Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

ATY Challenge
0/52

These are my planned books and all but 5 are books that I own either on my physical shelves or in digital form. Trying to pare down that monster tbr.

✔️ 1. A book with a cover that has an image of something that starts with A, T, or Y airplane Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead 3/25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 2. A prompt suggestion for this year that didn’t make the list historical figure - Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: Founding an Empire by Matthew Lewis 4/26 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️3. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 5/12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 4. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor 1/31 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5. A book with a weird or intriguing title The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar

6. A book with a serpentine element on the cover Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
7. A book by an author that uses 3 names The Tiny Journalist by Naomi Shihab Nye
✔️ 8. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green 1/13 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
9. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

10. A book about witches, goddesses or nuns In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
11. A book set in a fictional location The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross
✔️ 12. A book by an Irish author The Blue Cabin: Living by the Tides on Islandmore by Michael Faulkner 2/23 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 13. A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O'Connor 6/3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
14. A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman Circe by

✔️ 15. A book of secrets, lies, or deception Malice
by Keigo Higashino 5/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 16. A book that fits a prompt from the 2016 ATY list All the Broken Places by John Boyne great opening line8/22 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
17. A history or historical fiction book set prior to 1925 The Reindeer Hunters by Lars Mytting
18. A book set primarily in nature To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

✔️ 19. A book with a cover that has a building or cityscape All the Broken Places by John Boyne 08/17 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 20. A book with an animal, vegetable (plant), or mineral in the title House of Lilies: The Dynasty That Made Medieval France by Justine Firnhaber-Baker 3/16 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 21. A book connected in some way to any collective noun for animals Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 1/8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 22. A translated novel from Asia The Vegetarian by Han Kang 5/7 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

23. A book that involves art, music, dancing or acting The Medici by Paul Strathern
24. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird
✔️ 25. A book with waves on the cover I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger 8/3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️26. A book by an author with a common noun in their name Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell 1/6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 27. A book set in the winter The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting 2/18 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

28. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 1 The Dark Monk by ]Oliver Pötzsch
29. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 2 A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
✔️30. A monster book A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 8/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 31. A book with a coastal setting Isola by Allegra Goodman 3/22 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

32. A mystery or true crime book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
✔️33. A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott 1/6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
34. A book title that could be a country song The Seeker by S.G. MacLean
✔️ 35. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson5/3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

36. A book with a common household object on the cover The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall
37. A book featuring adult friendships Still Life by Sarah Winman
38. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 1 A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick William Marshall, Book 1 - Fiction
✔️ 39. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 2 The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, The Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge William Marshall - Nonfiction4/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
40. A book you'd consider a comfort read This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

✔️ 41. A book that involves digging up the past Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones 3/3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
42. A book set in a manor, mansion, or estate The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England by Joanne Paul
✔️43. A book whose title has ten or fewer letters Malice by Keigo Higashino 5/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
44. A haunting book Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

45. A book by an author whose publishing career spans at least ten years A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W. Tuchman
✔️46. A book related to one of the traditional full moon names The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende 2/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 47. A book relating to fire Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough 1/26 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 48. A book with a character dealing with death The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr 4/9 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✔️49. A book that deals with time travel, alternate universes, or alternate timelines What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon 3/18 ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson f
✔️ 51. A book published in 2025 No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris 8/20 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
52. A book with a sunset vibes on the cover The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52.

Anniversary List Bonus Challenge
All but 1 are books that I own.
0/10

✔️2016: A book originally written in a language other than EnglishMalice by Keigo Higashino, trans. by Alexander O. Smith 5/15 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 2017: A book whose title doesn't contain the letter "E" Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen 1/21 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 2018: An author's debut book A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao 5/27 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2019: A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra 5/24 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2020: A book with an emotion in the title What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris
2021: A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
✔️ 2022: A book that uses all five vowels in the title and/or author's name Stephen and Matilda's Civil War: Cousins of Anarchy by Matthew Lewis 3/21 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️ 2023: A book whose author has published more than 7 books The Coming of the Wolf by Elizabeth Chadwick 4/7 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2024: A book that has been on your TBR for over a year The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
✔️ 2025: A book involving a group of at least 4 that is not a family. Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women by Hetta Howes 1/18 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Middle Ages
Fiction
✔️ The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr
✔️ The Coming of the Wolf by Elizabeth Chadwick 4/7


Nonfiction
✔️Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women by Hetta Howes 1/18
✔️Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough 1/27
✔️Powers and Thrones: A New History[author:Matthew Lewis of the Middle Ages|57347786] by Dan Jones
✔️House of Lilies: The Dynasty That Made Medieval France by Justine Firnhaber-Baker
✔️Stephen and Matilda's Civil War: Cousins of Anarchy by Matthew Lewis
✔️ Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: Founding an Empire by Matthew Lewis

Series - ongoing

William Marshall by Elizabeth Chadwick
A Place Beyond Courage
The Greatest Knight
The Scarlet Lion
For the King's Favor
To Defy a King

Captain Damian Seeker by S. G. MacLean
The Seeker
The Black Friar
Destroying Angel
The Bear Pit

Plantagenets by Sharon Kay Penman
When Christ and His Saints Slept
Time and Chance
Devil's Brood
Lionheart
A King's Ransom

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
✔️The Hangman's Daughter
The Dark Monk
The Beggar King
The Poisoned Pilgrim
The Werewolf of Bamberg
The Play of Death
The Council of Twelve

The Justin DeQuincy mystery series Sharon Kay Penman
✔️The Queen's Man
Cruel as the Grave
Dragon's Lair
Prince of Darkness

The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon series by Mel Starr
✔️The Unquiet Bones

The Wild Hunt Series
✔️The Coming of the Wolf by Elizabeth Chadwick 4/7