You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

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Book Length is 175 page minimum
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Completed Attractions & Sidetrips
~ Site 3 ~ Spirit of the West, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
~ Site 2 ~ The USSR Enterprise, Vulcan, Alberta, Canada
~ Site 1 ~ Three Valley Gap, British Columbia, Canada
~ Side Trip 1 ~ East Meets West, Tulsa, Oklahoma
~ Site 26 ~ The World's Largest Sundial, Singleton, Australia
~ Site 16 ~ Bewitched Statue, Salem Massachusetts
~ Site 28 ~ The Big Beer Can, Ghan, Australia
~ Side Trip 2 ~ The Blue Whale, Catoosa, Oklahoma
~ Site 24 ~ Big Mosquito, Hexham, Australia
~ Site 6 ~ Poppy Memorial, Parc des Pionniers, Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada
~ Site 19 ~ World's Largest Killer Bee, Hidalgo, Texas
~ Site 33 ~ The Singing Ringing Tree, Lancashire, England
~ Site 18 ~ World's Largest Chest of Drawers, High Point, North Carolina
~ Site 21 ~ The Big Powerful Owl, Belconnen, Australia
~ Site 30 ~ The Big Sapphire Ring, Sapphire, Queensland
~ Site 8 ~ World's Largest Fiddle, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
~ Site 36 ~ The Snail House, Sofia, Bulgaria
~ Site 11 ~ Santa Claus House & Giant Santa, North Pole, Alaska, USA
~ Site 27 ~ The Big Aboriginal Hunter, Anmatjere, Australia
~ Site 38 ~ Hill of Crosses,Northern Lithuania
~ Side Trip #3 ~ Tall Grass Prairie, Pawhuska Oklahoma
~ Site 15 ~ Statue of Popeye, Chester Illinois, USA
~ Site 22 ~ Big Banana, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
~ Site 12 ~ Fountain of Youth, Lewes, Delaware, USA
~ Side Trip #4 ~ Great Salt Plains, Jet, OKlahoma
~ Site 39 ~ Giant Clothespin, Chaudfontaine, Belgium
~ Site 31 ~ The Kelpies, Scotland
~ Site 10 ~ World's Largest Hand Held Egg Beater, Prince Edward Island, Canada
~ Site 34 ~ Sibelius Monument, Helsinki, Finland
~ Site 7 ~ Blowhard the Bony Horse, Cardwell, New Brunswick, Canada
~ Site 40 ~ Fork of Vevey, Vevey, Switzerland
~ Site 9 ~ Mermaids of St. Johns, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
~ Site 4 ~ Narcisse Snake Den Sculpture, Inwood, Manitoba, Canada
~ Site 5 ~ The Big Nickle, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
~ Site 13 ~ Hawaii Five-O Jack Lord Bust, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
~ Site 14 ~ Shoshone Ice Caves, Shoshone, Idaho, USA
~ Site 29 ~ Big Books, Alice Springs, Australia
~ Site 23 ~ The Big Kookaburra, Kurri Kurri, Australia
~ Site 17 ~ Giant Dog and Taxi Cab, New York, New York, USA
~ Site 20 ~ Foamhedge, Centerville, Virginia
~ Site 35 ~ Untitled, Amsterdam, Netherlands
~ Site 37 ~ Caso do Penedo (Stone House)
~ Site 25 ~ The Big Prawn, West Ballina, Australia
~ Site 32 ~ Whimsical Statue, Swansea Marina, Wales UK
~ Sidetrip#5 ~ Robbers Cave, Wilburton, OK

Sites Remaining

~ BADGE 1 COMPLETED TASKS ~

Site 1.1 ~ The Graveyard Book
Site 1.2 ~ Dead End in Norvelt
Site 1.3 ~ Copper Sun

Site 2.1 ~ One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow
Site 2.2 ~ Redshirts
Site 2.3 ~ We Are All Made of Stars ]

Site 3.1 ~ Queen Bee
Site 3.2 ~ The Last Stage
Site 3.3 ~ How the Penguins Saved Veronica

Site 26.1 ~ Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America
Site 26.2 ~ The Lost Dog
Site 26.3 ~ Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight

Side Trip 1.1 ~ I Will Send Rain
Side Trip 1.2 ~ The Big Finish
Side Trip 1.3 ~ The Ex


Badge Request Submitted 3.4.22

♞ Pat wrote: "I also have a plan for my first Side Trip Attraction....

Souvenir - The sculpture features horses, cars, and wagons. Route 66 is nicknamed "The Mother Road".


One of the things that seems to be confusing people is the intent behind the souvenir. You need to suggest an item that would be available from the gift shop, if the site had a gift shop. While the sculpture features horses, cars, and wagons, it's not an item to take home. You've basically written a second "about" task. A suggestion could be a t-shirt with a screen print of the sculpture (the car and wagon).

Ah. Ok. I understand. There's no gift shop, but I understand what the intent is, so I'll fix my book plan! Will this work?

3. Souvenir - Route 66 is historically nicknamed "The Mother Road" and roadside attraction gift shops offer a variety of souvenier items featuring this iconic highway. Coffee mugs, shot glasses, and keychains bearing the 66 highway logo are all popular items that can be purchased at the gift shop.
Book with a mug, cup, glass, or key on the cover

Thanks Pat.

Badge 1, Book 1
Site 3, About
The Last Stage by Louise Voss
Completed ~ 2.1.22
Kindle Edition, 300 pages.
Task ~ Read a book written by an author whose initial of any name starts with V.
Author is Sharon Voss

I wish I could say I enjoyed this book, but it didn't capture enough of my attention to keep me interested, and I found my mind wandering. I had to reread several paragraphs multiple times just because I realized I wasn't paying attention.
2☆

✔️

That's awesome that the TickerFactory widget works again.

Janice wrote: "✔️

That's awesome that the TickerFactory widget works again."

Well, it works about as well as it always did, which simply means that you can't "link" it, but you can update it and post the new image.

Still, I was hoping it would work at least this well. ;-)

Badge 1, Book 2
Site 26, Location
Mediocre by Ijeoma Oluo
Completed ~ 2.2.22
Hardcover, 318 pg
Task ~ Read a book with a one word title (no articles)
Mediocre is a single word. I discounted the subtitle, which I hope is what we were expected to do, since it wasn't specified.

Review
All I can say is, "WOW." This is probably one of the single best commentaries on our current political state and how we got there that I've ever read.
5☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 3
Site 3, Location
Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank
Completed ~ 2.5.22
Hardcover, 414 pg
Task ~ Read a book with a character who is a queen, or the title contains queen
Title ~ QUEEN Bee

Review
Quick paced, light fluff, enjoyable and fun reading.
3☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 4
Site 3, Souvenir
How the Penguins Saved Veronica byHazel Prior
Completed ~ 2.6.22
Paperback, 355 pg
Task ~ Read a book set during freezing temperatures.
How it Fits ~ Setting is Antarctica

Review
Really enjoyable, fun, lighthearted reading. I loved Veronica. She reminded me of Ove.
4☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 5
Sidetrip 1.2 ~ About
The Big Finish by Brooke Fossey
Completed ~ 2.8.22
Hardcover, 336 pg
Task ~ Read a book that has a conflict between "old and new." example: Parent/child, coming of age, grandparent/grandchild...etc
How it Fits ~ Duffy is an 88 year-old-man in an assisted living center. Josie is his roommate's granddaughter. They have frequent arguments, but they become friends eventually.


Review
I'm not sure what it means that I've started really enjoying books about old, cranky people. Duffy is a delightfully funny fellow, with a big heart which he hides behind his gruff exterior. I enjoyed this book tremendously. The cover is misleading - he and Josie don't actually ride a motorcycle together. He and ANDERSON (the chef at the assisted living center) ride one when Anderson picks Duffy up in front of a local bar, where Duffy has followed Josie to keep an eye on her.
4☆

✔️

Which resonates with you more - the old, or the cranky?

The cranky for sure! I love those people who have gotten to a point in life where they just don’t give a flip and say EXACTLY what they think!

I really like Fredrick Backman for that. He has some curmudgeons you grow to love.

Janice wrote: "I really like Fredrick Backman for that. He has some curmudgeons you grow to love."

Oh doesn't he though? I LOVE Ove! He's very similar to Duffy in this book, only Duffy is kind of funny.

For the record, in case I haven't said it... Thanks for putting this challenge out there. I know it has to be an incredible time consuming labor of love to get it put together and then moderated.

This is the only personal challenge I'm taking on this year, mostly because your creativity in creating tasks as well as the way you push me into genres that I wouldn't normally explore ... I'm not a Sci-Fi reader at all, so the "Space Opera" task is one that I really wasn't sure about, but I'm kind of liking my "Redshirts" book. A sort of Star Trek spoofy kind of read.

I'm going to, once again, TRY to get the whole thing done. I've already found some lovely books that I've been able to recommend to our library customers.

It's nice to be back to GR after a hiatus for personal life issues. I took a job that co-opted almost every waking minute of my life, and I finally decided I'm just too old for this and went back to working at the library, which keeps me busy but has very clear start and stop times!

I'm glad you're enjoying the challenge Pat. Thanks for the complement. I'm also happy to hear that you've gone back to a job that gives you time for you. It's so important to get that balance.

Badge 1, Book 6
Site 2.2 ~ About
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Completed ~ 2.9.22
Hardcover, 320 pg
Task ~ Read a book with a main page genre of space opera
How it Fits ~ Space Opera is on the MPG of this book.

Review ~
So this is a totally new genre for me, and I'm not quite sure HOW to review it because I have no idea what is "typical" for this particular genre. My husband, however, is an opera buff, so I've attended my share of them. I also watched my share of soap operas during my college days. They all have the same thing in common - death and lots of exaggerated drama and non-stop silly cliffhangers, cue the "suspense" music. Given THAT, I'm going to say that this particular book falls right in line with the best of them. It's funny - in an over the top kind of dry and exaggerated way. There is a mystery that is, to the audience at least, sort of silly and predictable. There are historical references. There is an easy to follow story arc. There are lots and lots of expendable characters that get written in and written out. All in all, once I kind of got the flow of it, I found it a lot of fun. I'll never be a sci-fi aficionado, but at least I can say, yes, I "got it."
4☆

p.s. ~ not a single old cranky person in sight!

✔️

I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) I was thinking of this book when I wrote the souvenir task.

Badge 1, Book 7
Site 2.3 ~ Souvenir
We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman
Completed ~ 2.12.22
Hardcover, 352 pg
Task ~ : Read a book that is at least 75% red in colour.
How it Fits ~ The hard copy book that I checked out from my library has a red cover.

Review ~
This was a nice, feel good novel. It's told from several different character POVs, which I think gives you a much better understanding of the characters themselves. I wish that the author had done at least one or two chapters from Ben's point of view and also more from Vincent's. Without those, the reader is left with them as flat characters and have to accept as fact the perceptions of Hope and Stella. It's not really fair to Ben or Vincent either one, because they are both interesting characters in their own rights and are pivotal to Hope and Stella's growth and development. Other than that complaint (minor), I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
4☆




ALMOST HALFWAY!

✔️

Badge 1, Book 8
Site 1.1 ~ Location
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Completed ~ 2.13.22
Hardcover, 312 pg
Task ~ Read a book that is a ghost story
How it Fits ~ Paranormal/Ghosts is on MPG with 875 users.

Review ~
So, I think I'm in a minority as far as Neil Gaiman goes. Yes, I've read American Gods. Yes, I've read Stardust. And now, yes, I've read The Graveyard Book. But he's not a "go to" author for me. I do see what all the fuss is about this book though. It's a well written story and I can see how - for its genre - it would be a smash hit for a younger audience graduating up to middle school and wanting to read a GOOD book. Newberry, Hugo, Locus, Indies Choice, CYBILS Awards, and the nominee list goes on and on. So yes, it's good GOOD literature. I'm just 64 years old, and I'm not the target audience for this particular work. The reason I selected it is because I work in a library and part of my job is to recommend books to our readers. I don't think I can actually recommend a book if I haven't READ it. And I'm glad I finally picked this one up, because it was NOT a waste of my time, AT all, because now I can absolutely recommend it in good faith that it lives up to its hype.
4☆



PAST halfway!

Badge 1, Book 9
Site 1.3 ~ Souvenir
Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
Completed ~ 2.14.22
Hardcover, 302 pg
Task ~ Read a book with Moscow, Copper, or Mug in the title.
How it Fits ~ The word COPPER is in the title.

Review ~
Sometimes I pick up a YA book and I find myself surprised with how well it is written, as I did with Between Shades of Gray. Sometimes I pick one up and find myself surprised with how poorly it is written, (I'm looking at you, Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood). And sometimes I find myself reading something that is written exactly as it should be - perfect for the teenage audience, while also being a fairly good read for older adults. This is one of those books. The prose is simple, but the story is deep. I would have loved to have seen this book written by someone like Kristen Hannah, because then I'd be able to say FIVE stars, but since I'm not the target audience, it's only an average read for me. Still - I will definitely be able to recommend it to my young adults walking in the door, so this book task did me a solid.
3☆

✔️

Your book 9 (Copper Sun) has been tracked to the souvenir task for site 1. I think you have a copy/paste error.

Yes. I suspect I do. I was trying to multi-task, and I know better than to try to do that first thing in the morning. It's fixed.

LOL

LOL!

Badge 1, Book 10
Site 2.1 ~ Location
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker
Completed ~ 2.17.22
Hardcover, 496 pg
Task ~ Read a book with a significant character aged 5 or younger
How it Fits ~ Miranda is the youngest child of four siblings. While her age is not specified, on pg 43 Clyde describes her, "...and a girl barely big enough to run." There are numerous references throughout the story of how small she is - she can't get down the porch steps without assistance, she "toddles" and plays "peek-boo" - and her language skills are definitely "pre-school." She does not attend schooling lessons with her two older brothers (both under the age of 10 ~ pg 43 and Benjamin, the older, is only 8 ~ pg 230), so she is obviously a preschooler. As a character, she is pivotal to parts of the story, particularly an episode involving a flooding river, which moves Clyde and Beulah's characters forward along their story arcs.

Review ~
I don't usually read books that are this long, but sometimes a book just grabs me from the first sentence and I get swept away by the narrative. I was leading the cows to the milking shed when my pa shot Mr. Webber. How could that not sweep you into the most amazing story? The characters, the setting, the storyline - it all works together in a way that puts you right at the foot of the Bitterroot mountains in Wyoming during the Westward expansion era. I really REALLY enjoyed this one - it was right in my wheel house, and I was a little sad when I closed the back cover at the end of it.
5☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 11
Sidetrip 1.3 ~ Souvenir
The Ex by Alafair Burke
Completed ~ 2.21.22
Hardcover, 304 pg
Task ~ Read a book with a mug, cup, glass, or key on the cover
How it Fits ~ Room key on the cover.

Review ~
So when I created this task, I figured, "how hard could it be to find a book?" Well, lemme tell ya. It was much harder than I expected - not because there aren't lots of books with glasses, mugs, cups and keys on the cover, but because none of them really wanted to fit into my TEAM challenge that I'm playing with some of my old Dhole teammates. When this book came across my circulation desk late last week, I took a quick peek at the first few pages, got caught up in the story, and before I knew it I was four chapters in and the book was checked out and going home with me. It's not a hard read, but I have company visiting for the next two weeks, so working a book in around my weekend horse show, grocery shopping, farm chores, and spending time with my guest (who happens to be my best friend in the whole world), was a bit of a trick. Fortunately, this book - in addition to being a good read - was easy to put down and pick up. Short chapters, just a handful of characters to keep track of, and an easy story line to stay abreast of. Perfect book for what I needed this weekend. Hope my next one is just as easy to slide into my life!
4☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 12
Site 1.2 ~ About
Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Completed ~ 2.24.22
Hardcover, 341 pg
Task ~ Read a book that has a significant character named Jack, or the author is named Jack.
How it Fits ~ Author & Main Character are both named Jack

Review ~
This is why I love challenges. There are so many books out there and it's impossible to read them all, so you have to have some help finding good ones outside of your normal book surfing habits. This book was simply delightful, with a plethera of awards to its credit. There were moments I literally laughed out loud because Jack is just a really funny guy. In spite of being what I would call well read, I'd never have found this book without this particular challenge task. So thank you, Janice. Thank you very much.
4☆

✔️

Badge 1, Book 13
Sidetrip 1.1 ~ Location
I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows
Completed ~ 3.1.22
Hardcover, 272 pg
Task ~ Read a book set in Oklahoma or by an Oklahoma author.
How it Fits ~ Setting is in Mulehead, Oklahoma, 1934 during the dustbowl.

Review ~
My family is from Oklahoma, for generations back. My grandparents and great grandparents talked about the dust bowl, which overlapped and was magnified by the great depression. I think that the fact that they survived these years withOUT quitting and migrating to California has a lot to do with my tenacity as an individual. I come from a long line of hardheaded independent proud people. Quitting would never occur to me once I put my mind to a task. My favorite historical era is this time period - along with the early 40's and the second world war. There is so much rich culture and inspiring stories of people who stood up and refused to let an impossible situation break them. The characters in the book - Annie, Samuel, Birdie - they are people like that. Annie, especially, is inspiring - but maybe that's because she reminds me of every woman in my family.
5☆

✔️

Anytime I see the name Oklahoma, I start singing, "OOOak-lahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plane..."

Janice wrote: "✔️

Anytime I see the name Oklahoma, I start singing, "OOOak-lahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plane...""

Yes. And honestly, the wind part is the total truth. The only reason we don't STILL have dust storms is because the farmers out west have a better land conservation protocol now, but it is unbelieveable how it BLOWS out here. North wind, West wind, South wind. Kansas's got nothing on us!

Badge 1, Book 14
Site 26.3 ~ Souvenir
Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight by Janet Evanovich
Completed ~ 3.2.22
Hardcover, 320 pg
Task ~ Read a book with large circles on it as a graphical design.
How it Fits ~ Bullseye on the cover, becomes part of the title as an "O"

Review ~
I haven't read a Stephanie Plum novel in a long time. I find her cute, but the general story - as I believe happens with almost every series - is that the character becomes pretty predictable, regardless of how the author tries to put her into a new situation. This one was much the same. It's a great series for a quick, light read, but I'm at a point where I like a little more ... literary merit (?) in my novels. Still, it was nice to spend a few hours with Stephanie, if only to see what she's up to since the last time. Answer - not much.
3☆

✔️ - For Site 26, Souvenir (not Sidetrip 26). Had me going there for a second.

It's really windy here too. There's a line of trees along one of the main arteries. They have no shelter from surrounding buildings and they all lean to the east because of the west wind. It looks bizarre.

Janice wrote: "✔️ - For Site 26, Souvenir (not Sidetrip 26). Had me going there for a second...."

OMG! And I checked it about a hundred and five times to make sure it was all right!



Trees here look the same - except a lot of them don't have "top growth" because the tornadoes eat trees like they're a smorgasboard.

LOL! No worries.

It just shows how resilient trees can be. Take a wind & tornado beating and keep on growing.

Badge 1, Book 15
Site 26.2 ~ About
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser
Completed ~ 3.4.22
Hardcover, 304 pg
Task ~ Read a book that won any category of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
How it Fits ~ Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (2008)

Review ~
I struggled with this task - starting with "Boy Swallows Universe" and "The Yield" and finally ended up here because the blurb sounded interesting. Sadly it was a real struggle to get through it. The only reason that I didn't give the book one star is because it was lyrical and well written prose - it just wasn't a very great STORY. At least for ME.
There are multiple time lines involving
a man
a couple of women
some other men
his parents
her parents
the neighbors
a farmer who who may or may not be one of the neighbors
an artist colony with an artist - who may or may not have been one of the women and maybe was his wife or live in girlfriend, or maybe just someone he is renting a cabin from.

a dog that goes lost. I think it belongs to his mother, but it may be his and his mother is just attached to it. I think he is sad. It's hard to tell.

It's a wandering story. Kind of like a wandering lost dog. Maybe it's the MAN that is l lost. I found it interesting that the man's name is Tom - because that's my husband's name and he pretty much wanders around looking for things he has lost and in general just LOOKING lost.
2☆

✔️

Congrats on finishing badge 1. :)

Thanks. I'm going to submit for it, soon as I figure out how and what to post over there. Then I'm going to set up my Badge 2 format and get rolling on that.

I'm actually feeling pretty good about myself, finishing this one in such good time. It's been VERY nice to be back to my readers advisory duties for the library. I've managed to recommend a couple of the books from this badge to our patrons. But the LAST book will not be one of them. LOL

Katrisa just posted her badge 3 request. Just follow her lead. :)

Thanks. I did it!

I gave myself a place to put together a request post in here so that all I will have to do is a quick copy paste when I'm done with badge two. That'll be a lot simpler I think.

I've got my Side Trip information ready to go into the Side Trips Folder, so I'm off to do that. I'm very happy with it.

That you did! Super. :)

I can't find my first badge! Where did you put it? I've lost my road map. LOL

♞ Pat wrote: "I can't find my first badge! Where did you put it? I've lost my road map. LOL"

You will find it here in the Wall of Fame folder.