Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I'm determined that I'm not going to preplan 2021. As we went along in the voting for the prompts I put possibilities but I am not going to enter them on my list this year. I lost a little bit of my reading mojo and I hope I can get it back by doing the challenge this way in 2021. It's hard not to plan but I want to be able to say I'm doing the challenge but I want to be ok with not finishing it. I want to read whatever I feel like in 2021 but I love this group so much that I don't want to leave. It's questionable whether I will be able to complete 2020. We'll see.


THE 2021 LIST
✅1. A book related to “In the Beginning...” - Feed
✅2. A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y - Horns by Joe Hill
✅3. A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music - Between Shades of Gray
✅4. A book with a monochromatic cover - The Road
✅5. A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read - The Mothers
✅6. A love story - The Light We Lost
✅7. A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list - Vanishing Girls - young adult novel
✅8. A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited - Northhanger Abbey
✅9. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year - World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
✅10. A book with a female villain or criminal - The 100
✅11. A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum - Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt - 🎧
✅12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation - The Good Son
✅13. A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020 - Shiny Broken Pieces
✅14. A book set in a made-up place - Beneath the Sugar Sky
✅15. A book that features siblings as the main characters - My Sister's Keeper
✅16. A book with a building in the title - The Glass Castle
✅17. A book with a Muslim character or author - A Thousand Splendid Suns
✅18. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1 - The House of Kennedy - 🎧
✅19. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2 - I Let You Go
✅20. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3 - Rogue Protocol
✅21. A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u" - The Butterfly Garden
✅22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads - The Alice Network
✅23. A cross genre novel - Authority
✅24. A book about racism or race relations - Dear Martin
✅25. A book set on an island - Normal People
✅26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author - Girl, Interrupted
✅27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards - Virgin River
✅28. A book connected to ice - Winter's Bone
✅29. A book that you consider comfort reading - The Royal Secret
✅30. A long book - The Other Mrs.
✅31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years - The Beautiful Lost
✅32. A book whose cover shows more than 2 people - The Turn of the Screw
✅33. A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry - Paris for One and Other Stories
✅34. A book with a travel theme - A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - 🎧
✅35. A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer - Nine Perfect Strangers
✅36. A book with six or more words in the title - The Way I Used to Be
✅37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list - Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - 🎧
✅38. A book related to a word given by a random word generator - Regretting You
✅39. A book involving an immigrant - Everything I Never Told You
✅40. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover - Shelter Mountain
✅41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author - A Promised Land - 🎧
✅42. A mystery or thriller - All Is Not Forgotten
✅43. A book with elements of magic - Eragon
✅44. A book whose title contains a negative - Don't You Cry
✅45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet - Station Eleven
✅46. A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards - The Wives
✅47. A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir - White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism - 🎧
✅48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?” - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory - 🎧
✅49. A book with an ensemble cast - The House in the Cerulean Sea
✅50. A book published in 2021 - The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency - 🎧
✅51. A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name - The Silent Patient
✅52. A book related to "the end" - The End of Oz

🎧 - Audio

Well I think I'm going to do DREAMING OF SNOW. It's the shortest one and also seems to have more options with letters.

✅D - Don't You Cry
✅R - Room
✅E - The End of Oz
✅A - All Is Not Forgotten
✅M - Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
✅I - I Let You Go
✅N - Dear Martin by Nic Martin
✅G - Girl, Interrupted

✅O - Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
✅F - Yellow Brick War - Fantasy

✅S - Shiny Broken Pieces
✅N - Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
✅O - The 100
✅W - Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

14/14

Random word generator I picked 5 words to generate and I got:

Fee
Mile
Attack
Love
Projection

I kinda got really lucky on those words. I was going to go with attack and use Shiny Broken Pieces. However I think this book will fit better in the prompt a book written by an author of one of your best reads in 2020. A lot of authors that I read last year I'm not in a hurry to read this year.

This will free me up to read a book about love or some other kind of fun attack book.

So I'm going to end up using love instead of attack. I picked up Regretting You to read and I couldn't put it down so I'm slotting it with the random word generator under love.

Buddy Reads

✅March - Nine Perfect Strangers
✅April - Beneath the Sugar Sky
✅May - Northanger Abbey
✅June - Eragon
✅October - The House in the Cerulean Sea

Group Reads

✅January - Station Eleven

Books I have read that I did not count towards the ATY Annual Challenge

Mooncakes
Greenlights
Rage
We Are the Ants
The Yellow Wallpaper
Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis
The Silver Linings Playbook
Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants

2021 SPRING CHALLENGE

The Phrases:
✅1. springtime - Feed by Mira Grant
✅2. bloom - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
✅3. sun shining - Northhanger Abbey
✅4. baby animals - The Butterfly Garden
✅5. eggs - The Good Son
✅6. tulips - A Promised Land
✅7. jellybeans - The Light We Lost
✅8. rainstorm - The Road
✅9. sprout - The Royal Secret
✅10. warming - The Wives
✅11. spring break - The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
✅12. raincoat - Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

12/12

JUNE

✅1. Start of Summer
Summer means the best reading months for so many of us. New releases have bright and shiny colors, and the warm weather makes for great picnics and reading in the sun.
✅a. Read a happy book. - Virgin River
b. Read a book published in June, July, or August.
c. Read a book from one of the following lists:
- Beach Read Royalty Recommends Summer Books
- Readers' Hottest Books of Summer
- Armchair Traveling: Books Set in Every U.S. State

✅2. June Birthday: Octavia E. Butler
Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction author. A multiple recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, she became in 1995 the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Born in Pasadena, California, Butler was raised by her widowed mother. Octavia Butler was born June 22, 1947.
a. Read book whose main character is a Black woman.
✅b. Read a science fiction book. - Authority
c. Read a winner of the Hugo Award.

✅3. Pride Month
The majority of Pride events are held in June to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City on June 28, 1969, which most historians consider to be the birth of the modern LGBT movement. At the time, police raids on bars catering to LGBT patrons were common, but that night, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back. While historical accounts of the night vary, the violent response ignited a national firestorm of activism that brought new visibility to the struggle for LGBT equality.
✅a. Read a book with at least 5 different colors of the rainbow on the cover. - The Mothers
b. Read a book featuring an LGBTQIA+ protagonist (not side character).
c. Read a book written by an author who was nominated for the Lambda Award.

✅4. Set Sail
One summer activity is to hop on a boat and go for a ride on the water. Whether you're fishing off of a kayak, sailing the open seas, or sunbathing on a yacht, floating on the water is guaranteed to bring peace and relaxation.
✅a. Read a book that starts with a letter in SAILING. - The Glass Castle
b. Read a book with a boat on the cover.
c. Read a book that takes place completely on an island.

JULY

✅1. Halfway there!
July 1st marks the halfway point of the year, and that means 2021 is drawing to a close!
a. Read a book with a number in the title.
✅b. Read a book that is divided into multiple parts (rather than, or in addition to, chapters). - My Sister's Keeper
c. Read a book featuring twin characters.

✅2. July Birthday: Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller is an American novelist, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe. Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a Latin and Greek teacher. Madeline Miller was born on July 24, 1978.
✅a. Read a book whose author's initials are found in MADELINE MILLER. - The Beautiful Lost
b. Read a retelling of a myth, fable, or fairytale.
c. Read a book nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

✅3. It's Winter Down South
While those of us in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the warm temperatures and the sunshine, our neighbors in the southern hemisphere are cozying up around the fire and drinking hot cocoa.
a. Read a romance book.
b. Read a book with snow on the cover.
✅c. Read a book whose title starts with a letter in FROSTY THE SNOWMAN. - World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

✅4. Take a Dip
Summer is hot, hot, hot, so jump in a pool, lake, or ocean to cool off and get some exercise swimming.
✅a. Read a book whose title starts with a letter in OCEAN. - Eragon
b. Read a book whose author initials can be found in TAKE A DIP.
c. Read a book featured on one of these lists:
- 34 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape
- 2021 Summer Reading List: 48 of the Best Books for Adults, Teens, and Kids
- The Best Beach Reads of Summer 2021

AUGUST

✅1. Back to School
Many students and teachers are heading back to the classrooms this month. Celebrate that back-to-school feeling with a bit of smart summer reading.
✅a. Read a book by an author that is new-to-you. - Greenlights
b. Read a YA book.
c. Read a book often tested on the AP Literature exam, as found on this list.

✅2. August Birthday: John Green
John Michael Green is an American author and YouTube content creator. He won the 2006 Printz Award for his debut novel, Looking for Alaska, and his fourth solo novel, The Fault in Our Stars, debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list in January 2012. He was born on August 24, 1977.
a. Read a contemporary book.
✅b. Read a stand-alone novel (not part of a series). - Regretting You
c. Read a book nominated for the Printz Award.

✅3. Summer Reading
Summer is a great time to catch up on your backlist TBR or read the newest releases that you haven't got around to reading yet.
a. Read the newest book by a favorite author.
b. Read the next book in a series you've already started. - Acceptance
✅c. Read a book published in 2021 that you've been looking forward to. - The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency

✅4. Jump on a Plane
With the world reopening, now is a great time to jump on a plane to new countries (literally or, in the case of reading, metaphorically).
a. Read an adventure book.
✅b. Read a book set in a country you've never visited. - Normal People
c. Read a book featuring a character that travels to multiple countries.

12/12

The Phrases:

✅1. autumn - A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. fall - Lock Every Door
✅3. foliage - The Other Mrs.
✅4. cooler weather - Winter's Bone
✅5. Halloween - We Are the Ants
✅6. scarf - Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
✅7. harvest - Such a Fun Age
8. pumpkin spice - Midnight Sun
✅9. orange - Rage
✅10. hot chocolate - The House of Kennedy
✅11. spooky season - The Silent Patient
✅12. schooltime - The House in the Cerulean Sea

How to Fill the Prompts:
1. Phrase contains BOTH letters of the author's name (ignore middle initial)
2. Phrase contains the first letter of the title (ignore or include A, An, and The)
3. Phrase is exemplified on the cover (your interpretation)
4. Phrase is found somewhere in the text (should be exact word)

Books to fit in challenge:
Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Winter's Bone - by Daniel Woodrell
We Are the Ants - by Shaun David Hutchinson
Rage - by Bob Woodward
The Last Days of Night - Graham Moore
Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly
The Duke and I - Julia Quinn
Iron Gold - Pierce Brown
Dark Age - Pierce Brown
City of Lost Souls - Cassandra Clare
The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid

10/12

I want to finish some series after I complete the challenge this year. The following books are some of the ones that I want to read to at least finish off some of the series I've started.

The Mortal Instruments
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire

Southern Reach
Acceptance

Red Rising Saga
Iron Gold
Dark Age

Newsflesh
Deadline
Blackout
Feedback

The Collector
Roses of May
The Summer Children
The Vanishing Season

So that's kind of a stretch goal. The Red Rising series books are long and take me awhile to get through which is why I keep putting them off but I do want to finish. The Mortal Instruments I started forever ago and I just want to finish off the series. I think I might finish off a series and then read a fun book I've been wanting to read and then finish off another series and read a fun book. I'll see how that goes after I complete the challenge. Maybe I can knock off some series. I hope so.

I'm not usually interested if I've read a book on every continent or country type thing but I've noticed this year more than most maybe I've hit a lot of countries and continents so I wanted to list them out to see.

Shiny Broken Pieces - New York, USA North American
Station Eleven - USA post apocalyptic - North American
Girl, Interrupted - Massachusetts, USA - North American
Dear Martin - Atlanta, GA, USA - North American
Don't You Cry - Chicago, IL, USA - North America
The End of Oz - Kansas, USA - OZ - North American
All Is Not Forgotten - Fairview, Connecticut, USA - North American
I Let You Go - Bristol, England - European Continent
Mooncakes - New England - North American
Vanishing Girls - Virginia - North American
Paris for One and Other Stories - Paris, France - European Continent
Everything I Never Told You - Ohio - North American
The 100 - Earth
Nine Perfect Strangers - Australia - Australian Continent
A Promised Land - Chicago and Washington DC - North American
Feed - United States - North American
The Road - United States - North American
The Light We Lost - New York and Tel Aviv, Israel - North American and Asian
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - Johannesburg, South Africa - African
The Butterfly Garden - United States - North American
The Way I Used to Be - United States - North American
The Good Son - Seoul, South Korea - Asian
Beneath the Sugar Sky - Fictional location
The Royal Secret - England - European
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - United States - North American
Northanger Abbey - England - European
The Wives - Oregon and Washington - North American
Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt - Egypt - African
Horns - New Hampshire - United States - North American
Between Shades of Gray - Siberia and Lithuania - European
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism - United States - North American
The Mothers - California - North American
Regretting You - Texas - North American
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory - United States - North American
Eragon - Fictional Setting
My Sister's Keeper - Rhode Island - North American
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Various - All Continents
Authority - Fictional Setting
Normal People - Ireland - European
The Glass Castle - United States - North American
The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency - United States - North American
The Beautiful Lost - United States - North American
Virgin River - California - United States - North American
Greenlights - United States - North American
Shelter Mountain - California - United States - North American
Rage - United States - North American
Winter's Bone - Missouri - North American
Such a Fun Age - United States - North American
We Are the Ants - Florida - North American
The House of Kennedy - United States - North American
Rogue Protocol - Fictional Setting
The Silent Patient - England - European
The House in the Cerulean Sea - Fictional Setting

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

Reserved

I find myself plopping books in my spreadsheet that I made when the voting was going on. I'm figuring out how the books I've picked up used or on a sale this year will fit into the 2021 plan.

I feel like if I don't publish it here though it takes the pressure off................I don't know I guess we'll see.

I finished my first book of the year yesterday but I don't think I'm going to count it for the challenge. I read Shiny Broken Pieces which I really enjoyed and I guess I feel like it was a guilty pleasure book. There was a lot of drama but you also routed for the three girls telling the story and it was believable. It was a two book series and I think I liked the second book even more than the first.

Currently reading Station Eleven which is really different than I thought it would be so far. I'm 20% in and not sure if I'm going to like it or not.

I did the random word generator and I got really lucky with the words. See post above. I was able to slot Shiny Broken Pieces in the word generator spot with the word attack. Those ballerinas were doing all kinds of attacks on each other.

I finished Station Eleven. It was a lot different than I thought it was going to be. I ended up rating it 3 stars. There were too many characters for me to care about anyone enough in the book. It jumped around. I think since it was about a pandemic I would have like to see how it progressed in order instead of the way it jumped around. That might be because we are currently going through a pandemic that I wanted to see it that way.

I'm reading Girl, Interrupted now and should be finished with it soon. It's a nice easy interesting book. That way I should get ahead a little bit with the challenge. My reading has been a little dismal lately. I'm still really annoyed that I didn't complete the 2020 challenge by ONE book. So annoying.

2/52

Actually I changed my mind. I'm slotting Shiny Broken Pieces in a book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020.

I completed Girl, Interrupted. I really liked the book. It was pretty thought provoking. It was written really well and you cared about the characters. I rated it 4 stars. I watched the movie a long time ago. I'll have to watch it again.

I'm going to start Dear Martin next. I'm reading that one for the prompt about racism. I should be able to finish it quickly.

3/52

I went ahead and filled in some of the books that I'm pretty set on reading this year. Leaving a lot of gaps in case I change my mind on some of the other prompts. I do have a worksheet that is filled out with possibilities. I just don't want to commit to them by placing them in my plan yet.

I read Dear Martin which was fitting this week since Monday was Martin Luther King day. When I started the book on Sunday I didn't realize the character in the book was writing letters to Martin Luther King. I enjoyed the book. It wasn't maybe the best writing but it flowed and read quickly. I felt it got the characters sentiment across and how hard it is to be a young black man. I recommend the read. I thought The Hate U Give was more emotion provoking. I rated it 4 stars. The Hate U Give I rated 5 stars.

I think I'll read Don't You Cry next. I actually forgot I had the book. I found it last year laying on top of other books in my book shelf. It was up under the shelf where I couldn't see it.

I still have 8 more to read on the winter challenge. We'll see if I can get it done. None of the other books I have left to read are really short. I think they all are about 300 pages.

4/52

I read Don't You Cry pretty fast. It was a fun thriller to read. I never lost interest and I thought the book flowed super well. I didn't see the twists coming. I rated it 5 stars. I've been pretty stingy with 5 star reads lately so it shows how much I liked the book.

Part of what I wanted to do this year was read more thrillers and young adult books. I just find them a little more fun to read sometimes. I also have some series that I definitely want to complete this year. I'm going to read The End of Oz next so I can complete that series. I hope it is better than the third book was. Other series I want to finish this year are:

The Mortal Instruments
Annihilation (Southern Reach)
Red Rising

I have a couple of other series I never finished but I don't see how I'm going to fit them in this year. I'm happy with my progress this year so far.

5/52

Well I didn't mean to read the last prompt already but The End of Oz was a good fit for the prompt. I'm glad I read the series but it definitely wasn't one of the better series I've read. I rated this book three stars which I think was accurate. The third book in the series I also rated three stars but I think I should have rated that one more like two stars. Trying to figure out what to read next. I'm glad I'm still 2 books ahead.

6/52

I read two thrillers in a row and that was kinda fun. I've been missing reading a lot of thrillers. All Is Not Forgotten was written from a perspective that was kinda fun in the beginning but then got a little annoying towards the end. It did have a twist that I didn't completely see coming but it wasn't a total shocker. I ended up rating it 3 stars. It was a book I never heard of and I think I picked it up at Target as a Target book club read or something. I like to read books that aren't really talked about a lot because I feel like you don't know what to expect from it. It can be good and bad.

I Let You Go - I read this in a weekend. It was easy to read and I cared about the characters. It was a little confusing in the beginning because they led you to believe something and I'm not sure how that really got untangled in the book but I went with it. I rounded up from a 3.5 to a 4 just because it was a quick read and it had some creepy vibes. The foreshadowing in it was pretty obvious though but I guess maybe it was meant to be.

I'm reading Vanishing Girls now which is a YA mystery thriller so that should go quick as well. After that I'm going to read Everything I Never Told You and then I have Feed to read which I'm excited about. In my other Goodreads bookclub they do a secret santa and we send books and I was sent Feed and The Butterfly Garden. They aren't books that I would've picked up on my own but they look like exactly what I want to read. I'm so excited!!

8/52

I really enjoyed Vanishing Girls up till the ending. I wasn't thinking it was going to go in that direction and I guess those endings have been annoying me lately. The author did tie it up nicely though so that made it a little better. It was a quick read and I enjoyed the characters. I ended up rating it 4 stars. It was almost a 5 star.

9/52

I completed Paris for One and Other Stories. It was a quick easy read and I enjoyed the stories. Sometimes when I read short stories I get confused on the endings but these were pretty clear. It didn't leave you completely guessing like I feel some short stories do. I rated it 4 stars.

I guess I'm going to read Everything I Never Told You next. I have to read that and finish up A Promised Land for the winter challenge.

10/52

I completed Everything I Never Told You. I thought the writing was pretty and the characters were defined really well. You ended up routing for everyone. They mystery kept you turning the pages. I rated it 4 stars. I'm glad I finally read it.

I also read The 100 and I read it for the winter challenge as well as the annual challenge. I wasn't going to be able to complete A Promised Land in time to complete the winter challenge so I had to find another book for O. I ended up rating it 3 stars. It really wasn't written all that well but I enjoyed the story and you did care about the characters. It left you with a cliffhanger so I will continue on with the series.

Reading Nine Perfect Strangers and then The Night Circus. After that I'm hoping to read Feed.

I'm happy that I'm 4 ahead in the challenge. I've been trucking through some books lately. Most of the ones I have just read have been right around 300 pages and it has been easy to get through them.

12/52

Slowed down a little bit this week and I couldn't decide what to read so I'm reading Feed and Nine Perfect Strangers at the same time.

Well I completed Nine Perfect Strangers. It definitely was not one of my favorites of hers. I rated it 3 stars. It took too weird of a turn for me and there were too many characters. I only have two more of her books to read but I think I need a break for a little bit. The last few have not been favorites of mine. The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot were my favorites of hers. The others I have read were just ok.

I haven't really gotten into Feed yet. I read the first two chapters and it does seem like it is going to grab me. I'm hoping it is good.

13/52

I listened to A Promised Land on audio. I loved that it was narrated by him. I love the words he uses. His writing is so eloquent. True to form though he is long winded. It only went through maybe half of his presidency and it was 700 some pages. I would recommend it though. It's a nice recap from his prospective.

I'm also almost done Feed. This has been a fun book so far. I didn't know what to expect. Someone gave it to me as a secret santa gift from another group on Goodreads.

14/52

I really enjoyed Feed. I believe that was my first zombie book and I was glad it wasn't gory. It was written in 2010 and the zombie pandemic in spots correlated a little bit with how we are living now with covid. I found that interesting. Made the book more believable for me. I don't know what I would have thought before covid happened. Since it is the first book of a 4 book series (view spoiler)[ I wasn't expecting the main character to get killed off at the end. That made is more shocking to me. (hide spoiler)]. I mostly liked the ending. I have a few complaints about the ending but overall really well done. I rated it 4 stars because I felt a couple parts might have dragged and might not have been needed. Maybe also I was a little lost while reading but caught up through the context of the story.

Reading The Road next which seems to have won a lot of awards. It looks like it will be a quick read and am hoping to have it completed this weekend.

I've also started listening to Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. Some parts so far have been laugh out loud funny and all the while I'm learning about what it was like growing up in South Africa.

15/52

I read The Road this weekend. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it for something different. It didn't put dialogue in quotation marks and I found that hard to get used to at first. Also they didn't use apostrophes for don't. There weren't any chapters marked or parts of the book. I thought that part went along with the story though because it seemed like one day just blended into the next for the characters and the non definition of chapters or parts in the book I think emphasized that feeling. Once again though I didn't like the ending although I rated it 4 stars.

I think I'm going to read The Light We Lost next. After a zombie book and post apocalyptic book I feel like I might need a romance.

I'm glad I've been keeping ahead of the challenge so far. I should also be able to complete Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood this week as well as The Light We Lost. Next week I'm off on vacation and we are going away a couple of days but I should be able to read in the evenings. I have been enjoying by book selections more this year. I hope that continues throughout the year.

16/52

So I read The Light We Lost. I really liked the way it was written up until the end. It drew me in and I liked the characters up until the end. It left too many unanswered questions and I was just mad. Well, I guess it left one unanswered question but it was a big one. I dropped my rating to a 3 due to that.

Not sure what to read next. Hoping for something not to piss me off. At least I'm four books ahead and I should finish Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood in the next day or so.

17/52

Finished listening to Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. It was such a good audio book and I learned so much about South Africa and what it was like to grow up there. Some really important life stories in there and how to overcome adversity. I rated it 5 stars.

I guess I'm going to read The Butterfly Garden next. I am excited to read it. Maybe the timing is bad for me to read it now. I don't know. I'm just glad I'm 5 books ahead.

18/52

Wow - so I read The Butterfly Garden. I thought it was really good. I almost rated it five stars but I held back just because it took awhile to get into. I decided to continue with the series. It wasn't a book that I picked up on my own. I received it in a secret santa exchange along with Feed. I'm so happy these books were picked for me. It has got me out of my normal slump of books that I read. Both books were dark which I guess I like overall. I tend to like gothic books for classics so it would make sense that I like these books. The Butterfly Garden was about a guy that held women captive and it stayed away from a cozy mystery which I'm not a fan of. I really don't like detective books but this came at it from a victim's retelling. The next book follows the detectives to a different case and I hope it stays with the same perspective as this one did. I just ordered the next book it should be here tomorrow. I'll have to make room in my plan for it.

Planning on reading The Way I Used to Be next. It looks like it will be a quick read.

I'm happy I'm 5 books ahead. Hoping to be 6 books ahead and then maybe I'll tackle some of these longer books that I have to read.

19/52

I completed The Way I Used to Be last night. I really enjoyed the read and would have read it much faster if it wasn't a busy week. I didn't want to put it down but I had to. I thought it told the story very well of the heartbreak that happens to a person after they've been violated. It is a young adult book but I feel an important one to read. I ended up rating it 5 stars. It made me cry and I had lots of emotions reading it and it won't be a book I forget.

I decided to read The Good Son next for the Warwick prompt. I had put it on my list back in 2018 to read probably after I read some list of books that were suggested. I like the fact that it has under 7,000 ratings on Goodreads. I feel like it will be more of a surprise that way. I think it was the only book on my tbr that qualified for this prompt. I physically bought the book to read for the challenge.

I'm trying to read books that I already have this year for the challenge or books that were already on my tbr. But of course I get sidetracked with other books. I either find them on sale, used or someone gives me some books. One of my guilty pleasures however is buying books that are Netflix series. I say that I have to read the book before I watch the series. And then half the time I read the book but don't end up watching the series.

I couldn't be happier that I'm still five books ahead in this challenge. The Good Son is just over 300 pages so it shouldn't take me long to read. My average book I've read this year is 345 pages. The average is a little higher than normal for me.

20/52

Well now I'm 6 books ahead. I could not put down The Good Son. I read it for the Warwick prize and I don't think I would have picked it up otherwise. I'm so glad I read it. It was definitely a dark book. The suspense never let up. It was a really good thriller and I rated it 5 stars. It hooked you from the beginning.

I definitely need to read something happy. The last three books were pretty dark. Although I do tend to like those books but it is spring and maybe I should try a romance or something. For the spring challenge I have Horns, The Wives and The Royal Secret. Horns and The Wives look pretty dark so I'm guessing I'm going to go with The Royal Secret.

21/52

Well I threw Beneath the Sugar Sky into my plan because they were doing it for buddy reads in another group. It was a quick read and I wanted to continue with the series. I liked this book better than the other books. Although maybe 3/4 of the way I got a little bored with the Confectioner's World which is why I ended up rating it only three stars. The other books I rated three stars as well but this one I feel I rounded down from four stars. I liked the character Cora. I enjoyed her storyline. I'll probably read the next book in the series at some point but I'm not dying to run out and get it or anything. This book was nice for a distraction.

22/52

So I tried to listen to Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt for prompt 11 - the Egyptian Musuem. It was horrible. I only got 20% in and I wasn't listening to a word of it. I'll have to find something else for that prompt. I always liked learning about Egypt as a child and I thought that would be a fun way to go but it was boring as crap.

I started listening to A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and it is the complete opposite of boring. I'm really enjoying it.

I loved listening to A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. It was a really fun audio. I've been to a number of places on the trail so that made it fun to listen to as well. The best parts were with his hiking partner Katz. Those parts were hilarious. I did learn about the parks too and even the ones that I'd already been to. It was interesting and there were some things that I didn't know. I rated it 4 stars but it was close to a 5 star.

23/52

Well I was able to complete two books today. The Royal Secret was not all that great. I did give it three stars because I was trying to figure out the mystery. I got the gist of the royal secret but there just seemed to be too many characters and I'm not sure I cared about any of them all that much. In the end I'm confused who took part in the secret and I kind of guessed the secret to begin with. It was still an ok read. I wouldn't go out and recommend this book but it was ok entertainment. The other thing about the book is I felt it could have ended earlier and maybe that would have made it less confusing. Too many things and people were being thrown into the plot. I think the author was trying to make it juicy. In the end the romances didn't really do anything for me. I'm throwing it in the comfort read spot. It is the type of book that is my go to book when I want something entertaining.

24/52

I've been adding more and more books into my plan where as I was leaving them blank at first. I still have some I'm not sure what I'm going to read for the prompt and I feel like they are the prompts I can slot the books I want to read on a whim.

I used to have a goal of reading 12 classics a year but last year and this year I have been slack on that. I'm currently reading Northanger Abbey and it has got me wanting to add more classics to my plan this year. I now want to re-read all of Austen's books but I will have to do that if I end the challenge early. I slotted Lady Chatterly's Lover in slot 51. I'm trying to read books I already have which is kind of a joke because I seem to pick up a book a week on sale or I pick one up that says "new Netflix series coming out based on book". So, I end up reading the book and I hardly ever watch the series because I just end up reading another book. My daughter laughs at me for it.

It has been a great reading year so far. I feel re-energized on reading books. Northanger Abbey is reading pretty quickly. I should have it done in a couple of days if not less.

I completed Northanger Abbey finally. It took me longer to read. I felt like I liked the first half of the book much better than the second half. The second half of the book dragged for me. I did like the antics of John Thorpe. I thought it added some fun to the story. Not my favorite Austen book but I still found it very enjoyable. I love the way she writes. I rated it four stars which is likely rounded up from a 3.5.

Planning on reading The Wives next. I think it will go pretty quickly and then I'll have my spring challenge completed. I've dropped to six books ahead instead of 7 but I'm going to listen to a few short ones on audio that should help me get back to 7 books ahead. I'd like to complete the challenge early this year and just do some fun reading after that or reading that will catch me up or complete some of the series that I'm stuck in the middle of.

25/52

Well I'm halfway through the challenge. I'm excited I'm this ahead. The Wives was a fun thriller to read. I couldn't put it down once I started. I wasn't a fan of the ending and that's why I gave it four stars and not five stars.

I can't decide what to read next since my spring challenge is also completed. Maybe a romance next. I'm not sure.

26/52

I'm laughing so hard at myself. I've been struggling finding a book I liked for prompt #3 - my favorite things. I wanted something on the cover of the book. Well I just realized my copy of Between Shades of Gray has snowflakes on eyelashes. How perfect is that????????????????????? Why didn't I realize this before?

I listened to Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt for prompt 11. I was having a hard time finding a book and I do like learning about Egypt. There was a lot of information and the reader was really excited about it but I just don't think I was in the mood. I didn't retain too much. I gave it three stars. Kind of rounded up from 2.5 probably.

27/52

I completed Horns last night. It kind of took me awhile to get through and the end went a lot slower for me. I thought the first three quarters was pretty good but the end fell apart for me. I still rated it 4 stars but mostly rounded up from a 3.5. I liked how the character could read mind. I never really saw the connection of why he started turning into the devil. I felt like he should have come across something that would explain why he was that way and I felt like that didn't happen or I missed it or something.

Reading Between Shades of Gray next. I think it will go quickly. I'm somewhat trying to go in order of the list for the rest of the challenge but it depends on some library holds and the two audios I have left are at the bottom of the list so but I'll be listening to them sooner.

28/52

I didn't do that well for the read-a-thon but I'm currently ahead 8 books which makes me happy. I should be finishing White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism this week as well so I should remain 8 ahead for at least a week. Some of the other books I have coming up are longer so I'm expecting to take a little while with them.

Between Shades of Gray - This was really informative about a part of the war that I didn't know about. I thought this book was really interesting. I just didn't completely connect with the characters. I thought I would have had more emotion reading it and that is why I rated it 4 stars. I do highly recommend the book.

In my other book group I'm reading Eragon so I guess I'll slot that in somewhere in my plan. I also plan on reading The Mothers next which will knock out prompt 5. I got it from the library this week.

29/52

I scared myself for a minute. I thought I accidentally deleted my first post with my plan in it. Thank goodness I did not!

I just completed The Mothers. This was an unexpected heartfelt book that I really loved. I rated it 5 stars. I put her other book on my list to read as well and hoping I can get to it this year. The characters were really good in it and the story was told with a lot of emotion. It didn't perfectly tie up the ending but with this book it works. I recommend reading this book.

Well I'm trying to go in order for the rest of the list. There are still some prompts that I don't know what I'm reading but I have a somewhat idea. I am stuck on the ice prompt. I actually had a book but I must have gave it away or I misplaced it. It was actually horror genre which several years ago I thought I wouldn't read again but I should know how fickle I am. The deck of cards prompt I had Red Queen but I really don't want to start another series this year before I finish some other ones so I replaced it with Virgin River which I just realized is a series..........Ha Ha. But I want to read it so I can watch the series. One of the main characters is Jack so it works and I wanted to work that book in this year.

I'm supposed to be reading Eragon for a buddy read this month but I'm not feeling it yet. I guess I'll slot it in the magic prompt. For buddy reads and audios I'm going out of order but for the rest I'd like to read in order. I'm 8 books ahead and I should finish my audio tomorrow of White Fragility so I'll be 9 ahead. I'm glad I'm ahead and I hope I can stay that way. My plan is to finish up some other series after I'm done reading this challenge this year.

30/52

I had to run out and do a bunch of errands so I completed White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism while I was out. It made me look at things a different way than I previously had. It was a good book. I rated it 3 stars just because I thought the audio itself was dull. I think for this one if I read the book I would have gotten even more out of it.

31/52