Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Ahoy! This week, you're searching your titles for a body of water. This can be general (ocean, sea, river) or specific (Atlantic, Mississippi, Thames). Set sail and let us know what you're reading!

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt? What books would you recommend?

When this prompt was voted in, I decided to do some research to see if I could find something more interesting than the obvious lake, sea, river, etc. And I found something new (to me, at least) - burn, which is a large stream or a small river. So for this prompt I am planning to read The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse.

I'm reading The House Across the Lake

I have these to pick from:
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
The Little Flower Shop by the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

dalex wrote: "And I found something new (to me, at least) - burn, which is a large stream or a small river...."

Burn is one of those words I didn't realise wasn't widely used till I moved. Growing up in southern Scotland it was just what we called a stream.

My top two choices are about the Amazon river.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon

Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction
Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation

These also look interesting. Has anyone read them?
The River
Damnation Spring
Death of a River Guide
Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (I saw the movie)
Along the Toms River

I'm reading The House by the Lake: A Story of Germany. I like reading about the history of houses and the families who lived there, and this fits well with my European theme for this challenge.

I have a few that I've read that would fit that I would also recommend:
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingells Wilder
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingells Wilder

I have two on my TBR that I am considering for this prompt:
I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
The Same River Twice by Alice Walker

dalex wrote: "When this prompt was voted in, I decided to do some research to see if I could find something more interesting than the obvious lake, sea, river, etc. And I found something new (to me, at least) - ..."

Burn fits, but "Burning" isn't a body of water, is it? Sear, search, and Seabiscuit aren't bodies of water either. The prompt asks for a word that is a body of water, not a word -with all the letters contained in a word -for a body of water.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
Under the Bayou Moon
Catch and Kill
(Kill is a Dutch word for stream.)

Options:
The Sea Wolf
The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea
The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas
Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe

Recommendations:
Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
The Light Between Oceans

Judy wrote: "My top two choices are about the Amazon river.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
[bo..."

The Perfect Storm is one of my all-time favorite books and movies. I highly recommend it.

I'm adding your Tom Rivers book to my list. I was considering Paradise Falls, which might be similar.

[book:River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon|9152282] sounds interesting.

KP wrote: "dalex wrote: "Burn fits, but "Burning" isn't a body of water, is it? Sear, search, and Seabiscuit aren't bodies of water either.”

I guess it’s all how you interpret the prompt. The word “burn” is in the title so I think it counts. I’d count those other words as “sea” also.

Misty wrote: "I have a few that I've read that would fit that I would also recommend:
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingells Wilder
[book:On the ..."

I was looking through my books the other day for this prompt and forgot to look on my children's classics shelves because I own these Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and they would be perfect. :)

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Welcome to the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan

Judy wrote: "My top two choices are about the Amazon river.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
[bo..."

Oh the Lost City of Z is one of my all time favorites!

Possibilities:
Wide Sargasso Sea fits a few prompts and it's on my Tookie's List challenge. - ask lib
Peace Like a River - by Leif Enger - audible?
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden - I recently read a novella by this author and loved it. Audible
Damnation Spring - already read
Sea of Poppies

I need to look at the 2022 listopia for books set on or near water. There might be a lot of good options there that could work.

I loved Wide Sargasso Sea and might possibly re-read it (which I don't do often)

My other choices:
The Seine: The River that Made Paris - Elaine Sciolino
Iron Lake (Cork O’Connor #1) - William Kent Krueger
Salt to the Sea - Ruth Sepetys
Across the Winding River - Aimee K. Runyan
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile - Candice Millard
The House by the River - Lena Manta
The Frozen Thames - Helen Humphreys

Recommendations:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michelle Richardson
Frenchman's Creek - Daphne du Maurier
The Lake House - Kate Morton

I've chosen The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

I'd recommend Rivers of London (though possibly not if you're in the US, where it's called Midnight Riot for no known reason!), and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I’ve been in challenges where gold was a category and everyone thought golden still counted so...

I just read Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson. It’s about a family in a logging town in California in the 1970’s. It took a while to get into it, but I really liked it. Coincidentally, my husband is reading Paradise Falls, nonfiction, set in the 1970’s about Love Canal near Niagara Falls. It sounds good too. Both deal with environmental issues.

I have a few to choose from:

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

My recommendation would be Salt to the Sea

I am reading The Grasmere Grudge by Rebecca Tope and can recommend The Coniston Case also by Rebecca Tope, also The Sea for Breakfast by Lillian Beckwith.

I picked up Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule for this one.

Also under consideration was The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch and A Long Petal of the Sea. I'd recommend In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, very interesting nonfiction about an incident that may have inspired Melville to write Moby Dick.

I read Go as a River: A novel another 5 star read

my review is here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read The Killing Bay by Chris Ould. This is the second book of a murder mystery series set in the Faroe Islands. I liked the first book a lot but this one didn't grab me. The title refers to the traditional practice of killing pilot whales for meat that the Faroese still do. There isn't anything graphic about this in the book but it's unpleasant even so. I'll still read the conclusion to the trilogy but I would recommend reading the series in order.

I’m about a third of the way through The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard… and loving it. I can’t imagine how anyone would have the courage/ audacity/ chutzpah to do what this group did. Plus as an added benefit it reads like an adventure novel.

I can't seem to get a library copy of Wide Sargasso Sea. While waiting, I happened to read two other books that would fit:
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe - about Niagara Falls

For this prompt, I read this "hidden gem:"
Mink River by Brian Doyle - 4.5* - My Review

For this challenge, I read Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.

Just checked out Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. It sounds interesting!

Would “pool” be considered a body of water? I feel like it’s right on the edge, but maybe I’m thinking too deeply on this

I would probably take it; I mean an olympic sized swimming pool is probably bigger than many ponds, so why not?

What are you reading for this prompt?
I read Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin

I read Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, the first book in the Cork O'Connor mystery series. I have read other books by Krueger, have had this one in audio for quite a while, and finally listened. Really liked it.

I read The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey for this prompt

I read Harbor Me. I am not the intended audience for this and I kind of struggled with it because of that; I think in the beginning it wasn't as noticeable but as the story went on it was obvious that it was intended for a much younger person or maybe even someone with teen/preteen kids.

Samantha wrote: "I read Harbor Me. I am not the intended audience for this and I kind of struggled with it because of that; I think in the beginning it wasn't as noticeable but as the story went on ..."

Severina my other option was The Quarry Girls, I probably should have gone with that.

I read Walden. It was a terrible read for me so I'm using it everywhere I can.

I read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

As much as I love the water, I thought I would have read many more books about it. The ones I'm recommending are 3 star books:
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

I read If the Creek Don't rise by Leah Weiss

I read the Island of the Sea Women. I recommend it.

Pearl wrote: "I read the Island of the Sea Women. I recommend it."

excellent book, agreed I highly recommend it

The Little Theatre by the Sea by Rosanna Ley.

It is a summer read/romance, set mainly in Sardinia, but with enough back story, mystery and local description to make it a good read.

I read ...

Across the River and Into the Trees – Ernest Hemingway – 3***
I’ve been a fan of Hemingway’s since I first read The Old Man and the Sea when I was about thirteen. This isn’t his best-known work, and I read it only to fulfill a challenge to read a book that was a bestseller the year I was born. Still, there is something about his writing that captures my attention. The short declarative sentences make the work immediate and bring this reader right into the story. But the older I get the more I’m disturbed by the way the women are portrayed … or more accurately, but the way Hemmingway writes the male/female relationships. Well, it fulfilled several reading challenges.
LINK to my full review

OMG, there's so many choices! This might end up being my double-up prompt!

I originally did The House in the Cerulean Sea but have moved it to another week and read The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay. I also read Tom Lake which would be great.

I read the terrifying Beyond the Sea by Paul Lynch, the story of a Latin American fisherman and his young helper who get lost at sea during a storm. The beautiful writing here is based on a true story. One part survivalist tale and one part existentialist fable, it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Other great novels with this theme: Deep River, The Lower RiverIn the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and Kaaterskill Falls.

The wait list for The House Across the Lake is insane. So, I ended up reading How a Woman Becomes a Lake. I don't recommend it.

Pamela wrote: "OMG, there's so many choices! This might end up being my double-up prompt!
I originally did The House in the Cerulean Sea but have moved it to another week and read…

I just read Tom Lake too and I adored it! I think it’s my favorite Ann Patchett book of all. It’s just wonderful. It makes me want to visit a cherry orchard. Meryl Streep’s audio narration was just perfect. This is the kind of literary fiction book almost anyone would like. It would also fit Arts, and returning home.

I read Long Bright River. 4 stars.