Book Concierge’s Comments (group member since Jan 19, 2016)

Book Concierge’s comments from the Grab a Book & Play Booktivity! group.

NOMINATIONS CLOSED ... Poll up shortly.

Due to late start of poll and holiday weekend, I'll keep poll open until Dec 2.

Book # 1 in the trilogy


The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien – 4****
This is the first in a trilogy of short novels that tell the story of two young Irish girls as they grow to womanhood in the mid-20th century. It's a wonderful coming-of-age story, full of drama and angst of teenagers everywhere and at any time. Who among us hasn’t “suffered” the pangs of unrequited love, struggled with awakening sexuality, rebelled against the restraints of our parents or society? The girls’ issues struck a chord with me, even if the specifics of our respective journeys differed. When the novel was first published in 1960 it caused quite a sensation for sexually explicit content; seems pretty tame by today’s standards, however.
LINK to my full review

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans celebrating this day.

Happy Thursday to everyone outside the USA. Hope the day finds your thankful for something, and perhaps enjoying the blessings of family and friends.

December 2025 Scavenger Hunt
Begins: 01Dec25/ Ends: 31Dec25

0 / 15 words found
0 / 5 BONUS words found
0 books read


attitude
breakfast
charm
exciting
guest
impulse
joy
kings
magic
noise
obviously
puppy
qualified
river
wreath

BONUS words
dreadful
festoon
hideous
leopard
taffeta

.

Whoop, WHOOP, WHOOP ... Great job scavenging, Carolyn!

Our Scavenger Party ....


CLICK on your name to go directly to your challenge post.

Beverly

Carolyn

JennH

Jonquil

Robin P

Susan

Tessa
.

December 2025 Scavenger Hunt
Begins: 01Dec25/ Ends: 31Dec25


Your challenge is to find the words/phrases shown below in the TEXT of the books you are reading this month.

You are NOT restricted to one book / one word; you may find as many of the words/phrases in a single book as you like. If you find all the words in one book you are really lucky!

NOTE - you may NOT use the book which is the source for the words in the scavenger hunt!

This month's scavenger list are words that were found in
Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L.M. Montgomery

(YES, we have used this book before. In September all the words began with 'S.' This time there are NO words beginning with 's.')


NOTE - you may NOT use this book for the scavenger hunt!

BASIC Scavenger List
attitude
breakfast
charm
exciting
guest
impulse
joy
kings
magic
noise
obviously
puppy
qualified
river
wreath

BONUS words
dreadful
festoon
hideous
leopard
taffeta


=============================================================

Unless a variation is specified above, words must match exactly, with the following exceptions: I will accept a plural/singular version, or differences in spelling between British and American English (e.g. honor or honour). But those are the ONLY deviations allowed. So, if you are looking for "vivid" - I will NOT allow "vividly."

All books used must be a minimum of 100 pages long - Page length determined by HARDCOVER 1st edition. If there is no Hardcover, then the most popular paperback governs page #.

You may read in any format - text, audio, or e-book. If using audio or e-book I suggest using Amazon’s “look inside" feature to get a page number for your quote.

You MUST finish the book before you can claim credit for finding the word/phrase.

EXAMPLE of a successful post:

happy - Kept ✔ – 03May25 - pg 76 - "…as happy, let alone amorous."

If you'd like to be recognized as finishing the challenge, please post a new comment alerting me to your finish. I do not get notifications when you edit your original post.

Have Fun!

.

Update message # 4 - Challenge completed ✔ - 30Oct25

Carolyn wrote: "Awesome basic list finished and just one to find on the bonus list."

OOPS ... you are still missing the last one on the basic list
YARN (knitting)


But you're doing great (I'm missing this one so far, as well. I've had several references to knitting, but no mention of the yarn...yet.)

"Jaws" # 1 (though the other two books are written by two different authors.


Jaws – Peter Benchley – 4****
A great white shark is terrorizing the residents of a Long Island community that relies on summer visitors for its economic health. Political concerns seem to have sharper teeth than the great white, however. I’ve read it three times previously; I listened to the audio this time around. I was struck by how long it takes for the shark hunt to happen, and how much time is spent on the political and marital difficulties that Sheriff Brody has to navigate before he even gets out on the water. I think the movie was much better.
LINK to my full review

Just shows how often a word can come up in so many different settings.

We invite YOU to nominate a theme for next month.

Perhaps there's a holiday (major or obscure) you want to celebrate? Maybe you want to focus on a specific genre or tag? Want to look for cover image or color? Focus on the author's initials?

There is NO requirement that the theme match the month or season. Whatever "theme" you can come up with is fair game.

BE SURE to include the task requirement for your theme:
Examples:
Author, Author!: Read a book whose author's first and last initials are in "Author, Author"
It's Fall!: Read a book with the word "fall" in the title or subtitle
Read a book with BLUE cover.


ONE nomination per member


To encourage participation from more members, the person who nominated LAST month's winning theme cannot nominate this month. So, Carol, you will *not* be able to submit a nomination (though you WILL be able to vote).


DEADLINE - 25 November 2025 at 5p CDT, or 5 nominations (whichever comes first)

Once the nominations are closed, we'll set up a poll for membership to vote on the theme for next month.

Nominated themes:
* Christmas in the Two Hemispheres. Read books from both hemispheres that are Christmas themed. e.g. Christmas in winter; Christmas in summer or By an author from the Northern Hemisphere or an author from the Southern Hemisphere (Carolyn)
* Author, Author. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials are in CHRISTMAS TREE. (Beverly)
* Eating Yummy Stuff! Read a book with food on the cover (SouthWestZippy)
*
*


Put your thinking caps on, and Have fun!

.

Whoop, Whoop, WHOOP! Great job, Koren!


OOOPS... you are missing one word, Koren ... password

Excellent!

Excellent scavenging, Jonquil!

Congrats, Koren. I hope you find that last bonus item in your next book.

Oh ... and I think you have a typo in that last BONUS entry ...
But I did enjoy the image of the FBI "swam across the backyard"

# 1 in the Laurel McKay Mysteries



Dying For a Date – Cindy Sample – 2.5** (rounded up)
This is a pretty typical cozy with an amateur sleuth trying to solve the crime, so SHE doesn’t get arrested for it. There’s a very handsome detective who keeps warning Laurel McKay off the case, but she ignores him (of course). Her ex-husband seems to want to get back together. Her real-estate agent mother is a source of conflict. And she has a gay friend at work who is a great wingman.
LINK to my full review

On behalf of my husband (Airborne Ranger, Vietnam), my late father (Specialist wireman, WW2 Pacific), and my nephew (currently an Army Nurse, about to deploy to Kuwait) ... thank you for remembering.

Welcome to the hunt, Marilyn. I've created a link for you.

# 1 in the Bellinger Sisters series



It Happened One Summer – Tessa Bailey – 2**
A moderately entertaining summer read. The relationships are ridiculous. The characters are stereotypes. I did not like Piper at all, though her sister Hannah is a peach. I did rather like sea captain Brendan (who spends most of the book in lust), and his “relief skipper,” Fox. But really, I read these books just for the sex scenes. And for the possibility of a great metaphor for orgasm.
LINK to my full review