Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

JUNE
1. Start of Summer - DONE
✔️ a. Read a happy book.
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
This is a book that seems happy and that offers a perspective that could help you to be happy. "Sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the message of The Vinegar Tasters." -- The Tao of Pooh
Paperback, 176 pages
Date completed: 06-05

✔️ b. Read a book published in June, July, or August.
Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History by Yasmeen Abutaleb
Published June 29th 2021 by Harper
Hardcover, 512 pages
Date completed: 07-22

✔️ c. Read a book from one of the following lists:
- Armchair Traveling: Books Set in Every U.S. State
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
This was the South Dakota pick. Recommended!
Hardcover, 336 pages
Date completed: 06-05

2. June Birthday: Octavia E. Butler
a. Read book whose main character is a Black woman.

✔️ b. Read a science fiction book.
Dreamlands by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I was not wild about The Return of the Sorceress, but very much enjoyed Prime Meridian!
Note: For page count purposes, this audiobook is comprised of: Prime Meridian Paperback, 122 pages
+ The Return of the Sorceress (Hardcover, 104 pages
= 226 pages
Date completed: 07-07

c. Read a winner of the Hugo Award.

3. Pride Month
a. Read a book with at least 5 different colors of the rainbow on the cover.

✔️ b. Read a book featuring an LGBTQIA+ protagonist (not side character).
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
The protagonist, Ted, is a gay man.
Hardcover, 307 pages
Date completed: 07-02

c. Read a book written by an author who was nominated for the Lambda Award.

4. Set Sail
✔️ a. Read a book that starts with a letter in SAILING.
The Seven Dials Mystery
Starts with S! Also a very summer-y read.
Paperback, 375 pages
Date completed: 06-28

✔️ b. Read a book with a boat on the cover.
Death at Sea: Montalbano's Early Cases by Andrea Camilleri

A fishing trawler called the Carlo III is featured in the book (in the title story) and is shown on the cover of the unabridged audiobook edition that I used. (I tagged the title above to a book version so that you can see a page count.)
Paperback, 288 pages
Date completed: 06-29

c. Read a book that takes place completely on an island.

JULY
1. Halfway there!
✔️a. Read a book with a number in the title.
4:50 from Paddington
I decided this book worked after checking the FAQs thread and seeing Jackie's statement, "Jackie wrote: "Numbers: I'll take numbers written either as numerals..." Let me know if I have misunderstood!
Paperback, 351 pages
Date completed: 06-25

✔️b. Read a book that is divided into multiple parts (rather than, or in addition to, chapters).
The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
The book is divided into three parts (four if you include the Afterword), with chapters numbered separately in each part. These correspond to distinctly different parts of the story.
Part One: Expendable Turtle - Chapters 1-10
Part Two: The Elephant - Chapters 1-42
Part Three: Mergers and Acquisitions - Chapters 1-23
Afterword: The Land of Dissidence - Chapters 1-3
Hardcover, 384 pages
Date completed: 07-31

c. Read a book featuring twin characters.

2. July Birthday: Madeline Miller
a. Read a book whose author's initials are found in MADELINE MILLER.

✔️ b. Read a retelling of a myth, fable, or fairytale.
Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
Paperback, 216 pages
Date completed: 08-23

c. Read a book nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

3. It's Winter Down South - DONE
✔️a. Read a romance book.
Busted in Bollywood
Paperback, 227 pages
Date completed: 07-23

✔️b. Read a book with snow on the cover.
The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie

The book is set just after a very large snowstorm in England. The white on the cover (lower left) is some of that snow!
Paperback, Agatha Christie Signature Edition, 248 pages
Date completed: 07-23

✔️c. Read a book whose title starts with a letter in FROSTY THE SNOWMAN.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
The "S" in "Frosty" matches the initial "S" in "Strange."
Paperback, 224 pages
Date completed: 07-01

4. Take a Dip
✔️a. Read a book whose title starts with a letter in OCEAN.
Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré
What a treat! This spy thriller was a lovely summer diversion.
The "A" from OCEAN matches "Agent."
Hardcover, 282 pages
Date completed: 07-12

✔️b. Read a book whose author initials can be found in TAKE A DIP.
Potsdam Station by David Downing His first and last initials (both "D") can both be found in TAKE A DIP! This was a fun historical thriller.
Hardcover, 1st US Edition, 340 pages
Date completed: 07-15

✔️ c. Read a book featured on one of these lists:
- 34 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape
- 2021 Summer Reading List: 48 of the Best Books for Adults, Teens, and Kids
- The Best Beach Reads of Summer 2021
Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
From the second list, "2021 Summer Reading List," selection 4 (actual link not allowed)
Hardcover, 448 pages
Date completed: 08-17

AUGUST
1. Back to School
✔️a. Read a book by an author that is new-to-you.
A Dismal Thing to Do by Charlotte MacLeod
New to me, though I have seen her books around for ages.
Kindle Edition, 198 pages
Date completed: 07-02

✔️b. Read a YA book.
Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All edited by Candace Fleming
Hardcover, 416 pages
Date completed: 07-23

c. Read a book often tested on the AP Literature exam, as found on this list.

2. August Birthday: John Green
✔️ a. Read a contemporary book.
The Middleman by Olen Steinhauer
Action takes place in 2017-2018, which I think is recent enough to qualify as contemporary.
Hardcover, 416 pages
Date completed: 07-31

✔️ b. Read a stand-alone novel (not part of a series).
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
This is not part of a series!
Paperback, 170 pages
Date completed: 06-11

c. Read a book nominated for the Printz Award.

3. Summer Reading - DONE
✔️ a. Read the newest book by a favorite author.
The Sorbonne Affair by Mark Pryor
This was a delightful rediscovery. I have fallen behind on this series and enjoyed finding it again!
Paperback, 287 pages
Date completed: 08-05

✔️ b. Read the next book in a series you've already started.
Boy Made of Dawn by R. Allen Chappell
Second in a series. I read the first volume in March 2021.
Kindle Edition, 152 pages
Date completed: 06-30

✔️ c. Read a book published in 2021 that you've been looking forward to.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
One of my favorite summer reads! This was so worth the wait! It is even better than The Martian!
Hardcover, 476 pages
Date completed: 07-29

4. Jump on a Plane - DONE
✔️a. Read an adventure book.
The Strode Venturer by Hammond Innes
This book definitely offers adventure! Air and sea voyages, a lost and found island, someone lost at sea, and more!
Hardcover, First, 338 pages
Date completed: 06-22

✔️b. Read a book set in a country you've never visited.
The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings
This book is set in France, a country I have never visited. For anyone else who is curious, yes this is the poet and painter. He also wrote two autobiographical novels, this being one.
Paperback, 200 pages
Date completed: 06-23

✔️ c. Read a book featuring a character that travels to multiple countries.
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Anne Beddingfeld starts in England and travels to Cape Town, South Africa (she mentions Table Mountain); Bulawayo and Matoppos, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Paperback, Agatha Christie Collection, 381 pages
Date completed: 06-24