You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Monthly
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Feb 2017 - And the Beads Drop Here - REPORTING THREAD
I read New Orleans Mourning. My book fit several of the criteria. It was set in New Orleans, on Mardi Gras. The murder victim was the Carnival King, and he was shot during the Mardi Gras Parade. I had mixed feelings about the book. It was published in December 1990, and many aspects of it seem very dated now. The main character, Skip Landon, is a low-level police officer working the parade, and is on-the-spot to see the murder when it happens. Someone dressed as Dolly Parton comes out onto a balcony on the parade route, twirls a gun, and then fires, accurately, to kill the King. Skip grew up knowing many of the central characters in the drama, because her father was their family doctor. Because of this connection, she was assigned to work with the two homicide detectives in charge of the case. Watching Skip work is exasperating for the reader, because she is so impulsive and often does stupid things, yet she puzzles out a rather deeply buried motive for the murder and solves the crime. On balance I give the book three stars, and I plan to read more of the series to see what happens with Skip. (She's a homicide detective herself in the second book.)
First one to finish! Way to go, Casceil
The book I chose to read for this month's challenge was Midnight Bayou. It is set in New Orleans and has a green and gold cover.Nora Roberts sure knows how to write an absorbing tale. Parts of the story were obvious; other parts were twisted and came out of nowhere. I appreciated how strong the main characters were. They were strong enough to pursue what they wanted and strong enough to apologize when needed. Saying you're sorry takes a special kind of strength!
There was some rough language in this book that I didn't like and the love scenes were more descriptive than I care for. Overall, a good story.
I've got that one on my wishlist. Maybe it will be on a kindle sale some day.
For this challenge, I read The Tin Flute by French Canadian author, Gabrielle Roy. This book meets the challenge criteria because it is translated from French.This is a Canadian classic, first printed in 1947. The story is set in post-depression Montreal during WWII, the central theme being poverty. The characters were so richly drawn; I could feel the mother's angst and despair about what was happening to her family as she tried in vain to hold things together. Although I have often read about the war bringing an end to the depression, this put very human face on the matter. Overall, I found this a heartbreaking story, particularly because I have been building my family tree and many of my ancestors would have lived in similar situations. This was close to a five star read for me.
Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold.
This book is part of a m/m romance series I'm reading. However there's no romance in this book, it's written like a memoir giving the back story to one of the MC's we've already read about in a previous book.
It's dark, gritty and really hard to read at times. Trigger warnings such as abuse, rape (both child and adult), alongside issues such as homophobic behavior in sport make a very sad, frustrating and altogether believable read.
I did however read it and gave it a high rating because it's really about about strength and survival from an MC you just want to wrap up and take care of.
Note: Not a standalone book, the previous 3 books a must read to understand this story.
I read Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
for this challenge. I had planned to read it for the yearly challenge, but that's ok. I plan to do a re-read of the whole series, so I'll get there. :)I chose this book for the challenge because it has a green cover and fits the task of reading a "book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold."
I enjoyed my re-read of this book. I love the characters and they feel like old friends. It is interesting when doing a re-read to pick up bits you may have missed or forgotten from the first time around and see certain actions of the characters in a different light. Being early in the series, the MC's are still quite young and the book reads as a young middle school level story. I look forward to watching the characters grow and the story develop again.
I re-read the HP series last year on audiobook. It was amazing!
That's what I'm doing this year, Janice. Jim Dale does an excellent job narrating.
I also read
, which is set in New Orleans, takes place at Mardi Gras, and has a predominantly green cover.I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but it definitely what I found. The book begins with a tragedy that was hard to read, then moves to the present and a haunted house. While some connections between present and past were expected, others were a surprise. However, I was surprised that the book was so creepy while having much less overt violence (at least in the present) than I expected.
The hero of the book was great, though a bit too good to be true. The heroine is strong, self-confident, a business-owner, and takes no nonsense. So, she was great as well, though she had a lot more personal baggage to get through. In addition, there were a number of enjoyable characters, including a strong friendship and some great banter.
I read February for this challenge. The name of the month is the title of the book, and a major incidence (based on a real historical event) that the story was built around took place in the month of February, in 1982.
The story was about a woman named Helen, whose husband, Cal was drowned, along with all of the crew, when an oil platform called the Ocean Ranger, collapsed and sank in a huge storm off of the coast of Newfoundland. The time line in the book goes back and forth between her past with her husband and her current future, ending in 2009. The story is mainly told from Hellen's POV, but there are a couple of chapters told by different people. It was not an easy read. There were things that were very confusing, but written by the author to show a state of mind. Some of it I found very interesting and a lot of it I felt like I had to wade through mud to pick up the point of it. It is not easy to explain. I had to keep poking myself to pick up the book and read it. I felt bad for Hellen. I am still not sure that I really liked her. She was very cold. She had been so in love with her husband that she NEVER considered what it would be like if he were not around. I guess no one does, really. What is brought out in the story are the things that she and her husband did not allow themselves to think about and take into consideration, because they were in love. They were sure that they were always going to be together, until they weren't. She could not let him go, and tried so hard to hold on to his memory, for so long, so many years. She was left to raise their four children - the last of which she did not even know that she was pregnant with until he was gone. She lived for them and never allowed herself to move on from her loss until she was in her late 50's. I gave the book 3 stars. I have not written a review yet. I am still trying to figure out what to say.
I felt much the same way about February, Cherie. I didn't care for the back and forwards lapses in time. Yes, it emulated the way we remember things, but it caused a bit of confusion.
Thanks, Janice.I don't feel so strange about it now. I really shouldn't, but I do. The back and forth weren't so bad, but the weird sentences and the chopped thoughts were hard to fathom. Then, there would be something that really struck me. "Death would like to be introduced. It is willing to be polite." There was another part where she thought about how difficult the dead were to love. "You needed a strong memory to love the dead." She finally accepted that it was not her fault for failing. She had been trying. What she finally figured out (after thirty some years) was that no memory was that strong.
I read Six Scary Stories, finally! I've had it for months and never got around to it. It has a green cover, so fit in perfectly for this challenge.I thought the six specially chosen stories were pretty good, overall, with the first one being the creepiest. It's hard to get a shiver out of me these days, but that one certainly got at least a tingle up a spine for a bit. Swimming in deep, open water gives me the willies. ANYTHING could be down there!
I read Death Swatch
for this challenge. This book fits the challenge because its set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and has beads on the cover. This is part of a cozy mystery series that I've slowly been reading my way through. The main character owns a scrapbook store and since scrapbooking is one of my hobbies I enjoy the tips that are included in each book. I enjoyed the mystery but sometimes it drives me crazy when these amateur sleuths put themselves in such dangerous situations, it just seems unreal. There was an interesting tidbit about Mardi Gras colors, according to this book, the colors for Mardi Gras were adopted by New Orleans in 1872 when the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff came to visit for Mardi Gras and the city adopted his house colors of purple, green and gold. Purple stands for justice, green for faith and gold for power.
Anyway, overall, it was a good read and I gave it 3 stars.
That's cool about the colours! I like that there's some significance to them.
Oh, great information on the colors, Lori. The 2nd book that I read said that Fat Tuesday was followed by Trash Wednesday, because of all of the mess left in the streets.
We went to a parade in New Orleans when we were there. It wasn't Mardis Gras. It was in March and it was the Irish Italian parade. The mess left behind was incredible.
Book Link: The CrownBook Cover:
Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold.
3) The Crown was the last book in the series of The Selection. I liked it but it wasn't that great, this book covered the last part of the selection of America's daughter. And I was expecting the series just to be of America. So a bit disappointing. But I enjoyed the series overall and it was a good end to the books.
Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold. For this challenge, I read
- Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer because the cover looked very 'mardi gras-ish'. The book is an interesting read in that it feels like a contemporary setting but with a future twist to it as well. The characters are quite unique, dealing with aspergers/autism and a variety of other issues over the course of their lives. Their is an aspect of space travel with robotics, but mostly it is about relationships and family. I enjoyed it and would recommend this author's debut novel.
The Crown
- Costume: Read a book with a costume or fancy dress on the cover.
At first I thought, "Oh I can use do this one!" I have recently read the entire Selection series. So I'll use the book that I read this month and have it count for the King criteria, but The Crown is actually more about the King's daughter, who eventually becomes Queen so, that didn't fit as well. But I felt the "fancy dress" criteria certainly fit.
This last book in the Selection series mostly about Eadlyn Shreve, princess and heir to the thrown. In fact the book before this one was also about her and her own Selection. I liked it. I devoured these books (listening to them all on audio book) and definitely recommend the series. I prefer the first three books over the last two, but I grew to like Eadlyn as much as I did America. It was also neat to see how things were 20 years since prince Maxim's selection ended.
I read Moon Bayou for the challenge.
It meets the criteria in several ways:
- Set in New Orleans.
- Cover is in carnival colours (purple, green or gold).
- Cover has a mask on it.
I was sorely disappointed in this book. It's supposedly the first in a spin-off series, but it's pretty much the continuation of another long series. I felt like I started at episode 4, season 4 of a campy tv show. The story itself didn't engage me and I just wanted it to be over. And then it was. Over. It just stopped. I turned the page, and there was nothing there to even indicate it was over.
I hate books that end like that, Janice. At least your suffering was over too and you can forget it and move on.
I finished Beauty which has a predominantly purple cover
This is the second book I've read in the series, the first being a new take on Snow White: Poison.
As in the first book, the re-telling of the story was quite ingenious and mixed elements from other fairytales to create a recognisable background story.
The author obviously likes to include strong female characters on which to base the story. This didn't work quite as well as in the first 'episode' I think because there were more main characters this time which softened the punch somewhat - I was never sure where my focus should be.
Still ingenious and very readable: 3 stars
I read
for the challenge. It fits, because the cover is mainly purple, with some green thrown in. Also, the cover girl has a golden headband.Uhh, what to say about the book... It's clearly fantasy, which is one of my favorite genres. But the story was so very unbelievable that I found myself rolling my eyes several times during the book. I's not that it's YA, since I read a lot of YA and mostly enjoy it. Somehow the story wasn't coherent and there was too much of everything it it: weird shapeshifting things that I didn't quite understand whether they were classified as demons or something else; another woman who was portrayed as some kind of angel who also shapeshifted into a bird; a quest to save the world; superpowers; an ancient vow... No, the whole thing was a mess. I ended up giving it one star. I'm definitely not going to continue with the series. It just happened to cover a task in another challenge as well, as I needed a book with the main page genre mythology. So since I could used it both for that one and the YLTO monthly challenge, I guess my time wasn't totally wasted, although not enjoyed. Oh, I used it as a Toppler book as well, so even better.
I read Prairie Rose
it fits the challenge by Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold. The book is about a young woman who grew up in an orphanage who finds herself on the prairie working hard for a man who barely acknowledges her existence. It was a fun, light read. The first of a series, I would read the others. I gave it 4 stars. Oh, yes, there were several parties in the book also.
Camilla wrote: "I read for the challenge. It fits, because the cover is mainly purple, with some green thrown in. Also, the cover girl has a golden headband.Uhh, what to say abou..."
Don't you hate it when an author tries to fit too many elements into a story. Sometimes less is more.
I read
Fit several times the criteria:
- Carnival King: Read a book that has a king as a significant character. There is a King
- Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold. Is Gold and Purple
- Costume: Read a book with a costume or fancy dress on the cover.
There is a gown on the cover
I didn't like the book. I was expecting to read an interesting retelling from a classical Fairy Tale, and instead on that I got a boring, plain story, with shallow characters -very poor develop- and a dull style of writing
Aww, sorry that you didn't enjoy your book, Mariab.
Janice wrote: "Aww, sorry that you didn't enjoy your book, Mariab."No regrets, I'm reading one more from the Serie, just for the Toppler and for the team's sake... (*sighs*, the things we do, the lengths we go for our teams...)
Henry VI Part Two by William Shakespeare
Carnival King: Read a book that has a king as a significant character.
I have wanted to read Shakespeare's Henrys ever since I heard Andrew Scott reciting a short text from Henry VI Part 3
I enjoy Victorian sensation novels and while reading this I thought Henry VI Part Two could be called Tudor sensation play: adultery, rebellion, villains and murder, and innocent central character (the king)
I would recommend to read Henry VI, Part 1 first as the Henry VI Part Twoin a way doesn't have the begging or end, it starts in the middle and we don't have resolution, it ends with a cliff hanger.
My copy is Penguin Classics which I can't recommend highly enough they have notes and introduction that helps to appreciate the play even more.
eta
Here is Andrew Scott reading from Henry 3
Carnival Colours: gold and green coverThe Education of Dixie Dupree
Although this book is unsettling, I did like it and do recommend it. It is set in Alabama in 1969, and Dixie is sexually abused by her uncle, who comes to stay with them when her father is in the hospital on life support after a botched suicide attempt. It is a time when children believed they would be the ones in trouble if they told what happened, so they suffered in shame. Dixie shares her secrets with her diary. It is a heart-wrenching story.
It does sound like a sobering story, Connie.
If it's ok, I think I will change my reporting to Desperate Remedies
for this challenge. It has a predominantly purple cover. I hadn't planned to read another book to fit the challenge, but this one came up for the toppler (icky romance task), so I figure I can keep the HP book (message 8 above) for my yearly challenge. (If that's not ok, just let me know.)I chose this book for the challenge because it has a purple cover and fits the task of reading a "book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold."
I originally chose this book because it fit the task with bonus points for the toppler. This is just the type of romance I typically avoid. Set in the 1800s with a woman who is a "spinster" because she chose not to marry after her true love, whom she interacted with only once, married an older woman presumably for her money. Sounds horrible, right? Well, I listened to a sample of the audio and determined that the narrator was good, so I'd give it a shot (bonus points, please be worth it!). It turned out to be a pretty good book. There was a mystery to solve, though it was pretty obvious, and a love story of course, but I expected a lot of mushy gushy or woe is me and it wasn't there. The MC turned out to be a strong woman that happened to have her heart set on a certain man and wasn't willing to settle. It wasn't nearly as torturous as I expected.
Yes, you may certainly change your selection Kristie.
I read Snow Hunters for setting in Brazil. It's about a 25-year old North Korean refugee Yohan who makes it to Brazil to start a new life as an apprentice tailor. Four characters drift through his new life. Sparse, elegaic and quietedly contained is how I would describe the writing. More can be said with less - I kept thinking "bonsai" as I was reading. Wikipedia says "The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower)." A solid 3 stars book.
I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone
for this month's Challenge because of the mask on the cover.I didn't realize at first that this was a YA novel, it certainly shouldn't deter people from reading it. This is book one of a series that starts an epic fairy tale. I really enjoyed it and will be checking the next book in the series out soon. The initial setting is Prague but changes frequently to various places around the world as Karou (the teenage heroine?) discovers her past and how it intertwines with a war between angels and demons. Great characters throughout and I was impressed that it didn't fall too heavily into the sparkly vampire vein of recent years. Although the angel is of course beautiful.
Carla wrote: "I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone for this month's Challenge because of the mask on the cover..."I'm going to have to reread this one for a refresher before I read the next two books in the trilogy. I have them both.
Janice wrote: "Carla wrote: "I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone for this month's Challenge because of the mask on the cover..."I'm going to have to rerea..."
I'm adding them to my TBR list. I'm curious to see what happens next.
Masks: Read a book with a mask on the coverI read
The Taker. I read the Kindle version, but good reads isn't showing me the right covers. So the cover goes to the paperback, but the title link goes to the Kindle version (hope that makes sense).I really enjoyed this book. It was not what I expected, but was pleasantly surprised. I have had a hard time focusing on books and so have not really read in a few months. However, this book grabbed my attention quickly and I couldn't wait to finish the story. I haven't had that experience in awhile with a book so I was excited.
Anyway, the story is set in a small town in Maine. It switches between 1800's period in the town and present day. It has supernatural connotations in some of the characters are immortal. It goes into the struggles of immortality such as living with guilt over things you have done. It has a base story of unrequited love, but continued devotion. I don't want to give too much away.
I have had this on my kindle for probably a year and forgot about it until this challenge. I was looking for a book to get me back into reading and this one did the trick. It is a part of a trilogy so now I am starting the 2nd in the series.
I'm glad your book rekindled (hehe) your desire to read. I have that one to read and I'm looking forward to it.
I read
The Seventh Bride which fits the fancy dress criteria. The Seventh Bride is a retelling of the Bluebeard tale. I've never read any Bluebeard stories, but I am familiar with the premise. (Young woman/girl is forced to marry a wealthy nobleman who has been married multiple times; he has to leave and tells her she can go into any room of the estate except for one. Of course curiosity gets the best of the young bride and she enters the room she was forbidden to enter and finds the bodies of the nobleman's murdered wives.)
This book didn't have the forbidden room and the multiple wives haven't been murdered like in the traditional tale. Instead the wives are living, but not happily. And our young main character is trapped and given tasks by the nobleman that he expects her to fail. The price of failure is becoming his seventh wife.
I gave this book 2.5 stars. I really enjoyed the premise, but the execution was lacking. I enjoy reading young adult books, but this one was written in a more middle grade style, it felt like it was dumbed down. The main character got on my nerves with her constant internal monologues about how she must have lost her mind. The magic in the book was interesting and I really enjoyed the hedgehog character, but overall this book was a disappointment for me.
I read Trouble in Mudbug for this challenge. Found this one rather mediocre. I loved the title, but the story itself was too convoluted and unbelievable with a plot that could have been borrowed from almost any soap opera. Too bad because I rather liked many of the characters, and there were some pretty amusing bits. 2 to 2.5 stars max. Couldn't bring myself to stretch this one to 3 stars.Almost forgot to say that one of the book's settings was New Orleans. Mudbug being the other one. I think enough action takes place in New Orleans to qualify.
Cherie wrote: "I read February for this challenge. The name of the month is the title of the book, and a major incidence (based on a real historical event) that the story was built around took pla..."
Thanks for including specific details to help me understand your mixed feelings about this story Cherie. You caught my attention and made me consider reading this book in a way that the blurb wouldn't have done. I don't mind being challenged by a book (when I have time and life itself isn't too challenging) if I will get something out of it. Overall - do you think it was worthwhile?
For this challenge I read Clothar The Frank
to fit the criteria - Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green, or gold. This book has been on my bookcase for a while and the colours jumped out at me for this challenge; It had the bonus of a French connection with the setting and the gold portion on the cover being a fleur-de-lis.
I have read and enjoyed the earlier books in this series that are more directly focused on Whyte's version of the King Arthur Legend but this one really fell flat for me - hence why I had to force myself to finishing the last 400 pages before the challenge was over after putting it down after 200 pages weeks ago. It really just wasn't that interesting to me and made me wonder if the earlier books are that much better or different or if my tastes have changed that much since I read them.
Karen wrote: "For this challenge I read Clothar The Frank to fit the criteria - Carnival Colours: Read a book with a cover that is predominately purple, green..."No you aren't wrong Karen, I felt the same way when I read this book. The earlier books in the series held my attention and I wanted to keep reading. Not sure if it was because the topic shifted from the King Arthur Legend or what but I had a hard time finishing it as well.
Karen wrote: "Cherie wrote: "I read February for this challenge. The name of the month is the title of the book, and a major incidence (based on a real historical event) that the story was built ..."
I am not sure how to answer your question, Karen. Aside from the historical data, I am not sure that I got anything out of it. There were times, I just wanted it to end. It is hard for me to say what the author expected me to get out of it. The story was, at times very emotional, and at times very frustrating. I continued because I wanted to understand the woman in the story. I understood her love for her husband, and the shock when he was taken away. What was hard for me to get out of it, was how she managed to get from that timeline in the story, to where she was at the end. On top of her story, there were side stories about and from her son, that were trotted out, in the middle. There was also some information about "the company" and discussions of safety issues, that was almost glossed over. I suspect that part of the author's goal was to discuss this, but it was buried in the emotional issues.
I think this is something you must be willing to take on and discover for yourself, if you are at all interested. I do not regret reading it, but I have to say that I probably NEVER would have read it either, if not for the challenge. It really fell into my lap.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
Rescued By A Kiss (other topics)Fool (other topics)
Clothar the Frank (other topics)
February (other topics)
Clothar the Frank (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Christopher Moore (other topics)William Shakespeare (other topics)
Lydia Netzer (other topics)
Gabrielle Roy (other topics)
Nora Roberts (other topics)
To report,
1) Link to the book you read. If the cover of your book is pertinent to the challenge (ie Mardi Gras colours), you will ALSO need to link to the cover.
2) Which criteria did you choose, and how does the book fit?
3) Give us a sentence or two of your overall impressions of the book. "I loved it/hated it" will not do. Give reasons why you reacted to the book.