The 52 Book Club: 2025 / 2026 Challenge discussion

WEEKLY CHECK-IN
January 29, 2022 -- Week 5

We're entering week 5/52 and nearing the end of our first month of the year! What was your favorite (or least favorite) read this month? Which prompt did you put it under?

My fav read was Kogitsune- prompt 23 and Tournament of Losers - prompt 25.
Least Favourite read was Loki - Prompt 35.

I haven't finished it yet, but my favorite this month has been the audio format of Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.

Least favorite was Lore Olympus and The Last Thing He Told Me. Favorite was re-reading Monstress vol. 3

My least favorite was The Thursday Murder Club and I had 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads this month
The Four Winds
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Will
Reminders of Him
Project Hail Mary

Favorite read this month that I discovered because of the challenge is The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. I put is as Prompt #2 but would also fit #26, #40 and #50.

My favorite was Reputation by Lex Croucher for #18 Jane Austen Inspired

My least favorite was Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna for #17 A Book Picked Based On Its Spine

Lindsey wrote: "WEEKLY CHECK-IN
January 29, 2022 -- Week 5

We're entering week 5/52 and nearing the end of our first month of the year! What was your favorite (or least favorite) read this month? Which prompt did..."

My least favorite book was the Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. Used prompt - Audiobook narrated by the author

my favorite read of the month was the hidden palace by helene wecker

My favorite read of the month (so far) has been Open Water which I read for the 1st prompt - a second person narrative. It was very unexpected and touching and moving and very introspective.

My favourite read of the month was "The Paris Library" for #2 Set on at least two continents.

My least favourite read was "Shadow and Bone" for #49 Book title starts with the same letter as your first name.

I really enjoyed Flowers Over the Inferno by Ilaria Tuti. And Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis. I'm not sure yet which prompt I'll use either for. Tuti's book has bilingual characters, rural setting, and more. Wallis's book has rural setting, independent publisher, etc.
I'll not choose a least favorite. Some of the others didn't hold up to my expectations, but perhaps my expectations were too high.

My favorite was
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by
Sanjay Gupta.

I learned so much about being healthy and helping my cognitive skills stay sharp.

Five stars.

My fave was rereading The Great Gatsby for the first time since middle school. I seriously love that book! (wealthy character)

Least fave was Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (audiobook version and nonfiction bestseller). The author was kind of scummy to me and it just wasn't enjoyable.

January
Favorites (and recommended)
What Comes After (#41), Cloud Cuckoo Land (#21), All Systems Red(#31), A History of Wild Places(#14), Stolen Tongues (#42) and The Last Wish (#23)
least-favorites?
Falling- a page turner and unique plot but I found it lacked something that would have made it better.
Quicksand- The main character was hard to sympathize with which spoiled the book for me but it is still a good book about finding your place in the world and within yourself.

My favorite read this month was a book from my childhood called Bluegrass Iggy by Mary W. Sullivan. I've been looking for a copy forever, but the cheapest one I could find was $40! I was browsing on a used bookstore's website and they had it for $2, so I ordered it immediately and drove an hour one-way to pick it up. It was just as good as I remembered. I didn't read anything this month that I didn't like. They were all four and five stars. I'm not assigning prompts until later this year.

Finished 7 books so far this year.

Audiobooks are my jam!

Best one was Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. I love him as an actor and have followed his outside career being a college professor at University of Texas ( He taught a creative writing class if I’m not wrong.) Listening to him narrate his memoir was hilarious and made even his most “boring” stories amazingly entertaining.

Can’t wait to see what I finish in February!

I have finished 9 books for this challenge this year.

So far my favorite has been The Sugar Queen for prompt #25 (a wealthy character).

My least favorite is Allegiant for prompt #29 (more than 500 pages). I was so disappointed about the character development of Four.

Nicole wrote: "January
Favorites (and recommended)
What Comes After (#41), Cloud Cuckoo Land (#21), All Systems Red(#31), A History of Wild Places(#..."

I am a total Murderbot fan! I can't wait for the new one to come out. I probably start a reread as soon as a date is set for it.

My favourite was My Sister, the Serial Killer by Soyinka Braithwaite (prompt 49 starts with the same letter as my first name)

My least favourite was The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (prompt 13 includes a club)

My favorite reads this month were:
Local Woman Missing (Prompt 34)
and
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (prompt 12)
and my least favorite was Surprised by Joy (that I was reading for another challenge, the prompt was a book with a misleading title)
Lindsey wrote: "WEEKLY CHECK-IN
January 29, 2022 -- Week 5

We're entering week 5/52 and nearing the end of our first month of the year! What was your favorite (or least favorite) read this month? Which prompt did..."

My favorite books for January 2022:
1. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (prompt 22)
2. Havuz Başı by Sait Faik Abasıyanık (prompt 34)
3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (prompt 39)
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (prompt 43)

*My favorite read this month was: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty and The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

-Both of these books kept me having to continue reading to find
out what happens on the next page and next chapter
My least favorite read was: The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger
-I usually love this author but this read I just found dry and had
to push myself to finish

My favorite read so far this year is The Midnight Library. Just finished Every Deep Drawn Breath which was great. This week I'm starting a book called Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. I'm using it for prompt #38 it came in the mail and was a complete surprise.

My favorite read so far this has been Before We Disappear. I used it for prompt 26 though I could have also used it for prompt 14 or prompt 45. If you like books with magic and just all over cuteness then I totally recommend picking this one up.

"The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich was my favorite read in January.

Heather wrote: "I haven't finished it yet, but my favorite this month has been the audio format of Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography."

I've been debating this one for an audiobook, so this is my sign to check it out!

I would have to say it's a tie between The Giver of Stars, which I used for a book featuring a library, and Nine Perfect Strangers for a 5-syllable title. I actually enjoyed all of my January books, so 2022 has been off to a good reading start!

This week I choose The Hawthorne Legacy for prompt #25 (A wealthy character) I also think it was my favourite this month!

It is hard to select my favorites and least favorites since I had a great month of reading. I have been very lucky, finding some great reads this year. My favorite audiobook was The Happiest Man on Earth (second chance). My favorite print book was Before We Meet the Goddess (Simon and Schuster) My least favorite audiobook was The HungerGames (game in the title). My least favorite print book was The Seven Dials Mystery (Agatha Christie Challenge).

Lindsey wrote: "WEEKLY CHECK-IN
January 29, 2022 -- Week 5

We're entering week 5/52 and nearing the end of our first month of the year! What was your favorite (or least favorite) read this month? Which prompt did..."

Of the six books I read in January, the one I gave 5 stars is In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett. The one I liked the least is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

My 5th book was A Gentleman in Moscow for prompt #5 “chapters have titles”

I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while (it was mentioned in my book club) and I have a signed copy of the Lincoln Highway next to my bed ready to be read... I’ve heard so many good things about Amor Towles’s writing, but never had the pleasure to read something from his pen and I am glad I stayed with A Gentleman in Moscow as it was my favorite book this month. Both for the 52 week challenge and among the 14 books I read in January.

So far I managed to follow the prompts in order but I doubt I’ll be able to keep on doing it as, now that I am home, I have a couple of books that are begging me to be read.

Below is the list of books I finished in week 5:

Prompt 14: Kızların Suskunluğu (The Silence of Girls) by Pat Barker

Prompt 2: Huysuz Kitapçı Fikry'nin İnanılmaz Hikayesi (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry) by Gabrielle Zevin

Prompt 8: Da Vinci Şifresi (The Da Vinci Code) by Dan Brown

Prompt 38: Otomatik Portakal (A Clockwork Orange) by Anthony Burgess

Least favorite was probably The Essence of Life or Falling into the Light - these were Prompt 3 and 4 (titles starting with E and F).

Favorite was probably The Sweetheart of You're Never Weird on the Internet (almost) - these were Prompt 1 (second person narrative) and prompt 7 (non-fiction best seller).