Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

THE 2023 LIST
⭐️✅ ▢

✅ 1. A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y
Foul Play Suspected by James Sherwood Texas unrated
✅ 2. A book by an author you read in 2022
Beartown by Fredrik Backman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry
✅ 3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the 2023 list
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A book that could be used for at least five of the 2023 challenge prompts — fit at least 10
✅ 4. A book with an interracial relationship
Never Meant to Meet You by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(authors and MCs are friends that are Black and Jewish-white)
✅ 5. A book with 4 or more colors on the cover
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✅ 6. A book where books are important
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
(plus prequel novella - Ajax Penumbra 1969 ) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 7. A book with ONE of the five "W" question words in the title
From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want by Rob Hopkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5★ for ideas, 3★ for writing style
✅ 8. An author's debut book
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 9. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
World Fantasy Award nominee

✅ 10. A book related to one of the Spice Girls' "personalities"
Always Running by Luis J. Rodriquez ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
(Scary Spice, since this is a gang memoir)
✅ 11. A book about a person/character with a disability
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 12. A book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney-Boylan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 13. A book that has an object that is repeated on the cover
Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (flowers and vases)

✅ 14. A book with a con, deception, or fake
Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 15. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 1
Kindred by Octavia Butler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 19th & 20th centuries
✅ 16. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 2
The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 17. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 3
A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers edited by Victor LaValle & John Joseph Adams ⭐️⭐️⭐️ future centuries

✅ 18. A book related to science
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
by Suzanne Simard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 19. A book related to the arts
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (violin)
✅ 20. A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(snowy road/path on cover - Kindle edition)
✅ 21. A book by an Asian diaspora author
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 22. A book with a faceless person on the cover
Scythe by Neal Shusterman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✅ 23. A book with a body of water in the title
This Magnificent Dappled Sea by David Biro ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 24. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 25. A book with a tropical setting
Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Havana, 23.1N
✅ 26. A book related to pride
Peter Darling by Austin Chant ⭐️⭐️⭐️

✅ 27. A book by an author from continental Europe
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Poland
✅ 28. A book that is dark
The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(dark cover, some dark elements in story)
✅ 29. A book that is light
Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark by Julia Baird ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 30. A book related to a chess piece
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ matches by title, and rank titles in story
✅ 31. A book found by inputting a favorite author on https://www.literature-map.com
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Erin Morgenstern)

✅ 32. A book set in a UNESCO City of Literature
This Is How It Always Is: A Novel by Laurie Frankel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (set in Seattle)
✅33. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 34. A novella
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 35. A book with a school subject in the title
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✅ 36. A book that has been translated from another language
The Postcard by Anne Berest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ French
✅ 37. A book with the theme of returning home
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 38. A book with the sun, moon, or stars on the cover
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 39. A western
The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

✅ 40. A book with a full name in the title
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 41. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
True Biz by Sara Nović ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 42. A book related to a ghost, spirit, phantom, or specter
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 43. A book that involves a murder
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✅ 44. A book where the cover design includes text that is not completely horizontal
Greenwood by Michael Christie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (paperback edition - text follows shape of tree rings)

✅ 45. A book whose author has published more than 7 books
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 46. A title that contains a word often found in a recipe
Salt Lick by Lulu Allison ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 47. A book related to a geometric shape
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (A's on cover are triangles)
✅ 48. A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill ⭐️⭐️⭐️
(A human-sized crane, 128pg) AND
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(extremely large extraterrestrial panda(?), 258pg)

✅ 49. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (ATY Best Book in 2022)
✅ 50. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author has written >7 books
✅ 51. A book published in 2023
In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ 52. A book with an unusual or surprising title
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2022 ATY52 Reading List — plus reading history link before that

2023 BOOKS BY RATING (not all counted for prompts)


5 STARS
Mad Honey by Jody Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
(gave 5 stars on Amazon, 4.75 stars really)
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard
True Biz by Sara Nović
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator's Revolution by R.F. Kuang
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
Greenwood by Michael Christie
Th1rt3en by Steve Cavanagh
The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson


4.5 STARS
Island of the Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Our Missing Stars by Celeste Ng
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (gave 5 stars on Amazon)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (gave 4 stars on Amazon)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (gave 5 stars on Amazon)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (gave 4 stars on Amazon)



4 STARS
Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim * not part of ATY52
Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat, Art by Wendy MacNaughton * not part of ATY52
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
The Postcard by Anne Berest
Never Meant to Meet You by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger
Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark by Julia Baird
Salt Lick by Lulu Allison
The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want by Rob Hopkins
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

3.5 STARS
Alex Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan * not part of ATY52, and at the end of the book "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (audio) * not part of ATY52
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

3 STARS
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Peter Darling by Austin Chant
Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers edited by Victor LaValle & John Joseph Adams (short stories - some I liked a lot, some were too dark or too confusing)
This Magnificent Dappled Sea by David Biro

2.5 STARS


2 STARS
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton * not part of ATY52


Unrated
Foul Play Suspected by James Sherwood (unrated since my son is the author)

DNF
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid (loved the premise, couldn't stand protagonist's speech pattern)
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison (was more about how his dysfunctional family than his life with Asperger's on its own — had already read about a version of this dysfunctional family from his brother's account - Augusten Burroughs)
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (Never read Horror before - although skirted the genre before. Just could not get past the scene where a boy is BBQ'd alive, on purpose, for punishment, even if he is brought back to life later. Absolutely no value to this book IMHO. It is said that the book is also humorous, but 21% into the book the only humorous thing was an odd outfit someone wore, which was NOT worth the horribleness of the rest!)