Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The 2018 List

1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title - Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie

2. A book from the first 10 books added to your To Be Read list - Starting Now by Debbie Macomber

3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards (link) - Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

4. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #1 Earth (in title, cover, content, setting, author...) - Earth Is Room Enough by Isaac Asimov & The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis & The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein

5. A book about or inspired by real events - 1776 by David McCullough

6. A book originally written in a language other than English - probably a classic by a French author: Hugo, Dumas, Moliere ?

7. A gothic novel - The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

8. An "own voices" book* - The Chosen by Chaim Potok

9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc) - Splintered Bones & Crossed Bones & Bones To Pick & Ham Bones all by Carolyn Haines

10. An author's debut book (their first book to be published) - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

11. A literary fiction - The Invisible Man & The Island of Dr. Moreau both by H. G. Wells . & One of Ours by Willa Cather

12. A book set in Africa or South America - Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc) - The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire - Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by H.P. Mallory & Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

15. A book with an unique format/writing structure - My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail Adams

16. A narrative nonfiction - The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

17. A book you expect to make you laugh

18. A book with a location in the title - They Came to Baghdad & Death on the Nile both by Agatha Christie

19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors) - More Forensics and Fiction: Crime Writers' Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered

20. A book rated 5 stars by at least one of your friends - Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah & The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy

21. A book written in first person perspective - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

22. A book you have high expectations or hope for

23. A medical or legal thriller - Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

24. A book with a map - The Silmarillion

25. A book with an antagonist/villain point of view - Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

26. A book with a text only cover - In the Woods by Tana French

27. A book about surviving a hardship (war, famine, major disasters, serious illness, etc) - Saved!: The Story of the Andrea Doria, the Greatest Sea Rescue in History

28. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #3 Water - Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie

29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench) - The Hollow & One, Two, Buckle My Shoe both by Agatha Christie

30. A short book - Oedipus Rex

31. A book set in a country you'd like to visit but have never been to - (probably somewhere in Europe ?) likely a classic set in France or the UK

32. An alternate history book - The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

33. A book connected (title, cover, content) to a word "born" in the same year as you (https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-...) - Words included: road trip, B & B, audiobook, UFO, and scanning electron microscope. I'll bet I am one of few here who has actually used an SEM. Love Letters & Silver Linings & Sweet Tomorrows all by Debbie Macomber

34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call (paranormal WITCH) - The Witches' Tree & Equal Rites & Wyrd Sisters & Witches Abroad & The Worst Witch & The Trouble With Magic & A Charmed Death & Hex Marks the Spot & No Rest for the Wiccan & Where There's a Witch & A Witch in Time & Home for a Spell & In Charm's Way & A Modern Witch

35. A book featuring a murder

36. A book published in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) by an author you haven't read before - Mrs. Jeffries and the Three Wise Women by Emily Brightwell

37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee - My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

38. A science book or a science fiction book - The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin & The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

39. A book with a form of punctuation in the title - Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers & N or M? by Agatha Christie

40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list (link) - The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler & The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett & Ringworld by Larry Niven

41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials - Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton & Paging the Dead & Picture Them Dead both by Brynn Bonner

42. A book that takes place on, in, or underwater - Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester & The SeaWolf by Jack London

43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence - Elephants Can Remember & Lord Edgeware Dies both by Agatha Christie

44. A ghost story - Something Wicked This Way Comes & The Ghost and the Dead Deb & The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller & Ghost at Work & A Wild Ghost Chase & An Open Spook & A Ghostly Undertaking & What's a Ghoul to Do?

45. A book that intimidates/ scares you - Maybe I will tackle Ulysses

46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air - Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones & Dead Air by Mary Kennedy

47. A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity than your own - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs & The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock

48. A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth) - The Illiad of Homer (wrath) & Death of a Glutton by M.C. Beaton & A Confederacy of Dunces (sloth) by John Kennedy Toole & Patterned After Death (greed) by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

49. A book from one of the Goodreads Best Books of the Month lists - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin & Marry in Haste by Anne Gracie

50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer) - Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy

51. An award-winning short story or short story collection - The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

52. A book published in 2018 -

YES, it is a bit heavy on mysteries. However, in 2016, I read 325 books and did 4 challenges with no overlaps. In 2017, I have already read almost 400 and I am working on 5 challenges with no overlap. NO overlap means NO book may be used for more than one category NOR for more than one challenge.

I do read sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction (both science and history), historical fiction, romance, and biography as well. AND I try to read lots of classics. So I don't feel badly about my current weakness for cozy mysteries.

In addition to Around the Year 2017 and 2018, I also do the Ultimate Popsugar Challenge here at Goodreads and the 50 States/50 Authors Challenge. In addition, this year I did the Jane Austen Challenge at NBRC and the Classics Challenge at Books and Chocolate!

Holy libraries, batman, that's a lot of books!

Amazing! Do you listen to audiobooks as well?

OMG Marilyn, you're a machine!!! Congrats!

Stephanie wrote: "Amazing! Do you listen to audiobooks as well?"

Since I am retired I do very little driving. Audio books take longer than actually reading AND I can only do an audiobook when Roger isn't home. IF he is here he interrupts and you can not back up an audiobook by a few sentences. They jump back to the beginning of the chapter.