Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I went for Disappearance of a Scribe, which is the second book in a historical mystery series set in the Alexandria of Cleopatra.

Stacey wrote: "Dana wrote: "This year I'm finally reading for ATY in order. :D
I initially wanted to read The Inhertitance Games for this prompt, and even though the beginning is amazing, I feel like it's not its..."

Hi Stacey! Glad I could help. Happy Reading!

I read Away with the Fairies set in Australia

The Nature of Ice is a contemporary fiction set in Antarctica by Australian author Robyn Mundy. It shifts back and forth between the story of Freya, a photographer spending the summer in Antarctica and a recount of the 1912 exhibition by Douglas Mawson, including excerpts from his diaries and letters exchanged with his fiancé Paquita. Freya’s story is one of creativity, self-discovery and romance. Mawson’s story is one of courage, extreme adventure and heartache. Here is my review

I had great plans in October to read a book with a ATY location but then I got into a reading rut and didn't do any planning. I happen to add Fool Me Once to my TBR at the end of last year and notice it took place in Austin, Texas so it at least got me the AT.

It was a perfectly fine easy read but kind of forgettable.

I read Exiles by Jane Harper, located in Australia. The third of the Aaron Falk trilogy.

I had originally planned to go with Argentina but instead chose Trinidad and am reading Miguel Street by V. S. Naipaul. This is the first book I’ve ever read set in this country. It’s very good!

I just finshed Hell Bent which takes place at Yale.

I read The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor. It takes place in the fictional town of Anderbury in the UK.

I just read Kevin Wilson's newest book, Now Is Not the Time to Panic. It takes place primarily in Coalfield, Tennessee.

Not sure if this book has been recommended yet…

For anyone who liked Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard or Things You Save in a Fire….
How to Walk Away is set is Austin, Texas.

Linda wrote: "Not sure if this book has been recommended yet…

For anyone who liked Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard or Things You Save in a Fire….
[book:How to W..."

Her books are such fun to read!

Transferring a book from one prompt to another:

I read Dekok And The Dancing Death by A.C. Baantjer, a detective story set in 1970s Amsterdam (though it had been updated a little by the 1994 translation, which had a few other oddities).

I enjoyed this rather Maigret-like detective. He was a sympathetic character and there was a good period feel.

As this was set in a city, for my multi-prompt challenge I used books set in a region and a country:

The Crow Garden by Alison Littlewood set mainly in a Victorian asylum in Yorkshire. It had a good Gothic atmosphere, but was spoilt by an unbelievable explanation for certain events.

Memed, My Hawk by Yaşar Kemal. Set in Turkey, this was very like a Western, with a young man who becomes a brigand after ill treatment by the local landowner. Hard to believe it was set in the twentieth century. Slightly repetitous but interesting and quite enjoyable.

I happened to get an advance reader copy of Horses of Fire, and I recommend it. It's set during the Trojan war in Troy and focuses on Andromache especially. There have been a lot of Greek myth retellings published recently and I keep trying them and being disappointed. This one is worth reading though IMO!

This morning I finished This One Summer which I'm using for a book set in "A" place- Awago Beach.

I was pleasantly surprised that I could use this book here. My original choice was not interesting :(
Mycroft Holmes mostly takes place in Trinidad

I read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. The title is the name of a realm around which the story takes place.

For this one I ended up reading The Last Thing He Told Me. It was set partly in Austin, Texas. I'd recommend the book but I wasn't a fan of the ending but the suspense was pretty good through like 3/4 of it.

I'm reading The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan. I just realised it is set in Tartarus. That is good because I had no idea where to place it.

For this prompt I read The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.

Recently found this challenge...but one of my first reads of the year was The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (Australia)

I read Foul Play Suspected by James Sherwood. It has a very strong sense of being in Texas.

The book is about a very big "what if" with huge implications to the protagonist.

I read Light to the Hills set in Appalachia. 4 stars. It reminded me of The Giver of Stars. Very similar.

Texas

Southtown – Rick Riordan – 4****
This is book five in the Tres Navarre mysteries. This is a hard-hitting detective series, and the body count climbs as the plot progresses. I like Tres. He’s intelligent and a bit sarcastic. The setting is practically a character, and Riordan includes many landmark locations that brought me back home again.
LINK to my full review

The last one I read set in a place that starts with A is Albania with The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax and I am not even sure if I've added that to GR yet since I'm behind. (this is where most of the book is set.)

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This book is set on the small island of Tilos, near to Rhodes in the Dodecanese. I don't think the cover does it justice because this is not a beach holiday book, but the story of the author, Jennifer Barclay, making a life on the island. The beauty of Greece is there and its hospitality, but also the difficulties of life during the Eurozone crisis, and the author's own difficulties with pregnancies. It is a full picture of life on the island which I enjoyed far more than I expected, though I do wonder how the inhabitants are coping in the current heat and fires.

I am reading The Bodyguard by Katherine Center that is set in Texas.

For this prompt I read
Desert Taxi: The Story of an Achievement by a Veteran London Taxi-Cab (Algeria)
Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World (Turkey)
The Annotated Wuthering Heights (Yorkshire)