September Challenges

 Sep 1. A book with a number or color word in the title

The Four Winds

Author: Kristin Hannah

Genre: historical fiction

Number of pages: 499

First published: 2021

Setting: Texas

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: Hope is a coin I carry: an American penny, given o me by a man I came to love.

One sentence comment: I’m impressed to have a glimpse of the drought, the sand storm, the flood and the worker association during the 1930’s America.

 The first few chapters are eye-catching; it drew me to the struggle of a woman being distained by her native family. She had limited choices and she bravely chose one for her future. The story further impressed me when the protagonist, Elsa and her mother-in-law developed a strong bond. The flaw of the story is the relationship between Elsa and her husband. I could not sympathize with it at all. He was the weakest person in the whole family, but how could she had so much love for him?

 This is the second book by Kristin Hannh that I have read after The Great Alone. I love her story and the way it was told. Never lose hope when the worst kept coming.

 

Sep book 2. A book written for children or classified as YA

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Genre: YA

Number of pages: 313

First published: 2012

Setting: Indiana, USA

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.

One sentence comment: It’s a young adult fiction that tackles heavy subject, counting your time to death.

 I bought the book because the book title was attractive. it sounded like a line of poem, and it triggered my curiosity. Then I found out it was about tragic stories where the protagonists tried their best to live a fulfilling life. I love their conversations and the philosophy involved. Surprisingly the book with depth is focused on life of the young people whose short lives were embedded with books, movies, thoughts and love. Having a much longer life than them, I felt as if I had not lived when I were young. It is a book that makes me think whether I take life for granted without being grateful and I should have worked harder.

 

Sep book 3 a classic or modern classic which is sometimes required reading in high school or in university

To Kill a Mocking Bird

Author: Harper Lee

Genre: classic fiction

Number of pages: 307

First published: 1961

Setting: Alabama, USA in 1930’s

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

One sentence comment: The 7-year-old narrator is fabulous and adorable.

 The beginning of the book cast an intriguing shadow by the ‘malevolent phantom’, which reminded me of another book My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, and I thought perhaps Ferrante got inspiration from this book.

 I enjoy reading the protagonist’s family and school life. Doctors and lawyers were paid by potatoes. You could be scolded by the teacher that you had learned reading and writing at home before going to school. The incidents were so unique that I was surprised that it was like a completely different world in Alabama in the 1930’s. However, I think the heroism related to the protagonist’s father is over the top and unrealistic. Perhaps the author’s next book Go Set a Watchman is better.

 

 

Sep book 4 a book with a word in a title of something that you would find and learn in school (war)

Warbreaker

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: fantasy

Number of pages: 676

First published: 2009

Setting: T’telir

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: It’s funny, Vasher thought, how many things begin with my getting thrown into prison.

One sentence comment: I am intrigued by the fantastic kingdom of returned gods and awakening magic.

 It’s the first book that I’ve read by Brandon Sanderson, who’s probably the most noted fantasy writer nowadays. I started to read fantasy this year, hoping to be revitalized because young people like to read fantasy. It provides a larger world of imagination and with adventure. I chose a book of which major protagonists are women. However, I somewhat dislike the two female protagonists. I think they are too much into the trope of princesses. On the other hand, I was particularly interested in the male protagonist, Lightsong, who was esteemed in the kingdom but doubted his role and the rules of the system. The line of his story was a mystery, about which I was as much curious as he was. This book makes me want to read more by Sanderson because I reckon he may think like a philosopher

August Book Challenge

 

1 An author you’ve never read

Murder with Peacocks ( Meg Langslow Mystery #1)

Author: Donna Andrews

Genre: cozy mystery

Number of pages: 296

First published: 1999

Setting: Yorktown, Virginia

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: I had become so used to hysterical dawn phone calls that I only mutered one halfhearted oath before answering.

One sentence comment: The whole set of quirky cast can sound so real and uplifting.

 

I am fascinated by Mr Langslow, an eccentric retired doctor and the protagonist’s father, who often did strange experiment or brought up unwelcomed bloody topics to dinner table, including the murder case. His detective-minded daughter, Meg, was hilarious while she was organizing three weddings at the same time. The preparation was astonishing and admirable. I would have been highly enjoyable to be part of it. Meg sometimes suspected her parents were involved in the ‘geriatric love triangle’ resulting to murder. What an entertaining fun mystery! No wonder it won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. In addition, the fantastic bookcover will possibly be my favorite of the year.

 

I was intrigued by one of the wedding presents in the book, so I googled and found out what Spanish moss was.

 

2 a book with a blue cover

My Family and Other Animals

Author: Gerald Durrell

Genre: fiction

Number of pages: 373

First published: 1956

Setting: Corfu island

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: July had been blown out like a candle by a biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky.

One sentence comment: The author’s beautiful prose and unusual pets are both baffling and intriguing for me to get into an romantic life in the island.

 

All the animals on the lovely book cover are the author’s home pet after he moved to Corfu with his family. There are numerous humorous and heart warming stories about them. The most implausible but inspiring plot is about Dodo, the dog the author’s mother adopted. How Dodo was possessive about Mother and how Mother doted on her are both exceptional.

 

The reason why it doesn’t get my five stars is because of its difficult vocabularies about wildlife and plants.

 

3 free pick

Harvest

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Genre: medical thriller

Number of pages: 512

First published: 1996

Setting: Boston

Rating: 4 stars

One sentence comment: The fictional plot is as dramatic as the realistic crime that horrify the world.

 

It’s probably the first book about scandal of organ transplantation that has raised awareness of the crime happening in China. US medical associations have forbidden doctors from China to gain latest organ transplantation for years. It is high time to read the book when the US government passed a law to prosecute forced organ harvesting recently.

 

4 a book in a series

Royal Flush (Royal Spyness Mystery #3)

Author: Rhys Bowen

Genre: historical mystery

Number of pages: 306

First published: 2009

Setting: Scotland

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: It is my opinion that there is no place on earth more uncomfortable than London during a heat wave.

One sentence comment: Having been reading the series and known the major characters with little surprise from them, I still quite enjoy the plot about the royal family.

 

In this book, I get to read about the late queen Elizabeth II as a girl at the Balmoral Castle. I guess Rhys Bowen had read The Little Princesses, a biography written by the late queen’s governess, so that she wrote that the young princess wanted to marry a farmer at the time. It’s so interesting to realize how a life turns. Mrs Simpson, who would later become the wife of Prince of Wales, was surprisingly haughty and preposterous. Isn’t it a good luck for the late queen to meet two obnoxious American women at different periods of her time?

 

5 a book with a two-word title

The Stand

Author: Stephen King

Genre: dystopian

Number of pages: 1296

First published: 1989

Setting: The US

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: “Sally.”

One sentence comment: It is an ambitious work including a large cast and vast reference to literature and Bible.

 

The first part of the book caught my attention. The atmosphere of the world coming to an end kept me on edge. However, I found this book too long and I don’t particular like to read a supernatural character, Flagg. It was considered Stephen King’s best book from many booktubers. However, I am not particularly drawn to the dystopian novel.

 

6 A book with “The” at the first word of the title

The Mysterious Affairs at Styles

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: cozy mystery

Number of pages: 264

First published: 1920

Setting: England

Rating: 3 stars

One sentence comment: The first book of Poirot is well written but characters in Christie’s books are too simplified comparing with those of modern cozy mysteries.

 

7 A book with a male protagonist

And Then There Were None

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: cozy mystery

Number of pages: 293

First published: 1939

Setting: an island

Rating: 3 stars

One sentence comment: The famous locked room mystery is intriguing but not interesting.

 

May Book Challenge

 

May *1  Pick the shortest book (fewest pages).

The 39 steps

 

Author: John Buchan

Genre: spy mystery

Number of pages: 118

First published: 1915

Setting: first world war

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: I returned from the City about three o’clock on that May afternoon pretty well disgusted with life.

One sentence comment: I enjoy the plot which involved psychological consideration.

It’s amazing how people can disguise in front of the enemy. It takes a strong personality that can control fear. This is an absolute classic spy novel.

 

May *2 Pick the one with the longest title (most letters)

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Author: Lori Gottlieb

Genre: memoir

Number of pages: 415

First published: 2019

Setting: present

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: Have compassion.

One sentence comment: I have been ravished to meet such a candid therapist.

It’s a surprisingly honest memoir as if she were facing a group of patients to whom she needed to unfold herself to help understand that it is a first step to healing. I can find myself in each case she talked about, so that I got lots of advice from her. She is such a good story teller that I feel I actually meet these cases.

 

May *3 Pick the one with the cover you like best.

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modewrn (The Cat Who Mystery #2)

Author: Lilian Jackson Braun

Genre: mystery

Number of pages: 247

First published: 1967

Setting: the US in the 1960’s

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: Jim Qwilleran prepared his bachelor breakfast with a look of boredom and distaste, accentuated by the down-curve of his bushy moustache.

One sentence comment: The description of the intelligent cat in the novel is so vivid that a person like me, who never try to have a pet, would see the cat as if he were beside me.

 I used to think the covers of the series were too bright to be tasteful, but now I know they are just right for this modern art world. I love the mysterious title with red herring items on the cover. I don’t mind the murder happened later in the book, as long as I met David the charmer, and the down-to-earth photographer, not to mention the protagonist who didn’t have a house, a wife or a satisfactory job, but he was a cat lover. This series seems to plow in the art world full of quirky characters, which has given me joyful time of reading.

 

May *4 Pick the one by the author whose last name is alphabetically last.

A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L’engle

Genre: sci-fi and fantasy

Number of pages: 212

First published: 1962

Setting: outside Earth

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: It was a dark and stormy night.

One sentence comment: It can be the first book for children to appreciate science fiction and fantasy.

 The personality of the protagonist Meg showed that it is an outdated book where the female character was moody and irrational but full of passion.

 

March Book Challenges

 

March *1 A book written by a woman

Silver Wedding

Author: Maeve Binchy

Genre: fiction

Page number: 385

First published: 1988

Setting: England and Ireland

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: Anna knew that he was doing his best to be interested.

One sentence comment: This fourth novel by Maeve Binchy didn’t live up to her first three novels, which are marvelous and dazzling; however, I still felt very much drawn to various characters in this comparatively thin book.

 Binchy is on top of my favorite authors. She had an extraordinary ability of telling stories, bringing the lost time and values to the present. Yet, time may be different, emotions are tangible, lingering in my heart for a long time. During my reading, I watched a video of Binchy where she talked about her summer love that had turned to despair. I suddenly understood why in the first four books I have read, there was always a charming young man in each story to break the girl’s heart. In this book there were two things that surprised me. The first is that I didn’t know she could write the war between a man and a woman so pungent! Secondly, previously she wrote about female characters to the full. This time she wrote a man’s thought, conscience and rage deeply and vividly that I stopped to ponder and question myself whether I haven’t held on enough to integrity. I had never loved a multi-point-of-view novel before, but Binchy altered my prejudice.

 

March *2 A book with a woman on the cover

What Remains of Heaven (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #5)

Author: C. S. Harris

Genre: historical mystery

Page number: 324

First published: 2009

Setting: London, 1812

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: His breath coming in undignified grasps, the Reverend Malcolm Earnshaw abandoned the village high street and struck out through the lanky grass of the churchyard.

One sentence comment: I am delighted to know about the politics in Britain in 1812 by this highly entertaining book.

This is the fifth book of the Sabastian St Cyre series. I couldn't help smiling even before turning the first page. I love the confrontation between Lord Jarvis and his daughter, Hero. Jarvis has the reputation that anyone inconvenient to him had a habit of turning up dead. However, Hero is his indomitable enemy and love. He often wishes she were a son so he could appreciate her intellect and courage. On the other hand, I grow to like the male protagonist, Sabastian.  I chuckle whenever he says 'why tell me this?' in front of people seeking his help. Most of the time he is full of himself, contrary to Hero, but they are bound to bind together.

       The murder in this book is unusual for it involves something thirty years ago. Therefore, this is the most intriguing death. Another interesting matter in the story is that it involved rivalry in the parliament on slavery law and child labor issue. Furthermore and most unexpectedly, we get to meet Benjamin Franklin's son, who was against his father's revolt in the US, and stayed royal to the Prince in England. This is something I had not heard of before.

       I think Harris had played down her language a lot comparing with her first two books. She used to use lush vocabularies to augment the aura of regency era where aristocrats in the pursuit of  fashion and fine art.  Perhaps the mass market didn't bye it so she changed her style.

 

March *3 A book with a woman’s name in the title

The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh

Author: Linda Colley

Genre: biography

Page number: 361

First published: 2008

Setting: Europe, Africa, East Asia

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: This is a biography that crosses boundaries, and it tells three connected stories.

One sentence comment: This book can be useful if I want to write a novel about seafarers of the time.

I could be a very interesting story concerning a British woman's life during pre- Victorian era when the empire was launching its global sea power. However, the historian writer kept rambling the story with meticulous details as if I were in a soporific lecture room.

 

March *4 A book with a woman in a non-conventional role for her time

A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery #2)

Author: Rhys Bowen

Genre: historical mystery

Number of pages: 303

First published: 2008

Setting: London, 1932

Rating: 5 stars

First sentence: The alarm clock woke me this morning at the ungodly hour of eight.

One sentence comment: Excellent plot with a funny German princess coming to England, then brought up an international conspiracy.

 Bowen is good at writing comic scenes and hilarious characters. With Hitler prepared to lead Germany and Russian communists keen on subversion, this book is a light read to experience the the pre-WWII era with depression and uncertainly. A bit like the present time in Europe. By the way, I adore the style of book covers on the series.

 

Local club choice

The Call of the Wild

 

November Book Challenges

 

Nov # a book published before 1900

Lady Susan

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: epistolary

Page number: 58

First published: 1871

Setting: England in Regency era

Rating: 2 stars

First sentence: My dear brother – I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kind invitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with you at Churchill, and, therefore, if quite convenient to you and Mrs Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to be introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with.

One sentence comment: It feels odd to read an epistolary novel full of calculation for marriages written by a young lady under 20.

          It means that Austen never believed in love. A romantic person became realistic because she experiences hardship in life as she grows older. But if Austen saw through the mask of marriages as a teen, how could she write romantic novels in later years? I start to think that Austen had known that marriages are business from the very beginning.

 

Nov # a book with a reading word in the title

Mayhem at the Orient Express ( A League of Literary Ladies Mystery #1)

Author: Kylie Logan

Genre: cozy mystery

Page number:282

First published: 2013

Setting: An island off Ohio at present time

Rating: 2 stars

First sentence: If it weren’t for Jerry Garcia peeing on my pansies, I never would have joined the League of Literary Ladies.

One sentence comment: It's most  disappointing that the author came up with the idea of a book club in a mystery, but had no merit of book discussion.

 

In terms of character building, dialogs, and plot development, this book achieves nothing. From the very beginning, since the three women protagonists appeared, which seemed to signal a possibly interesting mystery, they quarreled up to 50 pages before the murder happened. You would think things could have taken a good turn, but their conflict went on while the author were introducing more flat characters and boring conversation. I didn't give up the book simply because I wanted to find out the solution. Then I can sum up my experience, that is never trust a mystery series if its first book is published after 2010.

 

 

Nov # a book included on Goodread’s 1000 books to read before you die

The Awakening

Author: Kate Chopin

Genre: fiction

Page number: 113

First published: 1892

Setting: Louisiana, USA in the late 19^th century

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: A green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over: ‘Allez ous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That’s all right!’

One sentence comment: Told like a slow paced romance, this book, however, activates my investigating mind, eager to find out the outcome.

 

It’s a languid story about Mrs Edna Pontellier, a 21 year-old woman with children, supplied a comfortable life by her husband. She is involved with two men, Robert and Arobin, one she loves and the other she is pursued by. The courting in this book is peculiar and almost unrealistic for a modern reader, like me; however, over a hundred years apart, I get a chance to savor the writing about the powerlessness of a young woman. When she decided that she ‘no longer one of Mr Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not,’ I guess it is why the book was banned.

 

Nov # a book you would consider to be light reading

A is for Alibi

Author: Sue Grafton

Genre: soft-boiled mystery

Page number: 308

First published: 1982

Setting: CA, USA, in 1980’s

Rating: 2 stars

First sentence: My name is Kinsey Millhone.

One sentence comment: It’s hard to relate to any of the characters in the book.

 

          The first sentence is bland and so are many others. I’m disappointed about this book since I thought this long running series must be enchanting. It only tried to tell a drama of a group of non feeling people.