Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

What are you reading for this category?

Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters

What makes the format unique?

It's a bunch of text conversations between various literary characters.

Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

- What makes the format unique?

This book isn't as out of the box as others on this list, but its narration is interesting as it bounces back and forth in time and perspective, with chapters by different people, some written in first person and some written in second person.

Read Attachments by Rainbow Rowell for this prompt. It's half written in the form of emails which fits the prompt but is also very warm and centers around love and friendship so could count for challenge #50 if someone is looking to kill two birds with one stone!

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

P.S. Highly recommend Dept. of Speculation for this prompt as well. One of my favourite books from last year, it's infinitely quotable and just amazing!

What are you reading for this category?
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

- What makes the format unique?
The chapters change between memoirs and plant biology.

- What are you reading for this category?
I am reading Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahniuk
- What makes the format unique?
It isn't that this is a graphic novel, or an adaptation, but the use of metafictional elements and the breaking of some graphic novel conventions in telling the story strike me as innovative.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

It's told in journal entries with e-mails and "voice" recordings

So thank you to the people who recommended S. I was going to read Geminae for this prompt but I think S. is infinitely more interesting.

Just curious- have any of you finished it yet? Did you read it the way other people recommend or all at once?

I was going to read it as recommended following the color coded notes, but having picked it up from the library I don't think I'll have the time and I'm reading it all in one go.

Sarah, you may want to visit the dedicated book topic for more in-depth discussion of specific books: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Laura wrote: "Sarah, you may want to visit the dedicated book topic for more in-depth discussion of specific books: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks Laura! Didn't realize there was a thread.

I read The Book Thief. The format is unique because the book is narrated by death.

I read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff for this prompt. The story is told through communications logs and reports and a whole lot of things. It’s really different. Sort of like a book of letters on steroids.

I’m reading S, by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst.



It’s quite unique in that it has two parallel stories occurring - one through the actual book, Ship of Theseus, and the other through detailed notes between two people in the margins, as well as through actual letters, nrespaper articles and other items that are strategically placed throughout the book. It looks stunning.

Finished on 31/07/2018


It is unique because it was published in a serial format!

It was very interesting based on the premise that fairy tales try to keep encroaching into reality and there is a government agency consisting of fairy tale characters that fight to keep them from causing harm.

Super fun to read if you love fairytales.

I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret for this one. It's unique because it was written using both words and pictures, but it was much longer than a regular children's picture book

- What are you reading for this category?
Our Gang by Philip Roth
It's a political satire.

- What makes the format unique?
It's a closet drama -- a play not meant to be performed. Does this count as a unique format? I think this is the first closet drama I've read, so it's unique to me.

I read four delightfully strange books for this topic. This was one of my favorite prompts.

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan are interspersed with description of Marco's travel in a prose poetry style)
Reader’s Block by David Markson (Trivia, famous quotes, and anecdotes intermixed with the thoughts of an aging author who contemplates writing a novel)
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (written in the form of a memoir/letter to the main character's son to read after he dies)
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis (the story starts at the end of the main character's life and everything occurs backwards)

I just finished Forty Rooms and realised it would work for this prompt. Each chapter is set in a different room of wherever the lead character was living or staying at the time. Don't know if it has been mentioned here before but it could be a good pick if you want a structure that is different without being really strange and hard to decipher.

I'm reading Rules for Werewolves right now, and it would work for this category. The book is almost entirely in dialogue (which makes sense since the author is a playwright, this is his only novel).

I was thinking of using The Humans by Matt Haig (sorry, I can’t link on my phone app!) because the whole book is the narrator (an alien in human form) speaking to the aliens who sent him to earth. About what he’s discovered, what happened, etc. Has anyone read this? Do you think it would work for this prompt?

I didn't use any of my three options for this. Instead my friend told me I HAD to read Everything, Everything, and this is where it fit. It includes emails, texts and other formats, so was similar in that respect to Illuminae which I was considering switching to. My other choices seemed like they would take too long. I actually thought this was a really cute book in the beginning and then somewhere around Maui a light bulb went off and I figured the whole plot out and got really freaking pissed. Oh well. I tried to watch the movie after but I fell asleep and I'm not paying to rent it again. It didn't seem that good anyways.

What are you reading for this category?

I finally finished S. Ship of Theseus. What a project!

- What makes the format unique?
The main story was two students writing notes back and forth within the margin of the novel, along with inserts of letters, postcards, newspaper clippings etc.

I mostly read it because my husband was gifted it so we already owned a copy. My choices were this or Only Revolutions which I had already attempted and DNFed a while ago. (I'd already read House of Leaves). I wanted to go with something I already owned, since a lot of these odd formatting ones really need to be experienced in paper, not digitally. Also with S I can't imagine a library trying to keep it in circulation with all the inserts. Plus the fact that it already has library markings on it as part of the story, and is already scribbled all over, it'd be horrible if some rando started writing their own notes, haha.

Sheri wrote: "What are you reading for this category?

I finally finished S. Ship of Theseus. What a project!

- What makes the format unique?
The main story was two students writing notes back ..."

Its such beautiful book to own!! I had to go out and buy a copy as soon as I heard about it, because it sounded so interesting, but all of the maps and inserts and the box its stored in .... I just love it. Hopefully I can find somewhere to fit it in next year. It would have been so perfect for this prompt, but I just didn't think I'd have the time to finish it.

LOL... I wonder if the libraries do carry it, and how they manage to keep track of all the extras? And that would be freaking hilarious if everyone started just added their own notes in the margins 😂. Could you even imagine??

I can't even imagine them trying! The librarians would tear their hair out! Haha. Also I was amused by the stamp in the back "this book is CLEAN, please keep it that way!"

The production values of the book are lovely. I was showing my husband how there was a map insert. A map of a fictional school. Printed on an actual napkin...from a fictional coffeeshop with a fictional logo. Also the copy of a newspaper from a fictional school...on actual newsprint. With logos designed for the fictional school and the fictional newspaper, and fake stories written to fill out the rest of the page and the back of the paper. Also, I'm pretty familiar with hand writing fonts, I'm a graphic designer. I'm reasonably certain the book was written by having actual people go through and scribble all over it.

Sheri wrote: "I can't even imagine them trying! The librarians would tear their hair out! Haha. Also I was amused by the stamp in the back "this book is CLEAN, please keep it that way!"

The production values of..."

I know, I just feel like all book lovers should have it on their shelf 😊
Now I want to go pull my copy out and look at it all.

Haha I got all upset once because someone was looking at my copy and then lost the page where a postcard went. I was so pissed. I think I had to look up online where all the inserts go to put it back in the right spot.

Never. Again. Thats one book I will never let anyone borrow. And it was expensive lol.

Yeah, I think mine were out of order because they'd reference stuff and i had to page through and find it. Some were ok, others were way off. I blame my husband, he attempted to read it and gave up after like 20 pages haha. I didn't look it up, I just kind of paged through looking at inserts until I found one that looked right. At some point I'll have to go back through and use one of the reading guides to see if I can piece it back together properly.

But yeah, not lending it to anyone haha.

I just ordered this to be delivered today. It sounds much too fascinating! How did you even go about reading it? Did you go through each page (book portion plus margin notes) & insert at the same time, or did you focus on the book portion first & go back to read the notes & inserts? This seems like an intense read! 😂

Liz wrote: "I just ordered this to be delivered today. It sounds much too fascinating! How did you even go about reading it? Did you go through each page (book portion plus margin notes) & insert at the same t..."

I have no idea how Im going to read it when I get around to it. Everyone is reading it differently. I posted a website that kinda walks you through...

Message #21 here in this thread.

I read it front to back, but followed the notes in the margin in the order that they appeared written. For example there would be a passage underlined and a series of notes pertaining to that, but there might be a block of text at the top of the page with a star next to it, and the star was lower on the page. I'd read the notes for the underlined text first, and then go back and read the starred note, even though that note was on the page first. I'd read the text until I got to the notes. For inserts, I tried to keep them in the right spot and read them when the notes indicated one was included. (a few were out of order, probably due to falling out and being put back poorly). Eventually I'll go back through and use a guide to see if I can fill in some of the blanks.

Thanks! I’m so anxious to get my hands on this!

I got the book in the mail tonight, & oh. my. gosh. This book is incredible!! The thought & detail in it absolutely amazes me. I need to finish 5 books before I can actually start it, but wow. I can’t wait.

Liz wrote: "I got the book in the mail tonight, & oh. my. gosh. This book is incredible!! The thought & detail in it absolutely amazes me. I need to finish 5 books before I can actually start it, but wow. I ca..."

Isn't it beautiful?? I just love it. I almost don't want to read it because I want to keep it pristine, if that even makes any sense. Enjoy it Liz
:-)

I checked my library just out of curiosity and they have 3 copies, all of which are currently available. Not sure I would want to get it from them since it could be a mess but I just wanted to see if they had it.

Laura, that’s a brave library! I wonder if they keep the book in a bag or something, to make sure pieces stay together.

My library has it, too. I even borrowed it once, but at the time I had too many other books I was reading and didn't get to it. (This is a perpetual problem so I'll probably never get around to reading it.) I have no idea if all the inserts were in the right spots.

For this prompt, I'm reading The Mezzanine, Nicholson Baker's first novel, written in 1988. Quite an interesting schtick: a man's thoughts come to light as he rides an escalator during his lunch hour. I've heard some great comments from several Goodreads buddies on this one, so I'm very much looking forward to it :)

I may be a little late to the game but here are a few other options:

All the Missing Girls is written in a backwards timeline

Bridget Jones's Diary (all of them actually) are all written in dairy entries

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Sam's Letters to Jennifer

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life

I read Lab Girl for this prompt and I'm glad i did. It is unque because the chapters alternate between a memoir and plant science.

- What are you reading for this category?
I read A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
- What makes the format unique?
Most of the book is a diary written by a Japanese teenager and found by a woman living on an island in Canada. While the double narrative is not that unique anymore, the diary element I hope qualifies.

I have purchased a set of these for the classroom (8th Grade) and have used it the last two years. Love That Dog is a children's book written in free verse, but it is not a collection of poems. It is a narrative. There are several foundational text poems at the back that must be read first. This book is a very quick read with an enormous emotional impact.

Helen wrote: "I have purchased a set of these for the classroom (8th Grade) and have used it the last two years. Love That Dog is a children's book written in free verse, but it is not a collection ..."

This looks cute for my daughter, I'll have to find it for her :-)

I have found several books ( not poetry ) written in verse this year, among them Forget Me Not and Inside Out & Back Again, I quite like the idea.

- What are you reading for this category? I'm reading Illuminae
- What makes the format unique? It's really fun. It has chat logs, emails, classified documents, etc. I don't know why it took me so long to pick this one up. Perhaps I knew I'd be into it and want to read the other two in the series right away and I know they won't fit in my challenge at this point.

Helen wrote: "I have purchased a set of these for the classroom (8th Grade) and have used it the last two years. Love That Dog is a children's book written in free verse, but it is not a collection ..."

The funniest thing happened here Helen. Literally the DAY AFTER you posted this and I responded , my daughter brought it home from the school library. she enjoyed it. I didn't get a chance to read it before she brought it back though. It was the strangest coincidence ever.

Another triple for my challenge! I already posted about Everything, Everything, but for my middle grade challenge I used a book my 8 year old was reading The Bad Guys: Episode 4: Attack of the Zittens which is really just a graphic novel. I had no idea what I was reading it was so strange, but she enjoyed it LOL. Its number 4 in a series so might make more sense to read from the beginning. Since Graphics are fairly new to me ( I just started reading them) and it was also her first, I counted it as unique.

For our picture book challenge we all read Journey, what a fantastic book. My daughters absolutely loved it and we immediately had to read the sequel,Quest ( I'm going to have to buy the third and final book Return next, so we have the whole collection). It reminds me of Harold and the Purple Crayon but better, more beautiful, and fantasy. The story is told with no text, pictures only, so that is unique. And wonderful. Each of the girls took turns "reading" the pictures, and we got two amazingly creative stories out of each book. Gorgeous!!

For my 2nd book, I am reading Baking With Kafka. It may be a stretch for this prompt but it's a bit unusual even for its format. "British cartoonist Tom Gauld has opened comics to a crossover audience and challenged perceptions of what the medium can be."

I put Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters in this category. First off, it's written as a series of letters. But then as time goes on they can use less letters of the alphabet. It was really fun to see which words got chosen and how they tried to say more with less.