Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Spring is springing, and that makes us all want to clean out our closets. But out with the old, and in with the new!

This read-a-thon, we are doing a closet refresh!

You, along with your team, will be building a closet from scratch. Maybe you like really casual clothes. Maybe you want an avant-garde look for every occasion. The choice is yours!

WHEN: The read-a-thon will run from when you wake up on Saturday, April 8th and end when you go to sleep on Sunday, April 16th.

THE CHALLENGE

UNDERGARMENTS
Get one undergarment for every 1000 pages read as a team.
Get one undergarment for every 15 hours of audio listened to.

CASUAL
Use two undergarments
Shirt: A book by an author you've read before
Pants: A book with a small town or rural setting
Socks: A short book (under 200 pages)
Shoes: A book featuring a main character works outdoors

BUSINESS
Use two undergarments
Shirt: A book set in an office workspace
Pants: A book with someone in business clothes on the cover
Tie: A book with a main character who is a white-collar professional (doctor, lawyer, architect, executive, etc.)
Jacket: A book that is 300-400 pages
Fancy Socks: A book with a pattern on the cover
Shoes: A book set in the city
Belt: A book that spans multiple decades

PARTY
Use two undergarments
Cocktail Dress: A book with food or drink on the cover
High Heels: A book that features a holiday
Hair Clip: A humorous book
Purse: A book with a cover that has at least 4 colors

FORMAL
Use two undergarments
Evening Gown: A book where a major character is royalty or nobility
High Heels: A book featuring a fancy event (wedding, funeral, coronation, graduation, etc.)
Necklace: A book that is over 400 pages
Earrings: A book with a cover that is black, white & gray only
Gloves: A book with handwriting or a fancy font on the cover

AVANT-GARDE
Use two undergarments
Fan: A cross-genre book (historical mystery, paranormal romance, etc.)
Hoop: A science fiction or horror book
Wig: A book by an author you've never read
Feathers: A book that is not totally chronological
Ruffles: A book set in imaginary world

THE TEAM
Captain: Kat
Captain: Sue
Aimee
Tamara
Joyce
Ira
Mgada

THE SPREADSHEET: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Hi guys

Hi

Hi all! Looking forward to reading with you this week :)

Hello everyone!

I've got a couple of books in progress so have added them to the spreadsheet 'plans' section.

I'm reading Stephen King's Duma Key (250 pages left). Tomorrow I'll post my TBR on the spreadsheet.

Good morning team - it's early Saturday morning here, so I'm ready to get started! I have family coming over today, but hope to get a few hours reading in after that. Wishing us all a great week!

Sue, it's still Friday for me haha but good luck

Hi,
I have two must-read books this week: the second half of Patsy (though the first half has taken forever) and Glory which the library wants back. I’ll add these to the spreadsheet tomorrow and otherwise I’m flexible. Goodnight and Good Morning Sue.

Morning all, it's great to be getting started.
I'm a bit behind on ATY so my aim is to read 5 books and hope they all fit in somewhere.

Hi team. I am visiting my sitter today, so I will not read much today. Tommorow I will travel 8 hours on a buss, so I will have a lot of audiobook time.

The spreadsheet looks pretty healthy already!

Hi,
I have a question. I'm from Poland, so I read most of my books in Polish. So if a book in Polish translation has more pages than the original, I can count them, right? And should I write the titles in Polish or in English?

Hi Magda, in the past other people in my team have put the books in the language they read them. I usually base the page count on what Goodreads says so if the translated version says its longer you can count that.

From what I understand, you count the pages you've read, regardless of which edition / language. For example, I have a copy of Barchester Towers on my desk, it's an old edition with tiny font and has 279 pages, but the default edition on Goodreads has 418 pages (I assume it has a preface or something). If I read this book for the readathon, I would count the pages as they are in my edition, even though the default edition is longer. Does that help?

Thanks guys

Finished my first book and added it for casual pants- set in a rural setting

Started Gallows Hill audiobook today, and I plan to finish Duma Key tonight.

I finished Eligible and have added it in Business - a main character who is a white-collar professional.

I haven't finished anything yet but I started Shatter me (38%) and The Priority Of The Orange Tree (26%).

I've finished Patsy and entered it under Business as spanning multiple decades. I'm not sure I've coloured the row in correctly though. Next up is Fatal Music.

I finished Restoration and added it to Formal - A book where a major character is royalty or nobility, because King Charles II is a major character in it. It fits a lot of other prompts though, so I'm happy to move it if someone else had their eye on that particular one.

I'm also expecting to finish The Lost Metal later tonight as I only have about 90 pages left. I'll probably use it for Avant-Garde - Imaginary world, unless anyone objects.

I haven't been able to finish anything today but made good progress with the 2 books I'm currently reading.

I finished "Zakon Drzewa Pomarańczy" (The Priority Of The Orange Tree). I don't really know how to update the sheet so I would really appreciate it if someone helped me. I would like to put it under Formal:High Heels-A book featuring a fancy event. Maybe you could just put it in there for me because again I don't really know how it works. Thanks and goodnight

Magda wrote: "I finished "Zakon Drzewa Pomarańczy" (The Priority Of The Orange Tree). I don't really know how to update the sheet so I would really appreciate it if someone helped me. I would like to put it unde..."
Hi Magda, I have done it for you. You just need to colour fill the prompt on the plans page to show that it has been used, then copy your column over to the "Completed" sheet and delete it from the "Plans" sheet. Happy to continue to do it for you if it's still confusing!

Thanks Sue, I think I got confused because I tried to do it on my phone and it's kind of hard to copy columns like that. Next time I'll try to do it on a computer. Thanks for your help

Magda wrote: "Thanks Sue, I think I got confused because I tried to do it on my phone and it's kind of hard to copy columns like that. Next time I'll try to do it on a computer. Thanks for your help"
Ha - no problem! You can also just rewrite the information into the completed sheet rather than copy - that's how I used to do it!

I have nothing finished but am half way through Fatal Music. The next two days are likely to be busy with family commitments and an unexpected spot of work.

I have just finished The Well-dressed Explorer and added it to Casual - a book by an author you've read before, as it didn't fit any of the other available prompts. We are doing very well so far!

I've finished Duma Key and added it to the horror or science fiction book prompt, we can change it to another prompt if necessary.

Tamara wrote: "I've finished Duma Key and added it to the horror or science fiction book prompt, we can change to other prompt if necessary."

I remember reading that when I was at uni, it's really stayed with me! Such a creepy story.

Today I'm starting Mr Loverman on audiobook because it has a guy in a suit on the cover so I'm sure we can count that as business clothes and it doesn't look like we have any other options for that prompt. It also works for non-chronological, in case someone beats me to the business clothes one.

My Libby reserve for The Holy Thief came through yesterday too and the MC works as a herbalist and gardener so that will work for "MC who works outdoors".

I'll try to read "Wrony" today which will count for the under 200 pages prompt and maybe "Cud, Miód, Malina" which can be counted as a humorous book.

Aimee wrote: "Today I'm starting Mr Loverman on audiobook ..."

That was my book of the year last year. After being lukewarm about Girl, Woman, Other I'm so glad I looked at her back catalogue.

Joyce wrote: "Aimee wrote: "Today I'm starting Mr Loverman on audiobook ..."

That was my book of the year last year. After being lukewarm about Girl, Woman, Other I'm so glad I l..."

Oh interesting - I liked GWO but wasn't as blown away by it as many of my friends were. Will let you know my thoughts when I finish Mr Loverman!

Aimee wrote: "Tamara wrote: "I've finished Duma Key and added it to the horror or science fiction book prompt, we can change it to another prompt if necessary."

I remember reading that when I was at un..."

It was a creepy and surprisingly sad story. One of my favorite King's books.

Great work so far. I've finished my second book- Everyone in this room will someday be dead- and put it against works in an office environment.

I'm currently reading The Five which is nonfiction so I've split it into bits to read throughout the week (it's a heavy topic and writing style so can't read for too long.) Also, started Eight Detectives which I'll try to finish in the next couple of days.

I'm back at work tomorrow so will have less time to read.

I finished "Wrony" and I was wondering which prompt should I put it under. It fits under 200 pages and features a holiday. Both of these don't have a different option so tell me what would you prefer.

Finished What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1 for the food on the cover prompt. It's 200 pages and very funny.

Magda wrote: "I finished "Wrony" and I was wondering which prompt should I put it under. It fits under 200 pages and features a holiday. Both of these don't have a different option so tell me what would you prefer."

I think it will be easier to find short books if we need one at the end of the challenge, so if I were you I would use it for the holiday prompt. But do whatever you prefer! :)

I agree - go for the holiday!
I have just finished The Pull of the Stars in less than 24 hours - just could not put it down! I have coded it under "set in a city" - Dublin. Great book.

I've read Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn't by Frank Dobbin. The only spot I can think of it fitting is a book by an author you've never read. I place it there for now, but feel free to move it if you think of a better spot.

I'm done for today but finished Fatal Music and entered it in the only unoccupied slot for 400+ pages.

Looking good with lots of undies.

I haven't finished any books today but have made good progress on Mr Loverman and The Holy Thief. I'm hoping to finish them both tomorrow.

I’ve switched to audiobook for Glory which I never normally do but it is so much better in this format. It might take a bit longer but I will finish during the Readathon. I should have more time today and tomorrow.

I’ve also picked up The Reunion which is categorically a Romantic Comedy. Does that count as cross-genre or is it so established that it counts as a class of its own?

I have to admit I find cross genre confusing. I see historical mystery fall under it but to me that's it's own genre.

Yesterday I finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle and used it for the under 200 pages prompt. it also works for the black and white cover prompt. I'm currently reading Gallows Hill and Death in the Clouds.

Joyce wrote: "I’ve switched to audiobook for Glory which I never normally do but it is so much better in this format. It might take a bit longer but I will finish during the Readathon. I should h..."

I searched the term on Google and most of the sites say it's a sub-genre, but the site " Ultimate Pop Culture Wiki " says it's an example of a cross-genre. I think it is an acceptable choice.