2024 Reading In Order

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

It's that time of year to start thinking about our 2024 challenge. This is the spot to update the group on your progress if you plan on reading in order!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

After finishing the challenge in August of 2023, I decided I hate having to pick my books so I'll be reading in order again in 2024. I've also convinced several of my friends who do the challenge to also read in order with me for accountability buddies!

[Jacque T]

I am horrible about posting here, but I'll be reading mostly in order (more monthly) next year. It makes it easier to know which books to put on hold at the library and takes some of the bandwidth of decision making away.

[Sue]

I will definitely be reading in order again - it really helps me to get to some of those long or 'difficult' books that have been on my tbr forever - I always enjoy them and can plan to fit lighter/easier reads in around them.

[Marie]

I read totally out of order this year for the first time since my first year, and I didn't like it! I'm going roughly in order next year, though I'm relying on the library for almost half my books so there's no guarantee. At least I'll be happier knowing what's supposed to be next, even if I don't manage it.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I'm the same, Marie, though my library is pretty dependable when it comes to book availability.

[Jillian]

I'm planning on reading in order. My goal like the previous time I completed the challenge in order will be to finish my books in order. I like to have several books going at once, so this helps me finish them in order but still be able to have several going at once. I have tentatively slotted several books I already own for this challenge. I'm really bad about reading books I own, so I'm hoping to make a dent in the ones I've actually spent money on. I've also tried to mix up easier shorter reads with long more challenging books.

[Roxana]

I read in order this year, and it's made the challenge more, well, challenging, in a good way. Previous years I've finished really early in the year; this time, it's stretched out through the whole year (I still have a few prompts left for December, I've been very on track, lol). So will definitely be reading in order again for 2024!

[Bea]

I liked the discipline of reading in order, but I found it challenging since I rely so heavily on library books. I think I will try it again next year though.

[Nancy]

I will be reading in order again using the same methodology as this year - read each prompt during its relative week, with the caveat that some things may move around due to library availability. I will try to stay within the month to at least have some semblance of being in order.

[Sheena]

I'm reading in order again too!

I'm currently going through my TBR, and noting books I haven't got to yet and but really want to, and deleting the ones I'm over now.

Next up, picking the first 4/5 books to get any library holds/purchases placed if needed.

[QueenEternity]

First-year I'll be trying this challenge but I love the added challenge of reading in order, so I'm definitely going to try that. I think it'll make it easier for me to complete the challenge as it gives me a clear point to start working on it from.

[Anastasia]

It has been a while since I read the challenge in order. I, too, depend on library books, so if the one I want for that slot is not available, I will just find something that fits that is.

[Kim]

I am planning on reading strictly in order by week and I am excited to give it a try and see how it goes. I always start the challenge and don’t finish, so I think this will add some excitement and challenge to it!

[Chrissy]

I'm sticking with "in-order-ish" - it worked for me this year, doing the majority of books in the right month but with a few exceptions because of long hold lists, or early filling b/c of ToB. I love taking away the need to always decide what's next!

[Faith]

I didn't read in order for 2023 (my first year), but I think I might for 2024. The exceptions being a series I have on 5 or 6 prompts. I just hope the series is good! Lol. Reading in order will keep me from saving the ones out of my comfort zone until last - which then makes it feel like work at the end.

[Marie (UK)]

I usually just fit what i have read to a prompt but am going to give reading in order a go.

So i have only read and planned the prompts for January so far

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Now that we are getting closer to the start of the new year, what do y'all have planning for January??

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - The Hanging City
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - Big Swiss (ToB list)
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - Chain-Gang All-Stars (GR Choice Awards)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - The Shamshine Blind (San Fran)

[John]

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (ebook)
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Audiobook)
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (A book set mostly in or around a building)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - (The World at Night by Alan Furst ("dark sacred night") (e-book)
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong (Edinburgh) (Audiobook)

[Sue]

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - A Sweet Obscurity
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - Sovereign
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - Bluestocking in Patagonia: Mary Gilmore's Quest for Love and Utopia at the World's End (Biography)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - The Rose of Sebastopol
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - The Unbearable Lightness Of Scones (Edinburgh)

[Jillian]

Possibly
1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y-
Stowed Away by Barbara Ross

2. A book connected to something you read in 2023-
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree or The Dark Tower by Stephen King

3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (A book the that helps you reflect or recharge)-
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong-
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world-
Wonder by R.J. Palacio

[Roxana]

my plan -

1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y: Main Character Energy
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023: Ruthless Vows
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (Las Vegas hotel themes): Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong: Love, Naturally
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world: Mastering the Art of French Murder

[Bana AZ]

I've don't think I've seriously tried to read in order, so I'll try for 2024.
Week 1: Title ending in ATY - Lessons in Chemistry
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - The Winners
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - Project Hail Mary (A book that is an Audie award winner or nominee (read in any format))
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - All Systems Red
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - Babel

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Oh Bana, I picked Babel as my favorite book of 2023, and Project Hail Mary was my best book of 2022! You're in for a good January lol

[Chrissy]

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - The Guest (ToB)
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - Phoolan Devi, Rebel Queen (related to The Bandit Queens)
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - still loooking for “fish out of water” or “something I take for granted”
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - Harry's Trees
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - The Architect's Apprentice (Istanbul)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Chrissy, have you read Monstrilio? It would work for fish out of water and it's ToB!

[Chrissy]

I was thinking that either The Lost Journals of Sacajewea or Boys Weekend for fish out of water, but you’ve given me another option! Thanks!

[Bea]

Week 1: Title ending in ATY: Fortune and Glory
Week 2: Connected something read in 2023: The Trees (I read The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World in 2023.)
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in: The Awakening (Banned Book)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World: The Day the Music Died (word = day)
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities: The Library of the Dead (Edinburgh)

[QueenEternity]

Week 1: Title ending in ATY: The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Week 2: Connected to something read in 2023: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in: Red, White & Royal Blue (book connected to a colour)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World: Cloud Atlas (and clouds of white)
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities: Neverwhere (London)

[♞ Pat]

I'm not planning to prepare too far ahead of time. Week 1 is the only "solid" pick I've put in - simply because I'm too OCD to go beyond that unless I want to spend the next six weeks chasing rabbits down holes.

But I AM looking at some broad concepts for "thinking about..."


Week 1: Title ending in ATY ~ Anatomy
This is a solid pick. I've already got a hard copy in my hand from the library. Just waiting for the starting gates to open.


Week 2: Connected to 2023 ~ Something by either Steven King or Geraldine Brooks. King's new release "Holly" is #3 in a series, and I haven't read the first two yet, so that feels like The Outsider might be a good starting spot. I've really enjoyed the three books I've already read by Geraldine Brooks, but I haven't read Caleb's Crossing or March, so I might pick one of those. Also, I love Lisa Scottoline's books, and there are several that I'd like to read, so fitting one of those in would be simple.


Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in ~ I like list suggestions, so I'll probably go with one of the early poll topics. There are plenty of options to choose from with these.
~ A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards,
~ A book you meant to read in 2023
~ A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
~ A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists


Week 4: What a Wonderful World ~ Just looking at my TBR that I keep swearing to clean up. Harry's Trees - Darling Rose Gold - The Bluest Eye - One to Watch


Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities ~

[Elaine]

I list these books knowing the likelihood of me sticking to the plan is almost nil…I am such a mood reader.

1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y Well Met
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023 A Sinister Revenge
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list - a book I meant to read in 2023 Ship Wrecked
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong Every Summer After (skies of blue)
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world The Golem and the Jinni

[Marie]

I'm reading more than one book for some of the prompts, so I have six in January if I'm to stay on pace:

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - Last One at the Party
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - The Book of Lost and Found
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in: connected to Roses are Red (multiweek)
Camp Zero
Fourth Wing
The Two Lives of Sara
You

If I'm really flying, the other two January prompts will be:

Week 4: What a Wonderful World - Thirty Days of Darkness
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - The Elegance of the Hedgehog

But I have a couple of library holds due to come in January, so I'm likely to be reading The Fragile Threads of Power and Starter Villain and blowing up the reading in order plan right from the start!

[Kelly]

I really enjoy these challenges but never end up finishing them! Maybe trying to read in order will help? That way I can finish books I'm less excited about one at a time, instead of being left with a ton of them at the end of the year...

Week 1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y - Mother-Daughter Murder Night (going to buddy read this one with my mom, of course!)
Week 2. A book connected to something you read in 2023 - The Story of the Lost Child (I read the first three books in this quartet in 2023)
Week 3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list - Wuthering Heights (A book adapted by Masterpiece Theatre)
Week 4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong - Still debating what to do for this one! The Wonder is on the listopia, but I'm not sure what the connection to the song is. I am also considering The Death and Life of the Great Lakes since there are blue skies/white clouds on the cover.
Week 5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world - The Old Capital (Kyoto)

[Hayley]

I'm planning to complete the prompts for ATY in order. I'm hoping that this will motivate me to finish the challenge this year. I'm considering returning to university this summer, so that will add another layer of difficulty to this challenge. I always find it difficult to find time to read leisurely when I'm in school and I'm hoping that I will be able to balance everything this time around.

These are my plans for January:

Week 1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y - The Phantom of the Opera
Week 2. A book connected to something you read in 2023 - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Week 3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (A book shelved as literary fiction) - This Tender Land
Week 4. A book related to the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong - The World That We Knew
Week 5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world (Rome) - Eternal

I have no idea what to expect from This Tender Land, so it is perhaps the book that I am most excited to read next month. I'm also excited to read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan because I read another Lisa See book last year and loved it. Also excited about Eternal. The premise sounds very interesting.

I'm hoping to cross off a Phantom of the Opera because it is a book that a Booktuber that I follow has a history with. It's one of her favourites and I always enjoy reading books that people I follow have read because it gives me a better idea of my taste in comparison to theirs. If I finish Phantom of the Opera early, I plan to read Phantom.

[Rosalind]

I plan to read vaguely in order, mainly to avoid being overwhelmed as I want to read everything right away. Might have to change some of my choices as I go along.

January plans:
1. Ends in T - Will and Testament
2. Connected to 2023 read - As Good As Dead
3. Unused suggestion Bright Young Women
4. Related to What a Wonderful World - I've listed Half of a Yellow Sun but am wondering if I might need something a little lighter so have Neon Roses in reserve.
5. Set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities - How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart

[♞ Pat]

Hayley wrote: "I have no idea what to expect from This Tender Land, so it is perhaps the book that I am most excited to read next month. ..."

I loved this book. William Kent Kruger writes a lovely stand alone novel. He writes a series as well - Cork O'Connor - but his stand alones are lyrical.

I loved Eternal as well!

[Serenity]

Newbie: Hi! Attempting the challenge in order. Here is my TBR:
Week 1: Title ending in ATY - The Arctic Fury
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - Winter's Heart
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - Lagoon(Science Fiction/Fantasy)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World - Inciting Joy: Essays
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - A Study in Scarlet (London)

[Hayley]

♞ Pat wrote: "Hayley wrote: "I have no idea what to expect from This Tender Land, so it is perhaps the book that I am most excited to read next month. ..."

I loved this book. William Kent Kruger writes a lovely..."

Good to know! Thanks.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Serenity wrote: "Newbie: Hi! Attempting the challenge in order. Here is my TBR:
Week 1: Title ending in ATY - The Arctic Fury
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - Winter's Heart
Week 3: Prompt t..."

Welcome, Serenity, what a beautiful name!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

♞ Pat wrote: "Hayley wrote: "I have no idea what to expect from This Tender Land, so it is perhaps the book that I am most excited to read next month. ..."

I loved this book. William Kent Kruger writes a lovely..."

Yes, I loved Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land and I just read his newest standalone The River We Remember in one day yesterday. I tried a couple of his mysteries but they are too much like thrillers for my taste (women in danger, people lost in wilderness, etc.)

[Tracy]

I'm not necessarily reading in order, but I'm reading by month. If I read everything from the 3 challenges I have planned out ,this is my plan for January:

2024 ATY
1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
The Maid's Diary
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
Just Another Missing Person
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (from a friends TBR)
Mother-Daughter Murder Night
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Nightwalking
5. A book set in one of the 25 most beautiful cities in the world
If I Had Your Face
6. A book with wings on the cover- (adding week 6 here because I just finished Fourth Wing and I don't know if I'll be able to wait until February to start this one *cries* )
Iron Flame

2024 PopSugar
1 A book with the word "leap" in the title
Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood
2 A bildungsroman book
Winter Loon
3 A book about a 24-year-old
Hana Khan Carries On
4 A book about a writer
The Writing Class
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir: Vintage Movie Classics
5 A book about K-pop
Comeback
6 A book about pirates (also adding week 6 here because this came in with my first round of holds and it's due back Jan. 3)
All the Stars and Teeth

52 Book club
1. Locked-room mystery
The Escape Room
2. Bibliosmia: A smelly book
The Echo of Old Books
3. More than 40 chapters
The Sanatorium
4. Lowercase letters on the spine
The Cheerleaders
5. Magical realism
Before the Coffee Gets Cold

[Tracy]

Hayley wrote: "I'm also excited to read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan because I read another Lisa See book last year and loved it..."

This is my favorite Lisa See book, I hope you love it!!

[Hayley]

Tracy wrote: "Hayley wrote: "I'm also excited to read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan because I read another Lisa See book last year and loved it..."

This is my favorite Lisa See book, I hope you love it!!"

I hope so. I'll start it after I finish the Picture of Dorian Gray.

[Kathryn]

Last year I started off strong with reading in order but ended up skipping around after about week 25 or so. I’m going to try again this year. I’m hoping if I mix in a lot of children’s/comfort reads, I can avoid getting burnt out. My goal is to read many of the books I already own. Here are the first few prompts:

Week 1: Title ending in ATY - Princess Academy
Week 2: Connected to 2023 - The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court (I read Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution last year)
Week 3: Prompt that didn't make it in - The Phantom Tollbooth (child character)
Week 4: What a Wonderful World -The Rose Garden or Life After Life (I have both, will just see which I’m more in the mood for at the time)
Week 5: 25 Most Beautiful Cities - Neverwhere

[Elaine]

I finished my first two books; as predicted, neither of the books I read were the books I originally planned to read.

1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y
The Rest of the Story 5 stars

2. A book connected to something you read in 2023
Coffee and Honeybuns 4 stars - this is book one in a series that I accidentally skipped by reading book 2 first last year.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

It's early to abandon your plan already Elaine haha! I love that though.

[Nancy]

Here's my plan for January:

1. A book with a title that ends in A, T or Y - Finding Emma, in progress
2. A book connected to something you read in 2023 - The Office of Historical Corrections (Tookie's List from The Sentence)
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (Main character in domestic service) - The Housemaid's Secret
4. A book related to something mentioned in the lyrics of What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong - TBD. I have 3 potential books listed.

For some prompts that have "or" I am attempting to read for all options. E.g. for prompt #1, I also have books picked that end in T and in Y. I am undecided if I will read those in order too, or maybe do them throughout the year.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Ohhh Nancy, I really liked The Office of Historical Corrections!

[Nancy]

Good to know! It's been on my TBR forever. Holds are a couple of weeks out so I'll be doing a bit of shuffling.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Nancy wrote: "Good to know! It's been on my TBR forever. Holds are a couple of weeks out so I'll be doing a bit of shuffling."

It's excellent on audio, if you use audiobooks.