Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all of the rose-cover suggestions. Now I actually have some ideas.

I agree, Ellie! These prompts are perfect... challenging enough but not too hard for a short-term reading challenge!

😂 Bryony your dream was awesome!

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

I remember characters go to the bar a few times inEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (fantastic book btw).

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

I think for this one I’m going to read a historical fiction book because before the 19th century water was so bad and made people sick so they often drank beer instead. I know that in lots of Philippa Gregory books the characters drink small ale, and the characters also do this in the Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom if you prefer historical mysteries.

Nadine, someone just mentioned this book on the Book Riot Read Harder challenge. It sounds like it's short stories that are all actually set in a bar. Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club

YEAH! I love this challenge. I love the flexibility built in which lets me continue to work on my full year challenges and book club reads. Just what I needed to look at my TBR list with some fresh eyes. THANKS for setting this up.

Milena wrote: "Nadine, someone just mentioned this book on the Book Riot Read Harder challenge. It sounds like it's short stories that are all actually set in a bar. Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky ..."

that looks good too! now I have so many choices!!

Question....

What qualifies for "Read a book that is the first book you have read by an author from that country"?

the country of their birth? or
a country they lived in for a period of time? or
the country where they currently reside?

Another question.....

Do short stories count? Single stories, not collections. The Gift of the Magi is on this winter reading list and the gr winter reading list.

In the introduction post it says 1. Books must be at least 100 pages long, except for graphic novels which must be at least 200 pages long. For audiobooks, the printed version of the book should be at least 100 pages long. , so I guess short stories are out.

dalex wrote: "Question....

What qualifies for "Read a book that is the first book you have read by an author from that country"?

the country of their birth? or
a country they lived in for a period of time? or
..."

We’re using country of birth as an (imperfect) definition of where an author is from.

dalex wrote: "Another question.....

Do short stories count? Single stories, not collections. The Gift of the Magi is on this winter reading list and the gr winter reading list."

Short stories aren’t specifically excluded, but all books need to meet the requirement of being at least 100 pages long, and I imagine most short stories won’t.

If you want to read The Gift of the Magi then we could count a collection of short stories that includes that one and is at least 100 pages.

Thanks for the answers Bryrony and Irene!

Is it June yet? I want to get started lol

Sarah wrote: "Is it June yet? I want to get started lol"


HONESTLY

Nari--Love both YA and NA books❤ wrote: "Sarah said: Is it June yet? I want to get started lol.
Exactly my thoughts, Sarah! Can't wait to start this wonderful challenge!
Bryrony, if I am not mistaken, in the month of June, fourteen books ..."

The goal is to read 4 books each month. You can choose one prompt from each section (numbered 1-4) on the challenge list.

Nadine wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Is it June yet? I want to get started lol"


HONESTLY"
Agree, June can't get here soon enough. I have a couple of books that I am waiting to start once it gets here. I wonder, would it be cheating to start tomorrow, since it WILL be June in some parts of the world?

I think you would fine to start early as long as you have at least 100 pages remaining in the book once June 1 actually starts in your area :)

Nari--Love both YA and NA books❤ wrote: "Oh, so 1 prompt from the 4 prompts listed in each month. Thanks, Laura! But can someone choose more than 1 prompt from 4?"

You can feel free to choose more prompts than just 1 from each set.

Just keep in mind that you have to finish at least 1 from each set in order to officially finish the challenge (i.e. you can't finish 2 from 1 set and none from another)

Laura wrote: "I think you would fine to start early as long as you have at least 100 pages remaining in the book once June 1 actually starts in your area :)"

I started Queenie but only read two chapters before I had to leave for the weekend (cheer camp with teenagers -- not ideal reading time)... does this mean I could count it for summer reading if don't get to read it until Monday? I know the rules say start and finish, but I'm only like 20 pages in.

I finally finished my last book for the Spring SRC so I'm ok with taking a day off from reading tomorrow!

Emily wrote: "I started Queenie ..."

Oooh I am really curious about Queenie, hope you will like it and hope I will get to read it soon

It's totally fine if you start late :)

Bryony may say otherwise but I really think it's fine if you start early as long as you read at least 100 pages in the challenge. I don't see it as any different than one person counting a book that's 150 pages and someone else counting a books that's 500. Obviously total pages is going to vastly different for different members.

Oh that makes me happy - it means I’ll be able to use David Copperfield! Halfway through that 1000 page behemoth.

I don't think the mods ever clarified if we could be entered for the prize for each month we complete (possibly doubling up), or if we can only do the challenge once through to be entered (for a max of three times - one for each month).

Sarah wrote: "Is it June yet? I want to get started lol"

I think it's June in New Zealand now!

In order to strive for an even playing field amongst the members, here are the rules the mods came up with for multiple completions:

- You can complete the challenge twice, but you must use different prompts for the second attempt.
- You will earn 1 entry for a second, full completion. That means the max is four entries for any member

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

Nadine, if you're looking for light reading, Sue Grafton's alphabet series usually has the main character, Kinzey, eating and meeting people (and drinking, of course) at Rosie's bar throughout the book.

In order for us to check that you're eligible for the price draw, we need to see what you read for which prompt. You can either do it month by month or all at the end.

You'll find all the information here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
You can track your progress here (not mandatory): https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
When you've finished, please post your challenge here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Nari--Love both YA and NA books❤ wrote: "When someone finishes the prompts for June, do we have to post that we did?"

Nari, if you want to earn a draw entry for the month then you need to post in this thread when you’ve completed the prompts for each month.

Sorry, I posted at the same time as you Sophie, but your answer was better! ;-)

Nonsense Bryony!

June is here! (mid-morning in DK, Europe)

How do I get to “this thread”?

1. First check out the prompts and choice of tasks in post two of this thread

Lily wrote: "How do I get to “this thread”?

1. First check out the prompts and choice of tasks in post two of this thread"

It means the thread that you’re reading that in. If you scroll to post two you’ll find the list there. :-)

ETA: here’s a direct link to the list.

Alright, who's made spreadsheet sheets to track this challenge that we all can see? Emily? Dalex? You got one for us all to borrow? :)

Spreadsheet queens, we need help here haha

Emily, maybe we could add it to the group spreadsheet? I can help if you need it.

Steve wrote: "Alright, who's made spreadsheet sheets to track this challenge that we all can see? Emily? Dalex? You got one for us all to borrow? :)"

Ha! I just did a super simple sheet on my spreadsheet for the summer reading challenge. I copy/pasted that into a new sheet on the group spreadsheet. It should probably have some formatting and formulas and stuff added.

Cool, I didn't know Emily had given rights to add new tabs to her spreadsheet, that's great! Thanks for doing it. Somehow having a spreadsheet is motivating me to do it haha

Can't wait to get started on this challenge but had started on 2 books before I found this so need to finish those! Arg!

Going to try to find a way to match the new summer list to the regular challenge but man is it proving to be hard for June as I already picked out the books. Might have to use a "the" to fit Summertime but that sure feels like the easy way.

Mostly wanted to say a quick thanks to the mods for coming up with a fun new challenge and for the putting in the extra work.

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar?"

This was my first completed challenge topic. I used Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor, in which the Gladstone pub is mentioned frequently. It was a very enjoyable read (though not at all what I was expecting based on the synopsis).

Nice job, dalex! I may play with adding in some formulas later. (I see Emily is away from computer this weekend, otherwise I'm sure these formulas would have been in 20 minutes after you added the sheet!)

Now my reading dilemma: I'm about 300 some pages into the 5th A Song of Ice and Fire series... Do I keep reading it to finally get the series done... or do I put it on hold for awhile since I can't count it for my summer reads since I started it weeks ago and it's going to take awhile to finish?!

Considering the summer challenge is 3 months long, I'd say get the series over with, otherwise it's going to be really hard to get back to it!

Steve, pretty sure the rules were changed so you can count it if you have more than 100 pages left. A mod should confirm this though.

I'm currently at cheer camp (with 300+ teenagers, pray for me) so away from my computer most of the day, but I took what dalex added and formatted it to match the rest of the tabs on the spreadsheet! I can't believe I didn't think about creating it sooner... cheer camp has warped my world so much this week that I'm off my spreadsheet game!

What magic Emily can make from her phone 😜

Unless Bryony objects, I'm comfortable being the solo mod who is okaying it ;)

Emily wrote: "I'm currently at cheer camp (with 300+ teenagers, pray for me) so away from my computer most of the day, but I took what dalex added and formatted it to match the rest of the tabs on the spreadshee..."

Great work, Emily! A few suggestions: Should there be a sum for each "category" in addition to each task? Since we only need to complete one task per category, it might be useful to see how many people have completed one of the "In the Summertime" tasks.

Maybe a count of how many people reach 12+ as well?

And the Avg. # of Prompts Completed (D55) is converting to a percent.

Sophie, I grabbed my laptop to take care of it on my supper break -- I'm not a magician haha!

Great ideas Steve!

I added a total and percentage count to each shaded row for the prompts and fixed D55.

Any idea on how/where to show the people who complete the months? My brain is so tired at the moment and I can't quite figure out where to format it.

You seem like a magician to me, Emily!