Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Progress 49/52

1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016
When Breath Becomes Air, 23rd Mar

2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view)
A Snow Garden and Other Stories, 26th Mar 17. Review

3. A book you meant to read in 2016
I Call Myself A Feminist: The View from Twenty-Five Women Under Thirty, 11th Mar

4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E"
Ain't I A Woman, 5th Jan. Review

5. A historical fiction
The Underground Railroad, 17th May 17

6. A book being released as a movie in 2017
Wonder, 25th Feb 17. Review

7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, 29th Nov 17



8. A book written by a person of color
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, 19th Jan 17. Review

9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list
Jamaica Inn, 8th Jan 17. Review

10. A dual-timeline novel
Moving, 3rd Feb 17. Review

11. A category from another challenge
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, 2nd Sep 17
For the Big Books 2017 challenge - this is 528 pages

12. A book based on a myth
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors
The Night Circus, 13th Aug 17

14. A book with a strong female character
Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride, 31st Mar
Lucy and her mum are kickass

15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland)
Letters from Klara, 18th Aug 17
Review

16. A mystery
Her Every Fear, 20th Apr 17

17. A book with illustrations
The Magician's Nephew, 22nd Feb 17. Review

18. A really long book (600+ pages)
All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain’s Political Class, 1st Jul

19. A New York Times best-seller
The Hate U Give, 27th Aug

20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, 13th Mar

21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read
Crooked Kingdom, 16th Jul 17. A continuation of the Six of Crows series

22. A book by an author you haven't read before
May We Be Forgiven, 25th Jan 17. Review

23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list
The God of Small Things, 10th Apr 17

24. A book written by at least two authors
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, 27th May 17

25. A book about a famous historical figure
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, 27th Mar 17
This book is full of them! Well not all are famous, but should be :)

26. An adventure book
Stardust, 20th Sep 17

27. A book by one of your favorite authors
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, 24th Jun

28. A non-fiction
The Little Book of Feminism, 7th Feb 17. Review

29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre)
Language and Gender, 22nd Jan 17. Review

30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link)
I Am the Messenger, 12th Jul 17

31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre
The Glass Castle, 7th Oct 17
Memoir is a sub-genre of Autobiography

32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, 21st Feb 17. Review

33. A magical realism novel
The Girl In the Flammable Skirt, 23rd May 17

34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere
Disgrace, 14th Dec 17
Set in South Africa

35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty
Firesong, 4th Aug 17
Sisi is a princess

36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee
Anthem, 6th Mar 17
Review

37. A book you choose randomly
Plum, 29th Jun

38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature
Wide Sargasso Sea, 16th Dec

39. An epistolary fiction
40. A book published in 2017
Why I March: Images from The Women’s March Around the World
Review

41. A book with an unreliable narrator
The Shock of the Fall, 20th May 17

42. A best book of the 21st century (so far)
Half of a Yellow Sun, 19th Nov 17
From Best Books of the 21st Century


43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold)
Behind Closed Doors, 17th Apr 17

44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link)

45. A book with a one-word title
Trespass

46. A time travel novel
The Time Traveler's Wife, 5th Apr 17

47. A past suggestion that didn't win
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, 19th Mar 17
A book that has been or is being read by a book club - this book was chosen by a member of my book club

48. A banned book
The Vagina Monologues, 17th Apr 17

49. A book from someone else's bookshelf
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return, 18th Jul 17
From my friend Rebecca's shelf

50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition
Animal Farm, 7th Feb 17

51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays)
Men Explain Things to Me: and Other Essays, 4th Feb 17
Review

52. A book set in a fictional location
King's Cage, 14th Feb 17
Set in the fictional kingdom of Norta
Review

List updated with first 6 books

About a fifth of the way through now, been an eclectic mix of books! Still waiting for a standout fiction book, they've been generally quite average so far.

Wow you've been killing it! How was Men Explain Things to Me? I'm excited to read that at some point this year, though it's not on my challenge.

It's very good! It's quite short as well so you could probably fit it in around challenges. The only thing I would say is that I feel like the whole concept of Mansplaining (which she didn't actually come up with, but it came out of other people reading her essay) can seem quite light hearted, but a lot of the essays are about violence against women, so it's not light by any means. If you're ok with that, I'd 100% recommend it :)

Ooo good to know! I thought it would be more of a humor-feminism book given the title.

Anthem is the latest edition to this list - a dystopia novella along the lines of Animal Farm/1984 but where I struggle to get on with Orwell, I really enjoy Rand's approach to a similar subject. Unexpected too as I'd never heard of Rand and picked up the book on impulse!

About 60% of the way through - this is the time when I usually start to slow down and end up scrambling to finish it around December!

Top five so far:
1. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
2. The Time Traveler's Wife
3. The Underground Railroad
4. When Breath Becomes Air
5. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

Nearing 3/4 of the way through, just finished Crooked Kingdom and freaking LOVED IT

Realistically I don't think I'm going to finish this challenge...47 isn't bad and any more I get this year will be a bonus!

47 is extremely respectable. Can you fill the rest with short stories?

Haha that’s what I’m trying to do with my other challenges! The bigger problem is having the books on my shelf that fit the remaining prompts. How are you getting on?

I actually finished back in September- I’ve had some serious reading mojo for a lot of the year. Last year I failed miserably so I think I was extra motivated. 😂

Nice one! That’s amazing work!

Thank you!! I was super happy to complete it this year - I read plenty last year, but made the mistake of planning a specific book for each week and reading in order. I totally lost interest and I went completely off plan this year. Worked a treat!

Squeezed in a couple of extra so finishing this challenge on 49. Happy New Year all!

Congrats :)

Zaz wrote: "Congrats :)"

Thanks :)

Congratulations - 49 is fantastic! 🎉

Thanks!