Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This week's prompt is to read a book with a title that could be a country song. Of course, anything can be a song title if you try hard enough, but some things just have a flavor that says "country music". For those who are less familiar with the genre, country music tends towards themes of love, heartache, trucks, the importance of home and family, farming/ranching, and drinking. Also, a strangely sizeable number of songs specifically about boots.

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

What are you reading for this prompt?

I’ll probably have to go with something I don’t own for this one. I’m thinking about Same Bed Different Dreams or Streets of Laredo, which is an actual song.

Funny thing about this prompt. When I go through the listopia my brain somehow determines if a book title totally fits or doesn't really fit. Pretty much any title could work but my subconscious seems to have some sort of specific criteria. Haha.

dalex wrote: "Funny thing about this prompt. When I go through the listopia my brain somehow determines if a book title totally fits or doesn't really fit. Pretty much any title could work but my subconscious se..."

Yes, the "plain" ones are fine but it's the wackier ones that strike me as fitting. Of course, many country songs are just a name (Jolene), place name, etc. but that's not what most of us think of.

My pick is The Seeker by S.G. MacLean. Reminds me of “The Gambler.”

I'm going with The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America's Weirdest State by Russell Cobb. Everything before the colon sounds like a great Tom T Hall song, lol

I'm reading Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron for this prompt. I've this book on audio for years and hear wonderful things about the author and series, but I never get around to listening to it. 2025 will be the year.

I'm going for some Reacher, Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child.

Marie wrote: "I'm going for some Reacher, Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child."

Love it!

Pam wrote: "I’ll probably have to go with something I don’t own for this one. I’m thinking about Same Bed Different Dreams or Streets of Laredo, which is an actual song."

Same Bed Different Dreams is top of my list for this prompt as well!

I picked Wrong Place Wrong Time

It sounded like it could be a country song, and I even “heard” it in my head. There actually is a country song with this title, but the song I was hearing was “coulda been the right place, musta been the wrong time.” I listened to it today. It’s by Dr.John and def is not country, it’s more R&B or soul. I’ve been bopping around to it for the last 20 minutes. 🎶🎸🎺🎷🕺🪩

@NancyJ - I forgot about that song! Def not country, but I could totally see a country artist revamping it for a country audience. Either way, I think the title itself sounds country.

My first choice is Tell Me How This Ends - Jo Leevers

Two more:
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept - Elizabeth Smart
Less Than Angels - Barbara Pym

I'm choosing There Are Rivers in the Sky and It Ends with Us.

I'm leaning towards Those Pink Mountain Nights

Unless I come up with a better one from my TBR list, I will probably read The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger.

I'm considering Time For Lights Out and Home Land.

Seems like another possibility for :
Wandering Stars
Also considering: The Bootlegger's Daughter
Can You Forgive Her?
All the Lovers in the Night

I am not from the US and almost never hear country music, so this is a hard one.. Would You'd Look Better as a Ghost work?

I’m using These Burning Stars

Isabel wrote: "I am not from the US and almost never hear country music, so this is a hard one.. Would You'd Look Better as a Ghost work?"

Yes, I can imagine that as a song title.

I read Out of My Mind

I have gone with The Queen of Fives

I hope the country song is better than the book

I read You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories by Alice Walker. Excellent short stories (a bit dated - published in 1971).

This was the title of an actual country song in the 1970’s. It was a pop crossover hit, so I didn’t think of it as a country song.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green

I'm going to read She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubica.

I'm using I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry for this one.

This was a fun prompt, a lot of good options and in the end I read Beautiful Ugly. I think it was a fun book but wasn't really a fan of the main twist, while unexpected it wasn't interesting and ended in a way that was kind of blah.

I went with An Honored Vow by Melissa Blair for this prompt. I loved this whole series!!!

A book that I thought was excellent (There Are Rivers in the Sky) and one that I didn't (It Ends with Us). (view spoiler)[ I understand that many women find it extremely hard to leave abusive relationships (and this relationship was always borderline abusive even its 'romantic' moments), so I could have some empathy with that part of the story, but when the man in question agrees that, despite therapy, he cannot control his emotions when angry, and the MC is really happy about allowing him unsupervised access to their child - just NO (hide spoiler)]

I read The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman for this challenge

I'm using The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

Ha! I just finished Call Me By Your Name (hated it) and decided to ask ChatGPT whether it considered this a plausible title for a country song. Not only did it say "yes," it wrote the chorus to the song:

Call me by your name, like you did back then
When the night was ours and the world felt pretend
I wore your shadow, you wore my pain
Now I’m just a stranger, callin’ out in vain
But oh, just once, call me by your name…

JP wrote: "Ha! I just finished Call Me By Your Name (hated it) and decided to ask ChatGPT whether it considered this a plausible title for a country song. Not only did it say "yes," it wrote t..."

Glad I'm not the only one who hated that book. I did not understand the hype. Didn't care for the movie either but at least you get to look at Timothee Chalamet which always makes a movie go down easier.

I read The One That Got Away: A Short Story by Mike Gayle

I read:
Rednecks by Taylor Brown

REJECT: A book that is an Audie award winner or nominee (2025)

Finished: 05/26/2025
Rating: 5 stars

From Goodreads:
A historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain, pitting a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history.

For this prompt, I read:


Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison - 4* - My Review

I read That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx for this topic (Read June 19th; 4*) There is a country song recorded by George Strait called "Ace In The Hole"

I read When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie.

I had another book planned for this prompt; but, in looking through my read books for this year, I decided to slot When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason into this prompt.

I read When Among Crows, by Veronica Roth, which sounds to me like something one could sing in a cornfield. Actually, it's an urban fantasy set in Chicago, where the witch Baba Jaga now lives and, at 166 pages, quite a quick read.
I was also able to use it for the Summer Reading Challenge prompt, new-to-me author.

I shall be reading The story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon. I think it sounds rather like a ballad title.