Reading with Style discussion

Got some good ideas for the season? Please share!

10-Point Tasks:

10.1- In the Heart of the Country by J.M. Coetzee
10.2- Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare
10.3- Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage by M.C. Beaton
10.4- The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
10.5- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
10.6- A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
10.7- Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
10.8- Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas?
10.9- City of Glass by Paul Auster AND/OR A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
10.10

20.1 Edmund Morris - Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

20.2 August Wilson: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

20.3 Theodore H. White: Looking for the Possible Dance by A.L. Kennedy

20.4 Robert Penn Warren: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides:- The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter: Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros

20.7 Annie Dillard- Salvador by Joan Didion

20.8 Most Strategic Reader: TEA?
20.9 Kate S's Task:- The Vice-Consul by Marguerite Duras
20.10 Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie and/or The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

I'm trying to read books I own, or books I need to read for library and lifelong learning book discussions. But I'll have to plan again since many of the book discussions were cancelled to avoid gatherings because of the coronavirus.



Possibilities:

10.1 Thirst for More (authors you've read 5 titles)
DONE A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (book disc)
Run by Ann Patchett(Own)
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Own)
DONE Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell (Own) 1001
DONE Burning Bright by Ron Rash
Many more

10.2 Letters (>20 letters in title)
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey (Own)
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield (Own)

10.3 Conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet)
So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger (Own)
Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing (Own)

10.4 High Five Day (exactly 5 words in title)
DONE The Legacy of Lucy Harte by Emma Heatherington (Own)
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (Own)

10.5 Sherlock Holmes (pub 1887-1927)
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (Own)
Summer by Edith Wharton (Own)

10.6 Richard Adams (>100,000 ratings, >3.75)
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng(Own)

10.7 In Memoriam (Judith, Melinda, Margaret, Joan, June, Winifred, Bruce, Graham)
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Margaret Atwood

10.8 Go to Jail
DONE His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae by Graeme Macrae Burnet

10.9 Trilogy (1st book)
Old Filth by Jane Gardam (own)

10.10 Group Reads
DONE The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan






20.1 Edmund Morris (award winners)
DONE Just Kids by Patti Smith NBA 2010

20.2 August Wilson (African American writers)
DONE Seven Guitars by August Wilson

20.3 Theodore H White (Presidents)
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (Own)
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (Own)
DONE Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler (Own)
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (Own)

20.4 Robert Penn Warren (the Great American Novel)
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (Own)
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (Own)

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides (cities)
DONE The Piano Lesson by August Wilson Pittsburg
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon Pittsburg
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Detroit
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy Detroit
If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar Cincinatti

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter (American short story writers)
Summer by Edith Wharton (Own)
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Own)
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Own)
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard (Own)
Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett (Own)

20.7 Annie Dillard (creative or narrative nonfiction)
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (Own)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer (Own)

20.8 My Cup of Tea
DONE The Godforsaken Daughter by Christina McKenna
DONE Books Do Furnish a Room by Anthony Powell (Own) 1001
DONE Hearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell (Own) 1001

20.9 Women in Translation
DONE Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

20.10 It's a Mystery (British crime fiction writers)
DONE The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (Own)

This may a difficult season to stay on track, there are so many tasks that I could focus on to the detriment of the others! As always - trying to use mostly books I own. I'm listing the current front-runners...

10.1 Thirst for more
The Long Way Home
The Scarred Woman
The Chalk Pit

10.2 Letters
The Comfort of Strangers (own)

10.3 Conjunctions
Cocktails for Three (own)

10.4 High five day
The Sorrows of Young Werther (own)

10.5 Sherlock Holmes

10.6 Richard Adams
Career of Evil (own)

10.7
10.8
10.9

10.10 Group reads
Small Island

20.1 Edmund Morris
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

20.2 August Wilson
Fear of the Dark (finally finishing the series! yay!)

20.3 Theodore H White
Becoming
I need some inspiration for this task, but the above is the fall back. Update: I made my alpha list (posted in the task thread) which helped me find on my TBR:
The Accidental Tourist
The Road Through the Wall

20.4 Robert Penn Warren
The Old Man and the Sea (own)

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides
Up in Honey's Room (own)

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter
Oleander Girl (own)
The Collected Stories (own)

20.7 Annie Dillard
a Mary Roach book? - whichever one has the shortest wait list
since it is more easily available:
Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat

20.8

20.9 Women in Translation
The Summer Book (yes, I've had to change my Blackjack plan.......)

20.10 It's a Mystery
Dick Francis
Georgette Heyer
Kate Atkinson

I always have too many possibles.

20.2 August Wilson:
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Quicksand by Nella Larsen
And not so "literary", RL'S Dream by Walter Mosley

20.3 Theodore H. White:
something by Jim Harrison, as I have several by him already on my shelves

20.4 Robert Penn Warren:
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides:
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter:
Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde (this was recommended at my real life book club!)
Swann by Carol Shields
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

20.7 Annie Dillard
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

..
..
20.1 The Education of Henry Adams
20.5 Punching Out: One Year in a Closing Auto Plant

soooo many possibilities! 😊

10-Point Tasks:

10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
10.9
10.10

20-Point Tasks:

20.1 Edmund Morris:
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond - Pulitzer, General Nonfiction, 2017
• Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold - Pulitzer, General Nonfiction, 2019
• The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed - NBA Nonfiction 2008

20.2 August Wilson:
•
•
•

20.3 Theodore H White:
• Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack Obama
• Love and Other Consolation Prizes, by Jamie Ford
• The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson
• Harmless Like You, by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
• Joshilyn Jackson ...

20.4 Robert Penn Warren:
• The Violent Bear It Away, by Flannery O’Connor - #170 (22 Feb 2020)
• Wise Blood, by Flannery O’Connor - #83 (22 Feb 2020)
• Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton - #155 (22 Feb 2020)
• The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan - #127 (22 Feb 2020)
• Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather - #85 (22 Feb 2020)
• The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton - #75 (22 Feb 2020)
• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers - #39 (22 Feb 2020)

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides:
Pittsburgh:
The Valley Of Decision, by Marcia Davenport
• The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson

St. Louis:
• The Twenty-Seventh City, by Jonathan Franzen

Cleveland:
• If Today Be Sweet: A Novel, by Thrity Unrigar
• Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng

Detroit:
• Elmore Leonard...

Buffalo:
•

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter:
• Lydia Davis...


20.7 Annie Dillard:
• Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin, by Jill Lepore
• Joe Gould's Teeth, by Jill Lepore
• Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees, by Harley Rustad

20.8 Most Strategic Reader:
20.9 Kate S's Task:
20.10 Elizabeth (Alaska)'s Task:

These are books I own, but whether or not I manage to stick only books I own for either the challenge or sub-challenge is up in the air. Hasn’t been accomplished in the last 10 years!

10.1 books from author already read x5
Susan witting albert*
Jaqueline Winspear *
Alexander McCall Smith*
Nevada Barr
Stephen King
Mark Twain
Charles Dickens
Barbara Kingsolver
Jennifer Chiaverini

10.2 more than 20 letters in title
On Secret Service Detective-Mystery Stories Based on Real Cases Solved By Government Agents *
Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century: The Classic That Woke Up the Church*

10.3 contains one conjunction
Gods and Generals
Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose

10.4 Title contains exactly 5 words, with or without subtitle
My Name is Mary Sutter
A Widow for One Year

10.5 published in Sherlock Holme’s “lifetime”. 1887-1927
The House Behind the Cedars
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
The Plumley Inheritance

10.6 book with over 100,000 ratings and average rating over 3.75
Where the Crawdads Sing
The Fault in Our Stars

10.7 In Memoriam
Margaret Truman*
Margaret Atwood
Joan Aiken
Joan Mellen
Bruce Catton

10.8 Go To jail
Malcolm X
The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker

10.9 First book in series or trilogy
Murder at the Kennedy Center**
Murder and the First Lady*
Murder in the Mystery Suite*
The Alexander Cipher*
A Murder of Crows*
The Strangler Vine*
Leading an Elegant Death*
The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes*
Vienna Waltz*
My Lady Judge*
The Stainless Steel Rat*
Kicked to Death by a Camel*
The Diehard **
The Punjat's Ruby*
The Cold Dish*
Nightmares Can Be Murder*

✔️ 10.10 Group Reads
Small Island
✔️ The Warlow Experiment
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk


20.1 Pulitzer winner for bio, NF, History or NBA for bio, auto, NF
The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies*
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Mary Chestnut's Civil War
The Education of Henry Adams*
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Profiles in Courage*
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
God: A Biography
On Human Nature
A Stillness at Appomattox
The Atlantic Migration 1607-1860: A History of the Continuing Settlement of the United States

20.2 List of African American writers
Richard Wright
Octavia E. Butler
Stephen L. Carter
Pearl Cleage
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ernest Gaines


20.3 Author shares a name with US President
Douglas Adams
Harriet Adams
Henry Adams
Richard Adams
Samuel Adams
George W. Bush
Angela Carter
Jimmy Carter
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Susan Coolidge
Lisa Jackson
Adam Johnson
John F. Kennedy
Robin McKinley
Michelle Obama
Tamora Pierce
Ron Reagan
William Nelson Taft
Margaret Truman

20.4 Book from top 175 in GAN list
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
Stoner
Ragtime
Invisible Man

20.5 ->51% takes place in Buffalo, NY, Detroit, MI, Cleveland. OH, Pittsburgh, PA or St Louis, MO
The Perks of Being a Wallflower*
The Dollmaker
Them
Meet Me in St. Louis
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, A Life Reclaimed
The Detroit Electric Scheme**
Legs**


20.6 Read from list of American Short Stories Authors list
Kay Boyle
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Edwidge Danticat
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Joyce Carol Oates
Shirley Jackson
Min Jin Lee
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Nella Larson
Aryn Kyle


20.7 -creative or narrative Non-fiction
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer*
Sham: Great Was Second Best: A Brave Bay's Rivalry with the Legendary Secretariat
Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land

20.8 Character brews or drinks hot tea
Leaving Everything Most Loved
The Herring Seller's Apprentice**

20.9 - Read a book by woman author who didn’t write in English
Isabel Allende
George Sand
Madame de La Fayette
Johanna Spyri

20.10 - Read from list of British Crime Writers
Ruth Rendell
Agatha Christie
Georgette Heyer
Oliver Onions
Dick Francis
Sarah Dunant
Edith Pargeter
Lee Child
Raymond Chandler
Kate Atkinson
Laura Wilson*
Lindsey Davis
Charles Warren Adams*
Jane Adams*
R.J. Ellory
P. D. James
Iain Pears
Anne Perry
Dorothy Sayers
Peter Lovesey
John Grant*
Anne Cleeves

Told you I had a lot of books!

This will be my first time participating in this challenge for a couple of years. I’ve fallen into the habit of prioritising shorter or easier books over the last year and I hope this challenge will give me an incentive to read outside my comfort zone a little more often.

Tasks completed:
RwS: 6/20
Blackjack: 4/10
Total: 10/30

My Spring 2020 reading record

✔️ 10.1 Thirst for More
The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

10.2 Letters

10.3 Conjunctions

10.4 High Five Day

✔️ 10.5 Sherlock Holmes
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

10.6 Richard Adams

10.7 In Memoriam (Coralie's Task)

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

✔️10.9 Trilogy (Tien's Task)
Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon

10.10 Group Reads

✔️ 20.1 Edmund Morris
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

20.2 August Wilson

✔️ 20.3 Theodore H White
The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe by Milly Johnson

20.4 Robert Penn Warren

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter

20.7 Annie Dillard

20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)

✔️ 20.9 Women in Translation (Kate S's Task)
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson [1001 list, pub. 1972]

20.10 It's a Mystery (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s Task)


Shortlist

✔️ 10.1 Thirst for More
Read any book by an author by whom you have already read at least 5 titles before March 1, 2020.
The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie
Jenny Colgan
Joanne Fluke
Gabriel García Márquez
J.K. Rowling
Bill Bryson
John Grisham
Nick Hornby
John le Carré

10.2 Letters
Read a book with more than 20 letters in the title.
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

10.3 Conjunctions
Read a book whose title contains one (and one only) of these conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.

10.4 High Five Day
Read a book with exactly 5 words in the title (subtitles may be counted or not as benefits the reader).
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

✔️ 10.5 Sherlock Holmes
Read any book published during Holmes "lifetime", 1887-1927.
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

10.6 Richard Adams
Read a book with over 100,000 ratings with an average rating over 3.75.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

10.7 In Memoriam (Coralie's Task)
Judith, Melinda, Margaret, Joan, June, Winifred, Bruce, Graham.

10.8 Go to Jail (Joanna's Task via Anika)
Read a book where jail or prison plays a role OR a book by an author who has been to prison or jail.

✔️ 10.9 Trilogy (Tien's Task)
Read a book that is the first in a completed series/trilogy.
✔️ Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

10.10 Group Reads

Small Island by Andrea Levy
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

20.1 Edmund Morris
Read any winner of the Pulitzer for History, Biography, or General Nonfiction OR one of the winners of the National Book Award for Biography, Autobiography or Nonfiction.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates [library hold - 3rd in line]

20.2 August Wilson
Read a book written by one of these African American writers.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

✔️ 20.3 Theodore H White
Read a book by an author who shares a surname with one of the U.S. Presidents.
✔️ The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe by Milly Johnson

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Everything Under by Daisy Johnson
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
Wayward Girls and Wicked Women by Angela Carter (editor - check if accepted before reading)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Becoming by Michelle Obama

20.4 Robert Penn Warren
Read one of the top 175 books from this list of this list of The Great American Novel.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides
Read any book - fiction or nonfiction - set at least 51% in Detroit (Michigan), St. Louis (Missouri), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Buffalo (New York), or Cleveland (Ohio).

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter
Read any book written by one of these American Short Story writers.
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

20.7 Annie Dillard
Read a work of creative or narrative nonfiction.
Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem
Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm by Isabella Tree
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Stephen Brusatte

20.8 My Cup of Tea (Owlette's Task)
Read a novel in which a character drinks or brews a cup of hot tea.

✔️ 20.9 Women in Translation (Kate S's Task)
Read a book written by a woman in a language other than English.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel [1001 list, pub. 1989]
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The Wonder Approach: Rescuing Children's Innate Desire to Learn by Catherine L'Ecuyer
✔️ The Summer Book by Tove Jansson [1001 list, pub. 1972] [ebook from library - due 23 March]

20.10 It's a Mystery (Elizabeth(Alaska)'s Task)
Read any book by one of these authors who are English crime fiction writers.

Kate Atkinson
Raymond Chandler
Agatha Christie
P.D. James

Welcome back, Bryony! Yes, the Angela Carter as editor is acceptable for 20.3.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Welcome back, Bryony! Yes, the Angela Carter as editor is acceptable for 20.3."

Thanks for the welcome, and letting me know that would be okay for 20.3.

10.1 Thirst for More
The Dutch House

10.2 Letters

10.3 Conjunctions
All of Us and Everything

10.4 High Five Day

10.5 Sherlock Holmes

10.6 Richard Adams

10.7

10.8

10.9

10.10 Group Reads

20.1 Edmund Morris

20.2 August Wilson
The Color Purple (reading for IRL book club)

20.3 Theodore H. White

20.4 Robert Penn Warren
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Beautiful and Damned
Let the Great World Spin
The Cider House Rules
Revolutionary Road
The Bridge of San Luis Rey

20.5 Jeffrey Eugenides
Little Fires Everywhere

20.6 Katherine Anne Porter
Joyce Carol Oates
Jhumpa Lahiri
Meg Wolitzer
Jennifer Egan
Myla Goldberg
Zora Neale Hurston
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Curtis Sittenfeld

20.7 Annie Dillard
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know?

20.8

20.9 Woman in Translation
Celestial Bodies (Oman for group project)
Kitchen

20.10 It's a Mystery
Dorothy Sayers