Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

DECEMBER

1. Winter
Xa. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the) - Those Idiots from Earth 12/18
Xb. Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing (scarf, hat, warm coat etc) on the cover. - Spinning Silver 1/15
Xc. Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long (you can ignore the 100 page requirement for this task). - The Toast of Time - 129 p - 12/3

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen
Xa. Read a book written by a female author. - Avalon - Nell Zink - Dec 11
Xb. Read a novel set in the 19th century - Mansfield Park - by Jane Austen! - Dec 24
Xc. Read a romance novel. - Slippery Creatures - Jan 27

3. The Holidays
Xa. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December. (Some examples: Rosa Parks Day, National Cookie Day, Dewey Decimal System Day, Nobel Prize Day, Kwanzaa, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Hanukkah, etc.) - Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II - starts on Pearl Harbor Day (not exactly a holiday but I think it counts) and deals with the aftermath - 1/17
X b.. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover (ignore the numbers - eg a book with a gold ring works, you don’t need a book with five gold rings!) - The Fictitious Marquis has a "lord" on the cover - 12/7
Xc. Read a book that features a family gathering. The Heirs 1/3

4. Winter sports: yukigassen
Xa. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN. - Less Is Lost - Andrew Sean Greer - 12/12
Xb. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long - All the Devils Are Here - 12/6
Xc. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia). The Madness of Crowds - 12/30

JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!
Xa. Read a book by an author who is new to you. - Giovanni's Room - 12/2
Xb. Read a book from a genre that is new to you (you can use a sub-genre, eg urban fantasy, historical romance, etc if you already read books from most genres). - Heartstopper: Volume One - Graphic Novel - 1/1
Xc. Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters (eg The Bat, Ninth House, The Old Man and the Sea). - Tin Man 1/23

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami
a. Read a book set in Japan.
Xb. Read a book that features a cat in some way. - The Red Notebook 1/28
Xc. Read a magical realism novel. - A Trip to the Stars- Jan 22

3. New Year Resolutions
Xa. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS (the title must be at leat three words long for this option) - Trouble in Nuala Dec 12
Xb. Read a book that looks into the past (historical fiction, history, etc) or a book that looks into the future (science fiction, fantasy, etc). - The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks - 12/11
Xc. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions OR if you don’t make resolutions then read a book related to one of the top ten New Years resolutions. Tell us what your resolution is when recording this task as completed. - Blues for Mister Charlie - resolution to read more diverse authors

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh
Xa. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND. - Still Life - set in Italy - Dec 10
Xb. 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. - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - conflict is between the mostly good doctor and his evil alter ego - 12/13
Xc. Read a book that is fast-paced.- The Bullet That Missed - 12/16

FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day
Xa. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page. - Dance Away with Me - 2/2
Xb. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY. - True Biz - Sara Nović - 2/10
Xc. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries).- Ruslan and Ludmila - Jan 21

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Xa. Read a book set in the American midwest. - Vacationland - set in Minnesota - Dec 11
b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.
Xc. Read a coming of age story. - The Dictionary of Lost Words 12/24

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping
Xa. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long. - Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia 12/19
Xb. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place (1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) - A Gentleman's Murder pub 2018 - 1/2
Xc. Read a book where the plot “jumps” about (a non-linear narrative as it’s normally called). Take Three Tenses: A Fugue in Time - 12/15

4. The Shortest Month of the Year
Xa. Read a literary fiction novel. -

Xb. Read a book that features a ghost. - The Sentence - Jan 8
Xc. Read a book that starts with a letter in the word SHORT.- Requiem for a Wren 12/17