Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

ROUND ONE
This challenge runs from December 1, 2022 through February 28, 2023.

December: 4/4
January: 4/4
February: 4/4

DECEMBER

1. Winter
b. Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing on the cover.
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon | ★★ on 12/10/22

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen
a. Read a book written by a female author.
Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton | ★★★★ on 12/23/22

3. The Holidays
a. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December.
Elevation by Stephen King | ★★★★★ on 1/21/23
Features some Christmas-related events

4. Winter sports: yukigassen
b. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long
Murder in Hindsight by Anne Cleeland | ★★★ on 12/16/22
Book 3 of 16 in Acton & Doyle series

Read:


JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!
b. Read a book from a genre that is new to you
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell | ★★★ on 12/24/22
Space Opera / LGBT Sci-Fi Romance

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami
b. Read a book that features a cat in some way.
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder | ★★★★★ on 12/27/22

3. New Year Resolutions
a. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
The Origins of Iris by Beth Lewis | ★★ on 12/18/22

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh
a. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND.
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica | ★★★★ on 12/23/22
Presumably set in Argentina

Read:


FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day
☑ a. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | ★★★ on 12/16/22

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder
c. Read a coming of age story.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han | ★★★★ on 12/19/22

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping
☑ b. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie | ★★★★ on 12/15/22
Originally published on January 6, 1936.

4. The Shortest Month of the Year
c. Read a book that starts with a letter in the word SHORT.
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks | ★★ on 12/17/22

Read:

ROUND 2

This challenge runs from December 1, 2022 through February 28, 2023.

December: 4/4
January: 4/4
February: 4/4

DECEMBER

1. Winter
a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling | ★★★★ on 1/30/23

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen
b. Read a novel set in the 19th century.
Darkness There: Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe | ★★★ on 1/29/23
Every story in the collection was published between 1839 and 1845. One story is set during the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and another specifies a setting of "the summer of 18--". The other 3 stories are likely contemporary in setting, hence 19th century as well.

3. The Holidays
b. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover.
The Secret Swan by Shana Abé | ★★★★ on 1/21/23
"Swans-a-swimming"

4. Winter sports: yukigassen
a. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN.
A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii by various authors including Eliza Knight | ★★★ on 2/28/23

Read:


JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!
a. Read a book by an author who is new to you.
The Last Execution by Jesper Wung-Sung | ★★ on 2/27/23

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami
a. Read a book set in Japan.
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata | ★ on 2/21/23

3. New Year Resolutions
c. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions
Two-Minute Mysteries by Donald Sobol | ★★ on 1/24/23
One of my New Year's resolutions is to read more of the books I already own before buying any new books, and this one had been gifted to me by a friend.

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh
c. Read a book that is fast-paced.
The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon | ★★★★ on 2/19/23

Read:


FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day
c. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries).
Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 by Carolyn Meyer | ★★ on 2/20/23

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder
b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sunmi Hwang | ★★ on 1/26/23

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping
a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long.
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn | ★★★★ on 2/23/23

4. The Shortest Month of the Year
b. Read a book that features a ghost.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder | ★★★ on 12/30/22

Read: