Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

✔1. A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't - The World: Travels 1950-2000 by Jan Morris
✔2. A book set in a different continent - Remembering Babylon by David Malouf - Australia
✔3. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated)- Soppy: A Love Story
✔4. A book by an author you discovered in 2015 - Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays by Christa Wolf
✔5. A book with a title beginning with the 1st letter of your name - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje or Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
✔6. The highest rated on your TBR - Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
✔7. A book about books - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
✔8. A classic book with less than 200 pages - Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
✔9. A book that was mentioned in another book - The Stranger by Albert Camus (mentioned in The Mersault Investigation by reference)
✔10. A book by an author you feel you should have read by now - The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty
✔11. A book from the Rory Gilmore challenge- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
✔12. A childhood classic - Lord of the Flies by William Golding
✔13. Reader’s Choice- Fables For Our Time/Further Fables For Our Time by James Thurber
✔14. A book with one of the five W’s -or H in the title - (Who/What/Where/When/Why/How) - Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys by Billy Crystal
✔15. A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago) - The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette
✔16. A book from the top 100 mystery novels - Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
✔17. A book with a beautiful cover - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
✔18. A book on a summer/beach reading list- Slaughterhouse-Five
✔19. A non-fiction book - The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey
✔20. A book with a first name in the title - Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse
✔21. A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page- The Immoralist by André Gide
✔22. The first book in a new to you series - The Lover by Marguerite Duras
✔23. The next book in a series you are reading - Trouble for Lucia by E.F. Benson
✔24. A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.) - I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
✔25. A book whose main character is in a profession that interests you- The Messiah of Stockholm by Cynthia Ozick - main character is a book reviewer.
✔26. A book everyone is talking about - Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
✔27. A book with a beautiful title (in your own opinion) - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
✔28. A biography, autobiography, or memoir- Fifteen Years in Hell An Autobiography by Luther Benson
✔29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name - Acts of Worship: Seven Stories by Yukio Mishima
✔30. A fairytale from a culture other than your own- The Crescent Moon Rabindranath Tagore by Rabindranath Tagore
✔31.A work of young adult fiction- Fair Weather by Richard Peck
✔32. A historical fiction book- The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh
✔33. The 16th book on your TBR - Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
✔34. A book about mental illness- Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor- I think this fits the category even though the term "mental illness" is never applied in the story to two characters who blind themselves out of religious fervor.
✔35. An award winning book Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
✔36.An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation - Maurice by E.M. Forster
✔37. A book that you've seen the movie of but haven't read - perhaps The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
✔38. A book about an anti hero - The Doctor is Sick by Anthony Burgess
✔39. A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list - "A Greek or Roman classic "- Lysistrata by Aristophanes
✔40. A novella from your favorite genre- Two Hussars by Leo Tolstoy
✔41. A book about a major world event (fiction or non-fiction)- I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn
✔42. A top 100 fantasy novel - The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
✔43. A book about a thing that goes bump in the night - plan to read The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
✔44.A book you're embarrassed to read in public- TAKING RISKS: 7 GAY ROMANCE HUGE SHORT STORY COLLECTION, MALE ON MALE ACTION by Jonny Flame
✔45. A book related to a hobby or passion you have- Tales of a Traveler with Selections from the Sketch Book by Washington Irving
✔46. A crime story- The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud
✔47. A book with a type of food/drink in the title- The Lemon by Mohammed Mrabet
✔48. A dystopia - The Iron Heel by Jack London
✔49. A book with a great opening line - The Old Man Who Read Love Stories by Luis Sepúlveda- "The sky was a donkey's swollen paunch hanging threatening low overhead."
✔50. A book originally written in a language other than English - The Devil's Pool and Other Stories by George Sand
✔51. A short story from a well-known author- The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory by Jorge Luis Borges
✔52. A book published in 2016- Zero K: A Novel by Don DeLillo

updated...I'm sure a lot of these will change or be shifted as the year goes on.

Deidre(Dee) ~Young At Heart Mom~ wrote: "Hi Ed:) I haven't heard of a lot of these books, but one I really want to read, is Isaac Asimov's 'I, Robot'. I just need to find a copy. When you do finally read it, can you please let me know wha..."

Sure.... but I already doubt that I will like it.... I'm not a fan of science fiction and dystopia books....but it is on the 1001 Books You must read before you die list and I'm trying to work my way through as many of those as I can.

Ed wrote: "Deidre(Dee) ~Young At Heart Mom~ wrote: "Hi Ed:) I haven't heard of a lot of these books, but one I really want to read, is Isaac Asimov's 'I, Robot'. I just need to find a copy. When you do finall..."

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die sounds like a list I need to find...not that I need MORE books to read...haha...

I'm working on the 1001 books to read before you die list as well. It will take years to complete but I'm trying to fit a few in each year. I'm also working on the BBC top 200 and the Rory Gilmore challenge.

I'm working on the 1001 as well, although I think the one I'm using keeps getting updated and has more books added. I have a bunch of other lists I'm working through too though (lots of Top 100 - BBC, Guardian, Time, Amazon, Modern Library, plus the Rory Gilmore challenge) so the 1001 list is slowly getting ticked off. :)

Jody wrote: "I'm working on the 1001 as well, although I think the one I'm using keeps getting updated and has more books added. I have a bunch of other lists I'm working through too though (lots of Top 100 - B..."

Yes..the 1001 list actually now has about 1309 books if you count all the books that have ever been on the list.

1309 doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?

Jody wrote: "1309 doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?"

LOL...No, I guess not.

I love Chandler but would recommend The Long Goodbye or The Big Sleep over Farewell My Lovely, which I found disappointing.

I picked a Mishima for my challenge too. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is so amazing.

E wrote: "I love Chandler but would recommend The Long Goodbye or The Big Sleep over Farewell My Lovely, which I found disappointing.

I picked a Mishima for my challenge too. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace ..."

Thanks for the recommendations.

You're off to a great start! I haven't read many of these books, but it's looking like you're going to have a fun year.

Updated.

Completed Week 39.

Completed Week 25.

I enjoyed I, robot, it's like a series of logical puzzles. Would love to hear your thoughts on it after you are done.

Completed Week 2.

Completed Week 2.

Completed Week 50.

Completed Week 19.

Ed, what did you think of The Year 1000...? The premise sounds so interesting.

Stacey wrote: "Ed, what did you think of The Year 1000...? The premise sounds so interesting."

I really liked it.... it makes you realize that things weren't quite as backwards as you might have thought...and England was quite wealthy in comparison to other lands.... that's why the Vikings kept invading.

Wow. Good to know. I added it to my TBR pile, which is starting to rage out of control. Hopefully I'll read it this decade!

Completed Week 23.

Completed Week 35.

Completed Week 5. #8 of 52.

Completed Week 7.
#9 of 52.

Completed Week 4. #10 of 52.
I discovered Christa Wolf in 2015.... didn't like that one and didn't like this one either. The first was on Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read list and this one is on the Western Canon!

Completed Week 36. #11 of 52.

Completed Week #40. #12 of 52.

Completed Week #8. #13 of 52.

Completed Week #22. #14 of 52.

Completed Week #43. #15 of 52.

Completed Week #15. That's 16 of 52.

Completed Week #10. That's 17 of 52.

Completed Weeks #27 & 34. That's 19 of 52.

Completed Week #49. That's 20 of 52.

Completed Week #17. That's 21 of 52.

Completed Week #20. That's 22 of 52.

Completed Week #9. That's 23 of 52.

Completed Week #32. That's 24 of 52.

Just came back from a month long cruise and read about 15 books...so, I'll be posting some of them this week or so. Just posted my Reader's Choice....Week #13. That's 25 of 52.

Completed Week #38 on March 24. That's 26 of 52.

Completed Week #29 on April 2. That's 27 of 52.

Completed Week #45. That's 28 of 52.

Completed week #14. That's 29 of 52.

Completed Week #41. That's 30 of 52.

Completed Week #1. That's 31 of 52.

Completed Week #24- I read I Robot for a different category and then realized that it was classified as .1 in the series...so it qualified here....for a category I had no idea for.
So, that's 32 of 52.

Completed Week #28. That's 33 of 52.