Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

THE 2023 LIST
1. A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?: Everything You Should Have Been Taught About Investing In School, But Weren't by Brian Feroldi
2. A book by an author you read in 2022 Echo Burning by Lee Child
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the 2023 list
4. A book with an interracial relationship Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
5. A book with 4 or more colors on the cover

6. A book where books are important - Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution by Nona Willis Aronowitz
7. A book with ONE of the five "W" question words in the title Who Killed the Fonz? by James Boice
8. An author's debut book
9. A book nominated for an award beginning with W The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

10. A book related to one of the Spice Girls' "personalities"
11. A book about a person/character with a disability Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century by Alice Wong
12. A book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies
13. A book that has an object that is repeated on the cover American War by Omar El Akkad

14. A book with a con, deception, or fake: Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin D. Mitnick
15. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 1 People of the Wolf by W. Michael Gear
16. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 2
17. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 3

18. A book related to science For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics by Walter Lewin
19. A book related to the arts Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap by Ben Westhoff
20. A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
21. A book by an Asian diaspora author How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
22. A book with a faceless person on the cover

23. A book with a body of water in the title
24. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum
25. A book with a tropical setting
26. A book related to pride

27. A book by an author from continental Europe A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
28. A book that is dark The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz
29. A book that is light We Are the Light by Matthew Quick
30. A book related to a chess piece
31. A book found by inputting a favorite author on https://www.literature-map.com One Shot by Lee Child

32. A book set in a UNESCO City of Literature The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
33. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
34. A novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
35. A book with a school subject in the title Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken

36. A book that has been translated from another language
37. A book with the theme of returning home The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger
38. A book with the sun, moon, or stars on the cover
39. A western The Mountain Valley War by Louis L'Amour

40. A book with a full name in the title
41. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists Recursion by Blake Crouch
42. A book related to a ghost, spirit, phantom, or specter Women Talking by Miriam Toews
43. A book that involves a murder You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus
44. A book where the cover design includes text that is not completely horizontal Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

45. A book whose author has published more than 7 books Takedown by Brad Thor
46. A title that contains a word often found in a recipe-Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
47. A book related to a geometric shape The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
48. A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story

49. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023
50. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
51. A book published in 2023 Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough by Dina Nayeri
52. A book with an unusual or surprising title The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost

Started the year with the UNESCO city of literature prompt for various reason. Mostly because you can’t just pick up a book and know the setting. I found one from the Listopia and went with it. I read based in Edinburgh. It was a decent book but I was not a fan of the main character. She had multiple chances for assistance from people she both knew well and had just met but she was stubborn and went her own way. It ended up alright in the end (since this is the first in the series you kind of figure that from the beginning) but not enough of a cliffhanger or mystery to make me want to read any more in the series.

I initially grabbed for the 4 colors on the cover prompt but found the author used many books as research for this book, and being a harder prompt to fill I swapped it over. to the books are important prompt. I am getting more comfortable at the rating and evaluating books on whether the author made me think not whether I agreed with the topic. This is one of those. It made me think and see from a different perspective although by the end I still disagree with many of the premises. I still learned a few things and hopefully, this will allow me more acceptance of others with those viewpoints.

I picked out for the disability prompt. The book was ok, some of the stories were very enlightening and it's hard to believe this would happen. Others came across as very whiny and not very compelling to make me want to intervene. Some of my attitudes has to do with seeing people with these disabilities in the ER and my perception of those patients. I definitely think people do not need to experience what some of these stories describe. But others I find it hard to have sympathy for.

The not horizontal title prompt, I went with where nothing is horizontal. It was an interesting book, being told from three different intersecting perspectives. Heartbreaking story for the main character but the side characters I struggled with their relevance to the story.

I picked this up for a refresher on physics and to add to my knowledge. The first 2/3 of the book was just that and I found it incredibly interesting. But in the last third of the book the author goes into his field of specialty, x-ray astronomy, which I have very little knowledge of and I'm not as interested in. I understand why it is so important for discovering the secrets of the universe but that particular field just isn't my interest. I prefer explaining things I see on earth on a more regular basis. But this worked for the book prompt about science so I'll stash it there.

Never having read but seeing the movie multiple times I wanted to read this one for the novella prompt. I thought it was a great story as well as a great translation to the screen. While reading it you can watch the entire movie in your head. I can see why this story had received much praise over the years.

With a prompt to read a western, I wanted to read one from the author most thought of when someone refers to westerns, Louis L'Amour. I didn't really have a reason for picking this particular one vs others then discovered this was actually the second in his Lance Kilkenny series. It still working fine as a stand-alone novel and his style makes for easy, enjoyable reading. Its a little predictable good guy vs bad guy story but it was fun. Nothing derogatory but these books are definitely aging as he refers to Indians and other context from the 1800's wild west that might be criticized if the author published this today. Still enjoyable and I can see picking up another of his for beach reading or when I just want a comfortable read.

I knew I wanted to read but I wasn't sure where to put it. An author I read last year, a faceless person on cover... I think I'll just stick with the one that involved a murder. I had some other ideas for those other prompts but this one was wide open with no strong feelings toward a particular book. This was another of her YA thriller/mysteries. I like her changing perspective style of telling the story and how things come out throughout the story changing your feelings toward the different characters. A simple easy read that you got into which made for fast reading. Enjoyable but not life-altering solid 4 stars/5

This was another one that I knew I wanted to read but wasn't sure exactly where I was going to put it. It fit many of the prompts but I'm sticking it in the Asian Diaspora author prompt. There was not an overwhelming list of books I had tagged for this prompt and the others I did so it fit. I really liked this style. Basically a bunch of short stories that were all interrelated (related characters and objects) that still told an overarching story. Don't miss out on the last one as it really fills in an unanswered question from throughout. Sci-Fi/near future dystopia with interesting concepts of how humans handle a worldwide pandemic (differently than we did with COVID). The author still left the reader with a sense of hope despite the bad outlook the story progresses through at times. I did feel a few of the stories could have been cut in the third quarter of the book as it started to drag a bit before picking back up. 4.5 stars out of 5

I'm using for the continental Europe author despite there being some controversy about whether Sweden and the Nordic countries are part of Continental Europe. (The argument being most people get there by boat from the rest of Europe despite it still being connected and they are able to get there by land.) This book is fantastic though. I loved it. The grumpy old man with a heart of gold. I know it has jumped in popularity because the Tom Hanks movie came out. I haven't seen the movie yet but if it is anywhere close to as good as the book it will be worth it too. Without spoilers, all I will say is this is the first book in a long time that had me tearing up. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

looked like another good Stephen King book so I plugged it in for the stars, or moon on the cover prompt. It's a novella so it's a quick read. Similar in concept to his Thinner novel written under the Richard Bachman pseudonym. This was not as scary and more of a feel-good story. A backward town learns a more accepting stance in the background of the main character's issue.

I typically wait on the book published this year prompt until closer to the end of the year to have a larger pool to select from. This year I just jumped on one that sounded interesting. While her underlying story related to many experiences or situations where there is a difference in who gets believed, people with mental illness, prisoners, and refugees, there wasn't a clear answer for how to fix this issue. I recognize it has been a problem in my own experiences but was hoping to have some insight into how to address the issue. I guess I hope this book will at least throw some recognition on the problem leading to additional work or at the bare minimum raise the awareness this occurs and some of the bad outcomes from this.

For the light prompt, I chose . I should have guessed this was not my cup of tea when the description described it as an antidote to toxic masculinity. This has a lightly veiled anti-gun theme running throughout. But it seemed to be more of another character navigating the world through their mental health issue (PTSD). It was alright and uplifting in the end, I just couldn't get that into the characters.

Loving the Jason Bourne series I found by the same author randomly one day and thought it would be interesting. It was very similar. A very in depth (almost too in depth at times) journey into a spy who has issues with his memory. Behind the scenes are people pulling strings and others who are trying to kill him though he doesn't know why. It did take me a while to figure out the whodunit until everyone kept getting checked off. It was a fun read, not as light as a Lee Child or Brad Thor but fun if you don't mind diving into a bit more detail.

I was recommended to read this year and figured it fit well in the recipe category. I was only lukewarm about reading it as I just have never become that interested in horse racing. I had read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand previously and found her to be an excellent author and it was almost Kentucky Derby time so horse racing was in the air. So I went ahead with this recommendation. I have to say I did learn a lot about horse racing and all the behind-the-scenes training, weigh-ins, and handicapping that goes into it. I found it to be an enjoyable book that gave me at least a passing interest in racing. Laura is a very descriptive author and makes it easy to envision what he is telling you. This is the second non fiction book of her I have read that reads with the speed of a fiction one.

I just grabbed this one at the library as it was on the new shelf and it screamed that it fits the 'dark' prompt. I hadn't read anything by Dean Koontz since my high school days. I liked this one but it has a supernatural element that just didn't grab me. (Spoiler alert: tuned out not to be supernatural in the end just futuristic tech). Overall good story and fast read, just not one that stood out as amazing.

I picked up thinking I was going to use it for the author with 7 or more published books but it had a theme of coming home so I'll use it there and save the author of 7+ books for another. I really enjoyed the last Lisa Unger book and I flt the same about this one. It's a good fast paced thriller with nothing unbelieveable in it. I like those stories that have the possibility of being true, I just find it easier to get into them. I'll definately read more of hers in the future.

I have had on my TBR list for a few years now. It was just time to take it off the list. The barbed wire works for a repeated image on the cover. It's a dystopian future of the second American civil war over the use of gasoline. It's an interesting concept and believably told. It focuses on one particular person and her life but it's interesting as the narrator of the story just slowly drops hints as to the future outcomes. One to make you think. This was one I didn't want to end.

I just came across in the library on my trip prior to vacation. It looked like a quick beach read and it was. The story took me back to the days of watching Happy Days. The author references many different episodes. I remember many of them but also the novel takes place in the same town so the locales described are the ones that were on the show, and you saw the story play out. It was a fun story that took me back to my younger days.

This murder mystery just jumped out at me when looking on the listopia for the geometric shape prompt. It turned out to be a solid murder mystery. I like the author's style of using the last chapter or two to explain how everything went down from the murderer's perspective. The first 90% of the book was an interesting telling of the timeline going on and at the same time different characters trying to figure out what was going on. Then at the end, the author ties up everything nicely so you see all the interconnections that (at least I) missed while reading the story. The hardest thing for me was the names. I have a bad habit of skimming over names I'm not easily familiar with and it leads to confusion when there are characters with similar names and I can't differentiate them in my mind. Excellent book and well worth the read.

I needed a book on vacation and went to the local little library and found . I had already entered Vince Flynn into the literature map for prompt 31 and had basically my list of favorite authors that I'm already reading. So even though it wasn't the next one in order of the series (I try to read all series in order even the ones like this that it doesn't matter). But this book is another solid entry into the Jack Reacher world. It was the book the movie with Tom Cruise was based on. Nothing life-changing but a fun summer read.

I saw this title and knew this had to be the unusual title option this year. It is a travel account of a person who ended up living on an atoll in the South Pacific, Tarawa. It was pretty interesting learning about the island and means people were living on the island, including some of the things they live with regularly like intestinal parasites. The book is a few years old and some of the things written about seem to be different now by doing a simple Google map search of the island and zooming in. It was an enjoyable and humorous look at something that sounds exotic but in reality is very different than expectations.

For the winner of an award that starts with a W prompt I went with . When it came out I thought it sounded interesting and I saw it on the listopia although I have no idea of what award it won, so I'm trusting the listopia author was correct. THe book was ok. It was interesting to see what the lives of women in Victorian England were like. Basically, the author wrote a mini biography for each of the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. While some theories about these women being prostitutes are circulating (as that was my understanding) her explanation of the norms of the day explained the situation and how they came to be known as such. For instance, after a divorce, the man could go ahead and remarry but the woman was forbidden to do so, and if she did it was a criminal act. The book was a bit dry but it was an interesting vision of an era often romanticized and polished.

This might be a stretch but I wanted to read this and I think it fits. I'm using for the location of the story beginning with A,T, or Y. Since the stock markets they are talking about are all American based, I'm counting it. This was a basic financial book that every college-age person should read to understand the news financial reports. Each chapter was only 2-3 pages and written with a question at the start of each chapter (i.e. What is the Dow Jones?) So the book could be used as a future reference to come back to if you don't grasp everything first time through. I think there is definitely a rose-colored glasses outlook with comments about how the stock market will always go up in the long run. The author doesn't seem to consider the cost of current inflation and outcomes should we hit a point where America's debts are called in, we can't continue with the deficit spending forever without repercussions.

Some people may not consider it art but I think all music is art and went with for my book about art prompt. As I grew up during the time the book describes and was listening to NWA, Easy-E, and Ice-T, this filled in many of the blanks or things I hadn't understood or only glanced over in the news. This book goes into all the relationships from Ice-T and NWA starting out the West Coast Rap scene up through the investigations of 2pac and Biggie Smalls murders including the summit by Farrikan to quell the violence between rappers and companies that was literally killing the genre. It was well written and well researched and gave a picture to the people behind the image they show on stage or in the public light.

was my choice for the interracial relationship prompt. I went into this with many recommendations and wanting to like the book but it was not to be. I struggled to get through it. The entire relationship between the 2 main characters seemed unbelievable. It kind of reminded me of Forest Gump and how Jenny kept running off to do her thing but kept coming back to Forest when she was in need. It made it feel like she was using him and only coming back to him when she needed him. This drew up similar feelings. I was also not a fan of all the political agendas that seem to be thrown in throughout the book with no need for many of them. But I'm probably not the target audience the author was writing to. I did like the twist at the end that I didn't necessarily see coming but it wasn't enough to make me say it was good book. I thought it was just ok.

While not the traditional route of travel per se, it is in there. . I had been wanting to read more about Silk Road and found this book which documents the movement of both Ross Ulbricht developing the web site and the many law enforcement agents that tracked him down and ultimately captured him. I thought it was well written and told a full story.

Someone just recommended to another book group I'm in. I was a big fan of his other book Dark Matter so since it was on the NPR list of books we love I figured to use it for that prompt. This is another great mind-bending story with some interesting physics theories regarding time travel. I really enjoy the story as well as the new thoughts this author brings. Since he has two great books I'm sure I'll be picking up some of his others.

Hacking has always piqued my interest and it fits appropriately in the con, deception, or fake prompt. So I went with the story of the most notorious hacker . Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed because the story didn't live up to the legend. Plus this was the early internet era so most of the hacking performed by the authors was actually on phone lines and phone systems getting free calls, and wiretapping people. I was expecting more internet/computer hacking and some ideas/tips to protect myself. It seemed like much of his hacking involved social engineering and conning people into giving him the information he was looking for by performing as an expected person, having decent background information to speak the lingo, and being confident in his attempts to obtain information. In the book, he clarifies some things about his legend that were or were not true. it was an interesting read for a history of early hacking but mostly for the learning about social engineering.

I recognized I wasn't going to finish my challenge this year so I picked out a few that I enjoyed as quick reads, the first of which was . Brad Thor fits in as the author of more than 7 books category. The continuing story of Scot Harvath former Navy SEAL and Secret Service man now acting as an undercover agent protecting some of America's interests, sometimes against people within its own borders.

Being the subtitle has science in it, I'm using this for the school subject prompt. An interesting book with a different take on our overeating epidemic. The author's point is its the processing of the food-like substances that we regularly consume that have been engineered to make us eat more. The food manufacturers are out to make money for their shareholders and they can't increase sales to make a profit without the population eating more of their product. It is an interesting and believable concept and has made me look a little closer at what I am putting into my body, first off just going back to eating more food and not the food-like processed products they are passing off as food.

I read for another book club I joined and while it might be a stretch I'm using this for the ghost/spectre prompt. The story is a fictional account of a true story of a group of women from a Mennonite community talking and planning what to do after it was discovered a group of men from the community had been drugging the women and raping them, with leaders of the community claiming it was ghosts that were attacking the women. The truth came out and the men were imprisoned but the other men in the community were getting those arrested out on bail. The whole story takes place in the time the men are gone retrieving those jailed.
It's hard for me to even understand some of the things going on in the story because it seems they are too far out there to be currently happening. How so many men in the community would agree to get these men out after a crime like this to their families and neighbors is a completely foreign concept to me. There is a spectrum of feeling from the women from anger and rage to a calm acceptance (if they did anything it would not allow them to forgive or be forgiven and therefore not be able to get into heaven after death. Nothing close to my belief system and is hard to understand.
The book was interesting and opened my eyes to a different world, which is part of the reason for reading.

As another quick read I went with having read him every year for the last 5 or 6 years it's a given for the author I read last year's prompt. Another solid outing for Jack Reacher. I enjoyed it and will continue to read the series.

I had high hopes for the three books from three different centuries prompts but ran out of time to read the ones I wanted to. I started with for a prehistoric era and knew I would find two others to fill the other two prompts easily. Alas, next time.

It took a little bit to get into the naming convention of prehistoric names (Raven Hunter, Wolf Dreamer, Ice Fire, Singing Wolf) to recognize the assumptions that commonly come with a name (sex, and age often). Once I figured out the main characters and their traits I was able to get into the story. I was the original Native American people so traditions and things I learned about that people were talked about in the book, which was written by a pair of archeologists that actually know their topic. There is a number of further books nt he series and I think I will probably pick up at least one more if not more to see how where they take the series.