Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges discussion

September - This month's motif (theme) is "Based in Truth".

Read a book based on real life events.

Share with us! What book did you read and what did you think of it.

September - This month's motif (theme) is "Based in Truth". Read a book based on real life events.

Challenge Complete: To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara

Shaara is a past master at bringing history to life. His novels dealing with the Civil War made it an especial interest of mine. World War II was already on my radar, but this novel really brought it, and especially the attack on Pearl Harbor, into focus. While many of the characters were real people, even those who were not were crafted from the first person accounts of several enlisted sailors present at the attack.

These characters, real and imagined, especially those stationed at Pearl Harbor, make the novel. We come to know the men as they go about their daily lives, unaware of what is to come.

I don’t think I’ve read a novel about the attack that was so vivid. It made what many of the men experienced more real. It also laid to rest many of the conspiracies that surround the attack. That the US was so unprepared, and so sure of Japan’s military inabilities, seem to have been the main reasons that the attack was so successful.

The book I chose was a true-crime story, Raised by a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father by April Balascio. This was a tough read, but well written. We got to see all sides of the monster the author had to call “Dad”. My review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazing story of survival

September motif challenge

Delayed Rays Of A Star by Amanda Lee Koe

The genesis of this story springs from a photograph of Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong and Leni Riefenstahl taken at a party in Berlin.

A historical fiction and a reimagining of the lives of these 3 women.

It was a fascinating read.

A bit late, but I figured I’d add it here anyway.
• Alive - Piers Paul Read
- True Story
- Finished: October 3rd.
- 4 stars on Goodreads.
What an incredible true story of survival and testament of the human will to survive. The storytelling was factual yet engaging. I remember enjoying the movie when it came out in 1993 - I was 14/15yrs old when I watched it. I’d like to watch it now again as an adult & since reading the book.

Port Luck by Timothy King - inspired by a true story - does this count?

The Vampire’s Cut by Chet Hardin - true crime

CHALLENGE COMPLETE! I have been saving two books as rewards & one of them fit this month’s motif. I was thrilled to finally read The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul. What a fantastic read by a person I admire!

Challenge Complete! (though posting late)

I read Death of a Pinehurst Princess: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery by Steve Bouser.