Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

43. A book whose title has ten or fewer letters

Death: A Life by George Pendle
★★★

This dark comic novel is a memoir for one of humanity's most feared mythological creation, the Grim Reaper, Death itself. The author gives Death a voice as he reinterprets much of Biblical, ancient history, and cultural lore, including creation, the Black Death, the four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, God, Jesus Christ and tghe Second Coming. (Initially, the four horsemen were war, pestilence, famine, and sunburn.) For my full review, please click
here.

45. A book by an author whose publishing career spans at least ten years

The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris
★★★★

This speculative fiction novel continues the Gunnie Rose series, which is set in a alternative history of a fractured United States broken up among different countries after the assassination of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt. For example, the setting of this novel is San Diego, part of the Holy Russian Empire, which governs the former west coast of the U.S. Mexico and Canada have respectively expanded their borders northward and southward into the US, while Great Britain reclaimed the original 13 colonies. For my complete review, please click here.

7. A book by an author that uses 3 names

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
★★★★★ and ❤

This literary mystery is a blend of historical fiction, small-town drama, the cost of justice, and the psychological impact of war. Set in Jewel, Minnesota, in the summer of 1958, the novel opens with the shocking discovery of a local millionaire, Jimmy Quinn, found dead in the Alabaster River. For my complete review, please click here.

2016 Anniversary: A book originally written in a language other than English:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang
★★★★

Originally released in Korea as three short stories, this later Nobel Prize winner was compiled as a short novel. It is a haunting novel that explores the fragility of identity and the rigidity of societal expectations. The book traces the psychological unraveling and spiritual transformation of Yeong-hye, a seemingly ordinary South Korean woman who one day refuses to eat meat after a series of disturbing dream — a decision that sets off a chain reaction of alienation and obsession. For my complete review, click here.

52. A book with sunset vibes on the cover.

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
★★★★

This dystopian science fiction novel is as labyrinthian as his earlier The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. At its core, it is a Agatha Christie-like locked-room mystery that includes themes of survival, identity, and the ethics of control. For my complete review, please click here.

47. A book related to fire:

A Burning by Megha Majumdar
★★★★★ and ❤

This short debut novel tells the story of the intersecting lives of three characters in contemporary India who become tragically entwined. Although epic in its scope, it is intimate in detail, balancing political commentary with profound human insight. For my complete review, please click here.

46. A book related to one of the traditional full moon names:

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
★★★★

This award-winning debut novel unfolds in two intertwined narratives spanning decades exploring themes of family, heritage, resiliency, and loss. The story opens in July 1962, when a Mi’kmaq family travels from Nova Scotia to Maine for seasonal blueberry picking. Four-year-old Ruthie vanishes last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting alone on a rock near the field. Her disappearance throws the family into lifelong grief, personal guilt, and trauma. For my complete review, please click here.

51. A book published in 2025:

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
★★★★

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has become my go-to author when I want to read Mexican gothic horror. Her recent release is a haunting, multigenerational that takes the reader from rural Mexica to New England academia via three interlaced timelines. For my review, please click here.

50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025:

The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
★★★★★ and ❤

This debut novel is set in the 1961 Dutch countryside when the scars of WW2 are still fresh on its residents' minds. Isabel (Isa) lives in the home purchased by her uncle for her mother. She continues to live in the home when her mother died. When Isa's brother, Louis, arrives with his fiancé, Eva, and asks that she stay for one month, Isa's ordered world is quickly disrupted, especially when household objects begin disappearing. For my complete review, please click here.

2023: A book whose author has published more than 7 books:

Angel of Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
★★★★

This book is the 22nd noel in the Pendergast series. the last of the pubished series. Generally, I give up on a series that has so many in it; however, my interest in it never wavered. I was glad to read that the authors will continue the series.

For my full review, please click here.

Anniversary 2024: A book that has been on your TBR for over a year:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
★★★★

This quick and captivating read is the first novella in The Murderbot Diaries series, which introduces the relatable character, Murderbot, a self-aware security android. Murderbot is the novella's protagonist, a nongendered Human Bot Security Unit, called by humans as a "SecUnit." However, when he malfunctioned and killed a mining team, he hacked into his governor unit to prevent this incident from reoccuring giving himself free-will; however, he felt guilty about the incident and named himself, "Murderbot." For my complete review, please click here.

Anniversary 2020: A book with an emotion in the title:

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
★★★

It was 1973 on the threshold of the postmodernism period. Women had achieved their sexual freedom throught the invention of the birth control pill but it was still a patriarchal world. When the groundbreaking and provocative Fear of Flying was published, it quickly became a cultural artifact of the feminist movement. It was one woman's introspective search for identity, peace, and freedom who felt herself being at odds with herself and society. For my complete review, please click here.

12. A book by an Irish author:

The Hunter by Tana French
★★★★

This novel is the second of a planned three-part series set, which is preceeded by The Searcher. The third novel, The Keeper, is scheduled to be released early next year. The protagonist of this series is Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago police detective who moves to a small, remote Irish village, Ardnakelty, to find peace, but finds himself drawn him into local mysteries. For my review, please click here.