Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2025
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06. A book with a serpentine element on the cover
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I've gone back and forth (haha, kind of serpentine) among various options, but I think I'm going with
and
Others I have that would work, but that I'm using for other prompts, are
,
, and
.
234 books on the list but none are jumping out at me. But I'm sure I have books with roads or rivers on them I will use.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
It’s the second book in the series. Hopefully I like the first book well enough to continue because I don’t have a back up plan!
My next door neighbor LOVES the Ruth Galloway series and encouraged me to try it a couple of years ago. I read the first three and enjoyed them, so I'll try to catch up on the series in 2025.A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.
I feel like the non-serpentine-shaped snake on Sunrise on the Reaping is ruining the aesthetic, but it's an option, because I know I'll end up reading it.
This is one of those prompts where I knew what it had to be almost immediately:
I keep finding other serpentine covers, though, and I'll put what I have so far in case it helps other people:
I definitely want to read a book I own. some choices include:
City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
The Crime of Olga Arbyelina by Andreï Makine
The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso
I want to finish the Dune series (Frank's six books) in 2025, and I have this edition of Heretics of Dune that I'll be putting in this prompt:
I'm currently thinking about one of the following:-The Hike by Drew Magary
-There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
-Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
My first book of 2025 was Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley. I liked it, and I think it will set an interesting tone for the year.
I have Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, but I'm honestly not excited about it. My kid wants to read it, so if she does, I will likely read it with her.
More likely I will read either The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins or The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters.
I read:
The Jade Dragon by Garrett HutsonREJECT: A book with an East-West connection
Finished: 01/23/2025
Rating: 3.5 stars
Set in 1930's Shanghai, a US Naval analyst (West) is sent to Shanghai (East) on a "secret mission" and becomes involved in all sorts of intriguing situations while trying to find out who killed a childhood friend. First in a series; lots of loose ends.
Kathy wrote: "I read Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu.
This book is also on the Tournament of Books short list."
Me too!
Would the lightening on the cover of Revival count as serpentine?
I do have a couple of others that could count. I'm just trying to throw this book somewhere.
I'd say that's a serpentine element! Also, the S itself would be enough to fulfil the prompt, so I think you're covered.
Angie wrote: "For me, it's The Neverending Story.
"I copied Angie's pick. I have been meaning to read that book for almost 40 years.
Trish wrote: "I enjoyed Navigational Entanglements, which has a stylised snake middle right.
"Wow good eyes!! That artwork is amazing.
I didn’t think I had another book for round 2, but after enlarging the titles I found these:
✅The Mighty Red
✅Snow Road Station
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
✅The Maniac
✅The Music of Bees
Summer of '69
I read
which was a lovely, gentle read and
- not one of the author's best, although the setting was interesting.
I needed a book to accompany my Tour de France viewing, and I'd already used the "breakfast club" (athlete) category. However, I'd say the line of cyclists on a curving road on the cover counts as a serpentine element!
That's the one I plan to read, but I suppose if I wanted to go for a truly serpentine road, it'd have to be the famous Alpe d'Huez climb from the tour, and apparently there's a book/cover for that too...
Books mentioned in this topic
Fear in the Cotswolds (other topics)Dominion (other topics)
Sunrise on the Reaping (other topics)
Alpe d'Huez: The Story of Pro Cycling's Greatest Climb (other topics)
Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ben Okri (other topics)Patricia Engel (other topics)
Dinaw Mengestu (other topics)
Alexis Wright (other topics)
Garrett Hutson (other topics)
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ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
What are you reading for this week?