Reading with Style discussion
Winter 25-26 Home
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Completed Tasks
Written in the StarsSample Post
15.5 WitS
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
sign: ARIES
month: 4 (1954)
element: Fire (MPG Adventure)
polarity: M
+15 Task
+ 5 Old (1954)
+ 5 Big (1216 pages)
Task total = 25
Season Total = 380 (assuming midseason with a previous total of 355; not using the Cardinal aspect for this book)
10.3 New Year, New BookThe Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama
my carry-over book (read 97 pgs/243, <40%)
10 task
10 LiT
______
20
Running total: 20
20.9 Forces of Nature (Joanna's task)Soms zou ik de wind willen zijn
Franco Faggiani
Disaster : earthquake around Amatrice, Italy
20 points + 5 points (combo 10.3) + 10 ( lost in translation)
Total points: 35 points
10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightTo celebrate the solstice, read a short book (100-175 pages in the MPE).
De violist
Ingrid de Vries
10 points + 5 (combo 10.3)
Total: 50 points
15.1 Written in the StarsCome Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
Scorpio - F, fantasy(water), 2020 (0)
15 task
_____
15
Running total: 35
10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightReasons to Live by Amy Hempel
10 task
10 NaN
5 oldie
______
25
Running total: 60
10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightGoodnight Tokyo
Atsuhiro Yoshida
10 points
+ 5 (combo 10.3)
+10 (not a novel)
+10 (lost in translation)
Total: 85 points
20.10 Mystey challengeMurder on the Orient Expressby Agatha Christie
Task +20
Bonus oldies + 10 published 1934
Grand total: 30
15.1 Written in the StarsSign: Cancer
I read The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Polarity: Female author
Element: Water, Genre -- “Fantasy”
Month: Number 6 or 7 – 1st published 1976 (ends in 6)
Task = 15
Bonus: Old = 5 (1st pub’d 1976)
Season Total: 20
15.2 Written in the StarsSign: Scorpio
I read Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler.
Polarity: Female Author
Element: Water, Genre -- "Fantasy"
Modality: Standalone.
Task = 15
Season Total: 35
20.3 Mansfield ParkThe Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
+20 Task, "Tender Hearts" refers to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Tucson, AZ (which doesn't exist...the only "Tender Hearts" in Tucson is Tender Hearts Child Development Center)
+ 15 Combo: 10.3, pub. 2025; 10.6, Luna is 10 and Ollie is 9; 20.1, Luna and Ollie are "Irish twins"
Task total: 35
Season total: 25
20.5 Northanger Abbey (1817)Toubab by Núria Tamarit
born 1993 https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BA... – published 2021, she was 28
+20 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 20
Points total = 20
10.3 New Year, New BookLa Guerre des voisins: La géopolitique à hauteur d'immeuble by Mikko
Publishes 2025
+20 Task
No style points, graphic novel
Task total = 10
Points total = 30
20.9 Forces of NatureLa Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
a flood happens for the most part of the novel.
+20 Task
No style points, low lexile
Task total = 20
Points total = 50
20.4 Emma (1815)A Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140379/
20 points
+. 10,(Combo 10.1;10. 5)
+ 10 ( lost in translation)
+ 25 (oldies)
+ 10 ( not a novel)
Total: 160 points
Post 15 Marie wrote: "20.9 Forces of NatureLa Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
a flood happens for the most part of the novel.
+20 Task
No style points, low lexile
Task total = 20
Poin..."
Marie, we have reduced the required Lexile score to 700, and this book is 770, so you can claim any style points you can find. You can certainly claim LiT since it was not originally written in your native language. Please make a new post to do that.
20.3 Mansfield ParkErewhon by Samuel Butler
+20 Task (Erewhon is a fictional country)
+ 5 Combo (20.4 movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erewhon... )
+15 Oldies (1872)
Task total = 40
Season Total = 40
20.4 Emma (1815)Animal Farm
George Orwell
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2467700/
20 points
+ 10 (combo 10.1; 10.2)
+ 10 ( oldies)
+ 10 ( lost in translation);
Total: 210 points
15.1 WitSBefore the Fall by Noah Hawley
Gemini: Air (Book Club, MPG), M (male author), June/6 (pub date. 2016)
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 50
10.5 - Winter or SummerDead Line by Marc Cameron
+10 task - Winter
+5 Combo 10.3 - published 2025
Task total: 15
Grand total: 15
10.5 - Winter or SummerDRUID'S MOOR: A DCI Evan Warlow Novel by Rhys Dylan
+10 task - Winter
+5 Combo 10.3 - published 2025
Task total: 15
Grand total: 30
15.2 WitSFirst Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Taurus: Earth (Mystery MPG), F (female author), Fixed (standalone novel), April/4 (published 2024)
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 65
10.5 WinterThe Spectacular by Fiona Davis
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (pub 2023)
+ 5 combo 20.1 (Marion and Judy are sisters, and their relationship is important to the story)
Task total: 20
Season total: 20
10.3 - New Year, New BookGirl Under the Ice by Georgia Wagner
+10 task - 2022
+5 Combo 10.1 - GW
Task total: 15
Grand total: 45
15-1The Loneliest Polar Bear
Sign: Libra
Polarity: M
element: Air: MPG Book Club
modality: Cardinal - First book published
+15 Task
Task Total 15
Season Total 15
20.1 Sense and Sensibility (1811)Read a book that focuses on a pair or group of siblings.
A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
From MP Veronica's natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.
The brothers and a third brother Merryweather are at the heart of the story.
+20 Task
+ Combo 5 - (10.3 - Published 2023)
Task Total 25
Season Total 40
20.3 Mansfield Park (1814) a novel whose title includes the name of a fictional location
The Skies of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
(Pern is the planet occupied by the settlers from Earth)
+20 Task
+5 Old (Published 2001)
Task Total 25
Season Total 65
10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightJack Reacher's Rules by Lee Child
+10 task (160 pgs)
Task total=10
Season total=10
10.9 Winter Cleanup (Norma's task)Murder of the Frogs and Other Stories by Don Carpenter
+10 task (added to GR to-read list March 9, 2022)
+10 not a novel (short stories)
+ 5 oldies (1969)
Task total=25
Season total=35
10.4 Valentine's DaySo Far Gone by Jess Walter
+10 task ("Joanie put the kids at a small bar with their cookies and hot chocolate, which were delicious." - 17%)
+ 5 combo (2025)
Task total=15
Season total=50
Written in the stars 15.1
The Maidens
Alex Michaelides
Aquarius
Author: Male
Fixed: Standalone
Number: year 2021
15 points
Total: 225 points
Written in the stars 15.2
Dead to Her
Sarah Pinborough
SCORPIO
Polarity: female
Modality : fixed (standalone)
Year: 0 (2020)
15 points
Total: 240 points
10.4 Valentine's DayBournville by Jonathan Coe
This book is partly set in a (real) suburb built for the employees of Cadbury's chocolate factory. Several characters work at the factory, and the main character's children (Jack, Martin and Peter) eat a lot of chocolate.
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.3 pub 2022)
Task total = 15
Season Total = 55
10.4 Valentine’s DayA Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair
+10 Task (“Cousin Alice and Miss Conway had sat down at the kitchen table and were bending their heads over the biscuit tin, which lay between their tepid cups of cocoa.” Chapter 4)
+5 Oldie (1957)
Task total: 15
Season total: 15
10.8 Groundhog Day (Valerie's task)Malone Dies
Samuel Beckett
10 points + 5 points (oldie)
Total: 255 points
20.10 Mysteries Challenge (Rosemary's Task)The Trouble Makers by Celia Fremlin
+20 task (MPG Mystery, pub 1963)
+ 5 oldies
Task total=25
Season total=75
20.9 Forces of Nature (Joanna’s task)The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
+20 Task (snowstorm approved in task thread)
+15 combo (10.5 (winter), 20.10, 20.3 (fictional village))
+10 oldie (1931)
Task total: 45
Season total: 15+45=60
Rosemary wrote: "Post 15 Marie wrote: "20.9 Forces of NatureLa Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
a flood happens for the most part of the novel.
+20 Task
No style points, low lexile
..."
Ah thanks i didn't notice this - here's the updated post then (so that +20 style points more than my previous post)
20.9 Forces of Nature
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
a flood happens for the most part of the novel.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.5 - northern hemisphere - set in winter as mentioned in the book page resume; 10.6 - Malcolm is 11, Lyra is 6 months old or so)
+10 Lost in Translation (published in english, native language french)
Task total = 40
Points total = 70
20.2 Pride and Prejudice (1813)Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
20 points
+10 (lost in translation)
+10 (not a novel)
+ 5 (oldies)
+ 10 (jumbo)
Total: 310 points
10.9 Winter Cleanup (Norma's task)
Isaac Asimov
10 points
+ 10 ( lost n translation)
+ 5 (oldies)
Total: 335 points
10.10 Group ReadsThe Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Robin Wall Kimmerer
10 points
+ 10 (combo 10.3;20.2)
+10 (not a novel)
Total: 365 points
Post 5 Claire wrote: "10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightTo celebrate the solstice, read a short book (100-175 pages in the MPE).
De violist
Ingrid de Vries
10 points + 5 (combo 10.3)
To..."
Claire, the MPE is always a printed edition if there is one, and for this book it has 184 pages. We'll score this book for task 10.3.
-5 pts
Post 8 Claire wrote: "10.2 Shortest Day/Shortest NightGoodnight Tokyo
Atsuhiro Yoshida
10 points
+ 5 (combo 10.3)
+10 (not a novel)
+10 (lost in translation)
Total: 85 points"
This one doesn't work for 10.3 - first published in 2018.
-5 pts
Post 9 Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "20.10 Mystery challengeMurder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Task +20
Bonus oldies + 10 published 1934
Grand total: 30"
Jayme, this book is YA at Brooklyn and has a Lexile score of 640, so no style points.
-10 pts
Post 10 Nick wrote: "15.1 Written in the StarsSign: Cancer
I read The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Polarity: Female author
Element: Water, Genre -- “Fantasy”
Month..."
Nick, this book was first published in 1972 so I don't think it fits Cancer.
It would fit Pisces (Female/Water/Month 2) or Scorpio (but you've used that in your next post) or task 10.2. Please post again to claim whichever task you prefer. I have entered your next post as 15.1.
Post 16 Claire wrote: "20.4 Emma (1815)A Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140379/
20 points
+. 10,(Combo 10.1;10.5)
+ 10 ( lost in translation)
+ ..."
I have realised that task 10.5 can't be used for combos because different books work for different readers, depending where you live. This is because of the way the database calculates combos. Sorry we didn't see this before, but we won't be able to count that combo.
-5 pts
Post 24 Connie wrote: "10.5 WinterThe Spectacular by Fiona Davis
+10 task
+ 5 combo 10.3 (pub 2023)
+ 5 combo 20.1 (Marion and Judy are sisters, and their relationship is important to..."
Connie, for 20.1 we're looking for the sibling relationship being a real focus of the book. We'd expect both siblings to be main characters, included in the book description when there is a comprehensive description, and I can't see any mention of Marion's sister in either the description or the first page of reviews on Goodreads, although the reviews do mention other family members.
If this book does focus on the siblings, please explain. You can use spoiler tags or message one of the mods if it's a big spoiler. For now, we haven't counted that combo.
Post 38 Owlette wrote: "20.9 Forces of Nature (Joanna’s task)The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
+20 Task (snowstorm approved in task thread)
+15 combo (10.5 (winter), 20.10, 20.3 (fic..."
As in the message to Claire above, sorry we won't be able to accept combos for task 10.5.
-5 pts
Post 39 Marie wrote: "20.9 Forces of NatureLa Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
a flood happens for the most part of the novel.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.5 - northern hemisphere - set in winter as mentioned in the book page resume; 10.6 - Malcolm is 11, Lyra is 6 months old or so"
Same as above for this one, no combo for 10.5, sorry Marie.
-5 pts
Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Heart the Lover (other topics)Euphoria (other topics)
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (other topics)
One Way Witch (other topics)
De vervlogen tijd: Hoe het vroeger was (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lily King (other topics)Zen Cho (other topics)
Nnedi Okorafor (other topics)
Wim Daniëls (other topics)
Freida McFadden (other topics)
More...
Please use the add book/author link for the book titles and include a link to 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
10.4 Valentine's Day
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
+10 Task ("I hastily drank my chocolate, without saying a word" Book VIII)
+10 Lost in Translation
+10 Not a Novel (autobiography)
+20 Oldies (1773)
+ 5 Jumbo (676 pages)
Task total = 65
Season Total = 255 (assuming mid-season with 190 pts claimed earlier; no combos for this book)