Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Time for a scavenger hunt! Search through your TBR and find a book that has some mode of transportation on the cover. Whether it's traditional vehicles like cars and airplanes, or a bit more unconventional like spaceships or rollerblades, these books are guaranteed to transport you!

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Suggestions:
Your best bet is to take a scroll through your TBR for covers that catch your attention, but if you are lacking in books that fit the prompt, check out these lists:

Books Featuring UFOs/Spaceships
Books Featuring Ships
Listopia: Cars on the Cover
Listopia: Vehicles on the Cover
Listopia: YA Books with Cars/Trucks/Motorcycles on the Cover
Listopia: Trains on the Cover
Listopia: Bikes on the Cover
Listopia: Balloons on the Cover

And if you're still stumped, here are some more creative ideas from the discussion threads:

Cars, Trains, Planes, Boats, Spacecraft, Horses, Bicycles, Rollerblades, Broomsticks, Theme Park Rides, Submarines, Feet, Hot Air Balloon, Horse and Carriage, Camels, Canoe

ATY Group Listopia

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Optional Questions
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?

Here are the ones I found on my tbr:

I don't pick books based on their covers, but when I look for additions to my tbr, I check out reviews for books with nice covers first.

btw, would the title count as "being on the cover" or does it need to be in picture form?

Entropia wrote: "btw, would the title count as "being on the cover" or does it need to be in picture form?"

I would say that that's up to your discretion. If you're looking to make the challenge a bit easier, I think having the word "train" or "car" in the title would certainly be acceptable, even if it's probably not in the exact meaning of the prompt.

I’m planning to read The River by Peter Heller for this one, and it has a kayak on it. I don't usually choose books based on covers, but I do appreciate when they are aesthetically pleasing!

Here are my choices:
- Pat Barker (jeep)
- Vera Brittain (ship)
- Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (horse)
- John Bude 286p (ship)
- Willa Cather (skates)
- James Fennimore Cooper (boat)
- Susan Fennimore Cooper (boat)
- Timothy Findley (horse)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald (car)
- Ernest Hemingway (canoe)

Right now my TBR doesn’t offer a lot. But Tin Man and Half-broke Horses both feature bicycles.

I have so many to choose from but I would like to go with While the World Is Still Asleep, with bicycles on the cover, by Petra Durst-Benning. It's been on my bookshelf for a long time! It is also a first in a series so there is another prompt option. I do sometimes pick up a book because of its cover.

I have many options for this one, but I think I'll go with The Angel of Darkness. I read The Alienist this year, and it was just fantastic, so I'm excited for the follow-up.

It looks like an old horse and carriage to me:

My long list from my physical/Kindle TBR isn't actually all that long!

Would yall count a horse as a Mode of Transportation?

Amanda- Yes, I think a horse would fit that prompt!

I have so many nautical books I want to read, and hey, look at all those ships!


And I spy some airships on my shelves:


And some trains

I might try An Honest Man by Ben Fergusson. This would also work as a book with an LGBTIA+ character.

An Honest Man

I found in my local Oxfam bookshop, it's a mystery, one of my favourite genres, and has a picture of a cruise ship on the cover.

I have no idea what to chose for this. I found out that own very few books with modes of transportation on the cover.Half the world has a ship on the top part of the cover, but that requires me to read book one in the series which I haven't...

Hmmm, I may go with a more liberal interpretation and read The 57 Bus (transportation in title...which is in the cover). Trying to remember to read things I want to while challenging myself instead of forcing myself to read something to check a box

I'm going with The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley on this one. It has a camel on the cover. ;)

Mrb, I was thinking of reading 57 Bus as well, but I don't think I can get it from the library in time and this is the next prompt I'm reading. So I'll be poking around this list to see which books catch my attention on this one!

There is a car on the front of this one. I'm most likely reading this one for this prompt.

1. What are you reading for this category? I read Kick at the Darkness, which I've had on Kindle forever and finally got around to! It was a fun and super quick read.

2. What transportation did it have on the cover? A motorcycle, which makes sense as it was featured heavily in the story.

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers? Sometimes! Usually I choose books for other reasons, but a really pretty or ugly cover can sway me one way or the other.

'And the Ocean was our Sky' by Patrick Ness. It has a giant ship on the cover.

And if anyone wants to go back to the 'Trials of Apollo' by Rick Riordan, "The Tyrant's Tomb" has a Car on it.

I was looking through my TBR and found a book I put on there a while ago because I thought the premise was super cool. I decided an elevator counts, so I'm using Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

For this one, I’m reading Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill. It took me a while to figure out that the cover was a picture of a helicopter. . So far this is one of my favorites in the series of mysteries that take place in Laos and feature MC Dr Siri Paiboun.

1. What are you reading for this category?


Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?

This book has a horse on the cover, and is about a horse race

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?

Sometimes - this one definitely stood out to me.

1. What are you reading for this category?
Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
Dragon

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
Sometimes, I pick books based on their covers for challenges.

I read The Forgetting Moon for this week It has a horse on the cover, with a dude riding it. That's cool. I struggled with this book; I just was not feeling it (I'm trying to read in order this year). I can see a lot of great things in the story and writing, and I think had I been more invested in read high fantasy at this moment, I would have enjoyed this a lot more. I just felt lukewarm about, but did not dislike it for any particular reason beside I wasn't feeling it.

I chose The Summer Before the War, since it is on my TBR list. I was surprised at how difficult it was for me to find a book with "transportation" on the cover. This book features a bicycle on the cover. And yes, I do often pick a book based on its cover. ;)

I could easily include this in 'A Fantasy'but I like the idea of including it as 'a mode of transport '

Sourcery

Most editions have a flying carpet on the cover 🙂

I would never choose a book solely on its cover but it does help if the cover is good to look at. I rarely read 'blurb' on covers, though

Some books on my TBR that include any mode of transportation are:

1) The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Moped/Motorbike)
(Short Stories; Literary Fiction)

2) The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff (Train Car)
(Historical Fiction)

3) The Late Bloomers Club by Louise Miller (Bicycle)
(Domestic Fiction; Romance)

I’m probably going to read either The Orphan’s Tale or The Refugees as they have been on my TBR for a bit.

I just finished Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips for this prompt. It has horses on the front (sure, they are part of a carousel, but I'm still counting it). It's been on my TBR forever so I'm glad I finally had an excuse to read it.

1. What are you reading for this category?
by G.K. Parks

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
There’s a few cars on the cover

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
No but the covers sometimes influence if I’ll even look at the summary of the book.

1. What are you reading for this category?
2. What transportation did it have on the cover? Covered wagons
3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers? when browsing for a book, it is a major influence.

I am reading 'The village vet,' by Cathy Woodman. It has horses on the cover for mode of transportation. I don't usually pick books by their cover although that will attract me.

I read Darktown (Darktown #1) by Thomas Mullen for this prompt. Police car on the cover.

Pam wrote: "I have so many to choose from but I would like to go with While the World Is Still Asleep, with bicycles on the cover, by Petra Durst-Benning. It's been on my booksh..."

I went with bicycles too!

1. What are you reading for this category?


2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
Car

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
I try not to but if a book is extra pretty, I will deft give it more notice.

I will be reading flyboys and it has a plane in the cover. I do not typically pick books based on the cover, more based on the title.

i will choose from


1. What are you reading for this category? - well none of the above I read

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
Ship

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
No this book was a real life book club read. I have read it before but it is a Damn good read. Daphne du Maurier is one of my favourite authors. All her books have a mystery element but each is very different from the next. The characterisation in this is so good that each person at the book club saw something different from the others. We had lots of discussion around whether Dona was a good mother to her children with people weighing in on both sides. Apart from that it is what I would call a rollicking good story. Full of Adventure and glorious evocation of the time and place

1. What are you reading for this category?

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - My first 5-star book of the year! This is seriously, beautifully amazing!

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
A car

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
For unfamiliar authors, yes, like if the cover is beautiful.

For this category I'm going to read The Secret River as it has been sitting on my tbr shelf for a while and it has a boat on the cover. I do believe I picked this one up at a second hand book sale because I thought it had an interesting cover, which is not something I do often as I like to research books a little before I read them usually.

I'm currently debating between and

I sometimes will be drawn to a book because of the cover. But not so much modes of transportation :)

I'm tempted to read one of the Doctor Who books that has a T.A.R.D.I.S on the cover, they definitely travel in it

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
I chose it originally because one of the editions has a car on the cover. I then realized that my edition also has a mode of transportation on the cover - a book. You'll have to read the story to understand the reference...

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
I will pick up a book and read the synopsis because of the cover but I won't buy it unless the story catches my interest.

1. What are you reading for this category? The Christmas Train
2. What transportation did it have on the cover? Train
3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers? A cover will catch my eye every now and then but I usually read a book for other reasons.

I was going to read The Alice Network for this prompt because it was a car on it. However, my last prompt to do in the winter challenge is the Christmas one and this is the only book I have that would fit the prompt and it has a mode of transportation on it. Hopefully I can fit The Alice Network in somewhere else this year.

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Enchantée by Gita Trelease


2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
The UK cover has a hot air balloon on it (which is also part of the story).

3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers?
I'm a sucker for a pretty cover, but it only draws me in and the story needs to sound up my street too.

1. What are you reading for this category? When the Sky Fell on Splendor
2. What transportation did it have on the cover? Bikes
3. Do you typically pick books based on their covers? Not really, one my catch my eye but if the description isn't interesting then I wouldn't choose it. I do like them for choosing books for the ATY challenge. This is a book I may not have gotten to if it hadn't been for the bikes.

I read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

It has space ships on the cover:



I'd never decide I wanted to read a book because of it's cover, it might attract me initially though so there's more chance I'd make the effort to find out if I wanted to read it. Almost definitely works the other way too - if I don't like a cover, I'll avoid it.

I totally agree about bad covers -- that's the hardest part of used book store shopping. Sometimes there's a book I really want to read, and it's like $1, but it has a really hideous weird '70s cover (for a book not set within decades of the '70s).

On Goodreads sometimes I'll pick the cover version of the book I wish I had, not the one I actually bought.

Marie wrote: "I read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

It has space ships on the cover:



I'd never decide I wanted to read a book because ..."

Kelly wrote: "1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

2. What transportation did it have on the cover?
I chose it originally because one of the editions ..."

I loved this series so much! I was a little sad when it ended, though the last couple of books got a bit wonky. It was still so great!!!