Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2020
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13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge
I have two thoughts about how to handle this one. I might choose a prompt that could fit a type of book that would be hard to fit anywhere else in the list, like “a collection”. Or, I might use it as a free choice where I know what book I want to read and find an old prompt that it fits. I almost never do things that way, it feels a bit like cheating. But, it has also meant letting some books I really am interested in stay unread, which doesn’t seem right!
I’m planning to use the former prompt of “a mystery”, and am not certain which owned book I will read quite yet.
I am going to use the 2016 prompt “a book that appears on a summer/beach read list”. That way when the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide comes out I will have a spot for a book from it that I may not be able to fit anywhere else. This year I scrambled to make all the books I wanted to read from the guide fit in my various reading challenges. LOL
Mod
I'll probably use a 2016 prompt, as 2017 was my first year participating. Options:
A biography, autobiography, or memoir
A fairytale from a culture other than your own
A book about a thing that goes bump in the night
For this I picked a book that I wanted to read but couldn't fit elsewhere (Age of Legend), and then went looking for a prompt that would work. I think I'll use the 2016 prompt to read a book with a beautiful cover.
This is a hard one for me. I don't necessarily have favourite prompts, since it's dependent on how I feel about the book I pick. I'm a bit tempted to pick one favourite prompt from each previous year, but I don't know if that would be too much with my other challenges!
The nice thing here is that it’s not a “favorite prompt,” it’s ANY prompt. Which basically makes it a wild card. I mean, there’s always a prompt! The first book I read that doesn’t fit any other prompt will get slotted here. I’ll figure it out retroactively.
My plan is to use a 2016 prompt since 2017 was my first year in the challenge. I plan to pick one prompt before Jan 1 and stick with it. I am pretty sure I will go with the 2016's non-fiction prompt since I want to read more non-fiction and we haven't been able to get non-fiction back in the mix! My first choice is Arthur Ashe: A Life.
I've narrowed it down to 3 prompts so far -2019 - A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) [fiction or nonfiction]
I won't get round to reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks this year and it has been sitting on my shelf for so long maybe 2020 will be it's year.
2017 - An epistolary fiction
My TBR list is full of them.
2016 - A book originally written in a language other than English
I've just started learning a new language and I'm thinking that if I leave this prompt to the end of 2020 I might be able to read a short basic book in that language for this.
I'm reading one from each year, since I've done them all before. 2016 was a favourite, and I like 2017 a lot, but the other two I chose just because they fit books I wanted to read.2016: A book with a great opening line
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
2017: A book with an animal in the title or on the cover
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
2018: A book about or inspired by real events
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
2019: A book with one of the 5 W's in the title
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
There are so many choices, but I think I'm going to choose between 2016's 19. A non-fiction book or 2018's 45. A book that intimidates/ scares you
I'm reading 'To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It fits a prompt from 2019. A book from the 1001 books to read before you die list. No. 27.I had hoped to read it last year but ran out of time.
1. What are you reading for this category?The Killer Across the Table John E. Douglas
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
It fits a non-fiction book for the year 2016.
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I decided for this books because I want to read more nonfiction books.
1. What are you reading for this category?The Amulet
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
Told from multiple perspectives, from 2019.
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I really liked this prompt, and I had a book I really wanted to read by an author I discovered in 2019. It was serendipitous that the book and topic both came together perfectly.
I loved the book and I am really growing to appreciate Michael McDowell as an author.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott<
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view) from 2017
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I did this one backwards - I read the book first and then found the prompt.
I chose ATY2016 prompt 23: The next book in a series you're reading, and read Dorothy Dunnett, Queen's Play, the second of the Lymond Chronicles, the series I started for prompt 5
1. What are you reading for this category?Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
A classic book with less than 200 pages (2016)
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I read a lot of classics and try to intersperse short and long books. This book was 176 pages and quick to read.
1. Don't Look Now and Other Stories2. 2017 A collection
3. I needed an anthology for the popsugar challenge.
Prior to starting the challenge this year, I wanted to use 2016 list (the only year I have not participated in the ATY challenge). I recently checkeed out Strange the Dreamer from the library. The only prompt that I saw that it fit was 13. Reader’s Choice. So, it kinda feels like a freebie but really this prompt is a freebie so I'm okay with it.
I am reading Me by Elton John.In the planning stages, I had decided to use the 2016 List, since it is the one year I didn't do the challenge. From that list, I had 3 prompts I had narrowed it down to. This book works for 2 of them: #19 Non-fiction and #45 Related to a hobby or passion you have (Music). (It worked out that these were 2 prompts (non-fiction and music) I had hoped to see in 2020.) I was a big Elton John fan in the '70s so I immediately wanted to read the book, when I heard about it. It's really good so far!
1. What are you reading for this category?I read Landline by Rainbow Rowell
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
From last years list, I believe. It was "author that has more than one book on your TBR list".
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I made a list of a few prompts that sounded intriguing and then started checking the library online to see what was available.
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What are you reading for this category?I read The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
1916 List A book you meant to read in 2015
How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I looked back at the original list I first made when I was choosing options for the list and went with one of the oldest
KleopatraPrompt: MC is royalty
I read this for Historathon, and it fit this prompt, too. I didn't like any of the characters, and it was slow going, so I won't read the sequel. I gave it three stars because it was just meh.
read Adults 06/03/2020Fit prompt no E in title cant remember which year
Just picked something i thought i could achieve this is a big challenge
I chose the 2017 prompt " A Book by a Favorite Author" and was going to read The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian, which a new release coming out this year.However, I went ahead and read Game of Thrones and needed to read the second book, and that's A LOT of book to use as a side read. Since George R.R. Martin seems to be my new favorite author this year, I stuck it here LOL. It's a win!! I also had to find a place to put A Storm of Swords. I have a feeling this is how my plans are going to evolve this year ;-)
1. What are you reading for this category? The Life Below2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year? This is for a prompt from 2016 - #23. The next book in a series you are reading
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose? It was on hold at my library and wanted to find a spot for it so this was a perfect fit for where I am in the challenge.
1. What are you reading for this category? Tell Me Three Things2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year? A book with a number in the title. It was a 2019 prompt
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose? I found the book on clearance and I wanted to read it this year and that was the first prompt I thought of that it would fit into.
I read Lillian's Story: One Womans Journey through the 20th Century by Sally Patricia GardnerThis was based on the 2019 prompt #34. A book with a person's name in the title.
This was one of the books I wanted to read this year, and when I was scanning the previous prompts, it was the first to catch my eye.
I read Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. This prompt is really a freebie, and I wanted to read this book due to good reviews. I wasn't disappointed! Technically I chose 2016's #31 - A work of young adult fiction.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
This fit a 2016 prompt of a book you have seen the movie of but not read the book.
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I was planning to read this book already, but when researching for this category it feel into place. I don't usually watch movies first (quite the opposite usually), but I had seen this movie long ago. The book and movie are quite similar (to basically say that the Jodie Foster starred adaptation was quite faithful to Harris's novel).
1. What are you reading for this category? Damage Control by Robert Dugoni2. Which prompt did it fit? A book whose title begins with the first letter of your name. Which year? 2016
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose? Damage Control was on my To Be Read list, and this prompt is listed early in the lists, so...
1. What are you reading for this prompt? Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. 2. What year? What prompt did you use? Prompt from a previous challenge. 2016.
3. How did you decide which prompt to use? The prompt fit this book.
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The prompt is from 2019, a title with one of the 5 "W's".
I glanced through the 2019 prompts and that one struck me because every book in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series starts with Who, What, Where, When or Why!
I'm doing this one four times, one for each year. I chose each based on liking the prompt and having something I wanted to read that fit it.So first up was 2016, and I chose A book with a great opening line, which is one of my all-time favourite prompts.
I read All Systems Red by Martha Wells. I don't know if the opening line counts as a spoiler, but I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone who might read it, so I'll not say what it is :)
1. What are you reading for this category?I am reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
It fit the prompt "A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoy" from the 2019 challenge
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
This prompt was the one I was most disappointed in not getting around to from last year so it was an easy pick for me
1. What are you reading for this category? Between Shades of Gray2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year? A book about surviving a hardship.
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose? There was a book I wanted to read and it didn't fit a category still remaining open in my challenge, so I looked through old prompts until I found one that fit...
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I read Kiki Lowenstein and the Purple Passion by Joanna Campbell SlanThis fit the 2016 category to select A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.) This seemed like a unique prompt and I had several of the Kiki Lowenstein books in my queue on Kindle Unlimited so it let me accomplish 2 things.
https://titlesurfingwithtraci.blogspo...
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1. What are you reading for this category?Beloved
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
An Award Winning Book - 2016
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I have an ongoing challenge to read all the Pulitzer winners. This was one I needed and this was a prompt it would fulfill.
What are you reading for this category? About the Night by Anat TalshirWhich prompt did it fit? Which year? Prompt 36 from 2016 - an identity book ( book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation)
How did you decide which prompt to choose? I think I chose the prompt to fit the book, rather than the other way round, on this one!
This is the story of an Arab man Elias and a Jewish woman Lila, who fall in love in 40's Jerusalem, only to be separated by conflict, religion and a physically divided city. But theirs is a love that can't be extinguished, and this book charts their lives and emotions through decades of conflict and changes all around them, and the heartbreaking separation these cause. I'm not necessarily one for a romance, but this is no ordinary love. And the story is told (and has been incredibly translated) in the most transfixing and beautiful writing. This is tempered from being too cloying by being balanced against details of the ongoing fighting across the city, and the stories of a cast of other characters. I particularly enjoyed the modern day interactions of Nomi, who was a young girl during the hidden love story, and elderly Elias.
This is a slow, quiet story so I can see it wouldn't be for everyone, but I appreciated that quality in it. I enjoyed learning more about a conflict I have never been able to get my head around, and see it through the eyes of those who experienced it. Not those who fought it, but the everyday people whose lives were impacted as they tried their best to exist. I think I actually liked that aspect much more than I actually liked the love story. Like I said, I'm not big on romance, but this particular romance had a lot wrong with it that I couldn't overlook. Elias and Lila were not the warmest or most engaging characters, and no matter how strong a love is I really can't ever be ok with infidelity or abandonment.
Still, I think this book will stay with me for a long time and I really enjoyed the reading experience.
1. What are you reading for this category? Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year? 16th book on your TBR list for 2016
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose? I like choosing a prompt that forced me to read one of my oldest books
This was a slightly terrifying read in these irrational times. There were a lot of chapters that could be directly connected to different news articles from this week.
I read Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson for 2017's A book with an animal in the title or on the cover. I really like title and cover prompts, so that was my main reason for choosing to do this one.
1)Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi2)Readers Choice, 2016
3)Well, originally I had this book down for the first prompt. That is, until just now, when I realized I completely overlooked the 'a' in and. So I went through my list of books I have written down for the other prompts until I found one that fit the first prompt. Thankfully that book was for this prompt. Made things easier since I could just switch them. I probably could have found another prompt this book would have fit but this was the easiest.
What are you reading for this category? I'm reading Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl.Which prompt did it fit? Which year? It's from 2016's Week 47: a book with a type of food or drink in the title. Coincidentally, that was Thanksgiving week, so a food-related prompt was in order. As an aside, it represented a time when the nation was still reeling from the results of the 2016 presidential election.
How did you decide which prompt to choose? Originally I chose The Tea Lords which I really really want to read, but can't access due to COVID-19. Since I love food-related books and had loved some of Reichl's books previously, it was easy to sub in 'Plums'.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
2018 - A book with a title that is a whole sentence
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?
I took the book I was reading and looked for an appropriate prompt I could use it for.
I just finished Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. I read it for A book about or inspired by real events from 2018's list. I really wanted to read this book this year, and this was the best prompt to fit it into my list. It feels like a bit of a cheat, as I prefer to choose prompts that I really like, then find a book.
2019 - A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) [fiction or nonfiction]Would Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants count for this prompt? If so, then that'll be my choice as I finally got my hands on the audiobook like last month.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Only Good Indians (other topics)Oona Out of Order (other topics)
The Star-Touched Queen (other topics)
As You Are (other topics)
Outlander (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sarah M. Eden (other topics)James Howe (other topics)
Kamila Shamsie (other topics)
Ann Napolitano (other topics)
Jay Asher (other topics)
More...
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Suggestions:
List of Previous ATY Prompts
ATY Group Listopia
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Optional Questions
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Which prompt did it fit? Which year?
3. How did you decide which prompt to choose?