Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

THE 2021 LIST
1. A book related to “In the Beginning...” The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
2. A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
3. A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
4. A book with a monochromatic cover - The Anarchist's Workbench by Christopher Schwarz

5. A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read - War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi
6. A love story - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
7. A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
8. A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited Chernobyl 01:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster by Andrew Leatherbarrow

9. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year - The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan
10. A book with a female villain or criminal - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
11. A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum - Out of Egypt by Anne Rice
12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation -nThings We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez
13. A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020 - Kill Shot - Vince Flynn

14. A book set in a made-up place - Into the Void by Tim Lebbon
15. A book that features siblings as the main characters - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
16. A book with a building in the title - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstoreby Robin Sloan
17. A book with a Muslim character or author - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

18. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1 - The Diary of Anne Frank
19. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2 - Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon
20. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
21. A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u" - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

23. A cross genre novel The Gunslinger by Stephen King
24. A book about racism or race relations The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
25. A book set on an island Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
28. A book connected to ice Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
29. A book that you consider comfort reading The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
30. A long book A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett

31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
32. A book whose cover shows more than 2 people The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
33. A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry Raised in Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction by Chuck Klosterman
34. A book with a travel theme Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
35. A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

36. A book with six or more words in the title The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
38. A book related to a word given by a random word generator The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson
39. A book involving an immigrant A Beginner's Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious by Roya Hakakian

40. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia
41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author
42. A mystery or thriller - 24 Declassified: Operation Hell Gate by Marc Cerasini
43. A book with elements of magic The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

44. A book whose title contains a negative The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer
46. A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Deacon King Kong by James McBride
47. A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir The Art of Invisibility: The World's Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data by Kevin D. Mitnick
48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?” Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

49. A book with an ensemble cast
50. A book published in 2021
51. A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name
52. A book related to "the end" Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I’m going to try to keep to following the order this year. Starting week 1 in the beginning, I’m reading the beginning of the Witcher series.

Ok so I couldn't stay in order even past number 2 but that was due to the library not having the one I wanted for prompt 2 available. So onto #3, I went with for the Sound of Music prompt "Wild Geese that fly with the moon on their wings"

Wanted to red another Harry Potter this year so it was nice J.K. Rowling doesn't have an A, T, or Y in her name. :)

Timing works out sometimes, the next prompt monochromatic cover just fell into my lap. I was looking up woodworking information and came across Lost Art Press and the book The Anarchist Workbench. It sounded like a book for me and when I searched and found out the author provides a free pdf version of the book to anyone who wants it, I was all in.

I wasn't looking forward to the Love story prompt. But luckily looking through the Listopia I came across which was already on my TBR list. So I took a dive in and found I really enjoyed the book an was an absolutely perfect book for me topicwise. I always have what if? and questions about the possibility of multiverse. This was a fun examination of all those topics with a love story as the entire underlying theme.

I didn't know what I would find on the 100 black novelist prompt many of the selections on the Listopia did not interest me. But as I kept scrolling I did find a couple that jumped out. This one was the selection and I really enjoyed it. Future Sci-Fi about the Biafran War. The authors note at the end said she wrote it to bring the story of the Biafrans and the 3 years of the Nigerian civil war in the 60s to light.

I went with a non-fiction book for the places I have never visited prompt. Something I remember and wanted to read more on it so I selected and I doubt I will ever go there.

A book from the New York Public Library's 125 Books We Love List is the prompt I selected for a book that fits a prompt that didn't make the final list. I reread . One of my favorite books of all time. It was time for a reread.

I'm not sure I consider Nurse Rachett a criminal or villain, definitely a protagonist though. But since it was on the LIstopia and I have wanted to read this, it seemed like a good opportunity.

So I jumped ahead for one, my son received this as a gift and he read and reread it over the month. I had to check it out and see what was so engrossing for him. This one could fall into may categories but as a comic lover I'm going to use the comfort read prompt.

Nothing says summer vacation like the Great Lakes for me, so was perfect. Despite the book covering multiple seasons when you talk about the Great Lakes, I think of summer vacation.

Went with an Egypt-titled book for the Egyptian museum prompt, even though there wasn't a ton of setting in Egypt.

I searched the Listopia for one of the women in translation. I struggled because nothing seemed to speak to me. I went with . I thought it was just ok. She is a very descriptive author but I'm not a fan of her short stories that just stop without any resolution or even a clear indication of a suggested resolution.

I like a lot of spy thrillers so I had a few different ones to pick from for my best reads of 2020. I went with the next Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn , I enjoyed it, a quick read that kept me engaged the whole time. What more can I want.

I went to my favorite made-up place for the prompt, The Star Wars universe.

I had to bounce around again due to book availability. For the Muslim character prompt, I went with . I didn't know it had Muslim characters in it but I saw it on the Listopia and had wanted to read it for a while.

This was a fun techy, nerdy, gamer read. I had some issues with some characters but thought this was just a fun adventure book to read with cool tech ideas, concepts, and capabilities that I didn't know about, even though I'm sort of techy/nerdy.

Found this one of the Listopia again when I was at a loss for one I already had on my TBR list . This was a fun book that brought back memories of The Westinghouse game which originally got me into murder mysteries as a kid. Looking forward to the sequel coming out later this year.

For the three-part Past, present, and future books. I decided to go with female (auto)biographies. I did find the future one first from a friend's recommendation the other two were easy. I started in the past with one I wanted to reread since I have learned a tremendous amount about WWII since the last time I read it in high school.

For the present book, I read the biography of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. . While I am not completely politically aligned with her, there are many people who seemed to bow to everything she did. After reading her book I can respect her work despite not agreeing with her on everything.

While I know I can't get a future biography this story is a close approximation, . The story is a look back at the life of Addie LaRue and a twist at the end allows it to fall into this category in my opinion.

This was on the listopia for author and title having the letter u and having lost my dad this year was a good time to read this. I heard him speaking to me in various parts of this book.

This was on the listopia for ATY best book of the month and allowed me to finish the series I had been working on over the last few years. I didn't like this one as much as the others but it was still easy light reading with an engaging story.

I jumped ahead to 42 for some beach reading. I loved the tv series and hoped this would give me some enjoyment as the series did. It did. Fun easy beach read with the thrills of the series, cliffhangers at the end of each chapter with some over-the-top action and circumstances as well as some liberties with how long things actually take.

I went with for my cross genre novel. I read a lot of Stephen King when I was younger and haven't read this one yet. I was not really drawn in to want to read the rest of the series. I'll have to see if I feel like trying again.

For the short book by a new to you author, I opted for . Always heard about it but never took the time to read it. I was not impressed. It was ok as it came across as an early sci-fi/fantasy book and not anything about human nature. Meh.

Racism/Race relations selection: . I was highly impressed with this book. I liked how complex many of the characters were. Yes, there is the racist white person and confronted the subtle ways she expressed those beliefs. But having other white people who were understanding of the race issue helped balance the view. This wasn't a book blaming all white people. The book confronted the prejudiced black man as well and how there are such differences within the black community of how open they are to working on race topics. Well written and very relatable characters even though I haven't lived a similar situation.

book about ice: , Like the author talked about in the introduction my first exposure to Norse mythology was the Marvel comics The Mighty Thor. It was interesting hearing the stories and history of items I was familiar with but didn't know the background.

For the deck of cards I went with . Enjoyable book although a little predictable. Young female talent wins but still sleeps her way up through the ranks of people she defeated. Comes out on top.

I've been switching around prompts for the books I've been reading. I thought this might be my set on an island but opted instead for more than two people on the cover. I tried reading this in grade school and didn't like it at all and never finished so I tried again because I'm trying to get through the 'classics.' I can see why I didn't like it the first time I tried. The story was like the sterotypical pompous African adventurer telling a story to his men's group about how great he was and his skills were fantastic. It quickly became a bore to read. I did finish it but it was a drag getting through.

For the prompt of an author whose career lasted more than 21 years, I went with the grandfather of science fiction H.G. Wells and his first book . Solid book similar to the last one I read (Swiss Family Robinson) in that a character is retelling the story to other people in the book. Despite being written in the 19th century it still holds as a plausible time-traveling story. The character travels so far into the future that humanity has changed significantly which is still a possibility. Unlike some which only travel 50-100 years and humanity either surpasses the author's vision or they were too ambitious for society. Then the story doesn't hold up as we have gotten closer to the time written about in the story.

I have many collections of short stories on my TBR list but for some reason I don't want to start them. Seems like the anticipation is better than the reading sometimes. But Chuck has done me right in the past so I grabbed for this prompt. He can be out there at times and many of these stories just stop when they could have gone on and been developed into much more detailed stories. Almost like a book of writing prompts. But I didn't feel shorted with this book Like I did on the one I read earlier this year Things We Lost in the Fire.

For the Island prompt (#25), I went with I never read the original only have seen the Disney movie and other retellings (Robin William's Hook). I had a different one selected for this prompt but it is dragging out and becoming a better selection for the long book prompt both literally and figuratively.

#34 the travel theme I chose . This has always been on my TBR list since college. It was always portrayed as a "smart person" book. I was told it could change your life. I was a bit disappointed by reading it. While it was god and I can see why some people might think it completely eye-opening I didn't find it to be all that. I found some interesting ideas but overall, it may have just been over my head. It did get a little too far into the weeds on philosophy and that is not my forte. I might try to read it again and see if I can pick up more from a second reading but for now its on my so-so list.

Six or more words in the title: . Some people may call it cheesy but I enjoyed this book. Some of it is still dealing with my dad dying this past year and this take on heaven and the afterlife does provide some additional comfort. I had read his Tuesdays with Morrie when it first came out but never read any others by him. He admits at the beginning that he is a storyteller and this is a story, but it's a fun and comforting story that people can relate to. Especially making you look at situations from the others view point.

52- related to "the end" I read with my son and figured I could find a prompt to fit this book under. Without too much difficulty I feel safe to say this can be called the end of innocence for one of the characters. Excellent book but I have not found a Newberry award winner that isn't excellent. While I was trying to go in order this just fell into place and I'm now just trying to get through all the prompts.

For The Tropic of Cancer prompt, I went to Cuba. A somewhat humorous spy novel where the main character was an inadvertent spy.

My random word for the prompt was: singer. I was thinking of a musician's biography or memoirs but found this one instead. I like the Beatles and their music but I never really studied or read about their history and break up. This was good in that it gave both a brief history of the group from it's formation through all the albums to break up and the solo careers. The book flipped between Mark Chapman (Lennon's killer) and the progessive history. I enjoyed it despite a large majority was spent on the history and not the last days. Also there was a lot of conversations that had to have been researched or made up. I read the audio book so I couldn't see if there was any references.

For the negative prompt I went with . I have been a bit of a sucker for self help books especially those that are more in your face. This is no different, basically stop screwing up your shit and do it better. Good book nothing incredibly life altering.

As a white hetero Christian male I went with for the You read What?!? prompt. I was incredibly glad I did. While the author does have some short stories that could have been in any number of male magazines, the overall story was incredibly well written and engaging. The story of the group of widows and learning about the traditional custom for their mourning and expected life after becoming a widow was fascinating. I felt myself cheering along with their increasing confidence and them fighting back against the system. Even the short stories were very well written and not simply graphic explanations. Highly recommended.

I started off reading for the island prompt but due to his rambling story, I lost interest in the story. It was hard for me to finish this. I had to force myself to keep it up and keep trying. Finally it was done so I decided to change this to the Long book prompt instead.

I started earlier in the year but paused for a bit. Finished it up still in 2021. This is a bit dated now as it was written in 2015 and technology advances so fast some of what he talks about may not still be relevant. The techniques he talks about are still relevant if not the actual apps. He describes how someone would be able to be invisible online in the age of big brother. I always enjoy stories like Jason Bourne and such and the idea of them laying low and not being found. But this shows how hard that actually would be. Still there is a lot of good information and techniques that are usable to keep yourself safer online.

For an immigrant book, I went with an instruction guide to the process. This was written by an immigrant and goes through first the process of immigration but also posting out the differences (both good and bad) in America from other countries. She talks about discrimination with each new group of immigrants and how long it has been happening here. But also praises the ability to make something of herself since she was from a society heavy on female repression. It's an interesting balance of seeing the good things and the bad about America.

I chose this off the week read in world literature list . I found it more interesting that I thought it would be. What I really enjoyed was the first half which had the author relating what it was like to live in Malawi and then live there through a famine. Growing up we always heard about African famine but this brought it home and gave a face to it. Not just the Sally Struthers commerical pictures. Well worth your time to read.

I have never read Lovecraft and when I picked up I had no idea this was a retelling of one of his stories. I enjoyed the book and story. Nothing so mind blowing that I understand the cult following Lovecraft has. But maybe I'll try some actual Lovecraft and will. (Or maybe not)

For the NATO prompt I went full out with . I found it to be a good book. It started as three separate stories but then progressed as they met or interacted with each other. Big global conspiracy plot and thriller waiting to figure out what happens. But then you get to the point in the book where you realize it isn't going to resolve with the completeness I like and I'm going to be left wondering. Maybe a sequel, or maybe that was the plan to let you finish it in your head.

I was given this book for Christmas last year. With it being a Goodread nominee I knew this was the one I was reading for this prompt. It took a long time for me to read it, as I just couldn't get into it. It has a large cast that I found hard to keep track of. The plot seemed to ramble at times. But I found the book well written. The author had great descriptions of the situations and I could picture them well. I just couldn't get into the story.

I didn't have a lot of greenery books on my TBR list. I did come across this one . I found it very middle of the road. Predictable, not very exciting "reveal" and characters that I just didn't get into. Alright read, kind of a patch. Good if you need a filler book.