Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Ready for something a little bit scary? Whether you pick a book with a classic fantasy monster (vampires, ghosts, werewolves, zombies etc) or one with a monstrous human character, this prompt might leave you sleeping with the lights on for a while.

Suggestions:
Bookriot: 100 must-read books about monsters
Goodreads: Best monster books
The Guardian: Top 10 real-life monsters in fiction
Publishers Weekly: 11 most evil characters in books
Goodreads: Popular classic horror books

Optional questions
- What are you reading this week?
- Does it feature a nonhuman monster, or a human character who behaves in a monstrous way?
- Did you find the book scary?

I'll definitely need to get some suggestions for this prompt.. I hate horror, so I'm looking for monstrous but not too scary.

Some recommendations for that would be A Monster Calls or Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

I guess you could also use a paranormal romance type book, since it does have monsters, even if they are falling in love (my recommendation would be A Discovery of Witches).

This would also be a good place to slot in reads for circus books, if you voted for that prompt and hoped it would get in. Certainly people who work at the circus were seen as freaks and "monsters" at the time. (I really liked Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things for this type of monster.)

I am hoping to read off my TBR for this one. The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Mermaid by Christina Henry are at the front of my list.

Am always happy to read about fantasy monsters, but far scarier to me are the human variety. Maybe this will finally get me to pick up American Psycho or A Clockwork Orange, but a more subversive approach to this prompt would be to pick up The Hunchback of Notre Dame, where the book's real "monster" is not the one its characters would have you believe.

I'm probably going to read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War for this one. I picked it up at a library sale this year. I have so many on my list that could fit this category though.

Chrissy wrote: "I am hoping to read off my TBR for this one. The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Mermaid by Christina Henry are at the front of my list."

Chrissy, I like your interpretation of the theme! I read The Mermaid earlier this year and think it's definitely worth picking up. Meanwhile, as an alternative to the classic mermaid story, I found Into the Drowning Deep quite a tense and grisly read.

The Djinn Falls in Love is also on my TBR but I think I may still squeeze that in before the end of the year given my deep love for Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni.

I am actively trying NOT to research this category because I really want to finally read Frankenstein and I'm afraid I'll get side tracked.

Rachelnyc wrote: "I am actively trying NOT to research this category because I really want to finally read Frankenstein and I'm afraid I'll get side tracked."
I LOVED Frankenstein!!

Joan wrote: "Rachelnyc wrote: "I am actively trying NOT to research this category because I really want to finally read Frankenstein and I'm afraid I'll get side tracked."
I LOVED Frankenstein!!"

Good to hear! So many people rave about it that I figured it's time to finally read it and you can't get a more fitting prompt than this one.

Has anyone read Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things? Would it fit here? The reviews and comments I've seen seem a bit polarizing on this issue but I don't want to dig too deep and risk spoiling the read when I finally get there.

Top choice is to finally read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Other possibilities:
Mary Reilly - Valerie Martin
The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice

Emily, have your read The Golem and the Jinni? It's wonderful, and not too scary.

Serendipity wrote: "Has anyone read Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things? Would it fit here? The reviews and comments I've seen seem a bit polarizing on this issue but I don't want to dig too deep and ri..."


I loved that book, one of my all-time favorites! I would not call anyone in the book a "monster" though. There's some seriously crappy parenting, lots of drugs, and a murder, but none of it rose to the level of "monster" in my mind.

I LOVE zombie books, so I'm so happy with this category!! the only question is whichever of these I will read first:

Patient Zero
Monster Island
Raising Stony Mayhall
The First Days

Thanks for that Nadine. Sounds like I'd better resume my search for a book for this category. The good news is I have now found a book on my TBR that I can actually read this year!

Part of me wants to do The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells for this category. I've read most of the major "classic monster classics" (Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, etc.). I'm a big fan of all the Universal Monsters movies, so this would fit nicely.

I might also go with one of many zombie-related books on my list.

I've got the last two Cormoran Strike books on my TBR. It sounds like Career Of Evil could fit here. Can anyone who has read it confirm or deny? Then I could read Lethal White for my 'book by an author who has more than 1 book in your TBR.' Of course by then I'll have read the previous book and so only have 1 in my TBR but that's a technicality I could live with!

Any of the Dresden Files series would work well here. There are werewolves, vampires, hellhounds, and lots of other monsters.

Serendipity wrote: "I've got the last two Cormoran Strike books on my TBR. It sounds like Career Of Evil could fit here. Can anyone who has read it confirm or deny?”

I think it would work perfectly. I won’t say much to avoid spoilers, but there is definitely a monstrous character involved. I’ve just read Lethal White too and I think that could work as well, though the characters I’m thinking of in each book are monstrous in different ways.

My brother recommended Grendel to me years ago and I never read it, so I'm going to give it a try. Maybe I should try and fit Beowulf in somewhere?




LOL...he doesn't look very monstrous to me on this cover, more like he jumped off the pages of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are😂

Tracy wrote: "My brother recommended Grendel to me years ago and I never read it, so I'm going to give it a try. Maybe I should try and fit Beowulf in somewhere?

[bookcover:Grendel|67..."

Maybe you could read both Beowulf and Grendel as part of the 'books related to the same topic' prompt? It's been a long time since I've read this, but I remember thinking the experience would have been improved if I were more familiar with the source material.

(True story: I may have picked up the book for the very same visual reminder you mentioned, haha!)

Melody wrote: "True story: I may have picked up the book for the very same visual reminder you mentioned, haha!"

LOL but he really does look like one of the Wild Things so I'm laughing right now.

The pairing is actually a really good idea so now I have a dilemma. Hmmmm. I really like my original pair but I then added 2 dystopians (same genre) in case I can't get through my non fiction. I like this idea though. Ugh. We'll see, I have yet to stick to a plan and I'm not certain whats in store for me next year.

Tracy wrote: "Melody wrote: "True story: I may have picked up the book for the very same visual reminder you mentioned, haha!"

LOL but he really does look like one of the Wild Things so I'm laughing right now...."

You could always read Beowulf for the something old prompt.

Milena wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Melody wrote: "True story: I may have picked up the book for the very same visual reminder you mentioned, haha!"

LOL but he really does look like one of the Wild Things so I'm laugh..."

True! Kind of set on Sabriel though ...ugh why do I want to read EVERYTHING!!

Tracy wrote: "Kind of set on Sabriel though ...ugh why do I want to read EVERYTHING!!"

I hear you. A happy problem to have, isn't it?

Garth Nix is a genius and I am 100% behind you reading Sabriel for whatever prompt you can fit it into!

Melody wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Kind of set on Sabriel though ...ugh why do I want to read EVERYTHING!!"

I hear you. A happy problem to have, isn't it?..."

Yay! for happy problems!! I could use some of those.

I did some rearranging on my plan and removed a few things to make room for Beowulf ( although I can't promise I won't throw it at the wall) and also The Power. Its getting dangerous reading through the planning threads because I keep getting ideas. As it stands, if my reading pace is up to speed next year I should be able to double up on a few prompts and read Beowulf AND Sabriel ( which I am really looking forward to!!)

That’s so cool you found room for Beowulf, Tracy. I read it last year and I enjoyed it so much more than I ever expected to. If you haven’t already bought a copy then I really recommend the Seamus Heaney translation. The language he uses is beautiful and the book has the original text and translation on facing pages so you can see if you recognise any of the language in the original text which is kind of fun.

Bryony wrote: "That’s so cool you found room for Beowulf, Tracy. I read it last year and I enjoyed it so much more than I ever expected to. If you haven’t already bought a copy then I really recommen..."

Oh nice! Thanks Bryony! Thats how I read King Lear, with a translation on the other side of the page in case I had trouble. It was fun doing it that way.

Edit: OMG wait, what did I just sign up for LOL. I really had no idea. I can 100% guarantee you that I won't recognize any of the original text. It sounds pretty cool though. I found my way to this video and listened :
Beowulf Prologue in Olde English

Tracy wrote: "Bryony wrote: "That’s so cool you found room for Beowulf, Tracy. I read it last year and I enjoyed it so much more than I ever expected to. If you haven’t already bought a copy then I ..."

Since we're on the topic of Beowulf, I thought I'd mention The Mere Wife, a modern retelling which a friend told me she really liked. I've hesitated on it cause I still haven't read the original, buuuut I guess maybe that's what Wikipedia summaries are for!

Serendipity wrote: "Has anyone read Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things? Would it fit here? The reviews and comments I've seen seem a bit polarizing on this issue but I don't want to dig too deep and ri..."

I would say plenty of people would consider one of the main characters "monstrous". It's not totally black and white (which is the beauty of the book) but at face level, that person would definitely count as a monster in my eyes.

Laura wrote: "Serendipity wrote: "Has anyone read Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things? Would it fit here? The reviews and comments I've seen seem a bit polarizing on this issue but I don't want to..."

This was one of my favorite books last year and I think it depends on the reader, but at least one character in the book may end up looking "monstrous". If you don't use it here I think it works for multiple perspectives.

Thanks for the input Tracy and Laura. It seems like the monstrous aspect is subjective, which has me intrigued. So I've decided to go ahead and read the book right now! It should get me out of my current reading slump - partly brought about because it seems like I'm saving all the good books for next year.

Serendipity wrote: "Thanks for the input Tracy and Laura. It seems like the monstrous aspect is subjective, which has me intrigued. So I've decided to go ahead and read the book right now! It should get me out of my c..."

Oh keep me posted, I can't wait to hear what you think of it!!

Emily wrote: "I'll definitely need to get some suggestions for this prompt.. I hate horror, so I'm looking for monstrous but not too scary.

What about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay

I'm not big on reading plays and screenplays. I was burned by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two and I would rather just stick to the original series that I know and love, rather than going off into the new elements of the Potterverse haha.

That book would certainly work for the prompt though!

Tracy, I was hooked from the very first page. Gorgeous writing and Wavy in particular was such a well-drawn character. I loved the way she ultimately took control despite being clearly damaged by her upbringing. I really loved the way this book had me questioning what I thought I knew and believed - so many shades of grey, rather than just black and white. I don't think I would have been happy using it for this prompt - although I can clearly see why other would.

Serendipity wrote: "Tracy, I was hooked from the very first page. Gorgeous writing and Wavy in particular was such a well-drawn character. I loved the way she ultimately took control despite being clearly damaged by h..."

Wow!! That was quick! I know I felt the same as you did. And it was really hard to put it down once I picked it up. Glad you enjoyed it :-)

I want to read The Last Town on Earth for this prompt. The monster would be the 1918 flu epidemic. I believe this would work. I see viruses as one of the biggest monsters out there.

Ann wrote: "I want to read The Last Town on Earth for this prompt. The monster would be the 1918 flu epidemic. I believe this would work. I see viruses as one of the biggest monsters out there."

I read As Bright as Heaven, which was about the Spanish flu... I had never read anything about it, so I didn't realize just how devastating it was!

Emily wrote: "Ann wrote: "I want to read The Last Town on Earth for this prompt. The monster would be the 1918 flu epidemic. I believe this would work. I see viruses as one of the biggest monsters o..."

These have given me an idea for another fiction/non-fiction pairing as I want to read Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World. When coupled with the war, it really was disastrous. I also have pestilence in my rejects challenge...

Joan wrote: "I'm probably going to read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War for this one. I picked it up at a library sale this year. I have so many on my list that could fit this categor..."

That's still one of my favorite books! I've never forgotten it, although I did consider putting it in the freezer a la Rachel from Friends.

I was trying to figure out how to fit in Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation and maybe could work here.

I love that Lethal White could work because I have read the rest.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest all have monstrous characters or events.

Gail Carriger has werewolves, vampires and soulless in almost all of her books.

Alicia wrote: "I was trying to figure out how to fit in Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation and maybe could work here.

I love that Lethal White could work because I have re..."

Anne Frank would also work for the not-a-novel prompt! Especially the graphic novel version!

I think I am going to read Coraline by Neil Gaiman as the other mother is definitely a monster.

Oh man I think I'm going to limit myself to actual monsters as opposed to metaphorical monsters just to help me narrow my options.

Moonstruck, Vol. 2: Some Enchanted EveningThe Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins
Melmoth
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 2
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery
Dealing with Dragons

Charlotte wrote: "I think I am going to read Coraline by Neil Gaiman as the other mother is definitely a monster."

I thought this book was terrifying LOL ( and I read it as an adult )
Due for a re read soon.

I don't do horror - but I do read lighter books with 'monsters' in them - so I am plumping for Reaping The Immortal by Pamela Labud - the MC is the Grim Reaper

Quite a few true crime books could fit in this category (human monsters):

The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster
The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation
The Search for the Green River Killer

I'm reading Frankenstein in Baghdad for this one. A modern day twist on the classic.

I had this one on my TBR shelf for a while. I didn't know it was about monsters until I saw it on the list. I really thought it was about mental illness. Anyway, I"m going to read This is a test by Courtney Summers