Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

2024 ATY52 Prompts
✅- Finished
* - Currently Reading

My focus for 2024:
1. Non-US authors
2. Books I own!

***2024 Prompts***

✅1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day by Cassandra Aarssen
✅2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
Heartbreak Tango A Serial by Manuel Puig
✅3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list
Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler
✅4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
✅5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world
The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (Buenos Aires)
✅6. A book with wings on the cover
Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars by Ellen MacGregor
✅7. A book with a pronoun in the title
Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky
✅8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies (Canada)
✅9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
✅10. A history or historical fiction book
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (Historical Fiction)
✅11. A book with an X connection
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
✅12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year
The Fur Hat by Vladimir Voinovich
✅13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin - Best Books on Existential Risks

✅14. A book with a main character who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior
✅15. A book whose author’s name includes one of the 4 least used letters in the alphabet (JQZX)
Death's End by Liu Cixin
✅16. A book related to the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs"
The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
✅17. A book involving intelligence
Do You Remember Being Born? by Sean Michaels
✅18. A book with a botanical cover
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado
✅19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
The Truth about Caffeine by Marina Kushner
✅20. A book with a single word title
Diva by Daisy Goodwin
✅21. A book with a title containing 6+ words
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson
✅22. A book by an author from an African country
An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie
✅23. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez (parrot head)
✅24. A book with a secondary color on the cover (orange, green or purple)
Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition
✅25. A book involving a crime other than a murder
Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney
✅26. A book by an author known by their initials
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
✅27. A book related to land
A Zoo in My Luggage by Gerald Durrell
✅28. A book related to sea
Termush by Sven Holm
✅29. A book related to air
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
✅30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
Maigret and the Toy Village by Georges Simenon (France)
✅31. A book related to “Going for the Gold”
Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov (gold cover)
✅32. A book with a number in the title
Table for Two by Amor Towles
✅33. A book involving travel
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
✅34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
✅35. A science or science fiction book
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
✅36. A book featuring a character in education
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
✅37. A book that is part of a series
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
✅38. Two books with similar covers: Book 1
Gokushufudo: The Way of House Husband 3 by Kousuke Oono
✅39. Two books with similar covers: Book 2
The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 5 by Kousuke Oono
✅40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover
Frank Herbert's Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad’Dib by Brian Herbert (Sandworm)
✅41. A book with a chilling atmosphere
The White Darkness by David Grann
✅42. A book with a sound-related word in the title
Every Leaf a Hallelujah by Ben Okri
✅43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning Author
Carrie by Stephen King
✅44. A book with a touch of magic
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
✅45. A book that is not a novel
Stories from Mexico/Historias de Mexico by Genevieve Barlow
✅46. A book related to night
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
✅47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE
The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation illustrated by Manu Larcenet
✅48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (#45 Book that is not a novel - nonfiction)
✅49. A book with a senior citizen character
Barbara Isn't Dying by Alina Bronsky
✅50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis
✅51. A book published in 2024
Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux
✅52. A cozy mystery
The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

Ideas/Planning

1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
Away by Jane Urquhart
Trust by Hernan Diaz
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
Latin Amerian classic - The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (28-Apr-2011) Paperback
The Wooden Sea or Outside the Dog Museum (Jonathan Carroll)
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list
(1) Musical instrument - The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts
(2) Are You Well Read in World Lit? -Whitehorn's Windmill by Kazys Boruta
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
The Rainbow and the Rose by Nevil Shute
Sophie's World
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world
6. A book with wings on the cover
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (Canada)
7. A book with a pronoun in the title
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
CA: Jane Urquhart
AU:Jane Harper, Tim Winton - Cloudstreet; Richard Flanagan - The Narrow Road to the Deep North
NZ: Eleanor Catton: Birnam Wood, The Luminaries
9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
The Island: Three Tales by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (64 ratings)
10. A history or historical fiction book
HF: The Pillars of the Earth, China: The Novel
History:
11. A book with an X connection
Gen X author (1965-1980)
X on cover - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard (also #12; Libby)
12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year
13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list
The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut (Chile)
The Comedians by Graham Greene
Metronome by Tom Watson
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

14. A book with a main character who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color
Indigenous- Trilogy: Three Day Road; Through Black Spruce; The Orenda by Jospeh Boyden (Canada)
Black - Invisible Man
15. A book whose author’s name includes one of the 4 least used letters in the alphabet (JQZX)
Paul Theroux, Liu Cixin, Alexandre Dumas, John Scalzi, Kazys Boruta
16. A book related to the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs"
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki and/or I Am a Cat (grphic novel), The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
Dog: Outside the Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll
Rain: Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow; The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
17. A book involving intelligence
Do You Remember Being Born? by Sean Michaels

18. A book with a botanical cover
Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop
19. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
Les Miserables - Berry Revolutionary Sundae
20. A book with a single word title
Horse, Pod,

21. A book with a title containing 6+ words
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light by Ivan Klíma (World Lit)
22. A book by an author from an African country
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Digging Stars by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

23. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez
24. A book with a secondary color on the cover (orange, green or purple)
Orange: The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig
Green: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Purple: Pod
25. A book involving a crime other than a murder
Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning
26. A book by an author known by their initials
Time Out of Joint by PKD
All the Colour in the World by C.S. Richardson (Canada)
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
27. A book related to land
The Whispering Land by Gerald Durrell
28. A book related to sea
The Seafarers by Nevil Shute
29. A book related to air
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings
Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West by Timothy Egan
30. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
italy - The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
31. A book related to “Going for the Gold”
Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin (Gold on the cover)

32. A book with a number in the title
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
33. A book involving travel
Less
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain
The Innocents Abroad
34. A book related to the name of one of Snow White's seven dwarfs
Doc - A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot
35. A science or science fiction book
The Book of Strange New Things
CH Book Club: Ringworld, Starship Troopers, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, All Systems Red
36. A book featuring a character in education
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Villette
37. A book that is part of a series
The Bullet That Missed

38. Two books with similar covers: Book 1 (both have elephants on the cover)
Kim
39. Two books with similar covers: Book 2
A Passage to India

40. A book involving a wild animal or endangered species, in the content, title, or on the cover
Albert of Adelaide
Love and the Platypus by Nicholas Drayson
41. A book with a chilling atmosphere
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The White Darkness by David Grann
42. A book with a sound-related word in the title
Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story by Oliver La Farge
43. A book by an Edgar Award-winning Author
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
44. A book with a touch of magic
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
45. A book that is not a novel
Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition
The Wager by David Grann
46. A book related to night
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (Canada)
All Other Nights by Dara Horn
47. A book with a two-word title beginning with THE
The Dry, The Paradise, The MANIAC
48. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
(1) #16 - It's Raining Cats and Dogs
49. A book with a senior citizen character
The Last Devil to Die
50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
2023 - The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Villette, Jmaes Heriots Animal Stories, The Fox Wife, Less, Children of Time
51. A book published in 2024
Diva by Daisy Goodwin
Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles
Long Island by Colm Tolbin
52. A cozy mystery
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life

Continuing a personal challenge that I started in 2022 to read at least 5 books every year from the Are You Well Read in World Lit? list. The challenge ends when there are no more books on the list that I am interested in or if I can't find them

*****2022 Read***** Complete!
1. My Brilliant Friend
2. The Metamorphosis
3. A Planet for Rent
4. The Invention of Morel
5. Anna Karenina


****2023 Read****
1. Convenience Store Woman
2. Miguel Street
3. All Russians Love Birch Trees
4. Wide Sargasso Sea


****2024 Read****
1. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
2. The Tunnel
3. An African in Greenland
4. Fifth Business
5.


2024 Planned Reading to Choose From:

Books I own:
In the Time of the Butterflies
White Teeth
Steppenwolf
Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Les Miserables
The President
Ficciones
The Book of Disquiet
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Hour of the Star
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light
Whitehorn's Windmill
The Autumn of the Patriarch
Independent People
Death in the Andes
The Name of the Rose
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Transit
The White Castle
Waiting for the Barbarians
Oblomov
The Obscene Bird of Night
Frangipani

Books I don't own:
The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine
Faces in the Water
The Burning Plain and Other Stories
The Return by Dany Laferrière
Three Trapped Tigers
Quiet Flows the Una

Q1 Order to Read (Based on Group and Book Club Reads)

✅1. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (28-Apr-2011) Paperback (Jan)
✅2. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales by Robert Louis Stevenson (Jan)
DNF? 3. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead (Feb)
✅4. Heartbreak Tango (Feb 5)
✅5. All Systems Red (Feb)
6 Parable of the Sower (March)
7. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Jan-March)
✅8. Crick Crack, Monkey by Merle Hodge (March)

*Q1 Books Read*
1. Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition Jan 4 (4 stars)
2. The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez Jan 10 (3.5 stars)
3. Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler Jan 14 (4 stars)
4. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato Jan 16 (3.5 stars)
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Jan 17 (4 stars)
6. The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng Jan 20 (5 stars!)
7. Less by Andrew Sean Greer
8. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
9. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
10. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
11. Heartbreak Tango A Serial by Manuel Puig
12. Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day by Cassandra Aarssen
13. Do You Remember Being Born? by Sean Michaels
14. Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney (5 stars!)
15.Diva by Daisy Goodwin (5 stars)
16. Great Expectations: Classics Illustrated by William B. Jones Jr., Charles Dickens
17. The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

Q2 Order to Read (Based on Group and Book Club Reads)

1. The Death of Artemio Cruz (April)
2. Chéri by Colette (March-April)
3. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany (April 21)
4. Horse (May 3)
5. Ringworld by Larry Niven (May 19)
6. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (April-June)
7. Les Miserables (April-June)
8. The Burning Plain and Other Stories by Juan Rulfo (June)

**Q2 Books Read**

Q3 Order to Read (Based on Group and Book Club Reads)

1. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (July 16)
2. 2312 (July 21)
✅3. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and/or The Violent Land by Jorge Amado (July-Aug) (Fin. July 28)
4. The Milagro Beanfield War (July-Aug)
5. The Innocents Abroad (Aug)
6. Starship Troopers (Aug 18)
7. The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias (Sept)

***Q3 Books Read***

Q4 Order to Read (Based on Group and Book Club Reads)

1. Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa (Oct-Dec)
2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (which one?) (Nov)
3. The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Nov)
4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (Nov)
5. Sister Carrie (Dec 6)
6. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (reread?) (Dec 15)

****Q4 Books Read****

I'm really terrible about updating this thread! I usually just update the spreadsheet. I've finished 14 prompts in 6 weeks so that's excellent progress for me. However, I have book club reads coming up that will likely not fit into the challenge, so I need that buffer!

I'm NOT succeeding at reading books I own but that is mostly because I had so many library books on hold at the end of 2023 PLUS I keep adding holds. I will start knocking off a few of my owned books soon! I'm thinking about DNFing one of them (Great Circle) already. I'm not feeling it and don't like incest scenes (ugh). I'm hoping to start The Secret History soon! I can't believe I have yet to read any Donna Tartt books. It seems like "everyone" has read this one and loved it!

**Books I've read so far that I highly recommend**
Non-fiction: Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning (Extremely relevant and important with the 2024 Presidential election coming up)
Fiction: The House of Doors

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell might very well be my favorite book ever. I really hope you enjoy it the way I did.

The Dead Zone is one of my favorite Stephen King books. A good choice for that prompt.

Time Out of Joint - I was thinking that I had read this one. It must have been on one of the lists I made but didn't complete. Can't go wrong with PKD.

I hated Ringworld but I think Starship Troopers is undeserving of all the hate it gets.

J wrote: "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell might very well be my favorite book ever. I really hope you enjoy it the way I did.

The Dead Zone is one of my favorite Stephen King books...."

Thanks J for your comments! I bought Jonathan Strange so many years ago and it still sits on my shelf, probably because it is long! I know a lot of readers love it! I loved The Dead Zone movie and have wanted to read the book for years. I disagree that you can't go wrong with PKD. Have you read Valis?? I thought it was terrible. 1 star. I've liked his other books, though. That one is just too weird, even for me. Ringworld and Starship Troopers are SF book club picks which I'm on the fence about reading. The Starship Troopers movie was ridiculously stupid with terrible acting but I've heard the book is much better. I don't know if I can read it without flashbacks to the movie! I'll probably give it a try just because I like our book club discussions.

The one SF book on my group read/book club lists that I absolutely plan on reading is The Yiddish Policeman's Union, since I recommended it to the club. I have already read Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and may re-read some of the stories, but probably not all of it, because I loved it so much.

I'm at 17 books already, which is a lot for me at this point in the year! Two good ones I have just finished and recommend:
Diva by Daisy Goodwin
The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
If you liked The Travelling Cat Chronicles, I expect you will like the author's newest book, The Goodbye Cat, also. The last story features Nana from that book. It was my favorite in the collection.

Currently reading:
1. The White Darkness by David Grann. Set in Antarctica, it's perfect for #41 a chilling atmosphere. This means I will be moving The Dead Zone to #43 Edgar Award winning author. I decided to read The White Darkness in conjunction with a new library group (Globetrotters) that I joined. Each month we research and discuss a different country. For March, it's the continent of Antarctica.
2. Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux - #15 JQXZ in author's name or #51 published in 2024
3. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - #6 Wings on the cover

The White Darkness was a really good Antarctic adventure non-fiction read! I like Burma Sahib but it is not a quick read and it went back to the library but I’m on hold to get it back! The Bee Sting - I returned the book to the library. Just wasn’t for me at the time.

I’m considering just reading the longer books I’ve been putting off, without consideration to completing the challenge. That’s my feeling as of today. I don’t like that reading for challenges is discouraging me from tackling difficult books. I want to change my focus this year.

Some long books on my radar - Pessoa: A Biography by Richard Zenith (currently reading), Don Quixote (both English and Spanish), Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa, Les Miserables, The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier and finish One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Count of Monte Cristo. Whew! We’ll see how it goes.

I finished one 500+ page book The Dark Forest. I wasn't even planning to read it this year until I watched the TV series The Three Body Problem and got interested again in the trilogy and bought book 2. I didn't feel like waiting until the 2nd season comes out! It was pretty good - 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

Starting Don Quixote and working on finishing 2 non-fictions: The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Pessoa: A Biography. That's some heavy reading!

Used The Dark Forest for #13 Book from a Five Books List (Existential Risk). I'm currently reading Death's End, the 3rd book in the series, and will use it for #15 Author with name including J,Q, Z or X. Finished a manga Gokushufudo: The Way of House Husband 3 for #21 Title with 6 or more words.

I've had to move a few books around, like I do every year, to get books to fit.

Finally updated this list after moving more books around! I have 17 books left, 3 of which I've already started:

Pessoa: A Biography
Trick
The Secret History

I'm waiting for a library hold Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips to come in.

I have a book or two planned for every prompt and at least 4 from the Are You Well Read in World Lit? to finish my personal challenge. I should be able to finish the challenge.

Finally read a cozy mystery and I liked it! The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith Years ago, I had read 2 other books in this series and liked them also.

Starting The Dead Zone by Stephen King for the Edgar prompt and considering re-reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell for the The _____ prompt. This is the October SF book club read at my library and it's one of my favorite books. Also starting So Disdained by Nevil Shute for the Air prompt. Main character is an aviator.

I just finished Grey Bees by Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov which I highly recommend! I slotted it in to the Going for the Gold prompt. One version of the English cover is gold. The other is blue and yellow/gold.

If I've counted right, I have 7 books left! I really deviated from my original "plan", like I knew I would!

3 prompts left and more deviating, although I did read a Stephen King book (Carrie) for the Edgar Award prompt. It was not the King book I planned to read. I also read a Maigret mystery which I slotted in for Edgar Awards but then moved to country bordering the Med (France). I had really hoped and planned to read the 4th book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan series for the Med prompt. Putting it on my 2025 plan!

Finished An African in Greenland for my 51st prompt - Author from Africa. My last prompt is a author from Canada, NZ, or Australis. I'm going with Canda and reading Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. My goal was to finish by Oct 31 but I may need a few more days.

Yay! Finished on Nov 9th and my last book Fifth Business was a 5 star read! Now, to finish the fall reading challenge, 2 books to go.

Congrats, Pam!

Glad to hear you liked Fifth Business. I have a copy of the book.

Kathy wrote: "Congrats, Pam!

Glad to hear you liked Fifth Business. I have a copy of the book."

Thanks Kathy! I think you would like Fifth Business. It's part of a trilogy but it's not necessary to read all 3. This one is definitely a stand-alone. I want to write a review but still trying to figure out what I liked so much about it. I found used copies of books 2 & 3 and hope to read them soon, while the story is still in my mind.

I'll bump Fifth Business up on my TBR!