Grab a Book & Play Booktivity! discussion

July Happenings Challenge
Duration: Month of July

Spell-out one/more ALL-CAPPED Holidays listed below:

National HAMMOCK Day
MADE IN THE USA Day
Build a SCARECROW Day
National LOVE YOUR SKIN Day
All American PET PHOTO Day
National LIPSTICK Day
International Day of FRIENDSHIP
National Gorgeous GRANDMA Day
International RED SHOES Day
Take Your HOUSEPLANT for a Walk Day
National WATER PARK Day
ETCH-A-SKETCH Day
National GUMMI WORMS Day
I Love HORSES Day
National Day of ROCK-N-ROLL
Teddy Bear PICNIC Day

Challenge Rules:
• one book per letter
• use 1st letter Title (exclude A, An, or The)
• use 1st letter of Author's FIRST/LAST name
• use 1st letter of Main Character's FIRST/LAST name

For Each Book Read
• LINK to Title
• INDICATE Author
• GIVE DATE you finished Book

Ratings are Optional!
Happy 4th of July!

PARTICIPANTS

🎉 Beverly - GUMMI WORMS (10/10) C
SouthWestZippy - GRANDMA (6/7)
Diana S - WATER PARK (0/9)
🎉 Cara - HAMMOCK (7/7) C
Book Concierge - HORSES (4/6)
🎉 JennH - GRANDMA DAY (10/10) C
Licha-Olivia - FRIENDSHIP DAY (7/13)
🎉 Jonquil - PICNIC (6/6) C
🎉 Carolyn - HORSES (6/6) C
🎉 Carol - FRIENDSHIP DAY (13/13) C
Susan - PICNIC (4/6)
Robin P - SCARECROW (7/9)
🎉 Koren - HAMMOCK (7/7) C
Marilyn - HORSES (2/7)

CONGRATULATIONS


🥂 Beverly 👋
🥂 Cara 👋
🥂 JennH 👋
🥂 Jonquil 👋
🥂 Carolyn 👋
🥂 Carol 👋
🥂 Koren 👋

July Happenings Challenge
Duration: Month of July

10/10

G Gretchen Allen, Hostile Taco-ver FINISHED 7/6
U Anne Ursu, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy FINISHED 7/29
M Mermaid Beach: A Novel by Sheila Roberts FINISHED 7/5
M Allie Millington, Olivetti FINISHED 7/2
I Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto by Tilar J. Mazzeo FINISHED 7/28

W Weyward by Emilia Hart FINISHED 7/28
O Colleen Oakley, Jane and Dan at the End of the World FINISHED 7/20
R The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap FINISHED 7/17
M My Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Sissy Spacek FINISHED 7/25
S The Storyteller's Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal FINISHED 7/14

July Happenings Challenge
Duration: Month of July
National Gorgeous GRANDMA Day
7/7--Completed late
G-Summer Home by Cynthia D. Grant-7/22/25
R--The Originals: The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II by Sarah Byrn Rickman-7/27/25
A-The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan-8/4/25
N-News of the World by Paulette Jiles--7/21/25
D-Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie--7/2/25
M-My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman-7/9/25
A-Fire on the Mountain by Edward Abbey-7/16/25

July Happenings Challenge

Spell-out: WATER PARK

W
A
T
E
R

P
A
R
K

Hammock (7/7)


H The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom Shari Franke 7/23
A Michiko Aoyama What You Are Looking For Is in the Library 7/11
M The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London Penrose Halson 7/15
M Marissa Bishop The Golden Couple Greer Hendricks 7/9
O On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Stephen King 7/2
C Judy Christie Lisa Wingate Before and After 7/25
K The Kitchen House Kathleen Grissonm 7/6

July 2025 Happenings Challenge
Begins: 01July25 / Ends: 31July25


6 / 6 completed


Horses
H - HANER is mc in Tooth and Claw ✔ – 17July25
O - O’BRIEN, Edna / The Country Girls ✔ – 17July25
R - ROBIE is mc in To Catch a Thief ✔ – 13Aug25
S - Stephen King / 11/22/63 ✔ – 16July25
E - ERDRICH, Louise / The Sentence ✔ - 26July25
S - Sisters of the Sari✔ – 04Aug25

.

July Happenings Challenge
Duration: Month of July

G - Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala 7/4/25
R - Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood 7/19/25
A - Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger 7/15/25 - Adele
N - I am a Cat Volume 1 by Natsume Sōseki 7/20/25
D - Bleak House by Charles Dickens 7/18/25
M - Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff 7/10/25 - Hannah Martel
A - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 7/20/25

D - The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 7/23/25
A - Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung 7/18/25
Y - Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa 7/13/25 - Yumeko

July Happenings Challenge 2025

13/13 Letters completed 9/2/25

F: Fray, Clary (mc) City of Bones Cassandra Clare (7/18/25)
R: Romero, Cord (mc) Desperado Diana Palmer (8/10/25)
I: In the Woods Tana French (7/11/25)
E: Eliana K. Arnold Damsel (8/17/25)
N: Ninth Key Jenny Carroll (Meg Cabot) (7/24/25)
D: Dark Hearts Sharon Sala (7/13/25)
S: Shadowland Jenny Carroll (Meg Cabot) (7/3/25)
H: Hutton, Pierce (mc) Once In Paris Diana Palmer (8/13/25)
I: Inheritance Nora Roberts (8/2/25)
P: Phillips, Dallas (mc) Wild Hearts Sharon Sala (7/7/25)

D: Diana Palmer Paper Rose (8/13/25)
A: Abe, Shana Queen of Dragons (7/15/25)
Y: Yates, Maisey The Holiday Heartbreaker (9/2/25)

July 2025 Happenings Challenge

6/6

P Pro Bono Thomas Perry 7/20
I Inside the Blue Cube Sally A. Breslin 7/10
C Caught Harlan Coben 7/2
N No One Leaves the Castle Christopher Healy 7/20
I In Myrtle Peril Elizabeth C. Bunce 7/14
C Calico Reign: Genesis Trinity Kaye Krueger 7/18

July Happenings challenge 2025

5/6 Completed
H Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 10/7

O Orbital-Samantha Harvey-7/7
R Robinson Crusoe 16/7
S The Secret of Seaside 16/07
E Everywhere We Look 18/07
S Spark of the Everflame 20/07

July Happenings Challenge - 2025
13/13 - Done 7/14
Fireman and the Flirt|202756295] - A.J. Truman - 7/5
Road to Tender Hearts -Annie Hartnett -7/6
Indridason Arnaldur The Draining Lake- 7/4
E F. Benson - The Blotting Book - 7/3
Number the Stars - Lois Lowrey - 7/12
Dark Ride - Ian Rob Wright -7/13
Shea Hunter - Optical Delusion 7/7
Hunter Shea - Jurassic Florida -7/1
Ibsen, Ambrose - The House of Long Shadows -7/2
Parents Weekend - Alex Finley - 7/10
Dreiser Theodore - An American Tragedy -7/14
Advance & Retreat - Brigham Vaughn - 7/5
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village - Maureen Johnson - 7/1

July Happenings Challenge
4/6

P - The Paris Express - Emma Donoghue - 7/4
I - The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy - James Patterson and Vicki West - 7/31
C - Point of Origin - Patricia Cornwell - 7/3
N
I
C - One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston - 7/10

July Happenings

S - Shawn Inmon - The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver - 7/2
C - City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris - 7/3
A - All Systems Red - 7/23
R
E - The End of Drum-Time- 7/16
C - Call of the Penguins - 7/12
R
O - Manuel O’Kelly Davis, main character of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - 7/8
W - P.G. WodehouseThe Adventures of Sally - 7/19

July Happenings Challenge
Duration: Month of July

H-Harold Schechter Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster finished 7/5
A-Ann Jaeger The Rule of Crime and Me: An Intimate View of Ann Rule Shared By Her Friend of Thirty Years finished 7/5
M-Monroe, Jana Hearts of Darkness: Serial Killers, the Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI finished 7/20
M-Madison Reyes, Spencer Henry Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death finished 7/26
O-Olsen, Gregg Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home finished 7/15
C-Conroy, Pat -Beach Music by Pat Conroy finished 7/14
K-Kindred, Dave Leave Out the Tragic Parts: A Grandfather's Search for a Boy Lost to Addiction finished 7/24

Woo hoo, finished the challenge just now.

Opps...I forgot to say that I finished the challenge on July 14th.

Update to message 12
finished all books in challange on 20/07

July 2025 Happenings Challenge
Begins: 01July25 / Ends: 31July25
2 / 6 completed

Horses
H--Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian--7/24/25
O--Ocean Vuong, author of The Emperor of Gladness--7/17/25
R
S
E
S

Challenge completed! Message 16

Update to message #4: Challenge completed

Completed late but completed. The 589-page book just about did me in. I stared it in July. LOL BUT I got it done!

Update message # 8 - Challenge completed ✔ - 13Aug25


July 2025 Happenings Challenge
Begins: 01July25 / Ends: 31July25


6 / 6 completed


Horses
H - HANER is mc in Tooth and Claw ✔ – 17July25
O - O’BRIEN, Edna / The Country Girls ✔ – 17July25
R - ROBIE is mc in To Catch a Thief ✔ – 13Aug25
S - Stephen King / 11/22/63 ✔ – 16July25
E - ERDRICH, Louise / The Sentence ✔ - 26July25
S - Sisters of the Sari✔ – 04Aug25

.

That 'S' is why I grabbed this title when we had lunch, Diana!