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Spring 2012 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks
Around the World (AtW) sub-challenge books should be posted separately from the Reading with Style (RwS) books. Be sure to include the country and longitude with your stop.Sample AtW post:
AtW - Circumnavigator
Task 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) India (E 077 12)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
+15 Task
Task Total = 15
Task 15.2 (2nd Itinerary Stop) Malaysia (E 101 41)
The Gift of RainTan Twan Eng
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Grand Total: 105
(Again, mid-challenge with previously posted points.)
AtW-Frequent FlierTask 15.1 (1st stop)Ireland
Selected Poems of William Butler Yeatsby W.B. Yeats and Yeats The Green Helmet and Other Poems
+15 Task
Task Total 15
Grand Total: 15
AtW-CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary stop) USA (W077 02)
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
+15 Task
Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 15
(I realize my itinerary hasn't been approved yet, but the first stop can't be incorrect as everything stems from it so I hope I'm not being presumptuous by posting this already...it's just I've been on a plane for the past 14 hours and couldn't put this book down and am really excited to get this challenge underway!)
Anika wrote: "AtW-CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary stop) USA (W077 02)
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
+15 Task
Hey, you should get points for literally circumnavigating while you literary circumnavigated! lol
RwS Task20.5 In honor of Shakespeare and Co
Published in 1959
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
I have wanted to read this classic play for a long time, and I am so glad I did. I thought perhaps it would be too dated, but the emotions of poverty, self image, overcoming multiple defeats and family relationships are not things that go out of date; they just wear different faces in different situations. I also found the historical beginnings of integrated communities in Chicago of interest. I have visited my sister in Evanston just outside of Chicago and have enjoyed the integrated community atmosphere there. It was hard won and Hansberry's astute and competent writing takes the reader back to a challenging time in A Raisin in the Sun. Her characters were so well written, I could see the play in action in my mind!
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.4 It's Your Birthday / 20.1 Tattered Cover (Other renowned African-American authors among the repeatedly banned or challenged in the United States include Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun,” which was restricted by the Ogden, Utah school district because of complaints from an anti-pornography group. )
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 50
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st stop) Australia (E 149 07)
Sabriel by Garth Nix
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 15
TASK - 20.4: made into a movieHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Review:
Harry’s fourth year at Hogwart’s is the most exciting time for him thus far. The Triwizard Tournament is being hosted at Hogwarts where champions from three different schools come together to compete in dangerous tasks. The Goblet of Fire is a magical object that names these champions, but unknown to all, it will reveal a fourth champion who is both underage and unprepared for such an event... Harry. Torn between a desire to become the Triwizard champion himself and to find out who put his name in the Goblet, Harry will find his year filled with excitement and tension alike.
My favourite book of the series, especially since it introduces other magical schools into the series. The adventure and action is at an all-time best and many secrets are revealed that will eventually tie up in the 6th and 7th books in the series.
+20 Task
+5 (20.1 - book banned in Queensland, Australia in 2001)
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo (734 Pages)
TASK TOTAL = 45
GRAND TOTAL = 45
10.1 Square PegBefore I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
Review:
Christine wakes up not knowing where she is - every day. Every morning she finds herself with a husband that she can't remember. Whole decades of her life are missing. She has to rely on other people - her husband and a doctor - to tell her what her life has been, and there is no way of knowing whether they are telling the truth. Only when she finds a journal that she has been adding to each day, does she have any chance of understanding what has happened to her.
This is a very enjoyable read and I was gripped. There are some annoying plot holes and it's not completely unpredictable because there are only a small number of possible outcomes but there are still some surprises.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total = 20
20.1 In Honor Of The Tattered Cover
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Lexile 930)
Review:
A sad, sweet and often funny story of first love, pranks and tragedy at a coeducational boarding school.
I had a little bit of trouble believing in Miles, the main character. He was such an outcast at his previous school that only two people came to his goodbye party (and they were not even people he liked), yet as soon as he arrives at the new school he is accepted by a very cool crowd. I would have expected him to be less at ease with the drinking, smoking etc and to have a lot more trouble making friends.
But I love the way that this book raises deep religious and philosophical questions so seamlessly and accessibly.
+20 Task (challenged in New York according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_...)
+ 5 Combo (10.3 the main female character's name is Alaska Young)
+10 Review
Task total = 35
Grand total = 55
Don wrote: "AtW-Frequent FlierTask 15.1 (1st stop)Ireland
Selected Poems of William Butler Yeatsby W.B. Yeats"
Unfortunately, this book does not meet the 100 page minimum. In the past, for poetry collections <100 pages we've allowed participants to read either two books by the same poet or a book + a handful of online poems in order to make the 100 page minimum.
Sanskriti wrote: "TASK - 20.4: made into a movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling+20 Task
+5 (20.1 - book banned in Queensland, Australia in 2001)...". ..."
Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Task 20.5 In honor of Shakespeare and Co: Published in 1959
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.4 It's Your Birthday / 20.1 Tattered Cover..."
In the future, please include a link to the banned information whenever possible:
Raisin: http://www.aclunc.org/about/senior_st...
Potter: http://www.marshall.edu/LIBRARY/banne...
Sanskriti wrote: "TASK - 20.4: made into a movieHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling..."
+5 combo for 10.5 - Anit-hero (wiki list)
+5 combo 20.3 - Harvard bookstore
20.2 Orange PrizeRebecca by Daphne du Maurier
I grew up loving the Hitchcock adaptation of Rebecca. The ambiance and plot were all so engaging that I've been meaning to pick up the novel for years. I was a little surprised to just how faithfully Hitchcock paid homage to du Maurier's work. Except for one exact detail, to which the studio objected and made him change, Hitchcock faithfully captured the dialogue and the characters. A moody, foreboding piece of literature which just draws the reader in, Rebecca is rife with tension and emotion as we see how the characters haunt themselves with the looming deceased figure of the late Mrs. de Winter. In fact, we are never given the name of the second Mrs. de Winter as her character is subjugated to the lingering ambiance of Rebecca. Even Rebecca's room has been turned into a type of reliquary for her very essence by Mrs. Danvers. An absolutely amazing book that certainly did not disappoint my high expectations. I cannot wait to pick up some of the other books by du Maurier which Hitchcock made adaptations of like Jamaica Inn, etc.
+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.3, 10.4, 20.4)
+10 Review
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 60
20.4 El AteneoThe Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
When I was younger I had an illustrated copy of this book and I distinctly remember how much I loved it. I've been hoping to pick up the book again for awhile now so I was excited to do so for the challenge. The familiar characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go hunting across the moors for a "supernatural" killer. One of my favorite stand-alones in the series with the threat of the Hound and the methodically evil machinations of the villain. Much of the middle of the book is in the epistolary style as Watson writes to Sherlock, who he believes is back in London, about the various developments of the case. I'm not always a fan of the epistolary style as it can sometimes break up a story by its very nature. This is definitely not the case with The Hound of the Baskervilles as it is most certainly a fun, quick read that keeps the interest throughout the plot.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 90
RwS10.3 Girl's Names - Cherry Bites by Alison Preston (Cherry is the first name of the protagonist)
I’ve had this book on my TBR for quite some time and thought I would get to read it in the winter challenge but the mood didn’t quite strike me whenever I looked at it. Alison Preston is a local author born and raised in Winnipeg and what I liked about this book so much was that the story was set right here in Winnipeg, where I too was born and raised so the setting really brought the book alive for me. I could clearly picture where the many parts of this story took place and I really enjoyed this story with interesting characters and the fascinating relationships they shared.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=20
ATW Frequent Flier
15.1
US W 077 02
by Misty BernallReview(for free)
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Task +15
Total: 15
Grand Total: 15
Liz M wrote: "Don wrote: "AtW-Frequent FlierTask 15.1 (1st stop)Ireland
Selected Poems of William Butler Yeatsby W.B. Yeats"
Unfortunately, this book does not meet the 100 page m..."
Clarification, please. In AtW Q and A's no.43 it said lexile didn't matter since style points were being claimed. I apparently assumed (a bad thing to do) that page count also wouldn't in the subchallnge. True or false assumption? If false, I will go find some more
Yeats to read, he is good.
Don, page count does still apply to the AtW challenge. Please enjoy some more Yeats so you can complete your first stop!
Kate S wrote: "Don, page count does still apply to the AtW challenge. Please enjoy some more Yeats so you can complete your first stop!"OK and thanks for the work you all do to make these fun challenges.
10.1 Square PegIf I Stay by Gayle Forman
Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 25
[Rebekah: love your suggestion of extra points for circumnavigating on both a literary and physical level...wonder if the moderators would go for it ;-) ]
20.2 In Honor of True ColorsOryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Review: I believe that Atwood thoroughly enjoys scaring the bejesus out of her readers, in subtle fashion. I think she is a great story teller. Let me relay my thoughts on how I view her style; Its similar to one of those origami fortune teller things you played with as a kid. Each turn provides another question to unfold and a layer of answers with more questions underneath. This makes three of her novels that I have read and although this style has been used in each, the stories have been compelling on their own and still doesn't prepare you for what you are about to read. It is about a dystopian future of a dystopian future.
+20 Task (Orange Prize nominee)
+10 Combo (10.3 Girl's Names and 20.9 It's epidemic)
+10 Review
Task Total = 40
Grand Total = 40
20.5 Shakespeare and Co.Justine by Lawrence Durrell
This book was originally published in 1957
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.3 Girl's Names)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 25
20.1 - Tattered Cover:Kristin Lavransdatter, Part 3: The Cross by Sigrid Undset
It is with relief that I have finished the third book of this long tale. At times the writing is exquisite, especially the physical descriptions of Norway and the meticulously researched details of the blending of folk customs with Christianity. Unfortunately, the main character is, perhaps, too true to life. While Kristin has grown up tremendously from the irritating teen of the first novel, she, in many ways, has not changed. She continues to stubbornly follow her will rather than what she knows to be right in the eyes of her society and in the eyes of God and then proceeds to feel tormented by her unwillingness/inability to truly repent of her sins. (If you hadn't noticed, I was not fond of the title character). And yet, found this final segment of her story to be a compelling, quick read, anxiously turning the pages to learn the fate of Kristin and all her kin.
+20 task (banned in Hitler's Germany)
+15 combo (20.5 - published in 1922, 20.4 - made into a movie, 10.3 - Girls name)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task total: 55
Grand total: 55 points
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.2 (2nd Stop) - New Zealand (E 174 46)
Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 115
Liz M wrote: "Don wrote: "AtW-Frequent FlierTask 15.1 (1st stop)Ireland
Selected Poems of William Butler Yeatsby W.B. Yeats"
Unfortunately, this book does not meet the 100 page m..." I have added another collection of Yeats poems I read in ebook format. I added it to the original post. Is that ok or should I delete and make a new post? Whatever makes it easier on you to keep track I am willing to do.
Task 20.6 Selexyz BookstoreLazarus by Morris West
+20 20.6 Task, protagonist is a fictional pope.
Total 20
Grand total 35
Don wrote: "Liz M wrote: "Don wrote: "AtW-Frequent FlierTask 15.1 (1st stop)Ireland
Selected Poems of William Butler Yeatsby W.B. Yeats"
Unfortunately, this book does not meet ..."
Usually we would want you to make a new post, letting us know it is a correction of an earlier post. Later in the challenge, when scorekeeping is well underway, going back to previous posts is harder. This will be OK, because it's so early in the challenge - thanks, and hope you enjoyed the additional Yeats.
Don wrote: "Is that ok or should I delete and make a new post? ..."Thanks for letting me know about the correction.
To add to what Elizabeth has already said correctly about re-posting, please NEVER DELETE A POST. I record the message numbers for every book claimed by every participant, so when there is a discrepancy I can go back to the relevant posts. Deleting a post(s) means those numbers are no longer correct & makes it harder to find the particular message for which I need to refer.
20.9 It's epidemicBlindness by José Saramago
Oh my goodness.
I wish there were other ways to rate books. This is a four-star book, deserving of all its accolades, but emotionally it was harrowing. I did not enjoy reading this book at all, other than academically.
Blindness is a gut-wrenching description of society disintegrating into the worst possible state. The focus is on a few key characters, and we never learn their names. The doctor's wife, the doctor, the boy with a squint, etc. They are among the first victims of a plague of white blindness, and are quarantined in completely inhumane conditions. Their deliberate vagueness makes them all the more terrifying – they could be anyone. They could be you.
So many times I wondered why any of the blind bothered - why not go for suicide by soldier or a more direct death? The conditions were so hopeless, so hostile… it was awful to read.
The most depressing aspect of the book is that it’s all true. Oh, it’s not a true story – but this has happened before, happens now, will never stop happening. People will fear other people, segregate them, and not only fail to help those in need but make games of tormenting them.
The writing is stunning (even if it does take a while to get used to) but Blindness joins Jude the Obscure in my Great Books I Wish I Never Read hall of fame. Amazing but relentlessly bleak.
+ 20 Task
+ 10 Review
+ 15 Combo (20.1 banned in Iran http://www.irandailybrief.com/?p=5728 ; 20.4, 20.7)
Task total = 45
Grand Total = 45
Task AtW-frequent Flyer15.2 (2nd stop) Russia. Prussian Nights: A Poem by Solzhenitsyn Aleksander
+15 Task
Total 15
Grand Total. 50
10.1 Square PegEveryday life in medieval times by Marjorie Rowling
Task +10
Style +10 (review)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66...
Book Total: 20
Grand Total: 35
10.2 Space OutThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
This story begins with the end of the world - and rather than being some epic event, Earth's destruction actually happens to be a small matter of bureaucracy for the alien Vorgons, unpleasant beings who spend their days demolishing planets in preparation for a new galactic bypass (which is made redundant not five minutes after the Earth is wiped out of existence)and writing some of the universe's worst poetry.
The last human living is Arthur Dent, who is miraculously rescued and sets out on an adventure to discover all the hilarious ironies and improbabilities that our universe thrives on.
+10 Task
+15 Combo (10.5 Wikipedia Anti-hero, 20.3 Harvard Bestseller, 20.4 El Atneo)
+10 Review
Book Total = 35
20.10 It's Academic
Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recoveryby Menzie David Chinnand Jeffry Frieden
This book seeks to give an explanation of the complex events leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. It covers the various risks taken by Wall Street, the poor policies and regulations of the government, and the global consequences of a few peoples' hubris. It gives a very nice explanation of how fiscal, monetary, and trading policies can be manipulated by states to make financial crises better or worse. It also compares the current crisis with crises from previous decades and in other countries, showing that each economic meltdown follows a similar pattern - one the world needs to learn from.
+20 Task (Chinn teaches at UW Madison, Frieden teaches at Harvard University)
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel (non-fiction)
Book Total: 40
Grand Total: 75
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) Ireland (W 006 15)
At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
+15 Task
Task Total = 15
Review:
This is a book to be read for the language, not the plot. The narrator is a Dublin student who does little but lie in bed, go out drinking and write the story of a man who is writing a story about some characters who rebel against their fictional author and wander around the country conversing about characters from Irish myth and legend. I was totally lost for the first 50 pages but decided to persist because it's short, and once I gave up trying to work out what was going on, I started to enjoy it. Eventually even the different stories started to fall into place. But the main thing was the language in both narration and dialogue, which is simply amazing.
Grand Total: 70
20.4 Read a Book that has been made into a movie.see: http://www.mymcpl.org/cfapps/botb/boo... (last line)
An Awfully Big Adventure (1989) by Beryl Bainbridge(Hardcover, 206 pages)
Man Booker Prize Nominee (1990)
Review: This novel takes place in the early 1950s, in Liverpool, England and concerns the members of a theatre repertory company. Our main protagonist is a teenaged girl who wants to be an actress. She is hired on to do bit parts in the plays and (mainly) to run miscellaneous errands around the theatre. The good: the clever, sarcastic language used to tell the story; the evocations of post-World-War II Britain (both physical and psychological). The bad: the story itself is banal, and the characters were stereotypes (The aging leading man! The ingénue!) Recommended for those who wish to read all shortlisted Booker Prize nominees; for those who like successful evocations of a specific place and time from the past; and for those who appreciate sarcastically-told stories.
+20 Task
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30
Grand Total: 0 + 30 = 30
AtW--Circumnavigator 15.2 Mexico (W099 08)
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 50
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) Antarctica (E 000 00)
Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
I only read this book due to the fact that it takes place in Antarctica, it was a really good read. I could not put it down, 5 stars all the way if you like military, action and espionage.
+15 Task
Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 15
10.6 Music of the SoulThe Best American Poetry 1994, ed. A.R. Ammons
Full disclosure - I prefer Romantic / Transcendentalist / etc. It might be pedestrian of me, but I like my poerty to be beautiful. This collection embodies a lot of what I dislike about modern poetry. Many of the pieces focus on the deliberately ugly. They are not bad per se, but I am not moved by blunt explorations of pain.
That said, there were a few very notable poems. I adored Apollo Takes Charge of His Muses as well as The Snake in the Garden Considers Daphne. Those are absolute gems. Perhaps I like them because they both take inspiration from Greek myths, which are favorites of mine. I also love the economy and precision of the language. They were stunning and seemingly effortless.
As far as the longer poems go, I was suprised at how much I liked The Cardinal Detoxes. It's quite lengthy, it takes on very unpleasant subjecter matter, but it was excellent. Perhaps it's the dark humor that runs throughout it that I responded to.
I also appreciated Sestina. In a collection of mostly free / blank verse, it was delightful to have a piece that used such a difficult form.
Overall I give the collection only 2 stars, but the individual poems I noted are 4 to 5 stars.
+10 Task 10.6
+10 Not a Novel
+10 Review
Task total = 30
Grand total = 75
20.2 True ColorsThe Group by Mary McCarthy
(on the feminist list)
This book tells the stories of several Vassar graduates class of 1933. When it was published in 1963 it was a pretty dating and controversial book. Today, it hardly seems controversial, but it remains a wonderful commentary on the way that women's relationships and friendships work and the impact of men on women's relationships. McCarthy manages to pack the whole gamut of issues into the lives of these characters--careers, child-raising, marriage, divorce, affairs, lesbianism, birth control (at a time when it wasn't readily available), etc. Despite a slight feeling that this was just a book form of commenting on these Big Issues, I quite enjoyed the characters and the way the relationships were fleshed out. I can see why this has become a feminist classic and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. I should send it to my cousin who is a recent Vassar graduate and now living in New York City (though perhaps she's read it as I'm probably not the only person to suggest it).
+20 task
+5 combo (20.4)
+10 review
Task total: 35
Grand total: 35
10.2 Girls' NamesBriar Rose by Jane Yolen
(Lexile = 820)
This retelling of Sleeping Beauty (or Briar Rose) sets the story as the tale of a Holocaust survivor. The book is a semi-mystery as the story is slowly discovered in the present day by the granddaughter of the Holocaust survivor. After Grandma (Gemma) dies, her granddaughter traces Gemma's history back to Poland where she was rescued from an extermination camp. While perhaps this just the nature of a young adult novel, I found it hard to believe the granddaughter protagonist was 23--she seemed more like a teenager. She has an unsatisfying current budding relationship that goes nowhere and left me wishing it had been left out entirely. Still, the final story of Partisans in Poland was interesting and the overall pacing of the book was good. If recommend this for young adult readers, but don't really think it has crossover appeal to adult readers, particularly those with any knowledge of Holocaust stories as this has little to offer that is new.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 55
10.5 rootin' for the bad guyDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(#20 on Anti-Heros List)
+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.4-Birthday grd 7 list, 20.4- Movie)
+10 pts - Review
+10 pts - Canon
Review
I was surprised to have learned this story is all from the view of Dr Jekyll’s attorney. He is the one most concerned about the changes in his good friend beginning with a new will that leaves all Dr Jekyll’s worldly goods to a hitherto unknown man named Mr. Hyde should the doctor die or go missing. This last part our narrator finds particularly disturbing. After seeing the evil Mr. Hyde, the connection between the good doctor and this monster is bewildering. After a vicious but unprovoked murder of a high standing citizen of London, events and clues happen rapidly.
The whole aspect of this breaking down the soul of man with the science of chemistry and the horrors that could occur was very much a theme from this era as science and industry started making great leaps and the church becoming less feared and respected, thereby losing its monopolizing power held so long. Yet changes bring fear and often a revolution of ideas will bring the pendulum swinging to the extreme in the opposite direction which can be as bad. These types of stories such as Frankenstein, The Island of Dr Moreau and Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, reflect these fears and while supporting science, agrees it can go too far and some things are better left to the Divine. Literature often reflects and stimulates the thoughts of the general public, expressing the need for balance out of turmoil. This is an excellent example of literature examining the pulse of the general public.
Task Total - 40 pts
Grand Total - 40 pts
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) Antarctica E000 000 - Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
Ice Station
+15 Task
Task Total = 15
Norma wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (1st Itinerary Stop) Antarctica E000 000 - Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
+15 Task
Task Total = 15"
Norma, please edit your post so that you provide links to the book/author. Thank you!
10.1 Square PegBirds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories by Megan Mayhew Bergman
Review: This is a book of polished gem-like short stories. Most of the stories are centered on family (including pets)--from dating, through pregnancy and parenting, to aging parents and grandparents. For me, Bergman was able to evoke the feelings of indecision, fear, love, desperation as people face turning-points in their lives from small to momentous. There are moments of happiness and humor, but I have to agree with one reviewer, that the overall tone is sad.
My favorite story is "The Artificial Heart". The story is set in the future and is about two senile seniors going on a fishing date with the help of their children.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 not-a-novel
Task Total =
Grand Total =
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.3 (3rd stop) - US (W 077 02)
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140
Christin wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.3 (3rd stop) - US (E 174 46)
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140"
Not sure what you intended here. E 174 46 is New Zealand, while the US is W 077 02
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Christin wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.3 (3rd stop) - US (E 174 46)
The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140"
N..."
whoops! New Zealand was my previous stop so my sleepy brain must have accidentally looked at the previous line when I was looking at my list - I have gone back and fixed it lol
Task 20.1 Tattered Cover (Banned books)The Call of the Wild by Jack London, 128 pgs.
+20 20.1 Banned books http://world.edu/worldedu_posts/banne...
+5 Combo, 20.4 Made into a Movie
Total 25
Grand Total 75
RwS Tasks10.3 – Girls’ Names
Daisy Miller by Henry James
I don't think Henry James and I are the best match. Daisy Miller was an enjoyable enough book, but it didn't really send me and I found my mind drifting. I felt the same way about The Turn of the Screw. I think that, in it's day, Daisy Miller probably challenged some of the social norms of the time, but I'm not sure the story really did its job in the end which I won't reveal for others that may choose to give this one a try. When I checked the canon list, I found that it's one of the few books by Henry James that didn't make the cut, so maybe I'm not alone in thinking of it as a weaker classic. I didn't hate the book, so give it a try if you like classics from this time period.
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.4 It’s Your Birthday
+10 Review
Task Total: 25
10.4 – It’s Your Birthday
Robert Frost: Seasons and Robert Frost's Poems by Robert Frost
Robert Frost was my mother's favorite poet, and I'm familiar with many of his poems about nature because of her influence. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is one of the most familiar. In my teenaged years, I was further influenced by the Outsiders and the memorable line by Frost "nothing gold can stay". I decided to read a book, Seasons, I found at the library to revisit these favorite poems. It was a lovely book of favorite poems interspersed with gorgeous photos of each season. It was too full of pictures, however, to really count for the task, so I also read Robert Frost's Poems, a compilation we have in the GHHS library. I was amazed at the range of subject matter and intensity in the poems. Robert Frost is worthy of all the praise my mother and other critics have given him!
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 The Music of the Soul
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 45
10.10 Group reads
Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
I am really glad to have discovered this play. Although plays are not my favorite to read, I found that I was able to follow and envision this one quite easily. I remember the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and how difficult it was to understand the devastation the disease wrought on families and gay couples. The play cut to the quick about the reactions of couples and the desperate need that some had to hide the disease and their sexuality from the world. We have come a long way, but this play still resonates today. The writing is gritty and honest and I now would like to see the play on the stage and experience the power of the words through actors' voices.
+10 Task
+20 Combo: 10.7 Reading is Awarding (Pulitzer/Drama 1993) / 20.1 Tattered Cover http://broadwayworld.com/board/readme... / 20.4 El Ateneo(HBO 2003)/ 20.9 It's Epidemic
+10 Canon
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 50
20.7 In honor of Kid’s Republic
King Lear by William Shakespeare
I'm trying to read or re-read all of Shakespeare's plays. I actually approached King Lear in a rather backwards manner because I read A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley's retelling of the story years ago without having ever read the play. I was immediately drawn in to the play as two of the three daughters tried to win their inheritance by lavishing their father the King with praise. I remembered the relationships of the three sisters in Smiley's book and enjoyed the "setting of the stage" in King Lear. I went on to enjoy the rest of the play, but I must admit to drifting and getting lost occasionally, too. I have gone back and read some sections, but I may be doing a full re-read of this one someday!
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: Antiheroes # 59
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 55
Points this Post: 175
Grand Total: 225
10.5 Rooting for the Bad GuyThe Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
+10 Task (Sam Spade on Wikipedia list of fictional antiheroes; #70 on Goodreads Best Antiheroes in Books list)
+5 Combo
-20.4 El Ateneo/made into a movie
Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 65
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Hard Times: For These Times (other topics)The Age of Grief (other topics)
The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (other topics)
BoneMan's Daughters (other topics)
Marie-Blanche (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Jane Smiley (other topics)
Mary Rose O'Reilley (other topics)
Ted Dekker (other topics)
Jim Fergus (other topics)
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The following is important!
1. Please use the add book/author link for the book titles
2. If you will be claiming jumbo points, you will need to link to the edition with the correct number of pages.
3. Style points should be claimed/posted in the order of the example below (combo, review, canon, not-a- novel, jumbo). When claiming combo points, tell how the book qualifies, and, if requested in the task description, provide a link.
Reading w/Style (RwS) Sample Completed Tasks Post:
20.1 Tattered Cover - Banned Books
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
>insert 100+ word review<
+20 Task (banned in Boston, publisher refused a reprint)
+10 Combo (10.6 Poetry, 20.3 Harvard)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
+10 Not a Novel
+ 5 Jumbo (624 pages)
Task Total = 65
Grand Total = 415
(This assumes mid-challenge, and that you had previously posted 350 points.)