Chaitra’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2012)

Chaitra’s comments from the Crazy Challenge Connection group.

Thanks Barb!

Congrats, Frankie!

Congrats, Barb!

Congrats, Barbara!

Congrats, Amanda!

Congrats, Amanda!

Great job, Barb!

Great job, Karen!

Congrats, Vickie and Denise!

Round 16, Picking for Kris

Kris, these are books that I've read and loved. I hope you enjoy whichever one you pick!

Joy D wrote: "Round 16 - Joy D picks for Chaitra:

The first two are books on my TBR by authors I've read and enjoyed, the third is because "cats" and the last is NF that sounds interesting to me. I tried to pro..."

Thanks Joy, I think Katabasis goes back to the library first, so that will be what I start with. :)

Finished finally.

Summer 2025 Scavenger Challenge

Duration: Jun 21, 2025 - Sep 20, 2025
Completed: 30/20+

✔ 1. In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.
– John Steinbeck
☀ Read a book with flowers shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg | Krista Davis ★★★★ (06/27/25)


✔ 2. It's like a beach blanket and a bottle of wine, it feels something like summertime.
– Bon Jovi
☀ Read a book with a MC who works in/owns a vineyard.
Chardonnayed to Rest | J.C. Eaton ★★★ (09/11/25)
Norrie is part owner of the Two Witches Winery.

✔ 3. Summer is singing with joy, and the beaches are inviting you with dancing waves.
– Debasish Mridha
☀ Read a book in which characters dance; tell us who and briefly explain.
Endling | Maria Reva ★★★★★ (06/29/25)
Yeva, the other brides and the bachelors during one of their romance week activities.

✔ 4. My sense of direction leads me one way: to the beach
– Unknown
☀ Read a book with a beach scene shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
Live and Let Chai | Bree Baker ★★★★ (07/27/25)


✔ 5. If summer had one defining scent, it'd definitely be the smell of barbecue.
– Katie Lee
☀ Read a book with FOOD on its main GR page.
Bran New Death | Victoria Hamilton ★★★ (07/02/25)

✔ 6. Pack your bags; fill your days; summer is for adventures in a million ways.
– Unknown
☀ Read a book whose title words all begin with a letter in PACK YOUR BAGS; 3-word minimum (a letter can only be used as many times as it appears in the phrase)
A Crime of Poison | Nancy Haddock ★★ (07/02/25)
PACk yOur.

✔ 7. Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer's day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented.
– Gilbert K. Chesterton
☀ Read a book set in a bar/pub; tell us the name of the establishment.
Redemption Point | Candice Fox ★★★ (06/25/25)
Barking Frog.

✔ 8. What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?
– John Steinbeck
☀ Read a book with a winter scene on the cover; post the cover.
Abide With Me | Jane Willan ★★★★ (07/07/25)


✔ 9. Oh, the summer night, has a smile of light, and she sits on a sapphire throne.
– Bryan Procter
☀ Read a book with at least one titled character (Lord, Lady, Prince, Queen); tell us who.
Rosemary and Rue | Seanan McGuire ★★ (07/03/25)
MC October herself is Lady Day, there’s also the Faerie Court with the Queen and assorted titled courtiers.

✔ 10. Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
– John Lebbock
☀ Read a book with a natural body of water shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
No Good Tea Goes Unpunished | Bree Baker ★★★ (08/03/25)


✔ 11. Summer has a flavor like no other. Always fresh and simmered in sunshine.
– Oprah Winfrey
☀ Read a book that was published no more than six months before you read it; tell us the publication date.
Things in Nature Merely Grow | Yiyun Li ★★★ (06/21/25)
May 20, 2025.

✔ 12. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date.
– William Shakespeare
☀ Read a book with CLASSIC on its main GR page.
Charlotte’s Web | E.B. White ★★★ (07/29/25)

✔ 13. The grill is the summer equivalent of a fireplace; everyone gravitates to it.
– Katie Lee
☀ Read a book in which someone cooks food on an outdoor grill; tell us who and what they cook.
Like Trees, Walking | Ravi Howard ★★★ (08/07/25)
The Hays, burger patties.

✔ 14. A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn't mean in winter.
– Patricia Briggs
☀ Read a book set in a location beginning with a letter in WINTER; tell us where.
Designer Dirty Laundry | Diane Vallere ★★ (06/28/25)
Ribbon, PA.

✔ 15. Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.
– Sam Cooke
☀ Read a book with at least two rhyming words in the title.
Fat Cat At Large | Janet Cantrell ★ (09/16/25)

✔ 16. I love how summer just wraps its arms around you like a warm blanket.
– Kellie Elmore
☀ Read a book with a blanket/quilt shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
Murder under Cover | Kate Carlisle ★★ (09/22/25)


✔ 17. Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside of me.
– Benjamin Alire Sáenz
☀ Read a book with MUSIC on its main GR page.
Music for Wartime | Rebecca Makkai ★★★ (06/23/25)

✔ 18. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.
– Jenny Han
☀ Read a book with MAGIC or MAGICAL REALISM on its main GR page.
The Fifth Petal | Brunonia Barry ★ (06/23/25)

✔ 19. I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer – its dust and lowering skies.
– Toni Morrison
☀ Read a book with a fruit shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World | Dan Koeppel ★★★ (06/26/25)


✔ 20. Summer is a verb.
– Lisa Birnbach
☀ Read a book with a word in the title that is used as a noun and a verb (like swing, cook, plant).
Of Love and Shadows | Isabel Allende ★ (06/23/25)

✔ 21. Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disneyland, having fun.
– Brian Wilson
☀ Read a book set in California.
Beyond A Doubt | Nancy Cole Silverman ★★★ (06/28/25)

✔ 22. A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.
– Robert Orben
☀ Read a book by an author whose first and last initials can be found in VACATION; post a link to the author’s GR page.
Brownsville: Stories | Oscar Cásares ★★★★ (06/24/25)

✔ 23. Summer: Hair gets lighter. Water gets warmer. Nights get longer. Life gets better.
– Unknown
☀ Read a book with a night scene shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding | Catherine Mack ★ (07/04/25)


✔ 24. Summer romances end for all kinds of reasons. But when all is said and done, they have one thing in common: They are shooting stars – a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, a fleeting glimpse of eternity. And in a flash, they're gone.
– Nicholas Sparks
☀ Read a book with ROMANCE on its main GR page.
Enemy Women | Paulette Jiles ★★ (06/21/25)

✔ 25. The summer night is like a perfection of thought.
– Wallace Stevens
☀ Read a book with all of the letters N-I-G-H-T in the title, in any order.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil | V.E. Schwab ★★ (07/06/25)

✔ 26. Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds.
– Regina Brett
☀ Read a book with clouds shown prominently on the cover; post the cover (bonus points for clouds in a sunny sky, not storm clouds)
Curses, Boiled Again! | Shari Randall ★★★ (07/25/25)


✔ 27. Summertime is always the best of what might be.
– Charles Bowden
☀ Read a book found on a Goodreads’ Best of ____ list (Best Historical Fiction, Best True Crime – as long as “Best” is in the list name, it will work); post a link to the list and tell us where your book falls on that list.
#149 on Best Multicultural Mysteries.
The Satapur Moonstone | Sujata Massey ★★ (07/22/25)

✔ 28. A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.
– James Dent
☀ Read a book in which a mechanical device is “conveniently” broken or inoperative; using spoiler tags if necessary, briefly explain.
Death at a Scottish Wedding | Lucy Connelly ★★★ (08/18/25)
Everyone is iced in, no plough works well enough, lights go on and off as required by the plot, phones don’t work either.

✔ 29. Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
– Henry James
☀ Read a book with a repeated significant word in the title.
Absalom, Absalom! | William Faulkner ★★ (10/29/25)

✔ 30. The dandelions and buttercups gild all the lawn; the drowsy bee stumbles among the clover tops, and summer sweetens all to me.
– James Russel Lowell
☀ Read a book with an insect shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
All That Consumes Us | Erica Waters ★★ (08/06/25)


*** Completed (10/29/25) ***

Congrats, OM!

Finished.

October 2025 Scavenger Challenge

Duration: Oct 01, 2025 - Oct 31, 2025
Completed: 10/7+

✔ 1. Visit a farmers' market
✽ Read a book with an apostrophe in the title.
We'll Prescribe You Another Cat | Syou Ishida ★★★ (10/03/25)

✔ 2. Decorate and/or carve pumpkins
✽ Read a book with a cover that is predominantly orange; post the cover.
Our Wives Under the Sea | Julia Armfield ★★ (10/07/25)


✔ 3. Host a potluck dinner
✽ Read a book in which a group of friends/family gather for a meal.
Yo! | Julia Alvarez ★★★ (10/06/25)
The Garcias.

✔ 4. Apple Picking
✽ Read a book with double consonants (like aPPle) in the author's name; post a link to the author's GR page.
Slough House | Mick Herron ★★★★ (10/01/25)

✔ 5. Host a bonfire or gather around a fire pit
✽ Read a book with fire/flames shown prominently on the cover; post the cover.
Into the Windwracked Wilds | A. Deborah Baker ★★★★ (10/07/25)

✔ 6. Go to your local library and/or read a book
✽ Read a book set in a library/bookstore.
The Vanishing Thief | Kate Parker ★★ (10/03/25)
Georgia owns a bookstore.

✔ 7. Have a game night or movie marathon with your family/friends
✽ Read a book in which at least two characters play a board game; tell us who and the game.
A House in the Sky | Amanda Lindhout ★★★★ (10/08/25)
Amanda and Nigel, backgammon.

✔ 8. Visit a state or national park
✽ Read a book set in a state or national park; tell us where.
Liberty Falling | Nevada Barr ★★★ (10/20/25)
Liberty Island, national monument.

✔ 9. Take a tour of a nearby winery or brewery
✽ Read a book whose title ENDS with Y.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | Mildred D. Taylor ★★★ (10/14/25)

✔ 10. Attend a high school football game
✽ Read a book with a character who is in high school (grades 9-12); tell us who.
A Local Habitation | Seanan McGuire ★★ (10/08/25)
Quentin.

*** Completed (10/20/25) ***

Congrats, Joann!

Congrats, Joann!

Congrats, Angel!

Christina (AKA Babbling) wrote: "Guess #25
M6 Cress by Marissa Meyer 29 October 2025 ★★★★★ (audiobook) Kindle Edition, 566 pages

"

M6 is a miss.

Sarah wrote: "Guess # 2
1. Postal Worker
2. Poisoning
3. General Post Office

Book: by Katrina Leno finished 10/28/25"

Sorry for the late response, Sarah, I hadn't seen this post. The murder was not at the General Post Office.

Christina (AKA Babbling) wrote: "5. Computer programmer
Cress by Marissa Meyer 29 October 2025 ★★★★★


1. Drowning (pool)
The Guncle by Steven Rowley 31 October 20..."

The murder was not by drowning.