Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) discussion

The Key Words for February are:

Art, Golden, Dream, First, Club, Went, Stay, Live

Share with us! Which key word did you pick? What book did you read and what did you think of it.

Hopefully I will read “Suicide Club” by Rhys Thomas for February.

Keyword: Club
A Catered Book Club Murder

The Marlow Murder Club

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Marlow Murder Club is set in the cheery, quiet town of Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England.

We enter this story as Judith Potts, a 77-year-old crossword puzzle maker, begins her daily skinny dip in the river behind her home (Thames River). Judith’s swim is interrupted when she hears the shouts of her neighbor, Stephen, followed by a loud gunshot. We follow Judith’s stubborn determination to find out who killed her neighbor alongside two new, unexpected friends (Suzie Harris and Becks Starling) and DS Tanika Malik.

I enjoyed the relationship-building between Judith, Suzie, and Becks. Their quirks were charming and gave me hours of amusement; I found myself rooting for character throughout the story. The mystery was fun and the crimes clever. There were enough twists and information allowing the reader to feel they were solving the mystery along with the three women.

Keyword: Club
The Girl from the Mimosa Club by Leslie Ford

A decent vintage mystery. But I've discovered that I prefer Ford's mysteries that feature Grace Latham & Colonel Primrose. They're much more fun than her stand-alone thrillers.

Keyword: Golden
Golden Child by Claire Adam
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set in Trinidad, this was such an emotional book.

I finished suicide club today, it was very sad and depressing. Now I’m reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik

Challenge Complete: Keyword Art

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I wanted to read the book after seeing, and really enjoying, the movie. But while the book is entertaining, I felt that the movie was better. Some readers have bemoaned some of the plot points in the book, and in many ways I agree; they’re not in the movie, which shows how much better the story is without them.

But while the book held my interest, I didn’t find the characters, other than Enzo, to be fully formed. I suppose most of that is due to the fact that the book is in Enzo’s perspective. I think switching POVs might have helped. Having Enzo sort of figure out what the other characters were thinking just didn’t do the trick.

It was a quick read and a nice book, just not a great one.

I'm an overachiever and trying to make a dent in my collection so I try to read everything I can find with as many words as possible on my shelves (or, if not my to-read list).

The First Family by Michael Palmer (the winner so far - the president's son is suddenly afflicted with weird symptoms while a talented young musician around town has totally different seizures. Seemingly unconnected until they aren't...read very fast and was really good!)
Golden In Death - JDRobb (good but standard, if you like them, you like them)
The Confession Club - Elizabeth Berg (#3 but I had no trouble reading it without the others & would pick them up if I stumbled across them. About a multi-generational group of women and some of their side stories. Heartwarming.)
Dreamkeepers by Dorothy Garlock (glad that it is off my shelf, enjoyed story #2 but just couldn't get through #1)

Hoping to also get through:
Dream Country by Luanne Rice
Stolen Lives: 20 Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir (it has probably been on my shelves that long...)
If I Stay by Gayle Forman

oh and The Henna Artist has been ordered from the library but went has me stumped.

I'm also trying to listen to Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor and really struggling. Reviews are passionate and glowing but I'm just not feeling it...

• Do Androids Dream if Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick
- Dystopian/Sci-Fi/Classic
- Finished: February 13th.
- 5 stars on Goodreads.
I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get around to reading this book. It’s really quite excellent. I haven’t seen either of the movies (original & remake), and I’m now wondering how closely they follow the book. They’ll be added to my list of things to watch for sure.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

I read The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell.
It was a cute little mystery, very much like clue meets the bake off.

Cute book - perfect for my mood

Key Word - First
Book - Find You First by Linwood Barclay
Just finished this one last night (actually early this morning). Was an interesting adventure, wasn't sure how the two seemingly separate story lines were going to come together, but it was done very creatively. Really enjoyed Chloe, she was fearless! It did not escape my notice that the main heroes of the story were all women, even though a couple characters were definitely not! The mental picture of the wild ending was great!

Keywords: Art, Dream, First, Stay


The Deadly Art Affair by K.M. Morgan


Daring to Dream by Nora Roberts


First Edition Murder by Tessa Kelly


Stay At Home Dead by Jeffrey Allen

Challenge complete!
Keyword: Dream

I read The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker and I didn't quite know what to make of it.
At first, the writing style was grating on my nerves: "This Boy", "that girl", "that boy", "this girl" ... there were so many this and that, it got really repetitive. At the same time though, the story was strangely enthralling. It's open ended, though, so you can draw your own conclusions - it never really gets explained what the sickness was and where it came from and why it dispersed eventually.

I read We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

I read Borrowed Dreams by Debbie Macomber. It's about a lady who goes to Alaska to start a new job and meets an infuriating bush pilot who pushes all her buttons. They both fall hard for each other and do what they can to ignore their feelings. Carly has never had a place to call her own, growing up in the foster care system, she feels she's always lived on hand me downs, and used goods. She is determined to start fresh and find something to call her own. Brand is a widower not looking for a relationship. He lost his wife a couple of years ago and is still grieving. Together they learn to break down the walls and start a new life together.

I’m a little slow on this one, as I just finished my February book.

I chose the word “Club” and read The Birthday Club by Jack Petersen. This is one of those books that is self published by the author, so there are lots of grammatical errors. However, the storyline was intriguing enough.

It’s about 4 kids who discovered in high school that they have the same birthday, so they decide to form an exclusive club (hence the title). Their group is infiltrated once Freddy moves to town and claims to have the same birthday, too. Reluctantly, they let him into the club, not knowing the trouble it’s going to cause them in the future.

Flash forward a couple of years, and one member of the club ends up dead. This sparks a chain of events filled with kidnappings, murders, and betrayals that never seem to stop as they chase an infamous mob boss with the help of a detective.

The high school backstory is very slow and kind of hard to get through, but once you’ve accomplished that, it picks up significantly.

In the month of February, these are the books read with the following key words– Art, Golden, Dream, First, Club, Went, Stay, Live

Art: Hitler's Art Thief by Susan Ronald 4 stars; The Art Thief by Michael Finkel 4 stars; The Art of French Kissing by Kristin Harmel 4 stars

Read in May: The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie 3 stars


Golden: The Golden Gate by Amy Chua 4 stars; Golden State by Michelle Richmond 3 stars; California Golden by Melanie Benjamin 3 stars; Golden Threads by Kay Hooper 3 stars; The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda 4 stars; Life's Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard 3 stars

Read in April: Egypt's Golden Couple by John Darnell 3 stars


Dream: Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King 3 stars; Dreamtown by David Baldacci 3 stars; Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King3 stars; Bad Dreams by R.L. Stine 4 stars

Read in March: They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar; Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 4 stars; Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks 4 stars

Read in April: When Life Doesn't Match Your Dreams by Jill Eileen Smith 4 stars

Read in August: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami 3 stars


First: First Family by Joseph J. Ellis 3 stars; The First Muslim by Lesley Hazleton 3 stars; First Impressions by Charlie Lovett 3 stars; First Comes Like by Alisha Rai 3 stars; 1st Case by James Patterson 4 stars


Club: The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl 3 stars; The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike 3 stars; The Pallbearer's Club by Paul Tremblay 3 stars; The Club by Ellery Lloyd 3 stars; El Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte 3 stars; The Thrill Club by R.L. Stine 3 stars

Read in June: The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery 3 stars


Went: Then Things Went Dark by Bea Fitzgerald 3 stars; They Went Left by Monica Hesse 4 stars; Everywhere that Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline 3 stars


Stay: If I Stay by Gayle Forman 3 stars; Stay Interesting by Jonathan Goldsmith 3 stars; Stay Awake by Megan Goldin 4 stars; Stay True by Hua Hsu 3 stars; Don't Stay up Late by R.L. Stine 4 stars; Stay Close by Harlan Coben 4 stars; Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 3 stars


Live: We all Live Here by Jojo Moyes 3 stars; 12 Months to Live by James Patterson 3 stars; 3 days to Live by James Patterson 3 stars; Lives like Loaded Guns by Lyndall Gordon 3 stars; Nine Lives by Peter Swanson 3 stars; We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer 4 stars; We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst 3 stars; Live Wire by Harlan Coben 4 stars

Keywords: Golden, Club, Went, Live



Golden in Death by J.D. Robb
Book # 50 of the In Death series

Murder Mystery Book Club by Danielle Collins

The Cat Who Went Underground and The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun

Catching up on posting.

Challenge complete! The second month in a row I read more than two books with applicable keywords. I know I can't keep this up!

Keywords: dream, club, live

- The Bridge of Dreams (Lancaster Bridges Prequel): An Amish Romance Series by Sylvia Price
- I also read The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood after watching the series on PBS, which I enjoyed.
- Faith Among the Faithless: Learning from Esther How to Live in a World Gone Mad by Mike Cosper - excellent book on the Biblical Queen Esther
- The Big Book of 30-Day Challenges: 60 Habit-Forming Programs to Live an Infinitely Better Life by Rosanna Casper