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This thread is to mark your completion of the April challenge for the prompt: "a book with a plant on the cover." You can join in with the group read of The Witch Elm or pick a different book to satisfy this challenge.

Please include the following:

Title:
Author:
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)?
Would you recommend?

No other posts in this thread please.

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? yes! the tree played a critical role in the plot.
Would you recommend? Yes, to anyone who is looking for a book about the slow unraveling of a person. This is not a thriller, and it's not a typical mystery, it's a psychological profile of a "nice guy."

Title: the witch elm by tana French

The plant is the Elm and a mystery surrounding the tree.

Would I recommend? No. It is painfully slow and no big “a ha�� reveal that makes it worth it.

Title: Dear Evan Hansen
Author: Val Emmich
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes (plant on the cover is a tree)
Would you recommend? Yes (warning for suicide, anxiety, depression, and mentions of drug use)

Title: The Last Romantics
Author: Tara Conklin
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? There is mention of plants in the book but I wouldn't call them plot based
Would you recommend? Absolutely!

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes, it played a pivotal role in the plot.
Would you recommend? Yes, but if you're new to Tana French, I'd suggest starting with one of the Dublin Murder Squad books first. She is one of my favorite authors and one I love to recommend to others.

Title: The Word for World is Forest
Author:Ursula K. Le Guin
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes. The trees are the home of the Athshen. Their destruction is part of the grievances they have against the Terrans.
Would you recommend? I think this book is good for those who like old school sci-fi. But the message is pretty heavy-handed. Also warnings for rape, violence, genocide, ect.
It's not bad but not one of Ursula K. Le Guin's better works. Last year I read The Left Hand of Darkness and The Lathe of Heaven, both of which I highly recommend.

Title: Heart Berries
Author: Terese Marie Mailhot
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes, metaphorically.
Would you recommend? Yes, it was a beautiful, moving work. However, there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book so please be prepared.

Title: The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Author: Hiro Arikawa
Was the plant a part of the plot? Not really. There were some parts where they discuss the scenery while traveling, but it's not a major plot point.
Would you recommend? Yes. It was a touching story.

Title: The Eagle Tree
Author: Ned Hayes
Was the plant a part of the plot? Yes... very important to the plot.
Would you recommend? If you want to read a first person narrative from a 14 year old autistic boy obsessed with trees and the possible effects of global warming on forests.

[I still have The Witch Elm on my TBR this month, but decided to read The Eagle Tree first.]

Title:The Wych Elm
Author:Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes. The whole plot was centred around the wych elm tree.
Would you recommend?Yes! It has quite a slow start and it takes a while for the actual story to kick in but once it got going I loved it. For anyone who's interested in reading it I'd say to stick with it.

Title: The Immortalists
Author: Chloe Benjamin

Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? No.
Would you recommend? Yes! I loved it. Each section sucked me in. I could barely put it down.

Title: In a Dark, Dark Wood

Author: Ruth Ware

Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Although not about plants, the woods definitely played a significant role in setting the stage of the plot. The trees and the "creepiness" they provided in the storyline added a lot to the overall vibe of the book.

Would you recommend? For sure! This was such a great book, a definite page turner. Ruth Ware's second book, The Woman in Cabin 10 was one of the best thrillers I read in a long time; I had high hopes for this one and it did not disappoint. In fact, I liked it even better than Cabin 10.

Title: Purple Hibiscus
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes.
Would you recommend? Yes.

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? The tree was obviously pivotal, but the whole garden played an important part as well - lots of critical scenes took place there, and its deterioration reflected the deterioration of the main character as well.
Would you recommend? Yes. I love Tana French and have read all of her books and this one did not disappoint. I devoured it and did not see it as slow at all - I couldn't put it down.

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Title: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Author: David Grann
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? No
Would you recommend? Absolutely. This is the best book I've read in ages. It's narrative non-fiction, and the history sucks you in. I'll be thinking about this one for a very long time.

Title: Fall of Night
Author: Rachel Caine
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? No.
Would you recommend? I'd recommend the series (this is the 14th book in the series) to anyone that likes YA supernatural books.

Cari wrote: "Title: the witch elm by tana French

The plant is the Elm and a mystery surrounding the tree.

Would I recommend? No. It is painfully slow and no big “a ha�� reveal that makes it worth it."

Cari, thank GOD I am not alone! I'm really losing faith in the monthly reads for the challenge... I haven't given any of the books more than 3 stars. I loathed this book.

April Read: The Witch Elm by Tana French.
I gave this 4 stars mainly due to the writing. I also liked the characters and how they interacted. This was not much of a mystery and in the end the book left a number of open questions- like who attacked Toby and why is the book called the Witch Elm when it is spelled Wych Elm.
Not sure I would recommend this book as a summer read or a page turner. Hope next month is better!

Title: The Hole
Author: Hye-Young Pyun
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? The narrator's garden and the plants in it are a major plot point.
Would you recommend? Yes, I'd recommend for fans of dark literary fiction, similar to Han Kang's The Vegetarian

Tana French is one of my favorite authors and this book has not disappointed me in the least. I am about 80 pages from finishing and wishing I could skip work to do so! I am reminded vaguely of other unreliable narrators (The Girl on the Train and The Woman in the Window) and wondering exactly how this will end...

Title: The Wych Elm (UK title)
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes. It was very important to the plot.
Would you recommend?
This was my favourite book of the year so far but I would recommend you go into it with the right expectations. The plot is very slow and more a character study than a crime/mystery book. Also the main character is not a particularly likeable guy. These elements are negatives for some but they are major pluses for me!

susan howard wrote: "April Read: The Witch Elm by Tana French.
I gave this 4 stars mainly due to the writing. I also liked the characters and how they interacted. This was not much of a mystery and in the end the book ..."

We do find out who attacked Toby right at the end of the book (view spoiler)[ it was one of the young disadvantaged artists from his exhibition at the start of the book but they were paid by Tiernan (the artist who was pretending to be the mystery artist) because he was upset that he was fired and Toby wasn't (hide spoiler)]

Title: A Dilly of a Death

Author:Susan Wittig Albert

Was the plant a part of the plot ? in Albert's China Bayles's mystery series, plants are always part of the plot. China is a lawyer turned herbalist/herb shop owner. Much of the lore about the plant is in the book and recipes (food, perfume etc). In this case the "pickle queen", the owner of a local pickle factory, meets her doom.

Would you recommend? On the whole, I'd recommend the series but this one wasn't my favorite, too much about her friend and her friend's pregnant daughter (and how at 25 she's too immature to have a baby).

Cornerofmadness wrote: "Title: A Dilly of a Death

Author:Susan Wittig Albert

Was the plant a part of the plot ? in Albert's China Bayles's mystery series, plants are always part of the plot...."


LOL I guess I'm hungry or tired or something, because I read "pants are always part of the plot" and I was all: "wow! a mystery series that always revolves around pants? that's inventive!!!"

(I might like a series about plants too, however.)

Hahaha now I kinda want to see a mystery series about pants.

Title: Life After Life
Author:Kate Atkinson
Was the plant a part of the plot? Not really. Though I guess it was interesting that a novel about reincarnation only really mentioned roses that were planted over the graves of family dogs in the yard.
Would you recommend? Yes! I really enjoyed this novel. Atkinson does a great job transporting you back in time to what it was like to live through the World Wars. There's also a lot of 'food for thought' and I enjoyed the open-ended way the novel concluded.

Title: The Immortalists
Author: Chloe Benjamin
Was the plant a part of the plot? No. I think just a metaphor for the circle of life and the growth and death that a plant can go through.
Would you recommend? Yes, it made for very interesting discussion.

My Review:
/review/show...

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes, the Witch Elm was integral to the plot.
Would you recommend? That's a tricky one. No, we'll go with no. I did not like the book at all.

I joined the group's read for this one.
Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? Yes, definitely!
Would you recommend? Well, for those that love a big moody book all about character development, then yes! Don't expect a fast-paced crime thriller here. I also liked being challenged by the likeability of the main character.

Title: In the Woods
Author: Tana French
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? I would say no, not really.
Would you recommend? Yes, as long as you're OK without a happy or full conclusion.

Title: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
Author: Stephen King
Was the plant a part of the plot? The plant on the cover is a rose, and oh yes, very much.
Would you recommend? YES. Although the book would make very little sense if you just picked it up without reading the first six first, so I'd recommend the whole series! (I finished on April 30 or May 1, I can't remember which, and I'm still reeling from the ending.......)

I have completely forgotten to pay attention to the monthly themes, so I'm going back to see whether any of my books fit!

Title: Summer Bird Blue
Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)?: No
Would you recommend?: Absolutely, yes

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
The tree played an integral part in the story. I would recommend it because I thought it was well written and I did enjoy reading it, but I wish there had been more. As someone else said before, there was no Ah-ha moment.

Title: The Golden Lily
Author: Richelle Mead
Was the plant a part of the plot (for non-fiction: was the book about plants)? The golden lily is a tattoo that alchemists have in the world Richelle mead created and it is a part of the mystery solved in this book.
Would you recommend? Yes I would, I read the vampire academy series and started this spinoff series. I am liking this series better that vampire academy.

Title: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French
Was the book part of the story: yes, an important part to the story happens in the tree and around the tree.
Would you recommend: I have recommended this book to one friend so far and I would recommend to others. This book was a little long but it had a good plot and kept me interested.