27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards

[Sherri]

1. What are you reading for this category? We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker
2. How does it fit this prompt? A character is named Vincent King
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?

[NancyJ]

I am reading Queen of the Pulps: The Reign of Daisy Bacon and Love Story Magazine for another challenge. I also read Jack, but it fits many other prompts.

[Jill]

What are you reading for this category?
I read The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

How does it fit this prompt? Queen in the title

[Trish, Annular Mod]

I'm thinking of Quite Ugly One Morning, as the main character is called Jack Parlablane.

[Marie (UK)]

1. What are you reading for this category?

Promises in Death
2. How does it fit this prompt?
Character Jack Whitney - Jack is in a deck of cards

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
Honestly you cannot do better than any of this series

[Bec]

Okay so I'm interpreting widely...so I'm going with the tarot card death....and my book is The Siren. One of the characters it's revelaed within this book is an Angel of Death and can kill people.

[Pam]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I had decided when the prompts were first announced that I would use Queen. I stuck with this decision and read The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin.

2. How does it fit this prompt?
The title actually refers to a hotel not a person but there is a character who isn't a queen but the narrator refers to her as a queen, sometimes specifically as Cleopatra.

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
I recommend Victoria by Daisy Goodwin and The Once and Future King by T.H. White.

[Joanne]

I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer. The main character is literally the Queen of Hearts. It's the story of Catherine from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass before she became queen.

[Severina]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read One Dark and Stormy Knight by Hermione Moon

2. How does it fit this prompt?
One of the characters is King Arthur

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
This was a cute and quick read. I'd recommend it.

[Sue]

I read Jack Maggs by Peter Carey. I have had this on my physical TBR for some years as I love Carey's writing - he won the Miles Franklin Award (Australia's top literary prize) for this book in 1998, and I can highly recommend it.

[Suzanne]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Who’s That Girl?

2. How does it fit this prompt?
A main character in the book is named Jack.

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
I suggest either something with a King or Queen or a character named Jack. I haven't read it yet, but plan to read Jack by Marilynne Robinson.

[Nancy]

Nancy wrote: "I'm going basic with this one, with Queenie."

I got The Perfect Daughter from NetGalley and it has a character named Jack, so I read that instead. I may still read Queenie for another challenge.

[Laurel]

1. What are you reading for this category? Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
2. How does it fit this prompt? Protagonist is Ace (asexual)
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category? This book (YA/New Adult), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (classic), Mort (fantasy), Murder in the Queen's Armes (mystery)

[Pearl]

I might read Queenie for this one.

[Joan]

1. What are you reading for this category? Virgin River
2. How does it fit this prompt? One of the main characters is Jack
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category? I've read some nonfiction books about queens I would recommend. Victoria and Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire and Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

The first Victoria book is classified as historical fiction but it did follow her life. I think the author just took some liberties.

[Dubhease]

1. What are you reading for this category? I read King Leary

2. How does it fit this prompt? His hockey nickname is King

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category? All of Paul Quarrington's books are underrated, so I would definitely recommend this one.

[Johanna]

I used the book "Scythe" for this prompt.

[Ashley]

I am going with The Magician's Land for this one, using the Magician card from the tarot deck as inspiration. And finishing off the series for me (woot!), which is good because I constantly start series and then get distracted by other books and don't go back to finish them.

[Wendy]

I started The Man Who Laughs, one of the more obscure titles by Victor Hugo. While it's long-winded as expected, it has already sucked me in emotionally.

The book is related to the "joker" card because it's about a man who is disfigured as a child so that he has a permanent, uncanny smile. Apparently, it was made into a silent film in the 1920s, and the Joker from Batman was based on the character.(!) However, in this book he's the protagonist, not a villain.

[Marie]

I read Persuader by Lee Child, because the main character is called Jack Reacher.

I'd definitely recommend the first in the series, Killing Floor, but apart from that I'm not really sure. I didn't put a lot of thought into this prompt, as I'm trying to get through this series and it was an easy fit.

[Hannah]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

2. How does it fit this prompt?
The devil is a very prominent character, so I chose it to relate to the Devil card from the Tarot deck.

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
It's a little bit of a "creative" interpretation, but I think The Hate U Give would fit, as there's a character named Seven.

Another which is a little bit of a stretch is I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. This book is very much about a deck of cards (the mystery of the book is centered around clues that are left on the aces of a deck of cards), but it's a bit debatable whether the cards are meant to represent characters. Personally, I think so, and that it fits the prompt, plus I think it's an excellent book and everyone has only ever read The Book Thief by Zusak.

[Elizabeth]

1. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
2. Features the Fae Courts, including fearie queens.

[Dana]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan.

2. How does it fit this prompt?
The MC arrives at the Vampire Mountain where all the Vampire Princes live.

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

[Tiffany]

I read She Would Be King. It fits the prompt literally, and also figuratively in a new way for me. I've learned in the past few months that earlier Africans didn't necessarily assign gender to their royalty.

I'd recommend:
The Hate U Give
Divergent and the series
Lord of the Flies

[Stacey]

My book also had king in the title, the thrillingly epic The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan, a novel which exposes the generational consequences of lineage and legacy in both thoroughbred horse racing and racism.

Other suggestions for this prompt:

The Once and Future King
The Master and Margarita
The Beautiful Ones (on Prince)
The entire Wolf Hall series by Hilary Mantel, featuring King Henry VIII.

[NancyJ]

For my second round I read The King Is Always Above the People: Stories - a short series collection from South America.

[Andrea]

I read Dodger by Terry Pratchett, which fulfills this prompt because Queen Victoria makes a cameo appearance! Other books that I would recommend are The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster for it features King Azaz, and Markus Zusak's I Am the Messenger for the plot involves the receipt of various playing cards.

[Jenni]

What are you reading for this category?
I chose The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

How does it fit this prompt?
The main character, Lillian, builds a business empire producing and selling ice cream.

3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
For parents of tweens/teens: Queen Bees And Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman
For fans of historical fiction: Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
For everyone: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi