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message 1: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 21, 2024 07:20PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ⚘⚘⚘ Bana's 2024 ATY Challenge ⚘⚘⚘

I guess I'll kind of try to read in order, at least within the quarter. But who knows.

Index:
ATY listopias in order

My Other Challenges/Book Club books
My January TBR
My Anticipated 2024 releases
My series

===============================

1st quarter:

✔ 1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
- Gallant by V.E. Schwab - ★★★★☆
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Jade City by Fonda Lee

2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - ★★★★.5
- anything by Brandon Sanderson
- anything by Emily Henry
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

✔ 3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list
--- A book related to a bridge
- One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig - ★★★★.5
--- A book that is an Audie award winner or nominee (read in any format)
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

✔ 4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
- Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig ★★★★.5
- Oz, Complete Collection, Volume 1: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / The Marvelous Land of Oz / Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World by Adam M. Grant
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells

✔ 5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world
- Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell ★★★★☆
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- Babel by R.F. Kuang


✔ 6. A book with wings on the cover
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros - ★★☆☆☆
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown

✔ 7. A book with a pronoun in the title
- How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen - ★★★★☆
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
- Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

✔ 8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
- Weyward by Emilia Hart - ★★★★☆
- The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
- Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

9. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
- Rogan’s POV #1 by Ilona Andrews - ★★★☆☆
- The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao
- Sanity, Insanity and Common Sense by Rick Suarez
- SSKAIT COMICS 2: Dad, Daddy, Baby by AJ Bacar


10. A history or historical fiction book
- When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill - ★★★★.5
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

✔ 11. A book with an X connection
- The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon - ★★★★☆
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

✔ 12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year
- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert - ★★★☆☆
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
- The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

✔ 13. A book that is on a Five Books List; reader’s choice of which list
(Essential dark academia)
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - ★★★☆☆
(Best Audiobooks of 2023 (so far))
- Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER by Farzon A. Nahvi
- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
- The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley


message 2: by Bana AZ (last edited Dec 08, 2023 03:50AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments Ana AZ's 2024 ATY Challenge

2nd quarter:

(view spoiler)


message 3: by Bana AZ (last edited Dec 08, 2023 03:50AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments Ana AZ's 2024 ATY Challenge

3rd quarter:
(view spoiler)


message 4: by Bana AZ (last edited Dec 08, 2023 03:51AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments Ana AZ's 2024 ATY Challenge

4th quarter:
(view spoiler)


message 5: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 18, 2024 05:34PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments Other Challenges/Other Stuff
My 2023 ATY Challenge
My Feb 2024 Readathon

BOTM Subscription Box Reads
Dec (2023) - The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Jan (2024)
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov

The Hidden Library Buddy Reads
✔ Jan - One Dark Window
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

My GR TBR: (view spoiler)
Jan - Darkenheight: The Watershed Trilogy 2
Feb - The Fifth Season
Mar - My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec


message 6: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 31, 2024 12:20AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments I'd like my monthly TBRs to have (overlapping is encouraged):

✔ a. 4 ATYs
✔ b. 2 physical books
✔ c. 1 sequel read
X d. 1 book published in Nov 16, 2023 - 2024/BOTM box
✔ e. 1 Hidden Library book club read
✔ f. 1 non-fiction, reread, or second chance

☁ ========== ☁
January TBR
*For ATY*
✔ 1. Gallant by VE Schwab
✔ 2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (reread)
3. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
✔ 4. The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
✔ 6: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (also for the Hidden Library book club)

*Side reads/no designation yet*
7. CR: Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (reread)
✔ 8. How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety
9. The Winners by Fredrik Backman -- possibly for prompt 2: A book connected to something you read in 2023 (ebook)
10. The Eye of the World - read with FunFantasyBooks
11. Darkenheight: The Watershed Trilogy 2 - GR TBR read

(view spoiler)


message 7: by Bana AZ (last edited Dec 17, 2023 09:04PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments MY ANTICIPATED 2024 RELEASES


The Fury by Alex Michaelides
Release date: January 16
I only read The Silent Patient which I really liked, not The Maidens which I heard not so good things about, so I'm hoping that this one is more like the first one.

Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa
Release date: February 20
Haven't read anything by this author before, but I am very interested in witchy books, plus this is set in Sri Lanka! I don't think I've ready anything set there before.

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg
Release date: February 20
I liked his book about habits, plus I'm not the best communicator out there, so I think I'll really like this read.

The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black
Release date: April 2
This is the second book in the Stolen Heir duology. I really enjoyed The Folk of the Air trilogy, but didn't really like the first book in this new series. Here's hoping the second book will be better.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Release date: April 9
Because Bardugo is pretty amazing! This is my five-star prediction.

Funny Story by Emily Henry
Release date: April 23
I enjoyed two of Henry's books, but DNF'd her latest one. Hoping that I'll like this one.

==========
Interested, but they're sequels I'm not caught up with:
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
Release date: January 9
It's the third book in a series I haven't started yet, but I am very interested especially since the author is part Filipino.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
Release date: April 30
This is the second book in a series I haven't started yet, but I heard some interesting things about the first book. But honestly it's the cow costume that made me put the first book in my TBR.


message 8: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 09, 2024 12:21AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🚀 JANUARY WEEK 1
Rogan’s POV #1 (Hidden Legacy #1.1) by Ilona Andrews
- Finished Rogan’s POV #1 by Ilona Andews
- 3 stars
- For prompt 9: A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads -- as of finishing it, it only has 1,095 ratings.
- This is bonus material for the book Burn for Me, part of the Hidden Legacy series. It's very short and it left me wanting more.

Maybe I should make it a January 1 tradition to read the shortest thing on my TBR so I can have a quick win.

Desperately trying to finish Wuthering Heights for a book club discussion on January 7!


message 9: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 31, 2024 01:24AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🚀 JANUARY WEEK 2
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1) by Rachel Gillig Five Silver Rings by Zack Argyle
- Finally finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte!
- 4.5 stars (rounded up)
- For ATY prompt 2: A book connected to something you read in 2023. I'm in a book club since last year and this is one of the picks.
- This is a reread for me. The first time I read this was 13 years ago and I LOVED it. It was a favorite! But now, I still really liked it, but half a star less than I loved it before.

- Finished One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
- 4.5 stars rounded down
- For ATY prompt 3: A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list -- A book related to a bridge. It has a bridge on the cover, but it actually isn't significant in the book.
- I have never heard of this book before until it was chosen for my book club. I was cautious about reading it because it looked like a typical YA fantasy romance (judging a book by its cover), but it was such a pleasant surprise! I really liked this book. It's not even YA. The author says it's adult but accessible to older YA. And the romance was done so well! <3

- Finished the short story Five Silver Rings by Zack Argyle
- 5 stars! Did not expect that my first full 5 stars (not like 4.5 rounded up) would be a short story.
- Side read. Couldn't fit it into this quarter's ATY prompts.
- This story is amazing. I felt so much in so few pages. I had goosebumps reading this (not in a scary way, just in a this-writing-is-amazing way). Go read it, it's free!


message 10: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 25, 2024 01:54AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🚀 JANUARY WEEK 3
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon How to Be Yourself Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen
- Finished The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
- 4 stars!
- For prompt 11: A book with an X connection
- I should read more romance. It's fun!

- Finished How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen
- 4 stars
- For prompt ✔ 7. A book with a pronoun in the title - Yourself
- This was pretty good. There were some metaphors that I thought were kinda funny and didn't fit, but I thought this book had good tips.


message 11: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 31, 2024 12:25AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🚀 JANUARY WEEK 4
Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King, #2) by Rachel Gillig Gallant by V.E. Schwab
- Finished Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
- 4.5 stars, rounded up for GR
- It's for prompt 4: A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong -- because of "trees"
- This is the 2nd book in The Shepherd King duology and it delivered!

- Finished Gallant by VE Schwab
- 4 stars
- For ATY prompt 1:A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y. Finally! I was able to finish the first prompt before January ends.
- This took me a little while to get into because I was fatigued from Belladonna. It had very similar concepts with this book: orphan girl who can see ghosts and is mysteriously summoned to a rich relative's house. But I'm glad I stuck through this because this was better than Belladonna, IMO. It had Coraline and Ninth House vibes, both of which I loved.


message 12: by Bana AZ (last edited Jan 31, 2024 01:20AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments
*** S E R I E S ***

Series I started this year
- The Shepherd King by Rachel Gillig (2 books)
One Dark Window

Series I want to finish this year
- The Beartown Trilogy by Richard Backman
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Series I finished this year
- The Shepherd King by Rachel Gillig (2 books)
One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1) by Rachel Gillig Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King, #2) by Rachel Gillig


message 13: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 29, 2024 05:26PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ***JANUARY WRAP-UP***
*The books: I finished eight books, two of which are short stories.
Rogan’s POV #1 (Hidden Legacy #1.1) by Ilona Andrews Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1) by Rachel Gillig Five Silver Rings by Zack Argyle The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon How to Be Yourself Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King, #2) by Rachel Gillig Gallant by V.E. Schwab

*My favorite: The Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig. One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns. These are actually 4.5 star books but they are really fun!

*ATY Update: 7/52
Finished prompts 9, 2, 3, 11, 7, 4 and 1.

*Genres:
- fantasy - 5
- classic - 1
- romance - 1
- nonfiction -1

*Formats:
- ebook - 6
- physical 2


message 14: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 23, 2024 09:51PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ☁ ========== ☁

FEBRUARY TBR
Currently reading, hoping to finish:
✔ 1. When Women Were Dragons
2. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy - reread nonfiction
3. The Winners (ebook) - to finish a series

TBR:
4. The Eye of the World - book club, ATY TBR for over a year
✔ 5. The Starless Sea (ebook) - book club, ATY Five book list (five essential Dark Academia novels)
6. The Great Hunt - book club
7. The Shadow of the Wind – ATY beautiful cities
✔ 8. Fourth Wing (ebook) - GR Choice Awards, ATY wing on the cover, and because it's February (romance)
9. Poverty, by America (ebook) - GR Choice Awards
10. Chain-Gang All-Stars (ebook) - GR Choice Awards (nominee), black history month

☁ ========== ☁

February Week 1
- I decided not to finish rereading Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy since there's actually a huge chunk in the book that I don't care to read again. Though I'll still leaf through it every now and then, especially if I'm looking for something specific.
- Didn't finish anything this week


message 15: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 18, 2024 09:23PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ♥ February Week 2
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros
- Finished When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
- 4.5 stars!
- Read it for prompt 10. A history or historical fiction book. It's set in the 1950s - '60s
- I really loved this. It's about female rage and scientific inquiry.


- Finished Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
- 3 stars! But 3 good stars
- For prompt 12. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year. I put it there in December 2022
- This was a fun and cute romance. It took me two days to read so it was quick, but there were just a few things that I thought could have been better.


- Finished Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
- 2.75 stars
- Side read. It's in my 24 for 2024 list
- It's... fine. There are some good advice, but it's just so simple and simplistic. I guess it's good for those new to the self-help genre, or for those who don't really read much.


- Finished Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- 2 stars
- For ATY prompt 6. A book with wings on the cover
- The first part was fun, but the second part was just so questionable. And the love interests: so toxic. Or should I say: So. Toxic. The periods were so annoying too.


message 16: by Bana AZ (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ♥ February Week 3

- Didn't finish anything because Fourth Wing put me in a reading slump...


message 17: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 27, 2024 07:34PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ♥ February Week 4
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
- Finished The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
- 3 stars
- For ATY prompt 13. A book that is on a Five Books List; 5 essential dark academia novels
- This was actually really good but readers should have a particular mindset while reading this and I just got fatigued from the whimsy of it all. Reminds me of reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. If I ever reread this though, I might rate it higher.

***Note to self for March TBR:
- have a mix of genres!
- have a mix of short and heavy books
- have a mix of series and standalones
- add new releases


message 18: by Bana AZ (last edited Feb 29, 2024 05:34PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ***FEBRUARY WRAP-UP***


*The books: I finished five books
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

*My favorite: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

*ATY Update: 11/52
Finished prompts 10, 12, 6 and 13 this month

*Genres:
- fantasy - 3
- romance - 1
- nonfiction -1

*Formats:
- ebook - 2
- physical - 3


message 19: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 29, 2024 02:22AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments

MARCH Reading List
Currently reading, hoping to finish:
✔ 1. The Winners - ebook, to finish a series
2. The Eye of the World - 24 books for 2024
✔ 3. The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want - nonfic
✔ 4. Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution - nonfic
✔ 5. Weyward - ebook, for ATY and GR CA 2023

TBR:
✔ 6. Spin the Dawn - ebook, for Book Chikas PH book club
7. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - ebook, for The Hidden Library book club
8. The Shadow of the Wind - for ATY, 24 books for 2024
9. The Fury - ebook, new release
10. The Atlantis Complex - to continue a series


message 20: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 07, 2024 07:01AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🍀March Week 1
The Winners (Beartown, #3) by Fredrik Backman The How Of Happiness A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky
- Finished The Winners by Fredrik Backman
- 4 stars
- side read
- Third book in the Beartown trilogy. Ouch. All I can say is ouch.

- Finished The How Of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want by by Sonja Lyubomirsky
- 4 stars
- side read
- I first heard about Sonja Lyubomirsky through Dr. Laurie Santos' class in Yale (through Coursera) on The Science of Well-Being. I found this helpful but I wish there wasn't so much religious stuff here.


***Note to self:
April focus on new releases!
- The Fury
- Prisoner's Throne
- Island Witch
- Supercommunicators


message 21: by Bana AZ (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🍀March Week 2
Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1) by Elizabeth Lim
- Finished Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
- 2.75 stars
- side read (for another book club)
- It's a mediocre YA fantasy. I won't be reading book 2 in the series, but I am still interested in other works by this author.


message 22: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 24, 2024 03:27AM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🍀March Week 3
Weyward by Emilia Hart Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
- Finished Weyward by Emilia Hart
- 4 stars!
- For ATY prompt 8. A book by an author from Canada, Australia or New Zealand
- This is a magic realism historical fiction (well, two storylines are historical while one storyline is contemporary) about the Weyward women.

- Finished Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
- 4 stars!
- For ATY prompt ✔ 5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world: Paris and London
- It's funny that this book shows the ugly side of these beautiful cities.


message 23: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 31, 2024 08:20PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🍀March Week 4
Flights of Fancy Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution by Richard Dawkins Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) by Heather Fawcett There are No Falling Stars in China by Marga Ortigas
- Finished Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution by Richard Dawkins
- 5 stars!
- Not for ATY
- This is a nonfiction science book, but I really love the writing. It brought back a sense of wonder for the natural world for me. It was like watching National Geographic or Discovery Channel when I was a kid.

- Finished Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
- 4 stars
- Not for ATY
- This was for The Hidden Library book club. It was fun. Reminds me of The Cruel Prince. Wendell Bambleby is a terrible name for a love interest though.

- Finished There are No Falling Stars in China by Marga Ortigas
- 4.5 stars
- Not for ATY
- It's a collection of essays that's beautifully written. It talks about the author's time as a journalist in different countries and the lessons she's learned.


message 24: by Bana AZ (last edited Mar 31, 2024 08:28PM) (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments ***MARCH WRAP-UP***


*I finished eight books:
The Winners (Beartown, #3) by Fredrik Backman The How Of Happiness A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1) by Elizabeth Lim Weyward by Emilia Hart Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell Flights of Fancy Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution by Richard Dawkins Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) by Heather Fawcett There are No Falling Stars in China by Marga Ortigas

*My favorite: Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution by Richard Dawkins

*ATY Update: 13/52
Finished all the prompts for the first quarter

*Genres:
- fantasy - 2
- contemporary - 1
- nonfiction - 4
- historical fiction - 1

*Formats:
- ebook - 4
- physical - 4


message 26: by Bana AZ (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 🌷 April Week 1
Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters, #2) by Talia Hibbert
- DNF'd Dale Carnegie Omnibus (How to Stop Worrying and Start Living/How to Enjoy Your Life and Job) - Vol. 2

- Finished Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
- 4.5 stars! <3
- Loved this. This was friends to lovers done well!


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