Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) discussion

The July Key Words are...

Sunrise, Deepen, Story, Sweet, Resort, Good, Left, Ever

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

I’m currently reading “Sunrise on the reaping” by Suzanne Collins - hopefully this will count for this challenge 🤞🏽

For July, keyword “Good” - I’ve been wanting to read this book for my personal alphabet challenge for letter G. “Good Vibrations: Coast to coast by Harley” by Tom Cunliffe!

• A House With Good Bones - T. Kingfisher
- Mystery/Horror/Paranormal
- Finished: July 8th
- 4 stars on Goodreads
I don’t have much to say about this one, other than it was superbly creepy.

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan
And
Summer Ever After by Kourtney Keisel

Been meaning to read this for a while - came highly recommended but was just okay for me

Challenge complete!
Key Word: Good

I chose to read The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas and it hit a little too close to home in the descriptions of grief and dealing with loss of a loved one.

Challenge complete!
Word: Story
Book read: If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olson.
This was a tough one, knowing it was all true. Proof that some people are truly taken over by evil, whether learned or in their genes. It always amazes me how easily they can manipulate people, and find the ones that would make a good victim. Sad story, but some justice in the end. Just not as severe as it should have been, in my opinion.

Challenge Complete - Key Word: Story

The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme

It was soon after the war, while director of the Polish Displaced Persons camp, that Hulme met a Belgian nurse and former nun who would become her lifelong companion. Marie Louise Habet was a volunteer at the project. This story is a slightly fictionalized account of Habets’ life as a nun. Written more in the form of a biography, it follows Sister Luke’s life from entering the convent to her eventual leaving seventeen years later.

It was the movie based on it that first made me aware of the story. I loved the movie, so made a search for the book. I was surprised at how true to the book the movie was.

I’ve read the book several times over the years, and every time I’m drawn into the life of Gabrielle Van Del Mal, who would be known as Sister Luke. Her struggles over the years to be a “perfect” nun, yet a good nurse, too, are compellingly drawn. The story is straight forward and concise, yet the reader is given a full picture of those years. Sister Luke’s story is one of sacrifice, but also one of true grace.

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.

In July, I read the following books with the following key words: Sunrise, Deepen, Story, Sweet, Resort, Good, Left, Ever

⁠Sunrise: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart 3 stars; An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo 4 stars


Deepen: The How to guide for Deepening your friendships by Amy Weatherly 3 stars

Story: The Storyteller of Marrakesh by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya 3 stars; The Storyteller of Auschwitz by Siobhan Curham 4 stars; The Secret Story of the Musee du Louvre by Emmanuelle Iger 3 stars; Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz 3 stars; The Secret History by Donna Tartt 3 stars; The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer 3 stars; Bodyguard, an Undercover Story by Jessica Linden 3 stars; The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham 4 stars; Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman 3 stars

Read in January: The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar 3 stars

Read in April: The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen 3 stars; The Rest is History by Tom Holland 3 stars

Read in May: French Short Stories by Christian Stahl 3 stars

Read in August: The Monster of Florence, a true Story by Douglas Preston 3 stars; The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult 5 stars; The Storyteller by Dave Grohl 4 stars

To be read in December: Love Story by Karen Kingsbury; How to end a Love Story by Yulin Kuang; A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
;

Sweet: Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear 3 stars; Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker 3 stars; Sweet Filthy Boy and Sweet Filthy Morning After by Christina Lauren 3 stars each;

Read in August: The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris 4 stars; A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland 3 stars


Resort: The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden 3 stars; Mr Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd 3 stars; The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley 3 stars; The Last Resort by Sarah Stodola 3 stars

Read in August: The Resort by Sara Ochs 3 stars; The Resort by Sarah Goodwin 3 stars


Good: The Good Sister by Gillian McAllister 3 stars; Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor 4 stars; Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson 3 stars; Good Hope Road by Lisa Wingate 3 stars; Good Material by Dolly Alderton 3 stars; One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter 4 stars; Gone for Good by Harlan Coben 3 stars; The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani 3 stars; Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson 3 stars; Such a Good Wife by Seraphina Nova Glass 3 stars; The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 4 stars

Read in August: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers 4 stars; A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 3 stars


Left: What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman 3 stars; No one Left but you by Tash McAdam 3 stars; None Left to Tell by Noelle W. Ihli 5 stars; The Last Room on the Left by Leah Konen 4 stars; The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos 4 stars; Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis 3 stars; The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani 3 stars; Save What's Left by Elizabeth Castellano 3 stars; The Light We Left Behind by Tessa Harris 3 stars

Read in February: They Went Left by Monica Hesse 4 stars


Ever: All the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller 3 stars; Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel 3 stars; Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass 3 stars; Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca 3 stars; Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean 4 stars; The Ever After by Sarah Pekkanen 3 stars; Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson 4 stars

Read in March: The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez 3 stars

Challenge complete!
Key Words: Good and sweet

Sweet Baby by Sharon Sala
Sweet Tea & Christmas Trees by Rachel Hanna
All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment by Hannah Anderson

Key Words: Story, Sweet, Resort, Good, Left, Ever




A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Sweet Saboteur by C. A. Phipps
The Resort by M.J. Hardy
Good, Clean, Murder by Traci Tyne Hilton
The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer
Scrappily Ever After by Mollie Cox Bryan