaica
S5-pub. in '50s- 1958
C2-200-299pages- 257p.

K+5+2=17
(Note edited 6/19/20 to take out C4- to use in a later post)


Task=30
<1995=5 (1958)
Task Total= 35

Grand Total=1465

Tasks Completed=37
10.1 (45); 10.2 (30); 10.3 (30); 10.4 (30);10.5 (45); 10.7 (25); 10.8 (45); 10.9 (30); 10.10 (35)
��15.1 (25); 15.2 (30); 15.3 (30); 15.4 (20); 15.5 (30); 15.6 (30);
15.7 (30); 15.8 (40; 15.9 (45); 15.10 (205)
2nd Round- 15.1 (25); 15.2 (25); 15.3 (15); 15.4 (25); 15.5 (30;
15.6 (25); ); 15.7 (30); 15.8 (35)
��20.1 (50); 20.2 (35); 20.3 (65); 20.4 (60) ; 20.5 (45); 20.6 (45); 20.7 (35); 20.8 (35); 20.9 (35); 20.10 (50)

10.2 Letters
The Ones We've Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America by Charlotte Alter

Alter writes about the millennial generation- what has influenced them and their political awakening. She tells the story of millennial electeds—their childhoods, education and early adult experiences. She traces their political careers-why they ran, how they won and what they accomplished. Alter includes a short postscript asking what the Trump presidency might mean for the next generation, Gen Z.
The book is well written and includes a wide range of millennial subjects—Republicans, Democrats and Socialists.

+10 task
+5 combo 10.3
+10 review
Task total: 25

Season total: 370

10.7 In Memoriam

The Millstone by Margaret Drabble

The ŷ������ description provides most of the plot of this short novel. I freely admit that I find it annoying when publishers think we want to know everything about a novel. If we did, would we bother reading it? Well, I did, not knowing I'd already been told most of what I would ever know about Rosamund Stacey.

Well, not exactly *everything*. While it gives us an overview of the entire novel - and I won'd kid about that - Drabble puts us close to Rosamund by writing the novel in the first person. Indecision, worry and hope are all there for us.

For me, the reason to read Margaret Drabble is her excellent characterizations and her prose. I say that having read only one other novel, The Witch of Exmoor, so I might be overstating. But both of them have me looking forward to another. This is a solid 4-stars.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (1964)

Task total = 25

Season total = 1070

21 Owned/27 Read

15.9 Blackjack (Round 3)
Note to Self: Inspiring Figures Write to the Young People they Once Were edited by Gayle King

9 Clubs (title starts wih N for Note)
10 Spades (short stories or essays)

+30 Task
+5 Non Fiction

Post Total: 35
Season Total: 1,735

10.10 Group Reads

Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

Task = +10
Total Points So Far: 750