Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

40/52
1. A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy Going Postal

2. A book with one of the 5 W's in the title (Who, What, Where, When, Why) Where Futures End

3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y Jude the Obscure

4. A book with a criminal character The Thief

5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare Shakespeare's Landlord

6. A book with a dual timeline Possession

7. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win

8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy or horror) Hyperion

10. A book featuring an historical figure No Time Like the Past

11. A book related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese Animals (title, cover, subject) Hogfather

12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues

13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list The Ballad of Black Tom

14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term Gardens of the Moon

15. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country or set in a Mediterranean country Last Train to Istanbul

16. A book told from multiple perspectives Dark Places

17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia) The Blade Itself

18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter

19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR Warbreaker

20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country Traditional Irish Fairy Tales

21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes (ATY list of lesser known books) Hild

22. A book with a number in the title or on the cover The Secret of Platform 13

23. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old The Blazing World

24. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New No Country for Old Gnomes

25. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed The Beekeeper's Apprentice

26. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something BlueBluescreen

27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list The Hound of the Baskervilles

28. A book related to something cold (i.e. theme, title, author, cover, etc.) From Cold War to Hot Peace: The Inside Story of Russia and America

29. A book published before 1950 At Bertram's Hotel

30. A book featuring an elderly character Lethal Bayou Beauty

31. A children’s classic you’ve never read Swallows and Amazons

32. A book with more than 500 pages To Say Nothing of the Dog

33. A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet

34. A book with a person's name in the title A Town Like Alice

35. A psychological thriller Broken Harbour

36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list Spoonbenders

37. A book set in a school or university Evil Librarian

38. A book not written in traditional novel format (poetry, essay, epistolary, graphic novel, etc) Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews

39. A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life

40. A book you stumbled upon

41. A book from the 2018 GR Choice Awards The Witch Elm

42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break

43. A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) [fiction or nonfiction]

44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoyed (same topic, same era, book appeared in the show/movie, etc.) Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke

45. A multi-generational saga

46. A book with a (mostly) black cover

47. A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.)

48. A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year

49. A book written by a Far East Asian author or set in a Far East Asian country

50. A book that includes a journey (physical, health, or spiritual) Wild

51. A book published in 2019

52. A book with a weird or intriguing title

I love your list! I can't recommend Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE enough. I did it as an audio a couple of years ago. My kids listened to some of the parts with me in the car and they were hooked as well.

I loved Blue Sword, and The Hero and the Crown (is it part of a series? I can't remember). The author used to be one of my favourites.

I'm glad I have some good choices! All of these are on my TBR list so I'll get to them all eventually, but y'all's suggestions may make me rearrange the order.

I've finished January's books and they were mostly ok.

1. Going Postal was by far my favorite. Pratchett is always a safe choice and this one was the same. I read it for as a comedy fiction winner and it definitely fit.

2. Where Futures End was a cute sci-fi. The mechanics were weak but I think the premise was really interesting.

3. Jude the Obscure was my favorite Thomas Harding book so far, but that's not saying much. Do not read if you want to have a good day.

4. The Thief Can we please just get to the place already for the love of all that is holy?!?!

5. Shakespeare's Landlord was a pretty blah cozy mystery. The cozy parts were entirely about cleaning and karate and nothing about Shakespeare.

This was a much rougher month than I was expecting.

6. Duel Timeline Possession I hated this book. The self-aggrandizing, aren't I so smart, aboslutely plodding plot was ridicoulous. By the time that it actually started getting interesting (about 80% of the way through) I was hoping everyone would just die. At least that would be unexpected.

7. Related books Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win This was a very good run down of exactly how connected the Trump administration is to outside forces, mostly focusing on Putin and Russian money.

8. Related books Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right I read this after Collusion and it was almost like the prequel: how the hell we got here. This book made me so angry to see how the top 0.01% of the American population can basically do anything.

9. Sci-fi Hyperion I love sci-fi and fantasy so i decided to go hard core for this one. This book was way more interesting than I was expecting. I didn't enjoy it as much as other sci-fi books, but it definitely stuck with longer afterwards.

March books
10. Historical Figure No Time Like the Past I'm always happy to read a St. Mary's book. Their pacing is insane, but it makes for a fun read. This book heavily featured Xerxes.

11. Zodiac animal Hogfather Yet another fun continuation of a series. I only have one book left in the Death series and I'm a little upset about it. I really enjoyed how this book pulled from the entire Discworld series and you can see how Pratchett really started to strengthen his world.

12. About books My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues This was cute, but a little all over the place in terms of time line.

13. NYPL The Ballad of Black Tom Interesting horror book based on Cthulhu.

April books
14. Astronomical Term Gardens of the Moon The writing style drove me insane for this book. It was so choppy that I had serious trouble following the story.

15. Mediterranean country Last Train to Istanbul This was a beautiful book about Jewish Turks in Paris during the 1940s. The family relations were so raw and emotional.

16. Multiple POVs Dark Places While it was good and creepy, it was my least favorite of Gillian Flynn's books.

17. Speculative fiction The Blade Itself This was ok, but a bit more of a generic sci-fi than I care for.

18. Periodic tables The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Loved the concept. The execution was ok.