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22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads
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Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
I love this prompt! Below are my options so far based on my owned TBR:A Gentleman in Moscow (2/2020, 7/2020, 9/2020)
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (3/2020)
Americanah (4/2020)
The Overstory (4/2020, 6/2020)
Salt to the Sea (7/2020)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (8/2020) - I don't actually own this one, I just loved Piranesi
For now I'm going with The Overstory since I really want to read it next year and this was the best place to slot it. I've been able to slot the first 3 books to other prompts.
Edit: Also, my top recommendations that I've added are:
Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves (2/2020)
Piranesi (9/2020)
I'm going to read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I don't remember who recommended it but it was already on my tbr.
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Kristina wrote: "I love this prompt! Below are my options so far based on my owned TBR:A Gentleman in Moscow (2/2020, 7/2020, 9/2020)
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (3/2020)
[..."
I also really liked Piranesi, Kristina, so I hope you'll enjoy Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell whenever you read it. They are very, very different but JS&MN is one of my all-time favorites and they share some DNA.
For me for this prompt, since there's no year attached in the description, I think I'm going to see what other people think are their best books of January - March 2021 and see what's posted in those month and then I can pick from among the favorites of people doing the challenge! This will add a little spontaneity and chance/serendipity to my challenge, which is currently very planned.
So far, my candidates are The Mercies, In the Distance, Cutting for Stone, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, and Embassytown. I’ll check the last three months in January!
i have Strange the Dreamer marked down for this one! i'm not sure who recommended it because i went off the listopia.
i also have these books on my physical tbr
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
i also have these books on my physical tbr
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This is definitely a prompt where I'll pick the book when I'm ready to read it, as I am bound to see loads more great recommendations between now and week 22.
To no one's surprise my options include The House in the Cerulean Sea, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood and The Guest List.I'll most probably read The House in the Cerulean Sea - given the fact that so many of you have recommended it, I find it very fitting :)
I think I haven't actually posted in the monthly threads, sometimes I find it a bit hard to choose best book of the month. But looking at the Listopia, I would recommend The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Becoming, Murder on the Orient Express, Anne of Green Gables, The Flatshare
I can't remember who recommended these (probably quite a few people!!), but I'm hoping to read either Recursion by Blake Crouch or Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Neither are on my GR TBR list, but they have been on my radar and my mental TBR list for a while!I think my favourite that I've recommended so far would have to be The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green - it's not great literature, but I loved the beach-side setting, and the friendships that develop between the four women as they routinely show up early each morning to do an ocean swim before they start their days.
By hook or by crook, this will be the year I finally read Circe! okay, I have a lot of options for this one (thanks whoever/everyone who made the Listopia so I don't have to go through each separate monthly thread!!), but Circe has been sitting on my shelf staring accusatorily at me since it came out. It's on a challenge list every month, and I've yet to actually start it. or I'll just reread Piranesi, I mean, who knows really.
I went through the Listopia and had as criteria that the book already had to be on my TBR. So the following three choices for this prompt:The Lost Man by Jane Harper recommended in Apr/2020 by Robin P and in Jul/2020 by Cora
Watching You by Lisa Jewell recommended in May/2020 by Alicia
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx recommended in Feb/2020 by Andrea
I keep seeing Stoner recommended (and it popped up on the Listopia, too) so I'll probably read that to see what the fuss is about. I had difficulty finding a place to slot it in this past year. Of course, who knows which ways my whims will blow come the new year...
Stoner is truly beautiful, Wendy. Hope you’ll enjoy it :)
Just from reading different threads, I think I'm going to either read Anxious People or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Both are books I've discovered via this group so they feel really fitting.
Alicia wrote: "Just from reading different threads, I think I'm going to either read Anxious People or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Both are books I've discovered via this group ..."
read the house in the cerulean sea if you can! it's wonderful
read the house in the cerulean sea if you can! it's wonderful
Mod
They are both on my 2021 TBR list so I promise they'll get slotted in somewhere and I will likely go to both of you to discuss once I'm done!
1. What are you reading for this category?My Dark Vanessa
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
Ooops, I didn't take a note of this!
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
Yes, it has been for a few months.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
I actually haven't joined in with these threads. There's a 2021 resolution!
1. What are you reading for this category?Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
I saw it listed on the listopia, not sure who recommended it.
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
No, I have not previously had this book on by tbr, didn’t know anything about it.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? Where the Crawdads Sing and Oona Out of Order
Thank you to all who create and add to the listopias. I love them! For this prompt I have read 25 of the top 100 books and have 4 on my TBR. I will check out the list when I’m looking for something new to read.
I really enjoyed Dear Edward, it was a 4 1/2 star book for me.
1. What are you reading for this category?Verity by Colleen Hoover
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
I'm not sure, I found it on the listopia
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
yes, it was
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
I don't think I've ever made any recommendations, but hopefully I will this year!
I used the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. It was mentioned in the October thread.
Here is a listing I compiled:(Sorry, but I'm not going through to link each title...) :)
*Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
*Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
*Gold by Chris Cleave
*Writers & Lovers by Lily King
*Lila by Marilynne Robinson
*Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
*Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
*The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
*Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
*Middlemarch by George Eliot
*The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
*The Library Book by Susan Orlean
*Force of Nature by Jane Harper
*Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
*A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
*Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
*When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
*My Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall
*Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
*There There by Tommy Orange
Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer
Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Fleischmann Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax
A Burning by Megha Majumdar
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (The Carls #2) by Hank Green
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich
Beach Read by Emily Henry
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
The City of Brass (The Daevebad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty
One of Ours by Willa Cather
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
"Multiplication is for White People": Raising Expectations for Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilderson
A Month of Sundays by Liz Byrski
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
The Photograph by Penelope Lively
Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves by Glory Edim (editor)
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Above the East China Sea by Sarah Bird
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
1. What are you reading for this category? The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? Milena recommended this book in January 2020.
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Yes, I already owned the iBook version.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? Some I posted and some I didn't, but these were definitely 5-star: My Dark Vanessa, Autumn, American Dirt, Nothing to See Here, West, The Night Watchman, Tomorrow and Three Weeks in December.
1. What are you reading for this category?The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
Jillian - April 2020
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
Yes - along with many others, but this one was on my shelf and I'm reading only books I own for a few months
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
I can't pick just one...
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
1. What are you reading for this category? One True Loves2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? Laura in November 2020
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Not officially but knew there were a few of Taylor Jenkins Reid's older books that I had not picked up yet but wanted to read.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? My Sister, the Serial Killer
1. What are you reading for this category? The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré.2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? Robin P in March 2021.
Was this book already on your TBR list? Yes, and in fact I originally read it for the '100 Black Novelists' prompt, and have swapped it around. It is one of the best books that I have read over the last few years.
Which is your favourite books that you've recommended on the lists? I haven't actually written on this list.
Optional Questions:1. What are you reading for this category? The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? KIM (March)
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Yes
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? I haven't added to any lists
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What are you reading for this category?I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
I think it was Entropia but not sure
Was this book already on your TBR? Yes
Honestly I did not know what the monthly books were... but I have already read 30 of them, per the Listopia, and one if them this year: Gods of Jade and Shadow. I am just making my list and I am amazed how many prompts I can fill in with books I already read, without knowing the prompts in advance. You’d think this list would be quite specific.
So many great books on the listopia. I decided to go with Red, White & Royal Blue because I've been wanting to read it for a long time and this was the perfect excuse. I really enjoyed it and am looking for to reading the author's next book, which is released in June I think.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
I looked on the Listopia list. I don't believe it says on there when it was recced or by whom.
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
It was on my list of books to get (because I had read the first book in the series in April, and had loved it) but I hadn't actually got it yet.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
I have not recced any.
1. What are you reading for this category? Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? Melissa, in the March 2021 best books thread. Message 18.
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Yep!
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I recommended it in Best Books of April 2021.
1. What are you reading for this category? Where the Crawdads Sing2. Who recommended this book? It was on the Listopia
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Yes, and I'm so glad I read it.
I read Anxious People by Fredrick BackmanIt was recommended by Pam in December 2020.
Yes, and I'm glad I read it. I didn't like it as much as the author's earlier books though.
Where the Crawdads Sing was a book pick for my IRL book club. It is like the stars a lining when two things slot together so perfectly.
1. What are you reading for this category? All the Devils Are Here
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
Sherri recommended it in March 2021.
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
Yes. I have read all the books in this series.
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
That's a hard one. From 2020, I will say Room by Emma Donoghue.
Nancy wrote: "I'm going with Circe, which was already on my TBR, and got bumped from this year's challenges."Yep, read Circe. I liked it, though I think it might be overhyped, because I didn't like it that much.
1. What are you reading for this category?Becoming - I recommend the audiobook, read by Michelle Obama. It's 19 hours long, but so worth it2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it? 9 people recommended it on the 2020 listopia for this challenge
3. Was this book already on your TBR? Yes
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists? I can't single one out
My final selection for this prompt was Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It recently appeared in the ATY May 2021 thread, as 1 of 2 books recommended by 1 person, and won the GR Choice award in 2020. I happened to have a copy available and enjoyed it.
I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I have no idea who recommended it or when - I just looked on the listopia for something that was already on my TBR. I don't take part in the Book of the Month threads, so I haven't recommended anything.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
It was recommended by Kristina in September of 2020.
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
Oddly, I had added this book to my TBR just a few days before Kristina recommended it - I think because I had gotten an email from Goodreads that was advertising it. I have a tendency of bumping books up my TBR when I see them recommended a few times in a row, though, so it's very possible that seeing it on the thread encouraged me to prioritize it this year (regardless of this prompt).
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?
In that same month, I recommended two books I really loved: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and If We Were Villains. But my absolute favorite (and most unknown) I recommended in 2021: Hellspark. I LOVE this book and no one I know has read it - it's a wonderful, uplifting sci-fi story about interspecies, alien communication and cultural understanding and it's amazing.
I read Ask Again, Yes, which was recommended in February of 2020.I really enjoyed it, and would like to read more by this author.
I just finished Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, and while I unfortunately forgot to note who made the recommendation, I heartily thank you, whoever you are, because I loved it! It was not at all what I expected, which was stuffy and Victorian. If anything, the book completely subverts the stuffy and Victorian, where things are prim, proper, and respectably corseted and gloved on the outside, which hides the rotten, the sensual, and the sinful within. I remarked at one point that I was most reminded of The Turn of the Screw and In the Woods, or some kind of unholy mashup of the two. I am obviously not afraid of oblique denouements because I loved all three of these books.
I will be reading 'The Tatooist of Auschwitz' by Heather Morris. It was recommended by Sarah in May 2020. It was not already on my TBR but certainly could have been. I have not recommended any books on these lists.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Thirteenth Tale (other topics)Americanah (other topics)
Anne of Green Gables (other topics)
Neverworld Wake (other topics)
Dolly Parton Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Diane Setterfield (other topics)Joan Lindsay (other topics)
Erin Morgenstern (other topics)
Michelle Obama (other topics)
Emma Donoghue (other topics)
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Suggestions:
You can find all of our Best Books of the Month threads in our Monthly Discussions folder. If you're looking for a challenge, try to pair your reading with the same month that the person recommended the book in!
January 2020
February 2020
March 2020
April 2020
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
September 2020
October 2020
November 2020
December 2020
January 2021
February 2021
March 2021
April 2021
May 2021
June 2021
July 2021
August 2021
September 2021
October 2021
ATY Group Listopia 2020
ATY Group Listopia 2021
Please do not add books to this listopia unless they are already listed in the monthly thread!
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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Who recommended this book? When did they recommend it?
3. Was this book already on your TBR?
4. Which is your favorite book that you've recommended on the lists?