Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

✔️ - finished
🎧 - audiobook
👬 - read with my kids
🎬 - watched the movie

✔️1. A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy

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

✔️🎧3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y

✔️4. A book with a criminal character (i.e. assassin, pirate, thief, robber, scoundrel etc)

5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare

✔️6. A book with a dual timeline

✔️🎧7. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #1

✔️🎧8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #2

9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy or horror)
✔️10. A book featuring an historical figure

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

12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer
13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list
14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term

15. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country or set in a Mediterranean country
✔️16. A book told from multiple perspectives

17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia)
18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements
19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR
20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country
✔️👬🎬21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes

22. A book with a number in the title or on the cover

23. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old
✔️24. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New

25. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed

26. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something Blue
27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list
28. A book related to something cold (i.e. theme, title, author, cover, etc.)
29. A book published before 1950
30. A book featuring an elderly character
✔️👬31. A children’s classic you’ve never read

✔️32. A book with more than 500 pages

✔️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

35. A psychological thriller
36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list
37. A book set in a school or university

✔️38. A book not written in traditional novel format (poetry, essay, epistolary, graphic novel, etc)

✔️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
✔️👬42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character

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.)
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)
51. A book published in 2019
52. A book with a weird or intriguing title

Favorite Books of the Year

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

For the first one, I read The Girl on the Train. This one may be a bit of a stretch, but I started late, and it sort of fits! :) It won an Audie Award, so I'm going to count it! :)

I got lucky with this next one because it happened to fit into the first part of the challenge. I am a huge nerd, so it's actually pitiful that I am finally getting around to reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It fits in the category A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y: The Fellowship of the Rings.

For category #4, I really enjoy reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Since this is a series about a bounty hunter, there is always a criminal element. I read Ten Big Ones which fits into category #4.

2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #1 - The Two Towers. Technically this is book 2 since I read The Fellowship of the Ring as well, but I am also going to read The Return of the King Next, so I'm using it! :)

A children’s classic you’ve never read - I'm reading The Borrowers series with my youngest. We finished The Borrowers Afloat - book 3 of the series.

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood includes a dual timeline - the first is the present. The second is the protagonist's past starting with her childhood.

I just finished Black Klansman. Luckily, the copy I bought was the one with a mostly black cover, so it fit in that category! :) The book was fascinating. There were issues with it. There were things that added nothing to the story, and plenty of things that could have used more fleshing out. Honestly, he probably should have brought in an experienced writer, but the story is truly fascinating, and I am glad I read it. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

Finished Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson for prompt 16. I always feel a little weird reading books by authors that I know because what if I don't like it or find it dull? That was not an issue with this book. It did take me about 35 or 40 pages to get fully engrossed, but then I was hooked. It's funny because I rarely like books if I don't like the main character, but this book was different. The only character I really liked was Silja, but the other characters were interesting if they weren't likable. There were some twists and turns. I figured it out really early, but I still really loved the book. It was well written. It flowed easily. Her writing created a lush back drop to the story. Overall, I would highly recommend this book. I gave it five stars, and they were real stars - not "I know this person, so I'm giving her a good review" stars. :)

Prompt #34: book with a person's name in it - Stuart Little. This book pulled double duty. My youngest child had to write a book report on a chapter book read this week. She has a learning disability and cannot read chapter books that fast, so this was one that I read to her. We really enjoyed reading it together. It was a cute book - a little odd, but cute.

Just finished The Return of the King to complete prompt #8.

For prompt 32 I read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. I enjoyed it, but it was definitely too long. there were places that just dragged. He also had this incredibly annoying thing that he did at the end of some of the chapters that drove me nuts. The story was good though. They are making a mini-series out of it. I haven't decided if I want to watch it yet or not. I'll probably give it a shot.

Just finished Coffee Will Make You Black for prompt #33 and for my book club read for this month. I really enjoyed the book. She has a sequel out, and I think I'll try to find that one, too..... once my TBR pile has shrunk at least a little! :)

My youngest kidlet and I read Babe, and then watched the movie this morning (hooray for snow days!). It works for prompt 21.

For prompt #42 I read A Wrinkle in Time. I think "the It" counts as a monstrous character since it is so hate-filled. My daughter and I listened to the audio book on a road trip.

For prompt #10 (historical figure) I read Rosa Parks: My Story. I only gave it four stars because the writing itself wasn't great, but the story was fascinating. What a strong and amazing woman she was.

Well, I had a bad April! I did get one book and most of another one finished. :) I am writing an opera on The Awakening. My daughter found a Cliffs Notes book on The Awakening at the used book store, so I read that for my #38 - something not in a traditional format. It was actually a really good read. I read it about five times slower than I would have though because I read sections multiple times and did research while I was reading. It had some great insights into the book.

Wow, you write operas? That's awesome!