Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Like all of us I love to read and so I add books to my TBR with wild abandon. I just want to read ALL the books. This year I am going to strive to fill the prompts on my various reading challenges with books from my TBR. It of course does not mean that I won’t add books to my TBR through the year but I am hoping to reduce the pile by a lot (OK, by a little).

As of today, October 23rd, there are 508 books on my TBR. Let’s see where I am on 12/31/2020.

11/16 - All 6 reading challenges were finished on 11/15. 139 books read to cover 221 prompts.

ATY 2020
52/52

✔️ A book that doesn’t contain the letters A, T or Y: Big Summer
✔️ A book by an author whose last name is one syllable: The Dearly Beloved
✔️A book you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019: The Dutch House (audio)
✔️A book set in a place or time you wouldn’t want to live: When We Left Cuba
✔️The first book in a series that you have not started: Act Like It
✔️ A book with a mode of transportation on the cover: Where the River Ends (audio)
✔️ A book set in the southern hemisphere: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster (WWRC)
✔️ A book with a two-word title where the first word is “The”: The Resisters: A Novel
✔️ A book that can be read in a day: The Clothing of Books (WWRC) (audio)
✔️ A book that is between 400-600 pages: Recipe for Persuasion (May 26)
✔️ A book that was originally published in a year that is a prime number: The End of the Affair (PS)
✔️A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people: Twice in a Blue Moon (WWRC)
✔️A book from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge (a book on a summer/beach read list - 2016): Musical Chairs (July 21st)

✔️A book by an author on the Abe List of the 100 Essential Female Writers: The House of the Spirits (RW)
✔️ A book set in a global city: City of Girls (WWRC)
✔️A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area: The Giver of Stars (WWRC)
✔️A book with a neurodiverse character: The Kiss Quotient
✔️A book by an author you have only read once before: The View from Penthouse B
✔️ A fantasy book: The Starless Sea (PS)
✔️The 20th book (on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.): Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
✔️A book related to Maximillian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1719: The Door
✔️ A book with a major theme of survival: Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival
✔️A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author: Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
✔️ A book with an emotion in the title: Love Lettering
✔️A book related to the arts: The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers
✔️ A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001

✔️ A history or historical fiction: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
✔️ A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author: The Glass Hotel
✔️ A lesser known book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book: Saint Mazie
✔️ A book from the New York Times ‘100 Notable Books’ list for any year: Manhattan Beach
✔️A book inspired by a leading news story: Parkland: Birth of a Movement
✔️A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan: Forward: A Memoir (WWRC)
✔️ A book about a non-traditional family: The House in the Cerulean Sea
✔️ A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name: Simon the Fiddler
✔️ A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover: The Museum of Modern Love (RW)
✔️A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don’t recognize, recall putting there or put there on a whim: This is Where I Leave You (audio)
✔️ Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1: The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing (immigrant story)
✔️ Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (indigenous people story)
✔️ A book by an author whose real name(s) you’re not quite sure how to pronounce: A Woman Is No Man (PS, RW)

✔️ A book with a place name in the title: The Lager Queen of Minnesota (audio)
✔️ A mystery: Miracle Creek
✔️ A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’: My Sister, the Serial Killer (PS, RW, WWRC)
✔️A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (WWRC)
✔️ A book related to witches: Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
✔️A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018: The Chelsea Girls
✔️ A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song “We Didn’t Start the Fire”: The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia (audio) (WWRC)
✔️A classic book you’ve always meant to read: Persuasion
✔️A book published in 2020: Untamed
✔️ A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn’t win: Instructions for a Heatwave (a book by an Irish author)
✔️A book with a silhouette on the cover: I'd Give Anything
✔️A book with an “-ing” word in the title: The Book of Longings
✔️A book related to time: Time After Time

ATY reject challenge
25/25

✔️ A dystopian novel: After the Flood
✔️ A book with more than 20 letters in the title: I Was Told It Would Get Easier (June 12)
✔️A book that has a road trip as part of the plot: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters
✔️A book related to the 1920’s: The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
✔️ A debut novel published in 2020: The Jane Austen Society
✔️A book from a child’s perspective: Peace Like a River
✔️A nonfiction book about a place: The White Darkness
✔️A book about food or with food on the cover or in the title: Notes from a Young Black Chef
✔️A winer of a foreign literary prize: Hamnet
✔️A collection of essays: Untamed
✔️ A popular author’s first novel: The Dead Don't Dance
✔️Three books published in three consecutive years (2018): Becoming Mrs. Lewis (WWRC)
✔️Three books published in three consecutive years (2019): Dominicana
✔️Three books published in three consecutive years (2020): Party of Two
✔️A book about books: The Bookshop on the Corner
✔️ The last book your favorite author published: Hideaway
✔️A book with an ensemble cast: Shadows in Death
✔️A book by an author who has died in the past 5 years: The Bluest Eye (RW)
✔️ A book with a sad, depressing or dark theme: American Dirt
✔️A book where faith/religion plays a major role in the plot: Unwritten
✔️A book with a cover that reminds you of the sky: This Tender Land (WWRC)
✔️A book that features a character in at least two different stages of life: The Vanishing Half
✔️ A book in diary, letter or journal form: Dear Mr. Knightley (WWRC)
✔️ A book whose title is a line from a song: Here Comes the Sun (RW, WWRC)
✔️A book featuring a child being raised by someone or her than their biological parents: The Nickel Boys (MMDSRG)

Popsugar 2020

Regular prompts
40/40

✔️ A book that’s published in 2020: The Switch
✔️A book by a trans or non-binary author: George (RW, WWRC)
✔️A book with a great first line: One True Loves
✔️ A book about a book club: The Bromance Book Club
✔️A book set in a city that as hosted the Olympics: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
✔️ A Bildungsroman: Dear Edward
✔️ The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed: The Late Bloomers' Club
✔️ A book with an upside-down image on the cover: Verity
✔️ A book with a map: After the Flood
✔️ A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club: The Widow of Rose House
✔️ An anthology: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love (RW, WWRC)
✔️A book that passes the Bechdel test: City of Girls
✔️ A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it: The Yellow House
✔️A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name: Writers & Lovers
✔️A book about or involving social media: Such a Fun Age
✔️A book that has a book on the cover: The Words Between Us
✔️A medical thriller: The End of October
✔️ A book with a made-up language: The House in the Cerulean Sea
✔️A book set in a country beginning with “C”: Next Year in Havana
✔️A book you picked because the title caught your attention: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune
✔️A book published the month of your birthday: American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt
✔️A book about or by a woman in STEM: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
✔️ A book that won an award in 2019: My Sister, the Serial Killer (ATY, RW, WWRC)
✔️A book on a subject you know nothing about: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
✔️ A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
✔️A book with a pun in the title: Red, White & Royal Blue (WWRC) (audio)
✔️A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins: A Woman Is No Man (ATY, RW, WWRC)
✔️ A book with a robot, cyborg or AI character: Sleeping Giants (audio)
✔️A book with a bird on the cover: Number One Chinese Restaurant
✔️A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
✔️ A book with “gold”, “silver” or “bronze” in the title: Gold
✔️A book by a WOC: Party of Two
✔️A book with a least a four-star rating on Goodreads: Marilla of Green Gables
✔️A book you meant to read in 2019: Finding Dorothy
✔️A book with a three-word title: Code Name Hélène
✔️ A book with a pink cover: The Happy Ever After Playlist
✔️A western: Peace Like a River
✔️A book by or about a journalist: I'll Be Gone in the Dark
✔️Read a banned book during Banned Book Week (9/27/20): The Bluest Eye
✔️Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge: The Book of Lost Friends

Advanced prompts
10/10

✔️A book written by an author in their 20’s: Half of a Yellow Sun
✔️A book with “20” or “twenty” in the title: 28 Summers
✔️A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision): The Starless Sea (ATY)
✔️ A book set in the 1920’s: The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
✔️ A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics: The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
✔️ A book by an author who has written more than 20 books: The Rise of Magicks (WWRC)
✔️ A book with more than 20 letters in the title: The Lions of Fifth Avenue
✔️ A book published in the 20th century: The End of the Affair (ATY)
✔️ A book from a series with more than 20 books: Golden in Death (WWRC)
✔️A book with a main character in their 20’s: Beach Read

Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge
12/12

✔️A book published the decade you were born: Revolutionary Road
✔️A debut novel: Tweet Cute
✔️A book recommended by a source you trust: Sea Wife
✔️A book by a local author: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
✔️A book outside your (genre) comfort zone: Sleeping Giants
✔️ A book in translation: Anxious People
✔️ A book nominated for an award in 2020: The Nickel Boys
✔️A re-Read: Moloka'i
✔️A classic you didn’t read in school: East of Eden
✔️Three books by the same author #1: The Dead Don't Dance
✔️ Three books by the same author #2: Maggie
✔️ Three books by the same author #3: Unwritten

Reading Women 2020
26/26

✔️A Book by an Author from the Caribbean or India: Here Comes the Sun (ATYR, WWRC)
✔️A Book Translated from an Asian Language: Strange Weather in Tokyo
✔️A Book about the Environment: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
✔️ Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author: Sulwe
✔️ A Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction: My Sister, the Serial Killer (ATY, PS, WWRC)
✔️ A Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
✔️A Book Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism: Binti
✔️An Anthology by Multiple Authors: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love (PS, WWRC)
✔️ A Book Inspired by Folklore: Deathless
✔️ A Book About a Woman Artist: The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
✔️ Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation: Outlander
✔️ A Book About a Woman Who Inspires You: Untamed
✔️ A Book by an Arab Woman: A Woman Is No Man (ATY, PS)
✔️A Book Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author: The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
✔️ A Biography: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
✔️A Book Featuring a Woman with a Disability: Instructions for a Heatwave
✔️ A Book Over 500 Pages: Voyager
✔️A Book Under 100 Pages: The Clothing of Books (audio)
✔️ A Book That’s Frequently Recommended to You: The Dutch House
✔️A Feel-Good or Happy Book: The Bromance Book Club
✔️ A Book about Food: Crescent
✔️ A Book by Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher: The Happy Ever After Playlist
✔️A Book by an LGBTQ+ Author: George
✔️A Book from the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists and Honorable Mentions: The Museum of Modern Love (ATY)

BONUS
✔️A Book by Toni Morrison: The Bluest Eye (ATYR)
✔️A Book by Isabel Allende: The House of the Spirits(ATY)

The 2020 Wizarding World Tour Reading Challenge
56/56

BEAUXBATONS
✔️ Read a book set in France or Spain: The Queen's Fortune
✔️ Read a book set at Christmas: One Day in December
✔️ Read a book from a series with six or more books or the 6th book on your TBR: Golden in Death
✔️Read a book with blue in the cover: Such a Fun Age
✔️Read a book about or by someone you respect: Untamed
✔️ Read a book involving horses: The Giver of Stars
✔️ Read a book where a character breaks the law: My Sister, the Serial Killer

CASTELOBRUXO
✔️Read a book set in a tropical climate: Moloka'i
✔️ Read a book related to plants: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
✔️ Read a book that contains a magical creature: The House in the Cerulean Sea
✔️Read a book with a green dust jacket: The Kiss Quotient
✔️ Read a book with gold on it: The Dutch House
✔️Read a book that includes a troublemaker: I Was Told It Would Get Easier
✔️ Read a book that was translated into your language: Anxious People

DURMSTRANG
✔️Read a book that involves a secret: The Water Keeper
✔️Read a book related to the cold: The White Darkness
✔️Read a book that is set outdoors: After the Flood
✔️ Read a book that includes a boat: Where the River Ends
✔️Read a book with a dark cover: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
✔️ Read a book featuring a major combat: Code Name Hélène
✔️ Read a book that includes a villain: Innocent in Death

HOGWARTS
✔️ Read a book involving a train: Time After Time
✔️Read a book that mentions the Harry Potter universe: The Starless Sea
✔️Read a book set in multiple locations: Finding Dorothy
✔️Read a book related to art or a poetry book: The Museum of Modern Love
✔️Read a book that’s a guilty pleasure: The Happy Ever After Playlist
✔️Fill this prompt when you require a mood read of your choosing!: What You Wish For (July 14)
✔️Read a book with a gem in the title or on the cover: Something to Talk about

ILVERMORNY
✔️read a book set in the northeast United States: City of Girls
✔️Read a book published in 2020: All Adults Here
✔️ Read a book with food on the cover: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune
✔️Read a book with a body part on the cover: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
✔️ Read an own voices book: A Woman Is No Man
✔️ Read a book featuring diversity/inclusivity: Crescent
✔️Read a book that includes a trip: Becoming Mrs. Lewis

KOLDOVSTORETZ
✔️ Read a book by a Russian author: The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia
✔️Read a book involving magic: The Rise of Magicks
✔️ Read a book set in a palace: Red, White & Royal Blue
✔️ Read a book related to a serpent: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
✔️ Read a book written in or set in your favorite decade: American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
✔️Read a book tied to your roots (heritage): Hamnet
✔️ Read a book involving potions: The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

MAHOUTOKORO
✔️Read a graphic novel: Spinning
✔️ Read a book set in a school: Dear Mr. Knightley
✔️ Read a book under 150 pages: The Clothing of Books
✔️ Read a middle grade novel: George
✔️Read a book where the dust jacket and cover are different covers: The Last Train to Key West
✔️Read a book involving a sport: Forward: A Memoir
✔️ Read a book with an exquisite cover: This Tender Land

UAGADOU
✔️ Read a book over 450 pages: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
✔️Read a book with a moon on the cover: Twice in a Blue Moon
✔️ Read a self-help book: Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You
✔️ Read a book that includes an animal: Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival
✔️Read a book where a character follows a dream: Notes from a Young Black Chef
✔️Read a book with a symbol on the cover: The Resisters
✔️Read a book with a hand on the cover: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster

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