Lara’s Comments (group member since Apr 16, 2019)

Lara’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.4 Boomer

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

20 - Task 20.4 Boomer (b. 1963)
5 - Combo (10.3: Title is "The ___")
5 - Jumbo (771 pp)
10 - Review

Task total: 40
Season total: 135

20.4 Boomer

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

20 - Task 20.4 (b.1960)
15 - Combo
- 10.2: Shelved as "Books-about-books" 16 times
- 20.5: Non-linear (dual-timeline, past and present)
- 20.7: Shelved as "Speculative-fiction" 161 times
10 - Review

Task total: 45
Season total: 95

Post 516 Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Hi Lara, and again, welcome! Your post looks fine. However, I don't see that this has been shelved as speculative fiction at least 15 times for it to qualify for 20.7...."
Oh, I put the wrong task number. I'm sorry. It should be:

20 - Task 20.3 Author
20 - Combo
- 10.2: Shelved as "books-about-books" 64 times
- 10.3: Title is "The ____"
- 10.7: Name includes 4 vowels (kAthrYn stOckEtt)
- 20.5: Non-linear (regular flashbacks to the past)
10 - Review

Task total = 50
Season total = 50

Understood. Thank you!

This is my first time participating. So I hope I do this correctly.

20.3 Author
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is a beautiful book with both uplifting and depressing stories, rich character development, and historic significance. It takes place in the 1960s and is written primarily from the perspective of a young white woman, nicked-named Skeeter, who has grown up in the loving care of a black maid, Constantine. Skeeter returns from college to find that she is gone. Over the following months, she tries to find out what happened to Constantine. As we see glimpses of Skeeter's childhood and the love that developed between the two, Skeeter begins to see from a new perspective the dynamic between the black maids in her town and the white women who employ them. This soon becomes a writing project for the aspiring writer.

Clandestinely, she collects compelling stories from these hardworking and often disregarded women, of whom two -- Aibileen & Minny -- narrate several chapters each. They and the other maids share stories detailing the love they have for the white children they've raised, the trauma of being regarded as less in society, and the details of their personal struggles. Add into their current situation the dangerous precariousness of what they're doing in writing a tell-all book, and you have a touch of suspense. From start to finish, I found this book difficult to put down, and I was eager all the while to finish so that I could watch the movie!

+20 Combo (10.2, 10.7, 20.5, 20.7)
+10 Review

Task total: 50 pts
Seasonal total: 50 pts

Would Lamb by Christopher Moore count for this? The main character is Biff, currently an angel, formerly the best friend of young Jesus, and he is writing a book for The Bible. So it's a non-linear story set in current day, as he writes, and the past, which is what he's writing about.