Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Happy May, everyone!

I hope you are all doing well! How did your reading go in April? What are you looking forward to in May? Let us know!

Hello, I'm new to ATY in books! I just joined last month. My reading is almost out of control as I got through 25 titles!

For this month on my TBR stack in my room I have the Illustrated HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Stephen King's The Institute, The Almost Moon and I own a ton of Agatha Christie books and I have ebooks from the library of Daisy Jones and the Six, Geekerella, The Perfect Stranger and the Shape of Family.

I'm most excited for DJ as I've enjoyed other books by Reid that I've read this year and for HP and the PoA as it's one of my favourites in the series!

Emily, I'm rereading the Harry Potter books following along with a podcast (Harry Potter and the Sacred Text), and I'm just starting book seven! I already can't wait for this book to be over so that I can start over with simpler times earlier in the series haha.

Our library drive throughs are opening back up to give out holds, so I definitely have more flexibility this month than I did last month... for better or worse ha!

I'm currently 10% finished with The Heart's Invisible Furies, which is my first true chonk of the year. Hoping I continue my reading streak from April and get through this one quickly... May is usually a busy time for me with school ending, but since I won't have that distraction anymore... here's hoping for at least 8 books (including this chonk) this month!

I finished last night, All Those Mornings at the Washington Post: The 20th Century in Sports from Famed Washington Post Columnist Shirley Povich by Shirley Povich. I used it for prompt #32 A Book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan.

Emily wrote: "Emily, I'm rereading the Harry Potter books following along with a podcast (Harry Potter and the Sacred Text), and I'm just starting book seven! I already can't wait for this book to be over so tha..."

It might be a chonk, but if you love it as much as I did, you'll be sad when it's over!

Perri wrote: "Emily wrote: "Emily, I'm rereading the Harry Potter books following along with a podcast (Harry Potter and the Sacred Text), and I'm just starting book seven! I already can't wait for this book to ..."

It's really captivating me, but I keep thinking I've read a lot more than I actually have. I've only gotten through 40ish pages each day, but it feels like I've read a lot more. It's probably because my last few books have been easy YA novels ha!

I only finished 5 books this past month and none of them were over 3 stars. I'm definitely in a rut! I have a lot of good audiobooks coming in this month, but I'm finding it so far to do audiobooks without doing them in my car and I no longer have any commute to speak of. Hopefully I'll get some good ebooks on my iPad that will keep me interested this month!

I did finish 4 books but I struggled finishing the fourth. Not because it wasn't a good book (it was a very good and funny mystery) but because I had a real hard time focusing on reading. I made the decision to drop the amount of books I want to read this year in the Goodreads Challenge to 100. Hopefully, I will pick up my mojo in May and further so that I can at least get that many read in the year!

I finished 5 books and one short book in April and am happy with my progress! I plan on reading 2 books, Green Island and Away, for my 12+4 challenge. I have a library audiobook to finish Five-Carat Soul and 2 that I'm expecting this month - The Stand and Exhalation: Stories. I'm also reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame for a group read in another GR group. All of the books fit the ATY challenge and probably PS, too.

Ended April with 8 books read, with 4 of them being 5 stars. A solid reading month!

Finished a book this morning, to start the month off strong and wow, was it a doozy LOL. Read The Girl in Red, which is a dystopian retelling of The Little Red Riding Hood tale. Guess what the catastrophic event is that creates the setting........an air-born virus that decimates the country, with first symptom being a Cough. Talk about creepy timing!!
Such a good book, even though it hits a little too close to home right now ha! I've read a couple of the authors other books and she has a very raw, unflinching way of writing. Reminds me a bit of Cormac McCarthy's writing. Really enjoyed the book and I'm starting May off with a 5 star read, yay!

Emily-how exciting that you can do drive-up lending at your library! Our library's closing just got extended through May 28th sigh...

Cheryl-I also adjusted my annual reading goal down, from 140 to 99 books. Too many unexpected distractions this year!

ZeeJane wrote: "Ended April with 8 books read, with 4 of them being 5 stars. A solid reading month!

Finished a book this morning, to start the month off strong and wow, was it a doozy LOL. Read [book:The Girl in ..."

Thanks, that actually makes me feel better that I am not alone on the weirdness going on in this world! Have a fantastic May!

April went well, I finished 20 books and loved several of them, and I completed all 12 OWLs for the magical readathon, which was super fun. Can't wait til NEWTs in August for that! I think my favorite read in April was Invisible Cities, it's just an exquisite book.

For May, I'm looking at a bunch of readathons and challenges and whatnot, including Tome Topple and Asian Readathon, so, we'll see! I've got as long a TBR as ever, and I'm just a complete mood reader, so honestly, whatever goes. But I'm definitely going to read (or rather re-read) Farthing, because it's for my book club, and Whispers Under Ground & The Deck of Omens because I already started those two at the end of April.

Emily wrote: "Our library drive throughs are opening back up to give out holds, so I definitely have more flexibility this month than I did last month... for better or worse ha!"

I'm so jealous! I wish ours would do that (although maybe they don't have the capability right now.) I checked my local library's website yesterday to see if they are offering anything like this, and sadly, they are not.
BUT... they did suggest using Libby to check out e-books, so I got the app and it turns out you can send the books to your Kindle! I was under the impression that everyone was reading e-books on their phone or computer, which sounds like it would hurt your eyes. But nope, I was up and running and had Uprooted checked out and on my Kindle within ten minutes. Why did I not figure this out before? Truly I am living my best life now 😂

April was a fantastic reading month for me--6 books done, all of them "pretty good" or better. Hoping to continue in May, especially now that I can use the library again. In addition to finishing Uprooted and The Return of the King, I'm planning to get stuck in to some chunksters--Dune, The Goldfinch, and The Priory of the Orange Tree. Will I have time for anything else after that??

I spent most of April starting and tossing crappy books that I barely finished and enjoyed any What a rip of a month.

Kelly! Haha! I love Libby for audiobooks, and I'm glad you've discovered it for ebooks. That definitely makes it easier with the libraries being closed... and Uprooted is on my list to read this year, since I loved Spinning Silver.

My public library has just announced book delivery for holds. They will be dropping the books off at your front door. Happy, happy, day! Waiting for my first hold, which may take a few days to arrive.

With the help of a lot of ya and rom-coms, I finished 13 books in April! I've found I'm flying through the audiobooks in the last few weeks since I put them on for any small work break for cooking meals, snacks, dishes, walks, staring into space, you know. Luckily, I've been able to get a lot of ebooks and audiobooks from the library since ours are also closed until the end of this month at least.

Early this morning I finished Sourdough by Robin Sloan for another challenge. I also read at the same time, How To Bake by Paul Hollywood. The first section is on breads. When I go to the grocery Tues if there is bread flour & yeast my bread adventure will begin.

I read 7 books in April , 6 which were 4 stars and one 5 star. So far finished one book in May and that was a weak 2 stars really.

Laurel wrote: "My public library has just announced book delivery for holds. They will be dropping the books off at your front door. Happy, happy, day! Waiting for my first hold, which may take a few days to arrive."

That's amazing!!

Sherri wrote: "Early this morning I finished Sourdough by Robin Sloan for another challenge. I also read at the same time, How To Bake by Paul Hollywood. The first section is on breads. When I go to the grocery T..."

Good luck! Bread making is so fun!

I had a better reading month in April with my read whatever I want approach, and I still managed to fit everything into either ATY or Popsugar. Slowly reintroducing audiobooks back in, but nowhere near the amount I got through when commuting.

5 star:
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

4 star:
Atlas Alone by Emma Newman
City of the Lost and A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton
Barking by Lucy Sullivan

3 star:
The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey
The Switch by Beth O'Leary
Black River by Will Dean

That looks like a great month of reading, Ellie!

I'm currently reading The Heart's Invisible Furies, and when I hit page 350 last night, I realized this book is going to wreck me. At this point, I'm glad I can't read in public because there's still 250 pages left, and I know at some point it's going to make me cry lol.

I read 7 books in April which I am very happy with and have finished 2 in May! I'm also continuing my finishing the books in order (I was really debating stopping in April). These are the next 4 books I have for the challenge and I have started all of them.

31. A book inspired by a leading news story-
• Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine K. Albright

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan-
• Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

33. A book about a non-traditional family-
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name-
• The Industrial Revolution by Patrick N. Allitt

Got myself into a bit of a slump in April what with the lockdown and all. Found myself losing interest in all my hobbies and I'm not quite sure if it was because I suddenly found myself with an overwhelming amount of free time, or if I started to suffer from mild depression, or maybe both? Anyway, I only read two books in April.

For May, I've already finished my first book (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton) which I LOVED! Planning on starting Eve of Man tonight, and I'm hoping to also read She's Come Undone and Artemis Fowl.

I'm almost done with Cry Wolf and unless something dramatic happens in the last 50ish pages this will be a 4 star read for me, but I have no interest in reading more of the series. I always want to like PNR werewolf books but I keep forgetting about all the 'family' drama that goes along with the werewolf trope. It's a well written book but I'm just not feeling the series. Think I'll read The Bone Collector next.

Alexx-I just added The Seven Deaths... to my TBR list, looks interesting :)

I finished The Hideaway by Lauren K.Denton for prompt #8 A book with a 2 word title where the 1st word is "The". It was simple & light. I enjoyed it.

ZeeJane wrote: "Alexx-I just added The Seven Deaths... to my TBR list, looks interesting :)"

I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it, it has very quickly become my favourite book that I've read in a really long time!

I'm looking forward to continuing these two books:


1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - Really good so far! I'm reading this with a buddy and we're doing one to two chapters a day which is kind of slow since this is a thick book.

Love From A to Z by SK Ali - It's a YA contemporary fiction with Muslim main characters. I'm really enjoying this and I think I'll finish this in a day or two.

How's it going, everyone? Read any good books this weekend?

I am almost done with The Book of Longings, which is FANTASTIC.

I just put a hold on that from the library, Emily!
I am listening to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and enjoying it, and over the weekend I read The Night Diary which was a good middle grades historical fiction. Also plugging away at The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as well.

I just dnf'd a book, sigh... Only read like 5 pages of it but the writing style drove me nuts ( In the Woods ). And the one I finished earlier today I only gave 2 stars, blech.

I failed at reading this weekend, but have tried to get back into the groove during work breaks today. I'm currently reading Small Wonder and listening to Behold the Dreamers and enjoying both.

I've had Behold the Dreamers on my shelf for a while now, and I keep thinking that I should pick it up, but then other books call out for me first. I think I'm going to read it when I pick the geometric pattern prompt out of my jar, since I have this cover:

I read House of Earth and Blood earlier this month. What better time than a pandemic to read something that's 800 pages?

That's been my idea, Rachel. I've read all of the longest books on my shelves in the past two months (except for The Flight Portfolio, but hopefully I'll get to that one in June). It's been great!

I just finished Gulliver's Travels. It seemed to go quick seeing it was divided into four different adventures. And I finally got all caught up. I have been reading a lot, but was reading some books that were not for this challenge.

I have been struggling to get into a book for ages now, and I haven't really enjoyed the last few I have read. Plus there have been a lot of dnf's. So I was overjoyed to find that I loved From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death as much as I expected; I read the whole thing in a day. Sometimes it really just is the book.

I have completed 2 books since my last post. Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. I used it for # 38 Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites. I did Antarctica first & used Endurance:Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. I completed Arctic Dreams this week for the pair. North Pole/South Pole. The second book I completed was Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward. I used it for #45 A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018.
Currently reading Death by Dumpling (A Noodle Shop Mystery #1) by Vivien Chien. I’m using it for #5 The first book in a series that you have not started. Also it can by used for the mystery prompt.

I tried to listen to Inland, but struggled following the story (4 hours in, no clue what was going on other than the general info in the blurb). Since I know audio doesn't always work well for me, I'm going to attempt to read it before completely giving up and the ebook was available, so I'm going to pick it up again once I'm done with my current book.

I'm all of a sudden scrambling to find the willpower to read the library books that have been sitting in my house since lockdown started..... looks like we are starting to slowly open up this week. I just havent been much in the mood for reading, except at night on my kindle and then I fall asleep :/

I've finished 3 books all set in China - 2 non-fiction set on the mainland and 1 historical fiction set in Taiwan. I'm reading 2 other novels set in China plus re-reading Stephen King's The Stand and just started George Orwell's Coming Up for Air. I'm hoping to start the audiobook Severance by Ling Ma. I'm kinda all over the place with my reading since a bunch of library ebook holds have started coming in.

I've been reading Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem this month. I really love Didion's writing style, but I'm finding an essay collection kind of challenging to get in the groove for at the moment, since there's no plot to carry me forward. I feel like I should maybe start a fiction book at the same time, but then I'm afraid I'll abandon Joan, and I definitely don't want to do that!

I read Charles Jessold, Considered As A Murderer, which came under the ATY category of books you forgot about or had no idea why it was there. I must have picked it up at a thrift shop or library sale. It's historical about musicians in England in the 1920's. The interesting thing is that it seems to wrap up about halfway through, but then takes a new turn. I still have no idea why I got it, not being into classical music, but I expect it was because of the blurbs on the back saying it was inventive or unpredictable. I definitely liked that aspect and gave it 4 stars. The author is a musician and I imagine a knowledgeable reader would enjoy it even more.

20ish pages to go on the book I started this morning...
Far from the Tree. I haven't been able to put it down! I just love these characters. I am also enjoying book 4 in the Game of Thrones series ( I binged the last few seasons of the show this weekend... Hoping the books will play out better plot- wise, IF/ when he gets around to finishing them) and also I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, which my 10 year old asked me to read to her and we figured out pretty quickly it was a little too advanced ( she is enjoying Coralinethough, and the book we've been working on at bedtime which is 2nd in a series , Maggie & Abby and the Shipwreck Treehouse).

Traci, I'm with you, audio doesn't always work for me, but I have been enjoying bits of Becoming by Michelle Obama here and there. I may cave and try and either borrow or buy a copy and listen/read along for the rest of it. I really want to get to my next audio book which is Chanel Millers Know My Name: A Memoir.

Also, how exciting..... my pre-order of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was delivered to my kindle today !!!!!!!!!

Books TBR this month ( I have to return to the library ( they are accepting drop offs, but are not fining yet if you keep them)

Tracy, I checked out The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives in February for Black History Month but couldn't get to it... and I just realized it's also LGBT+ so I'll be reading it in June!

Emily wrote: "Tracy, I checked out The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives in February for Black History Month but couldn't get to it......"

Thats the next one I'll be working on. I read all of Far From the Tree yesterday, it was absolutely fantastic.....like close the book and pet the cover while crying fantastic), and I only have a little less than 100 pages of I am not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter to go, so that one is moving quickly as well. I can't wait for 57 Bus!! I learned about it from you lol.

Tracy wrote: "Emily wrote: "Tracy, I checked out The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives in February for Black History Month but couldn't get to it......"..."

Far from the Tree was really good. Good thing I was not on public transportation towards the end of the book, lots of crying.

Tracy wrote: "I'm all of a sudden scrambling to find the willpower to read the library books that have been sitting in my house since lockdown started..... looks like we are starting to slowly open up this week...."

Ha, this is me exactly! I've had these library books on hand since the first week in March, and I'm now panicking because I still have 3 un-read ones that I want to get to before I need to return them (hopefully in the next couple of weeks).

Milena wrote: "lots of crying.."

So much crying....and I'm not one to cry while reading.

ZeeJane wrote: "Ha, this is me exactly! I've had these library books on hand since the first week in March, and I'm now panicking because I still have 3 un-read ones that I want to get to before I need to return them (hopefully in the next couple of weeks)"...

3 down in 2 days!!!!! I have 3 left, but I just got an email that holds are coming in again. I feel guilty picking up holds while I'm holding onto books that I've literally had 3 uninterrupted months to read. Oops.