Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Thought I'd set this up already but at least i kept up with the reading. Especially as I was done before Christmas.

DECEMBER

1. Winter
Brrrr. Time to break out the hats, scarves and gloves as the coldest time of the year approaches (in the northern hemisphere at least). On the other hand, cold weather is the perfect excuse to curl up under a blanket with your latest book. And, however cold you are, at least you can be glad your home town is warmer then Antarctica, where the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded: an icy −89.2°C (−128.6 °F).
-Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the)--The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason / winteR
-Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing on the cover--The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman / Lyra is dressed for cold
-Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long--The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans / 125 pages

2. December birthdays: Ann Patchett
The American novelist Ann Patchett was born on 2 December 1963. She has published eight novels, including Bel Canto, winner of the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, was published in 1992 and her latest book, The Dutch House, was one of the most anticipated books of 2019.
-Read a book published between 1992 and 2019 (inclusive)--You're on an Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir by Parker Posey / published 2018

3. Christmas
It’s the most wonderful time of the year... Time for decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, wearing a novelty Christmas jumper, and hopefully waking up on Christmas morning to find the new release you’ve been excited to read waiting under the Christmas tree for you to unwrap. Merry Christmas!
-Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover--The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White / Swan on cover

4. Winter sports: yukigassen
Imagine if someone turned snowball fighting into an official sport with rules, a referee, a court and a snowball making machine. That’s yukigassen! Created in Japan in 1988, there are now competitions all over the world. Teams of seven players battle to capture each other’s flag, while trying to avoid being hit by a snowball and eliminated from the game. Preparation for a match involves making 270 snowballs, no wonder they invented a snowball making machine!
Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long--The Far Side of the Dollar by Ross Macdonald / #12 of 18 in series

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JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!
Happy 2020! Here’s to a great year of reading. Around the world people will be welcoming the new year while watching fireworks displays, drinking champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne.
-Read a book by an author who is new to you--In the Belly of the Beast: Letters From Prison / I have never read anything by Jack Henry Abbott, nor by anyone serving such a long prison sentence.
-Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters--Tiger, Tiger / Bit of a cheat but each word does have 5 letters

2. January birthdays: A.A. Milne
A.A. Milne was born in London in 18 January 1882. He is most famous for his Winnie the Pooh books which are among the most popular children’s books ever published and have been translated into numerous languages, including Latin!
-Read a book by an author who was born in a capital city--How to Train Your Dragon/Cressida Cowell was born in London
-Read a book that has been translated into Latin--Where the Wild Things Are/We were allowed to read the English, right?

3. New Year Resolutions
Millions of people see January 1st as an opportunity to set goals for the year ahead and the practice of making new year resolutions has a long history. In Babylonia new year was a time to promise the repayment of debts and return of borrowed items. And Romans are believed to have made sacrifices and promises to the god Janus, who is depicted as having two faces - one looking to the past and one to the future. Given that history, whether you keep or break your own resolutions this year, you’re probably in good company!
-Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS--Reasons to Live / new year ReasoLuTions
-Read a book that looks into the past (historical fiction, history, etc) or a book that looks into the future (science fiction, fantasy, etc)--Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman / Forward, backward, this book goes every whichway

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh
Bobsleighing originated in the Swiss town of St Moritz in the 19th century. Holidaymakers looking for entertainment in the cold winters hit on a plan to adapt delivery sleds into racing sleds and compete in races down the steep roads of the town. While undoubtedly entertaining for holidaymakers, the high speed sled races became immensely unpopular with residents of the town who, not unreasonably, objected to being mown down on their own streets by out of control sleds. In order to restore calm, a local hotel owner constructed an ice half-pipe track outside the town where the sled races could continue, and the sport of bobsleighing was born.
-Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND--Mage's Apprentice / Set in New york
-Read a book in which a conflict between characters is a major part of the plot. Tell us what the conflict was (using spoiler tags if necessary) when recording the task as completed--Educated by Tara Westover / Beyond the earliest parts of the book, Tara is chafing to free herself from her father's influence and rules, as well as from her brother Shawn's issues. Part 2 especially is endless head-banging.

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FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day
February 14th is celebrated around the world as Valentine’s Day. It was originally a feast day honouring an early Christian saint and only became associated with love and romance in the 14th century. Fun fact: Cadbury first began producing heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in 1868. Buying overpriced novelty chocolates as a token of love has a long history!
-Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page--Tweet Cute by Emma Lord / listed first
-Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY--Good Wives by Louisa Alcott / vaLentine's dAy; plus I started reading on Feb.14

2. February birthdays: Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was born on 18 February 1931. After becoming the first Black female editor at Random House (a position she used to champion the writings of Black authors), she began writing novels and became one of the most admired writers of her time. Her debut novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970 and in total she published eleven novels as well as several children’s books, plays and short fiction. In 1993 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
-Read a book with a colour in the title OR a book with a cover that is mostly blue--The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes / see cover below
-Read a book by Toni Morrison or another author who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature--Beloved by Toni Morrison / Read in January, but close enough

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping
Ski jumping has featured in every Winter Olympics since 1924. Athletes ski down a specially designed ramp and compete against each other to see who can make the longest jump. The current world record is over 253 metres. It was set by Austrian ski jumper, Stefan Kraft, who perhaps predictably is known by the nickname Air Kraft.
-Read a book that is at least 253 pages long--The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman / 326 pages
-Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place--Bookmarks Are People Too! by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver / 2014
-Read a book where the plot “jumps” about--The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand / multiple timelines for the mystery and the history and viewpoints needed to understand

4. Leap year
People born on 29th February technically only have a birthday every fourth year. This unusual situation is at the heart of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera, The Pirates of Penzance. Frederic, the lead character, believes he is freed from his apprenticeship to a gang of pirates when he is 21 years old, only to find that actually his apprenticeship lasts until his 21st birthday and as he was born in a leap year that won’t be until he’s 88 years old! Fortunately most people today who are born on 29th February simply celebrate their birthday a day early.
-Read a book with a word from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Modern Major-General Song in the title or subtitle--The Caedmon Poetry Collection:A Century of Poets Reading Their Work by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, and 25 or so others

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