Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Welcome to Winter Challenge
December 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023

1. Winter
a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the) NYPD Red 6 - James Patterson 12/23/22
b. Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing (scarf, hat, warm coat etc) on the cover. - Debbie Macomber 12/9/22
c. Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long (you can ignore the 100 page requirement for this task).

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen
a. Read a book written by a female author. My Beloved World - Sonia Sotomayor 12/30/22
b. Read a novel set in the 19th century. The House I Loved - Tatiana de Rosnay 12/19/22
c. Read a romance novel. The Mistletoe Promise - Richard Paul Evans 12/8/22

3. The Holidays
a. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December. (Some examples: Rosa Parks Day, National Cookie Day, Dewey Decimal System Day, Nobel Prize Day, Kwanzaa, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Hanukkah, etc.) The Mistletoe Inn - Richard Paul Evans 12/18/22
b. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover (ignore the numbers - eg a book with a gold ring works, you don’t need a book with five gold rings!)
c. Read a book that features a family gathering.

4. Winter sports: yukigassen
a. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN. The Kiss Curse - Erin Sterling 12/24/22
b. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long
c. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia). The Dinner - Herman Koch 1/1/23

JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!
a. Read a book by an author who is new to you. Christmas at the Amish Market - Shelley Shepard Gray 12/18/22
b. Read a book from a genre that is new to you (you can use a sub-genre, eg urban fantasy, historical romance, etc if you already read books from most genres).
c. Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters (eg The Bat, Ninth House, The Old Man and the Sea). Alaskan Holiday - Debbie Macomber 12/14/22

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami
a. Read a book set in Japan.
b. Read a book that features a cat in some way.
c. Read a magical realism novel.

3. New Year Resolutions
a. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS (the title must be at leat three words long for this option)
b. Read a book that looks into the past (historical fiction, history, etc) or a book that looks into the future (science fiction, fantasy, etc). The Hellfire Club - Jake Tapper 12/17/22
c. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions OR if you don’t make resolutions then read a book related to one of the top ten New Years resolutions. Tell us what your resolution is when recording this task as completed.

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh
a. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND. The Last to Vanish - Megan Miranda (set in North Carolina) 12/20/22
b. Read a book in which a conflict between characters is a major part of the plot. Tell us what the conflict was (using spoiler tags if necessary) when recording the task as completed.
c. Read a book that is fast-paced.



FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day
a. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page. Merry and Bright - Debbie Macomber 12/9/22
b. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY. The Confessor-Daniel Silva 12/22/22
c. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries).

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder
a. Read a book set in the American midwest.
b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.
c. Read a coming of age story. The Boston Girl - Anita Diamant 12/7/22

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping
a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long. Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter (304 pgs) 12/7/22
b. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place (1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) A Small Town In Germany - John le Carré (pub in 1968) 12/13/22
c. Read a book where the plot “jumps” about (a non-linear narrative as it’s normally called). Girl, Forgotten - Karin Slaughter 1/2/23

4. The Shortest Month of the Year
a. Read a literary fiction novel. The Swans of Fifth Avenue - Melanie Benjamin 12/28/22
b. Read a book that features a ghost. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave - Darynda Jones 12/16/22
c. Read a book that starts with a letter in the word SHORT. The Thief - Megan Whalen Turner 12/21/22