Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

DECEMBER

1. Winter

✅ a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the)
When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen

✅ a. Read a book written by a female author.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

3. The Holidays

✅ a. 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.)
December 13 - National Horse Day
Risk by Dick Francis

4. Winter sports: yukigassen

✅ c. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia).
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich

JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!

✅ c. 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).
Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami

✅ b. Read a book that features a cat in some way.
Cat on the Edge by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

3. New Year Resolutions

✅ b. 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 Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh

✅ b. 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.
In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani
The conflict is between a husband and wife - he is Moroccan and she is French. They do not understand each other's cultures.

FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day

✅ b. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY.
Finding Me by Viola Davis

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder

✅ b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.
My Real Name Is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping

✅ a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long.
Life Among The Piutes: Their Wrongs And Claims by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins

4. The Shortest Month of the Year

✅ b. Read a book that features a ghost.
Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

b. Read a book that features a ghost.

I read Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender which has a ghost in it.
1/12

c. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia).

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich is stories by people from Russia about different time periods in recent Russian history.
2/12

b. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY.

Finding Me by Viola Davis
3/12

b. 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.

In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani
The conflict is between a husband and wife - he is Moroccan and she is French. They do not understand each other's cultures.
4/12

c. 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).

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
5/12

a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the)

When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn
6/12

b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.

My Real Name Is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih - The characters spend a great deal of time living far out in the woods.
7/12

a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long.

Life Among The Piutes: Their Wrongs And Claims by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins
268 pages
8/12

b. 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 Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
This book is a work of historical fiction based on actual historical figures.
9/12

b. Read a book that features a cat in some way.

Cat on the Edge by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
The main character is a cat who can speak and witnesses a murder.
10/12

Wow you have some really interesting reads here. I loved When the Ground Is Hard. I’ve added a few of your other books to my TBR.

Rachel wrote: "Wow you have some really interesting reads here. I loved When the Ground Is Hard. I’ve added a few of your other books to my TBR."

I also loved it. I have been trying to diversify my reading, and I it has resulted in some interesting stuff! Most of them have been quite good. I'm glad you found some that interest you.

a. Read a book written by a female author.

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
11/12

a. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December.

Risk by Dick Francis
December 13 - National Horse Day
12/12

I'm done!