Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Progress: 30/52
(Books read: 30)

I haven't really made a plan yet, so for now I am just going with the flow. I will most likely read some big books this year, so double-dipping will be allowed. If I finish half of the prompts, that is fine:)

Main goal:
☐ Read at least 20 books from my shelf (11/20)

Other minor goals:
☐ Read at least 12 books from the 1001 list (11/12)
☐ Read at least 10 books from series in progress (6/10)
✅ Read at least 2 books from 'BBC 6 of 100' (2/2)
☐ Read at least 2 books from 'Verdensbiblioteket' (The World Library List) (1/2)

Currently reading:


Currently listening to:


✅ = Completed
➡️ = Currently reading
📚 = 1001 book
🎧 = Audiobook
⚠️ = Chonk alarm (>500 pages)
📺 = Book matched with movie

The 2019 AtY List part 1
7/13

✅ 1. A book that won an award in a genre you enjoy:
📚 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (26/7/19) ★★★★★

✅ 2. A book with one of the 5 W's in the title:
🎧⚠️ Dei som flyktar og dei som blir/(Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay) by Elena Ferrante (27/8/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y:
📺 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (17/4/19) ★★★★☆

☐ 4. A book with a criminal character:
☐ 5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle)

✅ 6. A book with a dual timeline:
⚠️ The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley (4/8/19) ★★★☆☆

☐ 7. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #1 (Mrs Dalloway)
☐ 8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #2 (The Hours)

✅ 9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres:
🎧⚠️ Det som ikke dreper oss/(The Girl in the Spider's Web) by David Lagercrantz (27/6/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 10. A book featuring a historical figure:
⚠️ The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley (4/8/19) ★★★☆☆

✅ 11. A book related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese Animals: [Horse]
🎧⚠️ Hvis helvete var av is/(The Frozen Dead) by Bernard Minier (4/5/19) ★★☆☆☆

☐ 12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer (Elena Ferrante?)
☐ 13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list

The 2019 AtY List part 2
7/13

☐ 14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term

✅ 15. A book set in a Mediterranean country:
📚 🎧⚠️Historia om det tapte barnet/(The Story of the Lost Child) by Elena Ferrante (5/11/19) ★★★★(★)

✅ 16. A book told from multiple perspectives:
📚🎧⚠️ 1Q84 #1 by Haruki Murakami (19/1/19) ★★★★☆

☐ 17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia)

✅ 18. A book related to one of the periodic table elements:
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls (18/2/19) ★★★☆☆

☐ 19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR:
☐ 20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country (Lille tre)
☐ 21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes: (A book connected to a cultural appreciation month)

✅ 22. A book with a number in the title:
📚🎧⚠️ 1Q84 #2 by Haruki Murakami (3/2/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 23. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old:
📚 Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (22/4/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 24. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New:
🎧⚠️ Historia om det nye namnet/(The Story of a New Name) by Elena Ferrante (10/8/19) ★★★★★

☐ 25. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed

✅ 26. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something Blue:
📚 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (10/3/19) ★★★★☆

The 2019 AtY List part 3
11/13

✅ 27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list:
📚 Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1/9/19) ★★☆☆☆

✅ 28. A book related to something cold:
🎧 Stolpesnø by Marit Reiersgård (21/5/19) ★★★☆☆

✅ 29. A book published before 1950:
📚🎧📺 Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (2) (15/2/19) ★★★★★

✅ 30. A book featuring an elderly character:
🎧 📺 En mann ved navn Ove by Fredrik Backman (3/8/19) ★★★★★

✅ 31. A children’s classic you’ve never read:
📚 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (16/2/19) ★★★★☆

➡️ 32. A book with more than 500 pages:
📚🎧⚠️Gudfaren by Mario Puzo

✅ 33. A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet:
📚 Pinnsvinets eleganse/(The Elegance of the Hedgehog) by Muriel Barbery (13/9/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 34. A book with a person's name in the title:
📚 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (22/6/19) ★★★☆☆

✅ 35. A psychological thriller:
📚 The Talented Mr. Ripley (23/5/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list:
🎧 Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (10/3/19) ★★★★★

☐ 37. A book set in a school or university

✅ 38. A book not written in traditional novel format (short stories):
Historien om Fru Berg by Ingvild H. Rishøi (10/3/19) ★★★★★

✅ 39. A book with a strong sense of place:
📺 Mi briljante venninne/(My Brilliant Friend) by Elena Ferrante (30/7/19) ★★★★☆

The 2019 AtY List part 4
5/13

✅ 40. A book you stumbled upon:
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell (15/9/19) ★★★★☆

☐ 41. A book from the 2018 GR Choice Awards
☐ 42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character
☐ 43. A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) [fiction or nonfiction]
☐ 44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoyed (same topic, same era, book appeared in the show/movie, etc.)
☐ 45. A multi-generational saga

✅ 46. A book with a mostly black cover:
📚 This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski (9/7/19) ★★★★☆

☐ 47. A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.)
☐ 48. A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year

✅ 49. A book written by a Far East Asian author:
📚🎧⚠️ 1Q84 bok 3 by Haruki Murakami (3/3/19) ★★★☆☆

☐ 50. A book that includes a journey (physical, health, or spiritual)

✅ 51. A book published in 2019:
🎧 Datteren by Anne B. Ragde (13/11/19) ★★★★☆

✅ 52. A book with a weird or intriguing title:
📚 A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (3/11/19) ★★★★☆

All the pretty covers in reading order

Around the Year in 52 Movies & Series

Status: 30/52

✅ 1. A movie that won an award in a genre you enjoy:
Amour (Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

☐ 2. A movie with one of the 5 Ws in the title (Buzz Aldrin)

✅ 3. A movie where the writer's name contains A, T, and Y:
The Joy Luck Club ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 4. A movie with a criminal character:
The Name of the Rose ⭐⭐⭐(⭐)

✅ 5. A movie inspired by Shakespeare:
2015 movie of Macbeth ⭐⭐

☐ 6. A movie with a dual timeline

✅ 7. Two related movies:
BBC drama of Persuasion ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 8. Two related movies
2007 movie of Persuasion ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 9. A movie from a top money making genre:
BBC drama miniseries Howards End ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 10. A movie featuring a historical figure:
Kongens nei: 10. april 1940 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

☐ 11. A movie related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese animals (Glaze/Frosen Dead)
☐ 12. A movie about filing, movies, or an actor or director

✅ 13. NYPL staff picks list:
Bird Box ⭐⭐⭐

☐ 14. A movie related to an astronomical term

✅ 15. A series set in a Mediterranean country:
My Brilliant Friend ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 16. Multiple perspectives:
Gone Girl ⭐⭐⭐

17. Speculative fiction:

☐ 18. A movie related to an element on the periodic table (The Goldfinch)

✅ 19. A movie with a director or actor who has more than one movie on your watchlist:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

☐ 20. A movie featuring indigenous people of a country

✅ 21. A prompt that was polarizing or a close call:
The Rainmaker ⭐⭐⭐️(⭐️)

✅ 22. A movie with a number in the title:
Pitch Perfect 2⭐⭐(⭐)

☐ 23. Wedding theme: "Something old"
☐ 24. Wedding theme: "Something new"

✅ 25. Wedding theme: "Something borrowed"
Yesterday [borrowed from the Beatles]⭐⭐⭐

☐ 26. Wedding theme: "Something blue"

✅ 27. A movie from the 1001 movies to watch before you die list:
BBC drama from 2018 of Les Misérables⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 28. A movie related to something cold:
Winter's Bone ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 29. A movie released before 1950:
Rebecca, Hitchcock movie from 1940⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 30. A movie featuring an elderly character:
A Man Called Ove ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 31. Children's classic you've never watched:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ⭐⭐⭐

✅ 32. A movie that is 3 hours or longer:
The Millennium Trilogy miniseries of 6 episodes⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 33. A series based on a book you've owned for over a year and have not read (season 1-3):
The Handmaid's Tale ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️

☐ 34. A movie with a person's name in the title (Still Alice)

✅ 35. Psychological thriller:
The Talented Mr. Ripley ⭐⭐⭐⭐

☐ 36. NPR best book of the year
☐ 37. A movie set in a school or university (x - get)

✅38. A movie with a non traditional format:
The Complete Persepolis⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 39. A movie with a strong sense of place:
The Light Between Oceans⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ 40. A movie you stumbled upon:
The Maze Runner Trilogy ⭐⭐⭐

✅ 41. GR choice awards:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before ⭐⭐⭐[2014]

☐ 42. A movie with a monster or monstrous character (Dracula)
☐ 43. A movie related to STEM

✅ 44. A tv-series related to a book you enjoyed:
Big Little Lies ⭐⭐⭐⭐️⭐️

☐ 45. A multi-generational saga
☐ 46. (mostly) black cover

✅ 47. A movie related to food:
Vår tid er nå/Our time is now (Swedish Drama Series)⭐⭐⭐⭐

☐ 48. National Book Award
☐ 49. Far east Asian director or setting
☐ 50. A movie that includes a journey

✅ 51. Released in 2019:
Isn't It Romantic ⭐⭐(⭐)

☐ 52. A movie with a weird or intriguing title

Ideas:
Buzz Aldrin: 5 W's (library)
Revolutionary Road: Related to a book you enjoyed? (Netflix)
The Goldfinch: Elements
Still Alice: Name in title
Fight Club:
The Frozen Dead/Glaze (Netflix): Zodiac (horse)

★☆

Book Ideas

* = book chosen

✅ 1. A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy
*📚 Song of Solomon
📚 A Visit from the Goon Squad Pulitzer

✅ 2. A book with one of the 5 W's in the title
⚠️Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?
*⚠️ Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

✅ 3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y
* Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club
Anthony Doerr
Ernest Hemingway
Lars Saabye Christensen

4. A book with a criminal characte
Any Crime novel
📚 The Talented Mr. Ripley

5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare
⚠️ The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (retelling of Hamlet)

✅ 6. A book with a dual timeline
* The Shadow Sister
📚 Jazz
book:The Storm Sister|25905342]

7 & 8. Two books related to the same topic, genre, or theme:
Neapolitan series by Elena Ferrante
📚 Mrs. Dalloway & The Hours

✅ 9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres
⚠️Next Lars Kepler
* Next in the Millenium series (Crime novels)

✅ 10. A book featuring a historical figure
Mors og fars historie
* The Storm Sister

✅ 11. A book related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese Animals
Menneske uten hund (hund=dog)
Harpiks (rabbits on the cover)
* The Frozen Dead (dog)

12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
⚠️Francis Meyers lidenskap
Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen

13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list
Us
News of the World

14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term
📚 Moon Palace
The Silver Star

15. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country or set in a Mediterranean country
Elena Ferrante

✅ 16. A book told from multiple perspectives:
📚 1Q84 #1 by Haruki Murakami

17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia)
Prince Caspian
📚 The Handmaid's Tale
📚 Slaughterhouse-Five

✅ 18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements
* The Silver Star
⚠️The Goldfinch

19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR
Wildcard

20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country
The Education of Little Tree
Rød mann / sort mann
Britt Karin Larsen

✅ 21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes
Wildcard

✅ 22. A book with a number in the title:
📚 1Q84 #2 by Haruki Murakami

✅ 23. Wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old
Mors og fars historie
Sankt Hans Fest
*📚 Fathers and Sons

✅ 24. Wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New:
*The Story of a New Name

25. Wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed: Wildcard

✅ 26. Wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something Blue
Blue cover
Frøya

Blue in title
*📚 The Bluest Eye

✅ 27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list
Love in the Time of Cholera

✅ 28. A book related to something cold
*Stolpesnø
The Snow Child
📚 Snow

✅ 29. A book published before 1950
Sankt Hans Fest
*📚 Rebecca

✅ 30. A book featuring an elderly character
*En mann ved navn Ove
Olive Kitteridge
News of the World

✅ 31. A children’s classic you’ve never read:
📚 Little Women

32. A book with more than 500 pages
Pick one of the many from my shelf

33. A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet:
The Lollipop Shoes

✅ 34. A book with a person's name in the title:
📚Rebecca
*📚Mrs. Dalloway

35. A psychological thriller
*📚The Talented Mr. Ripley
Harpiks
⚠️I Am Pilgrim
Next in Millenium series

✅ 36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list
📚⚠️ The Goldfinch (2013)
The Nix (2016)
⚠️ All the Light We Cannot See (2014)
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

37. A book set in a school or university
⚠️Francis Meyers lidenskap
Starter for Ten

✅ 38. A book not written in traditional novel format
Short Stories
Olive Kitteridge
*Historien om Fru Berg
Alice Munro's Best: Selected Stories
Brokeback Mountain

✅ 39. A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life
*Mi briljante venninne
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats?
A Thousand Splendid Suns?

✅40. A book you stumbled upon
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
*Som svaler kom de

41. A book from the 2018 GR Choice Awards
⚠️All the Light We Cannot See (Best of the Best)

42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character
Next Sookie Stackhouse?

43. A book related to STEM
The Housekeeper and the Professor (Math)

44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoyed
Revolutionary Road (Mad Men)

45. A multi-generational saga
Svøm med dem som drukner/The Sixteen Trees of the Somme

✅ 46. A book with a (mostly) black cover
📚⚠️The Godfather
*📚 This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

47. A book related to food
The Book of Salt

48. A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year
📚⚠️The Corrections
📚Slaughterhouse-Five
📚Lolita
⚠️All the Light We Cannot See

✅ 49. A book written by a Far East Asian author
*📚1Q84: Book 3
📚Kitchen

50. A book that includes a journey
The Alchemist
Next Narnia

51. A book published in 2019
Next Harry Hole?

52. A book with a weird or intriguing title
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
⚠️Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?
The Marvelous Misadventures of Ingrid Winter
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme
Små nøkler, store rom

Starting the year with a chunkster, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. This will be my first book by him, and I am really looking forward to it.

I also plan to start Little Women for the children's prompt soon.

Excited to start the new reading year! :)

Good luck with your challenge, Hilde! I look forward to see which books you pick.

Thank you, Marina - and good luck to you too!! Hoping for a fun reading year in 2019 😊

Yay for chunky Murakamis! I've only read two by him so far (this is my third) but I really enjoy his writing - I find it very accommodating and accessible (if that makes sense). I slip right into his worlds very easily.

Superb to hear you find his work accessible, Jody, as it is always a little intimidating starting on such a big book. I’m enjoying it so far, but I have only listened to about 3 hours - pleeenty of hours to go 😅

I might have to add a Murakami book to my big book TBR. I'll be waiting for your final judgement!

I've eyed 1Q84 for several years now. Most of my close circle of friends has read it by now. I admit that I'm intimidated by its length. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

I loved Little Women. And the movie. They were both a comforting part of my childhood.

Yay, go for it Marina!:)
1Q84 is a Q1 read in my 1001 group, so I will pace it out with one book each for the three first months, should be doable!

I agree, the lenght is a bit offputting, MJ. Hopefully it will keep me entertained throughout all those pages!

Glad to hear you loved Little Women. I have seen the BBC series and the old movie, so I know the story. But I’ve never read it before, so that will be interesting. Expecting a sweet story:) My volume is only the first part of Little Women (I have the British version, where they split the first book in two volumes).

Good luck with your challenge! Hope you like Little Women, its one of my favorite books.

Many thanks, Veronica - and good luck to you as well!:)