Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This prompt is perfect for catching up or slowing down in the challenge. Maybe the first few months were rough for you, and you need a short book that will help you catch up on the challenge. Maybe you're already 8 books ahead for the year and you are able to throw in a longer novel that you can sink your teeth into. Either way, this prompt has what you need.

Suggestions:
Books You Can Read in a Day: https://celadonbooks.com/short-books/
More Books You Can Read in Day: https://bibliolifestyle.com/25-short-...
Short Books for Busy People: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/th...
50 Books Under 250 Pages: https://bookriot.com/best-short-books/

50 Best Contemporary Novels Over 500 Pages: https://lithub.com/the-50-best-contem...
40 Incredibly Long Books: https://secretmiami.com/worlds-longes...
17 Long Books: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...
The Best Long Books for a Good Read: https://www.themanual.com/culture/bes...

ATY Listopias:
Short Book: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Long Book: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt, and do you have any recommendations?

Long books that I thought were absolutely worth all of their many pages:

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

And a few short books that I loved:
The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager
West by Carys Davies
A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

I found the short book prompt so difficult in 2021, so I'll probably be going with a long book for this prompt (unless a book magically falls in my lap at the right time, since I'm reading in order).

I also often find the shorter book prompts more challenging (I regularly read long books), so might challenge myself with another short one for 2022. And in fact, the two books I am considering for Prompt #1 with a Y character name, The Vegetarian and This Is How You Lose Her, are also both under 220 pages! So now I can definitely incorporate both books into my challenge.

Three shorties I read for the 2021 challenge and really liked/loved were Human Acts, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, and Assembly for other people looking for the less than 220 options!

I feel this is a perfect spot to fit in a Tor novella. Some of my favourites have been:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander

On the other length, I was pleasantly surprised with House of Earth and Blood this year, and am planning to read the sequel, which I imagine will be just as chunky.

If I go short, I'm thinking either Almost a Bride or Picnic at Hanging Rock.

If I go long, then my possibilities are Grown Ups or The House by the River.

For a short book this year I read Einstein's Dreams because my son is in marching band and their show is based on the book. It's a little all over the place though (their show is too, lol) and I didn't love it.

For a long book this year I'm in the middle of It.

For this one, I'm going to be reading Cannery Row, which seems to be 181 or 192 depending on the edition.

I don't read short books very often, but some longer standalones I'd recommend are:
Possession
More Than This
East of Eden

Illuminae is also a great option for a longer book that's very fast-paced and a little bit out of the ordinary.

I ᕼᗩᐯE ᗩ ᗷOOK📕 I'ᗰ ᖇEᗩᗪIᑎG TᕼᗩT'ᔕ ᗰOᖇE ᑭᗩGEᔕ TᕼEᑎ TᕼᗩT

Sydney, I LOVED the whole Illuminae trilogy. I read them last November, then listened to them on audio in September. Both versions were fantastic but the print just really kept me captivated. And you're right... a fantastic long book that reads super quickly.

Here are some books that are less than 220 pages:

Jimmy The Kid
Remake
A Stab in the Dark: A Novel of Suspense
Lady, Lady, I Did It!
A Family Affair
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Number the Stars
Kitchen

I have read all of these less than 220 and am not sure what I'll end up reading. I've got to look through my lists. I'll let you know when I decide.

More than 440 Pages:
Raintree County
Florence Nightingale

I love novellas so I’ll probably go with a book under 220 pp. Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers is my first choice, if I don’t read it this year. I like to wander the library stacks looking for a thin book! One I recommend, that I found this way, is Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska. Some other recommendations: Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (Jewish Author), Montana 1984 by Larry Watson (rural setting), and short story Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov (non-human character, no person on cover- depending on your edition). I have tons of books over 440 pages so that option is really easy.

Some choices for short or long books:

Over 440 pages
Portrait of a Lady - Henry James 548p
Consuelo: A Romance of Venice - George Sand 868p
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese 541p

Fewer than 220 pages
Dubliners - James Joyce 207p
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor 193p
Infinite Country - Patricia Engel 191p

I have way too many long books I already want to read for other categories, so I decided to use this one to force me to go short. I think it's time I finally read Of Mice and Men.

<220
The Nickel Boys
News of the World

>440
The Name of the Wind

I'm going with a short one: Daddy-Long-Legs

either Can't Escape Love, for a short option, or finish The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage for a long one.

I am reading A Rope in Case by Lillian Beckwith. I can recommend The Loud Halo, Lightly Poached, and Beautiful Just, all short books by Lillian Beckwith about a Scottish island.

I read The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Right after reading Erdrich's The Sentence. Have so many thoughts...

I read Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente. It was a short novella (106 pages).

Just finished Don De Lillo "The Silence", and checked whether it would fit a prompt. Success!

Gianfranco Calligarich Der letzte Sommer in der Stadt
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read The Core by Peter V. Brett (783 pages)

Read A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. It's definitely in the "less than 220 pages" camp. Maybe 130ish pages. It's a Fractured fairytale based on Sleeping Beauty.

Less then 220 pages:
✔The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren, 210 Pages
✔When We Cease to Understand the World, 192 pages

More than 440 pages:
✔Greenwood by Michael Christie, 528 pages
✔The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki, 548 pages
The Overstory by Richard Powers, 502 pages

I read (less than 220):
What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle - 4* - My Review

A good place to throw in some graphic novels- I'll do this one more than once. My choice is Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill, but I also read Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir for one of my other challenges, so doubled up until I can my hands on the other, AND I'll go ahead and read Camp before I return it to the library, since I already read the first in the series. I enjoyed Tomboy and passed it along to my daughter despite the F bombs and smoking... I think she can identify with the first half right now, since she is currently more comfortable dressing in baggy/ more boyish clothes and that is making her feel a little strange around her friends who are still in pink and unicorns :-) She questions what that means for her and I think this book gives a great message about not needing to follow gender norms ( confusing idea right now for kiddos her age)

I mainly listen to audiobooks. Does anyone know how to convert audiobook length to pages?

Udari wrote: "I mainly listen to audiobooks. Does anyone know how to convert audiobook length to pages?"

Different audiobook readers read at quite different speeds and there isn't really a precise formula; I would just look up the books you're interested in here on Goodreads and see how many pages the main or default edition is.

Begun working on The Stand.

One of King’s veritable door stoppers. Even listening to it on audiobook and at double speed it would take almost a full 24hrs to get through. This will take awhile.

A timely tale at any rate.

Adam wrote: "Begun working on The Stand.

One of King’s veritable door stoppers. Even listening to it on audiobook and at double speed it would take almost a full 24hrs to get through. This will t..."

Worth the time!!! My absolute favorite book! Enjoy.

I read Silas Marner by George Eliot which had 206 pages.

I read Spear by Nicola Griffith (192 pages). I'd definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes books about King Arthur/British history. I am normally left feeling unsatisfied by shorter books but this one was the perfect length, and told a simple story in a really vivid way.

I used My Dear Friend Janet by Keke Palmer. This is an Amazon stories that is the first in a series. I loved it!

I read Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket for this prompt. This surprisingly philosophical piece was only 158 pages.

What are you reading for this prompt?
I read The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon. This had 144 pages.

I read Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr — 656 pages.

This book is good for people who enjoy multiple genres. The story is told in 3 different timelines, so the book is sort of a mix of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and sci-fi.

I recently heard about Recitatif and was so intrigued that I wanted to read it right away and it is just under 100 pages so a good fit for this prompt. I had a bit of a hard time finding the right version on goodreads here is the location: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

This is a short story by Toni Morrison that was part of an anthology published in the early 80's. It was just republished for the first time as a short story. There is something about the two characters that made me that made me want to read it but I would have loved going into it knowing nothing. There is also an interesting intro written by Zadie Smith. If you want to go into the story blind don't read this first come back to it. Do be sure to go back to it as the interesting thing about the story may not (probably won't) be apparent.

I chose a Stephen King one for this prompt. The Outsider. It was 561 pages. I was originally going to go with a short book but I wanted to fit this book in somewhere. It was pretty good. I haven't read his books in awhile and it was fun going back to his writing.

For a short book I'd recommend 84, Charing Cross Road. I can't think of any others right now.

I thought I was going to go the "easy" route with a novella...but no, I picked up Middlemarch on a whim and it (surprisingly?) sucked me in. Here I come, 853 pages!

If anyone is still looking for a book City of Girls is over 440 pages.

I read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It was only 118 pages, but was absolutely fabulous. Excellent writing and a really tender story.

For this prompt I used the third book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy; Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor (613 pages). This was easily my favorite book in the trilogy and I admit I grieved a bit to realize that I wouldn't be able to read the future laid out in front of these characters. I definitely recommend this series. <3

I read When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, which had 188 pages.

Although it was a short book, it took time to read, as it deals with the lives of quantum physicists. Despite this not being my subject at all, it was a very interesting book but sad - they all seemed to have unhappy lives. I did understand more about the subject when I'd finished it, so it achieved more than some programmes I'd watched.

I read A Holiday by Gaslight. It's 175 pages long

I read House of Sky and Breath which is 768 pages in print according to google, on my e-reader it was 801 pages not including acknowledgements. The first book in the Crescent City House of Earth and Blood series is also more than 440 pages.

I chose a short one this time, a quirky tale set in a picturesque sea town in Wales called The Jeweller by Caryl Lewis. Only 175 pages, the story was well written and well translated, with bits of tragedy, magic, nature and happiness sprinkled throughout. I'd like to read more by this author in the future.

i really went the easy route -- was poking around my library's website and noticed that John Lewis' March: Book One was available. this is a graphic novel under 220. So interesting and well done! I will definitely pick up Books Two and Three.

I read The Cult of We: Wework, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion by Eliot Brown.

I recommend If Cats Disappeared from the World, The Westing Game, Tender is the Flesh, and Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood.

I read Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir

I read Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro. I picked it up as an Amazon first several years ago and picked it because it fit the prompt at 167 pages.

It's an interesting coming of age novel about a Korean-Japanese teen as he navigates his world. It is a fairly violent novel, as the racism he faces as an outsider even though he was born in Japan has him both giving and receiving violence.

For other short novels, I'd highly recommend A Psalm for the Wild-Built (160 pages). For a light read, Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (157 pages) is fun, and the movie is coming out this year.

For long books, I'd recommend Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II (640 pages), Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (586 pages), and Gaudy Night (501 pages).