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5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning
Fifth Business
Every Leaf a Hallelujah
Grey Bees
Crooked Plow
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
The Dark Forest
Table for Two
Barbara Isn't Dying
The White Darkness
Diva
The House of Doors
- Any twists on the challenge? No
- My most creative twist on a prompt: Wild animal - Frank Herbert's Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad’Dib (sandworm)
- The prompt I "cheated" on: I used a few children’s books but I don’t really consider it cheating since there are no page limits. Plus, I read some long books also which I feel balance out the pages.
- My favorite prompts: Five Books List and Book that is not a novel
- My least favorite prompts: Less than 2024 ratings and Bit of magic
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies – I had bought the book but needed a little push to read it. I was struggling with Canadian/NZ/ Australian author prompt (my last prompt) with making a choice.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t)
Just Call Me Superhero (Pronoun in title) I like the author but this book was very disappointing for me.
Finally finished my last book today! *'s denote 5 star books from the challenge1. The Picture of Dorian Gray
2. Transgender History*
3. Yellowface*
4. The Vanishing Half*
5. The Last Witch in Edinburgh
6. The Ravenswood Witch
7. My Murder
8. Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House
9. Daughter of the Merciful Deep
10. The Last Carolina Girl
11. Notes on an Execution*
12. The Priory of the Orange Tree
13. (The World According to Garp) Author: John Irving published on*
14. My Government Means to Kill Me*
15. Hidden Pictures
16. The Giver of Stars*
17. The Bone Season
18. The Husband's Secret
19. A Gentleman in Moscow
20. Elektra
21. I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself
22. Blessings
23. Bad Tourists
24. The In-Between Bookstore
25. Little Fires Everywhere: Reese's Book Club
26. Yoke of Stars
27. Black Woods, Blue Sky
28. Swimming in the Dark
29. And the Sky Bled
30. The Witch of Colchis*
31. The Song of Achilles*
32. None of This Is True
33. The House of Doors
34. All the Dangerous Things
35. Dune
36. Legendborn
37. The Tainted Cup*
38. Jezebel*
39. The Witch's Heart
40. Epic of Helinthia
41. Sleeping Beauties
42. The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
43. Fairy Tale
44. The Unmaking of June Farrow*
45. Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir*
46. A Day of Fallen Night
47. The Nightingale*
48. In Memoriam
49. A Man Called Ove*
50. Before the Coffee Gets Cold*
51. A Turned World
52. The Lost Bookshop*
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc): No twists! This is the first year that I have done this so the most 'twist' thing I did was by starting my 52 books journey in full force in May instead of in January 😅 I've already planned my 2025 out though, don't worry!
- The prompt I "cheated" on: Prompt 2 - a book connected to something you read in 2023. I actually read 0 books last year because I came off a MASSIVE reading slump, but I did read a lot of research articles! So I decided to pick something that related to the research that I do rather than a novel.
- My favorite prompt: a history or historical fiction book, but ONLY because that's my main genre so I could use it for the prompt 48 very easily!
- My least favorite prompt: a book that is part of a series, but only because I usually read stand-alones
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): The World According to Garp! It was a 5 star book and I think one of my favorite classical books now.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): Dune - I chose it for the science fiction prompt (as I think a lot of people did, because it's a cult classic), but it was a snooze-fest for me, which was a shame because I typically like scifi books and the audiobook was really great!
Whilst I've read over 140 books this year, it took me a while to finish this challenge.* 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Accident by Fiona Lowe was actually the only 5 star book I read for the challenge, but these 5 come in at 4.5 stars:
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
Captive by Cally Jackson
Life, Loss, and Puffins by Catherine Ryan Hyde
The One and Only Dolly Jamieson by Lisa Ireland
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera - I think this one only got 5 stars as I listened to the audio version and it was a magnificent experience.
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
No twists
- My most creative twist on a prompt
No creative bones in my body.
- The prompt I "cheated" on
Can't say I cheated on any.
- My favorite prompt
I find it hard to seperate the prompts from the book - but I'm going to say my favourites were
8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand - because I'm Australian
12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year - pushed me to read those books who keep getting pushed back due to all the new books
51. A book published in 2024 - I read lots of advance reader copy books so this made it easy to slot one in.
- My least favorite prompt
7. A book with a pronoun in the title - this probably makes me sound stupid but I just couldn't work out what a pronoun is (actually loved the book i read when I worked it out)
11. A book with an X connection - seemed way to broad
13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list - again - too broad
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Honeybee - has been on my TBR for ages but the challenge pushed me to read it and I'm glad I did. Great Australian novel.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Gold Digger - well 3.5 stars. It wasn't bad, but I didn't love it.
The Three-Body Problem - this one had been on my TBR for years, so can't really blame the challenge, but it did (along with the netflix movie) push me to get to it. I think it was too clever for me.
I made it YAY. This year I tried to read all books from my bookshelves upstairs and almost did it.Favorite book...The Women
Book I didn't like at all... Kala
Book I had to get at library...Queen Sugar
Finished 11/22/24- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:
There were 13, which 25% of the challenge. Of those my favorites were:
Little Women
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments
There There
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc): None
- My most creative twist on a prompt: I found characters with most of the characteristics of the 7 dwarfs in Little Women (including the characters caught colds and spent some time being "Sneezy")
- The prompt I "cheated" on: None that I know of
- My favorite prompt: Related to cats and dogs, 5 books list, similar covers, non-novel
- My least favorite prompt: crime other than murder and Edgar awards
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): The Wager.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): None. I had some 0 star reads I USED but they are not ATY's fault
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Of these books 38.4% of them are NF, which is higher percentage than my overall NF reading (28.8%), so I have a higher rate of picking/reading excellent NF books than F books — or maybe NF are just better? Still can't see myself reading only NF, but I definitely should not shy away from them.)
The Covenant of Water
Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
The Winners
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Starter Villain
One Two Three
How High We Go in the Dark
Still Life
The Every
Entangled Life: The Illustrated Edition: How Fungi Make Our Worlds
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
Not Read for ATY52, but gave a 5 Start rating and very much recommend:
The Eyes & the Impossible
The Kingdoms
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
no twists
- My most creative twist on a prompt
For "11. A book with an X connection" I used Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future by Pete Buttigieg - as he is the EX-mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Not terribly creative, but the most creative I could see in my challenge.
- The prompt I "cheated" on
Not really a "cheat", but a slight stretch for both of these:
For "12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year" I had planned on reading Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, which HAD been on my TBR for over a year. But then I became aware of an illustrated version, which I thought would be a better experience, but which had NOT been on my TBR for over a year. But based on the publishing date it could have, so...
For “4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong” I used Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend related to “friends shaking hands”. This is a stretch because the “rules for imaginary friends” in this book include the idea that imaginary friends are not able to actually touch humans, BUT they are still friends, so I’m counting it.
- My favorite prompt
I'll pick 3, but two are for the same reason:
1&2) both "science or science fiction" and "history or historical fiction" - I like all the genres included, but probably lean toward the fiction versions. But in both cases I chose the non-fiction options. Maybe because I "could" read fiction I felt less constricted by the non-fiction option?
3) Two Similar Covers: this was a prompt I suggested, but that's not why it's a favorite (and also a lesson for the future). I found the process of finding matching covers really fun because I'm a visual person. But I have to apologize to readers who ran into the issue I did. I thought both of my choices sounded like good books, I read the first one - great! I started the second one... not so great. So I ended up counting a different pair for the challenge. Lesson Learned: when suggesting a prompt for the multi-week prompt maybe don’t have each book hinge on the other…
- My least favorite prompt
I don’t know if I can say “least favorite”, but certainly the one I was least excited about: “43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning author”, only because I don’t tend to read a lot of mysteries, so don’t have many on my TBR and they aren’t at the top of my list to pick. As it happens my IRL book group picked a book by an Edgar Award winner, so since I needed to read it anyway… And I did end up enjoying the book, so not a total loss!
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
How High We Go in the Dark, which is a book of interconnected short stories that I read for “7. A book with a pronoun in the title”. I’m not usually a fan of short stories or short story collections, but I’m not sure I’d ever read an interconnected collection. But when it came time to fulfill this prompt, this book was the highest rated of my choices that a) I wasn’t already reading for a different prompt, and b) sounded interesting at the moment. This author was so inventive, and now when I “need” to pick a collection of short stories (like we have the option to in 2025) I’ll definitely be looking for interconnected short story collections! Hopefully by this author if possible (Sequoia Nagamatsu)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
My Sister, the Serial Killer: I already owned it for some reason (Kindle First Reads? Highly rated and found a deal?), but I hadn’t been picking it up for some reason. The "Author from Africa" prompt gave me the opportunity to read it, but I didn’t enjoy it at all, and really didn’t end up understanding the purpose of the story either.
Date finished: 11/26/245 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:
- Any twists on the challenge? : Because I found #12 (A book that has been on your TBR for over a year) to be far too easy, I did a side challenge with a goal of reading at least 20 books that had been on my TBR for at least 10 years. I managed to read 23 that would qualify, though I probably have added at least 3 times that many to the TBR over the course of the year…
- My most creative twist on a prompt: For the Ben and Jerry’s prompt - Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra = This is Nuts
- The prompt I "cheated" on: In my final list, I used a romance novel for the history prompt, though I did read several nonfiction books that would qualify.
- My favorite prompt: Ben and Jerry’s. So many fun possibilities for some creative twists.
- My least favorite prompt: The TBR prompt. So many possibilities that it wasn’t a challenge at all
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): Babel by R. F. Kuang
My list: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
5 Star books that I read for the ATY ChallengeI Looked Away - this was for prompt 1 and got my reading year off to a nail-biting start. I went on to read another book by Jane Corry later on.
One Hundred Years of Solitude - this was for prompt 44 "A touch of magic" and the audio edition I listened to transported me off to Macondo while I was recovering from eye surgery.
Demon Copperhead - for prompt 50. Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favourite authors and this was also an audio book and Charlie Thurston's narration really made the novel come alive for me.
Elena Knows - for prompt 12, this lingered far too long on my TBR pile, well worth reading, tragic and insightful.
No twists for me, no cheating, the prompts were good for me, my favourite was probably 50 "A book posted in the book of the month" thread, as I enjoy reading about other people's great reads. Least favourite the seven dwarfs.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga, this was my final book of the challenge.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) - How to Raise an Elephant Macall Smith has definitely run out of any original ideas with this one.
Finished on 11/27/24!5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:
David Copperfield
A Woman in the Polar Night
The Pleasure of My Company
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
The Daughter of Time
The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72
The Puma Years
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
- Any twists on the challenge?
Not exactly a twist, but I read a book for every prompt variation (both science book and science fiction book, books ending in A and T and Y, etc), the one exception being New Zealand author, because I just couldn't find something I liked for that one (I started Birnam Wood but did not enjoy what I read of it).
- My most creative twist on a prompt and
- The prompt I "cheated" on:
Both the same -- instead of focusing on one of Snow White's seven dwarves, I read We Seven: By the Astronauts Themselves. As soon as I saw the title "We Seven" I couldn't resist.
- My favorite prompts:
Wonderful World lyrics, suggestion that didn't make the final list, Ben & Jerry's, wild animal/endangered species, science/scifi and history/hist fiction.
- My least favorite prompts:
fewer than 2024 ratings, and on TBR over a year (I have too many of both of those, it felt almost like "choose any book"), and main character is black/indigenous/person of color (I don't like prompts that specify race or sex of author or character)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
I think the only three of my five-star books I would have read were David Copperfield, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us and The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World (they were on my physical shelves already). I'm so glad I read the others!
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t)
Venomous Lumpsucker and The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, both awful.
My 2024 books read:
√1. A book ending in A, T, or Y
√O Caledonia
√A Woman in the Polar Night
√The Pleasure of My Company
√2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography
√3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list: Wisdom of Wolves, The: Lessons From the Sawtooth Pack (Full Moon names)
√4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong:
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
√5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world:
Roman Stories
February
√6. A book with wings on the cover
√7. A book with a pronoun in the title
How High We Go in the Dark
√8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
√Girt (Australia)
√Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (Canada)
√9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
Eleanor Cameron: Dimensions of Amazement
March
√10. A history or historical fiction book
√history: City of Ravens: The Extraordinary History of London, its Tower and Its Famous Ravens
√historical fiction: The Daughter of Time
√11. A book with an X connection:
√12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year: I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
√13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list: Venomous Lumpsucker
April
√14. A book with a main character who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color:
Dark Energy
√15. A book whose author’s name includes one of the 4 least used letters in the alphabet (JQZX)
√J: Nicobobinus
√Q: Gold of Our Fathers
√X: The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices
√Z: The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams
√16. A book related to the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs":
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
√17. A book involving intelligence:
The Genius of Birds
May
√18. A book with a botanical cover:
√19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream ("Cool Britannia"): The Frozen Thames
√20. A book with a single word title:
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal
√21. A book with a title containing 6+ words:
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
√22. A book by an author from an African country:
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives
June
√23. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett:
Key West: Tequila, a Pinch of Salt and a Quirky Slice of America...a year in Key West
√24. A book with a secondary color on the cover (orange, green or purple):
√25. A book involving a crime other than a murder:
The Spy Who Couldn't Spell: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets
√26. A book by an author known by their initials (E. M. Forster): Maurice
July
√27. A book related to land:
The Puma Years
√28. A book related to sea:
Humboldt Penguin: The Struggle For Survival In A Changing World And Unveiling The Conservation Efforts To Prevent Extinction
√29. A book related to air:
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
√30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Algeria):
The Plague
√31. A book related to “Going for the Gold”:
Snowman: The True Story of a Champion
August
√32. A book with a number in the title:
The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
√33. A book involving travel: True North: Travels in Arctic Europe
√34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs (or in this case, a nod to all seven of the dwarfs):
We Seven: By the Astronauts Themselves
35. A science or science fiction book:
√scifi: The Day of the Triffids
√science: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
September
√36. A book featuring a character in education:
Miss Pym Disposes
√37. A book that is part of a series:
Paladin's Strength
√38. Two books with similar covers: Book 1
√39. Two books with similar covers: Book 2
October
√40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover:
Becoming Wild: How Animals Learn Who They Are
√41. A book with a chilling atmosphere:
Snow Widows: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition through the Eyes of the Women They Left Behind
√42. A book with a sound-related word in the title:
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
√43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning Author:
A Dark-Adapted Eye
November
√44. A book with a touch of magic:
A Wild Sheep Chase
√45. A book that is not a novel:
Ariadne’s Threads
√46. A book related to night:
After Dark
√47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE:
The Maid
December
√48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt (35. A science or science fiction book): Engine Summer
√49. A book with a senior citizen character:
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
√50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024:
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
√51. A book published in 2024:
Red Side Story
√52. A cozy mystery:
Aunt Bessie Assumes
5 Star books that I read for the ATY ChallengeWarrior Girl Unearthed
Mirrored Heavens
Thornhedge
Glorious Exploits
A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir
Any twists on the challenge? Nope.
My most creative twist on a prompt Perhaps Red Rising for the "Going for the Gold" prompt
The prompt I "cheated" on "A book with a two word title, beginning with the." I read The Rom-Commers which I felt was a bit of a stretch given the hyphenation.
My favorite prompt A book with a touch of magic
My least favorite prompt The Jimmy Buffet one
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) Beneath the Citadel
I finished the Challenge three times, as I read 156 books to try to clear my TBR list. - 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge: A Spool of Blue Thread, Once Upon A River, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Of Mice and Men, When Breath Becomes Air, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, The Last Thing He Told Me, The Island of Extraordinary Captives, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, The Sunlit Weapon, Small Mountain Owls, The Consequences of Fear, Where Did You Go, Bernadette?, The Outermost House, The Bird Way, Greenmantle, I Must Betray You, The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Murder on the Orient Express, Dinners with Ruth, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, The Caves of Perigord, Mind's Eye, Strangers on a Train, The Bluest Eye, The White Lady,
The History of Love, Back When We Were Grown-ups, Don't Let the Sun Step Over You, The Garden of Evening Mists, The Puma Years, Fellowship Point, A Single Swallow, The Colors of All Cattle, The Pearl, The Ardent Swarm, North to Paradise, Heart of Darkness, Dancing at the Rascal Fair, The Hidden Lives of Owls, To the Lighthouse, The Color Purple, The House Behind the Cedars, Winter Garden, Lives of Women and Girls.
Wow! I am either an indiscriminate reader, or I read outstanding books.
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc) Only books from my current TBR until I could not find a fit.
- My most creative twist on a prompt: Year of the Monkey by Patti Davis for Going for the Gold, because she was searching for information as someone searches for gold and was granted golden opportunities.
- The prompt I "cheated" on: I used The Power-House to satisfy the two-word title prompt rationalizing that the hyphen makes Power and House a single word,
- My favorite prompt: Cozy mysteries
My least favorite prompt was the suggestion that did not make the final list. I had to do too much research to find something that matched the books on my TBR list.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) When Breath Becomes Air, The Outermost House
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): The Library of Babel was just weird.
I love doing this challenge because it makes me read books that are not in my comfort zone and expands my horizons. I have read all different genres and enjoyed most of them. I look back over the list of books I have read and think about all the enjoyment I have had.
Finished 12/4/24.- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
Emerald Ice: Selected Poems, 1962-1987 by Diane Wakoski
My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc): none this year; just happen to finish because I moved in October and we are still unpacking boxes!
-The most creative twist on a prompt: for prompt 34 (A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs), I read King: A Lifeby JJonathan Eig (about DOCtor Martin Luther King, Jr.)
- My favorite prompt: #49: a book with a senior citizen character - because I'm a senior citizen lol
- My least favorite prompt: none of them!
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): XOXO by Axie Oh (never thought I would enjoy a KPop book, but this was cute; an easy read)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) - none
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (#21)
La Vie: A Year In Rural France (#4)
The Night Circus (#44)
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
Not really - I tried to read at least a third which had been on the TBR since before 01/01/23.
- My most creative twist on a prompt
- The prompt I "cheated" on
I was pretty straightforwards for the most part.
- My favorite prompt
Wonderful World (#4), Beaches, Bars and Jimmy Buffet (#23) and Cozy Mysteries (#52)
- My least favorite prompts
17. A book involving intelligence
19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
36. A book featuring a character in education
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
No real stinkers this time.
I finished on 9 December! It's always...interesting having that last challenge-less month of the year to read anything at all...and having no idea what to even read.- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
My Life in France by Julia Child
Villette by Charlotte Brontë **fav of the year!**
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman
Basin and Range by John McPhee
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
This year I challenged myself not only to write a review for every book I read, but to read more difficult, dense, or "doorstopper" books. During past challenges, I found myself often rushing through to finish early, picking up easy or short reads just to fill a category, often books that didn't even stick with me. Unfortunately my initial plan to read Don Quixote fell through, but I did polish off The Mysteries of Udolpho, Shirley, and Foucault’s Pendulum which all clock in over 600 pages. I have Don Quixote in my sights for next year...
- My most creative twist on a prompt
I was stuck on the "Air" prompt as I was being too literal about it, then realized, as I was on a Brontë kick, Wuthering Heights would work. The title is the name of the house on the top of a hill, and "wuthering" is the sound the wind makes as it blows over the moors.
- The prompt I "cheated" on
Not exactly a cheat, but I wasn't feeling even the faintest interest in a "touch of magic" book, so I slotted in a chapter book I read to my son at bedtime for this one: Comet in Moominland
- My favorite prompt
I got invested in both the Tour de France and the Paris Olympics this year, and when the Olympics were over I had a hankering to read something set in the City of Light. I had previously had a lot of fun brainstorming a variety of books for the "most beautiful city" prompt, and this allowed me to return to Paris reading The Red and the Black by Stendhal!
- My least favorite prompt
Probably the seven dwarves -- I had difficulty identifying books that fit and went with the uninspired option of "doctor" in the title.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
I probably would have gotten to most of these books eventually, but I really have to thank the challenge for making me finally pick up My Ántonia by Willa Cather which has been languishing on my Goodreads (and IRL) shelf since at least 2009. As a mountain girl I assumed a book about the flat midwest would be, well, flat. This was a gorgeous book and I'm so glad I read it.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Possibly an unpopular opinion, but after enjoying the first half or so, I hate-read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova to the end for the "related to night" prompt (because Vlad the Impaler). I need to just stay away from overhyped books...
Here are the books I read, in challenge list order:
5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:-Remarkably Bright Creatures
-Becoming
-The Sign for Home
-The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
-The Library Book
Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc.): No twists
My most creative twist on a prompt: I read The Sign for Home by Blair Fell for "a book related to air" because air is in the name "Blair". I was searching my TBR for anything to do with "air" and that came closest.
The prompt I "cheated" on: I'd say The Cheat Sheet (I guess that's appropriate!) by Sarah Adams as "a book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list" for which I selected "a book related to Friends." I read this book really just because I wanted to and just tried to find a way to make it work in the challenge. The show Friends is mentioned in the book a few times, but it otherwise isn't really related to Friends.
My favorite prompt: I liked "A book that has been on your TBR for over a year" just because it made me read something I've wanted to for a while, but I also liked "a book involving travel" because I love seeing glimpses of the world through books and learning about new places
My least favorite prompt: I didn't love the "a book title that ends with A, T, or Y" prompt because it felt a little too wide open - it didn't give me many ideas of what to read, but more was like an open spot to put something that fit there if it didn't fit elsewhere first.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): Remarkably Bright Creatures for "a book about intelligence" - for some reason I thought this book was going to be a bit of a downer or would be "heavy", so I kept putting it off, but it seemed to fit this prompt well, so I went for it, and it was quite the opposite!
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): The Other Black Girl - I liked the prompt (a book with a MC who is black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color), but apparently just didn't read the book description well enough to realize it was horror/thriller, and that is not a genre I enjoy. The plot was just a bit too far-fetched for me too.
It took me much longer this year, since I was juggling with too many other challenges. I completed three rounds, plus two reject side challenges. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
North Woods
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
The Glass Hotel
The Ardent Swarm
Birnam Wood
Erasure
The Eyre Affair
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
The Seven Year Slip
Razorblade Tears
Cress, Winter
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
The Magician's Assistant
Long Way Down
The Ministry of Time
Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution
Companion Piece
Slave to Sensation
Lady of Devices
The Paris Novel
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc) - my goal was to complete 3 books for each prompt, using different definitions of the prompt.
- My most creative twist on a prompt -
- The prompt I "cheated" on -
- My favorite prompts
Endangered species, Mediterranean, intelligence (3 definitions), bipoc character, Sea, land air, science or Sci-fi
- My least favorite prompt - I actually liked them ALL this year.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) - The Ardent Swarm, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) - An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
Completed 9Dec2024- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc) Mostly in order (this always falls apart the last 6 weeks)
- My most creative twist on a prompt
for involving the night--never really talks about night, but that is when comets are mostly visible- The prompt I "cheated" on ATY best of 2023 or 2024, looked through the list and found a book I read earlier in year that fit
- My favorite prompt My favorite book was
for bordering Mediterranean. Most fun scavenger hunt was Seven Dwarfs and I ended up reading
for challenge, still needing Sneezy and Doc- My least favorite prompt any prompt based on Goodreads ratings
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
I finished. So proud of myself. This is my first year doing it and so excited to have finished. Favorite book - Capone. Why? It took me down a rabbit hole and I could not come out.
Favorite Author - SA Cosby. Ugh. I read one book and then I had to read them all. Gobbled them up!
Finished 12/8/20245 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
I read in order and did not use any rereads.
My most creative twist on a prompt
The multi-prompts land, sea, and air were all non-fiction books.
The prompt I "cheated" on
none
My 3 favorite prompts
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (I don't do a rejects challenge so I love this one).
13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list (I'm not a list person, but I really enjoyed reading why the books were on the list).
33. A book involving travel (I had a small theme of traveling this year).
My 3 least favorite prompts
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world (I'm not a fan of location prompts and this one felt superficial).
30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea (I've just done this prompt way too many times).
34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs (I always struggle with this type of prompt. )
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck (A random library find when I was searching for "A book with a title containing 6+ words")
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa (I was really glad this was suggested in the Weekly threads).
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Al Dente's Inferno by Stephanie Cole (Mediterranean prompt looking at you.)
I am new to challenges and had a fabulous time reading my way through the 2024 ATY Challenge.- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
There were a lot of them. Here are some:
Sarum, Edward Rutherfurd
Russka, Edward Rutherfurd
The Ride of Her Life, Elizabeth Letts
Excellent Women, Barbara Pym
Near Neighbours, Molly Clavering
Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury, Kinley Bryan
Portrait of Jennie, Robert Nathan
A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge, Jessica Redland
- My favorite prompt
I had the most fun finding what I wanted to read for a book with a sound-related word in the title. I chose Echoland by Joe Joyce which turned out to be one of my 5 star faves.
- My least favorite prompt
A book by an author from an African country. Oddly enough, I've just been to Morocco, am now really into going back and exploring Africa through travel and books. But, this past year, it wasn't where my imagination was at.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer. It is a non-fiction about the man responsible for letters written to Santa being answered by volunteers rather than winding up in the post office as dead letters. Unfortunately, the same kindly man was also a liar, a cheat, and very good at stealing money. I would never have read this book without the prompt.
All together a lovely challenge and a lot of fun. Looking forward to 2025!
I finished today. What's shocking is that I didn't intend to do the whole challenge. I thought I'd only do 45 of the prompts.5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Wrong Place Wrong Time
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story
Mere Christianity
The Only One Left
The Canterville Ghost
The Darkest Road
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
I had a personal challenge to read 13 mystery/thrillers plus 10 books from series
- My most creative twist on a prompt
I put El Deafo under sound related prompt, even though it's kind of the opposite of sound.
- The prompt I "cheated" on
I didn't cheat but I read some kids books this year and counted those for prompts. This is part of how I accidentally finished.
- My favorite prompt
A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett - I did it twice (including the second book that fits your favourite prompt). The first book fit ballads and Jimmy Buffet. The second one fits boats and beaches.
- My least favorite prompt:
I always hate historical fiction and science fiction as genre prompts. I used a mystery/thriller for historical and a kids book for Sci-FI
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Legends & Lattes (I used the Ice Cream prompt to make me buddy read it with my daughter - I ended up liking it so much more than I thought I would, and sharing it with her was the cherry on top)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) Meddling Kids and to a lessor degree The Writing Retreat and The Mystery Writer. But they aren't the prompt's fault (although Mystery Writer was summer prompt's fault). I didn't enjoy them as much as I thought I would.
5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Goldminer's Sister by Alison Stuart
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting 
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider by Ambelin Kwaymullina
The Red Palace by June Hur
Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots by Jennifer Morag Henderson
Home Fire by Kamila ShamsieAny twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc): tried to Read Around the World as much as possible
My most creative twist on a prompt: Crime Other Than Murder:
stealing fairytales? Gotta be a crime surely The prompt I "cheated" on: Related to Air:
well she did fly somewhere and probably kicked a football in the air, but pretty loose!My favorite prompt: Set in one of 25 most beautiful cities
My least favorite prompt: none really. Dwarves?
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!):
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!):
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
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Finished Dec 24, 2024My most creative twist on a prompt:
Not creative but I was very proud of my picks on the similar covers. Marta Molnar's two books are so similar, fitting these prompts was easy
The prompt I "cheated" on:
I don't think I did cheat. I used the listopias and all my books fit
My favorite prompt:
10. A history or historical fiction book
My least favorite prompt:
13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list - I picked the wrong book - Slow Horses
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!):
The Souls of Black Folk
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!):
Slow Horses AND
The Glass Hotel
Finished a little while back, but I was traveling, so not updating Goodreads.5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Any twists on the challenge?
I expanded two categories (NZ/Aus/Can author and secondary colour on cover), reading 3 books for each. I also did a mini-Verne readathon, using his books for air/land/sea and the travel prompt.
My most creative twist on a prompt
I guess Red Rising for Going for the Gold, even though a few people did the same!
The prompt I "cheated" on
On the Ben and Jerry's prompt, I had read the book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, and then looked to see whether any flavour included fortune cookie bits. One originally did and then they replaced them, but I filled it in anyways.
My favorite prompt
Two books with similar covers, had such fun scavenger hunting it!
My least favorite prompt
The broad related to prompts don't work well for my brain, I'm always worried if something is connected enough. This year for me that was "It's a Wonderful World" lyrics, seven dwarves and Ben and Jerry's.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Not sure anything counts. I had a lot of great reads, but looking through my list, pretty much everything was already on my TBR, or I had to read it for another reason (book clubs, Canada Reads). Maybe The Poet X as it was on my TBR, but the challenge definitely prompted me to read it now.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Aleph, for one word title. Although to be fair, that was more Popsugar's fault as they had one word title you need to look up in the dictionary, and I figured I could fill it in for both.
Finished today!- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
A Sweet Obscurity
The Idealist
Such a Fun Age
The Countess from Kirribilli: The mysterious and free-spirited literary sensation who beguiled the world
Limberlost
Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc
Fourteen Days
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
The Magician of Lhasa
Lessons in Chemistry
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
I read in order by the week as I have done for several years and mostly kept to this though I had quite a few wobbles, especially when I was travelling overseas for 7 weeks in the middle of the year.
- My most creative twist on a prompt
None really
- The prompt I "cheated" on
None
- My favorite prompt
A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand (I'm Australian)
- My least favorite prompt
A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream - I dislike trawling through lists that have no relevance to me
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Loop Tracks
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
The Furrows
I finished!!- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Reflections On The Nature Of God (#4)
The Impossible Us (#7)
Homecoming (#8)
Starlight: Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year Long (#9)
Hello Beautiful (#10)
The Berry Pickers (#14)
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (#19)
The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened (#21)
Mad Honey (#24)
The Overstory (#27)
The Starless Sea (#28)
Apeirogon (#30)
The Vanishing Half (#36)
Shout (#42)
Poverty, by America (#45)
Lab Girl (#48)
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
No
- My most creative twist on a prompt
A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (Fossil Fuel)
A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs Silence: A Christian History (Bashful)
- The prompt I "cheated" on
See the last question, I didn't "cheat". I just got creative.
- My favorite prompt
A science or science fiction book
- My least favorite prompt
A book related to “Going for the Gold”
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Overstory
The Vanishing Half
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
All the Pretty Horses (#13)
5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge: The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell; The Covenant of Water; How We Live is How We Die; Table for Two; Skinfolk; Foster; Excellent Sheep; Circe; The Anxious Generation; Cilka's Journey; Americanah; North Woods; The Women; Not Light But Fire; Miseducated; James- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc): Nope!
- My most creative twist on a prompt - Not really a twist, but I was excited about the books I found for the 'Two Similar Covers' prompts. (Miseducated and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell)
- The prompt I "cheated" on - This isn't exactly cheating, but I used 'A book that fits a prompt that didn't make the final list' for the 'Second Book that fits your favorite prompt' - to fit a book in.
- My favorite prompt - Other than 'Second book that fits your favorite prompt' ... I enjoyed the 'Cozy Mystery' prompt and the '7 Dwarfs' Prompt.
- My least favorite prompt - A Book with an X Connection
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did! The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.
Finished last night! Honestly hadn't expected to finish, but a few quiet days between the holidays made the difference. What delights me the most for this challenge each year is simply assessing what I'm reading as I finish each title to see which prompt(s) it satisfies. I'll often have a handful of possibles lined up for a prompt, yet end up reading something else entirely.5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
*The Murder of Mr. Wickham
*Bookshops & Bonedust
*Aftermarket Afterlife
*Paladin's Strength
Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
Not an intentional twist, but this year included many more re-reads in both this challenge and in my overall reading. For this challenge, 28 prompts were filled with re-reads.
My favorite prompt
40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover <-- I knew instantly what I wanted to read for this prompt and was excited by it.
My least favorite prompt
19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream <-- I struggled. There was an overwhelming number of flavors and then too many ways to interpret each one.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Three-Body Problem had sat on my TBR for so very long, and prompt #32 finally gave me the nudge to read it.
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
None this year! Some years I have powered through a dissatisfying read to fulfill a prompt, but not this year. If I wasn't at least enjoying it, wasn't going to spend any more time on it.
The 52 Topics of the 2024 ATY Reading Challenge 1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y:
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023:
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list:
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong:
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world:
6. A book with wings on the cover:
by Jonatan Olofsgård
7. A book with a pronoun in the title:
8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand:
9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads:
10. A history or historical fiction book:
11. A book with an X connection:
12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year:
13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list:
14. A book with a main character who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color:
15. A book whose author’s name includes one of the 4 least used letters in the alphabet (JQZX):
16. A book related to the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs":
17. A book involving intelligence:
18. A book with a botanical cover:
by Anna Kölen
19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream: The Marshmallow Test by Walter Mischel
20. A book with a single word title:
21. A book with a title containing 6+ words:
22. A book by an author from an African country:
23. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett:
24. A book with a secondary color on the cover (orange, green or purple):
by Gabriel García Márquez
25. A book involving a crime other than a murder:
26. A book by an author known by their initials:
27. A book related to land:
28. A book related to sea:
29. A book related to air:
30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea:
31. A book related to “Going for the Gold”:
32. A book with a number in the title:
33. A book involving travel:
34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs:
35. A science or science fiction book:
36. A book featuring a character in education:
37. A book that is part of a series:
38. Two books with similar covers: Book 1
by Lisa Förare
39. Two books with similar covers: Book 2
by John Fowles
40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover:
41. A book with a chilling atmosphere:
42. A book with a sound-related word in the title:
43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning author:
44. A book with a touch of magic:
45. A book that is not a novel:
46. A book related to night:
47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE:
48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt:
49. A book with a senior citizen character:
50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024:
51. A book published in 2024:
52. A cozy mystery:
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Kring denna kropp av Stina Wollter
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga
Resin by Ane Riel
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- My most creative twist on a prompt: I couldn't come up with an idea for the connected to sea-prompt at first because I've read the ones that came to mind. But then I figured that I could read a graphic story and I read Tintin for the first time for 35 years!
- The prompt I "cheated" on: Ben & Jerry's flavour - this is the only prompt I haven't quite finished yet. I doubt I will manage during this day and then again I MIGHT be able to finish it in time. It's The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control by Walter Mischel
- My favorite prompt
- My least favorite prompt
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) Because of the going for the gold-prompt I finally reread The Famous Five Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton! I'm so glad I did, I haven't read them since I was a child and it was so good! I want to reread more of them now (✷‿✷)
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Finished yesterday night, with a day to spare! I've been behind for most of the year and until the last couple of weeks I didn't think I'd make it. 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
I only had two five star reads - Network Effect by Martha Wells and Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography by Rob Wilkins
Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
The twist that nearly doomed me, almost every prompt that had an obvious option to split into a multi-week, I did. I'm not a prolific reader and 67 books is the most I've ever read and nearly undid me. There's only 64 in the plan for 2025, so that should be easy :)
My most creative twist on a prompt
There's a long story behind my connection to 2023 book that I've recounted somewhere else, but I read The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley because I found it in a bus stop in 2023 with Big Sky by Kate Atkinson, which I read for the 2023 challenge.
The prompt I "cheated" on
I don't cheat! When it became clear that I was going to struggle to finish, I did switch to listening to two of the longest books (The Widow Queen by Elżbieta Cherezińska for historical fiction, and the second half of Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, one of my two similar covers) on audio instead of reading them as I'd intended. But audio is just as valid so it's not cheating, it's just a change of plan :)
My favorite prompt
I think the Ben & Jerry's, because I found a really satisfying fit for it. I usually don't like "related to" prompts because they're so broad, but I do love when I find a way to fit the puzzle together really well. I read Just For One Day: Adventures in Britpop by Louise Wener, which connected to Cool Britannia.
My least favorite prompt
I wildcarded Published in 2024, it's always my least favourite prompt, another regular unfavourite that I didn't wildcard is the ATY Book of the Month. I also didn't like the Seven Dwarfs, but that's because I didn't find a good fit and ended up with it being a title prompt (So Happy for You by Celia Laskey).
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
I fill the challenge with books I'm already intending to read, so there's nothing that strictly fits these. I'm happy that it pushed me to read Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography, because I've had it a couple of years and I wanted to read it, but I kept putting it off because I knew it would make me sad. There were a lot of duds and disappointments in 2024, but the worst was Needled to Death, it was hilariously bad, and my only one star of the year.
Finished on 12/30- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Martyr!
The Fire Next Time
James
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Cannery Row
Red at the Bone
Franny and Zooey
Stoner
Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
Pet Sematary
The Sleeping Car Porter
Train Dreams
A Month in Siena
Jurassic Park
Shōgun
The Mirror & the Light
The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose
The Nickel Boys
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
No twists
- My most creative twist on a prompt
No creative twists, pretty straightforward choices
- The prompt I "cheated" on
No cheats
- My favorite prompt
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong-Beautiful World, Where Are You
- My least favorite prompt
29. A book related to air-The Wind in the Willows
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
41. A book with a chilling atmosphere-The Ballad of Black Tom
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE - The Friend
And...that's a wrap! Another great year for the ATY Challenge, completed last week and I achieved my GR goal of 75 books for the year. Yay!5 Star books that I read for the ATY 2024 Challenge
The Souls of Black Folk
Loot
The Tale of Hill Top Farm
Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey
All the Little Bird-Hearts
The Sisters Brothers
Let It Come Down
North Woods
Miss Iceland
The Royal Road to Romance
Seven Locks
Chilean Poet
Go as a River
Hawk Mountain
The Sentence
Dog on It (A Chet and Bernie Mystery, #1)
A Moveable Feast
Kamusari Tales Told at Night (Forest, #2)
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
The prompt I "cheated" on
There's one, but I'm not telling what it is.
My favorite prompt
I loved the Ben & Jerry's prompt and chose Purple Passion Fruit as the flavor. For this one, I loved reading The Beautiful Ones by Prince, too.
My least favorite prompt
I deeply regretted my choice for a book published in 2024. There were so many better options out there. Two stars only for Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
I have no doubt this one might have languished on my TBR for years, if not for the challenge: Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney. What a fantastic WWI saga based on a true story about duty, valor and love. The most misunderstood creature, the pigeon, plays a big role in the novel. I highly recommend it (and those pigeons).
A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
I subbed this one in last minute, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy by Hailey Piper, because I couldn't find my original choice, Fledgling by Hannah Bourne-Taylor for the prompt a book with less than 2024 ratings. Very imaginative, but not for me.
This was my 10th year completing the challenge. It's all been very rewarding, but I've decided to take this next year off, opting to read at my leisure instead.
I'll catch up with y'all next year for the 2026 ATY and wish everyone a fun and successful challenge year. I'll still be 👀 you and can't wait to read everyone's picks!
I’ll miss reading your take on all the books you’ve read, Stacey. But have fun reading whatever you want. I’ve done this challenge for 10 years also. See you in 2026!
I almost didn't complete the challenge this year. In late October, I had 24 books read for the year. We had a baby in March so that plus the three-nager sucked up a lot of time and energy. I also just didn't have the motivation; watching TV, playing video games, and listening to podcasts were all more appealing than reading a book or listening to an audiobook. But I couldn't NOT complete a reading goal for the first time since AT LEAST 2015. So, from late October to yesterday, I read 31 books. Essentially a pace of 170 books for the year... I can't imagine sustaining that, but am impressed with myself for being able to do it!
5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
My most creative twist on a prompt
I don't typically get too creative. I liked using "intelligence" to mean the CIA type intelligence so I could read another Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novel, Patriot Games.
The prompt I "cheated" on
I don't really think I "cheated." It may have been a little cop out to use Why We Love Baseball and Why We Love Football for the similar cover prompt since they're the same author in the same series, so their cover design is the same for continuity sake.
I also felt like This Is Not the Time to Panic wasn't truly "a touch of the magical" but it had been recommended via the group as being one that would fit that prompt, so I read it and counted it there.
My favorite prompt
I liked "Going for the Gold" since I like reading sports-related books and loved that it gave me an excuse to read a biography of Jim Thorpe, an Olympic gold medalist.
My least favorite prompt
Probably "cozy mystery" because nothing from that category is in my typical desired reading category. That being said, I liked the book I read, the 2nd in the Thursday Murder Club series, but if it weren't for that series, I wouldn't have had anything I wanted to read.
I completed 44 of the 52 prompts for the 2024 ATY Challenge.BEST BOOKS OF THE ATY CHALLENGE
5 STARS
1. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
Prompt 44. A book with a touch of magic
2. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Promt 47. A book with a two word title, with the first word being "the"
3. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Prompt 13. A book that is on a Five Books List
4. Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Prompt 33. A book involving travel
5. The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Prompt 14. A book with a BIPOC protagonist
6. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Prompt 35. A science fiction book
7. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Prompt 48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
4 1/2 STARS
1. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Prompt 26. A book by an author known by their initials
2. In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
Prompt 2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
3. The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
Prompt 29. A book related to air
4. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Prompt 10. An historical fiction book
5. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Prompt 37. A book that is part of a series
2024 RECAP
AUTHOR GENDER
Female = 37 (84%)
Male = 6 (14%)
AUTHOR ETHNICITY
White = 31 (70%)
BIPOC = 13 (30%)
BOOK GENRES
Fantasy = 11 (21%)
Sci-fi = 15 (29%)
Mystery = 7 (15%)
Historical fiction = 6 (13%)
Lit fic = 4 (8%)
Other = 1 (2%)
Thank you for this Challenge! This is the first of many to come! I'm just about ready to post 2025's! I read 66 books this year yet fell short 2 books to finishing the ATY Challenge! (just couldn't swap in anymore biographies or science books into these categories at the last minute).
My ***** books (appreciate that plural) that I read for the 2024 ATY:
-"Hawaii", Michener.
-"Code Girls", Mundy.
-"Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations", -Howell
-"The Women", Hannah
-"Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead", Gen. Mattis
Twists to the Challenge:
I prioritized my search from my TBR and cleared some benches, that felt good.
I'm a recovering non-fiction reader. This Challenge did exactly what I hoped it would do, and provided a structured way to wade into other genres. (Don't scrutinize my list, the wade is at a glacial pace ...Historical "fiction" 😊
My most creative twist on a prompt:
"Dopesick" for the Seven Dwarves prompt
The prompt I "cheated" on:
"Overhaul" for a one-word prompt that was followed by a 12-word subtitle.
My fav prompt:
I appreciated the prompt to peruse 5 List, previously an unknown source.
Involving Intelligence
Related to Ben and Jerry's made me giggle
My Least favorite prompt:
A COZY MYSTERY!!!! A source of stress this year until I remembered Father Brown, at the 11th hour, which was a favorite show of mother's. I suggest adding that to the listopia.
So glad I read that I would not have:
"The Paper Menagerie", Liu
Wish I hadn't:
"Every Heart a Doorway", McGuire
✅🎧♻️🪖1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
“The Best and the Brightest” David Halberstam
✅🎧♻️🆗2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
Outlander #5 "The Fiery Cross" Diana Gabaldon
✅🎧💸🆗3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list
"Weyward" Emilia Hart
✅🎧♻️🪨4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Island of the Blue Dolphins Scott o'Dell
✅🎧♻️🪨5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world
"A Tale of Two Cities" Charles Dickens
✅📖♻️🆗6. A book with wings on the cover
"The Raven" Edgar Allen Poe
✅🎧♻️🪨7. A book with a pronoun in the title
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" Zora Neale Hurston
✅🎧♻️🪨8. A book by an from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
New Zealand Witi Ihimaera "Purahaka woman"
↪️♻️🎧9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
b o o "Blood Runs Coal" Mark A. Bradley b o o
✅↪️♻️🎧🪨10. A history or historical fiction book
"The Wright Brothers" David McCullough
✅🎧♻️🪨11. A book with an X connection
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, by Sherman Alexie
✅↪️🎧♻️🆗12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year
“On Tyranny” Timothy Snyder
✅🎧♻️👎🏻13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list
Fiction books everyone should read sometime in their life "One Hundred Years of Solitude" Gabriel Garcia Marquez
✅🎧♻️🪨14. A book with a main character who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color
“The Night Watchman”, Louise Erdrich
✅🎧💸🪨15. A book whose author’s name includes one of the 4 least used letters in the alphabet
(JQZX)
X "The Great Railway Bazaar: ByTrain Through Asia" Paul Theroux
✅🎧💸👎🏻16. A book related to the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs"
“Dark Clouds Over Nuala”, Harriet Steel
✅🎧♻️🪨17. A book involving intelligence
“Code Girls”, Liza Mundy
✅🎧♻️🆗18. A book with a botanical cover
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark
✅🎧💸🆗19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
“Black Cake”, Charmaine Wilkerson
✅🎧💸20. A book with a single word title
"Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Adminstration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry" Steven Rattner
✅🔎🎧💸😡21. A book with a title containing 6+ words
"The Greatest Salesman in the World" Og Mandino
✅🎧♻️🪨22. A book by an author from an African country
Ghana "Homegoing" Yaa Gyasi
️✅↪️♻️🎧🪨23. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett
“Alexander Hamilton” Ron Chernow
✅🎧♻️↪️🪨24. A book with a secondary color on the cover (orange, green or purple)
"Radium Girls" Kate Moore
✅🎧♻️🆗25. A book involving a crime other than a murder
"On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" Timothy Snyder
✅🎧♻️🆗26. A book by an author known by their initials
V.E. Schwab "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue"
✅🎧💸🪨27. A book related to land
"Hawaii" James Michener
✅↪️🎧♻️🪨28. A book related to sea
“Guns of August” Barbara Tuchman
✅🎧♻️🪨29. A book related to air
"The Wright Brothers" Daverid McCullough
✅🎧💸🪨30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
"Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations" Georgina Howell
✅🎧♻️🆗31. A book related to “Going for the Gold”
The Ten Thousand Doors stJanuary, Alix E Harrow
✅↪️♻️🎧32. A book with a number in the title
“Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man" William Shatner
✅↪️🎧💸🪨33. A book involving travel
"Mayflower" Nathaniel Philbrick
✅♻️🎧🪨34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs
"Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" Beth Macy
✅🎧💸🪨35. A science or science fiction book
"Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life and Those you Love" Tony Robbins
✅♻️🎧🤮36. A book featuring a character in education
Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire
✅🎧♻️🪨37. A book that is part of a series
"Breath of Snow and Ashes" Outlander Series #6 Diana Gabaldon
✅↪️♻️🎧🪨38. Two books with similar covers: Book 1
"One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd" Jim Fergus
✅🎧💸🆗39. Two books with similar covers: Book 2
Oh My Stars, Lorna Landvik
✅🎧💸👍🏻40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover
Tiger "The Paper Menagerie" Ken Liu
✅🎧💸🤷🏻♀️41. A book with a chilling atmosphere
"Under the Glacier" Halldor Laxness
✅♻️🎧👎🏻42. A book with a sound-related word in the title
"Song of Solomon" Toni Morrison
✅🎧💸🫘43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning Author
"The Legend of Tarzan: The Complete Collection of Tarzan" Edgar Rice Burroughs
↪️♻️🎧44. A book with a touch of magic
b o o "Life of Pi" Yann Martel b o o
✅💸🎧✝️45. A book that is not a novel
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
✅🎧♻️46. A book related to night
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" Robert Heinlein
✅🎧💸😎47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE
"The Bastard" John Jakes
✅🎧💸😾48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
"The Master and Margarita", Mikhail Bulgakov (Its Raining Cats and Dogs)
✅🎧♻️🆗49. A book with a senior citizen character
"Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War", Robert M. Gates
✅↪️🎧♻️🆗50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
"The Lessons of History" Ariel Durant
✅♻️💸🪨51. A book published in 2024
"The Women", Kristen Hannah
✅↪️♻️🎧52. A cozy mystery
"The Innocence of Father Brown #1, G.K. Chesterton
dalex wrote: "I completed 44 of the 52 prompts for the 2024 ATY Challenge.BEST BOOKS OF THE ATY CHALLENGE
5 STARS
1. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by [a..."
dalex wrote: "I completed 44 of the 52 prompts for the 2024 ATY Challenge.
BEST BOOKS OF THE ATY CHALLENGE
5 STARS
[bookcover:Ink Blood Sister Scribe|62854842]
1. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by [a..."
Today was my first post outside the spreadsheet thread this year, and it makes me happy that within a couple of hours Dalex posted after me. It’s like I never left :)
Steve wrote: "Today was my first post outside the spreadsheet thread this year, and it makes me happy that within a couple of hours Dalex posted after me. It’s like I never left :)"Aw, I love this!
Woohoo! I nearly finished my first full year attempt. It was so much fun. I say "nearly" because I had one left at the end that i made it past page 100 so I counted it. I will re-read it from the beginning for one of the ATY 52 or Anniversary prompts.5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge. A lot of five stars, i.e., 17! I think I can be a little more discerning this year!!
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
No twists for me. I stopped and started and moved books around to different prompts.
- My most creative twist on a prompt
Probably I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer for the going for the gold prompt.
- The prompt I "cheated" on
Senior citizen character...the book I chose was spot on. I made it in 100 pages+ but i just could not finish. Counted it anyway.
Orfeo by Richard Powers
- My favorite prompt
A book on my TBR for over a year. I was so happy to read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and now will dig in to her oeuvre in 2025!
- My least favorite prompt
Hmmm. I liked them all!
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) T.J. Klune T.J. Klune's two that I read. I loved them both! The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
Orfeo by Richard Powers. I was so hopeful because i adored the Overstory, but i just did not love the stream of consciousness, no chapter approach in Orfeo.
I forgot to update in here when I finished my books last week!- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
No twists!
- My most creative twist on a prompt
I'm not twisty!
- The prompt I "cheated" on
And no cheating....
- My favorite prompt
A touch of magic (I'm a big fan of fantasy)
- My least favorite prompt
history/historical fiction
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Only Plane in the Sky - AMAZING!
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
The Whispers - absolutely the worst!
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge--The Tower of Babel by Michael Sears, Love A Stranger by Michael Sears, The Perfect Predator by Steffani Strathlee, Toxic Prey by John Sandford, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Sara Van Pelt, Hudson Bay Bound by Ann Warren, Grey Wolf, Louise Penny, and First Frost by Craig Johnson- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc).. No twists, although I did take some leniency with the challenges. For the prompt: A book related to air, I used Locked In by Jussi Adler Olsen because the majority of the setting was prison and the author talked about bad smells and interpreted that as unhealthy air.
- My most creative twist on a prompt: I used the book What Time is Noon? by Chip Leighton for the prompt a book with a character related to one of the seven dwarfs. There really weren't any characters in the book. It was a book of humorous tweets posted by teenagers to their parents. And some of the tweets were dopey, some grumpy, some sneezy.
- The prompt I "cheated" on I didn't cheat on any prompts/b>
- My favorite prompt My favorite Prompt was 21 A book with 7+ words in the title. I enjoyed counting words in titles. But the book I chose The Perfect Predator (shortened title) by Steffanie Strathee turned out to be my #1 favorite book of the year.
- My least favorite prompt--My least favorite prompt was the prompt about reading a book from one of the 5 book lists. I don't like prompts where I have to search and search through a gazillion books to find one I want to read.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) I enjoyed prompt 9 A book with fewer then 2024 reviews on Goodreads. I chose Hudson Bay Bound by Ann Warren and just loved the book.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) < I would never have read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I'm not sure I would have finished it but it was a book my book club read so it was on two lists so decided to try it.
I finished by the *skin* of my teeth this year! Was still working on the last book until the end of the day on New Year's Eve, but I did complete it! Finally getting around to posting here. :)- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
by Barbara Kingsolver
by John Leland
by Colleen Hoover (my fave CoHo so far)
by Kate Goldbeck (my favorite read of the year, I think)
by Anne Rivers Siddons
by Thomas Harris
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
- I resolved to only read books I had never read before; whereas, in the past I have never limited myself from re-reading something from my past that fit a prompt fairly well.
- I tried to go as much in order as possible, but as usual, that didn't go to plan ;D
- My most creative twist on a prompt
by Nick Cutter
I read this book for prompt #19 (Ben & Jerry's) as a loose reference to their Girl Scouts Cookies flavors
- The prompt I "cheated" on
by Jen BeaginI picked this book originally as an option for the Spring Reading challenge, and I didn't want to use any books for both ATY and for the Spring challenge, but this book was a perfect fit for prompt 50. In the interest of time, I ended up using it for both (though I never technically finished the Spring RC so I'm not sure if this technically constitutes cheating.. ;D )
- My favorite prompt
A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads. This one was harder than I expected - I kept picking books to read, and the next time I looked, the book would have more than 2024 ratings. It kept me on my toes until I finally found one and ended up really enjoying it!
- My least favorite prompt
A book involving intelligence - this one was just too vague for me.. I couldn't really determine *what* would fit here best and overthought my options too often.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
by Anne Rivers Siddons
I only picked this one because it was on a list of Top 5s - this was one of my favorite books of the year! I had to check out the physical copy from the library because it is hard to find. So worth it.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
by George R. R. Martin
I had all but abandoned the GOT series, but I only had this one book left and it fit the "air" prompt. I just wish I hadn't endeavored to read this.. it was a 50 hour audiobook and took up a lot of my bandwidth over the last month and a half of 2024.
Thanks again for another great ATY challenge year - here's to 2025!
* 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge: Quite a few, including my favorite Exhalation by Ted Chiang for prompt 11. * My most creative twist on a prompt: Since I had such an abysmal reading year in 2023, I had very slim pickings for prompt 2, so I ended up using a book I read for the continuation of a course I took in 2023.
* The prompt I "cheated" on: Prompt 27 felt very much like cheating. The "relation" I found was that the novella I used had main characters that talk about children having land to run around on...
* My favorite prompt: Prompt 30! I'm from Turkey so I was able to choose something from my home country for the prompt, which isn't really possible with all the prompts.
* My least favorite prompt: Could be the land one. I didn't really want to read anything on the listopia and was scrambling at the last minute.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Yes, I know this is horribly late and maybe I shouldn't even post, but please just skip it if you're not interested, but I did actually complete the 2024 challenge 4 complete times by the end of November 2024, just didn't get it posted.and I'll probably post and edit this a few times, sorry.
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
Aftermarket Afterlife
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?
The Book of Doors
Disturbing the Dead
A Quantum Love Story
Never Too Old to Save the World: A Midlife Calling Anthology
Winter Lost
Waistcoats & Weaponry
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known
23 Minutes
Valhellions
Winter's Gifts
Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out
David Copperfield's History of Magic
We Are Not Strangers: A Graphic Novel
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading
I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks: Poems
What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language
Eclipse Chaser: Science in the Moon's Shadow
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion
Little Narwhal, Not Alone
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
Fortune Cookie Fortunes
The Truth About Dragons
A Dragon on the Roof: A Children's Book Inspired by Antoni Gaudí
What You Need to Be Warm
Cut!: How Lotte Reiniger and a Pair of Scissors Revolutionized Animation
My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story
A Walk in the Words
Feathers
Nice Dragons Finish Last
Dragon Overnight
Wishtree
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Manners & Mutiny
The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
4 times. Once with all fiction, once with all nonfiction, once with just picture books, and once with childrens, midlle grades, and young adults.
- My most creative twist on a prompt
- The prompt I "cheated" on
- My favorite prompt
Second book for favorite prompt. (have missed this one this year, must suggest it for 2026)
- My least favorite prompt
I didn't like the Edgar winning author at first, but after finding some big name authors on the Wikipedia list, I found it much easier.
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
The Eyes & the Impossible
A Dragon on the Roof: A Children's Book Inspired by Antoni Gaudí
David Copperfield's History of Magic
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Truth About Dragons (other topics)Fortune Cookie Fortunes (other topics)
Little Narwhal, Not Alone (other topics)
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (other topics)
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Richard Powers (other topics)Kristin Hannah (other topics)
T.J. Klune (other topics)
T. Kingfisher (other topics)
Yael van der Wouden (other topics)
More...
- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
A Heart That Works
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Identity
- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc)
I mostly did it in order until the last couple of months. Which I think helped in not getting too stressed but towards the end I felt I was reading books that would fit those last few months and having to not use them in the need to be reading in order. I do a couple of other big challenges and it is always a matter of balancing when I read a particular book.
- My most creative twist on a prompt Migrations week 19 or The Glass-Blowers week 27
- The prompt I "cheated" on None
- My favorite prompt A book with a sound related word in title
- My least favorite prompt A book relating to one of Ben & Jerry's flavours
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
In Praise of Wasting Time
- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!
book:Scrooge Meets His Match : A Twist on A Christmas Carol|199839817]
A Ruin of Roses
1. Sanctuary
2. Begars Abbey
*3. The Personal Librarian
4. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
5. Random in Death
6. Victory Disc
7. Scrooge Meets His Match : A Twist on A Christmas Carol
8. A Death at the Party
9. The Night in Question
10. River East, River West
11. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
12. The Housekeepers
13. Exiles
14. Chain-Gang All-Stars
15. In the Lives of Puppets
16. To the Dogs
17 Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist
18. Bewilderment
19.Migrations
20. Silence
21. The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
22. My Sister, the Serial Killer
23. A Bookshop In Algiers
24. A Heart That Works
25. Death at the Sign of the Rook
26. A Ruin of Roses
27. The Glass-Blowers
28. Holy Island
29. What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
30. The Instrumentalist
31. Honey
32. Orphan Number Eight
33. Firefly Lane
34. Voices of the Dead
35. In Praise of Wasting Time
36. A Touch of Darkness
37. The Unhoneymooners
38. The Tattooist of Auschwitz
39. The World After Alice
40. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc.
41. Heavenfield
42. Whistling Past the Graveyard
43. The Mist
44. The Square of Sevens
45. Fourteen Days
46. Dark Skies
47. The Women
48. The 6th Target
49. Pork Pie Pandemonium
50. Identity
51. Love at First Book
52. Jackets, Jack-O-Lantern, & Justice
I have done this challenge for a few years, I don't really take part in the voting because i like the surprise of the 52 topics. This is the first year I have noticed the seasonal challenges and I have enjoyed those. I don't give many books 5 * but I had a fair few 4 * and even the 1 * books keep me entertained if only by how bad they are.