Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to mark your completion of the May challenge for the prompt: a book by an author with flora or fauna in their name. You can join the group read or read a book of your choice.

Please include the following:

Title:
Author:
Would you recommend this book?
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category?

Title: Counting by 7s
Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Would you recommend this book? Yes! I actually read this for another challenge for a book with a neurodiverse character, but found that it fit this prompt too. Very lovely book about a quirky 12-year old with grand dreams, just trying to find out where she fits in.
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? I didn't realize until I finished reading it yesterday that The Tattooist of Auschwitz also fit this prompt. Otherwise, I have been struggling to find books to fit this prompt.

Title: Sunrise
Author: JF Crane
Would you recommend this book? I can't say I do. I read this book in February, but I don't remember anything about it.
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? I've read 2 other books that could have been used for this category so far this year. I have 5 more on my shelves that would work too.

Title: The Rome Affair
Author: Karen Swan
Would you recommend this book? Yes - I enjoyed it as a bit of light, escapist literature, so if you're looking for something like that in the chick-lit catagory, this ticks that box!
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Actually, I don't think that any of the other books I've read so far would have fit this category. But I was happy to notice this one on my TBR list that would!

Title: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Author: Mary Roach
Would you recommend this book? Yes! The author is so funny and informative.
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Nope. I have found that to be the case in the past, but this hasn't been one of those prompts for me so far this year.

(yay I can finally support this topic series, I like these topics but this is the first category of the month I've completed so far)

Title: Radiance
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Would you recommend this book? Yes! Loved it. It's a sprawling genre-blending work (sci-fi horror! a radio-show-esque murder mystery! a fairy tale! plus lots of ruminations on storytelling and genre conventions) and Valente pulls it all off so well.

Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Yeah, this is an easy category for me. So far I've read The Wicked King (Holly Black) and Paladin's Grace (T. Kingfisher), and I have a bunch more on my TBR, including more books by all three of these authors.

Title: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Would you recommend this book? It really depends I found it okay but not to amazing. It is a solid 3 or 2.5.
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Not many I think that Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers qualifies but that's it.

Title: The Fated Sky
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Would you recommend this book? Yes, to anyone who has read the first book in the series and loves some female sci-fi
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category?
Not many yet, but it is fun to look to see if my books fit this category in unexpected ways (like this one did).

Title: The Museum of Modern Love
Author: Heather Rose
Would you recommend this book? Yes, I really liked the overall theme of what is considered art.
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? This is the first book I have read this year that qualifies. I haven't come across any accidentally.

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris

Would you recommend this book? Yes

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Yes. I had also shortlisted The Exile by Pearl S. Buck

Title: Roanoke
Author: Lee Miller
Would you recommend this book? Yes, it was very very interesting
Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Not if you only count whole words.

Title: White Cat

Author: Holly Black

Would you recommend this book?
For sure. Holly Black is one of my favourite authors.

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category?
So far it has only been the three books from the curse workers series that fit.

Title: To The Bright Edge of the World
Author: Eowyn Ivey

Would you recommend this book? Probably not, it was not on the same level as The Snow Child for me.

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? No, I still had a lot of trouble with this prompt, which is why I accepted this book even though Ivey (ivy) is misspelled.

Title: Dominance

Author: Will Lavender

Would you recommend this book? Oh yes!! Very dark and twisty thriller / mystery. If you like Gillian Flynn, you'd like Will Lavender. You can tell that he's a professor of English Lit IRL, as there are some good Easter Eggs. The plots are great, even without knowing certain authors or psychological studies, but it's more fun if you look up anything you don't recognize, as it makes the story richer!

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category?
I kind of like the off-kilter categories, as they can lend themselves to almost any genre. I rather like the search and research! The authors I've read don't really fit this prompt. As soon as I saw it, though, I thought, "YAY! An excuse to read more Will Lavender!"

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Author: Heather Morris
Would you recommend this book? Eh- I would, however there were many more WWII books that in my opinion are more compelling.

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category?
Yes! It always surprises me to find so many books that are already on my to read shelf that fit in to the most obscure sounding categories.

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Author: Heather Morris ( Calluna vulgaris )
Would you recommend this book? Yes

Sometimes these off-kilter categories can seem difficult, but once you pay attention to it, you find that a lot of the books you read would work. Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? I quite like the "off-kilter" prompts because they require a bit of research. But for this one, I went with the group read. If I can find the book I like to read the group reads for the chosen prompts.

This is one I finished back in January.

Title: The Crepes of Wrath
Author: Sarah Fox
Would you recommend this book? If you like cozy mysteries, yes.
Have you found that many of the books you read this year would fulfill this category? Only two others I’ve read fit this category so far, but I had a long list of possibilities culled from Mount TBR that fit. This one happened to fit another challenge I was doing (first book in a series).