Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

italics = In Progress
bold = Finished

1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or - Home by Marilynne Robinson

2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable - Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh

3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019 - Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live - Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

5. The first book in a series that you have not started - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N K Jemisin's

6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover - Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer

7. A book set in the southern hemisphere - Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood

8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The" - The Alienist by Caleb Carr

9. A book that can be read in a day - Just Kids by Patti Smith

10. A book that is between 400-600 pages - The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson

11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number - Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories by Kanishk Tharoor

12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people - Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge - 2016 - A classic book under 200 pages - 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff


14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

15. A book set in a global city - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area - Andy Catlett: Early Travels by Wendell Berry

17. A book with a neurodiverse character - The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

18. A book by an author you've only read once before - My Neck of the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich

19. A fantasy book - In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.] - The Plover by Brian Doyle

21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720 - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

22. A book with the major theme of survival - Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure by Ryan North

23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author - On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor

24. A book with an emotion in the title - This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips

25. A book related to the arts - Reading In Bed: Brief headlong essays about books & writers & reading & readers by Brian Doyle

26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards - A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

27. A history or historical fiction - For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink by Sarah Rose

28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author - Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood

29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book - Living and Dying Without A Map by Nancy Ewert

30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year - The Library Book by Susan Orlean

31. A book inspired by a leading news story (The Timber Wars) - The Overstory by Richard Powers

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan - Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines of Sports History by Molly Schiot

33. A book about a non-traditional family - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name (A Novel of Manners AND my actual name) - Emma by Jane Austen

35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover -

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim - The New World by Aleš Kot

37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1 - If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman by Sharon Blackie


38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2 - When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams

39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce - Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

40. A book with a place name in the title - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

41. A mystery - The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’ - The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse - The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (the pale horse symbolizes pestilence and death, and this really was an apocalypse for the gay community

44. A book related to witches - Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018 - Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire" - The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution by Peter Hessler

47. A classic book you've always meant to read - Sula by Toni Morrison

48. A book published in 2020 - The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win (link) - Poll 11 - A book about someone who is looking for a job, is jobless or quits their job - Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

50. A book with a silhouette on the cover - Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin


51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title - Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George

52. A book related to time - How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

January Update - This past month I made it through 12 prompts! It is always easier to start strong when there are so many prompts to choose from for each book. See below for how I fit the books I read into the challenge.

1.) 46 - The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution by Peter Hessler - This could have fit into a few prompts, and I played around with it a bit. It could have been 4, 8, 10, 13, 23, 29, 31, 40, 46, 49 or 52. I ended up choosing 46 (A book related to Billy Joel's song We Didn't Start The Fire) because that prompt scared me and I wanted to get it out of the way

2.) 22 - Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure by Ryan North - This book was an easy one - I am sure it fits into another few, but the fact that this is basically a choose your own adventure tale where the reader is trying to find an ending where Romeo and Juliet survive made it a perfectly funny and enjoyable book to fit with 22 (A book with a mojor theme of survival).

3.) 45 - Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit - I didn't love this book, but since I picked it up right after finishing another Solnit book at the end of 2019, and I had just added that book to my top 10 of the year, I picked it really quickly for 45 (A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads of 2018 or 2019).

4.) 6 - Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer - I debated for a long time whether or not to make this 6 (A book with a mode of transportation on the cover) or 50, because of the subtle horse silhouette, and eventually decided that the form of transportation might be harder in the long run. Plus as I am trying to do this more in order, I am trying to prioritize lower numbers.

5.) 47 - Sula by Toni Morrison - I had no idea what I was going to do with this book when I started it, but it was an easy choice. I don't often read a lot of classics, and I didn't want to feel beholden to a prompt like this later in the year, so this was the perfect book to use! It could have also been 4, 13, 14, 16, 36, probably 42, 49.

6.) 2 - Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh - Sometimes at the beginning of the year, I try and knock out challenges I don't have too many books for. However, in this case, I was so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books I could use for prompt 2 (A book by an author with a one syllable last name) that I just wanted to get the absurdly long list of books off my possibilities list.So even though I should have used it for 7 or 28, I used it to make my life easier.

7.) 16 - Andy Catlett: Early Travels by Wendell Berry - This was an easy one, because when I can, i like to pick books that are perfectly within what a prompt is asking, and what is more emblematic of rural America than Wendell Berry and his Port Royal series?

8.) 30 - The Library Book by Susan Orlean - So full disclosure, I find the prompts like 30 (A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year) the most difficult at the end of the year when I just want to read whatever, because sometimes these lists just are not interesting to me. Therefore, one of the first things I do with any book I don't have a good fit for is to look at these prompts and see if they happened to be chosen for one of these lists. This one helped me knock this prompt out quickly!

9.) 3 - Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers - I basically start looking at the top of the list for every book I read, and because I devoured the first two books in this series in 2019, it was the perfect fit for 3 (A book you read because of something you read in 2019), and that was an easy choice

10.) TBA - A Place on Earth by Wendell Berry - This is the first book that doesn't fit super easily into any category. I considered it for 4 (A place or time you wouldn't want to live) simply because it is set during WW2, but it felt like an imperfect fit. I will likely end up using it for one of the "previous/didn't win" prompts like 13 or 49, or something similarly broad, but I will decide later.

11.) 1 - Home by Marilynne Robinson - I love getting the first prompt out of the way ASAP, and with a short title, Home was the perfect choice. (Prompt 1 is "A book without the letters A, T or Y in the title") Plus, it is so insular, I don't think it would have fit with anything else.

12.) 7 - Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood - I have been tearing through the Phryne Fisher mysteries recently, and it is highly likely they will be used for a few prompts (A mystery, and author from Australia, the 20th book, etc.). However, in my effort to work my way down the list, number 7 (A book set in the southern hemisphere) was the first to be eligible.

13.) 8 - The Alienist by Caleb Carr - This is another example of a book that ticked off a prompt I didn't have a lot of options for and one that was higher up on the list. 8 (A book that starts with the word "The") was a prompt I had less than 10 books to read for it from my TBR, so it was a good one to get out of the way early.

Overall, it was a strong month, and I made it almost a quarter of the way through the challenge, knocking off some of the more difficult prompts on my way!

February Update - February is a shorter month right? Also, I had a lot going on. See below for books read and challenges met!

1.) 39 - Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga - I had a few choices for this one, including prompts 4, 21, 27, 29, 31 and 40, but ultimately went with 39 (an author whose name you don't know how to pronounce). I'm honestly not sure why I landed on that one, and it may change at some point

2.) 18 - My Neck of the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich - There wasn't a clear choice here, but I ended up picking it for prompt 18, which was a book by an withor you have only read once before, in part because the first book by Louise had such a huge impact on me so it seemed like a perfect fit

3.) 5 - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin - I was always going to pick a book by N.K. Jemisin for the series prompt, so when I picked this one up, it was the perfect fit for prompt 5 (the first book in a series)

4.) 52 - How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin - In part because this is a book that bounces around through time, and in part because of the title which referenced both a length of time and a unit of calendar time, I chose this for prompt 52, a book related to time.

5.) 9 - Just Kids by Patti Smith - My plan for prompt 9 (a book you can read in a day) was always to choose a book that I actually did read in a day. I started this in the morning and it was a super compulsive read that I was done with in time to cook dinner, so it was pretty perfect

6.) 21 - This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps - I found this book on the ATY book list for prompt 21, a book with an emotion in the title, and so when it came up on by audio-books feed I figured it was a good fit

7.) 20 - The Plover by Brian Doyle - When I got the list for this year, I figured it would be fun to just have the 20th book I read this year fit into this category, both to give myself a freebie, and just to see what it was. The Plover doesn't really fit anywhere else either, so I was happy about this fit

8.) TBA - Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid I thought about using this for 35, a book with a geometric pattern on the cover, but it wasn't a perfect fit, so I will wait and see what I can figure out. It may end up being one of the choices for 13 or 49 as well

9.) 12 - Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn - While I love the Expanse series, which I had origininally planned to use for this prompt, the final book, which is due to be released this year, doesn't even have a title yet, so when I picked this up and saw it was a collaboration, I figured I would put it in for the collaboration between 2 or more people prompt.

10.) 33 - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - This was another "read in a day" book, but since that was already taken, and since it was about a very unorthodox adoption, I figured the nontraditional family prompt was a logical choice

Overall, it was a fine month, if less productive than last month but I got some good reading in and took care of some more daunting prompts.

March Update - Social distancing and reading do go well together, don't they! Last year I said I was going to read mostly TBR books and ended up reading more new books than before.

This year, I feel like I am succeeding so much better, especially at picking up the books that are actually on my shelf, which is so fun. Also, I'm on an Austen re-read right now (follow along at factandfables.com), so you will see that below.

At this point in the challenge, a lot of these books would have fit into a category that is already filled, so I am only going to talk about my reasoning for why they fit the categories I chose.

1.) 35 - A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I discovered a useful trick for prompts like this - pick a book with 3000 editions and the chances that one of them has a geometric cover are practically 100%!

2.) 23 - A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author - On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor - When looking at this prompt, I wanted to be conscious of making sure that whatever book I picked had this LGBTQIA+ identify clearly marked in its pages in some way, and this fit the bill, as Moor directly references his sexuality in his book.

3.) 4 - A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live - Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich - I took perverse pleasure both in reading this as Covid-19 was kicking off, and in choosing it for the prompt above. Because who WANTS to be living during a pandemic!? *cough, cough*. I know the ATY moderators couldn't have predicted this in the slightest, but how on the nose is this prompt?

4.) 15 - A book set in a global city - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - I feel like this was cheating, but half this book DOES take place in London, which is on the global city list. I so rarely read urban fiction, and this was a tough one for me, but Jane Austen delivered!

5.) 29 - An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book - Living and Dying Without A Map by Nancy Ewert - So this better not be underrated because I know the author (she is my mom!), and she is an exceptional writer, but it is definitely lesser known as it was self published, and I want to highlight it as much as possible.

6.) 50 - A book with a silhouette on the cover - Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin - When I went through the Listopias for this topic, there wasn't much on there, but this was already on my TBR and so I figured it was a good choice, particularly as I am in the midst of Austen-land already!

7.) 19 - A fantasy book - In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire - This prompt was so simple, I totally forgot about it and didn't match it with this book for a while. I read enough fantasy I wasn't worried about it, but this was a quick and easy one to throw in there

8.) 21 - A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720 - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield - I hate these prompts. I always want to use books that fit both subject and themewise, and this was tough because I certainly wasn't going to read about that time period right now. However, Hell was an astronomer, and that means space. Mary Doria Russell has argued that Jesuits are going to be the first explorers to other planets, so a Jesuit Priest astronomer is basically an astronaut, right? Anyway, this is the book I picked and I say it works. So there.

9.) 40 - A book with a place name in the title - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - It never said it had to be a real place, right? And a title that directly references a big house where almost all the action takes place is just a good choice for this in general

10.) 37 - Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1 - If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman by Sharon Blackie - When I saw this paired prompt, I knew I wanted to have fun with it, and not just use it to put random books in. This was perfect! These two books are both about female empowerment, but one refers to women having roots (earth) and one refers to women having wings (sky).

11.) 38 - Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2 - When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams - see above

12.) 28 - A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author - Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood - I find it hard to believe I only have 5 more of these to read, so I am rationing them. This was a great one though, and by an Australian author set IN New Zealand, so I got 2 of 3!

13.) 34 - A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name (A Novel of M anners) - Emma by Jane Austen - I know this may be a little bit of a stretch for sticklers, but when it comes to books based on names, the fact my name is Emma was too good to overlook. I figure a novel is too generic of a category, so I considered Manners to be the identifier in this version. Am I flexing this a bit? Maybe. Do I care? No.

14.) TBA - To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - I don't know where this goes yet, and it may not make the final list, but it was good.

Well, I may have stretched a few this month, but I was also super creative with others, so I feel good about it in general.

With the pandemic, April was a big month for me in reading and books - however, this part of the challenge always gets tough. I read what I like to read and fit things in, so sometimes a few books just don't make it.

Books Read for the ATY Challenge

1.) 12 - A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - I knew I wanted to use an Austen here as soon as I started my Austen re-read earlier this year, and so this is the first one that didn't fit anywhere else

2.) 26 - A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards - A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum - This was a great book, and a nominee for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards so it was a quick fit.

3.) 25 - A book related to the arts - Reading In Bed: Brief headlong essays about books & writers & reading & readers by Brian Doyle - Writing is an art, and half of this book was about the writing process.

4.) 42 - A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’ - The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton - This is ironic to me because I didn't love the book, but this book won a Costa Book Award for First Novel, so it definitely fits the brief!

5.) 32 - A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan - Game Changers: The Unsung Heroines of Sports History by Molly Schiot - The Olympics are my jam, and it makes be incredibly sad to be missing them this summer, even though I get why the decision was made. I knew the minute that I saw this book that I wouldn't be reading a book about a random sport or a book about Japan, but a book about actual Olympians. This book was so fun, and highlighted the achievements of so many overlooked athletes!

6.) 43 - A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse - The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - This book would have fit a few categories, and to be honest, I don't love fitting it here, but the prompt was bugging me, so here we are. This is a book about AIDS, and one of the horses stood for "pestilence", and AIDS is certainly a "pestilence". Done.

7.) 41 - A mystery - The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith - Every once in a while I need a good pulpy mystery, and a side of feminism doesn't hurt. I am trying to pace myself because I don't want the Phryne Fisher books to end, so I am trying a few new series. This was one of those mysteries, so it was perfect for the prompt

Prompts Left:

11 - A book originally published in a year that is a prime number - So far, I haven't fit a book in here yet, and its starting to bug me. I do have a lots of over 60 books that do fit, so one of those will get read soon

13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge - One of the books below will fit here - I'll wait until I have tackled the rest and fit one in here

17. A book with a neurodiverse character - I have a few books on my TBR that fit this prompt, but I haven't gotten there yet - it will come! I do feel motivated to make sure whatever I choose for this is truly a good fit, instead of a side character with depression

31. A book inspired by a leading news story - There have been so many books that fit this prompt, but were better for other ones. I may end up picking one of the books below, or putting in another one if a better one comes up soon

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim - This will be one I use a book below for. I add so many weird books to my TBR, it shouldn't be too hard

44. A book related to witches - I hate this prompt, and it keeps staring at me! I am so burned by the last book about witches I read that I have little motivation to tackle this. We shall see

48. A book published in 2020 - I will end up with one soon enough, especially now that all the good prompts are taken!

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win - Again, this is one I will look at once I get the bigger ones out of the way

51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title - I would love the -ing word to be in the title instead of the subtitle, so I am not sure when I will get to this, but I am sure it will come



TBA Books (2020 so far):

- Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings by Douglas V. Steere

- Prison Island: A Graphic Memoir by Colleen Frakes

- Band Together by Noelle Stevenson

- Persuasion by Jane Austen

- The Biography of a Grizzly by Ernest Thompson Seton

- The New World by Aleš Kot

- 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

- #Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy

- To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

- A Place on Earth by Wendell Berry

May Update

Its a few days late, but I am finally getting around to my May update, and I am happy to announce I am in the home stretch! I FINALLY got to the point where I could assign books to the remaining prompts, and I have 4 more to go with 2 already underway.

Here are the prompts I had left at the end of April, and what I did or plan to assign to them:

11 (TO BE COMPLETED) A book originally published in a year that is a prime number - Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories by Kanishk Tharoor: The version of the book I own was published in 2017. I guess the original was not, but you can't have everything.

13. COMPLETED A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge: I chose a prompt from 2016 (A classic under 200 pages) and used 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

17. (IN PROGRESS) A book with a neurodiverse character: If I have been patient, I could have found a perfect fit, but I am so close now, I just wanted one that worked fine. Therefore, I chose The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan, which is a nonfiction book that looks at how we understand sanity and insanity, particularly through the lens of a problematic study of pseudo-patients and mental institutes. Neurodiversity comes in many forms, but I think it is clear that how we understand and treat mental illness has a big impact on how we understand and respond to neurodiversity.

31. (IN PROGRESS) A book inspired by a leading news story: This was an interesting choice, but I ended up reading The Overstory by Richard Powers, which centers on the timber wars of the 1990s, something that I remember coloring parts of my childhood more than I realized. At least for me, as an enviornmental educator in the PNW, this time period certainly counts as a "leading news story".

36. COMPLETED A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim:
So this was funny because I obviously have a ton of books on my TBR, but the ones I am drawn to most are usually the ones I DO remember putting on the list because the reasons I put them on the list are memorable. However, that was not the case for the graphic novel The New World by Aleš Kot, which I THINK came from Book Riot, but I really don't know.

44. COMPLETED A book related to witches: So this was probably my least favorite prompt. I already read the crucible, I am not super interested in witch fantasy books, and the last book about witches I read was pretty poor, so this was one I wasn't super interested in pursuing. So when I started reading Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, I was super excited to see them reference "witchery" multiple times. Good enough for me to put it on the list.

48. (TO BE COMPLETED) A book published in 2020: Getting to books that just came out when I have such a long back-list is always a challenge, but I received The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré in my Book of the Month box a while ago, and everyone seems to love it, so it is one of my first 2020 books to be read this year.

49. COMPLETED A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win: This was funny, because I really enjoyed Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, and I really just wanted to find a place for it on this list to get it out there to more people. So when I saw a prompt in the 11th Mini Poll about looking for a job or losing a job, which is a great prompt for a book where much of the plot centers on a young woman's struggle with how to stay meaningfully employed and still take care of herself financially, I knew it was the one.

51. COMPLETED A book with an "-ing" word in the title: I would have preferred a book with a action word, stereotypical "-ing", but I was getting impatient, so I ended up choosing Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George, which at the very least had the "-ing" word in the actual title!

Hopefully by the end of the month, I will have my final update as I will have completed this challenge, but until then, happy reading!

I love how you described the process of fitting books with categories. I enjoy that too, though I didn't write it up. I keep thinking I would get more reading done if I didn't spend so much time analyzing what goes where!

Robin wrote: "I love how you described the process of fitting books with categories. I enjoy that too, though I didn't write it up. I keep thinking I would get more reading done if I didn't spend so much time an..."

Thanks so much - this is the first time I have taken this much time on this challenge to be honest, but its a fun experiment (and I totally would have finished by now if I hadn't spent so much time writing about it!)

I also figured this is a tough challenge and it might be fun for people to see one way of making it work without worrying too much about it.

I'm done! See the list above for the final books in each category.