Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Do you change your reading by season, such as lighter books in summer (or longer books in summer), holiday reading for Christmas season, etc.?

I listen to more audiobooks in the summer while I do outside housework. Otherwise, I don't change my reading style that much. I do change the venue where read depending on the season.

Outdoors with lemonade in the hot season, under the sky light during rainstorms and cuddled under a warm blanket with a hot drink in the cold season.

I usually read a scary book for Halloween

I read Christmas stories in December. I’ll read 4-5 then I’ve had enough & will usually start a door stopper the last week of December. That way I’ll have way over 100 pages left & I can use it for the new challenge. I read one horror book in October.

Sherri wrote: "I read Christmas stories in December. I’ll read 4-5 then I’ve had enough & will usually start a door stopper the last week of December. That way I’ll have way over 100 pages left & I can use it for..."

Sherri, I do the same thing. Last year I started The Tale of Genji in December. It took me all the way until June to finish (happiest day of my life).

Not really, though I do try to get a couple of holiday-themed novels read in December.

Milena wrote: "Sherri wrote: "I read Christmas stories in December. I’ll read 4-5 then I’ve had enough & will usually start a door stopper the last week of December. That way I’ll have way over 100 pages left & I..."

that's real perseverance! was it worth it?

Book Concierge wrote: "Not really, though I do try to get a couple of holiday-themed novels read in December."

I'm a bit the same. I also try to read one or two Halloweeny ones in October - not that I particulary celebrate Halloween, but like holiday books, it seems odd reading them out of season.

I've also got into the habit of rereading A Night in the Lonesome October most Octobers and A Christmas Carol most Decembers.

Other than that, my reading is usually dictated by what's going on in the Seasonal Reading Challenge (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...), which was the first challenge I started doing on Goodreads, way back in Autumn 2014. It's a biggie, and I've only ever finished it twice, but it points me in the direction of things to read from my massive TBR list (2,325 books and counting! - I just can't stop buying books).

Sophia wrote: "Milena wrote: "Sherri wrote: "I read Christmas stories in December. I’ll read 4-5 then I’ve had enough & will usually start a door stopper the last week of December. That way I’ll have way over 100..."

Eh. I am glad I read it, I guess. But it could have been so much shorter.

December seems reserved for comics binges these past few years - I discovered SAGA in 2020, did a reread in 2021, then found The Wicked + The Divine in 2022 along with a few oneshot collections.

I love dark academia in September and October, and I usually reread either The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Halloween, peppered with a handful of Poe stories.

I don't really change my reading habits or subjects during the year. I do try to pick up bigger books in winter. There's just something cozy about reading a giant classic curled up on the couch when it gets dark out at 4pm.... But that's more a romantic daydream on my part rather than reality! I am getting way less reading done with the kiddo home from school. That's about the only reason I'm rooting for September to hurry up and get here!

I do pick books according to month but not always for seasonal reasons. One of my goals is to read diversely. So in February I try to focus some on writers of African descent and I read at least one romance (I'm not usually a romance reader). March is Women's Month (I know!) so I focus on female writers and themes, which I honestly usually do anyway. April is Earth Day so I focus on books set outdoors or that deal with nature. May is AAPI month, which is my favorite because there are so many writers I like that fit that month. In June I try to read some for Pride month and some in honor of Juneteenth. I'm given to understand that August is Islamic Awareness month so this month I just read The Adventures of Amina El-Sirafi and I plan to read The Island of Missing Trees, maybe The Bird King and maybe The White Mosque. In September I get in the mood for Dark Academia and also for books by Latin American authors. October is spooky books, November is American Indigenous authors and December is clean up from challenges I'm not done with.

Two of my book clubs choose "scary" or "spooky" reads in October so I read them. One is a classic book club and we've done Frankenstein and The Canterville Ghost in October. Not sure what is up this year.

The other one has read Stephen King, Poe, and this year it's Tananarive Due's the Good House

In summer when I don't work (teacher) I choose a 600+ page tome. This year it was To Paradise, which I did not finish due to reasons beyond my control. I will finish it, but since I'm working again it will take awhile

Denise wrote: "In summer when I don't work (teacher) I choose a 600+ page tome. This year it was To Paradise, which I did not finish due to reasons beyond my control. I will finish it, but since I'm working again it will take awhile"

I admit, I rarely read Chunksters (>500pg), except during Hugos season - usually May-August, although this year it stretches to September - as I prefer shorter books. I find it really annoying to invest a lot of time in a long book I don't really enjoy (I very rarely DNF although in the case of Harrow the Ninth I've DNFed twice!).

I just had that with Bloodmarked (551pg), which is one of the Lodestar nominees this year. Great worldbuilding and a really cool take on both magic and Arthurian legend, but by the end I really didn't care if the main character lived or died, she annoyed me that much.

Unusually, I have a couple on the go at the moment - I finally decided to read David Copperfield, which is okay, and The Book of Lost Things, which I'm reading in bursts. Plus, I do the PopSugar challenge as well, and it has a "longest book on your TBR" prompt again this year, so I'm slowly going through London.

I do read the holidays. The library makes it easy with a current holiday shelf display. This summer I really went all out on the summer beach reads.
I enjoy a spooky read in October and winter/snow and Christmas in December.

I tend to read longer books or more books in January because I just want to cocoon and not have to drive places.

I usually read a spooky book or two in October.

I like lighter books (not necessarily Christmas books) in December because I'm so busy with life.

Honestly, I don't pay attention to themes/seasons. Sometimes if there is a specific challenge going on - then I will, but beyond that, I just read what sounds interesting at the time.