Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

One of the best features of this reading challenge is the community that has sprung up around it. With literally thousands of Goodreads members in this group, you're bound to find someone who has a similar taste in books as yourself. This week, take a stroll through our Best Books of the Month threads to find a recommendation given by another member of this group.

You can find all of our Best Books of the Month threads in our Monthly Discussions folder. If you're looking for a challenge, try to pair your reading with the same month that the person recommended the book in!

Listopias:
Owing to the size of the group we'll start a new listopia for all of the 2022 best books, but both the 2021 and 2022 lists are fair game for this week's prompt.
2021: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
2022: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading this week? What books would you recommend?

I love this prompt. So many interesting choices.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Deacon King Kong
Our Souls at Night
Abigail
Writers & Lovers
The Chosen and the Beautiful
Humankind: A Hopeful History
Black Sun
The Overstory
Home Fire
Six of Crows

I'm going to use one of the first books I read that is on the list. I made the mistake of using books on the list last year for other prompts and ended up having a really hard time completing the Book of the Month prompt since I don't move books around.

Who knows if I'll really read one of these three?! I keep adding and adding to my list.
Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I -
Our Souls at Night
The Girl with the Louding Voice

I highly recommend Half of a Yellow Sun. It seemed intimidating to me but it reads fast and is so interesting. I'm halfway through Home Fire and this one will also be one of my favorite books of the year.

I like the idea of The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor. There are a few others that caught my eye, but I think that's the one I will read.

Kathy wrote: "Who knows if I'll really read one of these three?! I keep adding and adding to my list.
Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I -
Our Souls at Night
[book..."

Oh, I keep adding more. Home Fire and Half a Yellow Sun have been on my tbr for along time. Thanks!

I've read 28 from the 2021 list, and have 8 on my TBR. Right now I have Klara and the Sun planned but since this prompt is toward the end of the year and I'm hoping to read in order, I may wait to see what next year brings.

The 2 that really jumped out at me were Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames and Safecracker: A Chronicle of the Coolest Job in the World. I have 13 total from the thread so far that I have added to my TBR but some of them are pretty far out of my comfort zone.

Angie wrote: "I like the idea of The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor. There are a few others that caught my eye, but I think that's the one I will read.

[bookcover:The Dire Days of Willowweep Mano..."

I *loved* that book! Strongly recommend!

I used a 2021 ATY best of the month thread pick (Hamnet) for this year's prompt, and I fully intend to do the same thing for 2022. I really like seeing what people are loving in the first few months of the year, and then picking one of those as my read. Adds a little serendipity when I am usually a plan oriented person!

Some I own and meant to read this year but didn't get to are

The Vanishing Half
The Midnight Library
Girl, Woman, Other
Migrations
Black Sun]
The Dictionary of Lost Words
Boyfriend Material

I'll be reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

This is one of my least-favourite prompts, because it's just choosing from a list with no opportunity to be creative, but there are some of my favourite books on there, so I have a big list of recommendations:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Half of a Yellow Sun
The Underground Railroad
All Systems Red
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Night Watch (how are there not more Discworld books on the list?!)
Nation
Instructions for a Heatwave
The Last Child
The Likeness (though I preferred the first in the series, In the Woods, which isn't on the list)
To Kill a Mockingbird

Some possibilities:

The Chain by by Adrian McKinty (posted in Jan 2021 by Bec)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Jan 2021 by Gail)

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar (March 2021 by Kendra)
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (March 2021 by Kathryn)

What are you reading this week?
I am reading Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight by Janet Evanovich

What books would you recommend?
I'd recommend To Kill a Mockingbird because it's a book that I've loved since I first read it in school.

What are you reading this week?
I read If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

This book has been compared with To Kill a Mockingbird. It is about racism and the justice system

Just updated the first post with a link to the 2022 listopia! A reminder: add your favorite books to the Best Book of the Month thread(s) first and then add them to the listopia if you want. The mods will also keep the listopia up to date as well. We just want the listopia to be an accurate reflection of those threads for easier browsing.

I read (and highly recommend):
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 5* - My Review

I read The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Excellent book.

I want to read
One Last Stop
Project Hail Mary
Fugitive Telemetry
Cemetery Boys
The Space Between Worlds
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Graveyard Shift
Book of Shadows

Currently reading Transcendent Kingdom and am going to put it here.

I read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. It was on my TBR list and was posted on the best book of the month thread in March 2021.

Such a good book. The way in which it deals with racism while being so entertaining brings home the thorough nastiness better than any polemic.

Read Project Hail Mary.

Super fun story about a severely desperate mission to save the Earth from a deadly threat. Andy Weir always presents interesting sci-fi stories.

I read Fangirl. My daughter had a copy of the book and I always wanted to read it. It was definitely cute. I'd recommend it.

This prompt isn't my favorite just because I have to look through all of the threads for research. I'm glad this book was listed though. It was a good representation of a freshman's first year at college I thought.

I've been wanting read The Vanishing Half. That was another book I considered for this prompt.

I finished The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See and would recommend it. I learned so much about Jeju Island, part of South Korea.

I'd also recommend Firekeeper's Daughter, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, and The Poet X.

I read Educated by Tara Westover. I highly recommend it.

I read The Office of Historical Corrections for this and it was fantastic. It will probably be my best book this month.

I read A Psalm for the Wild-Built

I read:

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, a powerful book about one girl’s struggle to get herself an education in Nigeria. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Here is my review

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult



Possibly my favourite prompt as its like a freebie

I just lucked out - went to the 2022 listopia to see what I wanted to read for this prompt, and I had just finished Firekeeper's Daughter today, and it was on the list! I highly recommend this book, my favorite for October. It’s about a young Native American/White woman who gets involved in trying to figure out who is dealing meth in her community after her best friend is killed by her ex, a meth addict. Loved the characters, especially the many strong women.

I read Hench. Thanks who ever put that on the list. I know the month has just started, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put it back on the list for 2022 because it was a fabulous read.

Dubhease wrote: "I read Hench. Thanks who ever put that on the list. I know the month has just started, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put it back on the list for 2022 because it was a fabulous read."

Thanks for posting this! Hench sounds great, I'm adding to my TBR!

Dubhease wrote: "I read Hench. Thanks who ever put that on the list. I know the month has just started, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put it back on the list for 2022 because it was a fabulous read."

I added Hench! Although I may not be the only one who did. Not the sort of thing I usually read, and I don't watch any of the Marvel or superhero type movies. But this sounded like an interesting take on that space, so I tried it. SO fun! Very glad that you enjoyed it also :)

Joan wrote: "I read Fangirl. My daughter had a copy of the book and I always wanted to read it. It was definitely cute. I'd recommend it.

This prompt isn't my favorite just because I have to lo..."

Joan, maybe you didn't notice that the mods create Listopias for each full year of ATY Best Book of the Month selections. Of course the 2022 selections won't be finished until later. It is SO much easier to use these gathered lists (see top of this discussion for links), but of course you don't get the reason WHY they are a favorite like you do in the individual month threads.

Hope this helps, as we'll be doing the same thing next year with 2022 and 2023.

This year proved a great reading year for the GR Challenge. So many four and five star reviews, but this, this BBOTM from 2021 is my new favorite: To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey. I can't wait to read Ms. Ivey's next great novel.

I'd also recommend:
A Tale for the Time Being
The Mercies
The Astonishing Color of After
Anatomy: A Love Story
The Cowboy and the Cossack

Thanks Stacey. I'd missed To The Bright Edge of the World, and it will make an ideal present for older daughter, who spent a very enjoyable semester at the University of Fairbanks.

I read The Overstory by Richard Powers which I found on the listopia.

Dubhease wrote: "I read Hench. Thanks who ever put that on the list. I know the month has just started, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put it back on the list for 2022 because it was a fabulous read."

@Dubhease - since you liked Hench, I want to suggest to you Sign Here by Claudia Lux. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like a similar idea — an antihero living a version of a typical life, but in Hell this time. I'm looking forward to trying it out when I need something on the light side!

Jackie wrote: "One of the best features of this reading challenge is the community that has sprung up around it. With literally thousands of Goodreads members in this group, you're bound to find someone who has a..."

I read Honey Girl and it was such a good love story.
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021 recommendations are: Kindred - can't wait for the tv series on Hulu later this month, Half of a Yellow Sun which has a wonderful movie adaptation, and The Hate U Give - another good movie. I like to watch the tv/movie version of the books I read. I get to compare the versions while I'm knitting.

2022 recommendations: The Nickel Boys, The Sentence, and Passing - this movie is so very good!