Jerikay’s Comments (group member since Jan 01, 2023)

Jerikay’s comments from the Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) group.

For August, I read Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez. I read it for a Goodreads challenge. I ready did enjoy it. It's about a girl who meets this guy and goes on a date with him the day before she moves back to CA. They try to keep a relationship going long distance. Her in CA and him in MN. He's a vet with a fairly new practice so money is tight with both of them. She moved back to CA because her mom has Alzheimer's and she's going to help her dad and sister take care of her.

For July I read the book Resist: A Story of D-Day by Alan Gratz. I actually chose this for a goodreads challenge, and it happened to match this challenge as well, since it takes place in the span of one day, or rather overnight. It is about a little girl in Germany who's on a mission to save her mom from being executed by the Germans. She happens to be traveling on foot through the country and meets some of the American soldiers who are landing on D-Day. I would recommend this book if you are interested in WWII literature. It is a children's book, which was a plus for me with all the other books I'm currently reading, I didn't want anything to lengthy.

For July I read A Spanish Sunrise by Boo Walker. It is about a guy and his daughter who are mourning their wife/mom. It's 3 yrs after her death and he gets an email from the 23andme website. Before her death, she had sent in her DNA for testing to hopefully find relatives, as she was adopted as a baby. Well, dad gets this email and notification. it happens to be her birth mom, and dad and daughter decide to go to Spain to get to know her family. I would recommend this book.

I actually chose 2 books for June.

1. The Martian by Andy Weir. I originally wanted to read this book during the STEM month, but it was on hold at the library, and I decided to read a different book for that challenge (Moneyball by Michael Lewis). So, when The Martian came available, I chose it for June. Yes, it the movie with Matt Damon. It is a narration of Mark Watney's solitary experience on Mars after he was abandoned and left for dead. For the most part, the movie follows the book pretty close. If they ever make an audio book with Matt Damon narrating, I will totally buy it! Highly recommend if you like the movie, space, technical scientific stuff.

2. Wonder by R J Palacio. Again, I've seen the movie and always wanted to read the book. I decided to read it for this challenge, and found out there were 2 more "Wonder books". Not necessarily sequels as they parallel the original book but are by different characters. Auggie and Me tells of 3 different characters and how they interact with Auggie during their time with him. The second is 365 Days of Wonder which is a compilation from their English teacher of all his favorite precepts. During the school year, each month he gives his class a different precept to learn about. Over the years, he's collected hundreds of them and compiled them into one book, one precept for each day of the year. I also recommend this book.

The book I chose for June was Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon. This book is about a group of pioneers, specifically a man and woman and her family, who make the trek from Missouri to California during the 1800s. It's about the wagon train and the struggles on the plains, including sickness, weather and Indians. I recommend this for anyone who loves historical fiction.

The book I chose for May was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It was an Oprah book club pick back in 2022 I believe. I chose this book because I really enjoyed her other book, The Poisonwood Bible. Demon Copperhead takes place in a small, rural, poor county in Virgina. It follows a kid, Damon Fields, aka Demon Copperfield, in the 90s as he struggles with poverty, foster care, and opioid addiction. I would recommend this book.

The book I chose was Beyond the Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz. It is a continuation of the Descendants series. This book takes place in Wonderland and is about the Queen of Hearts daughter. It is nothing like the movie, Rise of Red. The book is about Red trying to defy her mom and have a party, a real party, and not the un-party's her mom throws. She befriends the son of the Mad Hatter and the son of one of the cards. I would recommend this book if you like the other Descendant stories.

I chose The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr. Another book I've had on my TBR since 2022. I got this book because I really enjoyed Doerr's other book, All the Light We Cannot See. However, this book is vastly different. There are several short stories that are just that, stories. Some of them are kind of creepy, some of them are cliff hangers. Some don't feel fully developed. I'd say it was mediocre. Not great, but not terrible.

I chose Promise Me Forever by Debbie Macomber. Purchased June 2017. It was hard to get into. The first half-ish of the book is difficult to get through because of all the negativity. I would call it mediocre at best.

1. Starting Over Scottish, by Tricia O'Malley

A short book about a girl who goes to Scotland on a vacation adventure to run a bar. When she gets there, nothing goes to plan, and she ends up meeting and falling for the owner. Anyway, it was a short, easy read and I enjoyed it. I also learned it was the first book in a series, and I will be looking into the other books as well.

2. Five Little Peppers in the Little Brown House, by Maragaret Sidney

A child's book, yes. I loved the Five Little Peppers when I was a child, and when I learned there are 12 books, I have been reading them. I will say they are dated, and some themes and situations are questionable for today's standards.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis.

This book is about Baseball. How the Oakland A's and Billy Beane changed the game. It is technical, statistical, and pretty close to the movie. Yes, I know the book came out first, but the movie follows the book as far as the Oakland A's journey. It also delves into the history of baseball statistics and sabermetrics.

Since I do have a numbers background in Math, Finance, and Accounting, I did enjoy reading all about the numbers and how it applies to baseball.

I read 2 books by Mitch Albom: The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, and The Next Person You Meet in Heaven.

All of his writings are definitely rollercoasters. They give you all the feels. The first is about a carnival worker who is killed while saving a child from a ride that has malfunctioned. He dies and meets 5 people who teach him something about his life. They are people who have been part of his life and they all have a different lesson to teach him and help him see the bigger picture.

The second book is the sequel to the first. It's about the girl he saved. She's grown up and dies during her honeymoon in a hot air balloon accident. She goes to Heaven and meets 5 people as well. One of which is the man who saved her in the first book.

Mitch Albom is highly recommended if you need a good cry or want to feel all the feels and be emotionally drained afterwards.

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.

For January I read PS, I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

I enjoyed it. There's some differences between the movie and the book. Also, I did not realize there was a sequel, so I will be adding that to my list and reading in the near future.

For January I read A Brewing Storm by Richard Castle.

It's more of a short story than an actual book, and I plan on reading the rest of the Trilogy this weekend.

This is my second time joining the challenges. I'm in Ohio. and an avid reader, although I only manage about 50 books a year. I read just about anything, particularly enjoy Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Young Adult, Mysteries and books that are movies. I have a huge TBR (to be read) list on Kindle and also do the Mount TBR challenges on Goodreads as well.

For September, I read West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. I really liked it! It's about 2 giraffes traveling from New York to the world famous San Diego Zoo during 1938. It's based on the true story of the famous Hurricane Giraffes.

For August, I read the Book, Coal Miner's Daughter by Lorretta Lynn and George Vecsey. I was skeptical about the August challenge because I couldn't find anything to read or find anything that would be interesting enough to read. Then I stumbled on this book by Lorretta Lynn. While I know a lot of her songs, just from growing up with parents who liked the classic country music (mind you, I also grew up in the 80s), and I like most current country (the more pop-y songs), and some 90s. The classics are definitely part of me too.

I found her book refreshing. I felt like I she was sitting next to me telling me all these stories about her life. Each chapter was a different story, but it blended so well, you wouldn't know where one chapter ends and the other picks up. She is real, she don't play and she tells it like it is. She also don't put up with much. She refused to bend her standards for anyone or anything. She has a lot of class, and she's still the leading lady of Country. There are many queens, Dolly Parton, Reba McIntire (my all-time favorite), but Lorretta Lynn will always be the number 1 Queen of country music.

If you want to read a story about a real person, and not all the drama that surround celebrities, with drugs, alcohol. scandals, etc. then check out her book. It's real and down-to-earth. Sure, she had trials, and was tempted and had all kinds of rumors about her and her family, but that's all they were, rumors.

For July, I read the book Toyland by Tony Bertauski. It is the 7th book in the Claus Universe. I enjoyed it. The Claus Universe is best described as Christmas meets Science Fiction. It also has a futuristic feel to it. Each book can be stand alone, and read separately, however, sometimes there will be references to previous books. Each book focuses on one aspect of Christmas, or winter. Toyland, is about the toys. The first book, Clause, is about Santa Clause. The second book, Jack, is about Jack Frost. And so on.

For this month, I chose a book by Dean Koontz: Final Hour. Since I have it on Kindle, I did not realize it was more of a short story (less than 100 pgs), so I hope to read another book for this month as well.
I did enjoy the book, as I am a Dean Koontz fan. The book takes place in 1 day, just a matter of hours actually. It's about a Hawaiian girl and her surfer boyfriend who take down a psycho who is holding her twin sister captive.