Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This title format is incredibly popular and so this week we'll be diving through our shelves to find something on trend. It's pretty straightforward but just to be super duper clear:

Yes: The Tower
No: The Big Tower
No: Big Tower

Whether or not to include subtitles is up to you.

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

I'm planning The Cartographers and The Heavens.

Another of my picture books The Mitten

I’m a little bored by some of the predictable books I’ve read or started lately, so I’m looking for something a little different. (It’s hard to recognize those on a list of books in the same format - but I’m sure some of you will help provide recommendations.)

I highly recommend The Door by Magda Szabo. It’s realistic historical fiction by a Hungarian author. It’s a very compelling story that isn’t a copy of anything else I’ve read. I also really liked:
The Winners (Beartown #3)
The Sparrow (unusual sci-fi first contact story)
The Overstory (which has too many characters for audio, but is amazing overall).

I’m considering
The Chaperone (owned)
The Trees Everett
The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter ? Title?
The Seamstress Peebles
The Outsiders Hinton
The Dovekeepers Hoffman

I have this ambitious book earmarked for something else, but it also works here:
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut. His book When We Cease to Understand the World literally shook my world view in an interesting way.

The Anomaly

Thomas wrote: "Another of my picture books The Mitten"

I love Jan Brett’s books.

One book I recommend liberally around goodreads whenever I can is The Gargoyle. I don't know that anyone has ever taken me up on it, though! I might reread it for this prompt.

Dixie wrote: "The Anomaly"

Dixie - We must have similar reading tastes! That's the book I'm considering also if I don't read a book I own.

Books I own - too many to list!

I'm considering The Lesson, The Door, and The MANIAC for now - since this comes late in the year, I may do a newer release that is a possibility for ToF 2025.

NancyJ wrote: "I’m a little bored by some of the predictable books I’ve read or started lately, so I’m looking for something a little different. (It’s hard to recognize those on a list of books in the same format..."
NancyJ of your list of possibles, I have only read The Trees, but I would definitely say it isn't predictable, and I would think would fit the bill for something a little different.
Another pretty strange book I've read that would fit the prompt is The Hike.

In recent years, I've read and enjoyed: The Terror, The Deep, The Rook (for those who didn't read it for this year's chess prompt, but still want to!), The Deserter, The Humans and The Nightingale.

Yesterday I was planning to read The Anomaly for this prompt BUT I checked it out on Libby last night and it is so interesting that I'm going to read it now! (This is the problem with planning early!) I think, instead, I will read The Innocents by Canadian author Michael Crummey. I also have 2 Jane Harper books - The Dry and The Survivors and The Waves by Virginia Woolf.

Pam wrote: "This is the problem with planning early!..."

I always plan a bunch of next year releases for exactly this reason, I can't read them now! Except, one of my options for this prompt, I've only gone and got a NetGalley of and I'm not sure I want to wait to the new year. It's The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland... I will probably read The Familiar for this prompt instead.

I feel like I've read lots of books that fit this title formula, but don't have many left on my TBR.

I have around 20 books on my TBR that fit this prompt. Despite all the options I don't feel too excited about any of them!

At least I have a variety of genres in there so I can pick up whatever I feel like at the time. Currently I'm leaning towards one of the thrillers on my list - maybe The Club or The Wives.

Recommendations:
The Appeal
The Mothers
The Dry

Pam wrote: "Yesterday I was planning to read The Anomaly for this prompt BUT I checked it out on Libby last night and it is so interesting that I'm going to read it now! (This is the problem with planning earl..."

Noooo! Argh, now I might have to check it out early too. Luckily I have at least half a dozen other candidates for this prompt if so.

Dixie- If you don’t read The Anomaly now, at least you know you have a good one to look forward to next year ! I stopped reading another book that I’m almost finished with because this one is more interesting. 🙄 I’ve been trying to read just one book at a time for this very reason.

I could do 52 weeks with my options for this prompt. I've gone for Drew Magary's The Hike, because links into my choice for week 48.

NancyJ wrote: "The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter ? Title?"

It’s this book so yes it fits. The Whale

LoriLovesBooks wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter ? Title?"

It’s this book so yes it fits. The Whale"

Thanks. It was one of those gr glitches with the add book/author. I couldn’t tell if it was a book about the play.

Pam wrote: "Dixie- If you don’t read The Anomaly now, at least you know you have a good one to look forward to next year ! I stopped reading another book that I’m almost finished with because this one is more ..."

Ooh, good to hear!

Books I'm considering:
The Overstory
The Hunter (new Tana French out 2024)
The Nun
The Idiot

I also second The Terror and The Door, both of which I read for this year's challenge!

I'm planning to read The Nightingale. It's historical fiction and has been on my TBR for a long time, so I'm glad to finally get around to reading it.

Hayley wrote: "I'm planning to read The Nightingale. It's historical fiction and has been on my TBR for a long time, so I'm glad to finally get around to reading it."

I read this a few years ago, and not only was it my favorite book that year, I ended up buying copies for a friend and my sister for Christmas — both of whom loved it.

Oh, I am so glad that you enjoyed it that much. I'm looking forward to reading it now!

Another one is The Sleepwalker by Chris Bojhalian - a good psychological thriller from this multi-genre writer.

A nice easy prompt! My possibles are

- The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
- The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
- The Muse by Jessie Burton
- The Asylum by Karen Coles
- The Braid by Laetitia Colombani
- The Foundling by Stacey Halls
- The Dryby Jane Harper
- The Outrun: A Memoir by Amy Liptrot
- The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- The Chain by Adrian McKinty
- The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Titles I am considering:
- The Pigeon by Süskind, Patrick
- The Outsider by Albert Camus
- The Guide by R.K. Narayan
- The Unconsoled by Ishiguro, Kazuo
- The Deadbeats by Ruyslinck, Ward
- The Joke by Kundera, Milan
- The Fox by Lawrence, D.H.
- The Waves by Woolf, Virginia

I read The Unquiet by John Connolly
A detective story with a supernatural element running through it.

For this prompt I read The Twits by Roald Dahl. I think I remember reading this book as a kid and liking it, however I found in this reading of it that I really didn’t care for it. I felt like there were a lot of inappropriate lessons for children such as ugly people having ugly thoughts and beautiful people having beautiful thoughts, and lots of other judgements and lots of other cruel treatments of “ugly” people

For this prompt, I read:
The Greenhouse by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir - 4* - My Review

I'm going to read The Truants

I recommend The Overstory

Edit: Picked by Emma Cline for this prompt. Had initially picked (The Vulnurables) but will use this for another prompt.

I read The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner, which I enjoyed.

Loved, loved, loved The Sentence by Louise Erdrich.

Slotting The Clocks by Agatha Christie here.

The Help.

Joanna wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I’m a little bored by some of the predictable books I’ve read or started lately, so I’m looking for something a little different. (It’s hard to recognize those on a list of books in ..."

Thanks Joanna. It sure wasn’t predictable ! I liked it.
The Trees by Percival Everett

I also read (for other challenges)
The Huntress
The Spectacular
The Alienist

Leigh Bardugo has a new book coming out this year called The Familiar, so I think I'm going to go with that one for it.

The book I chose for this prompt

short and sweet review: 3.5
This was a pretty decent book. I didn't understand until later in the book that the mothers were the women in the church. Nadia disappointed me when she started sleeping back with Luke. Luke was a coward for not telling Aubrey what the deal was in the 1st place.

For this prompt, I read The Narrator which is a thrilled by K.L. Slater. I love her books! I highly recommend it.

Others I would recommend:
The Girlfriend by K.L. Slater
The Roommate by Dervla McTiernan
The Secret by K.L. Slater
The Years by Annie Ernaux
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
The Widow by K.L. Slater
The Outsider by Stephen King
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
The Appeal by John Grisham
The Talisman by Stephen King
The Regulators by Richard Bachman
The Stand by Stephen King

While I had planned to read The Tommyknockers for this prompt, I found myself with no book and that one still requiring a waitlist.

So, I shifted over to The Testaments. A great decision, as this was a 5 star books.

Still, I'll be reading more King later in the year, and more Atwood as well.

I don't often choose a book by its cover, but , (designed by Marianne Issa El Khoury/TW) looked so pretty. My round 2 book was The Cartographers.

Both books are dark academia, with settings in New York cultural institutions, the Public Library and The Cloisters museum, and share themes of troubled friendship, ambition, and an obsession with particular artefacts. I liked The Cloisters , though I'm not sure about the accuracy of the academia portrayed!, but I was completely gripped by The Cartographers .

✔ – 25Apr24
The Tunnels – Michelle Gagnon – 3***
Book One in the mystery series starring FBI agent Kelly Jones. A serial killer is targeting women on a New England college campus. This is a brutal, graphic murder mystery, and Jones is a tough lady who is up to the task. The pace is fast, the lead character is likeable, and the storyline held my attention, but I’m not sure I’d bother to read another in the series.
LINK to my full review

I will be reading The Butler by Danielle Steel

I read:
The Revenant by Michael Punke

BIO: A book from a suggestion that was on the "bottom"
REJECT: A book that was the basis for an Academy Award (Oscar) winning movie (Best Actor, Leonardo DeCaprio)

Finished: 06/23/82024
Rating: 4 stars

Basis for the Academy Award winning movie. Based on true events

I read The Vampyre by John Polidori.

This prompt seemed perfect for reading something that has been on my TBR for awhile. I started with The Breakaway it was not my cup of tea so ended up reading The Cartographers; it was fine got slow at times but overall enjoyable.

I just finished The Every, Dave Eggers's sequel to The Circle. Loved it! Really makes you think about how much technology is TOO much technology.

I read The Rush by Michelle Prak for this topic (Read September 4th; 4*)