January 2020 Monthly Reading Discussion

[Ashley]

I decided to start the year off with a short book so I read The Son. I am planning on reading the Divergent Series this year as I have started it many times but have not finished it. I enjoy it so I'm not sure why. I read it for week 4: a book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live.

[Gisela]

The book currently reading can meet prompt #3

[Chinook]

Emily - good to know! Maybe I’ll try her out on the last version at home instead. And go see a movie all by myself. Haven’t done that in years!

[Bana AZ]

Jillian wrote: "My first books of the year that will count for ATY are, 1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y-
• Circe/[author:Madeline Miller|..."

Robin Hobb is amazing. And good idea for the first prompt. I think I'll use that for mine too!

[[deleted user]]

Chinook wrote: "https://bookriot.com/2019/12/03/2020-..."

Thanks!

[Milena]

My reading is all over the place right now. I am reading Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations at home, The Fated Sky in paperback from the library on my commute. In bed I am reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead on my Kindle, because I don't want to disturb my husband by turning on the light. I always have an audiobook going, and my current one is The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I have yet to decide where to slot in any of these books.

[Kelly]

Kelly wrote: "One of my goals is to stick with the order of the prompts as much as I can as I love that some of the prompts will help me read books I otherwise may not have picked up (see prompt #4 below as an e..."

Cypress - you were so right! I could not put down Dark Matter and actually just finished it today after staying up late reading last night. Such a great read!

[Holly]

I tend not to read in order so I'm hoping to master the following topics this month:

16. A book set in a sparsely populated area: Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber (set in a small town in Alaska above the Arctic Circle(
7. Book set in the southern hemisphere: Private Down Under by James Patterson
9. book that can be read in one day: Afternoon in the Amazon (Magic Tree House #6) by Mary Pope Osbourne (side note, I'm reading the series to my class).
3. A book prompted by something else you read: Misadventures of a Time Traveler by Angel Payne.

I'm hoping to have time for a few more but I know I'll be able to get these crossed off in January.

[Hannah]

I just finished The Silence of the Girls. Whilst I enjoyed the book, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about Greek mythology and who all the people mentioned were. The book assumed I would know who some of the people were, and the history behind some of the events that were mentioned. Once I got past those bits, I enjoyed the story and seeing it through the eyes of one of the women who had been sold as a prize. I think I'll use this for the fantasy prompt, as that was one of the prompts I was least looking forward to.

Next up is Educated, which I know a lot of people here read and loved last year. I've been waiting 3 months for my hold to come in, so I hope it's worth it!.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Oh Hannah, I'm glad you said that. I may go brush up on my Greek mythology before reading (or just be prepared to do lots of Googling!)

[Donna]

I'm going to try to read in order, but will have to make allowances when the book I want is not available from the library. My first book is "A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y", so I'm reading Nemesis, by Jo Nesbo.

[Claire]

Got a few books from the library all at once, but the one I am starting with is Girls of Storm and Shadow. It fits a couple of different prompts for this year's challenge, but will only end up using it for one. I am thinking I will probably use it for #23 (A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author). Plus is that it counts for a couple of the Goodreads advanced prompts!

[MaryAnn (EmilyD1037)]

This will be my first read from this list. I do not plan to read in order.
I have so much reading going on I will need to schedule for all of my groups

3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019 Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston (EB)

[Amber]

A little late to the party, but I started my first book of this challenge on January 1. I won't be reading in order as I just got a bunch of new books for Christmas/birthday and I want to read those first.

First book/currently reading is Little Fires Everywhere for the #14 "A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers" prompt.

[[deleted user]]

Claire wrote: "Got a few books from the library all at once, but the one I am starting with is Girls of Storm and Shadow. It fits a couple of different prompts for this year's challenge, but will ..."

I have 8 library books on hand right now-eek!! I was a bit ambitious when I was placing holds, LOL.

[Alexx]

I'm planning on reading in order as much as possible (A lot of my books will be read on Overdrive/Libby so it will obviously depend on library availability). I've seen some people are picking prompts out of a jar and I absolutely love that idea! May do it that way round next year.

First book of the year is Wonder by R. J. Palacio. I'm about 75% of the way through and absolutely loving it! It's such an easy, interesting read, and the chapters are really short (2/3 pages each) so it's easy to pick up and read little bits here and there. It's been on my TBR list for ages so glad I've finally gotten around to it. I'm also planning on watching the movie once I finish the book.

I've also started reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I've joined a subreddit called A Year Of War And Peace, and the idea is that you read a chapter a day, starting January 1st, and finish on 31st December. I've previously done this challenge before, but only made it 50% of the way through before giving up due to lack of time. Hopeful I can stick to it this year!

[Johanna]

Just finished reading Big Little Lies. I haven't yet decided which prompt to put it in because it can fit in a lot. Currently reading/listening to What Alice Forgot (I think Liane Moriarty may be my new favorite author) and Cinder.

[Tracy]

Johanna wrote: "Just finished reading Big Little Lies. I haven't yet decided which prompt to put it in because it can fit in a lot. Currently reading/listening to What Alice Forgot ( I think Liane Moriarty may ne my new favorite author )..."

I love Liane Moriarty... need to start working on the backlog of her titles sitting on my kindle :-)

I finished my first book of the year, Drama by Raina Telgemeier. I just love her graphic novels. So one down for ATY- a book about the arts.

I also started A Game of Thrones for A Fantasy.... 800 + pages, great pick lol. I don't want to put it down though, its so good. I'll keep picking at it while I'm reading other stuff, or I may just whip through it, who knows. I only caught the first few episodes of season one of the tv series, so all of the characters aren't so confusing to me.

I wasn't very strategic with my planning as usual, and despite having a library full of owned books, almost everything I wanted to read needs to come from the actual library. HA! And I havent even started to move my list over and start placing holds. I also havent started requesting books from overdrive/Libby yet, so I'm working with what I have here on my shelves/kindle.

I did just notice that I had placed a hold on Where the Crawdads Sing, and it came in a while back and has been sitting waiting for me. I just loaded it onto my kindle and I have 5 days to get it done ( 44 people are waiting for it). So, I guess I'm starting a book for my Reading Woman Challenge now.

Happy New Year everyone!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Tracy wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Just finished reading Big Little Lies. I haven't yet decided which prompt to put it in because it can fit in a lot. Currently reading/listening to [book:What Alice F..."

If it’s an e-Book, you can put the device on airplane mode so it stays available to you. Downside is you can’t download anything new since you obviously have no internet.

[Claire]

ZeeJane wrote: "Claire wrote: "Got a few books from the library all at once, but the one I am starting with is Girls of Storm and Shadow. It fits a couple of different prompts for this year's chall..."

Holy MOLY, 8?!? I hate it when all my hold come through at once and then you have to figure out which is the shortest and try again ha!

[[deleted user]]

Claire wrote: "ZeeJane wrote: "Claire wrote: "Got a few books from the library all at once, but the one I am starting with is Girls of Storm and Shadow. It fits a couple of different prompts for t..."

Yep, I'm staring at the pile going 'oh crap' LOL. I had to run to the library this morning to pick up a few holds for my kids and forgot that I had more out there, had to take another book home with me, to add to the pile ugh LOL.

[Sarah]

Claire wrote: "Holy MOLY, 8?!? I hate it when all my hold come through at once and then you have to figure out which is the shortest and try again ha!"

I've really been letting myself go crazy with the library books...I've got 17 out right now. I tell myself that there are worse vices to have. At least this one is free and it helps keep the library's circulation numbers up!

Currently reading Recursion for a book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards. It's very good so far!

[Alicia]

Currently reading There There for my NYT 100 Notable and I'm disappointed. There was a chapter where one of the characters pooped himself, and I don't think it has any relevance to the story. Now I'm just trying to get through it as fast as possible so I can get onto something new.

Then listening to Brave New World for Book with an Emotion in the title. Haven't read it since high school and I had loved it then. Love it a little less now.

I guess the year can only go up from here!

[[deleted user]]

Sarah wrote: "Claire wrote: "Holy MOLY, 8?!? I hate it when all my hold come through at once and then you have to figure out which is the shortest and try again ha!"

I've really been letting myself go crazy wit..."

Dang-you win LOL!! :)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Sarah, I picked Recursion as one of my Book of the Month club picks this month, so I'm excited to see you enjoying it!

Alicia, I ended up DNF'ing There There last year for the indigenous prompt... it just wasn't for me either.

I just went to the library and ended up leaving with 11 books (!!!) that I picked up off the shelves IN ADDITION TO THE THREE I HAD ON HOLD. Ugh. No self control, and half of these will probably go back unread.

But it does feel a bit like stealing when I can walk out with this many books for free haha.

[Stacey]

So I just finished my first read of the year - a 5-star gem! - Autumn. Described as a "post-Brexit novel", the story holds a little of everything - love, friendship, time, art, history.

Curiously, I read it for Week 14's Abe List author, but because it gets into the Christine Keeler/Profumo scandal that rocked Britain in '63, I'm rethinking my choice for the "We Didn't Start the Fire" prompt. I've been tossed about that one; first going with All the President's Men and then settling on The Atomic Weight of Love about Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project. But, BBC One just started airing the series "The Trial of Christine Keeler", so I think the "British Politician Sex" theme (noted in the song) might be more timely and scandalicious!

[Kelly]

Pam wrote: "My husband gave me a Kobo Clara for Christmas. I love how compact and light it is and am excited to start using it! The first book I downloaded is As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce #..."

Love the Flavia de Luce series - great option. Hope you love it as much as I did.

[Deborah]

My first book of the year was The Girl He Used to Know for the neurodiverse character prompt which I really enjoyed.

[Kathy]

Stacey wrote: "So I just finished my first read of the year - a 5-star gem! - Autumn. Described as a "post-Brexit novel", the story holds a little of everything - love, friendship, time, art, hist..."

I should reread this book, Stacey. My first time through I just didn't quite get it. And I own a copy, so why not? I'll pay more attention to that scandal.

[Tracy]

Finished another for the day....I found The Old Man and the Sea free online ( I knew it had to be archived somewhere) and got my classic out of the way.

[Traci]

Tracy wrote: "Finished another for the day....I found The Old Man and the Sea free online ( I knew it had to be archived somewhere) and got my classic out of the way."

That's one of my classics options too, what did you think?

[Tracy]

Traci wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Finished another for the day....I found The Old Man and the Sea free online ( I knew it had to be archived somewhere) and got my classic out of the way."

That's one of my..."

It took me an hour and considering it was about a man catching a fish, I quite enjoyed it. I seem to like Hemingways style though, A Farewell to Arms is one of my favorites.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Deborah wrote: "My first book of the year was The Girl He Used to Know for the neurodiverse character prompt which I really enjoyed."

I didn't realize this had a neurodiverse character! I'll have to add it to my list... that prompt has very few options for me.

[°~Amy~°]

In January I am participating in the Cancelathon run by A.G. McDonald on youtube. Cancelathon was created to discuss and bring awareness to cancel culture on Twitter. I'm planning on reading three of the prompts of the 9 possible.

So my reading plan is:

1. So You've Been Publicly Shamed - The group read for cancelathon. I actually already finished this. It was a quick and very interesting read. I gave it 4 stars.

2. Planet Ripple: Minnow's World Vol. 4 - My bf's cousin is the artist and author of this amazing graphic novel series. I have witnessed people tell him to his face that he isn't a "real author" because graphic novels aren't "real books". I love graphic novels in general, and especially this series, so I am including it in cancelathon for the graphic novel/manga prompt.

3. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific - This book is my choice for the nonfiction prompt. I've heard that this book is problematic. I'm not sure if the people who said it was problematic actually ever read the book so I'm going to read it and make up my own mind about it. (I strongly suspect they are indeed correct however so I'm admittedly going into it with a bit of bias)

None of these books were on my 2020 AtY plan so I'm going to have to fit them into some of the slots that I hadn't yet filled. I'll decided where to put them before I post my monthly wrap-up on the 31st :-)

[Chelsey]

I finished Birthday today and slotted it in prompt 23. LGBTQIA+ character and/or author. It is an excellent representation of a Transgender teens journey written by a transgender author. I highly recommend it. It's a quick read and well done.


I plan to finish these as well.

8. A book with a place name in the title China Rich Girlfriend This series is so far out of my normal likes, but I loved book one and am enjoying book two so far. Only a couple chapters in.

19. A book related to Witches. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I picked up the illustrated copy and am loving it! Well done.

37. A book that is between 400 and 600 pages. The Starless Sea I'm not sure how I feel about this. I love the side books and love the authors writing style. I'm just not as into the plot as I feel like I should be. I should finish it tonight or tm so we will see.

49. A book related to Maximillion Hell. Life on Mars This is a book of poetry based on the poets father who was an astronomer but it goes so deep. I will finish this weekend. I could finish in a day but like to make myself slow down with poetry books so I can really absorb how the poems connect and what they mean.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I am amazed that you have all of these books going on at once!!

[Chelsey]

Emily wrote: "I am amazed that you have all of these books going on at once!!"

I am a major mood reader! I use to only read one at a time and found that even though I'm a fast reader, I would go a few days and not read because I wasn't in the mood for that story. I think of it like people who watch multiple tv shows during the week. I now read every day but I just pick up whatever story I am interested in. It has really made me love reading even more.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I’m such a mood reader that I can really understand that approach. Unfortunately, I also have a horrible memory so I can’t keep the stories straight 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Sabrina]

I usually have 3 things going at once - a physical book, an audiobook, and a comic book on my phone. So i have one in each medium, but I usually don't have two physical books, and definitely not two audios at the same time

I'm really trying to get into the habit of instead of opening up twitter to mindlessly scroll on my phone, to open either my comic book app or libby ebook instead. It kind of works, but I might just have to delete twitter off my phone all together haha

[Chelsey]

Sabrina wrote: "I usually have 3 things going at once - a physical book, an audiobook, and a comic book on my phone. So i have one in each medium, but I usually don't have two physical books, and definitely not tw..."

I can't do more than one audiobook at once. Always only one audiobook. Not sure why I can keep track of my physical but not my audio.

[Sophie]

Alexx wrote: "First book of the year is Wonder by R. J. Palacio. I'm about 75% of the way through and absolutely loving it! It's such an easy, interesting read, and the chapters are really short (2/3 pages each) so it's easy to pick up and read little bits here and there. It's been on my TBR list for ages so glad I've finally gotten around to it. I'm also planning on watching the movie once I finish the book.

I've also started reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I've joined a subreddit called A Year Of War And Peace, and the idea is that you read a chapter a day, starting January 1st, and finish on 31st December. I've previously done this challenge before, but only made it 50% of the way through before giving up due to lack of time. Hopeful I can stick to it this year!"

Wonder is so so cute, I absolutely loved it!

It's not the case for War & Peace thoug haha. I quite liked the Peace parts, but not the War ones... Reading a chapter a day could be the way to go, good luck!

°~Amy~° wrote: "3. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific - This book is my choice for the nonfiction prompt. I've heard that this book is problematic. I'm not sure if the people who said it was problematic actually ever read the book so I'm going to read it and make up my own mind about it. (I strongly suspect they are indeed correct however so I'm admittedly going into it with a bit of bias)"

I haven't read this book, but I read Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by the same author and I can tell you that you need to read it with not a pinch, but a kilo of salt! If people who said it was problematic took it at face value, then yes, I see why they would think that.

Sabrina wrote: "I usually have 3 things going at once - a physical book, an audiobook, and a comic book on my phone. So i have one in each medium, but I usually don't have two physical books, and definitely not two audios at the same time

I'm really trying to get into the habit of instead of opening up twitter to mindlessly scroll on my phone, to open either my comic book app or libby ebook instead. It kind of works, but I might just have to delete twitter off my phone all together haha "

I'm the same, I usually read one book on my Kindle, one audiobook and one library book on my phone. I did uninstall facebook and instagram from my phone in order to read more and it's working! I sometimes access facebook from the browser, but it's so painful I only do it if I want to specifically check something 😉

[Alexx]

Sophie wrote: "Wonder is so so cute, I absolutely loved it!

It's not the case for War & Peace thoug haha. I quite liked the Peace parts, but not the War ones... Reading a chapter a day could be the way to go, good luck!"

I absolutely loved Wonder too. I've rated it 5 stars, sometimes you just need a nice, simple book like Wonder to read!

Thank you! I'm hoping I can stick with it this year, but yes, reading a chapter a day seems manageable!

[Jody]

Oh God, War and Peace ... that was an experience I'm never going to repeat. Good luck getting through it this time! It took me a year in the end, I think.

[Alicia]

Alexx wrote: "I've also started reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I've joined a subreddit called A Year Of War And Peace, and the idea is that you read a chapter a day, starting January 1st, and finish on 31st December. I've previously done this challenge before, but only made it 50% of the way through before giving up due to lack of time. Hopeful I can stick to it this year!"

This is a great idea! Do you mind sharing the subreddit? I'd love to join, even if I am a couple days late

[Jenna]

First timer to the ATY challenge! This month I’ve already read Women Talking by Miriam Toews. It was a really powerful read, but after reading an article about the real life events it was based on, I decided I needed to switch to something lighter for my next book.
I’m currently halfway through The Kiss Quotient and am also reading a cookbook, Get Cooking, in hopes that 2020 will be a year of less takeout.
For the remainder of the month I have The Library on Mount Char and On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous queued up at the library. I usually read library ebooks, but this year my goal is to get back into reading physics books. I hate being on my phone constantly! Good luck to everyone on their challenge!

[Alicia]

Jenna wrote: "I’m currently halfway through The Kiss Quotient"

I'm a first-timer too! How do you like The Kiss Quotient so far? I was thinking of adding it to my list as well.

[ToboReads]

I got about 100 pages into Less yesterday for the week 1 challenge and...wow, I'm just really not liking it. Is anyone else turned off by present tense writing? I know a lot of people really love this book but i'm honestly bored. I might DNF?

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I realllllllly hated Less. It’s the lowest rated book of my year last year, and I only finished it because I needed it to meet my monthly goals. I just did not get the hype.

[Jody]

I'm not doing the challenge this year, but I just finished my first book for my going-rogue year (The Wall) and it was brilliant - five big stars. It gives me hope for 2020 that it's going to be a better reading year for me.

[[deleted user]]

Jody wrote: "I'm not doing the challenge this year, but I just finished my first book for my going-rogue year (The Wall) and it was brilliant - five big stars. It gives me hope for 2020 that it's ..."

I'm going rogue with you, lol. I had planned on doing my first ATY challenge this year and spent a lot of time setting it up/laying out my books. But, in the process I got distracted by setting up a couple personal challenges, including a whopping 1,000 book one, and I started overwhelming myself. Soooo, I'm no longer doing the ATY challenge and instead will just hang out in the group and cheer everyone on, and then participate in the discussion posts/read-a-thons etc.