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09. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year
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My brainstorming for this prompt...Random connections -
love stories/romance - February
comfort books (however you define that), light reads, etc. - spring
big tomes, like fantasy and historical fiction - summer
books about beaches, vacations, etc. - summer
"beach reads" - summer
books about academia - autumn
classics, classical fiction, something one would read at school - autumn
creepy books, mysteries, etc. - October
family sagas, books about family relationships - holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas
books set in winter or with a cold setting - winter
books set during Christmastime - December
Cover images that can be associated with seasons -
hearts - February
flowers, trees, nature - spring
beach scenes, boats, etc. - summer
autumn foliage, autumn colors - autumn
winter scenes - winter
Foods that you might associate with a particular season -
Blackberry Wine - berries = summer
The Orchardist - orchard = apples = autumn
Chocolat - chocolate = Valentine's Day/February
Still Life with Bread Crumbs - bread + soup = winter
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - cake = birthday
Titles that can be associated with seasons -
Books with seasons in the title
Books with months in the title
Books with holidays in the title
Mod
I’ve got Winter Counts, Midwinter, and Dandelion Wine on my short list, but this one might be easy to fill with a new release or ToB book.
I have a bag of summery paperbacks I got from a friend and it includes On Mystic Lake, one of the few Kristin Hannah books I haven't read. So I'll be reading it for this prompt as I associate it with summer and beach reads.Recommended summer books:
Beach Read
Ten Beach Road
Summer of '69
Big Summer
28 Summers
Other options are scary books in October or holiday books in December, but I think I'll stick with the Kristin Hannah.
I haven't picked a book for this prompt, I was going to reread The Winter of the Witch because I didn't read and review it before, but I think I'll just do it anyway and want something new for this prompt.I like that this is both an objective AND subjective prompt. For example, I always reread Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in the winter because it starts set in winter and I like big, fat books I can chew on and engage with. And the Northern fantasy elements inspire visions of Yorkshire moors and cold winds and hot baths and candles which to me is wet English winter. But I don't know that it's objectively a winter book.
My other recs for each season:
Winter: The Bear and the Nightingale and its sequels are great atmospheric winter-y reads (said this on the ice prompt too), these are my go-to winter books with Jonathan Strange.
Spring: The Hours: even though the party is set in June, the flower purchasing and the themes to me invoke spring: renewal, death, rebirth, all the gardens in the story, the flowering of sexual identity and exploration/expression of sexuality.
Summer: Summer for me means hot, humid, and inspires the desire to travel (even to other hot humid places). I might want something set somewhere far flung and involving nature - State of Wonder or Euphoria come to mind. I also really like reading family stories in the summer, I'm not sure why maybe it reminds me of cookouts and family get-togethers or something, so Homegoing, Ghana Must Go and Commonwealth are summer-y to me.
Fall: The Essex Serpent also feels like wet wild exploration in England but less cold so fall is more appropriate, The Secret History for back to school with evil violence vibes. I also often re-read The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion in the fall: just seems like great timing for these, probably because The Fellowship of the Ring I think begins in the fall.
My current ideas are:Summer:
- Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
I started the audiobook and liked it but was turned off by the dialogue. The print book would probably work better for me.
- Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
- Queen of the Summer Stars by Persia Woolley
Autumn:
-Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn by by Persia Woolley
Spring:
- Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley
Winter:
-Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
-Christmas in Absaroka County by Craig Johnson
Three of the books are in a series so I may read all 3.
I was hoping this prompt would fall a lot later as none of my seasonal reads work for February/March. I can be guaranteed to be fed up of winter by then. So treating this as a freebie prompt for now as I'm sure I can make any book work if I try hard enough. Or just give up on this whole reading in order idea!
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, which I associate with fall.
The one season I reliably lean into for thematic reading is October/November for creepy books and mysteries (as I'm doing right now!) Most likely I'll read something like that.In the winter I do like a big hefty classic to read by the fire, so that's another option.
1. What are you reading for this category?The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
I'm reading in order, so this will be at the end of February when it's still pretty cold here in Scotland. So, a wintery book sounds perfect...as long as I'm snuggled under a blanket with a hot choccie!
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, The Snow Child, The Center of Winter
I started this year's challenge out by reading The Magician's Nephew by C S Lewis for prompt 1. I enjoyed it so much and finished it so quickly, I moved right on to the second book in the series ( The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ) even though I wasn't planning on reading it until week 9. (It is still currently week 1). Since the majority of the book is about breaking the spell of a winter that has lasted for hundreds of years, this book definitely makes me think of winter.The only other book that came to mind for this season takes place during Christmas time.
The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury
1. What are you reading for this category?Beach Read by Emily Henry
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
Summer
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
The Unhoneymooners, Secrets of a Summer Night, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
I think I may try to read a mystery. I don't know about other countries but where I live (Norway) Easter time is crime time. A crime series is always played on TV and crime/mystery books sell like crazy during that period.
Reading Educated by Tara Westover for it's connecting to August/back to school
I also considered adding a quick, fun beach read! Hadn't picked one out, but probably a book by Sophie Kinsella
I am reading The Christmas Holiday by Sophie Claire. It reminds me of winter and snow, and obviously Christmas. Although not quite finished it i can definitely recommend it as a pleasant and easy read.
To deborah, I STRONGLY suggest you read the chronicles of Narnia in the order they were published. The current numbering was done to humor lewis’ stepson, and basically makes the prequels before the books. And you lose the fun of discovery.Order of publication:
(in publication order)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – 1950
Prince Caspian – 1951
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – 1952
The Silver Chair – 1953
The Horse and His Boy – 1954
The Magician's Nephew – 1955
The Last Battle – 1956
For this category, I read the second volume of Ali Smith's seasonal quartet, Winter. While I've read only the first two, including Autumn, they each have a meditative, thoughtful spirit, rooted in art, politics, literature, memory, family and love. The best part is how the author peppers these novels with well-known and obscure references rooted in both the past and present. I find I'm always looking up and learning about interesting stuff. Now I can't wait to complete the series with Spring and Summer.
1. What are you reading for this category?Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? Fall - Starting collage in the fall and falling leaves on the cover.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
1. What are you reading for this category?Beach Read by Emily Henry
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? Summer - both the phrase "beach read" and this book cover are reminiscent of summer
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
(YA) and
(epistolary historical fiction)
I read Snowblind for this prompt. I went with the very simple and objective interpretation of this prompt: the book is set in the winter. In fact, it's set in the winter in the far north of Iceland, near the Arctic Circle, so there's a lot of winter weather. (Unfortunately, the setting was the only part of this book I really enjoyed...)
There are some wintry books I've loved though:
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Hunted
The City Beyond the Glass
Followed by Frost
For Darkness Shows the Stars
Clara's Soldier: A Retelling of the Nutcracker
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
A Night Divided
1. What are you reading for this category?Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
Summer. Almost all of her books are summer reads, and are often set at the coast or the beach of the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
Anything by Dorothea Benton Frankor Elin Hilderbrand and a lot of Nicholas Sparks books are summer-y.
Another author is Kristin Hannah. Her books are not necessarily set during summer but are usually released in early summer so, I often associate her with having summer reads.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read A Redbird Christmas
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
I associate it to Christmas due to the title but also because of the story.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
Can't think of any as of now
What are you reading for this category?I read The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates
What season or time of year do you associate with it?
May is spring time here
1. What are you reading for this category?A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
It is set in October, leading up to Halloween.
I read The Narrowboat Summer for this challenge. I read this summer book in winter and it was perfect timing. It awakened a desire to travel again.
1. I read A Field Full of Butterflies: Memories of a Romany Childhood. 2.The title makes me think of a summer walk a couple of years ago, where we came across a field hedge covered with different butterflies.
3. I would recommend: Erebus: The Story of a Ship ; Cold Mountain; The Snow Child;The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; the seasons quartet by Ali Smith.
I read The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason. I enjoy historical fiction involving the medical field. This one is set during World War I and involves a medical student from Vienna who was sent to a field hospital in the mountains and the nurse who teaches him how to do everything. He becomes particularly interested in psychological cases. It was a good story (well written and well researched) and I recommend it.
1. What are you reading for this category? A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? Winter, because of the word snow and snow flake on the cover.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season? The Summer of Jordi Pérez
1. What are you reading for this category?I've just finished The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I didn't fancy a winter read as there's ice yet to come with prompt 28.
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
For me it's spring as the book opens with Mole abandoning his spring cleaning and setting off on an adventure. Spring is just beginning here in Devon and I can daydream about picnics by the river or imagine setting off in a gypsy caravan.... This was a favourite read when my son was little and we've two editions, both with lovely illustrations.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
If you want a spring time read I recommend The Darling Buds of May.
Initially I was hoping this prompt would come up around Christmas-time, since I read in order. I was planning to read a Christmas romance. Instead I went with The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton since it's spring and I just started my tomato and pepper seeds indoors a week ago.
I read Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.I associate it with summer - the story takes place in summer, but also fall is a season, and the season before the fall is summer.
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Instructions for a Heatwave, and Foxglove Summer are definitely good summer books. I think The Roanoke Girls and The Secret Life of Bees are also set in the summer, and I'd recommend them too.
1. What are you reading for this category?I'm currently rereading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
Spring! I think this is absolutely the perfect book for this time of year: Mary is experiencing English spring for the first time, having grown up in India and is captivated by the rebirth of life and
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
I had a hard time thinking of other spring books - it's probably the season I associate least with reading! But I think I'd have to go with some other classics that involve the everyday life of a young person who has a connection to nature and growing things: Anne of Green Gables and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
1. What are you reading for this category?I read Fever by Deon Meyer
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
I intended to use this for a different prompt, but then I realized that I really associate it's topic (a coronavirus that wipes out 95% of the world) with this time last year, when we first had to go into lockdowns for *our* coronavirus and felt the real fear of it.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
Probably the easiest connection would be any romance, because you can link that to the Valentine's Day holiday :)
I read Hello, Friends!: Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball for this prompt. Since it's baseball season now, I thought this would be appropriate.Another book I would recommend for baseball season is Baseball Life Advice, although both of these books are really specific to the Toronto Blue Jays.
1. What are you reading for this category? In a Holidaze
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
This book takes place over the Christmas holiday so I associate it with winter.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
I highly recommend The Twelve Clues of Christmas for a fun Christmas romance/mystery.
I had 7 books that I was considering when this prompt opened but instead went with a book I found at my mom’s house - A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr. It’s set during 1 month in the summer.
1. What are you reading for this category? One For The Blackbird,One For The Crow by Olivia Hawker2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? Winter. The whole book talks about preparing for winter. Then winter comes. Whether they will survive winter. Now what about next winter. "Winter is Coming."
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season? I was going to use a Louise Penny book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Most of those are set in Canada in the winter.
For this prompt, I read In a Holidaze which is associated with Christmas. For books about winter I also recommend most of the books in the Louise Penny series.
For summer beach reads, I would recommend:
Beach Read by Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry - 2021 pub date.
Malibu Rising - 2021 pub. date.
1. What are you reading for this category? World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? Halloween - because it is about zombies
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season? Any romance for February. And in the summer I used to like to read Peter Benchley books.
Nancy wrote: "I have a bag of summery paperbacks I got from a friend and it includes On Mystic Lake, one of the few Kristin Hannah books I haven't read. So I'll be reading it for this prompt as I associate it with summer and beach reads."So, I did read a Kristin Hannah, but not On Mystic Lake. I read her newest, That Summer, instead, and it still works for summer.
I did read On Mystic Lake but used it for a Pop Sugar prompt instead.
1. What are you reading for this category?For this one I read Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie.
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
Winter. Christmas, to be more precisely.
1. Zombie Blondes by Brian James2. Fall/Back to school season
3. Turn of the Key would be good or Linda Castillo writes some really amazing atmospheric reads. Very wintery.
I read The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman. It is a ghost story that started as a tale told around a campfire, so it makes me think of Halloween or fall. Other books that are suitable for this time of year are those by Poe or King.
1. What are you reading for this category?For this prompt, I chose the children's book, Astrid Lindgren's Tomten Tales: The Tomten ~ The Tomten and the Fox. This was a childhood favorite and I also enjoyed reading it with my kids when they were small (now 18 and 20).
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
I associate this book with Winter, because the illustrations are all snowy.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
All my suggestions seem to relate to winter:
The Snow Child
Cilka's Journey set in Siberi
The Great Alone set in Alaska
Wuthering Heights cold, windy, rainy moors
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1. What are you reading for this category? Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily2. What season or time of year do you associate with it? All the books in the series are Christmas books.
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?
Letters from Father Christmas or A Christmas Carol
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily (other topics)Letters from Father Christmas (other topics)
The Snow Child (other topics)
Astrid Lindgren's Tomten Tales: The Tomten ~ The Tomten and the Fox (other topics)
The Great Alone (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Peter Benchley (other topics)Jennifer Weiner (other topics)
Noah Hawley (other topics)
Kate Morton (other topics)
Kenneth Grahame (other topics)
More...
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Suggestions:
20 Books to Cozy Up with This Winter
19 Chilly Winter Books to Read by the Fire
10 Books to Read in the Spring
10 Novels That are Better in the Spring
29 of the Best Beach Reads of 2020
25 Best Summer Books to Read
26 Best Fall Books that Feel Like Autumn
The Ultimate Fall Reading List: 35 Books with Autumn Vibes
ATY Group Listopia
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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. What season or time of year do you associate with it?
3. What book would you recommend to others for this season?