Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Happy April! Use this thread to discuss your plans and reads for the month!

I plan on finishing up the ATY 2025 challenge this week. I had a spectacularly craptastic year last year, and I survived by reading A LOT of books. When it seemed that this year might be about as craptastic as last year, I figured I'd rely on books to get me through again. I decided it would be fun to just read only the books for the challenge first. It has been fun. It is unlikely that I will do it again, but it was fun for this year. I am in the middle of two books for the challenge, and when that is done, I will only have two left. I will continue on and finish up the anniversary prompts, too. Beyond that.... ???? I will likely read Words of Radiance the next book in the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. I am also planning on reading Red by Catherine Winters and Midnight at the Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson.

this month I have lined up:
The Complete Poems
Wandering Stars
Tehrangeles
Five Winters
The Humans
The Book of Lost Names

My April plans include:

finishing Ulysses (so much for it being my Irish book that I would finish in the month of March)

The Vegetarian
Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run
The Crystal City
A Complicated Kindness

Book clubs this month will be Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed and Black Cake.

On library watch, I'm down to 13 out (but with 2 to return and 3 to pick up later today). Plus one interlibrary loan out.

Now that Canada Reads and the Tournament of Books are over, I'm hoping I can focus on getting the library number down and focus on reading some stuff I already own and slimming down my shelves. But I feel like I say that every month!

Immediate reads are The Mercy of Gods, Behold the Dreamers and The Catch Me if You Can: One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World.

Joanna those are excellent book club picks!

Misty wrote: "I plan on finishing up the ATY 2025 challenge this week. I had a spectacularly craptastic year last year, and I survived by reading A LOT of books. When it seemed that this year might be about as c..."

Congratulations Misty!! I had a year like that a few years ago when reading was the perfect antidote to a difficult situation in my life. I finished ATY at the end of March. I might not ever be able to do it again, but it felt good. All my challenges and resources just fell together perfectly. Some people do running marathons to push themselves. I like our way more.

NancyJ wrote: "I like our way more."

Me, too! :) It's funny because I now only have two more to go, and it really does feel like I'm getting close to the end of a race or something - LOL.

I just finished the best book! Anyone But Her by Cynthia Swanson is a paranormal, slow-burn, thriller, and it was fantastic. I know Cynthia, and she is an awesome person, and I think this was her best book yet. I'm so glad I read it.

Wow, Misty! Good job! I hope your year is less craptastic!

I've got 2 hours left to finish King: A Life. Really liking the audiobook, and I normally don't like nonfiction on audio. But I'm not sure when I'll finish it, as I caught covid this week. As have my boyfriend and our daughter. :/ I already have fatigue issues, so covid is not welcome! It really interferes with my reading, so we'll see how long it lasts and how much it messes with my April reading.

I read very little in February and then I read a ton of books in March, so I'm looking to balance things out for April. I might also do some re-reading to reset after a couple disappointing reads.

And...... I'm done with the challenge! I finished tonight! Woo hoo. That was actually really fun. Now I don't know what to read. LOL. (A problem that will last for a full 45 seconds after I log off.....)

Misty wrote: "And...... I'm done with the challenge! I finished tonight! Woo hoo. That was actually really fun. Now I don't know what to read. LOL. (A problem that will last for a full 45 seconds after I log off..."

Congratulations on the finish!

Congrats Misty!!

Continuing from March:

-Stranded by A.K. DuBoff
-The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
-The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
-Passions of the Soul by Rowan Williams (NF)
-The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve: The Story That Created Us by Stephen Greenblatt (NF)
-Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Audio)

Beginning in April:

-Only Mostly Dead by Alli Temple (Audio)
-The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
-The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier
-King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis (audio)

The Stonekeeper’s Curse – Kazu Kibuishi – 2**
Book two in the Amulet graphic novel series for middle-school readers continues the adventure with the group making its way to the City of Kanalis in hopes of getting help. Kibuishi’s illustrations are stellar. And I also like that the dialogue bubbles are well designed, graphically speaking. However, I didn’t like the storyline as much as the first one. I guess the novelty has worn off for me.
LINK to my full review

The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick – 5***** & a ❤
What a treasure! This inventive, unusual novel in words and pictures won the Caldecott medal for illustration. The book is intended for children, but will delight adults as well. The story of Hugo, Isabelle and Papa Georges is enthralling, and kept me guessing. But the drawings … oh, the drawings! They are rich and subtle and complex and detailed, showing incredible depth of field and use of light and shadow.
LINK to my full review

Death of a Pumpkin Carver – Lee Hollis – 2**
Book # 8 in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery series has Hayley’s ex-husband Danny back in town and suspected of murder. This is only the second book from this series that I’ve read. This one is better than the first one, but not stellar. There are several recipes, some of which I thought sounded delicious. But I thought that using pumpkin in each and every one of them was overkill. Lee Hollis is a pen name for a brother-sister writing team. Perhaps the disconnections in the book are a reflection of having more than one author contributing to the effort.
LINK to my full review

The Cloud Searchers – Kazu Kibuishi – 3***
Episode 3 in the Amulet series of graphic novels for the pre-teen crowd. The adventure continues with Emily, Navin and Leon enlisting a ship’s captain to take them in search of Cielis, the city hidden in the clouds, where they hope to find and join the Council. Whom to trust? And, can Emily channel the amulet’s power without being corrupted by it?
LINK to my full review

I have 3 non-fiction books I started in March but am having trouble finishing them, despite the fact they are all really interesting and well written. I'm having a hard time concentrating so I decided to read some shorter books and finished Animal Farm (audiobook) and Baba Dunja's Last Love by German author Alina Bronsky. I'm still working on War and Peace. I switched translations and am enjoying this one more. I will probably read some short stories this month. I have several collections to tackle!

The Last Council – Kazu Kibuishi – 3***
Book # 4 in the Amulet graphic novel series has Emily hoping to join the Guardian Council, she has to endure several challenges to prove herself worthy, and in order to succeed she needs to find a way to trust others. The key is trusting the correct source / entity, when she has both allies and enemies where she didn’t expect them.
LINK to my full review

A few days ago I watched a documentary on the American cartoonist and writer Art Spiegleman, which got me motivated to finally read The Complete Maus. It’s excellent and I highly recommend both the book and the documentary (Art Spiegleman: Disaster is My Muse).

The Storm We Made – Vanessa Chan – 3***
This work of historical fiction, tells the story of the Pacific Theater in WW2 with a different focus. Chan explores personal choice, desires, memories, anxiety, desperation and the relationships between oppressors and the oppressed. She also writes about “the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake.” Her images are stunning, at times frightening. And the tension never left this reader. Even during scenes of relative peace, one knew that danger was just around the corner.
LINK to my full review

April has been a miserable reading month. In addition to getting covid on April 1 (no fooling...) it's also my daughter's birth month, and then spring break, and Easter, so I've either been exhausted or busy (or both!). Also, I started listening to the perfectly horrible Call Me By Your Name. I gave it an hour and a half, and it was miserable, so I returned it.

Fortunately, I picked up Chasing Fireflies, which is a magnificent book so far. The blurb does not do it justice. It's the story of a journalist, Chase, who is investigating the identity of a young boy who was found horribly abused and mute after his mom died. Chase knows something about being abandoned and was adopted by "Uncle Willee". Chase got into journalism to try to find out his own history as well as the events that lead to the ruin of Willee's life- when his father, wife and children were all killed and he was blamed for a bank robbery and did time in prison.
Go compare that to the dumb blurb the book gives. (boy, I'm cranky about my books, aren't I? ;)

Misty wrote: "And...... I'm done with the challenge!..."

OMW! You are my hero. Congratulations!

Jennifer, you aren't alone! I average 8-10 books a month, and this month, I've only finished 4 so far. For me, it was the end of tax season (my busiest time of year), combined with some illness and lots of DNF'd audiobooks. I've read some good books, but it's definitely not been a high quantity month.

Same! I am also at 4 books so far this month. Maybe I just need to do some rereads to get myself back in the groove.

Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson – 4****
Subtitle: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Bryan Stevenson was a young attorney when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need. This was compelling and inspiring. Stevenson was up against a system that had been born of deeply entrenched fear and hatred and racism. For him “liberty and justice for all” are not just words but a call to action.
LINK to my full review

Same. I finished 3 books this month and might edge out a 4th, about half the usual output, and thats without getting sick (but I did have the youngster bday thing). IDK what it is this month that is keeping us from our beloved books....

GailW (on partial hiatus) wrote: "Misty wrote: "And...... I'm done with the challenge!..."

OMW! You are my hero. Congratulations!"

:) Thanks!

Jennifer W wrote: "April has been a miserable reading month. In addition to getting covid on April 1 (no fooling...) it's also my daughter's birth month, and then spring break, and Easter, so I've either been exhaust..."

I'm sorry you've been having a crappy month. I hope things start looking up for you.

Misty wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "April has been a miserable reading month. In addition to getting covid on April 1 (no fooling...) it's also my daughter's birth month, and then spring break, and Easter, so I've ..."

Aww! Thanks so much!

Likely To Die – Linda Fairstein – 3***
Manhattan DA Alexandra Cooper gets a high-profile case when a leading neurosurgeon is brutally murdered in her office at a major medical center. I really like that Fairstein has given us such a strong female heroine. Alex is an independent, intelligent, strong woman who excels at her job and has a wide range of colleagues and friends who support and admire her. I particularly like her relationship with detective Mike Chapman. I was sure I had it figured out … only to be completely surprised at the reveal. Good job!
LINK to my full review

This Is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay – 3***
Adam Kay wanted to be a doctor. He was drawn to the idea of helping people in distress. When he was a medical student and a “junior doctor” (residency in the USA), he kept a diary of his experiences. This memoir is based on those entries. I’ve always been interested in medicine and the work done by medical professionals. This promised humor along with information. He delivered on both those promises but I wasn’t a great fan of the diary-entry format. I thought it lacked narrative flow.
LINK to my full review

I did read for a single prompt thos month. 😭😭😭