Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Anna wrote: "You haven't been updating your plan lately, Val!
Thanks for commenting on mine, :)"

Anna wrote: "You haven't been updating your plan lately, Val!
Thanks for commenting on mine, :)"

Val’s Pinch of This and That, but Growing! 2021 Plan
📖 = Reading ✓ = Read (*) = Need to read

✓ 1. A book related to “In the Beginning...”: ✓ The First Mrs. Rothschild by Aharoni

✓ 2. A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T, or Y: ✓ Three Men in A Boat by Jerome; ✓ Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg

✓ 3. A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music: ✓ The Pull of the Moon by Berg

✓ 4. A book with a monochromatic cover: ✓The Village Idiots: Part I by Alexi; ✓ *The Queen’s Gambit by Tevis;✓ The Village Idiots: Part II; ✓ The Village Idiots: Part III by Alexi#


✓ 5. A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read: ✓ The Vanishing Half by Bennett; ✓ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo; ✓ Deacon King Kong by McBride

✓ 6. A love story: ✓ Oscar and Lucinda by Carey; ✓ The Trouble with Hating You by Patel


✓ 7. A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list(A book I meant to read in 2020): ✓ The Girl in the Tree by İşigüzel

✓ 8. A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited: ✓ Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Strauch; ✓How to Raise an Elephant by Smith; ✓* The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa

✓ 9. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year: ✓ Good-bye, Paris by Harris

✓ 10. A book with a female villain or criminal: ✓ My Sister the Serial Killer by Braithwaite

✓ 11. A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum: ✓ Black Dove, White Raven by Wein

✓ 12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation: The Braid by Colombani

✓ 13. A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020: ✓ Stardust by Gaiman; ✓Britt-Marie Was Here by Backman, ✓ The Man with the Silver Saab by McCall Smith


✓ 14. A book set in a made-up place: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Bradley

✓ 15. A book that features siblings as the main characters: ✓ The Missing Sister by Elle Marr

✓ 16. A book with a building in the title: ✓ Glass Houses by Penny

✓ 17. A book with a Muslim character or author: I am Malala by Yousafzai

✓ 18. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1: Oil and water by Storey

✓ 19. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2: ✓ Becoming by Obama

✓ 20. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3: ✓ This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing by Winspear

✓21. A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u": The Muse by Jessie Burton; ✓A Man Without A Country by Vonnegut

✓ 22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads: ✓ The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Richardson

✓ 23. A cross-genre novel: Worth A Thousand Words by Young

✓ 24. A book about racism or race relations: A Drop of Midnight by Diakite

✓ 25. A book set on an island: ✓ The Price of Paradise by Rubio; ✓ *Euphoria by King; ✓ Love Lettering by Clayborn


✓ 26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author: ✓ The House on Mango Street by Cisneros

✓ 27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards: Winter by Meyers; ✓ *The Night Watchman by Erdrich


✓28. A book connected to the ice: ✓ I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Bradley

✓ 29. A book that you consider comfort reading: ✓ Greek Village Cooking by Alexi; ✓ The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by McCall Smith#; ✓ The Chocolate Lovers’ Club by Matthews#; ✓ Murders and Metaphors by Flower

✓30. A long book: Purge by Oksanen

✓ 31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years: ✓ Mr. Palomar by Calvino; ✓* Conversation in the Cathedral by Llosa

✓32. A book whose cover shows more than 2 people: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Talley

✓ 33. A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry: The Best American Essays 2013 edited by Strayed

✓ 34. A book with a travel theme: The Woman on the Orient Express by Ashford

✓ 35. A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Moreno-Garcia

✓ 36. A book with six or more words in the title:✓ The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover by Wittig; ✓ Love, Lies, and Hocus, Pocus: Legends by Sherrer

✓ 37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list: ✓ The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Barbery

✓38. A book related to a word given by a random word generator: Slime: ✓Speaking from Among the Bones by Bradley


✓ 39. A book involving an immigrant: Stardust by Gaiman

✓ 40. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover: ✓ The Self-Effacing Man by Alexi: ✓ Flower Diary by Peacock

✓ 41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author: ✓ When the Moon Was Ours by McLemore

✓ 42. A mystery or thriller: ✓ Cave of Bones by Hillerman; ✓ The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by Kinsey#; ✓ Custom-Made Murder by Bell#; ✓Kingdom of the Blind by Penny


✓43. A book with elements of magic: Magic Lessons by Hoffman

✓ 44. A book whose title contains a negative: ✓ A Woman of No Importance by Purnell

✓45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet: Circling the Sun by McLain

46. A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards: Hamnet by O’Farrell; ✓The Switch by O’Leary

✓47. A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography, or memoir:✓ The Man Who Played with Fire by Stocklassa; ✓ Catalina Mountains: A Guide by Rose

✓ 48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?”: The Secret Life of Lobsters by Corson

✓49. A book with an ensemble cast: Salt to the Sea by Sepetys; ✓ Black as He’s Painted by Marsh; ✓ Hand in Glove by Marsh


✓50. A book published in 2021: Those Who Run Toward Fire by Backman, ✓ Confessions of a Curious Bookseller by Green


✓51. A book whose title refers to a person(s) without giving their name: The Last Passenger by Finch

✓52. A book related to "the end": A Children’s Bible by Millet; ✓Y Is For Yesterday by Grafton; ✓ Y Is For Yesterday by Grafton; ✓ An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Bierce

Week 8: My first review of the year. How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith. All of the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency books have problems gently solved. That is their draw. They give their reader something serious, important, and humane to think about as they read and for days afterward.

Week 36: A book with more than 6 words in the title is part of a series I became acquainted with through Instagram. Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherreris an enjoyable series. I like that it has magic and that wizards and witches can exist in a normal world with normal people and have normal problems. I like that there is a romance, but that the two people attracted to one another do not hop into bed and to pornography at the drop of a wand. BTW, there are no wands! In the third book, Lily and Sebastian are joined by more magical beings with the objective of finding the tomb and hibernating form of Morgan LeFay before Lily's dastardly father and his crew. Again, they win, but they aren't prepared for what happens next. And so we move on to another book. See you in a week or two, Lily!

Week 4: A book with a monochromatic cover. What do you do when you have only one constant in your life? What do you do when you keep losing emotional support? What do you do when you are only 8 and this happens? You find a rope tie a know in it and hang on? The rope? Chess. What do you do when that is not enough? Beth does as many do; she turns to drugs and alcohol. Still it was not enough. All her wins were not enough. In the end, she discovers that Chess can have warmth, compassion, and love. How does she find that? Silly, you have to read the book to find out.

Week 52: I could never resist going to the back of the book to see how it ends. I read this for the ATY 2021 Reading Challenge Week 52: a book related to The End

Sue Grafton has been one of my go-to authors for years. I love the idea of Kinsey Milhone's snug little apartment and her friends in the neighborhood young and old. Also, all her different investigation jobs over the years. And so it ends so sadly. The alphabet ends at Y and Sue dies of cancer at far too young an age. Kinsey's aging, but vital, landlord and his family seem to go on. Kinsey goes on. And we readers cannot help but wonder what their lives are like now that we are no longer peeping Toms in their lives. I have a stack of parts of the alphabet waiting for me in my reading niche, so I can remember the years that have gone by before with Kinsey, Henry, Rose, and Sue. Would you care for a class of box wine while you join us?

Week 4: I read this book for the ATY 2021 Reading Challenge Week 4: Monochromatic cover.

Two men who are more childlike than adult inherit a tour boat. (I wondered at the beginning if the lawyer was having a bit of fun with them.) Spiros and Takis have little of their own and are looked after by the other villagers. When they inherit this "yacht" from George, they think they have it made for the rest of their lives. The reality soon sinks in as they discover their money maker is really a money drain. What will they do to get out from under this new burden? Sell it? Lose it? Sink it? Oh, dear! Two more books await. In India, they celebrate the Village Idiot because they take the burden of that role from other people. Do they feel the same in Greece?

I read this book for the ATY 2021 Reading Challenge Week 5: a book from the USA Today list of Black authors you should read.

Week 5: I read this book in December for my book club. I read this book again in January. This is definitely one of those books that get better each time you read it. I better understood each character and their motivation and role in the book as a whole. It is such a good book, btw! Each character had a special fascination. Plot: some say there is none, just as there is very little punctuation. However, the beginning is Amma worrying about her play and thinking about her journey. Then, the other characters come in as they have touched her life and the lives of the rest of the characters. In the end, we see the play as a hit. And loose ends are tied up in a lovely heart-warming way. Some say a Hollywood ending, but I loved it anyway.

Week 5: a book for the USA Today list of Black authors you should read.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride Oh my, this book takes you on quite a ride! It is full of culture...the culture of African-Americans in a big city. It also reminds you of the cultures from which they came. Colorful, humorous, survival, oppression, a tender love story, drugs, religion, and mystery...if you are looking for any of these things in a story, you will be blown away by what you find here. The sentence/paragraph on cheese alone is worth the price you paid for the book. You will also find despair and anger and, always, people looking for a better life. The great debate is how will it stand the test of time.

I read this book for the ATY 2021 Reading Challenge Week 6: a love story. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

Ha!!! I think of a love story as something completely opposite to what I read. This is a powerful story of life in the 1800s in Australia. Oscar and Lucinda have a deep love and are prone to take huge risks. This is the story of the biggest risk of all.

I read this book for the ATY 2021 Reading Challenge Week 1: a book related to "In the beginning." The First Mrs. Rothschild by Sara Aharoni.

In the beginning, there was Meir Rothschild in the Jewish ghetto in Frankfort. A young man with a dream and the brains to realize it. And there was Gutle, who watched for him through the only window in her home. This is a love story. It is also a historical fiction of Guteleh's life as his wife, the mother of his 10 children, and her deep love and support of Meir as he built a financial dynasty. One amazing fact: These 10 children were the ones that lived from her 20+/- pregnancies. She lived to 97 years of age. A thoroughly amazing woman!

Valerie wrote: "Week 5: a book for the USA Today list of Black authors you should read.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride Oh my, this book takes you on quite a ride! It is full of ..."

Valerie - I just read The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, the story of James McBride's growing up. It was interesting to see all the things from his real life that had gone into Deacon King Kong, which I think was my favorite book last year.

Lizzy wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Week 5: a book for the USA Today list of Black authors you should read.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride Oh my, this book takes you on quite a ride..."

Thank you Lizzy for your comments. Now I will add another book to my TBR list.

You haven't been updating your plan lately, Val!
Thanks for commenting on mine, :)

Anna wrote: "You haven't been updating your plan lately, Val!
Thanks for commenting on mine, :)"
I am up-to-date now! I am also finished, although it took some adjustments to get there.