Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges discussion

The Motif this month is:

"Face Off"

+ Read a book with a face on the cover. Bonus points if you take a #bookface photo!⁠ +

Share with us!

What book did you pick? Did you enjoy the book and would you recommend it?

I got an early start on my May selection, The Woman Who Smashed Codes by James Facone. Unfortunately, my app doesn't allow photo insertion. The cover is a scrambled photo of a woman's face.
The audiobook comes with a PDF file to assist in understanding the process of deciphering.
Elsebeth Friedman and her husband decipher war messages, to help the U.S. and Allied forces, and prior to that met working for an individual. During that time they found the hidden messages in the works of William Shakespeare.
I learned about the Baconian Theory, the cypher process and the involvement of Chile, Brazil and Argentina in WWII in this non-fiction story.
While I rate it 3.5, I recommend listening for all the information contained. The narration is good and listening I kept doing my spring cleaning.

Challenge Complete! I read Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. This is a "body horror" novel. Quite interesting and definitely unforgettable.

• Fairest of All - Serena Valentino
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

I’m a bit behind the curve of popularity this series rose up on, but I think I’m kind of glad I didn’t read it when the hype for it was still so high. I went into it knowing that it’s aimed at a younger audience, so my attitude towards it was suitably prepared. Have I read better YA/Middle Grade fiction? Honestly…yes. But I did enjoy this, and am not disappointed at all. I’m actually pretty relieved, since I bought the entire series (and preordered the next one which hasn’t been released yet 😅), solely based on the recommendation of my book bestie. Well, that and the cover art is fantastic. And I’m delighted by the fact that the hardcover itself also has artwork on it that’s different from the that on the dust jacket. So all in all I’m happy to find that I didn’t waste my money, and this gorgeous series gets to stay on my shelf….assuming that I enjoy the rest of the books as well.

• The Beast Within - Serena Valentino
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

This reminded me that Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney movie! I’m really enjoying the meddling of the 3 Sisters in books 1 & 2, and I’m assuming this remains an ongoing theme with each of the following books. Also, the 4th and youngest sister’s name is Circe, which prompted me to research how to pronounce her name correctly, and apparently there are 3 different ways to pronounce it depending on nationality. I’ve decided that I love the Greek pronunciation (which is where the name originates) “Keer-key”. This is actually super useful, since I also have Circe, by Madeleine Miller waiting TBR on my shelf 😆.

• Poor Unfortunate Soul - Serena Valentino
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I was a tiny bit disappointed with this one. I still really enjoyed it, but I was expecting for this to focus more on Ursula and why she became evil. Instead there’s hinting at some great tragedy (the death of the human man who raised her I think?), after which she lays waste to an entire city…but it’s all a bit vague and doesn’t really go into exact detail about what happened. The story seemed more focused on the 3 Odd Sisters and their interaction with Ursula. Yes, I get it, the sisters play an integral part throughout the series, but I just…wanted a bit more Ursula in a book that’s supposed to be about her.

The Matthew Perry story - one long story of addiction. Kind of sad considering he is now gone.

I read by Beverly Lowry. A true crime novel that was good, but frustrating.
See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Challenge Complete: Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller

I’m not sure what kind of message the author was trying to convey. That Grant was a great general who saved the Union? Or that his victory was a drunkard’s plain good luck? Because while he lauds Grant with praises after the victory at Vicksburg, before then he misses no chance to bring up every accusation against Grant regarding his drinking.

Was Grant an alcoholic? If so, Miller doesn’t seem to understand what makes an alcoholic and how stopping overnight is something rarely, if ever, done. Yet Miller takes none of that into consideration, more often than not making it sound as if Grant could have stopped anytime he wanted to. But many historians think that many of the accusations were from those who would have gained from Grant’s removal.

As far as the history of the actual battle (which, going by the title was what I thought was the focus of the book,) there’s plenty of information given. Perhaps a bit too much, as the book focuses on the entire Mississippi campaign. Several other battles are also covered.

Several times Miller writes as if he knows what someone was thinking at the time, or what they actually planned, often going against what that person later wrote. It made it hard to not take anything he wrote without a huge grain of salt.

Yet the book is interesting enough. I only wish the author would have kept his own feelings about Grant and others out of it.

I read Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. The cover has a troubled looking young face and you will likely feel troubled as well as you read this book. It is about a 15 year old girl who is in a relationship with her much older teacher, that spans many iteration for decades, and "Reflections" after it has ended.

Be ready for an emotional and dark experience if you pick this up.

Challenge complete!

I picked Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman.

Challenge complete!
Read A Hasty Betrothal by Jessica Nelson. Disappointed that the woman's face on the cover did not reflect that the character in the book has a large birthmark on her cheek.

I'm reading Cop Town by Karin Slaughter. Love her books!

Mother Knows Best - Serena Valentino
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I’m really enjoying these! I took a (somewhat reluctant) break to get another book read that fit one of the word prompts for this month (GXO Reading Challenges group), but now I’m back to this series. Every story manages to make me feel badly about the fate of the villain (except the Beast, who gets a happy ending), to the point where I almost feel a creeping sort of dread building up as the story progresses, knowing that things don’t end well for them. Anyway, now I want to watch Tangled. It’s one of the last Disney movies I can remember truly enjoying (I friggin hated Frozen). I can’t believe it came out in 2010 😅
(Edit: Ope, I also really enjoyed Brave, so I guess that was actually the last Disney I liked)

I read Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier for my motif and keyword challenge.

I read The Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrove. This is part of the Firefly series. This isn't great literature, but I do love the characters.

CHALLENGE COMPLETE: Picked up the Guild Codex series again & it was *so* good! Read “Dark Arts & A Daiquiri” by Annette Marie

Here are books with a face on the cover read in May.

Dead Before Dark by Wendy Corsi Staub - 3 stars
Lovely War by Julie Berry - 4 stars
Shopping for Love by Renee Carlino - 3 stars
A Greek Love by Zoé Valdés - 4 stars
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas - 3 stars
The Librarian spy by Madeline Martin - 4 stars
Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb - 4 stars
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood - 4 stars
A Throne from the Ashes by C.C. Peñaranda - 5 stars
A Clash of Three Courts by C.C. Peñaranda - 5 stars
A Sword from the Embers by C.C. Peñaranda - 4 stars