Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) discussion

This months Motif (theme) is...

"Creature Feature"

(Read a book with an animal in the story- real or mythical.⁠)

What book did you pick? What did you think of it?

• Gryphon Rider Academy Year 4: Wild Flight - Elise Hennessy
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

- 4 stars on Goodreads.
Enjoyable, but not *quite* as good as the first three in the series (which each got 5 stars). Firstly, this final book was a lot more intrigue than action. The storyline didn’t really pick up the pace until chapter 27, which is about the 3/4 mark of the book. The only reason it held up so well was the foundation the first 3 books laid down before it. Secondly, this book was riddled with editing errors. I don’t recall this being an issue in the previous books, but in this respect, book 4 definitely read like it was released by an indie author, whereas the other didn’t. However, in spite of what may seem these few scathing criticisms, I did enjoy this conclusion to the series. Ari & Sivana will forever have a soft place in my heart.

• The Maiden Poodle - S.G. Browne
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

- 5 stars on Goodreads.
Super cute novella, written in Browne’s signature clever style. A quick, entertaining read.

Read A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher by Sue Halpern.
Actually the ONLY book in my pile that had an animal on the cover, but turned out to be more than expected. A nice break from my usual murder mystery/suspense/thriller genre.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...

I read One Taste Too Many by Debra H Goldstein.

It was a good book, quick read... and I didn't see that coming.

Challenge Completed: Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde

I really liked Abby, which took me by surprise, considering how I normally stay away from books where a teenager is the main protagonist. I knew I would probably enjoy the book, and I did, because, hey, seven puppies. But I was expecting cardboard cut-out characters, as the book followed the same path as so many books with this same plot do. The kid gets what she wants, everyone lives happily ever after.

And the book does sort of follow that path, but in a way that makes sense. The characters act in a way that I could see real people acting, given the same circumstances. Even the secondary characters are good, even those that aren’t actually good people. There are setbacks. Bad things happen. And no one is perfect.

So, yes, I had the ending figured out pretty quickly, but there were some unexpected twists getting there, which added to my reading enjoyment. I’ll very likely be picking up more books by this author.

I read a few of the Bound series ( Starry Kingdoms of the Fae), Knighthood, Twilight, Death, and Honey and while I can't remember each book very well I know for sure the last book had Dragons (love) in it and a baby dragon even bonds with a human accidentally.

Aww Winnie - I love that dog

I read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampire by Grady Hendrix. It was a good read!

For this month's Creature Feature theme:
Here is a mythical animal/insect:
]Death of a Black Widow by James Patterson - although no insects were featured, the villain known as the black widow lives up to her name. 3 stars

Here is a fairytale retelling of Rapunzel that features a gecko and a horse:
What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell - 4 stars

Challenge completed in July!
Read West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge.
I'm sorry I didn't read this sooner. (I don't usually read books when they are popular.) Wasn't what I expected, but I really enjoyed it.

Challenge complete" The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. This book features a mermaid ... but perhaps not the cutesy kind you're thinking of ... or do you already know mermaids are dangerous creatures?!

Challenge complete: I've gotten behind in posting and I read July & August out of order but I did it :-) I always enjoy a Joe Pickett story and this was no exception. He is always about the animals but in this, one of the final straws that leads to the final good-evil clash is the slaughter of the town's elk herd...which they didn't really want until they were gone.