Reading with Style discussion

The Summer 2011 Challenge has now started. Post your completed books here!

Task Points (+10)
You can claim 10 points for any book read and posted in the Summer Challenge Completed Tasks folder in June, July, and August.

Summer Style Points
+5 Review points for any 100+ word review posted when claiming points in the Completed Task folder
+5 Oldies points for any book written prior to 1950
+5 Jumbo points for any book that has 500+ pages

Scoring is on the honor system this quarter. Particpants can keep track of their own scores and include them in their Completed Task messages. No Readerboard will be maintained this quarter. It's summer! Enjoy your time away from structure. Go wild. Read whatever your heart desires.
----------------------------------------

"The Hostile Hospital" by Lemony Snickett

Book Total: 10
Style +5 (review)
Grand Total: 15

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

+10 Task

Grand Total: 10

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata

+10 Task

Grand Total: 10

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
(Lexile 770)
3 stars

An entertaining if likely to be relatively unmemorable teen post-apocalyptic story. The moon is hit by an asteroid, knocking it off course and wreaking havoc with weather on earth. As strange as it sounds, this is sort of a feel-good post-apocalypse where nothing too terrible happens to the primary characters and they learn a lot about the importance of family and all that. The writing was reasonably compelling, and the characters were interesting enough to make me root for them, but the plot was so predictable that I ended up feeling sort of neutral about this one. While I won't be rushing to buy another book in this series, I'd probably read the sequel if I happened to get a copy.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Grand total: 15

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
*****

While in some ways this book tells an extremely common story, it does so with a charm that makes it absolutely wonderful. It is funny, endearing, and excellently written. I enjoyed it greatly.

(view spoiler)[Watching Lucy fumble her way towards George and seeing the straightforward way in which he approaches the world is at times painful, but ends up being rewarding. As predictable as it was to see her break off her engagement with Cecil, it was also satisfying in the end. (hide spoiler)] In Lucy, Forster creates a main character we watch grow while also staying the same. It's very true to life in that way. I suppose the depiction of the British tourist and country life of the early 20th century can come across as dated, but to me it was very easy to read past that. The supporting characters are an amusing and delightful, if sometimes tedious, cast.

+10 Task
+5 Review (Are we supposed to post the review here or simply write it?)
+5 Oldies (1908)

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 20

*edited to add review*

Denae wrote: "A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
*****

+10 Task
+5 Review (Are we supposed to post the review here or simply write it?)
+5 Oldies (1908)

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 20"

Post it here please. Thanks!

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void - Mary Roach

+10 Task

Grand Total: 10

Summer Reading

Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke.

+ 10 points

Review:
I really enjoy reading this series. They are very light, funny mysteries…not the heavy, gorey death scenes like in Cornwell, Patterson, and Deavers (that I usually read). The characters are really likeable and the entire little community where this is set really comes alive through the author’s descriptions. Hannah’s store, family, boyfriend (or lack of), and tendency to discover dead bodies lead to interesting, and slightly comical, situations. If you like the series with Lucy Stone or Goldilocks catering, you will love the Hannah Swensen series. IF for nothing else, the recipes will make your mouth water. I have copied two of them to try soon!

+ 5 points

= 15 Summer Reading Points so far

Krista wrote: "Denae wrote: "A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
*****

+10 Task
+5 Review (Are we supposed to post the review here or simply write it?)
+5 Oldies (1908)

Task To..."

I was waiting to see the same thing.(smile)

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
**

This book was reviewed very favorably and promoted as a book that greatly resembled if not rivaled the detectives and detective stories it at least partially spawned. Kate Summerscale had an opportunity to create a compelling read. Instead, the book came across as a presentation of too many facts with too little narrative. There are entire sections which feel like nothing but padding. Having just read an extremely detailed biography (Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson) which manages to avoid this trap, it seems like this is not entirely the product of attempts to thoroughly document the tale.

The actually story on which the book is based is indeed interesting and created great popular speculation at the time, but the story gets lost in the author's references to how it impacted the society. You get the feeling she used it for structural reference, but forgot how to truly tie it in. The title is more interesting than accurate. While Inspector Whicher plays a large part in the story, his role seems to be more the subject of speculation than that of the book.

Overall, I was disappointed. I really did expect more.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 35

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The first thing I can compare this book to is the film Inception. You have to watch it again to get all the key points. The same goes for The Crying of Lot 49. I read it, thought about it, and brooded over it, but I was mostly frustrated with it because of the stream of consciousness style mixed with a number of vocabulary words I had no choice but to look up (in order to both expand my own vocabulary and settle my curiosity). I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to read a book, with a tight binding I might add, that mainly focuses on a stream of consciousness style while adding and inventing words I could not place. As short as this book was, it took me the time it would take to read a 500 page book because I had to continuously reread the same passages to make sure I understood what was going on. The problem is I still don't completely understand what went on. I know something amazing happened, but I cannot put my finger on it. It's like hearing a song on the radio and you're trying to figure out who the artist of the song was, but you just can't name them.

The good thing is I have a list of vocabulary words with definitions beside them, so I actually look forward in reading this book again so I can properly understand the details. Actually, I would very much look forward to having to read this book for an English class by a professor who just loves Thomas Pynchon. I suppose I just lost all of my credibility having admitted that, but I have to tell the truth! I want to love this book, but as of right now, I cannot.

+10 Task
+5 Review
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 15

Summer Reading

I read Good Little Wives by Abby Drake.

+ 10 points

Review:

Good Little Wives by Abby Drake was a fun little read. If you like soap operas and Desperate Housewives, you are in for a treat….this book has all of the fornication, deception, and backstabbing of those shows, along with murder to boot. There were so many tangles and twists that it took me a couple of chapters to get the characters straight, but after I did, it was fine. There are four main characters: Lauren (the mouse), Bridget (the exotic), Dan (the goody goody), and Caroline (the control freak). They are all involved in trying to prove that their “ex-friend” did not kill her ex-husband. It was an easy read and great pool-time entertainment.

+ 5 points
= 15 Task points

Current RWS Point Total: 30

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery 3 stars

This is just about as close to 4 stars as you can get without crossing the line. If you enjoyed The Elegance of the Hedgehog, you will likely enjoy this one too, but it really isn't nearly as good, so don't expect it to be.

Barbery uses a phrase in Gourmet Rhapsody that I think perfectly describes her style: a symphony of language. This is her debut novel, however, and I think we can easily see the orchestra is just practicing. She has a marvelous turn of phrase, and her insight is still good, but the novel is uneven, still rough in places.

We know from the very beginning that food critic Pierre Arthens is dying. He reflects on his life's experiences with food, the places he savored flavors, and the people with whom he shared it. In alternate chapters are the people who should have been close to him throughout his life, and, for the most part, who hated him.

In this reverie of flowers and vegetables, beneath my dust-brown feet I crushed the dry thick grass of the garden, and grew drunk on its fragances.

and

People think that children don't know anything. It's enough to make you wonder if grownups were ever children once upon a time.

No, it isn't as good, but it's short and worth a little time.

+10 task
+ 5 review

Total = 15

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

+10 Task

Total = 20

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
This is an enlightening read. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks the same. I'm actually surprised to find so many negative reviews of this book, but I feel like a lot of people are just looking at what's only on the surface. Yes. One of the obvious themes in this book is how some people (even though this book contains seagulls, it's really about humans because that's what all books are about) are different, and others shun them for it. In this case, Jonathan Seagull is special because he concentrates on perfecting his flight instead of acting like a normal seagull who flies only when he has to and fights for food when it appears. He aspires to achieve the perfect flight, and in order to, he must realize that there is more to himself than just a 46 inch body lined with feathers. This is when the whole spiritual elements take effect because an Elder seagull later suggests that Jonathan must imagine himself as an omnipresence in order to "teleport" himself from one area to another if he wants to continue his ascension into heaven where his flight would finally be perfect.

Now I admit that sounds sappy upon reading all of that, but there's more to the story than that. Jonathan realizes he must pass on his knowledge to the other "ignorant" seagulls who refuse to listen to his epiphany. What I like about this part is instead of staying up in the upper area of the skies where the other seagulls are training to achieve perfect flight, Jonathan decides it would be better to help those seagulls on the ground who have not realized a greater truth yet. Even though those were the same seagulls who ostracized him from their flock, he is willing to overlook their ignorance if it means sharing the same knowledge he has obtained. And by doing so, his students will pass on their knowledge and improve themselves in the process, and a never-ending chain of events will continue on.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 30

The Waters & the Wild by Francesca Lia Block

+10 Task

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

+10 Task
+ 5 Oldies: 1898

Total: 25
Grand Total: 25

Tomato Rhapsody: A Novel of Love, Lust, and Forbidden Fruit by Adam Schell
*

I kept hoping it would get better. For a short time it seemed as though it would. Then we got to the donkey dicks. This book came highly recommended to me. It presents a fantastic example of how two people with generally similar tastes can diverge drastically.

I found myself struggling with the writing from the very beginning. It was verbose and reminiscent of a student who has not yet learned which adjectives are descriptive and which merely distract. The plot felt disjointed. The author, for no reason apparent to me, repeatedly diverged from the telling of the story into explanations of how another author wrote that people should write when telling a story. It distracted.

The stereotype of the noble, overly-emotional peasants of a village in beautiful Tuscany has been flogged until it is beyond dead and falling apart. So has that of the nobleman who goes among said peasants and learns important life lessons. This book does nothing to improve or add to that already overcrowded field.

The descriptions of the food really were amazing. I wish the rest of the book had lived up to them.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 50

Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe

A beautifully written book about a horrible situation. A group of young male delinquents are relocated into he interior of Japan during WWII. The village to which they are sent has a plague scare and the boys are abandoned by the villagers, barricaded in to suffer whatever fate has in store for them. As their isolation lasts only a short time & the assumption is that the villagers will return, the boys in this novel do not attempt to create a functioning society or suffer its eventual breakdown depicted in Lord of the Flies, these boys endure. They redefine their role, considering themselves as occupiers of the deserted village rather than accept the role of abandoned, unwanted vermin. Instead of demonstrating the inhumanity of and between individuals, the book demonstrates how the society fails the boys.

+5 review
+10 Task

Grand Total: 25 points

Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge

+10 task
Total: 10 points

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
+10 Task

The Innocent by Ian McEwan
+10 Task

The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn
+10 Task

What Maisie Knew by Henry James
+10 Task
+5 Oldies (pub 1897)


Room by Emma Donoghue
+10 Task

Post Total: 55
Season Total: 55

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson 462pp.
Task: 10pts
Review: 5 pts

Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune Pages: 213pp.
Task: 10pts
Review: 5 pts

Death of a Musketeer (A Musketeers Mystery, #1) by Sarah D'Almeida 288pp.
Task: 10pts
Review: 5 pts

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier 307pp.
Task: 10 pts
Review: 5 pts

Spellfire by Ed Greenwood 384pp.
Task: 10 pts
Review: 5 pts

Dexter By Design Jeff Lindsay 304pp.
Task: 10 pts
Review: 5 pts

Post Total: 90
Challenge Total: 90

Kiri, I loved "How To Ditch Your Fairy"

Okay for Now - Gary D. Schmidt


I don't know you, Gary D. Schmidt, but I love you. I had to stop reading your latest book while in the doctor's waiting room because it was making me cry. This was literally about 30 seconds after it made me laugh out loud. Some of Doug's one liners were so hilarious I had to read them to my oldest daughter. And you know that noise you sometimes make when you are trying so hard not to cry, that little squeak that escapes from your tightly pursed lips? No? Oh, me either. That totally didn't happen to me when Doug broke down and told Mr. Ferris about his "birthday present". Your emotional roller coaster, Mr. Schmidt, makes for one exhilarating ride.

My only complaint is with the final (10? 20?) pages of the book.

(view spoiler)[
I am just not satisfied with the way that everyone - especially the biggest mother effers in the book - magically redeemed themselves in the end. I could see it being plausible for the So-Called Gym Teacher, whose horrible behavior could very well be explained by his recent experiences in Vietnam. It is also fitting for Doug's older brothers, who are both struggling so hard against becoming their father. But Principal Peattie? He just all of a sudden becomes this warm, smiling, apologetic benefactor? What the hell? The deplorable way he treated Doug, the things he said to him... and as the principal of the school! And anyone that refers to himself in the third person - and only in the third person - deserves to be punchisized in the face. Not redeemed. BUT. Of all the assholes in this book, Doug's father takes the freaking cake. I just can't believe that this drunken, abusive POS all of a sudden gets a heart and a conscience. A man that treats his family like absolute garbage for years upon years and doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about anyone other than himself and all the ways in which everyone else is out to screw him over. He should be in jail for what he did to Doug! Not once in the first 9/10 of the book is there even the tiniest shred of evidence that he has any good in him, so where the hell did the last 10-20 pages of the book come from? Who is that guy sitting at the dinner table? I just don't get it. My ideal ending would have had Doug's dad either getting a hefty jail sentence for the crimes or maybe dying in a freak accident at the paper mill. I'm not really picky as long as he was out of the picture. Then Doug's mom could've married Mr. Big Bucks Ballard. There's your happy ending. (hide spoiler)]

Ok, so I guess the ending bothered me a lot more than I thought it did. But you know what? I'm still giving your book 5 stars. Because I fell in love with almost every character in this book, especially Doug. Because you managed to make me both sick about the ways in which people are cruel to one another and in awe of the generosity of others. Because you stitched my heart back together just as many times as you broke it, and left me grateful for the experience rather than regretting it. I just ask that if you ever write a sequel, please keep in mind the alternate ending I mentioned above. It's not too late for a relapse, if you catch my drift.


+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 25

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Kiri, I loved "How To Ditch Your Fairy""

I'm delighted some one did. =)

I found out I have a dog fairy because dogs seem to be naturally drawn to me.

Family Man by Calvin Trillin

4 stars -- listened to the audio version read by the author

I really like Calvin Trillin. His essay About Alice made me want to read more about his family. I don't always like when authors read their own work, but Trillin did a nice job reading these essays. The essays were interrelated enough to make a coherent book even though they were on somewhat disparate topics. Mostly, when I hear Trillin reflect on his life, I have to get past my own jealousy that I don't live in the West Village of Manhattan, work from home and travel around doing reporting work. Why wasn't I born a poet? Trillin seems to understand how privileged his life is, but that doesn't quite eliminate my envy--it just makes me like Trillin better. Anyway, a nice summer read.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Grand total: 30

"First Warning" by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Scarborough

5 stars-This is the first book sequel to the Accorna series. I love fantasy and science fiction and the authors styles blend perfectly as well as the genres. I read the previous series so it was like visiting old friends. The story was great and the flow was fact paced. I grown to care about the new characters and really hate the main antagonist. I love how the book focuses on the main race being derived from humans and unicorns. They have cool powers like purifying air, water, and healing through the use of their golden horns. In this sequel the two main characters from the series Accorna have a girl and she is just coming into her powers. They are called upon as a deadly plague sweeps the galaxies killing civilized planets in its path. Khorii(the main character) and her parents is called upon to save the people of these planets using their racial technology(special powers). Also if you are a fan of cats, they honor cats that come from a planet called Makomia. The cats are "special" too.

Task Points: 10
Style: Review 5
Book Total: 15
Grand Total: 30

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: ""First Warning" by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Scarborough

5 stars-This is the first book sequel to the Accorna series. I love fantasy and science fiction and the authors styles blend perfectly a..."

Thanks for posting the review. The reviews are supposed to be a minimum of 100 words. Is this review 100 words long? It looks a little short to me. --- Tell us more, tell us more. :-)

Kiri wrote: "In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson 462pp.
Task: 10pts
Review: 5 pts

Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune Pages: 213pp.
Task: 10pts
Revie..."

Hi Kiri: As I mentioned above in regards to Jayme's review posted --- the reviews need to be a minimum of 100 words in order to claim the Review style points.

This review is a little short...
Death of a Musketeer (A Musketeers Mystery, #1) by Sarah D'Almeida 288pp.
Task: 10pts
Review: 5 pts

Please elaborate the review or remove the Review points. Thanks! -Krista

Krista wrote: "Hi Kiri: As I mentioned above in regards to Jayme's review posted --- the reviews need to be a minimum of 100 pages in order to claim the Review style points. "

One hundred words is, I'm sure, what you meant. ;-)

Krista wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: ""First Warning" by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Scarborough

5 stars-This is the first book sequel to the Accorna series. I love fantasy and science fiction and th..."

review updated.

Liz M wrote: "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe

A beautifully written book about a horrible situation. A group of young male delinquents are relocated into he interior..."

I just added this to my TBR mountain. It sounds fascinating.

Krista wrote: "Hi Kiri: As I mentioned above in regards to Jayme's review posted --- the reviews need to be a minimum of 100 pages in order to claim the Review style points. "

One hundred words is, I'm sure, what you meant. ;-)
..."

Oops! -- Yes, you're so right Elizabeth. 100 WORDS is the minimum requirement in order for reviews to qualify for the Review bonus points.

I've edited my original reply to Kiri's message. Thanks for helping me clarify that.

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
***

The first installment in the Culture series, Consider Phlebas introduces us to two primary antagonists; the Culture and the Idirans. The Culture is a humanoid race, descended from humans, who initially developed artificial intelligences and essentially handed over themselves to these Minds, once they evolved complete sentience. The Idirans are a lizard-like race of three legged monotheistic immortals who intend to conquer and convert all peoples, if need be by force. Unlike the Culture, war is a part of their natural ways, as opposed to being an anomaly made necessary to stop aggression. Neither side seems to pay even the slightest attention to the third side consisting of all of the people who are caught in between and being crushed by these ruthless juggernauts.

The book centers on a race to find and retrieve a Mind who hid in a planet after being nearly destroyed. The catch is, the planet has been designated a Planet of the Dead by a race who has evolved beyond the point of really even noticing the war that has broken out. In order to get to this Mind, the characters will have to convince this race that they mean no harm. The end result of the book does not change my opinion of the relative worths of the Culture and the Idirans.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 65

Face by Sherman Alexie

+10 Task

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

+10 Task
+ 5 Jumbo (978 Pages)
Task Total: 15

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

+10 Task

Points this Post: 35
Grand Total: 60

I hope to write some reviews once I'm on summer break!

Snow Country
by Yasunari Kawabata

+5 oldies (1947)
+10 task

Grand Total: 40 points

1984 by George Orwell
+10 pts - Task
+5 pts - Oldies (1948)

15pts - Task Total
15 pts - Grand Total

Humor Me: An Anthology of Funny Contemporary Writing edited by Ian Frazier
+10 Task

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
+10 Task

Post Total: 20
Grand Total: 75

Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

+10 Task
+5 Oldie [1921]

Post Total= 15
Grand Total= 15

Deafening by Frances Itani

At the beginning of the book we meet Grania who has lost her hearing as a five-year old during a bout of scarlet fever. She is particularly close to her older sister Tress and her grandmother Mamo. Sent away to school, she feels isolation and fear.
Years later World War I brings changes to Canada. The men, including her husband, go off to war and also experience the isolation and fear.
Reading this book was like looking at the old sepia pictures in my grandmother's album. It speaks of another time, yet relays images to the future. This is not a book to read in a hurry. Large chunks of it move slowly, but it is well worth sticking with.







Task 10
Review 5
Grand Total 15

The reading is easy,
the reviews more difficult.
Usual--one line.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
This book won the 1961 Hugo Award. Miller usually writes short stories and this is his only novel published during his lifetime. It's divided into three sections, and the first section and the last section of the third section were my favorites. I try (theoretically) to read books off of three lists- Bloom's Western Canon, 1001 Books you Must Read Before you Die, and Guardian's 1001 Novels Everyone Must Read. I personally thought this book was a literary masterpiece, but Guardian's 1001 Novels is the only list that includes it. I think that this is an example of critics being biased against genre fiction.
+10 Task
+5 Review

Justine by Marquis de Sade
This book is on the 1001 list, but didn't make Bloom's or Guardian's list. It was first published anonymously (along with Juliette), but Napoleon ordered the arrest of the author and so Sade got sent to prison. A good portion of the book is long monologues where people justify being evil to the main character Justine. To these monologues Justine either doesn't have a response or just declares them to be sophisms. I just tried to look up who translated the version I read, and it doesn't seem to be known. Furthermore, it looks like I read an edited (expurgated?) version even though the book wasn't labelled as such.
+10
+5 Oldies
+5 Review

Post Total = 35

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
***

I have long loved Pride and Prejudice and look forward to reading more by Jane Austen. That being said, I was somewhat disappointed after this read. To me, it lacked an expected warmth and probability. The supporting characters were not as much caricatures as those in Pride and Prejudice, but the primary ones were. I found it fairly impossible to like Elinor and Marianne. They were each too much the portion of the title they represented. Elinor had more sense than a person would be likely to have and Marianne too much sensibility. Still, it is Austen, so it had a humor and liveliness which made it fun to read. I certainly don't regret the choice.

+10 Task
+5 Review
+5 Oldies

Task Total: 20

Where the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Edition: Poems and Drawings by Shel Silverstein
****

+10 Task

Task Total: 10

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett
*****

So, so funny. I really do absolutely adore Terry Pratchett and this is one of my favorites to date. Having lived in Hollywood, the satirical depiction of the birth of Holy Wood probably contributed largely to this. Not that that is the only merit by far. Victor, the boy who has consistently gotten a grade on his annual exam that would ensure he never actually became a wizard, becomes Holy Wood's most popular leading man, starring in, among other things, a "click" called Blown Away which is quite obviously intended to be Gone With the Wind. There is a drive of a thousand elephants across plains and mountain ranges. Gaspode the Wonder Dog, a scruffy mutt who speaks, becomes the first agent, and much, much more. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone. I loved it.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 15

Post Total: 45

Grand Total: 110

The Shack
+10 Task

Grand Total: 10

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
Task: +10
Grand Total: 40

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

+10 Task

Task Total= 10
Grand Total= 25

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
+10 Task

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
+10 Task

S is for Silence by Sue Grafton
+10 Task

Post Total: 30
Grand Total: 105

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
*****

This is without question one of the best and most moving books I have read. It is a clear and unflinching description of World War I from the perspective of a young German soldier. It addresses the horrors of war, the camaraderie felt by the soldiers, the awareness they gain of how senseless it all is, and the fact that, as a generation, they will be lost afterwards because the war is where they grew to adulthood. Both the writing and the sentiment carried from the author reminded me of The Things They Carried and other books by Tim O'Brien, which is both high praise and a testament to the darkness and emotions of the book. This is now, without question, one of my favorite books.

+10 Task
+5 Review
+5 Oldies

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 130

Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki

Grand Total: 50 points

Summer Reading

I read The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver.

Task: 10 points

Review:
I really enjoyed this book. I will say, however, it is a little unsettling. The premise of this book is to catch a murder who is using “data mining” to frame innocent people of these crimes. When you read this book and learn all about the types of data that companies collect about your habits, it is really creepy. I find myself just thinking about the APPS that I download alone on the phone…what information do they know about me? Back to the book: In this installment, we get a glimpse into Lincoln’s family history because it’s his cousin Arthur who is one of the victims being framed for the murders. I have read several in this series and this one is by far my favorite.

+ 5

= 15 points

Total Summer Reading: 45 points