Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The Main List
Completed: 43/52
** books were added to my TBR before 01/01/24
Dates as UK way around: dd/mm/yy

January
**1. A book with a cover that has an image of something that starts with A, T, or Y - A Rule Against Murder, Louise Penny - 01/04/25
2. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list - The Book of Doors, Gareth Brown - 11/02/25
3. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song - Sunbringer, Hannah Kaner - 21/06/25
**4. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld - London Underground's Strangest Tales, Iain Spragg - 29/01/25
**5. A book with a weird or intriguing title - The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot, Colin Cotterill - 03/03/25

February
6. A book with a serpentine element on the cover - Navigational Entanglements, Aliette de Bodard - 12/06/25
7. A book by an author that uses 3 names - The Martian Contingency, Mary Robinette Kowal - 29/05/25
8. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings
9. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year - In Ascension, Martin MacInnes - 02/03/25

March
**10. A book about witches, goddesses or nuns - Witch and Famous, Angela M Sanders - 16/02/25
11. A book set in a fictional location - Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis - 18/05/25
12. A book by an Irish author - The Story Collector, Evie Gaughan (Evie Woods - 19/02/25
13. A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family - Beast-Laid Plans, Kim M Watt - 06/01/25
14. A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman - A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher - 05/05/25

April
**15. A book of secrets, lies, or deception - Reykjavik, Ragnar Jonasson, Katrin Jakobsdottir - 11/06/25
**16. A book that fits a prompt from the 2016 ATY list - Killman Creek, Rachel Caine - 14/02/25
17. A history or historical fiction book set prior to 1925 - Midshipman Bolitho, Alexander Kent - 21/08/25
18. A book set primarily in nature

May
19. A book with a cover that has a building or cityscape - Stranded in Iceland, Victoria Walker - 13/01/25
20. A book with an animal, vegetable (plant), or mineral in the title - The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko - 08/07/25
**21. A book connected in some way to any collective noun for animals - The Word is Murder, Anthony Horowitz - 22/02/25
22. A translated novel from Asia

June
**23. A book that involves art, music, dancing or acting - Murder in Montparnasse, Kerry Greenwood - 08/04/25
24. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal - Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky – 26/05/25
**25. A book with waves on the cover - The House at Sea's End, Elly Griffiths - 11/03/25
26. A book by an author with a common noun in their name - Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare - 13/03/25
27. A book set in the winter - The Christmas Guest, Peter Swanson - 07/01/25

July
**28. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 1 - Truth or Dare, Kathi Daley - 28/06/25
**29. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 2 - Telling Lies, L.A. Dobbs - 01/08/25
30. A monster book - Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell - 11/06/25
31. A book with a coastal setting - May Day Murder, Julie Wassmer - 10/03/25

August
32. A mystery or true crime book
33. A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time - Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger - 04/07/25
**34. A book title that could be a country song - Angelica's Smile, Andrea Camilleri - 30/07/25
35. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists

September
**36. A book with a common household object on the cover - A Song of Comfortable Chairs, Alexander McCall Smith - 27/02/25
37. A book featuring adult friendships
38. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 1 - Tooth and Claw, Craig Johnson - 26/07/25
39. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 2
**40. A book you'd consider a comfort read - Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage, Nancy Atherton - 03/04/25

October
**41. A book that involves digging up the past - Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean - 29/04/25
42. A book set in a manor, mansion, or estate - Murder on the Pilgrims Way, Julie Wassmer - 13/08/25
**43. A book whose title has ten or fewer letters - Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry - 04/02/25
44. A haunting book

November
**45. A book by an author whose publishing career spans at least ten years - Stillhouse Lake, Rachel Caine - 16/01/25
46. A book related to one of the traditional full moon names - Eye of the Wolf, Margaret Coel - 24/03/25
**47. A book relating to fire - Beneath the Ashes, Sue Henry - 07/01/25
48. A book with a character dealing with death - The Guncle, Steven Rowley - 31/08/25

December
49. A book that deals with time travel, alternate universes, or alternate timelines - The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley - 27/04/25
50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett - 07/03/25
51. A book published in 2025 - The Baby Dragon Café, Aamna Quereshi - 12/03/25
52. A book with a sunset vibes on the cover

The Main List - covers

January
1. , 2. , 3. , 4. , 5.

February
6. , 7. , 8. xx, 9.

March
10. , 11. , 12. , 13. , 14.

April
15. , 16. , 17. , 18. xx

May
19. , 20. xx, 21. , 22. xx

June
23. , 24. , 25. , 26. , 27.

July
28. , 29. , 30. , 31.

August
32. xx, 33. , 34. , 35. xx

September
36. , 37. xx, 38. , 39. xx, 40.

October
41. , 42. , 43. , 44. xx

November
45. , 46. , 47. , 48.

December
49. , 50. , 51. , 52. xx

The Anniversary List

I'm going to try to do this one with books that have been on the TBR list since before 1 January 2024.

6/10

2016: A book originally written in a language other than English

Girls Who Lie, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
Originally written in Icelandic.
Added to the TBR on 02/02/23

2017: A book whose title doesn't contain the letter "E"
Half-Off Ragnarok, Seanan McGuire - 29/06/25
Added to the TBR on 31/05/2018


2018: An author's debut book



2019: A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements



2020: A book with an emotion in the title



2021: A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet



2022: A book that uses all five vowels in the title and/or author's name

The Silence of the Flans, Laura Bradford - 16/01/25
A, E, I, O in the title; U in the author name.
Added to the TBR on 19/06/17

2023: A book whose author has published more than 7 books

A Shilling for Candles, Josephine Tey
According to her author, there are 121 distinct book records associated with Josephine Tey.
Added to the TBR on 01/03/18

2024: A book that has been on your TBR for over a year

The Marsh Madness, Victoria Abbott - 18/03/25
Added to the TBR on 30/05/17

2025: A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family

System Collapse, Martha Wells - 19/03/25
Murderbot #7. By this one, Murderbot considers two specific groups of people as "its" humans - the original group led by Dr. Mensah from the first four novellas, and the crew of the Perihelion (aka ART - A**hole Research Transport) from the two novels.
Added to the TBR on 24/01/23.

Anniversary List covers:

2016. , 2017. , 2018. xx, 2019. xx, 2020. xx, 2021. xx, 2022. , 2023. , 2024. , 2025.

Individual comments down here will be for the main list.

13. A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family - Beast-Laid Plans - 06/01/25

A cozy mystery with dragons and, for the purposes of this task, the Toot Hansell W.I., with 10 members. In this one they're up against the Eldmere W.I., with 6 members mentioned.

27. A book set in the winter - The Christmas Guest - ****

A good Christmas murder mystery novella, with a twist I didn't see coming.

47. A book relating to fire - Beneath the Ashes - ***

Deals with a serial arsonist. Plus, first on the cover and "ashes" in the title.


Added to the TBR on 11/04/11

19. A book with a cover that has a building or cityscape - Stranded in Iceland - ***

Has the houses along Reykjavik harbour on the cover.

45. A book by an author whose publishing career spans at least ten years - Stillhouse Lake - ****

As far as I can tell, her first published book was Ill Wind in 2003, and she carried on writing until her death in 2020, with her Stillhouse Lake series being taken over by Carrie Ryan.

Added to the TBR on 03/06/17

4. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld - London Underground's Strangest Tales: Extraordinary but True Stories - ****

An entertaining collection of anecdotes from the London Underground. Light and silly.

Added to the TBR on 10/02/22

43. A book whose title has ten or fewer letters - Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry - 04/02/25

Mythos only has six letters. A fun romp through Greek mythology written with Stephen Fry's signature wit.

Added to the TBR on 10/01/19

2. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list - The Book of Doors - ****

This was an interesting take on magic books and time travel. Fits Poll 5, No designation: A book about books

16. A book that fits a prompt from the 2016 ATY list - Killman Creek - *

This matched 2016 prompt 29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name. Rachel Caine was a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad. She also published as: Roxanne Longstreet, Roxanne Conrad, Julie Fortune and Ian Hammell.

Pity I really didn't like it.

Added to the TBR on 10/01/18

10. A book about witches, goddesses or nuns - Witch and Famous - ****

The POV character is a Book Witch (talks to books, listens to books), and one of the other main characters in this one is a famous film star, so could be called a screen "goddess".

Added to the TBR on 24/05/22.

12. A book by an Irish author - The Story Collector - ****

I enjoyed this, for the most part. The duel timeline was interesting, and I loved the stories of na Daoine Maithe (the Fae/Sidhe). I just felt it was spoiled a bit by the ending of the 1911 story, which just seemed to peter out and wasn't what I was expecting.

Evie Gaughan (aka Evie Woods) was born and raised in Galway, Ireland, and after travelling for a while, is back living there.

**21. A book connected in some way to any collective noun for animals - The Word is Murder - ****

Murder of Crows, obviously! But I liked the way the title is the answer.

Added to the TBR on 25/09/23.

36. A book with a common household object on the cover - A Song of Comfortable Chairs - ****

Chairs and a kettle on the cover.



Added to the TBR on 01/08/23

9. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year - In Ascension - ***

Longlisted under the 2024 list (so the 2025 tournament), although I don't think it made the short list. https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/the...

Interesting Speculative Fiction - I THINK I know what happened at the end.

**5. A book with a weird or intriguing title - The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot - ****

Well, I think it's a weird title!

Sadly, the last book in the wonderful Dr. Siri Paiboun series.

Added to the TBR on 22/01/22

50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - *****

Among others, Marie posted this in the April 2024 thread, and it's on the first page of the full 2024 list.

31. A book with a coastal setting - May Day Murder - ***

Set primarily in Whistable, Kent, which is a coastal town on the Thames Estuary.

25. A book with waves on the cover - The House at Sea's End - ****

It was a toss up whether to use this here, or for 33 (A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time), given I last read one of this series in 2016. However, I decided to us it for 25 in the end, as there are other author's I drop and pick up again later.




Added to the TBR on 24/10/16

51. A book published in 2025 - The Baby Dragon Café - **

First published 16/01/25. Sadly, despite the cute premise, it didn't work for me.

26. A book by an author with a common noun in their name - Much Ado About Nothing - ***

ShakeSPEARe

SPEAR /spɪə/ noun
1. a weapon with a pointed tip, typically of steel, and a long shaft, used for thrusting or throwing.
2. a plant shoot, especially a pointed stem of asparagus or broccoli.

46. A book related to one of the traditional full moon names - Eye of the Wolf - **

The Wolf Moon is the January one, and Wolf is in both the title and on the cover. The actual book specifies that it's set in April, at the time of the Arapajp "Moon of Ice Breaking in the River".

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the earlier ones in the series, as there were some really objectionable characters in it.

1. A book with a cover that has an image of something that starts with A, T, or Y - A Rule Against Murder - ****

Trees on the cover.


Added to the TBR on 27/09/16

**23. A book that involves art, music, dancing or acting - Murder in Montparnasse, Kerry Greenwood - 08/04/25

Dual timeline novel, with the 1918/19 section set among the artists and art scene of post-WWI Montparnasse, where the MC is an artist's model. The main antagonist is a musician, and it comes to a head in the 1928 section after the Lord Mayor's Ball, where the antagonist is playing in the band.

Added to the TBR on 25/02/20.

41. A book that involves digging up the past - Young Men and Fire - ****

A fascinating story about the Mann Gulch fire, in Montana in August 1949, and the author's attempts to find out what really happened to the Smokejumpers who died, starting well after the fact. While he first visited the site fairly soon after the tragedy, most of his investigations were in the 1970s.

Added to the TBR on 27/11/16

49. A book that deals with time travel, alternate universes, or alternate timelines - The Ministry of Time - **

I'd seen this very well written up, but I'm afraid I was rather disappointed by it. Also, the ending just seemed to be lacking.

11. A book set in a fictional location - Floating Hotel, Grace Curtis - ****

Entertaining found-family science fiction story, set on a space hotel.

14. A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman - A Sorceress Comes to Call - ****

Fantasy with horror elements. T. Kingfisher is a pen name for Ursula Vernon

24. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal - Alien Clay - ***

The POV character is both a brain (professor of ecobiology) and a criminal (caught up in a rebellion and deported).

40. A book you'd consider a comfort read - Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage - ***

The most recently published book in one of my favourite comfort read series.

Added to the TBR on 15/03/21

7. A book by an author that uses 3 names - The Martian Contingency, Mary Robinette Kowal - ***

Book 4 in the Lady Astronaut series.

**15. A book of secrets, lies, or deception - Reykjavik - ****

Tells the story of a journalist and his sister looking into the disappearance of a young girl thirty years before. It turns out that the disappearance was a murder, and it was covered up by a clique of powerful people who then helped each other get rich in the years that followed, as they were all bound by the secret.

Added to the TBR on 02/06/23

30. A monster book - Someone You Can Build a Nest In - ***

The MC is actually a monster, and there's an interesting juxtaposition of who is more monstrous - the monster herself, or the family hunting her. (view spoiler)[The family! (hide spoiler)]

6. A book with a serpentine element on the cover - Navigational Entanglements - ***

There's a stylised snake middle right on the cover.

3. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song - Sunbringer, Hannah Kaner - **

"Ray, a drop of golden SUN"
Sun in the title, stylised sun disk on the cover, and one of the POV characters has the sun as his symbol (the "sunbringer" of the title).


Plus, I finished the book on the Summer Solstice, in Iceland, with 22 hours of daylight!

33. A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time - Sheine Lende - ****

This is a prequel to Elatsoe, which I read in 2021. Then I read her second book, A Snake Falls to Earth in 2022 (I'd recommend it for the "snake on the cover" task). As she hadn't published anything since 2021, until this one in 2024, that's a three-year gap,

Young adult fantasy, steeped in Lipan Apache mythology. Wonderful and evocative.

20. A book with an animal, vegetable (plant), or mineral in the title - The Maid and the Crocodile - *****

A rare five-star book for me. Cozy(ish) afro-fantasy, which returns to the world of the author's previous books, Raybearer and Redemptor.

The animal is obviously a crocodile.

**34. A book title that could be a country song - Angelica's Smile - ****

Well, I think it sounds like a country song...

Added to the TBR on 20/11/18.

28. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 1 - Truth or Dare - **
29. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 2 - Telling Lies - **

Truth and Lies.

Truth or Dare was added to the TBT on 27/09/21
Telling Lies was added to the TBR on 18/07/17

42. A book set in a manor, mansion, or estate - Murder on the Pilgrims Way - ***

Set in a recently-restored manor house in the Kent countryside, called Villa Pellegrini.

17. A history or historical fiction book set prior to 1925 - Midshipman Bolitho - ****

Nautical adventure, set in 1772-73

38. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 1 - Tooth and Claw - ****
39. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 2


The connection is the title
Tooth and Claw, Craig Johnson - Mystery, Thriller, Westerns, Adventure, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Crime
Still to read - Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton - Fantasy, Dragons, Romance, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Historical, High Fantasy

48. A book with a character dealing with death - The Guncle - ***

"Gay Uncle Patrick" takes in his nephew and niece for the summer, after the death of their mother, Sara - his best friend from college - and while his brother/their father is in rehab. Together they try to come to terms with Sara's loss.