Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Poll #5 - Polarizing
Poll #6 - Polarizing
Poll #15 - Close Call

When this prompt was first suggested, people participating in the mini-poll process for 2019 created a list of books that they loved and they believe should get more recognition. The requirements are only 3ish books per member and it has to have a "small" number of ratings (at the member's discretion).

Here's the list.

I thought that since so many people plan on using this prompt for their close call/polarizing prompt for the official ATY challenge, we could start a thread where people describe the books they added to the list and the ones they are interested in reading for this prompt!

I tried to add a variety of books. My first one was Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, and it details the life of a person suffering from schizophrenia. Shusterman's son actually experienced most of what the character experiences during his bouts of schizophrenia, and the drawings in the novel are drawings that Shusterman's son actually drew during these times. I've never read an account of mental illness in a fiction book so vivid. (Although I guess it would be quasi-fiction, since it was pulled from very real world experiences...)

This should be an interesting discussion. I loved the idea and I kept voting for it, but every time I look at the list, I don't really see anything that excites me, mostly because I haven't heard of most of the books, which of course is the point!!! :-) I wonder if that's why it never won.

I look forward to reading the "sales pitches" for the books we all added!

I can't even remember which three I added, I'll have to go look at the list later to see.

Emily wrote: "I tried to add a variety of books. My first one was Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, and it details the life of a person suffering from schizophrenia. Shusterman's..."

Hi Emily. I am very interested in reading this book. Do you recommend reading a physical book, due to the drawings?

Milena wrote: "Emily wrote: "I tried to add a variety of books. My first one was Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, and it details the life of a person suffering from schizophrenia..."

I only read physical books, so I'm not sure how it looks as an ebook. The drawings aren't integral to the storyline, but they add an interesting touch to it.... more like an illustrated novel instead of a graphic novel, if that makes sense?

Drawings, maps, etc. are hard to see in Kindle books. And they can't be enlarged. I can always try it on Kindle, and switch to physical if need be.

I added five books to the list.

City of Circles by Jess Richards
Jess Richards is the one of the most unread authors I know and I think that's truly sad because she's just absolutely fabulous. Her books are fantasy-ish but she definitely does not follow the "medieval setting/good vs evil/go on a quest" fantasy model. Her books are very unique and well-written.

Witch Light by Susan Fletcher
My all-time favorite historical fiction novel by one of my favorite authors. This book is just so vivid and heartbreaking and unforgettable.

The Unseen World by Liz Moore
I cannot even tell you how much I love this book. I remember it like I read it yesterday (even though it's been almost 2 years I read it). Literary fiction with just the teensy sci-fi twist. The story is so melancholic and powerful and I completely adored the protag.

Archipelago by Monique Roffey
Another author who deserves more recognition. This book ponders some big life questions and tells an emotive unforgettable story.

The View from the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier
One of my all-time favorite collections of short stories. The title story and "The Lives of the Philosophers" are simply phenomenal.


I had about 15 of the books from the ATY list already on my TBR list. I plan to read four of of them in 2019 - The Machine (for the polarizing/close call prompt), The Moor's Account (for historical figure), Viper Wine (for the serendipitous prompt), and Sorcerer to the Crown (for my rejects challenge).

Milena wrote: "Drawings, maps, etc. are hard to see in Kindle books. And they can't be enlarged. I can always try it on Kindle, and switch to physical if need be."

Challenger Deep sounds amazing! I’ve added a note to read it on my tablet to be able to better see the drawings.

I put my thoughts about my nominees on the listopia, but I can also say here:

Peter Darling is a lovely, magical, heart-warming retelling of Peter Pan, an #ownvoices story by a trans author, and would work for several prompts on the main list: something borrowed, something blue, and name in the title.

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon is a Brazilian saga (I don’t think multigenerational, though) that I really enjoyed. I would say it brings a location (small provincial Brazilian town) to life and has a huge cast of characters. If anyone does decide to read it, let me know because I created a bookmark document with a cast of characters to help keep everybody straight! Food and cooking play a major role, so it could work for that category too, and I believe a few of the major characters are indigenous people.

Akata Witch is a fantastic book for people who love Harry Potter and want to diversify their reading. It’s a speculative fiction, fantasy YA, and I think you could argue that it takes place in a school. I was really surprised by now few reviews it has, because I had definitely hear it talked about. It also was nominated for a couple YA and sci-fi awards.

I added 3 books to the list. What they have in common is 1) brilliant writing, 2) even though they are lesser know (as indicated by the # of ratings), nominated or won a literary award, and 3) aspects of historical fiction (my favorite genre), although they are VERY different books.

1. The Winshaw Legacy: or, What a Carve Up! by British author Jonathan Coe (mystery, political satire, contemporary UK)
I don't know why this author is not more well know in the US but he is a terrific writer with a great sense of humor! The book won the 1994 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the French 1996 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Prize). If anyone is choosing the political satire prompt (for a reject challenge), I suggest this book! Lots of Margaret Thatcher era humor. It's an experience! My favorite read for 2017.

2. Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett (short stories)
This book won the 1996 National Book Award for Fiction. Her stories have a science element plus a mix of historical and fictional characters and, if you read more of her books, you will find the same characters or sometimes their ancestors or descendants! The title story is based on a heart-breaking true event in Canada. She is one of 2 short story authors that I really like!

3. The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart (historical fiction)
Nominee for the 2001 Man Booker Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize (Canadian). The beginning of this historical novel set in 1867 "backwoods" Canada is fabulous. It's a multi-generational story that continues through WWI and post WWI (with a historical moment for Canada). It's one of my favorite historical fiction novels!

Also, I will second the recommendation for Challenger Deep! It's such an interesting journey and I love Neal Shusterman's YA novels.

1. The Machine by James Smythe. I take every opportunity I can to recommend this. It's central theme is memory, explored through Beth, a woman taking care of her husband who was treated for PTSD with one of the machines. The machines have now been banned due unforeseen side effects and Beth is secretly trying to recreate her husband's memory.

2. The Arrival of Missives by Aliya Whiteley. I wanted to add a book from a small press to this list but in hindsight it might be hard to find worldwide. Aliya's novellas are eerie and thoughtful and well worth looking for.

3. Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik. Sofia is the sole Muslim in her office and her boss convinces her to write a book about Muslim dating. This is a great look at life as modern British Muslim and it's fun.

I went through the list again over the last couple of days and added several more to my TBR! I think I will end up reading a few this year so hopefully I can find other prompts for them to fill.

These are the ones I added:

Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo. This is basically three novellas that are connected thematically (think Freud's id, ego, superego) as well as through the fact that each protagonist lives in the same building in a bourgeois neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam. This is a beautifully written novel. It is a poignant and often disturbing look at contemporary Pakistani culture and brings to light corruption and persecution of minority religions, in this case Christians living in a Muslim society.

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read despite some sad subject matter. It's based on a real woman named Mazie Phillips who, despite a rough upbringing, was a fun loving young woman who worked in a movie theater in the Bowery district of Manhattan during the Jazz Age. When the depression hit, she took it upon herself to help the homeless, addicts and basically anyone who needed her.

I finally had a few minutes to go see which books I had added. For each of these books, they were fun, I loved them, I was completely immersed while reading, so that I wasn't able to really write much of a review (does that happen to you? when you REALLY love a book, it is impossible to review?), and I think they should get FAR more attention:

1. Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (I listened to the audiobook, which I can recommend) - I had never heard anything about this author and I don't even know how the book got on my TBR, but I'm so glad it did. It's about a family of werewolves, but they are not your standard "turn into a wolf once a month" kind, this is far more realistic (and depending on how you look at things, you could read the entire "werewolf" thing as just an allegory - maybe they aren't actually werewolves at all!): a grandfather, two of his children, and his grandson. The book is from the grandson's POV. The entire "werewolf" bit is really about racism and how race affects one's ability to belong/not belong in society, and how THAT affects ... life. What I wrote in my review: "This is an odd book, it really surprised me. It was more: poignant, gruesome, funny, sad, disgusting, meaningful, and ridiculous than I was expecting. "

2. The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka - a cold-case murder mystery, this is first in a series now (she is working on the third book) featuring private detective Roxane Weary. What I wrote in my review: "I read it in one breathless, increasingly terrified gulp, never taking the time to jot down my feelings and reactions. I was glad I was reading it with three dogs in the house; no one dog particularly fearsome, but all three would give any attacker pause. "

3. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho - a fantasy novel set in Victorian England, complete with dragons and magic and fairies, this is book one in a series (book two is due next year!! Can't wait!!) From my review: "well written, and funny, and engaging!"

I added the three following books:

Buried Child - This is a Pulitzer-Prize winning play from Sam Shepard. It tells the story of a dysfunctional family and the secrets that continue to plague them. It's funny, absurd, and just downright weird at times.

The Red Garden - This is a series of short stories by Alice Hoffman. It blends breathtaking descriptions of scenery (the garden and surrounding town are characters themselves) with burst of magical realism. I picked it for our book club a while back, and everyone loved it. It was my first encounter with Alice Hoffman and got me to devour several of her books.

Woof at the Door - This one is just fun. It's a cozy mystery about an animal expert who can telepathically speak to animals. The premise sounds silly, but it works. At its heart, it just a fun cozy with great characters.

I just finished The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, which I think I added to my TBR because of this list, but I didn't realize it until I was looking back at the plans I made in November.

I loved this one so much... it had magical realism (which I love) but was also totally relatable. The main characters just felt so real and diverse, and the writing was beautiful. Highly recommend (and thanks to whoever added it to this list!)

I just found this topic and added 6 books to my TBR. The same TBR that I decided yesterday was way too long and I shouldn't add things to anymore for a while :)

Chrissy wrote: "I put my thoughts about my nominees on the listopia, but I can also say here:

Peter Darling is a lovely, magical, heart-warming retelling of Peter Pan, an #ownvoices story by a tra..."

Hey, Chrissy! I just finished Gabriela, and I'd love to take a peek at your bookmark document for the novel, to make sure I had all the connections right. Loved this book :))

Stacey wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "I put my thoughts about my nominees on the listopia, but I can also say here:

Peter Darling is a lovely, magical, heart-warming retelling of Peter Pan, an #ownvoice..."

I just saw this comment... I’m going to try to change privacy on my google drive folder so I can share a link here.