Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Finally starting week 4! I had to wait a bit to get it from the library, and when I got it, was in the middle of a dense book on audio, so I decided to wait until I was done with that since I expect Crime and Punishment to be dense as well. I've read 8 from my rejects challenge and 9 from popsugar, so I'm okay being behind on ATY for now.

I am struggling to get through my Week 6 book... I'm enjoying it when I read it, but the pages are moving slowly and I'm having trouble picking it up after I put it down. I'm going to try to power through it this weekend so I don't get too behind.

I'm also starting my Week 7 book on audio this weekend, which I was hesitant to do because I haven't had great success listening to nonfiction books on audio, but this one should be better since it's a memoir.

Looking at my Week 7 and 8 books, both need to be gotten from the library and one is quite long. I'm wondering if I ought to change them up for shorter and already available. I'm finding February is an over-booked month and I don't want to fall behind.

Emily, I hope you got finished with Week 6!

No, I’m still chugging along! I have made progress over the weekend, though, so I feel a bit better about it. I just won’t look at the ATY tracker until I finish it 😂

I am having trouble with staying in order. Darn library runs on their schedule not mine.

@Ann I'm having the same library scheduling conflicts. I just got another notification that something I put on hold last year has finally come through. Les Mis is never getting finished at this rate! Lol

I'm lucky in that my holds at the library are relatively quick, so that's not too much of an issue. The problem I'm facing is that I'm trying to read books mostly from my own shelves, but I keep getting distracted by newer, flashier books! Which puts me behind on my ATY challenge because I'm just thinking, "Oh this can be a side read" until my side reads overpower me and I get the dreaded "You're one book behind" on the ATY page.

I'm all caught up at the moment, but Week 7 is an audiobook for me so I fear I won't be finished by the time the next week kicks off.

Holds at my library (which is very small) can take months sometimes, so I can never plan around them. And, when they do come, it is usually bad timing, but I must stop and read them so that the next person on the list gets a chance. So, I have also built my list around books that I own...and I can certainly relate to your problem, Emily!

I'm going to stick with reading the relevant prompts within the correct month - unless I get really behind - but not, necessarily in the correct order.

I think we will all have to make adjustments as we go. I will stick to the correct order, but I might not be able to stay on the exact time table.

I'm with you Trish. I have two books from the library right now that fit into February and I'm reading 2 more that I own to finish off the month. They won't be read in order but the month should work out.

I've finished my week #7 book Murder on Sisters' Row and am listening to week #8 Royal Blood. Both are related to the same genre - Historical Mysteries.

I might actually be ahead of schedule with week #8 although I have a work conference this week, so I'm not sure how much listening I will get in.

According to the tracker I am 7 books behind schedule. Wow! I knew that I was a little behind but 7 books It is a good thing that the next 3 books are already on my shelf ready to go.

#9 may present a challenge as there are 4 books that I really want to read for that one. Eeny meany miney moey maybe in my future. 🎲

Anastasia, are you sure you have your tracker linked up to the right shelf? We are only on week 7, so unless you haven't read any books for ATY, something is wrong.

Unless you're talking about the Goodreads challenge (not ATY), which, in that case, carry on lol.

@ Emily I think you are right about the tracker. I want to also read French children's books for the prompts so added it to the tracker. Maybe I should take that off.

I don’t know what happened to my reading mojo this month! I read 14 books in January, but only 2 for now in Feb! At least I’m listening to lots of audio with my partner on long drives, which is great, but they’re not for ATY unfortunately.

It happens, Sophie. You'll get your mojo back in March. And, all those audios count as reading, even if they don't fit in with ATY.

AHHHHH The library just called and have 7 holds for me. All are due back in three weeks and will totally throw my reading in order off. Why?

That's the worst luck! I have 13 books checked out from the library, and not one of them is for the ATY challenge... I keep getting distracted by new and shiny books!

lol. Happens to me quite often. Feast or Famine.

I am still reading in order, though have read crime novels for weeks 7, 8 and 9, so am feeling a bit wrung out! All have been excellent but will be going for something more relaxing next.

yay, start March books on Friday

Heh... I already completed the first March prompt. 😅 Sticking to the assigned order, but not the pace!

Sue, I felt the same way, but with mental health books... it was a rough choice for my connected prompts, and I followed it up with a psychological thriller for my next prompt.

I'm thinking week 10 will be a good historical fiction book that has nothing to do with losing your mind! I plan on starting it next week.

I'm trying not to finish too fast this year so I can enjoy the extras that come in from the library. The only way to do that is read month by month. It is working and I am enjoying myself much more than last year.

Cendaquenta wrote: "Heh... I already completed the first March prompt. 😅 Sticking to the assigned order, but not the pace!"

Same but I'm the opposite. I'm way behind the pace! :D

Finished week #9 - Forbidden, which actually fits 2 of the 5 money making genres - romance and thrillers.

I will probably listen to Escaping from Houdini for week #10

Just completed a collection of short stories from 1980s China - Chairman Mao Would Not Be Amused: Fiction from Today's China for week #10 - quite a change of pace. This has been on my shelf for some years so am glad to have finally found the incentive to read it!

Nice, Sue!

I'm definitely falling behind this week.. I keep picking up side reads instead of The Red Tent for Week 10.

For the first time since the beginning of the year, I’m massively struggling to keep reading in order. I just finished week 12, but my partner wanted to start the audiobook of Long Walk to Freedom, which I’d slotted for week 20 (audiobooks have been life-savers during long bus rides in Argentina). My library holds are also all coming through in disorder and after waiting for them for a while, I don’t want to change my plans, especially I have done much reading in February.

I just have to suck it up and accept that for a few weeks it’s going to be a mess and hope I’ll get back to order later 😉

You have to be flexible with the order. After reading Zorro by Isabel Allende I could not consider Zorro to be a criminal (cat. 4), but after reading Vanity Fair I was perfectly willing to call Becky Sharp a criminal. So I moved Vanity Fair from the A-T-Y in name category to #4, and put Zorro at # 20 as in the Allende version she is very interested in featuring indigenous people as a major theme. The brought up The Road by Cormac McCarthy for A-T-Y in name, whose black-title slot could be filled by Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which was in the way of Zorro's new landing place.

Ron wrote: "You have to be flexible with the order. After reading Zorro by Isabel Allende I could not consider Zorro to be a criminal (cat. 4), but after reading Vanity Fair I was perfectly willing to call Bec..."

I think that moving around was my favorite part about reading out of order... It was a game to figure out which books to slot in where!

Well with the library books becoming available whenever they please and books fitting better in slots after they're read it's safe to say that after two months of making reading in order work it no longer lines up. I tried.

Yes, I also ended up reading out of order this week. I'm still listening to my week #10 book Escaping from Houdini but finished weel #11 The Liar (it has a dog in it).

Ahhh I can't do this anymore. I find that I am so intent on reading in order, it has lost all the fun. I am not enjoying it at all. I am not posting anything, reading posts or anything. I need fun. I need to read whatever I want whenever I want. Quit. Done. Sorry.

I've bailed. The two books I'm reading for the two near the beginning (both about a similar topic) are work-related and are going to take forever. The next book in order is one I'm in line for through the library. I've read some side reads, but overall my reading has stalled.
Currently reading AHEAD just to catch up. I really like the idea of not having to choose which book to read next, but if I get too far behind because of the book(s) I'm stuck on, I'll never catch up.

The two heavy books I chose that are on the same topic will take months to read. They're both academic books on indigenous people in Canada (both are really interesting) but neither are conducive to making progress. I should have known better.

Bah!

I’ve just caught up this morning (but will fall back behind tomorrow when I’m not finished with Week 11). I think having side reads and not planning my books too far in advance has made me feel ok with staying in order. I have my plans, of course, but I’m choosing between my options as I feel like reading, rather than feeling like I’m stuck with a certain book because I chose it in December.

Ann wrote: "I need to read whatever I want whenever I want. Quit. Done. Sorry. ."

Absolutely! You need to do what works for you. Reading should be fun, not a chore.

Emilywrote: "I think having side reads and not planning my books too far in advance has made me feel ok with staying in order."

I've ended up being very flexible with my choices so that I can read in order. If I see a book isn't working for me, I switch it out for something else.

I'm sort of on track in terms of order, but also quite a bit behind - the Clockmaker's Daughter really threw me off -took me FOREVER to get through. So I managed to finish one of the themed books (Sweetbitter), but still have the non-fiction one on the go (Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef) and figure that one will just be one I read on the side for another week or so while I keep on with the rest of the prompts since I read nonfiction much slower. So got prompt 9 done, since the thriller one was a quick read, and about to tackle 10 ... thinking I will hopefully have it all sorted by the end of the month.

But I totally agree with those deciding to read out of order too - it should be fun! I am looking at the months as a whole and letting myself move things around if need be within the month's prompts.

Trying to juggle ATY with PopSugar and so far not double counting but I am thinking I am going to have to at some point in order to get them both done. Will see where I'm at by the summer and decide.

The Clockmaker's Daughter took me forever too, Errlee!

What prompt did you read the Clockmaker's Daughter for? I just got it as a gift and want to read it but I'm not sure where to put it.

Ashley wrote: "What prompt did you read the Clockmaker's Daughter for? I just got it as a gift and want to read it but I'm not sure where to put it."

I read it for the Dual Timeline prompt (it was the monthly read here for February). But I think it would also work for a book told from multiple perspectives, a multi-generational saga, and also a book with a strong sense of place, since the main house plays such a big part in the book.

Fantastic thank you!

I am continuing to read in order, as most of my books are already on my shelves at home, and I usually read two books per week, so one is the AtY book and the other is whatever fits from the Popsugar list - I try to match a shortish book with a longish one and balance the genres. Have just embarked on a very long one for #13 - The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin - so am pleased to be starting it early. It is the first of 5 volumes, with the next three also slotted in for later prompts, so hoping I enjoy it!

I'm doing fine with reading in order so far, but I can see some choppy waters ahead if I don't locate some of the books I had chosen or do a change up. Reading for week #13 right now, so a little ahead.

I hit a bump with the NYPL staff pick. The book I really wanted has holds for up to 2 months on 2 of the libraries I attend. Luckily the 3rd library changed to a new ebook app that no one else seems to like. The app is clunky.
Win for me on the book though.

I'm still reading in order and am behind by design. I'll start book 11 in April and will start reading through ATY a little faster then. Luckily, I'm able to put a lot of books on hold at the library and pause them, so I'm usually able to get what I want at the right time as long as I've thought ahead early enough with some of the more popular or rare books.

I finally finished my week #10 audiobook and am now listening to the week #13 audio - A Court of Mist and Fury. It is 22 hours in length, so I'm getting a head start.

I will read week #12's book in the next couple of days.

Reading this thread makes me realize how fortunate I am to not have to deal with long library waits! Pretty much any book I want I can walk into the library and get. Even if I do have to request a book, it's usually only a week or two until I get it.

I'm totally on track with reading in order but I am ahead on prompts as well. Like, I just finished Week 44 (a book related to a TV show) because I didn't want to wait until October to read it!