Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Hello, Team Twinkle Lights!

Here's your thread for plotting and discussing and figuring out how you will tackle this challenge. As a reminder, group members include:

Captain: Robin P
Captain: Sheena
Joyce
Chrissy
Samantha
Karen
Sophia
Kellie Lyn
Maryam
Caitie

In this challenge, you'll be working your way through holiday-inspired prompts. Each level must be completed before you can move on to the next level!

Additionally, for every 5 hours of audio listened or 400 pages of books read, you will earn one candy cane. These candy canes can be used to check off certain prompts in your list.

The tasks are as follows:

Bronze Level
December 1: World AIDS Day - Read a book where someone is sick
December 2: National Bartender Day - Read a book featuring a party
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities - Read a book featuring a character with a physical disability
December 4: National Dice Day - Read a book with a 6 in the page number
December 5: International Ninja Day - Read a book set in Asia
December 6: Collect 8 Candy Canes
December 7: First Day of Hanukkah - Read a book with a light source on the cover
December 8: Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day - Read a book relating to time in some way
December 9: National Pastry Day - Read a book with a yellow cover
December 10: International Human Rights Day - Read a book by an author whose first or last initial can be found in HUMAN RIGHTS
December 11: National App Day - Read a book whose cover is the same color as your favorite app
December 12: Collect 8 Candy Canes
December 13: National Horse Day - Read a book featuring an animal in some way
December 14: National Postal Worker Day - Read a book that features a letter
December 15: Bill of Rights Day - Read a historical fiction or history book set in the US

Silver Level
December 16: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day - Read a book by an author whose first or last initial can be found in CHOCOLATE
December 17: Wright Brothers Day - Read a book that features a plane or brothers
December 18: International Migrants Day - Read a book that features an immigrant or someone migrating from their home country
December 19: National Emo Day - Read a dark and depressing book
December 20: National Ugly Sweater Day - Read a book with an ugly cover
December 21: Winter Solstice - Read a book with less than 200 pages
December 22: Collect 8 Candy Canes
December 23: Festivus - Read a book featuring a friendship
December 24: Christmas Eve - Read a book centered around family
December 25: Christmas Day - Read a book related to Christmas
December 26: Boxing Day - Read a book that you received as a gift or that you would give as a gift
December 27: National Fruitcake Day - Read a book with a fruit on the cover
December 28: National Short Film Day - Read a book related to a TV show or movie
December 29: Collect 8 Candy Canes
December 30: National Bacon Day - Read a book starting with a letter in the words BACON or PIG
December 31: New Years’ Eve - Read a book by an author you’ve read before

Gold Level
January 1: New Years Day - Read a book by a new-to-you author
January 2: National Science Fiction Day - Read a sci-fi book
January 3: Collect 8 Candy Canes
January 4: World Braille Day - Read a book featuring someone with a disability
January 5: National Screenwriters Day - Read a book that is not a novel (nonfiction, poetry, play, etc.)
January 6: Three Kings Day - Read a book with three words in the title
January 7: National Bobblehead Day - Read a book with a larger than life character
January 8: Elvis Presley’s Birthday - Read a book with a title that starts with a letter in THE KING
January 9: National Apricot Day - Read a book with a red or orange cover
January 10: National Houseplant Appreciation Day - Read a book with a plant on the cover
January 11: National Vision Board Day - Read a book with multiple timelines
January 12: National Youth Day - Read a YA or Middle Grade book
January 13: Collect 8 Candy Canes
January 14: National Dress Up Your Pet Day - Read a book by an author whose first or last initial can be found in DOG, CAT, or FISH
January 15: National Hat Day - Read a book with a hat on the cover
January 16: National Nothing Day - Read a book with a 0 in the page count
January 17: Collect 8 Candy Canes
January 18: National Thesaurus Day - Read a book that has a word with 7+ letters in the title
January 19: National Popcorn Day - Read a book with a snack on the cover
January 20: Heroes' Day - Read a book featuring someone who is a hero

Your team's spreadsheet can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Good luck, and happy holidays!

Welcome Team!!
I'm excited to read with you all!

I've got two books on the go currently and will pop over to the team spreadsheet to add them and see what prompts they might fill

If anyone has any spreadsheet issues or questions, just give a shout!

Welcome, everyone! And Sheena, I appreciate your being our Spreadsheet Queen, as that isn't my best thing.

Robin P wrote: "Welcome, everyone! And Sheena, I appreciate your being our Spreadsheet Queen, as that isn't my best thing."

Spreadsheets are my favourite!! LOL It's (more than??) a little weird how happy messing around with formulas and formatting makes me.

And this looks like such a fun challenge, I'm psyched to get started and see if we can earn the secret bonus platinum level. :D

Hi Team! Sheena and Robin thank you for being our leaders!

I put the books I have checked out of the library on the spreadsheet and I am looking forward to getting some or all of them read this week. None of them are for any other challenges so if we need to fill in a blank I am happy to change my plans.

Oh quick question, I don't have physical books and was wondering if for prompts that are page number related can I just use the page number showing here on goodreads?

@Samantha .. you bet! Most of mine are digital too so I just use whatever Goodreads says.

ETA: And I'm in the same boat when it comes to my books. I just have to finish The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi for my last ATY main challenge book, then I'm happy to pick based on whatever prompts need filling. I;ve got a good collection of audio and digital lined up in my TBR

Thaks Sheena! Thanks, I don't want to feel like a cheater but those are usually what I go with so figured I would ask.

After going through the prompts I felt like my books don't fit a lot but then again sometimes I don't know until I get started; such a catch 22 for these read-a-thons.

I am going to see what else I might be able to pick up that could be a better fit.

Hi team! I'm really excited to get into this readathon and the new twist on completing goals, I think it'll be really fun! Will this finally get me to finish Hild? Let's hope so, because I have so many other library books that are due soon.

Sheena wrote: "Welcome Team!!
I'm excited to read with you all!

I've got two books on the go currently and will pop over to the team spreadsheet to add them and see what prompts they might fill

If anyone has ..."


Hi Sheena, our Planning tab is full (which is great). Can you add more columns or do we have to have Emily do it?

Hello fellow Twinklies,

I should finish The City of Mist which is currently best suited to ‘source of light on the cover’. If we make it to Silver Level (and why not?) it would make the perfect Emo book. Practically required reading!

Robin P wrote: "Sheena wrote: "Welcome Team!!
I'm excited to read with you all!

I've got two books on the go currently and will pop over to the team spreadsheet to add them and see what prompts they might fill
..."

That is so great!! I looked at that yesterday and thought, "oh, we have lots for now, I;ll wait till were closer to full" but I'm thrilled to be adding more first thing in the challenge. Done!
Go Team

@Sophia, nothing like a readathon to push you to finish, and read, read, read. Go luck!!

@ Joyce, awesome! The first day is always such an exiting update day as everyone finishes off their last hundred pages ; )

*** BOOK CLAIMING NOTE ***
Hey team, just in case you missed it, I thought I'd copy over an answer that Emily posted in the FAQ to clarify the book claiming process. It'll be a fun new twist with no swapping.

* No swapping books across levels
* Books must be completed in the correct section (see last page note below)

From Emily in FAQ

Theoretically, the goal is to read and finish books for all of Bronze level, then those books are locked in and you move on to the next level. So no moving books between levels once you've completed one level - those are locked in.

However, there's nothing saying you can't save the last page of the book for when your team makes it to Silver lol. And you're always reading for pages because you'll need to collect Candy Canes to complete each level.

Bronze level is filling in nicely ... if anyone is looking for a next read we have 0 prompt possibilities for Read a book featuring a character with a physical disability

I'm happy to look for something that fits after my current books, but thought I throw it out it there in case anyone already has something that will work.

ETA: on second thought ... my audiobook may work for this prompt? The MC is caring for an 'infirm' father, but I'm not far enough along yet to have found out what exactly he's dealing with.

At the moment I am the only one with a book with a yellow cover and a book set in China, so I will read those first. They are both short.

Good morning, I know we cannot move between levels but can we move between prompt inside the level. I just finished The Last Wish and it will go for several different prompts inside bronze. Not sure where to put in on the completion page.

Kellie Lyn wrote: "Good morning, I know we cannot move between levels but can we move between prompt inside the level. I just finished The Last Wish and it will go for several different prompts inside..."


I love the strategy of this!!! Looking at all our prompt options, I think you should use December 1st. We only have three options for that. Dec 2 also has only 3 but Sophia has House of Salt in progress and it only fits party. We have more options for the other two prompts that The Last Wish fits :)

AND congrats on logging our first book!!

Thank you. I have put it in the space for Dec. 1st. Are we going to move our completed books off the planning page and onto a completed page or do we want to delete them? Or we could just leave as is (this seems as if they would get in the way)? I do not mind any of the options...just want to make sure I am following protocol. I am going to start Eragon later today and hope to finish by tomorrow.

Hmm, that's a good question. This challenge is a bit different in that we won't get all the possible data by moving them to the completed page but since we're not swapping we shouldn't need to see all the other options once complete. And it would make it much easier to see books that we need next with the completed gone.

I'm fine with either, but , personally, I would rather them deleted ... what does the rest of the team think?

PS. @ Kellie Lyn .. I see that I messed up the formulas on your Candy Cane column when I added more room in case we get any extra readers, I've fixed it now, but if you notice any weirdness, just let me know.

Or ... we could add another sheet for completed with all the columns?

Sheena wrote: "Bronze level is filling in nicely ... if anyone is looking for a next read we have 0 prompt possibilities for Read a book featuring a character with a physical disability

I'm happy to look for s..."

I am listening to a book where the hero was wounded in war & limps, Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose. I will mark it for that purpose. It is audio, so will take a few days.

The City of Mist is a book of short stories. I'm read them all except the final one which allows me to keep it for the silver section.

I really don't have an agenda for what I read next, so does anything have a suggestion for a prompt that needs to be filled? I do have a book with a major disabled character to hand if that suits.

I was thinking I could read El Deafo for the physical disability but then was second guessing if it was a fit. The internet wasn't much help, most everything seemed to just define disability and not physical disability. But it seems like it might be mobility related so then El Deafo wouldn't work. If anyone else has more clarity let me know.

I should finish Pineapple Street this evening and will update the spreadsheet in the morning.

Hi everyone! Sorry for joining late. I finished Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology and put it under a book featuring an animal. Next up is more progress on Native Son and an ARC of No One Can Know. Looking forward to reading with you all!

Hi All, so excited to do this challenge with you all. I finished The Final Gambit and put it under "Read a book that features a letter" I could have put it under second prompt also but think was better suited for this one.

Hi and welcome Caitie (not late at all, perfect timing) & Maryam.
So exciting to see all the books getting finished today!!

I've been reading and listening a LOT today - I'm almost done with both my books. I'll read till I fall asleep and log my page/audio numbers tomorrow morning.

I finished The Hexologists and put it in the only Bronze category that hadn't already been claimed (party, dec 2).

It was great - recommend for fantasy fans!

I have 2 books I can choose from to start next - Bookshops & Bonedust or Mobility.

I got 3 hours of audio in and I am reading a short book (150 pages). It is Knit One, Drop One and was in the mystery section of a used bookstore. I thought it would be a cozy mystery involving knitters. Turns out it is about international spies in the 1980's! But it has a yellow cover, in any case

I finished my yellow cover book.

That's awesome Chrissy & Robin!
@Chrissy, fantasy is one of my favs ... I'll have to checkout Hexologists.

I'm filling in my two books finished yesterday and will choose the next based on whatever I think we need most.

I hope to finish Native Son today!

Ps Hot tip - I’m usually not an audiobook person, but Spotify premium now has 15 hrs of audiobooks per month available for free and most books are in their library. I’m listening to books that I’m reading digitally or on paper so I can make progress while I’m out and about. I made a huge amount of progress while out for a bike ride yesterday!

I started Mobility, will probably take me a few days.

I saw that someone put The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi as historical fiction set in the US… that goes past a stretch to me!

I finished a short romance, The Mistletoe Temptation. It could go under Light Source on cover or Time is an element. But I see others of you have plans for those. Does anyone have an opinion about where to put it?

Robin if you don't mind I think I will put mine in Source of Light as it doesn't fit anywhere else. If no one has filled the Time Element I think you should fill that in. We can always move things around if need be.

Samantha wrote: "Robin if you don't mind I think I will put mine in Source of Light as it doesn't fit anywhere else. If no one has filled the Time Element I think you should fill that in. We can always move things ..."

OK, will do. In this book, there is something that will happen on Christmas and the rest of the book is sort of a countdown to that date, so I figure that works.

I think I can read the Asia book today, I still have 3 hours left on the audio with physical disability, and not that much time to listen today, so if anyone else has a book for that, go for it.

Finished Native Son! Next up is Seven Days in June!

Chrissy wrote: "I started Mobility, will probably take me a few days.

I saw that someone put The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi as historical fiction set in the US… that goes past a stretch to me!"

That was me, but the prompt reads: " Read a historical fiction OR history book set in the US" and historical fiction is the second most popular tag on the book page, so it seems fair but maybe I misread the prompt? Your correct it;s not set at all in US. If the team has an issue with it, I can switch it out or just count for pages.

ETA - I;ll just switch it out for author so there;s no grey area ;)

I've finished The Second Child and entered it under physical disability. Since the main thing needed next is more candy canes I'm opting for a book I expect to be a quick, easy read Three Women and a Boat.

Sheena wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "I started Mobility, will probably take me a few days.

I saw that someone put The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi as historical fiction set in the US… that goes past a stretch to me!..."

For what it's worth I thought that it meant historical fiction or non-fiction history, but set in the US since it's related to Bill of Rights Day. I do have Death Comes for the Archbishop on my TBR so I can shift to that and knock that out first, since it looks like we've had a pretty knockout first two days! Sorry I've been surprisingly busy this weekend and the most reading I got done was one measly hour of audiobook while driving, but I've got a lot of open time ahead of me so I'm going to catch up.

Today has been crazy busy. Just now getting a chance to check in. Great job team this weekend. I am still working on Eragon. I have to work all week but it is state testing week so no tutorials and no observations. It also means small classes who are busy on independent work so I should be able to read some at work. Hope everyone has a great start to their week.

Sophia wrote: "Sheena wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "I started Mobility, will probably take me a few days.

I saw that someone put The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi as historical fiction set in the US… that goes past a..."

Thanks Sophia, that makes perfect sense! I think when I was double checking spots to fill I read the prompt independently of the theme (note to self: slow down, LOL) ... anyway thanks for helping get that all sorted.

Kellie Lyn wrote: "Today has been crazy busy. Just now getting a chance to check in. Great job team this weekend. I am still working on Eragon. I have to work all week but it is state testing week so no tutorials and..."

We're off to such a great start!! I managed lots of reading this weekend (feeling a bit under the weather so lots of lazy couch time) but I;m back to work today so will slow down a bit too. I've got my headphones charged up for audio listening as much a possible throughout the day, but I never really know what the day will bring.

It's almost bed time here in the UK. I've finished Three Women and a Boat but held off the last few pages as it doesn't suit either of the remaining bronze prompts but is good for multiple silver ones.

I'm moving on to Apples Never Fall which is a bit long but suits many options. I'm likely to read less tomorrow as I'll have a two-year old for company much of the day. Unless I can add repeated readings of Pigeon Pie Oh My! to my page count...

I started The Blue Bar yesterday. It would work for a the Asia prompt and should be finished with it today.

It also fits some of the prompts for the bronze prompt so will hold off on finishing until I confirm no one else has filled in the Asia one yet.

Samantha wrote: "I started The Blue Bar yesterday. It would work for a the Asia prompt and should be finished with it today.

It also fits some of the prompts for the bronze prompt so will hold off..."

I just finished the book for Asia! A good part of it takes place in India and China. It looks like the only one we still need is the American history/hist fic.

Does somebody have one, for that? I have something I could read in about a day and a half.

I'm about halfway through Death Comes for the Archbishop, and I should finish tonight or tomorrow! It's mid-1800s American Southwest so that should fit in nicely, and then it looks like we'll be done with bronze level.

Sophia wrote: "I'm about halfway through Death Comes for the Archbishop, and I should finish tonight or tomorrow! It's mid-1800s American Southwest so that should fit in nicely, and then it looks li..."

Yes, that's perfect (and short). The rest of us can start on the next level!

Just finished Seven Days in June. When I stop crying I’m going to start Black Cake

I’ll finish Open Throat tomorrow on my commute, and it fits a couple places in the Silver round.