Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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Sherri
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Apr 28, 2021 12:58PM
I finished This Close To Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith. 4 stars. I used it for a new to you BIPOC author. I ended up liking the book & by the end was comfortable with it. I'm glad the author didn't end the book with obvious choices. There were parts I was wondering what the protagonist was doing. This book is about mental health. It talks about suicide,murder,depression,anxiety,bipolar,divorce. A lot of triggers.
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I just finished The House in the Cerulean Sea last night, which I'd learned about from many of the comments in this group and people reviewing it. I loved it! Definitely felt like one that could meet the "comfort read" prompt for most people.
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I finished April with 6 books, which is four less than the other months so far this year. The biggest surprise was realizing only two were in print! I think having four audiobooks this month tied with my record for most audiobooks in one month.
I'm just having a lot of trouble picking what's next. After two years of structured ATY reading (in order, then pulled from a jar), this unstructured bit has me all out of whack. I mean... I'm further ahead in the challenge than I ever have been, but it's been really tough for me to decide what to read next.
I finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. In my humble opinion it was a slog & nothing good came out of it. I used it for a book published in 2021. It reminded me of Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles which I liked better & The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle. It is a good social justice story but unrelenting as the history it talks about.
Sam wrote: "I’m also very #teamAli, Dara I didn’t love in the first book and was so irritated with in second book. Haven’t read the final book yet!"I'm only in the first book, but almost done with it. I didn't actually find Dara that bad, but I do like Ali better than him. I'm really enjoying the book so far. I love the fantasy genre and the setting and characters here feel so fresh to me.
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I finished April with 6 books, which is four less than the other months so far this year. The biggest surprise was realizing only two were in print! I think having fou..."
I know the feeling of being unsure what to read next, but I overcame that this year by doing challenges with more groups. I have even set up a list of the next 6 books or so. I tend to go back and forth between doing challenges with enthusiasm, and getting burned out and dropping them all,
I'm definitely "struggling" right now, too. "Only" 7 in April, and I'm well on track to finish the 52 since I've read 33 so far. But, when my average pace has been hovering around 100 for the year, I feel let down that I'm slumping and starting to fall below that. My goal is only 65 for the year, but 100 is one of those "someday!" milestones that I don't want to let it out of sight!
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I had a very long, irritating breakup of a 10 year relationship that stretched from end of March to basically now, so I'm happy I still managed to read and mostly enjoy 6 books! And I'm nearly halfway through the challenge, although I expect my pace to slow over the next few months more as I start studying for the Bar.
Ana A wrote: "I'm only in the first book, but almost done with it. I didn't actually find Dara that bad,"Dara was fine in the first book but starting with book 2 he just spends all his time feeling sorry for himself. At least Ali learns from his mistakes.
Sam wrote: "I had a very long, irritating breakup of a 10 year relationship that stretched from end of March to basically now, so I'm happy I still managed to read and mostly enjoy 6 books! And I'm nearly half..."Good luck with the bar!! I'm old and took it 10 years ago when it was 3 days and we had to walk uphill both ways to take the test. But you got this and just make sure to save a couple hours a day for yourself and to destress.
Ana A wrote: "I'm only in the first book, but almost done with it. I didn't actually find Dara that bad"I actually didn't mind Dara till the very end of Book 1. Then in Book 2 and 3, I get annoyed because he's feeling sorry for himself because of his own bad choices and "loyalty". He's also weirdly obsessed with Ali in later books.
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7 in April is probably more than 98% of Americans (of course, that's a low bar, as many people don't read 7 in a year.) The main thing is to enjoy your reading.
I’m starting to get back into reading. I ended up signing up for kindle unlimited for $0.99 for two months. I just want to read easy cozy mysteries that don’t require much effort. Though, I did have to delete one book today since the main character spent the first several pages complaining about plunging a toilet and then having to clean it because her 70 year old maid who only works twice a month at the B&B would not come into do it. After that, I looked at the reviews which were mainly one star and deleted the book. I think, it was a free book that I download a while back and I’m not sure why.I’m also listening to Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and so far it is excellent and the narrator adds to the prose.
Alicia wrote: "Sam wrote: "I had a very long, irritating breakup of a 10 year relationship that stretched from end of March to basically now, so I'm happy I still managed to read and mostly enjoy 6 books! And I'm..."Thanks, Alicia! I am also fairly old (well for a law student anyway, not in life), and very happy that I don't have to do the walking you had to for the test as that sounds extra stressful. But instead we have an online test over two days where our video cameras must be on all the time which feels like a different form of stress.
Steve wrote: "I'm definitely "struggling" right now, too. "Only" 7 in April, and I'm well on track to finish the 52 since I've read 33 so far. But, when my average pace has been hovering around 100 for the year,..."Steve, that's awesome!! I've only read 14 this entire year, although I'm currently reading 3 at the same time in an effort to catch up! Might have to change my current goal of 100 unless I'm going to be able to read 3 a week for the rest of the year!
I finished The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood. I used it for #17 A book with a Muslim character or author. 5 stars. I really liked the different characters & story.
Sherri wrote: "I finished The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood. I used it for #17 A book with a Muslim character or author. 5 stars. I really liked the different characters & story."What an interesting title.
I finished Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge. 4 stars. It was beautifully written & the story was good. I used it for flowers or greenery on the cover. This was one of my BOTMC selections.
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I have two books I recently finished & both were 5 stars.The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton. I used it for a book related to "the end". It would also work for a book related to racism or race relations. Also it's perfect for a book with an ensemble cast.
Wayward Son (Simon Snow,#2) by Rainbow Rowell. I have been reading books with heavy topics lately so this book was mind candy. I really enjoyed it. A fun read. I read it in one day. I used it for a book with elements of magic. It is also perfect for a book with an ensemble cast & a book with a travel theme.
I just bought the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series for my hubby from a local used bookstore. It is such a great thing that they are online.
I finished The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I used it for Travel-Themed. I thought the book was a good twist on the prompt. 5 stars.
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I finished two books back to back.The Third Man by Graham Greene. A place you haven't visited. Vienna Austria. 3 stars. This was the movie version, in fact this was never meant to be a book.
Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn. 5 stars. I must of been in the mood for YA fantasy because I couldn't put it down. I really like fantasy & don't read enough of it. I used it for a winner or nominee from the 2020 Good Reads Choice awards.
I finished We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker. 5 stars. I couldn't put it down. A lot of secrets in the book. I used it for a character that can be found in a deck of cards. Vincent King. I'm glad the name popped out at me. I didn't know what I was going to use for this prompt.
I finished The Things We Carried by O'Brien, 4 stars. Not for this challenge but I used it for the Read-Arrr-Thon.
I finished Blacktop Wasteland by S.A.Cosby. A mystery thriller. 5 stars. Really good I couldn't put it down. It's like reading an action heist movie. I think it is going to be made into a movie.
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Anyone have recommendations for Pride Month? I'm putting books on hold at my library and just wanted to check around for recs.
Emily wrote: "I just finished One Two Three by Laurie Frankel, the author of This Is How It Always Is. I loved it so much! I thought its portrayal of neurodiverse and non able-bod..."Hi Emily, I have a recommendation for you: The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. I read it last year, and I think it's a great book for Pride Month.
Other recommendations for Pride Month: The Prettiest Star, The Prophets, The Song of Achilles.
I’m about to start Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz for my face to face book club. It will also work for my Book Riot challenge. Read a memoir by a Latinx author. I’ve also wanted to read In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. I read Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan. It was very good.
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Emily, it is so good! I think you’re really going to love it.
I finished 2 books that I thought were awesome but they couldn't be more different!- Graphic novel The Rabbi's Cat
It was really funny and the artistry was great! I checked it out because my dad LOVES the movie and I've never seen it. My edition had books 1-3. My library only has books #4-5 in Spanish so I'm going to try them later this summer or fall. I've been refreshing my Spanish language skills via Duolingo so I'll wait till I'm a little more fluent!
- The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives
A collection of essays from around the world. Each story provides a little different perspective. Some scenes are difficult to read but it's an important book and well written. It's well worth the read!
I finished Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz. 3 stars. It doesn't fit any of the prompts I have left for ATY Challenge but it does fit a prompt for the summer reading challenge. I read it for my face to face book club read.
It's been three months now that "Week 37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list" is still the least read prompt. Thoughts on why this is so? (I haven't gotten around to it either.)
Ana A wrote: "It's been three months now that "Week 37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list" is still the least read prompt. Thoughts on why this is so? (I haven't gotten around to it eith..."I think some of it has to do with many of the books being older and more challenging reads. Even though there are a ton of choices it takes awhile to look through all of them. I’m not a huge fan of list type prompts because I don’t like scanning through list. This ended up being one of my earlier prompts finished but that had to do with the book being needed in a different challenge.
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It's also possible that some people are turned off by the idea of "world literature" or "classics" so they put it off. For me it wasn't a problem because I am in a classics group here on GR and I was able to use books they chose.
I tried to get it done early so that I didn't have to keep going and looking at the list. I hate the format of that site, it's just not pleasant to browse and usually I love looking through book lists!
I haven't read my book for that prompt yet for the opposite reason. I have so many choices that I first check if the book fits a different prompt before slotting it into this one.
I’ve been bad about updating the spreadsheet (bad, Alicia). But I’m currently running out of shelf space, so I’m trying to read all the books I own first. Then I’ll do a big goodwill haul and start on the ones I need to borrow from the library, including 1Q84 which is my choice for this prompt.
I'm always interested to see which prompts get completed most quickly and least quickly. Sometimes it seems not too surprising (like last year I noticed that the "book you could read in a day" prompt seemed to be completed by a lot of people early on) and other times it seems more like chance. I guess there are a lot of people who read what they please and then match to prompts once they're done, and I imagine list prompts are trickier to achieve that with, as Robin suggested. For me, I'm experimenting with reading in order this year, so I haven't gotten to it yet. I did end up using the first book I considered reading for it (So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba) for the "book set in a location I've never visited" prompt and I'm hoping to read a few more off the list for other prompts as well, so I'm looking forward to going back through the list at the end of the year and seeing how my results have changed!
I’m with Traci! I made a list of books that I want to read from the World list. I have so many of them that I’ll wait and see which one doesn’t fit elsewhere! I’ll probably read The Leopard, which I just found at Goodwill. The format of the list makes it very difficult to look for specific books.
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Ana A wrote: "It's been three months now that "Week 37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list" is still the least read prompt. Thoughts on why this is so? (I haven't gotten around to it eith..."This is really interesting! I personally have not done this prompt yet because there are only 2-3* on my TBR, but none that I already own. I had really wanted to do this entire challenge using only the 200+ unread books sitting on my shelves right now.
And I've only read about 50 of the whopping 1000 books on the list (5% is embarrassingly low for someone who majored in both comparative literature and english literature back in university and loves classics) so I guess my interests don't line up entirely with the list.
As a side note, @Ellie I completely agree with you that it's very unpleasant to browse through the 25 pages of books!
*Edit: 6 books, actually. But I'd have to buy them :(
I have quite a few on my TBR from that list, but I've only recently "completed" it by rereading Crime and Punishment. (I'm not filling out ATY spreadsheets though, because I plan to do it at the end of the year this time).I managed to read 21 books so far, which was my plan minimum for this year, so I might try to attempt 52 books. Due to personal reasons I thought I won't manage to get it in time, but I started to listen to audiobooks during work, which sped up things considerably. I still feel kinda guilty about adding those, 'cause I'm really bad at paying attention. Every now and then my brain stops registering things, so for now I'm mostly listetning to books I've read in the past or I'm familiar with a plot enough not to be completely lost when I space out. And I'm listening in original languages possible - so far I listened to "The Gray House" (in Russian), "Crime and Punishment" (in Russian), "The Trial" (in German), "Why Nations Fail" (in English), "The Girl With Dragon Tattoo" (in Swedish) and "Koronkowa robota. Sprawa Gorgonowej" (in Polish). Rereading Crime and Punishment was really fun and I loved how The Gray House sounded. I had the worst experience with The Girl With Dragon Tattoo - "omg, brain you were spacing out for most of the previous chapter, made me rewind multple times and now that there is a rape scene I'd rather not hear you're paying attention with 100% comprehension".
Oh yeah, I looked at the list again and 1000 is a daunting number to shift through in that format. I am only 2% well-read in World Literature. I've read 21 books.This is where I think the goodreads Listopia is quite helpful. I think how I chose my book for that prompt was look at the Listopia and choose the first book that was already on my TBR. It's Sophie's World, which my mom has on paperback, so I can just borrow it any time.
Entropia wrote: "I have quite a few on my TBR from that list, but I've only recently "completed" it by rereading Crime and Punishment. (I'm not filling out ATY spreadsheets though, because I plan to do it at the en..."That's crazy, are you fully fluent in all those languages (Russian/Swedish/German/Polish)??! I can only read 3 including English, but not very easily!
Ana A wrote: "Oh yeah, I looked at the list again and 1000 is a daunting number to shift through in that format. I am only 2% well-read in World Literature. I've read 21 books.This is where I think the goodrea..."
That's great that you have access to that book! I love all the Listopias since it's so easy to see what's on my shelves.
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Around the Year in 52 Books
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