Bucket’s
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(group member since Feb 13, 2015)
Bucket’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1-20 of 303
15.3 SSBSquare I1 - no “the” in title/subtitle
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season total: 120
B1 I1 N1 G1 O1
B2 I2 N2 G2 O2
B3 I3 N3 G3 O3
B4 I4 N4 G4 O4
B5 I5 N5 G5 O5
15.2 SSBSquare B5 - 1 and 6 in publication year
Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
+15 Task (1961)
+5 Old (1961)
Post total: 20
Season total: 105
B1 I1 N1 G1 O1
B2 I2 N2 G2 O2
B3 I3 N3 G3 O3
B4 I4 N4 G4 O4
B5 I5 N5 G5 O5
15.1 SSBSquare B4 - title starts and ends with same letter
Amelia by Henry Fielding
+15 Task
+5 Old (1751)
+5 Big (618)
Post total: 25
Season total: 85
B1 I1 N1 G1 O1
B2 I2 N2 G2 O2
B3 I3 N3 G3 O3
B4 I4 N4 G4 O4
B5 I5 N5 G5 O5
20.4 Uncommon LetterBad Dirt by Annie Proulx
Review: This was one of 6 books that happened to be in a lookout tower where I spent the weekend. It was really serendipitous that I read this, as it wasn't even on my radar.
These stories are a little more hit and miss than Close Range (Proulx's first book of Wyoming stories). Some stories are masterful: The Indian Wars Refought, Man Crawling Out of Trees, The Wamsutter Wolf. The rest range from okay down to a little bit silly.
Proulx's use of a little magic is less effective here - it feels clunky and just sort of tossed out there for fun images (like poachers dropping literally into hell), with little connection to themes or character development.
The settings are strong, and the characters mostly are too - we're immersed in the culture of Wyoming ranchers.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Female
Post total: 40
Season total: 60
10.1 Member LottoOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
Review: On Tyranny was a quick read, as it's meant as a primer and tool in one. I tried to read it as such, but more than a few lessons aren’t particularly actionable. There’s a real mix of some lessons being practical and actionable, some illuminating or instructive on history, and some strong gut reactions to the outcome of the 2016 election.
It's a lot of angles in such a short book and I think they don’t do each other any favors. I also think this book leans more towards igniting fear than encouraging action, especially given all that's happened (and not happened) since 2016. Probably I would have felt differently in 2017. But for readers in 2025 and beyond, I’d recommend skimming and skipping around to find the stuff that inspires you.
+10 Task (non-fiction: history/politics)
+10 Review
Post total: 20
Season total: 20
15.32 Summer 2017 A Counting GameFor this challenge, read books with increasing numbers of words in the title, 1-10. Books can be read in any order.
Task 15.7 - Title with 7 words
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season total: 635
15.31 Summer 2017 A Counting GameFor this challenge, read books with increasing numbers of words in the title, 1-10. Books can be read in any order.
Task 15.2 - Title with 2 words
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season total: 620
15.30 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion, horseradish, parsley, lemon verbena, peppermint, napa cabbage
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Planting a veggie napa cabbage
+15 Task (set 100% in New York)
+100 Second sub-challenge completion
Post total: 115
Season total: 605
15.6 Fall 2010 Reading Through TimeTask 15.7 1651-1700
Read a book originally published 1651-1700.
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
+15 Task (1678)
+5 Old (1678)
Post total: 20
Season total: 490
15.29 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion, horseradish, parsley, lemon verbena, peppermint
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Planting herbs lemon verbena (12=2) and peppermint (10=0)
+15 Task (120 pages)
Post total: 15
Season total: 470
15.28 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion, horseradish, parsley
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Planting herbs horseradish (11=1) and parsley (7)
+15 Task (317 pages)
Post total: 15
Season total: 455
15.27 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion
The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester
Planting a veggie onion
+15 Task (set 85%+ in Oxford)
Post total: 15
Season total: 440
15.26 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Planting a flower aster
+15 Task (Klara andthe Sun)
Post total: 15
Season total: 425
15.25 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold
Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory
Planting a flower marigold
+15 Task (Defing Moments in Black History)
Post total: 15
Season total: 410
15.24 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Planting a flower lily
+15 Task (Tell Me Everything)
Post total: 15
Season total: 395
15.23 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive
Girls in Their Married Bliss by Edna O'Brien
Planting veggies leek and endive
+15 Task (set ~90% in London, England)
+5 Old (pub’d 1964)
Post total: 20
Season total: 380
15.22 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel
Missing Person by Patrick Modiano
Planting veggies potato and fennel
+15 Task (set 95% in Paris, France)
+5 Old (pub’d 1978)
Post total: 20
Season total: 360
15.21 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear
Planting herbs rue (3) and dill (4)
+15 Task (page count 342)
Post total: 15
Season total: 340
15.20 Fall 2013 Pick ‘n’ MixFor this challenge, there are 6 categories (A-F) each divided into 6 sub-categories (1-6). For each task, read a book that fits a sub-category. No letter and no number can be used more than twice. Used so far, including this task: A A B C C D D E E F 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 so these remain: B F 2 6.
E6 (E=Genre, 6=non-fiction, Dewey decimal 500-999)
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon
+15 Task (biography with Dewey decimal 828.6: English misc writings 1745-1799)
+5 Big (649 pages)
+50 Sub-challenge completion
Post total: 70
Season total: 325
15.19 Fall 2013 Pick ‘n’ MixFor this challenge, there are 6 categories (A-F) each divided into 6 sub-categories (1-6). For each task, read a book that fits a sub-category. No letter and no number can be used more than twice. Used so far, including this task: A A B C C D D E F 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 so these remain: B E F 2 6 6.
D4 (D=Author, 4=female, age 40-60 when the book was published)
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
+15 Task (Meg Wolitzer was born in 1959. She was ~44 when the book was published in 2003)
Post total: 15
Season total: 255
