Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

We've all done it. We find a new author we love, read a five star book, and then... never pick up the author again. Maybe it's a new series that we start before it's finished, and we haven't quite gotten around to reading that last book. Maybe it's a new book by a favorite author that you pre-ordered but it's been sitting on your shelf for months (just me? no?).

This week, we are using a prompt as an excuse to finally pick up that author again.

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit?

So when the prompt came in, I made a list:

Christopher Brookmyre
Nick Hornby
Mil Millington

Looking at it, I realize they are all of a type - male authors from the United Kingdom who write humorous 'lad lit' type of work. And I really enjoyed all of them, yet haven't read anything by any of them in quite awhile. Made me wonder if at a certain point I was going through a phase for that then just grew out of it or something? I have at least one unread book from each of them on my shelves, so it will be whichever I pull first.

I think I will read some Elizabeth Strout...I haven't read her in a while. Maybe I'll finish the Lucy series and then read her latest

Or if go non-fiction maybe some Bill Bryson

I have a ton of options for this prompt! Right now I have penciled in The Ferryman by Justin Cronin, which was published in May 2023. It's his first publication since 2016 and even though I was anxiously awaiting another book from him I haven't gotten around to it yet.

My goal for this prompt is to not read an author I read in 2024. So any author I read December 2023 or before is fair game. Just went through my TBR and I have 34 options lol

The two I'm considering for this are Mark Twain and Mary Stewart. Very likely something by both. I don't think I've read either since my college days, 40 years ago. I'm tentatively planning on The Autobiography of Mark Twain and This Rough Magic

I enjoyed Let Me Tell You About a Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher , which I read several years ago. I am not familiar with her other books, so I'm giving The Night in Question a try.

I'm also planning to read The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss. I have read at least two of her books, but not for a couple of years.

I read the first two series Jeff Abbott wrote probably 30-ish years ago and loved them both. He was one of the guest authors at the Texas Book Festival in 2022. I had completely forgotten about him. I read the first book in a series he has been writing for years now and enjoyed it, so I'm going to pick up reading that series in 2024.

Traitor's Dance by Jeff Abbott

Denise wrote: "I think I will read some Elizabeth Strout...I haven't read her in a while. Maybe I'll finish the Lucy series and then read her latest

Or if go non-fiction maybe some Bill Bryson"

Denise, I am too! I have been reading Elizabeth Strout books this summer in anticipation of the new book. Lucy Barton meets Olive Kitteridge in the new book, so I’m reading Olive, Again again next. It’s been fun.

NancyJ wrote: "Denise wrote: "I think I will read some Elizabeth Strout...I haven't read her in a while. Maybe I'll finish the Lucy series and then read her latest

Or if go non-fiction maybe some Bill Bryson"

I..."
yes I saw that they meet in the new book, excited to read. I know most people can't stand Olive but I think I understand her and I kind of like her.

I’m using this prompt as a jump off point to find books for other prompts too.

I used to love the Outlander books, and it’s been 4- 5 years since I left off. I’m reading the next one for the Monster prompt but it works here too. I think her books probably fit many prompts.

I want to read the new books by Charlotte McConaghy and Louise Penny, after a long wait. I might also revisit Jeffrey Archer, Richard Russo (10+years), Margaret Atwood, Amy Harmon, Liz Moore Jesmyn Ward, Winspeare, Massey, and maybe others.

Denise wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Denise wrote: "I think I will read some Elizabeth Strout...I haven't read her in a while. Maybe I'll finish the Lucy series and then read her latest

Or if go non-fiction maybe some ..."

In my other group, people are split between them. I find the Olive books more interesting, and I “get” her (usually). I grew to like Lucy in O’ William, so I went back to reread her first book and I liked it this time. I loved Olive Again the first time, so I hope I like it as much this time.

I feel like I have to go with Ken Follett since I've been meaning to read The Pillars of the Earth forever. The last book of his that I read was for the 2018 challenge.

I was surprised my list of possibilities for this was so long, I'm glad to have had this prompt to make me realise how much time it's been since I read some of these authors.

I managed narrow the list by finding other prompts for Sarah Winman, Ruth Hogan and Gavin Extence, so this was going to be Joanna Cannon, but overnight I've had a change of heart.

I spent the first three days of 2016 (my first AtY year!) reading Play Dead, Stay Dead and Pretty Dead by Anne Frasier. At the time they were a trilogy, and I've read nothing of hers since, but Truly Dead was published in 2017 and has been sat on my TBR since then, so I think it's a good way to celebrate the 10 year anniversary with the author I started it all with.

I promise to fit in Joanna Cannon in 2026 :)

I really loved "The Talisman" when it came out, and bought the sequel Black House as soon as it was published. Then I got cold feet - what if I didn't like it as much as the first book? So it's sat on my shelf since then, and in my ebook library since 2014. This will be the year I finally read it. :)

NancyJ wrote: "Denise wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Denise wrote: "I think I will read some Elizabeth Strout...I haven't read her in a while. Maybe I'll finish the Lucy series and then read her latest

Or if go non-fict..."

Thanks for this! Maybe I should give Lucy's first book another try, I thought it was just ok, but still want to read the rest of the series.
My Name Is Lucy Barton was the first book I read on Kindle Unlimited when I got my Kindle.

I really enjoyed Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (5 starred it even) ages ago and somehow never got around to Gormenghast, so I've penciled that in for now.

Edited to add: I apparently read the first one in 2015, so it'll have been a full decade if I read it next year! Umm, yikes? Though, I do like a round number...

My plan is to read Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson, the sixth in her Jackson Brodie series. The previous one was published in 2019 and I've missed the series.

I haven't read Barbara Kingsolver in a long time so I might read High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never. Other choices are This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell or The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

I just went through my read books page to find all the 5 star books where I never went back and read a second book by the author. While it seems I actually do a decent job of revisiting those authors, I've come up with these three:

Mikhail Bulgakov
Jonas Karlsson
Nick Hornby

I read something totally different than what I had planned. The Classics group I'm in is reading American mystery classics. So I read The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart, published in 1930. It was a well-written mystery, where I didn't know who the killer was until I was told. Then I could see all of the clues that might have led me there.

I had to read 2 children's books for another challenge. Since they barely make a book between them, I'll count both here:

Curious George and the Ice Cream Surprise
The Berenstain Bears Get Their Kicks

I am reading Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, an author I love, and I have this book on my Kindle.

I read Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay for this prompt.

I read and loved the first book in the series, way back when the TV series was still new. But I kept on with the show rather than the books. Now that I've read the second book, I know that the books are better. The first book and first season are very close, where the series diverged from the books was the mistake, at least for the second season/second book.

I read The Infernals by John Connelly, the second book in the Samuel Johnson trilogy. I'd read the first book back in June 2024.

I've always enjoyed Anne Tyler's books, being so character-driven. So for this prompt, as I have not read her books for awhile, I will read Three Days in June.

J wrote: "I read Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay for this prompt.

I read and loved the first book in the series, way back when the TV series was still new. But I kept on w..."

The Dexter books are more darkly comic, I think. I agree with you, they are even better than the show.

I grew up in kind of a weird, Evangelical religion, and I did not read many of the children's/young adult classics, so I have been sprinkling the in my reading for the past few years. In 2021, I read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, and it was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been wanting to read more in the series since then, but I haven't gotten around to it. So, I am currently reading: Anne of Avonlea. I am almost finished with it. I haven't enjoyed it quite as much as the first, but it is still also delightful.

For this prompt, I read:
Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak - 4* - My Review

I read Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. After I finished this I realized that I had read Fangirl, The Manga somewhat recently but decided to use this anyway. I haven't read a novel type book of hers in years. I thought this was a mostly very enjoyable.

I read Five-Carat Soul

I read:
Gibbet Hill by John Bainbridge

REJECT: A book related to "civil rights" or human rights

Finished: 5/23/2025
Rating: 4 stars

Pre-quel to the excellent William Quest series. Set in 1817 Dartmoor

I had 5 authors I was choosing between, primarily Geraldine Brooks, Bill Bryson, and Kent Haruf.

I ended up reading Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. His writing was as I remembered, having not read him for almost 10 years. It was quiet and warm (in the heartwarming sense). The end was not what I expected, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

I read The city and its uncertain walls by Haruki Murakami for this topic (Read June 15th; 4*)

I read Clear by Carys Davies, because I enjoyed reading her short story The Quiet in a class in 2023. I also read Faithful by Alice Hoffman, last read in 2022. I previously liked The World That We Knew and The Dovekeepers.

I read Impulse Ellen Hopkins