Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

April 10th is National Sibling Day, and what better way to celebrate than to read a book that features siblings as the main characters? Whether these characters love each other, hate each other, or don't even know the other exists, their relationship is sure to add a unique perspective to the book.

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Suggestions:

100 Must Read Books About Siblings
65 YA Books Featuring Siblings
10 Books That Will Make You Grateful For Your Siblings
Books Shelved as Sibling Rivalry
7 Novels About Sibling Relationships

ATY Group Listopia

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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?

I think Far from the Tree is a great one for this. I’m not sure yet what I’ll read, maybe The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls.

I'm looking at maybe reading The Sisters Brothers, Vincent and Theo, the Sisters of Battle Road, or the second Gerald Durrell book about his family. Probably looking for other options, too.

I do enjoy books about siblings, they usually create interesting dynamics.

Of the books I've read that I enjoyed that have interesting sibling issues, I'd recommend We Have Always Lived in the Castle, One True Thing, Hidden Valley Road, The Prettiest Star, The Vanishing Half, any David Sedaris book, Far from the Tree, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, The Poisonwood Bible, Ordinary Grace, The Lost Man, Educated, My Sister the Serial Killer, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, This Is How It Always Is...so many good ones!

I have The Cold Millions slotted here and will probably go for that.

I generally enjoy books about siblings and families. In addition to the recs Melissa mentioned (including my favorite book of right now The Vanishing Half), I'd highlight for books that feature siblings:

Life After Life and A God in Ruins
City of Saints & Thieves
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
The Tsar of Love and Techno
Pachinko
Sing, Unburied, Sing
White Tears
The Brothers Karamazov
The Immortalists

I didn't think I read a lot of siblings books, but I've actually read or have on my TBR the first 30 books on the listopia lololol. So I apparently really like these types of books?

On my plan for this prompt, I have:

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I'll be reading I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Oooooh Heather that is one of my all time favorite books.

Melissa wrote: "I'm looking at maybe reading The Sisters Brothers, Vincent and Theo, the Sisters of Battle Road, or the second Gerald Durrell book about his family. Probably looking for other options, too.

I do e..."

I have The Lager Queen but I didn’t know it fits this prompt, thanks!

I'm thinking either The Sweeney Sisters or The Girl in the Mirror for this one, though I could also do a Flavia de Luce, though her sisters are more side characters.

I too have read or have on my TBR so many of the top books in the Listopia, so apparently I like family stories! Those I'd recommend are My Sister, the Serial Killer, The Vanishing Half, The Dutch House, Her Fearful Symmetry, The Nightingale, Fangirl, The Family Upstairs, Summer of '69.

Ill be reading The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell or My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

I know a lot of people here like Taylor Jenkins Reid... It sounds like her next book Malibu Rising is about a group of siblings.

Ooooh thanks for pointing that out, Ellie. I'll have to go add it to my Listopia votes.

I added a book by mistake (The Son) (it might have siblings, but I haven't read it so I don't know). But it seems I can not delete it, is anyone able to?

I'm going to read Bridge of Clay for this prompt.

The first thing that came to mind was The Thirteenth Tale, which I loved
And also A Game of Thrones, lots of siblings there.

I loved Life After Life and A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, and Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee.

I'd also recommend The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

I'll choose one of these:
My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult (I've had this on my shelf for years)
Long Bright River- Liz Moore
Bunner Sisters - Edith Wharton
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell

I plan on reading A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall for this prompt.

Books with siblings that I've really enjoyed are Cobalt Blue, The Bone Witch, and Little & Lion.

Books I've really liked that feature siblings:

The Sisters Brothers
My Sister, the Serial Killer
All the Missing Girls
Long Bright River
Afterland
Crow Lake
Half of a Yellow Sun

Could The Catcher in the Rye fit this?

Eh... I probably wouldn't count it since Holden's sister doesn't really play a role in the plot. I mean, she does, but she's not a main character.

I think I'm going to go with one of these:
Ordinary Girls
When the Moon Was Ours
Sisters of Sword and Song

Some others I'd recommend that I haven't seen mentioned:
Every Jane Austen book
The Nightingale (one of my all time favorite books)
Children of Blood and Bone and the sequel Children of Virtue and Vengeance
Sharp Objects
True Colors
Practical Magic
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

Looks like Home by Marilynne Robinson could a lot in here. Another Women’s Prize winner.

Kristina wrote: "I plan on reading A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall for this prompt.

Books with siblings that I've really enjoyed are Cobalt Blue, The Bone Witch, and..."

Kristina, I am so glad to find someone who has read the book and loved it. According to me, it is an extremely underrated book, even in India.

I have 5 books on my TBR that fit the prompt. So I might pick any of these -

1) The Dutch House
2) I Capture the Castle
3) Educated
4) We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
5) Atonement

My recommendations for the prompt are -

1) Cobalt Blue
2) We Have Always Lived in the Castle
3) The Thirteenth Tale

I am going to read Sisters of Spicefield by Fran Cusworth.

I'm sure I read a lot of books with siblings in them, but not so many where both the siblings themselves or the relationship between them is the focus of the book.

I agree, though, with recommendations about The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and I read The House by the River by Lena Manta earlier this year and enjoyed it. It follows five sisters as they leave the family home and lose touch with each other.

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Poisonwood Bible

2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
I really do. It's not something I'd given thought to, but I do really enjoy family relationships in books.

3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
All Made Up is Janice Galloway's memoir and features her sister a lot (and it is not a good relationship); The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a novel about three adult siblings carrying out their mother's dying wish; Saint X is a novel about a young woman whose older teenage sister was killed when she was a young child, and how that's impacted her life.

Ignore my previous post. Don't read Ordinary Girls it was terrible.

I want to recommend This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. Two orphaned brothers plus two more youngsters run away from the orphanage in Minnesota during the depression. Very evocative writing as the 4 travel along the river....good depiction of the poverty and desperation during this time, and the meaning of family. There are also allusions to the Odyssey as they take their epic trip.

Also, if you are looking for something with indigenous characters, one of the 4 runaways is a Sioux boy.

lololol Alicia.

Lizzy, thanks for the rec. I'm trying to slot that book in somewhere, so it's good to have another option for it! I added it to the listopia.

Again I have two options for this one as well, so who knows I may end up reading both. I have A Piece of the World confirmed for the slot, but I also have a copy of Far from the Tree sitting on my Kindle, so.....

Lizzy wrote: "I want to recommend This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. Two orphaned brothers plus two more youngsters run away from the orphanage in Minnesota during the depre..."

I second this suggestion. I thought This Tender Land was fantastic

I've decided on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This book seems tailor-made for that.



Recommendations from a variety of genres:

Pride and Prejudice
The Rules of Magic
Practical Magic
A Wrinkle in Time
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Call Down the Hawk
Magic for Liars
As I Lay Dying

The Kiss by James Patterson

1. What are you reading for this category?
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
Yes, but it depends on the setting. I prefer books were the siblings work together and not against each other.


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The Garden of Small Beginnings

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
I generally don't as I find that the they can be quite unrealistic about siblings, e.g. they make siblings the complete opposite of one another or the exact same whereas in reality, siblings are different but often do share traits with one another

3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
Honestly, I'd recommend The Nightingale, I thought the way it portrayed their relationship was very well written and I really enjoyed it

Title: The Book of Atlantis Black: The Search for a Sister Gone Missing
Author: Betsy Bonner
How it fits the prompt: Memoir of Betsy Bonner and her sister Atlantis
Completed 1/23/21
Rating: 3 - the writing got a little purple at times (the author is a poet), but an interesting look at a family affected by mental illnesses, drug addictions, unanswered questions, and suicides

1. What are you reading for this category? The Vanishing Half
2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings? It's not a category of books I think about
3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
Any Jane Austen, the Bridgerton Books, the Immortalists, East of Eden, Her Fearful Symmetry (hey- twins again!)

1. What are you reading for this category? I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I didn't enjoy it very much, so I decided it had to have some redeeming value, like fulfilling a prompt.
2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
I do, in fact two of my Goodreads bookshelves are: sisters and twins.
3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship? The Story Sisters

1. What are you reading for this category? The Stillwater Girls
2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings? They can be good.
3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
Girl A
My Sister, the Serial Killer
You Bring the Distant Near

I'll be reading The Vanishing Half

I do love family sagas, so I have a lot of recommendations for this one! (granted, not *all* of these are family sagas...just saying that I love them):
Cutting for Stone
This is Where I Leave You
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Little Women
I Know This Much Is True
The Poisonwood Bible
Three Dark Crowns
Commonwealth

Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category? One Crazy Summer (Gaither Sisters, #1) by Rita Williams-Garcia
2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings? Yes
3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?

With such great suggestions, I am not sure why I chose to be so "creative." Actually, I suppose that I do. I have a soft spot for mythological fantasies and immediately felt the need to squeeze Lore by Alexandra Bracken into this year's challenge. Being that the powerful Greek siblings play prominent roles and Lore's own siblings are significant, I selected it and regret nothing! 😁

Like a few others I chose


The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. I really enjoyed reading a story about two sisters that were very different from me.

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What are you reading for this category?
Prince Caspian, by CS Lewis


Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
Yes, I do. I don’t necessarily go longer for them though.

What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
For a really interesting take, Flowers in the Attic, by Virginia Andrews. Hugely dysfunctional gothic horror.

I am reading Mary Poppins for this prompt. The siblings (the older ones anyway), along with Mary Poppins, are the main characters in the book.

As for recommendations: A Wrinkle in Time, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I finally read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott about the March sisters. I really enjoyed it!
I like stories about siblings. I have one brother, so I'm fascinated by sister stories and the dynamics of all those females in one household!
My Favourite sibling relationship in literature is Jane & Lizzie Bennett from Pride & Prejudice.

I've just read Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn, this is a reimagining of Shakespeare's King Lear, it's been on my TBR list for some time as I aim to read all the Hogarth Shakespeare series. The setting is modern, Henry Dunbar, the Lear of the novel, is a media mogul whose two eldest daughters have had him removed to a sanatorium in the Lake district from where he escapes and his youngest daughter manages to rescue him. This was an interesting read, all the characters except the youngest daughter Florence were flawed. This is based on a tragedy so no spoilers if I tell you it doesn't end well.

I finished The Myth of Perpetual Summer by Susan Crandall yesterday. The main characters are Tallulah, her brother Griff, and their friend Ross.

It’s a coming-of-age tale set primarily in 1960s small town Mississippi, with some of it set in the 1970s.

It could also qualify as a book about a social justice issue. Tallulah and Griff’s mom, as well as other characters, are involved in protests. Among the issues are the treatment of people of color, the stigma against mental illness (and the horrible, sometimes long-lasting repercussions), and the Vietnam War.

1. What are you reading for this category?


2. Do you typically enjoy books about siblings?
Well, since I don't really know what to expect from a book about siblings, hehe.

3. What would you recommend to someone wanting to read a book about an interesting sibling relationship?
is very interesting. I wasn't expecting that plot. is a historical and great reading for those who like this genre.

I read In the Distance by Hernan Diaz, about a man's search across America in the 1850's looking for his lost brother. I had thought it was a novel featuring both men, but it centered on one brother's lonely, tragic, but fascinating journey through the Old West.

Other good books featuring siblings as main characters:
The Dutch House, The Vanishing Half, Cutting for Stone, The Blind Assassin, Family Life and The Virgin Suicides. Later this year, I'm looking forward to reading another book about siblings, The Makioka Sisters, for the prompt: a book cover showing more than two people.

Just finished Girl A by Abigail Dean, which is about a group of siblings that were terribly abused by their parents. The book flashes back to when they were living in the house to present time with them as adults. It was pretty good, if a bit literary.