Deborah’s Comments (group member since Dec 28, 2017)

Deborah’s comments from the Around the Year in 52 Books group.

1. What do you think of the book so far?
I am liking it so far, though I was a little slow to get into it. I think the book moves at a little bit of a slower pace than some of the things I've been recently, though. I do want to continue on and see what happens next.

2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
Not especially so far. Like others have mentioned, I've been a bit frustrated with Elodie's feelings (or lack thereof) about getting married, but I do like her natural curiosity to dig into the mysteries at hand.

3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
Probably the 2017 story just because I enjoy seeing Elodie dig into her resources to explore the mystery.

4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
My initial impressions was that it was Birdie, but I do think that could be misdirection.

I had similar thoughts on the ghost's modern knowledge, but I guess if she is limited to the one location, she probably has had nothing to do but spy on visitors to the house and keep up with their modern conveniences.

Questions before starting:
1. Have you read a book by Kate Morton before? If so, did you enjoy it? I have not, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

2. What are your thoughts about books with author names that are bigger than the title? I don't necessarily notice the text size (likely because I usually pick books off a small screen vs. full size on a shelf).

3. What attracted you to the book? (author, dual timeline, historical fiction, etc.) I have heard good things about the author, but really I picked this one based on it being a group read. I have it on hold with the library and I'm hoping to get it soon.

4. Do you have any predictions going into the mystery of the story? No, I'm going in without any preconceived ideas.

Janette wrote: "Would the Nora Roberts Trilogy work for thisYear One and Of Blood and Bone? I am not a fan of this genre so am looking for something from an author I enjoy."

I would think definitely yes - speculating a future where a disease wiped out much of the population, how the world has to be rebuilt, plus the emergence of magic. Similar in a lot of ways to The Stand which others have mentioned in this thread.

I was kinda team in order last year, but a few things wound up out of order because I wanted to read things in series order or I didn't get my library hold on time. This year, I'm definitely taking things more randomly as it seems most of my picks have long waiting lists at the library. The main goal is to expand my reading and have fun, so definitely don't want to worry about the waiting lists! :)

This is definitely a category where I think the challenge will be narrowing down my options.

A few I have read recently and enjoyed that would work for this category:
Sourdough
Like Water for Chocolate
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Tracy wrote: "Awwww no... sorry to hear. Thats the worst. I've lost two and I miss them both so much after all these years.

The planning is one of my favorite parts. I love how excited everyone gets about it. A..."

It was a rough start to the year for me, I miss my boy a lot. I do have a new little furry kid - she's just over a year old so she's full of lots of energy and fun, but is also good for snuggling in for reading time. She doesn't love the planning phase (the laptop is much more intrusive when it comes to taking over my lap than a book is), but I'm enjoying it. My TBR list is already growing quickyl and we're only a few planning threads in! :)

Assuming I can get through the sixth installment in the series by the end of this year, I think I'll probably use The Dark Tower to finish out the series. It was a nominee for the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 and winner of the British Fantasy Awards in 2005.

Not sure if it is officially what they're called in California or if it was just my youth group leader, but I remember going fishing for 'crawdads' as a kid.

Tracy wrote: "This dogs ears !!!!!!! I'm in love 😍

Enjoy you're planning and reading :-)"

Thanks! He's no longer with me, but he spent many, many an hour snuggling on my lap while I was reading and petting those ears. :)

Very excited to get to the planning, even if I'm only one planned book in!

52/52

√ 1. A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy The Dark Tower
√ 2. A book with one of the 5 W's in the title (Who, What, Where, When, Why) Where the Crawdads Sing
√ 3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y What Alice Forgot
√ 4. A book with a criminal character (i.e. assassin, pirate, thief, robber, scoundrel etc) Hidden Bodies
√ 5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare The Tempest
√ 6. A book with a dual timeline The Clockmaker's Daughter
√ 7. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #1 Jane Eyre
√ 8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #2 My Plain Jane
√ 9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy or horror) Cell
√ 10. A book featuring an historical figure America's First Daughter
√ 11. A book related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese Animals (title, cover, subject) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
√ 12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer The Jane Austen Book Club
√ 13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list The Immortalists
√ 14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term Zodiac
√ 15. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country or set in a Mediterranean country My Brilliant Friend
16. A book told from multiple perspectives
√ 17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia) Undying
√ 18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements Heart of Iron
√ 19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR Lisey's Story
20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country
√ 21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes The Age of Miracles (a book about a disaster)
√ 22. A book with a number in the title or on the cover The Thirteenth Tale
√ 23. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old We Were the Lucky Ones
√ 24. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New Daisy Jones & The Six
√ 25. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed Hag-Seed
√ 26. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something Blue The Last Time I Lied
√ 27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
√ 28. A book related to something cold (i.e. theme, title, author, cover, etc.) In Cold Blood
√ 29. A book published before 1950 Madame Bovary
√ 30. A book featuring an elderly character Britt-Marie Was Here
√ 31. A children’s classic you’ve never read Pippi Longstocking
√ 32. A book with more than 500 pages Moby-Dick, or, the Whale
√ 33. A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet Quicker Than the Eye
√ 34. A book with a person's name in the title Sadie
√ 35. A psychological thriller The Silent Patient
√ 36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list Give Me Your Hand
√ 37. A book set in a school or university The Dreamers
√ 38. A book not written in traditional novel format (poetry, essay, epistolary, graphic novel, etc) Obsidio
√ 39. A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life Next Year in Havana
√ 40. A book you stumbled upon The Almost Sisters
√ 41. A book from the 2018 GR Choice Awards The Book of M
√ 42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character Rosemary's Baby
√ 43. A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) [fiction or nonfiction] The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
√ 44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoyed (same topic, same era, book appeared in the show/movie, etc.) The Bell Jar
√ 45. A multi-generational saga Pachinko
√ 46. A book with a (mostly) black cover The Kind Worth Killing
√ 47. A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.) Baby Teeth
√ 48. A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year Her Body and Other Parties
√ 49. A book written by a Far East Asian author or set in a Far East Asian country The Mango Bride
√ 50. A book that includes a journey (physical, health, or spiritual) Wanderers
√ 51. A book published in 2019 Miracle Creek
√ 52. A book with a weird or intriguing title My Sister, the Serial Killer

I think I'm also going to go with Where the Crawdads Sing for this one since I have had it on my TBR. I first saw it on the reesesbookclubxhellosunshine Instagram which I started following for the celebrity book club prompt for this year's Popsugar. My library has 34 copies, so I'm hopeful that I can get to the top of the wait list by January so I can stick to my 'mostly in order' reading plan.

Very excited for January too! I'm a little ahead for this year and nearly down to one book on hold to finish off Popsugar for this year, so I'm tackling the 2017 ATY list to keep me busy for the rest of the year since I only joined the challenge this year. I'm trying to hold off on planning TOO much for 2019 because I'm sure I'll find too many things I want to read NOW!

Thanks to the mods, spreadsheeters and everyone else for feeding my reading obsession!

I'm also planning to try to read in order, and try to hit the once a week plan, but since I do use the library for most of my books there is a good chance that I'll hit a problem getting the timing on my books right and may have to pull some quick switches. For now I've planned out the first eight books and I have them either on hold at the library and/or verified they seem to be readily available through Overdrive, so we'll see how it goes.

For longer books sometimes I'll try to do both the print book and audiobook and switch back and forth (though it can be a little bit of a pain). Since I spend an hour plus in the car on the commute that does sometimes help me when I'm trying to get through something longer (and/or I'm just eager to see what comes next).

Thanks to those of you who mentioned garden as a word tied to earth because it hadn't occurred to me. I found The Butterfly Garden on my TBR list (a Kindle first book I already own, but haven't read), so think I'll give that one a try.

Laura wrote: "Deborah, you should definitely read Horns!! Such a fantastic, unique book."

Thanks for the rec! I think I'm definitely leaning that way. I'm number one on the waiting list with the library, so hopefully it comes through!

Looks like 12/31/15 was the day I actually joined Goodreads, so all of my choices are from that date. Based on what it looks like I can get from the library in time, it looks like it is Horns or Why Not Me? for me next week.

So many great books to choose from menyioned in this thread, but I'm going with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry because it was on my TBR shelf and the library had it available.

√ 1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
√ 2. A book from the first 10 books added to your To Be Read list Horns
√ 3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards Norse Mythology
√ 4. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #1 Earth (in title, cover, content, setting, author...) Unearthed
√ 5. A book about or inspired by real events Room
√ 6. A book originally written in a language other than English After the Crash
√ 7. A gothic novel The Haunting of Hill House
√ 8. An "own voices" book* The Hate U Give
√ 9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc) Hearts in Atlantis
√ 10. An author's debut book (their first book to be published) Everything, Everything
√ 11. A literary fiction Lincoln in the Bardo
√ 12. A book set in Africa or South America The Seven Sisters
√ 13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc) Can You Keep a Secret?
√ 14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire Daughter of Smoke & Bone
√ 15. A book with an unique format/writing structure Dear Committee Members
√ 16. A narrative nonfiction The Zookeeper's Wife
√ 17. A book you expect to make you laugh Unqualified
√ 18. A book with a location in the title Cider Brook
√ 19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors) Before the Fall
√ 20. A book rated 5 stars by at least one of your friends All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
√ 21. A book written in first person perspective The Lightning Thief
√ 22. A book you have high expectations or hope for Something in the Water
√ 23. A medical or legal thriller Defending Jacob
√ 24. A book with a map The Lies of Locke Lamora
√ 25. A book with an antagonist/villain point of view You
√ 26. A book with a text only cover You Think It, I'll Say It
√ 27. A book about surviving a hardship (war, famine, major disasters, serious illness, etc) The Passage
√ 28. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #3 Water Into the Water
√ 29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench) The Hazel Wood
√ 30. A short book Every Heart a Doorway
√ 31. A book set in a country you'd like to visit but have never been to The Wonder
√ 32. An alternate history book Ink and Bone
√ 33. A book connected (title, cover, content) to a word "born" in the same year as you (link) Dreamcatcher
√ 34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call (link) The Color of Magic
√ 35. A book featuring a murder Murder on the Orient Express
√ 36. A book published in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) by an author you haven't read before The Butterfly Garden
√ 37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee (link1, link2) Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
√ 38. A science book or a science fiction book Gemina
√ 39. A book with a form of punctuation in the title Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
√ 40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list (link) The Road
√ 41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials All the Missing Girls
√ 42. A book that takes place on, in, or underwater The Deep
√ 43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence Elizabeth Is Missing
√ 44. A ghost story The Graveyard Book
√ 45. A book that intimidates/ scares you Wolves of the Calla
√ 46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air Fallen
√ 47. A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity than your own The Sun Is Also a Star
√ 48. A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth) Envy
√ 49. A book from one of the Goodreads Best Books of the Month lists (link) Bring Me Back
50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer)
√ 51. An award-winning short story or short story collection Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
√ 52. A book published in 2018 Still Lives