49. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

One of the best aspects of Goodreads is the community recommendations, and this week, you are looking to your fellow group members to find their best books of the year. You'll be combing the Best Books of the Month threads to find a book that you may want to read (whether it's already on your TBR, or it's a new discovery). With so many members in this group, there's a wide variety of books to choose from!

You can find all of our Best Books of the Month in our Monthly Discussions folder here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

ATY Listopia for Best Books of 2022: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
ATY Listopia for Best Books of 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt? How did you choose?

[Thomas]

One of my least favourite pormpts luckily this time one of my TBR happened to be lsited this year so I will read The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

[Nancy]

I will be waiting for the 2023 Listopia since I've already read most of what's on the 2022 list.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Nancy wrote: "I will be waiting for the 2023 Listopia since I've already read most of what's on the 2022 list."

That's impressive Nancy! The list has 400 books on it!

I'll also probably wait for the 2023 list, just because there will probably be new releases that pop up on it that I want to read.

[Nancy]

Ok that might have been hyperbole, lol. I've read most of the top 30 at least, and the others I'm not interested in or have slotted for other prompts.

I'm sure I could find something on the 2022 list but I'd rather wait for the 2023.

[Pam]

There are at least 9 books on the 2022 list that I want to read but, I definitely want to see future options before choosing! My aunt recommended I read Horse by Geraldine Brooks so that’s a top choice. (Besides really enjoying the book, she thinks I might like it since I used to live in Kentucky.) Two books I own and plan to read are The Complete Maus and The Love Songs of W.E.B. du Bois. I like Russian authors so Laurus by Vodolozkin and The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn are also options! I’ve read one book by these 2 authors. Thanks to the people who listed these books!

[Samantha]

I have been interested in reading The Sentence since the Tookie’s Favorite Books list was introduced as a potential prompt. It seems like a good choice but then again I read in order and might not be able to wait until I get to the 49th prompt!

There are a few others that could work as well but I love reading new releases so if I do read The Sentence earlier I am sure that there will be something on the 2023 list that will peak my interest.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Well I looked through the 2022 list (as it currently stands) and I have read 22 books and have 20 on my tbr. So I should have plenty of options!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

There's something for everybody on this list - literary fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, humor, nonfiction, graphic novel, etc.

[Sue]

I guess 2023 is finally my year for Verity. I'm really late to that party.

[Marie]

I have The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa lined up for this one.

No special method for choosing, I just looked for books on the list that I have on my TBR. The list is so big already I think it's an advantage being a planner, it must be really hard to narrow down your options if you're choosing towards the end of 2023.

[Misty]

Marie wrote: "I have The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa lined up for this one. "

Good choice! It's such a good book.

[Dana]

I don't know if in the 49th week of the year I will choose something from the 2022 or 2023 list, but I will get back here to update the comment.

2022 TBR from the Best Books of the Month Listopia:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

Update:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Firestarter by Stephen King
The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas
Gallant by V.E. Schwab
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

2023 TBR from the Best Books of the Month Listopia:
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

[Tracy]

I just finished The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. It was an ATY Best Book in 2022. I gave it 4 stars, but really I'd call it 4.5 stars (when will GR let us do this?!)

Interesting device using a fig tree as a character/narrator (gave a lot of historical and botanical background to the story) — I was originally considering this book last year for our "Book with a main character who is not human" prompt. Cyprus as a setting is new to me, so learning some of the history was interesting.

This book could also be used for "9. A book nominated for an award beginning with W" since it was short listed for Women’s Prize in Fiction. "21. A book by an Asian diaspora author" might also work as the author is Turkish, but now lives (and is a citizen) of Britain. Turkey is transcontinental (Europe/Asia), so this is a literal borderline calling.

[Stacey]

This book was on my list for far too long. Glad I finally picked it up. Even with a crumb of implausibility, I thoroughly enjoyed Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy.

[Marie (UK)]

For this challenge I read Babel which features on the first page of the 2023 list.
It wouldnt be one i would normally read but we did a group read in another GR group and I really enjoyed it.

[Anastasia]

The Cartographers
I am not sure which month this was best of but it was already on my TBR. It was the book I needed at the time I read it. An easy quick read that was did not require a heavy emotional investment.

[Sherri]

I read Cloud Cuckoo Land

[LeahS]

I read Anxious People by Fredrik Backman from the 2022 list.

A quote on the front says: . Funny, compassionate and wise...an absolute joy . Did the book live up to this - yes, it did. Perhaps a bit sentimental towards the end, but it was such an enjoyable read.

[Joy D]

For this book, I read:
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - 4* - My Review - just a delightful book

[Severina]

I read My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. Loved it.

[Dubhease]

I read Beloved, which was on the list from 2022.

[LeahS]

For round 2 I read Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley. It was an exciting read, I learned about the author's culture and the MC was believable.

[Denise]

I read the Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. I'm afraid I do not share the enthusiasm for this book

[Book Concierge]

I picked this from the 2022 listopia


Horse – Geraldine Brooks – 5*****
The novel is based on the real story of the horse known as Lexington, his extraordinary racing career, and even more extraordinary career as a stud. But it is more than a story of racing; it is a novel about race and racism, not just in the 19th century, but in contemporary America, as well. Moving back and forth between the contemporary discoveries of the horse’s skeleton and painted portrait, to the events in antebellum Kentucky, she weaves a story that I found compelling, fascinating and moving.
LINK to my full review

[Katie]

I flew through A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik for this prompt and loved it so much I'm planning to finish the next two in the trilogy before moving on to prompts 50-52. I guess I could try to slot The Last Graduate into some other prompt and call it my favorite for 50 and use the paperback edition of Golden Enclaves for 51, but it feels like cheating and I'd already decided to repeat #35 (school subject in the title) with a Mary Roach subtitle (curious science of life in the void) and have two 2023 hardcovers I want to use for #51. It isn't even August: why does this feel like a race? Anyway, time to find out why that last line in A Deadly Education was teased.... weeee!

[Samantha]

I read The Golden Enclaves. Katie like you I flew thought A Deadly Education. I also really enjoyed The last Graduate. For some reason The Golden Enclaves started off super slow, maybe it was because they the setting had changed and I need to get a feel this new direction. Anyway it got better and better and by the end I forgot how slow the first part was.

[Leah]

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams.

This was a gentle, warm read for about two-thirds of the way through, a book in which two lonely characters, an elderly Indian widower and a teenage with a mother suffering from depression, come together through a mysterious list of books, and find connection and help from them and each other. Both characters were well-drawn, particularly the widower. We see snippets of other characters also being helped via the list.

Then there is a dramatic incident (view spoiler)[- the teenager's older brother commits suicide (hide spoiler)] which changes the feel of the book, then it reverts to the feel good factor in the final chapters. There wasn't enough foreshadowing or explanation for the dramatic incident,* and the response of the teenager's mother to it in the final chapters seemed particularly unlikely.

*(view spoiler)[ we are given hints that suggest the brother might be involved with drugs or with a gang, but nothing that suggests the finality of his suicide (hide spoiler)]

I enjoyed so much of this novel, but couldn't wholly like it . I did like the support that the book gave to libraries (despite it making a library assistant into a fully fledged librarian :).

[Wendy]

I read The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, recommended in August 2022. What a delightful read, and what a great category for the challenge, too!

Last year I had picked up Picnic at Hanging Rock as my "best of the month" book, which was a five star read, so I'd say I've done pretty well on recommendations here. Keep them coming!

[Pam]

I read Chivalry (graphic novel). Story by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Colleen Doran, recommended by Jacqie on the June 2023 list. I loved it! I'm not sure which edition that Jacquie read (since it wasn't linked and there is an older one) but this one is absolutely beautiful, and the story is really cute!

[Jill]

What are you reading for this prompt?
I read Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
How did you choose?
A lot of people have told me about it, as I have a German Shepherd, and the dog on the cover looks like one.

[Stacey]

Jill wrote: "What are you reading for this prompt?
I read Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
How did you choose?
A lot of people have told me about it, as I have a German Shepherd, and ..."

Jill, what'd you think of this one? I have it on my 2024 list for the prompt: book involving a crime other than a murder. Was it funny? A good story?

[Jill]

Stacey wrote: "Jill wrote: "What are you reading for this prompt?
I read Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
How did you choose?
A lot of people have told me about it, as I have a German S..."

I liked it and gave it 4 stars. I was at times getting anxious over the dog, which was silly as I know there is a whole series featuring him. It moves along at a steady pace and I liked the way the author captured the dog's frustration of not being able to talk to the humans, and recognised the signs.

[Tracy]

Book Concierge wrote: "I picked this from the 2022 listopia



Horse
– Geraldine Brooks – 5*****
The novel is based on the real story of the horse known as Lexington, his extraordinary racing..."


I've loved every Geraldine Brooks book I've read, but have shied away from this one because I'm not really interested in horses or horse racing. So, is this book "about horses" in a similar way to how Fredrik Backman's Beartown series is "about hockey", in that this is the glue that holds the story together, but it really about the people in that world?