Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Read anything really awesome lately? One of those books you think everyone should read? Share it with the group! Because who isn’t looking for the next great read?

Or are you looking for a recommendation for a certain ATY topic or for another challenge? Or just a certain genre you’d like to read more of? If you’re looking for help, post your requests here.

I finished The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir a couple weeks ago, and it was the bright spot in a very dismal reading month. One of my only 5 star books of the summer! (Definitely not for people who are particularly fond of evangelical megachurches...)

I do have a question... I am one LGBTQ+ book short of my goal of reading 12 this year. What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? I want to make sure I finish this goal on a great note! (My favorites have been The Book of Essie and They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera.)

I just checked out The Book of Essie a few days ago because of you! (Are you doing PopSugar, Emily? I think you are. If so, I could use this book for the Book recommended by someone doing the PopSugar challenge prompt.)

My favorite discoveries this year:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
I was not planning on reading this at all EVER, and it has been probably my favorite book so far this year. Recommend it for fans of fast paced contemporary fiction with surprises to figure out.
This House is Haunted
This was my "Clue Weapon" book, so it was randomly chosen off a list because it had a candle stick on the cover....I ended up not being able to put this one down!! Recommended for fans of gothic prompts and ghost stories.
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Total shock! 2 things I typically do NOT enjoy: sic-fi that involves space/robots/cyborgs; and short stories. I listened to Pam and this ended up being 5 stars for me. Loved it!! there is so much to think about with every story. Recommend it for people trying to get out of their comfort zone, sic-fi and short story fans, anyone who enjoys reading about Asian culture because there is so much of that here
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Listen on Audio. Perfect for memoir fans, people who love diverse reads...made me laugh and cry.

Katie, I'm doing a mini-PopSugar challenge, so it totally counts!

Emily wrote: "I finished The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir a couple weeks ago, and it was the bright spot in a very dismal reading month. One of my only 5 star books of t..."

I enjoyed Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, which I read earlier this year. I have also only heard positive things about Giovanni's Room, but I haven't gotten to it myself yet.

I've read quite a few super awesome books in 2018. Here are a few recommendations by genre:

SF - end of the world: The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
(If another book tops this one as #1 for the year, I will be shocked. So so so good. All the stars and more stars.)

SF - space: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

SF - other: The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Fantasy: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Lit fic: The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester

Historical fic: West by Carys Davies

Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read?"

I LOVED Peter Darling! One of my top books of the year.

Chrissy wrote: "Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read?"

I LOVED Peter Darling! One of my top books of the year."

Added this, I keep seeing ravings about it but this is the first time I've actually looked at the summary....What a freaking creative and brilliant concept!!

Ohhh that sounds excellent! I may save it for my Something Borrowed prompt for next year.

I recommed One of Us Is Lying, easy and interesting reading. Very enjoyable. And it fit in many AtY categories for this years: It was a 2017 Goodreads Choice Award, with the plot around many secrets, featuring a murder and the title is a whole sentence!

Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? ..."

I highly recommend The Heart's Invisible Furies!

My recommended reads....
Caraval Just finished this and found it amazing! did not want to put it down and can not wait to read the sequel (which is set up really well at the end )
Burial Rites Another brilliant read, and not one I probably would have picked up if it wasn't for this challenge.
Expecting Someone Taller Probably a lesser known book, but fantastic! I love Tom Holt's off the wall, crazy, random fantasy and this book does not disappoint!

Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? ..."

I highly recommend The Heart's Invisible Furies!"

I didn't realize that that was an LGBTQ+ book! I'll have to add it.

Lisa wrote: "My recommended reads....
Caraval Just finished this and found it amazing! did not want to put it down and can not wait to read the sequel (which is set up really well at the end )
[..."

Lisa, I have had Burial Rites on my bookshelf for like three years.... I'm finally going to pick it up in September!

Bang by Barry Lyga.

Also The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Beartown were both unexpected favourites.

Emily wrote: "Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? ...."

I also recommend Annabel, which I just finished.The main character is a hermaphrodite. It's a beautifully written story! Also, if anyone is doing an Around the World Challenge or Across Canada, it works for the Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian province.

Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? ...."

I also recommend Annabel, which I just finished.The main character is a hermaphrodite. I..."

This sounds so intriguing!

I'll recommend a couple of recent reads that I haven't really heard talked about here.

My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: Wife, Widow, and Warrior in Alexander Hamilton’s Quest for a More Perfect Union For fans of the Broadway musical or fans of historical fiction in general. The authors did a beautiful job of telling the story of Eliza and not only her relationship with Hamilton but her role pre-, during and post Revolution.

I keep saying I am done with WWII books but then I come across one with a unique perspective which is why Beneath a Scarlet Sky caught my attention. It is inspired by the life of Pino Lella who risked his life in many ways to help the Resistance in Italy.

Rachelnyc wrote: "I'll recommend a couple of recent reads that I haven't really heard talked about here.

[book:My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: Wife, Widow, and Warrior in Alexander Hamilton’s ..."

I have this on hold but keep putting it off because it won’t fill a prompt for me. I just need to get ahead by a week so I can squeeze it in! Good to know the wait will be worth it!

Emily wrote: "Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "Pam wrote: "Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? ...."

I also recommend Annabel, which I just finished.The main character is a herm..."

Emily have you read Middlesex yet??

Does anyone have any recommendations for translated books in the following genres: sci-fi, horror, mystery, contemporary fiction, history or biography? I am doing a challenge where you select 16 of 22 genres. I have 3 left! For sci-fi and horror, I have options but I'll take any suggestions. Thanks!

Rachelnyc wrote: "I keep saying I am done with WWII books "


Same Rachel, but then theres always another good one that seems to come out. So many of my favorite books are WWII books... It's just a fascinating ( horrifying ) time in history.

I haven't read Beneath a Scarlet Sky yet, but its somewhere on my TBR... The Complete Maus was one of my favorites this year, I forgot to put it in my post earlier .

Others that come to mind are Skeletons at the Feast, Those Who Save Us, The Nightingale and Stones from the River. And for non- fiction I absolutely loved Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.

Some books that I would recommend:
Killers of the Flower Moon
Bluebird, Bluebird was surprised by how much I liked this
The Fighter by Michael Farris Smith

Two mid-grade WWII books that I recommend are:

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler (non-fiction)
Shadow on the Mountain (fiction based on real events; set in Norway)

Pam wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for translated books in the following genres: sci-fi, horror, mystery, contemporary fiction, history or biography? I am doing a challenge where you select 16 of..."

For contemporary fiction in translation, I am a big fan of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. My favorites of his are My Name is Red and Snow. I also really liked Three Floors Up by Israeli author Eshkol Nevo.

Tracy, I know. I guess this can be said of other periods of history but it just seems like there is no end to the atrocities committed during that time. I need to read Unbroken and will check out Skeletons. The others you mentioned I've read or are on my TBR. Have you read Lilac Girls?

Pam wrote: "Two mid-grade WWII books that I recommend are:
"

Oh Pam, now you know I love mid-grade.....


Rachelnyc wrote: "Have you read Lilac Girls?"


Not yet 😩. Its on my list
Chris Bohjalian is one of my favorite authors and Stones From the River was an interesting take ( and an excellent book) on WWII because the main character is a dwarf.... I was on edge waiting for the Nazis to take her to the gas chambers.

Thank you Rachel for the great suggestions! They are different original languages than the others I’ve read, for the challenge, so that’s perfect!

Tracy- I am SO glad that you enjoyed Paper Menagerie and Other Stories! I’m not a big fan of short stories either but I do like soft sci-fi and fantasy. The way the author brought in the Asian cultural elements and included such diverse stories and settings is what set this book apart from other SF collections for me. It’s one of my all-time favorite books!

Pam wrote: "Tracy- I am SO glad that you enjoyed Paper Menagerie and Other Stories! I’m not a big fan of short stories either but I do like soft sci-fi and fantasy. The way the author brought in the Asian cult..."

😊 I'm so glad I read the whole thing!! Its on my favorites shelf for sure even though I still haven't decided which was my favorite story from the collection. For some reason the one that keeps coming to mind is "All the Flavors". It was just an incredible collection. I was so surprised by it. And THANK YOU for encouraging me to read it all, because it really was a gift :-)

Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read?"

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin is incredible. It's short, so beautiful & so moving. Middlesex is a close second. They were both five star reads for me. More Than This is also excellent!

Emily wrote: "What is the best LGBTQ+ book that you've read? "

I read a ton of lgbtq books so I could give you a long list of recommendations. Are there any particular genres or styles or anything you're specifically looking for?

Also, you can often find a lgbtq book with just a bit of research. It's not always really obvious that a book is about a lgbtq character or that an author is lgbtq (John Boyne, for example).

Some of my favorite books from this year have been:

Wayward
The Last Town
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Thirteen Reasons Why
Beartown
The Hate U Give
Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield
Ready Player One

These books brought out the most emotion in my while I was reading them. Ready Player One, Wayward and The Last Town were pretty suspenseful. Beartown brought out some anger. Simon brought out all kinds of feelings - laughter, anger and some happy thoughts. The Hate U Give I remember crying a lot. That book hit me in the gut as well as Thirteen Reasons Why. Ashley's War I learned a lot and it made me cry.

Joan wrote: "Some of my favorite books from this year have been:

Wayward
The Last Town
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Thirteen Reasons Why
[bo..."

Joan, I've read almost all of those and they are all among my top favorites ever! We must have similar reading tastes.

Emily wrote: "Joan wrote: "Some of my favorite books from this year have been:

Wayward
The Last Town
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
[book:Thirteen Reasons Why|..."

I'll have to pay attention to what you are reading to see what I'll like then!!

Right now I'm reading The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne and I'm loving it.

I just finished Lab Girl and loved it. I also loved The Hate U Give when I read it earlier this year.

Pam wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for translated books in the following genres: sci-fi, horror, mystery, contemporary fiction, history or biography? I am doing a challenge where you select 16 of..."

Pam, for Contemporary Fiction: the translated book that I read this year was The Vegetarian. It is essentially a book about mental illness, a short quick read, but the reviews are mixed because of content. Some readers found it to be disturbing. Personally, I enjoyed the sheer craziness of it and immediately after I read it I gave it to a friend to read so that we could discuss and I could debrief. Although briefly graphic in some parts, I found the depths of the main characters mental illness to be very sad, and although I may have had some negative reactions to it, it certainly left me thinking for days, and maybe that is good writing?

Other translated books on my challenges for this year are Ring ( Horror, but I found it to be more of a mystery). The movie definitely scared me, the book did not. Some unlikeable male characters in this one, but I enjoyed comparing it to the movie ( movie won hands down)

Also Malice a mystery/thriller. I haven't read this one yet, its on my Book Riot plan, but several of my friends that read it gave it 4 star reviews.

Tracy reminded me. I read The Vegetarian as well, and didn't enjoy it, but I did read Human Acts by the same author and really enjoyed that one. So that's another option for a book in translation.

Katie wrote: "Tracy reminded me. I read The Vegetarian as well, and didn't enjoy it, but I did read Human Acts by the same author and really enjoyed that one. So that's another option for a book ..."

Im planning on Human Acts for next year.. forget which category i put it in, But I remember your review saying it was a much better book.

Tracy, I haven't read Middlesex yet, and it's just SO LONG that I think I'm going to hold off on it until next year. I do want to get to it, though, because I really liked The Virgin Suicides.

I'll probably end up reading either Giovanni's Room or The Heart's Invisible Furies! Thank you all for your recommendations!