Cecil’s Comments (group member since Jan 07, 2020)

Cecil’s comments from the Chapter Adventure Reading Challenges (Formerly GXO) group.

Hi all!
Cecil here, from Central Minnesota. I’m retired, so finding more time to actually get some serious reading done, but truthfully most reading is done later at night. (When it’s quieter, no TV!) Being a night owl anyway, that suits me fine.

I tend to gravitate to crime, suspense, mystery, thriller, sometimes horror, but do enjoy diversions into historical fiction, fantasy, humor and current fiction. My book club helps me expand my horizons, can’t seem to convince them to read mysteries all the time. ;)
Not a fan of romance, or getting bogged down in epic tomes. Trying to get more classics read, working at adding them in as well. (That could be a motif challenge, hint hint!)

I think I found the group on Instagram, when there were posts on the RIP challenge in the fall, and followed back to the other challenges on Goodreads. I have spent entire evenings going through my book list planning for the year, but this year taking it a month at time. Determined to stick to physical books on my own shelf, instead of ebooks on my Kindle and Nook apps. Need more room on my shelves!

Found that I do enjoy writing reviews. Not sure if anyone reads them, but I’m very careful not to include spoilers, and I don’t try to rewrite the summary either, that’s not the point, in my opinion. Unless a book is really bad, I’m usually pretty generous with stars. Not a writer myself, I’d rather encourage than criticize.

Mostly planning on 40 books this year, fell short of my goal of 50 last year, so maybe I can pass that up.

Need to say that using Goodreads to keep track of my books whether owned, read, or want to read, helps me tremendously! I can track which ones are on my apps or physical books, sort by type, and track which books I already have in series I read, so I don’t pick up ones I already own. (Yes, I’ve done that a few times. :\ ) Plus the summaries are much better than other sources, and reviews help me decide if it’s worth the effort. I just wish some people were a little kinder in their reviews. You don’t have to enjoy a book completely to at least be fair. We’ve all had some “DNF” come across our bookshelves, but most of us don’t really qualify as a true literary critic. Don’t be cruel to make yourself look smart. ‘Nuff said.

Did all but September, too much going on that month. Here’s my list:
Jan. - Under Raven’s Wing
Feb. - The Darkest Secrets
March - Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
April - The Rose Code
May - Sara’s Game
June - Man in the Water
July - Winterkill (Joe Pickett)
Aug. - Black Dog
Sept. - WOULD have read Dark Matter (maybe next time)
Oct. - Into the Wood - Tales of Baba Yaga
Nov. - The Paris Apartment
Dec. - Polar Bear Dawn

Really enjoyed The Rose Code and Winterkill. The Tales of Baba Yaga was entertaining, short stories that had different takes on this legend. Polar Bear Dawn was good enough I might check out others in this series. Winterkill is part of the Joe Pickett series that has never disappointed, the endings are heart stopping!
I have decided that I’m going to do these challenges sporadically in 2024, really trying to get through my burgeoning bookshelf of actual physical books, since often I couldn’t find something to fill the motif unless it was on my Nook or Kindle book lists. Too many books on my shelf I really want to get to, that don’t always fit the motif.

Made every month! Here’s my list:
Jan. - Bellman and Black
Feb. - Last to Vanish
March - In the Woods
April - Circle of Influence
May - Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
June - Beneath Devils’ Bridge
July - The Final Girls
Aug. - Killers of the Flower Moon
Sept. - Signal Moon
Oct. - Shadow’s Keep
Nov. - The Paris Apartment
Dec. - My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry

The Searcher by Tana French was good, and of course Killers of the Flower Moon, while more documentary style, still an important and well told story. Bellman and Black was a disappointment, really dragged on. Had read The Thirteenth Tale, by the same author, was much better. This one not so much. And The Paris Apartment neatly fit into both this and the Motif challenge, plus my book club book as well!

I have decided that I’m going to do these challenges sporadically in 2024, really trying to get through my burgeoning bookshelf of actual physical books, since often I couldn’t find something to fill the words needed unless it was on my Nook or Kindle book lists. Too many books on my shelf I really want to get to, that don’t always fit the challenge.

Challenge Complete!
Word: My
Book: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman

A touching book with a lot going on, interesting characters and fairy tales to boot.
My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Challenge Complete!
Read Polar Bear Dawn by Lyle NIcholson
A good story, but get out your notebook to keep track of the characters! Sorts them out later, but a bit confusing at first. Interesting crime novel regarding a subject I know little about, but that didn’t deter the story for me.
Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (Yes, was able to use the same book for both Motif and Keyword challenges!)
A fun twisty mystery, see my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Challenge complete!
Word: Paris
Book: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
A good twisty mystery with multiple villains, see my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Squeezed in two more for the month, one good and one so-so.

First one was Phantoms by Dean Koontz, this was a winner in the creep factor! An older book that did not lose any points for being older. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Second one was Conjuring the Witch by Jessica Leonard. This one would have been better with some better writing, the plot and setting were good, but the writing was somewhat amateurish, at least through most of the first part of the book. It was a short book, so stuck with it anyway.

I read Shadow's Keep by Megan O’Flynn. A bit of a rambling narrative, but the overall story was good. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished “Into the Forest: Tales of Baba Yaga” by Lindy Ryan (editor), a book of short stories by multiple authors. A good creepy read with many different perspectives on the legend. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Well, I was going to read Dark Matter, but ran out of month, and want to get started on RIP (Readers in Peril) and my October challenges, so may have to come back to this some other time. The last two months were very busy, just barely squeezed out the September Key word one with a short story! Oh well, such is life!

Read Signal Moon: A Short Story by Kate Quinn, turned out to be a short story, but a good one. (Took liberties with the word “Sign”. An interesting departure from her usual stories, with a bit of the paranormal/fantasy thrown in. But I enjoyed it immensely, and being a short story helped me to catch up on my challenge books a bit. August and September were busy months, didn’t get a lot of reading time, and new books by two of my favorite authors came out, so had to make time for them of course!

I also read Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Gran. I had heard a lot about this book, finally got the chance to read it. A sad story, but needed to be told. The first time I had heard anything about this tale from the past, guess we missed that part in our history books in school.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Read Black Dog by Stephen Booth (song by Led Zepplin)
Interesting plot, but some of the characters were kinda difficult to like. Especially Diane, she was one prickly personality through most of the story. The ending was an decent twist. May check out one of the next books in the series, but there’s a long line ahead of them on my TBR pile already.

Challenge complete!
I changed my mind at the last minute, picked up #3 in the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box, Winterkill. Really enjoy this series, looking forward to the second season of the show on TV. The endings are often heart-stopping, never gets boring! My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Word: Final
Book: Final Girls by Riley Sager
This was a fun mystery to unravel, with plenty of red herrings. I'll say that Quincy had much more patience with Sam than I would have, at any rate! The end did come as a surprise, it's always the one you least expect. ;)

Elba wrote: "The soulmate by Sally Hepworth"

I enjoyed this one too!

Just finished Man In The Water by Jon Hill. A good fast-paced thriller. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Challenge complete!
Word: Bridge
Book: Beneath Devil's Bridge by Loreth Ann White

A complex mystery, going back and forth between the current day and the past, along with shifting perspectives. Kept me guessing, and kept me up at night reading, especially when I got to the last chapters.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Challenge complete!
Word: Dragon
Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Probably the most popular book I’ve read so far, well worth the 590 pages. Looking forward to the sequels. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...