Reading with Style discussion

Post your completed tasks here. In order to help us better manage our score keeping: PLEASE ONLY POST ONE BOOK PER MESSAGE.

Please use the add book/author link for the book titles and include both title and author in your post.

If using an outside source to qualify a book for points, please be sure to post in the appropriate task thread prior to posting in this thread.

Sample Post

20.6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

Julie, or the New Heloise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(100-word review goes here)

The novel is told in letters from more than 3 points of view including Julie, her tutor St. Preux, and her friend Claire.

+20 Task
+ 5 Combo 20.5
+10 Review
+10 LiT (translated from French)
+10 1001
+10 Jumbo (728 pages)

Post total = 65
Season total = 245 (assuming mid-season with a previous total of 180)

How Does Your Garden Grow?
Sample Post

15.3 HDYGG?

The Hollow Needle: Further Adventures of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc

Flowers:
the hoLlow needle: further ADVENtuREs of arsene lupin -- LAVENDER, +5
the holLOW needle: FUrthER adventureS of arseNe lupin -- SUNFLOWER, +5
the hollow needle: fuRther adventures Of arSEne lupin -- ROSE
the hollow needle: further adventures of arsenE LUPIN -- LUPINE

Vegetables:
Paris--POTATO
France--FENNEL

Herbs: page count = 207
2--LEMON VERBENA
7--PARSLEY (assuming the "0", peppermint, was already used in a previous post)

8 Plants this post
16 Total plants in the garden (assuming previous claims of 5 and 3)

+15 Task
+10 Flower Bonus

Task total = 25
Season total = 135 (assumes mid-season with a previous total of 110)

15.1 HDYGG?

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Herbs: 165 pages
1 - HORSERADISH
5 - THYME

Plants this post = 2
Total plants = 2

+15 Task

Post total = 15
Season total = 15

20.10 World of Crime (Rosemary's task)

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

This book is set in Laos right after the Communists have taken power. The lead character is Siri, a man in his 70s who reluctantly became a Communist in order to marry his true-believer wife. But he remains a skeptic...not just about politics. My type of characters. Loveable curmudgeons! Siri, who was trained as a doctor is made the state coroner... even though he doesn't have any experience in that field... and the state has virtually no resources to assist him. Somehow, Siri and his misfit co-workers make it work...not to mention that Siri gets some supernatural help from his "patients". Normally I am turned off by supernatural or magic-realism in my readings...but this is a BIG exception. The book is charming and an insight into Laotian life. And the good news is that this is a series.... so, the next one will be high on my TBR. For purposes of 20.8 combo points...and without providing too much of a spoiler, Siri uncovers a conspiracy that involves characters who or may or may not be Vietnamese agents.
*The novel is set in Laos...but speaks a little about the MC's time training as a doctor in Paris.

Task =20
Combo= 20 (10.4 (1952); 20.5; 20.7*; 20.8)
Review=10

Task total=50
Season Total=50

Tasks Completed:
20.10

10.6 Modernism

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

This is the first compilation of short stories that Chesterton published. There are twelve in total, and they flow chronologically. At one point, Chesterton apparently said he had ‘written some of the worst mysteries in the world’. (When he was cranking them out for money.) Luckily, I would say none of the stories here qualify. I enjoyed how Flambeau’s character developed over the course of the stories. Father Brown is fairly consistent throughout, and he has a real knack of being in the right place to solve a mystery! The writing was enjoyable, and the plots were interesting and often quite inventive. 4.5*

10 task
10 review
5 combo 20.3*
_____
25

**Flambeau has a pet cat - "…a plumy Persian cat, …"

Running total: 25

20.7 International Travel (Owlette's task)

Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser

Ugh! This one is a little different, in that there are two stories, but, rather than one coming after the other, you flip the book over to read the other, so you could read either one first.

To be honest, if I had read Lyle's story first (and if I was not reading this for one of my RL book clubs) I would have returned the book unfinished. It takes place in a recognisable future, climate issues, pandemics, rampant materialism and "lookism" (phrase borrowed from Ted Chiang) and an Australia were the racism has become legislated. The characters are horrible, and the world is horrible, quite possibly because they are so easily recognisable in all the people and things I already dislike in the world. As a writer, I think de Krester has hit her mark with this one.

Lili's story is completely different, set in the 1980's in France, where Lili is teaching for 12 months. Her colour sets her apart from most, although her Australian passport means she does not face the same discrimination as others, or does she? Would her landlord treat another tenant in the same way? But, just as threatening to her existence is the fact that she is a woman, and what exactly is her creepy neighbour going to do?

Would I have read this if it were not for my bookclub? It is hard to say. The near future Australia would have piqued my interest, but other than that, there is not much to really get me excited about this book.

3 stars

+20 task
+10 review
+5 combo (10.4)

Post Total = 35
Season Total = 35

20.7

Post 4 Ed wrote: "20.10 World of Crime (Rosemary's task)

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

This book is set in Laos right after the Communists have taken power. The lead characte..."

Just to note for scoring, your conspiracy task combo is 20.9, not 20.8.

15.1 HDYGG?
Killing Trail (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery #1) by Margaret Mizushima

Vegetables:
Colorado--CUCUMBER
Timber Creek--TOMATO

Herbs: page count = 311
3--RUE
1--HORSERADISH

Count: 2 vegetables / 2 herbs

+15 Task

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 15

10.5 - Broadway Shows

White Nights by Anna Zaires

+10 task - The NIGHT That Made America Famous

Task total: 10
Grand total: 10

20.5 Surprised!

Life's Little Instruction Book: 511 Suggestions, Observations, and Reminders on How to Live a Happy and Rewarding Life by H. Jackson Brown Jr.

The author wrote this book as a gift to his son as the son prepared to start his college life. It is full of helpful advice that often seems like common sense...but set down on paper...makes the reader reflect nonetheless. I don't have children, but one of the things I regret in my life is that I didn't keep a journal or diary. Now, I have difficulty remembering all my travels - not just the dates but what I did when I got to my destination. Of course, the highlights are there... but I yearn for those lost memories. This book gives advice like that...but also how to deal with money, how to be kind, how to help yourself and others. A few examples-"Give people a second chance, but not a third." "Practice empathy. Try to see things from other people's point of view." "Laugh a lot." I wish I had read this when I was on my way to college. Think about getting a copy, reading it...and passing it on to a young person you know.

Task =20
Review=10

Task total=30
Season Total=80

Tasks Completed:
20.5; 20.10

15.1 How Does Your Garden Grow

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin

veg: London =Leek

Flowers:
a lADY'S guIde to fortune hunting = Daisy

plants this post = 2

15 task
_____
15

Running total: 40

20.3 The Madonna of the Cat

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

OK, so I'm an outlier. Either that or those who rated this highly read a different book. Actually, I talked to one of my friends and she told me she thought this was stories about three women. What I read was a history of China in the 20th Century. As such, I feel strongly that the book is at best mis-titled. Yes, there was the story of the author, her mother and her grandmother. I didn't count, but I think those stories were perhaps 1/3 of this 600+ page book.

It is poorly written. Nearly all of the book was this happened, that happened, the other thing happened. Even when she was telling about one of the three women, she would go off on tangents about other things that had nothing to do with her titled subject. One note I made was when she spent 2-3 paragraphs telling about what happened to her brother's friend. That was not what could possibly be construed as "Three Daughters of China". And there were many (Many!) other such instances.

One of my notes is that Chang was a hypocrite. Ok, so she came around anti-Mao toward the end. I don't know if she ever came around to being anti-communist. Before she became disenchanted with the regime, she was very much in favor of communism's avowed classless society. Yet she had no problem with their living in quarters that were larger than most people or that her family was chauffeur-driven. She did comment disparagingly when later in the book someone had a chaffeur-driven car. Hers was OK, but another's was not?

I looked at my Read shelf and see that I have read other books that I remember were worse than this. There aren't many of them, as I tend to set aside books that I just can't stomach. With this title, I was just too stubborn to set it aside. The last 100 pages were a bit better than the previous 500+ pages, but not enough better. I'll 1-star this one, and if there is such a thing, it sits toward the top of that group.

+20 Task: My mother’s [Bao Qin] closest friends were her pets. She had an owl, a black myna bird which could say a few simple phrases, a hawk, a cat, white mice, and some grasshoppers and crickets which she kept in glass bottles.
+10 Review
+20 Combo (10.3, 10.4 (b. 1952), 10.9 (MPE 652 pgs), 20.5
+10 1001
+ 5 Jumbo (652 pgs)

Task total = 65

Season total = 65

15.1 HDYGG

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Flowers:
braiDIng sweetgrAss: iNdigenoUS wisdom, scientific knowledge and THe teachings of plants - DIANTHUS +5
brAIding sweetgrass: inDigenous wisdom, scientiFic knowLeDge and the teachings OF plants - DAFFODIL +5
bRaidiNG swEetgrass: Indigenous wisDom, scientific knowledge And the teachings of plAnts - GARDENIA +5
braiding sweEtgrass: indigenous wISdoM, sCientific knowledge and the TeAchings of pLants - CLEMATIS +5
braiding sweetgRass: indIgenous wisdom, ScIentific knowledge and the teachings of plants - IRIS

Herbs (391pp):
3 - RUE
9 - CHAMOMILE
1 - HORSERADISH

8 plants this post
8 total plants

+15 Task
+20 Flower bonus

Task total: 35
Grand total: 35

20.2 Virgin of the Rocks

A Wild Promise: An Illustrated Celebration of The Endangered Species Act by Allen Crawford

20 pts 20.2 Virgin of the Rocks. Graphic (non) novel


Task Total: 20 pts
Season Total: 20 pts

Post 14

… … … … … … … … … …

… 20.2 … … … … … … … …

… … … … … … … … … …

10.1 Rewind to Winter

Seven Guitars by August Wilson

"Seven Guitars" opens after the funeral of Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton in the late 1940s. His friends gathered in Louise's backyard when they returned from the cemetery. Floyd was a blues musician who just had his first hit record. The rest of the play lets us know why things went downhill so quickly.

"Seven Guitars" features four men, all with some musical ability, and three women. The women have been disappointed in love. The black men can't achieve success in a white man's world. They can't find good jobs, and they get harassed by the police. All the men need money, including those that need to get their instruments out of the pawn shop so they can play at a dance. While all the characters have had hardships in their lives, they experience real joy when they are creating music. But they can also turn on each other when oppression creates anger.

This is an effective tragic play, and it would be an even more rewarding experience to see it in person. Hearing the blues, the broadcast of the Joe Louis-Billy Conn fight, and the sound of the rooster crowing a warning to the group would draw the theater patron in even more.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20
Season total: 20

20.5 Surprised!

South Toward Home: Travels in Southern Literature by Margaret Eby

Margaret Eby, a Birmingham native, takes the reader for a tour of the Southern towns important to ten writers. She starts at the lovely home and gardens of Eudora Welty in Jackson, MS. The black author, Richard Wright, spent an impoverished childhood in Jackson, but became a well-respected writer when he was living in Chicago and Paris.

No book about Southern writers would be complete without William Faulkner and a trip to Oxford. She visits Oxford again to see Larry Brown's writing room and fishing spot, and Barry Hannah's favorite bar.

I never knew that Flannery O'Connor loved birds, and kept chickens and peacocks on a farm in Georgia. I've read Harry Crew's memoir about his childhood so there were not many surprises when a cousin showed Eby some important places in Crew's life in Bacon County, GA.

Eby traveled to Monroeville, Harper Lee's hometown, right before "Go Set a Watchman" was published. The old courthouse is now a museum with exhibits about her and Truman Capote who spent his summers in the Alabama town.

New Orleans was the hometown of John Kennedy Toole whose "A Confederacy of Dunces" was published eleven years after his suicide.

I had read six of the ten authors, and recognize that Eby chose authors whose hometowns are featured in their writing. They wrote about the type of people and situations they were familiar with. Their hometowns were in the Deep South, so readers would be getting a different look at Southern writers if she had gone to other parts of the South.

I enjoyed the book, although I had read some of the information elsewhere. Eby is a good storyteller as she writes about the authors' lives, their works, and the reactions of the folks who live in the writers' hometowns.

+20 task
+ 5 combo 10.9 Anniversaries (240 pg)
+10 review

Task total: 35
Season total: 55

30.1. Go for the Green Redux

Bouvet

BOUVETOYA, SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN-- RESULTS FROM THE NORWEGIAN ANTARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS 1976/77 and 1978/79 -- by Norsk Polarinstitute

This book is a collection of papers describing the various aspects of the Norwegian expedition to Bouvet in the late 1970s. Most striking was the repeated observations that the weather was too severe to complete a specific study. Given that the various authors were experienced polar scientists from Norway visiting the island during the Antarctic summer, that is really saying something about the environment. While some of the papers (especially the geology and seismic ones) were very difficult to read, overall I did get a sense of place as well as a little knowledge about a range a different scientific disciplines.

30 pts 30.1 Go for the Green Redux
5 pts 10.9 Anniversaries
5 pts 20.5 Surprised!
10 pts Review


Task Total: 50 pts
Season Total: 70 pts

Post 17

… … … … … … … … … …

… 20.2 … … … … … … … …

… … … … … … … … … …

HDYGG
15.1 Before We Were Yoursby Lisa Wingate
vegetable
Tomato-set in Tennessee
Mung Bean (for Memphis), Napa Cabbage (North America), Rue, Dill, and Lemon Verbena (for MPE pages 342),

6 plants
Task +15
Grand Total: 15

20. 6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

A novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view. One of the characters' owns cat.


Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Zoey, Mac, Charlotte, Oliver, Lizbeth, Lucy all main characters tell their own story.

Review:

Sarah Addison Allen is my go to author when I need a push to start reading regularly again. I wanted, no-I needed to love this book-as I have a few others of hers. 3 1/2 stars is not an "I loved it" for me. It was more, "it was better than just ok."

This is the story of a small condominium enclave, where it appears misfits (with untold stories) are lead to live. Among these misfits live the ghosts of their past. These ghosts are waiting to cross over. However, they cannot leave until the people within the court yard let go of them.

Within the courtyard Dellawisp birds nest. These small turquoise birds add to the mystical sense of the community. Until the final chapters of the book, sadly, the birds were for some reason the only characters I connected to.

I really disliked one of the main characters, Zoey. She was not meant to be disliked. She was a poor innocent teenager who inherited her condo after her mothers death. My dislike of Zoey was not her fault. It was how Addison wrote her that bothered me. She was nearly 19 years old, yet Addison formed the personality of a 15 year old here. I don't know if that was intentional, but it just felt wrong to me.

As I said, it was not until the final chapters of the book that I finally latched onto it. With the main characters stories finally out, I was able to reflect on the meaning of the ghosts and the Dellawisps.

In the author notes Addison tells us that while writing this book she lost both her mother and her sister. This explained a bit of her frame of mind while telling the story. Because of this information, it helped me reflect again on the characters and the story. In memory of the loss of her mom and sister (and truly, just by writing this review) I have decided to raise the rating to 4 stars.

+20 Task
+10 Reveiw
+ 10 Combo (10.9, 20.3)
Task Total 40
Season Total 40

10.1 - Rewind

Nothing Left by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 combo points missed post 9 - Combo - 10.9 - Anniversaries - page number ends in 0, 330

Task total: 15
Grand total: 25

15.1 HDYGG?

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Washington = WATERCRESS

289
2 = LEMON VERBENA
8 = ROSEMARY
9 = CHAMOMILE

thelasttaleoftheflowerbride = HELLEBORE*
thelasttaleoftheflowerbride = ROSE

+15 Task
+5 Flower Bonus

6 Total Plants

Task total: 20
Season total: 20

10.9 Anniversaries

When I Was the Wind by Hannah Lee Jones

+ 10 Task, MPE 100 pages

Task total: 10
Season total: 30

10.3 St Patrick's Day **edited Mar 9***

System Collapse by Martha Wells

It would have been very helpful to read Network Effect (again) before I jumped into this new Murderbot novel. My neural tissue was challenged trying to remember what had happened before the start of this instalment. This book starts right after Network Effect, and you are expected to remember why Murderbot is in this situation. Anyhow, I eventually caught up and of course enjoyed my time with Murderbot. They are changing, as you would expect a continuing character to – although it is somehow a little unexpected when that character is a Cyborg. This is still a worthwhile series, and Wells has left a giant cliffhanger at the end – so lucky us, more time with Murderbot in the future. 4* (As always, the audiobook is the way to go!).

10 task
10 combo 10.7, 10.9
10 combo
_______
30

Running total: 70

15.2 HDYGG?
Against the Currant (Spice Isle Bakery Mysteries #1) by Olivia Matthews

Flowers:
AgainST thE cuRrant - ASTER

Vegetables:
Little Caribbean - LEEK
Brooklyn - BEET
New York - NAPA CABBAGE

Herbs: page count = 304
0--PEPPERMINT
4--DILL

Count: 1 flower / 3 vegetables / 2 herbs
Total count (overall) : 1 flower / 5 vegetables / 4 herbs

+15 Task

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 30

10.3 St. Patrick's Day

Poulet et cervelle de paon à la romaine by Giorgio Albertini

Chronosquad series #3

+10 Task
No style points, Graphic Novel

Task total = 10

Points total = 10

… ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …

10.1 Rewind to Winter

Concerto en la mineur pour timbales et grosses têtes by Giorgio Albertini

Read #1 and #2 of the series in February for past challenge.

+10 Task
No style points, Graphic Novel

Task total = 10

Points total = 20

10.1 ; … ; 10.3 ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …
… ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; … ; …

15.1 HDYGG

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

down and oUT in pariS and LOndon - LOTUS
Vegetables:
France - FENNEL
Paris - POTATO
No herbs
Plants this post: 3
+15 points

Task total: 15
Season total: 50

HDYGG?

This post has been edited-thanks to Elizabeth, who pointed out I could claim flowers too. I was not understanding the instructions, I guess

15.1 Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll

Herbs

Page Count 597

5 Thyme
9 Chamomile
7 Parsley

Vegetables

Location

Hawaii Heart of Palm

Flowers

Iris
pacific crucible: war at sea in the pacific
(Two I's in Pacific, R in crucible, S in Sea)

Tulip
pacific crucible: war at sea in the pacific
(P in Pacific, U, I and L in Crucible, T in at)

3 Herb, 1 Veg , 2 Flowers

Plants This post total 6
Total garden 6 Plants



Task Points 15
Season Total 55

10.3 St. Patrick's Day

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn, 780 Lexile

+10 Task, Dash & Lily #3
+10 Combo: 20.5 (comma), 20.7 Lily lives in New York and travels to London to surprise her boyfriend for Christmas break

Task total: 20
Season total: 50

In Post 4, Ed wrote: "20.10 World of Crime (Rosemary's task)

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

This book is set in Laos right after the Communists have taken power. The lead characte..."

Based on the clarifications for 20.7, the combo for this one is not allowed. The doctor's training would have been longer than the short travel that the task creator intended for this task.

-5 pts

In Post 17, Mary wrote: "30.1. Go for the Green Redux

Bouvet

BOUVETOYA, SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN-- RESULTS FROM THE NORWEGIAN ANTARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS 1976/77 and 1978/79 -- by [author:Norsk Polarinsti..."

+10 Lost in Translation

In Post 19, Joanne wrote: "20. 6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

A novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view.


Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Zoey, Mac, Charlotte, Ol..."

You don't mention a cat in your review, but I'm guessing one of these characters has one?

In Post 20, Norma wrote: "10.1 - Rewind

Nothing Left by Scott Blade

+10 task
+5 combo points missed post 9 - Combo - 10.9 - Anniversaries - page number ends in 0, 330

Task total: 15
Grand..."

I don't think you're right about the missed combo. The kindle edition shows 330 pages, but the MPE is the paperback edition (we take the most popular print edition if there is one), which has 328 pages.

-5 pts

15.1 HDYGG

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

DAHLIAH: tHe wIDows of mALAbar Hill
ROSE: thE widOwS of malabaR hill

MALABAR HILL (neighborhood): Mung Bean
BOMBAY: Beet
INDIA: Iceberg Lettuce
ASIA: Artichoke

3: Rue
8: Rosemary
5: Thyme

9 plants this post
9 plants total

15 pts 15.1 HDYGG


Task Total: 15 pts
Season Total: 85 pts

Post 34

… … … … … … … … … …

… 20.2 … … … … … … … …
15.1 … … … … … … … … …

Joanna wrote: "In Post 17, Mary wrote: "30.1. Go for the Green Redux

Bouvet

BOUVETOYA, SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN-- RESULTS FROM THE NORWEGIAN ANTARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS 1976/77 and 1978/79 -- by..."

Thanks but I couldn’t find any indication that it was originally written in a language other than English. If you found something I would be very happy to take the points😊

Mary wrote: "Joanna wrote: "In Post 17, Mary wrote: "30.1. Go for the Green Redux

Bouvet

[book:BOUVETOYA, SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN-- RESULTS FROM THE NORWEGIAN ANTARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS 1976/77 and 1978/79 -..."

When I researched it (specifically on the website for the Norsk Polarinstitutt), all of the viewable research and public records were originally in Norwegian. It leads me to believe the original language for these papers was Norwegian also. Enjoy the points!

15.1 HDYYG?

A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss

Flowers:
ASpecTaclEofcoRruption - ASTER
aspectacLeofcorrUPTIon - TULIP
Vegetables:
London - LEEK
Herbs (392 pgs) (the 2 will be used elsewhere)
3 - RUE
9 - CHAMOMILE
Plants this post: 5

+15 Task

Season total = 80

Task 15.1 HDYGG?

Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story (2023) by Terri-Lynne DeFino (Goodreads Author) (Hardback 416 pages)

Flowers:
VAriNa pallaDino’s jERsEy itaLian love story – LAVENDER, +5
varIna palladino’s jersey italian LOVE sTory – VIOLET
varina PAlladiNo’s jerSeY italian love story – PANSY
varina paLLadIno’s jersey italian love storY – LILY

Vegetables:
New Jersey = Napa Cabbage

Herbs: page count = 416
1 = Horseradish
4 = Dill
6 = Chives

8 Plants this post
8 Total plants in the garden

+15 task
+05 flower bonus

Task Total: 15 + 05 = 20

Grand Total: 00 + 20 = 20

10.3 St Patrick's Day

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Eugene Parkson came running home from the park with bloodstains and dirt on his clothes. The neurodiverse 14-year-old boy had gone to the park with his father, Adam, but his father never returned home. Eugene had double diagnoses of autism and mosaic Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder, and was nonverbal. Where was Adam, and should his family call the police?

"Happiness Falls" is a riveting read because it is much more than a mystery/thriller. Narrated by college-aged Mia, it's also a family story about her twin, John, and her parents who must consider Eugene's needs in every decision they make. The mother, Hannah, is Korean so the book also has themes about race and how people perceive those who have trouble communicating when they are learning a second language. The brainy Mia also gets access to her father's notebooks and finds that he has been doing a study on happiness--and using their family in the study. That's not the only secret that Adam is hiding.

While this was a good mystery/thriller, it was the sections about neurodiversity and communication that were especially interesting. I was very impressed with the deep research that Angie Kim must have done to write this fascinating book. Readers that are just interested in reading a mystery might find that the tangents slow down the pace of the story too much. But on the positive side, all the medical, communication, and psychological tangents make a reader think about the challenges a nonverbal person faces with law enforcement officials as well as in their everyday lives. 4.5 stars.

+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.9 Anniversaries (400 pages)
+10 review

Task total: 25
Season total: 75

My first post, in message 5, should also have a combo for 10.9.

So my current running total should be: 75

15.1 HDYGG

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

Flowers
the underworld: journeys to the depths of the ocean SWEETPEA +
the underworld: journeys to the depths of the ocean LOTUS

Herbs
3 rue
5 thyme
2 lemon verbena

5 plants this post
5 plants this season

+15 task
+5 flower bonus
Task total: 20
Season total: 20

Joanna wrote: "In Post 19, Joanne wrote: "20. 6 Fruit Dish, Bottle and Violin

A novel with at least 3 different characters' points of view.


Other Birds by [author:Sarah Addison Allen|566874..."

Yes, one of the main characters does have a cat-so sorry I failed to mention it. Will insert a note

10.9 Anniversaries (Apple's task)

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan-335 pages

Review:

A family saga, written well, with a deep family story filled with secrets, heartache and yes love.

Nora and Theresa, young girls, Irish immigrants, come to America alone to escape the poverty of Ireland in the 1950's. Nora the oldest has no desire to marry her childhood friend. Theresa anticipates a large adventure. Their life in America becomes unsettled (Theresa becomes pregnant ) and the 2 girls part ways, and not in a good way. Through out the story we meet the family Nora had and we see how secrets kept can disrupt and unsettle a family. In the end, can it be too late to be forgiven?

This should have been a 4 star read for me-for some reason the sadness in it just overwhelmed too much, At another juncture I would have set it down for a later time. Thus, the difficulty of challenges, I suppose.

+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total 20
Season Total 75

20.7 International Travel (Owlette's task)

Same Beach, Next Year. Dorothea Benton Frank - 480 pages

Review:

Every year I try another book by Dorothea Benton Frank, some are better than others. The premise is that two couples vacation in the same Isle of Palms resort for more than twenty years, even though we find out early on that Adam Stanley and Eve Landers were each other's first loves, and their spouses, Eliza and Carl, are somewhat jealous and suspicious the whole time. Eve travels alone to her condo one weekend, suspecting that Carl is having an affair and trying to access what to do about it. Adam also travels to his condo, to do some repairs to the condo, and notices the light on next door. He goes over to check it out, finds Eve in tears, and spends the night there to comfort her. When the spouses show up the next day, each swears nothing happened, but the damage is done. Eliza leaves and decides to take the trip to Greece that she's wanted to make for her whole marriage, Carl moves out on Eve. Yada, yada.
It was an okay book, but really - Adam and Eve? Too many convenient plot twists and an unbelievable happy ending. It didn't really work for me.

+20 task (Eliza travels to Greece)
+10 review
+30 combo (10.4 - b. 1951; 10.5 - same, next, year; 10.9 - 480 pages; 20.3 - the Stanley have a nasty cat; 20.5 - comma; 20.6 - told from the POVs of Adam, Eve, Carl, Eliza)
Task total 60
Season total 60

20.1 The National Gallery

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder. C.L. Miller

Review:
Freya Lookwood is at a crossroads in her life. Her daughter has left for a new life in America, her ex-husband has forced her to sell the London home she had been raising their daughter in, and the man who once meant the world to her has just died. She goes back to her hometown in a quaint English village to attend his funeral, for her beloved aunt Carole's sake. Carole and Arthur were close friends, and when Freya felt he betrayed her, it caused a rift between her and her aunt. Now he is dead.
Arthur was an antique appraiser and dealer, with a secret sideline of repatriating antiques stolen from other cultures. It is a dangerous job, and one that Freya once helped him with, until it led to the young man she loved being killed. She has always blamed Arthur for this, but with the help of Carole, finds out the real story of what happened 20 years ago.
Arthur has left her the shop, and the journals he kept of his work, and this lays the foundation for what I hope will be a continuing series.

+20 task (A Martin Brothers Wally bird, an antique avante-garde ceramic piece is the crux of the book)
+10 review
+ 10 combo (20.5 - apostrophe; 20.6 - told from the POVs of Freya, Agatha, Harry, Carole)
Task total 40
Season total 100

20.1, 20.7

10.6 Modernism

The Maltese Falcon. Dashiell Hammett

Review:
I alternated reading the book with watching the movie, which helped me better understand the story. It was interesting how closely the movie followed the book. Sam Spade is private investigator, called on by a beautiful female client to help her find her sister. Her "sister" turns out to be a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette lost during the Crusades. There is a cabel, consisting of Brigid, Joel and Gutman, all conspiring to find it, at any cost. Spade is smarter than they are, though, and foils the attempt. One caveat I have, though, is it was a period piece, with period biases and writing style and dialog. You have to be able to accept that, or at least put it aside, to be able to enjoy the book. It's a bit of a stretch for me to do this, but I did enjoy the period piece.

+10 task (A Martin Brothers Wally bird, an antique avante-garde ceramic piece is the crux of the book)
+10 review
+ 15 combo (20.1 - Maltese Falcon; 20.6 - told from the POVs of Sam, Effie, Brigid; 20.9)

Task total 35
Season total 135

10.6
20.1, 20.7

15.2 How Does Your Garden Grow

The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell

pg 304 = peppermint
veg = Denmark = diakon

Flowers:
the yEAR of livinG DANisHlY: uncovering the secrets of the world's happiest country = Hydrangea +5
the year of living danishLy: unCOVERing the secrets of the world's happiest country = Clover
the year of living danishly: uncovering the secrets of the world's hAPpieSt couNtrY = Pansy
the year of living danishly: uNcovering the secrets of the world's hapPiEst cOuntrY = peony

plants this post = 6
total plants = 8

15 task
5 for hydrangea
_____
20

Running total: 95

15.2 HDYGG?

Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road by Stuart Stevens

Flowers:
nIghTtraintOturkistan:modernadVenturesaLongchina'sancientsilkroad - VIOLET
nighttRaintoturkistan:mOdernadventUreSalongChina'sanCientsilkroad - CROCUS
NIigHTtraintotUrkiStan:moDernAdventuresalongchina'sancientsilkroad - DIANTHUS +5
nighttrAintotuRkistan:modernadventuresalonGchina'sAnciENtsilkroaD - GARDENIA +5
Vegetables:
China - CUCUMBER
Asia - ARTICHOKE
Herbs (237 pgs)
No Herbs (in others posts to come)

6 Plants this post
11 Plants in the garden

+15 Task
+10 Flower Bonus

Task total: 25

Season total = 105

15.1 HDYGG?

Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson

Flowers
traCkS:a wOMan's SOlo trek across 1700 miles of australian outback COSMOS
tRacks:a WomaN's solO trEk aCrOss 1700 miLEs oF australian outback CONEFLOWER +5
tracks:a woman's solo trek across 1700 Miles of AUSTRalIaN oUTback NASTURTIUM +5

Vegetables
Artichoke - set 100% in Australia

Plants used this post =4
Total plants used = 4

+15 points
+10 flower bonus

Post Total - 25
Season Total = 60

15.1;
20.7;

20.9 Beware the Ides of March (Joanna's task)

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Monks are dying, and they are all connected to the secrets of the library in a wealthy Italian abbey. Is it related to some illicit and sinful activities that monks should not be getting up to, or does it have to do with the books themselves? Why is no one allowed in the library except for the librarian? And just how do you get in there? Why are so many monks moving around at night?

I had trouble following this, I did listen to the audiobook, and the parts in Latin, and the religious discussion did have me zoning out. It took me a VERY long time get through this, and I feel I am not being fair to the text, and am willing to give it another go in print form at some point.

Is there a conspiracy? Yes, there is a secret being kept, or multiple secrets, and one of those is being kept by multiple people and is resulting in multiple deaths. And, there are some secrets that are being kept by multiple people that is not related to the deaths at all. Is it because there are monks from different religious backgrounds living together, and their personal beliefs are different and conflicting? Hard to say.

Perhaps there is just a bit much going on and I am not at a time and place in my life that I could give this the full attention it deserved.

3 stars, but I am sure it is me, not the book.

+20 task
+10 review
+10 LIT
+10 1001
+5 jumbo
+15 combo (10.2; 20.7; 20.10)

Post Total - 70
Season Total = 130

15.1;
20.7; ...; 20.9