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2023 Plans > Another Year Another Plan - Anastasia 2023

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message 1: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments I am going to record this a little differently this year. While I will still use icons to denote the type of reading I am not going to separate the list into pieces. I will give each book it's own post with the listed prompt and commentary.

Hopefully this will help with keeping up with posting. Reading is the easy part. :P

Icons
🎧Audio
🌍Around the World
🏋️‍♀️Strong Female Character
🍁Canadian
🏳‍🌈LGBTQ+
🎥Movie/TV
🦉Shine and Shadow BINGO challenge
🗑️Discard Challenge

I am going to keep up with my Movie/TV show challenge. It is fun. I have learned more about producers and writers since starting it a few years ago. Each movie will be posted with the appropriate prompt.

Other challenges I am going to record here are the traditional Discard Challenge and a BINGO challenge from another group.


message 2: by Anastasia (last edited Jul 08, 2023 03:20PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments ATY Challenge

✔️1. A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y
Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍🦉


✔️2. A book by an author you read in 2022 The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🏋️‍♀️

3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the 2023 list

✔️4. A book with an interracial relationship The Reading List ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✔️5. A book with 4 or more colors on the cover Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

6. A book where books are important

7. A book with ONE of the five "W" question words in the title
✔️8. An author's debut book
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan

✔️9. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
The Eighth Life
⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🏋️‍♀️

✔️10. A book related to one of the Spice Girls' "personalities"
Sporty Spice
The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation
🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✔️11. A book about a person/character with a disability
Noor
⭐🎧

✔️12. A book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies
Revery: A Year of Bees
⭐⭐⭐🎧

✔️13. A book that has an object that is repeated on the cover
Starless Starless by Jacqueline Carey
⭐⭐⭐🏳‍🌈🎧

✔️14. A book with a con, deception, or fake
The Devotion of Suspect X
🎧⭐⭐⭐🌍

✔️15. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 1 - 1945
The Great Escape: A Canadian Story
⭐⭐⭐⭐🍁

✔️16. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 2 - takes place in 1617 in Norway The Mercies 🏋️‍♀️🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍

✔️17. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 3 - 2011
The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍

✔️18. A book related to science The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐🏋️‍♀️

✔️19. A book related to the arts
Sailing to Sarantium
⭐⭐⭐⭐🍁

20. A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel

✔️21. A book by an Asian diaspora author
Em
🍁

✔️22. A book with a faceless person on the cover The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8) by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz The Last Orphan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

23. A book with a body of water in the title

24. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy

✔️25. A book with a tropical setting Fruit of the Drunken Tree
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍🏋️‍♀️

26. A book related to pride

✔️27. A book by an author from continental Europe The Winners by Fredrik Backman 🏋️‍♀️🏳‍🌈🌍⭐⭐⭐

✔️28. A book that is dark A Deadly Education
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏋️‍♀️🎧

29. A book that is light

30. A book related to a chess piece

✔️31. A book found by inputting a favorite author on https://www.literature-map.com - Favourite author - Anne McCaffrey - The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✔️32. A book set in a UNESCO City of Literature - Durban, South Africa Let The Dead Lie
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧

✔️33. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍

✔️34. A novella
Finna
🏳‍🌈⭐⭐⭐

✔️35. A book with a school subject in the title A Curious History of Sex⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🦉🏋️‍♀️

36. A book that has been translated from another language

✔️37. A book with the theme of returning home The Night Masquerade⭐⭐⭐🎧

✔️38. A book with the sun, moon, or stars on the cover
The Space Between the Stars
⭐⭐

✔️39. A western
The Last Cowboy
⭐⭐🍁

40. A book with a full name in the title

✔️41. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
Hamnet
🎧⭐⭐⭐

✔️42. A book related to a ghost, spirit, phantom, or specter
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus
⭐⭐⭐🎧

✔️43. A book that involves a murder The Woman in the Library 🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐

44. A book where the cover design includes text that is not completely horizontal

✔️45. A book whose author has published more than 7 books The Girl from Summer Hill byJude Deveraux ⭐⭐⭐

✔️46. A title that contains a word often found in a recipe Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun ⭐⭐⭐⭐

✔️47. A book related to a geometric shape
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy
🎧⭐

✔️48. A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story The Master and Margarita ⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🌏

✔️49. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023
The Cartographers ⭐⭐⭐🎧

50. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
✔️51. A book published in 2023
Hell Bent
⭐⭐⭐⭐

✔️52. A book with an unusual or surprising title How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
⭐⭐⭐🎧


message 3: by Anastasia (last edited Jul 08, 2023 03:24PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments Shine and Shadow BINGO Challenge

B 30 Past group read that you couldn't participate in

✔️B28 Over 500 pages The Pariah

✔️B 34 Book adapted into a movie or TV show The Most Dangerous Game

✔️B 6 A queer retelling of a classic, a fairytale, or myth The King of Infinite Space

✔️B 40 With a paranormal element Even Though I Knew the End

✔️I 39 Mixed Media book Solved: How the World's Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis

✔️I 11 about asexuality or an asexual character Chaos Vector

✔️I 38 Low rating (3.3) on Goodreads I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness: A Novel

I 43 A book another member hated

✔️I 18 a book nominated for a monthly read that did not win
Pride: The Unlikely Story of the True Heroes of the Miner's Strike

✔️N 37 A nonfiction about an ethnic minority - We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🗑️


✔️N 33 A novella Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

Free Space

✔️N 44 Set in or about a non-patriarchal society The Privilege of Peace

N 42 White and black cover

✔️G 1 A book published the month of your birthday 2022 Killers of a Certain Age

✔️G 24 An author you have previously given a 1 or 2 stars rating The Peripheral by William Gibson

✔️G 22 Disabled MC - bonus if ableism is not a promient part of plot Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

✔️G 31 A book by a Native author outside of the USA Motorcycles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor 🍁

✔️G 4 Written by a celebrity Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

✔️O 35 The first book added to TBR that you have not read A Fortunate Life

✔️O 53 A book by Salman Rushdie Victory City

✔️O 60 A "Herstory" type book A Curious History of Sex

✔️O 29 A non fiction about a topic related to ethnic minorities Me Artsy

✔️O 23 A space opera The New Space Opera 2


message 4: by Anastasia (last edited Jul 08, 2023 03:28PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments ATY Discard Challenge

related to dreams (in honour of "I have a dream" speech

Gutenberg Project

✔️involving genetics, genealogy, traits, heredity, heritage - The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human

Shoe on the Cover

✔️involves art, music, dancing or acting - We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🍁🦉

✔️Scifi or Fantasy written by a woman - The Shorter Parts of Valor by Tanya Huff

Female or Non Bianary Explorer/Traveler

Power or Politics

3 books by the same author in 3 different genres.
Book 2
Book 3

Character travels for their job

✔️Set in an apartment building or house - Senlin Ascends - the tower of Babel

Tookie's Book List

✔️Disabled Characters POV - Chaos Vector

Australian Book Award

2 or more authors


message 5: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 43. Involves a murder

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
The Woman in the Library
⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🏋️‍♀️

I liked how the story was like nesting dolls. There are three stories, one inside the other, bringing a different mystery to each.


message 6: by Anastasia (last edited Mar 03, 2023 01:56PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments Bingo B 40 - With a paranormal element
Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk
Even Though I Knew the End
🎧🍁🏳‍🌈⭐⭐⭐⭐🦉

I loved the noir elements in this story. It was the typical detective story set in the 1920/30's, with speakeasies with the addition of magic and the paranormal.


message 7: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 45. An Author who has more than 7 books

The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux
The Girl from Summer Hill
⭐⭐⭐

I really needed something fluffy. Those January blues were hitting hard and this one hit the spot.

Some of the events jarred, or did not mesh with the story as seamlessly as I would have expected with such an accomplished author. I also looked up when the book was published as at least one name was dropped that did not fit with the character she was trying to depict. (It was published before #metoo)


message 8: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 18. Related to Science

The Glass Universe How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel
The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars
🏋️‍♀️🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the first true science book that I picked up this year so far. It think that this one is on my TBR from last years Glass prompt. It has one of those covers that if I had a paper copy I would have stared at for hours.


message 9: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 27. An Continental European author

The Winners (Beartown, #3) by Fredrik Backman
The Winners
⭐⭐⭐🌍

Someone else listed this in the thread as fitting here. I was not sure which authors suited so I am glad that someone else did the research.
I liked the other two books in the series. The repetitiveness at the beginning of this book annoyed me. If I had not read the other two books I would have Dnf'd.


message 10: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 2. An author you read in 2022

The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut Universe, #2) by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Fated Sky
Mary Robinette Kowal
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🏋️‍♀️

There are so many authors I could read for this slot, but I wanted to fit this book in somewhere. I like how she approaches such difficult subjects in easy to read stories.


message 11: by Anastasia (last edited Mar 03, 2023 01:56PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 5. 4 or More Colours on the cover
G22 Disabled MC - ableism is not a prominent part of the plot

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🦉🏋️‍♀️

This could have fit prompt 11 - a character with a disability but I have another book to put there.


message 12: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 10 A book related to a Spice Girls personality - Sporty Spice

The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation
The Eighty-Dollar Champion Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧

I seem to have a theme this year. I am choosing the books then finding the prompt that best suits them.

I read a book by this author last year. She made the animals in her non fiction books as important a personality as the humans. She did not disappoint with this book either.


message 13: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 13. Object repeats on the cover

Starless by Jacqueline Carey
Starless
⭐⭐⭐🎧
I am counting the stars as being a repetitive object


message 14: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 16. Book 2 of 3 from a different century
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The Mercies
🎧🏋️‍♀️🌍⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had another book listed on my plan for this spot. Like a few others my plans change frequently. They change when the planned book was not really that good and I know I can find better. It also changes when a book is really good and I want to share it with this group, so add it to my challenge. This was one of the latter.

The fact that this one started off reading as a saga would that was written at the time, was both difficult to read at first, and why I wanted to include it in my plan. Sometimes those difficult books pan out to be the best reads.


message 15: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 25. Tropical Setting

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍

I struggled with finding a book for this prompt. What exactly is tropical? Does that mean the book needs to take place in a jungle? At least that was my first thought. The one that kept circling around in my mind.

After looking up countries that are in the tropics and cross referencing books on my TBR for the around-the-world challenge I landed on this one. It takes place in Columbia. Most of it takes place in the city, but it does go to the mountainous regions outside of it too.

I am glad to mark this one off the list early in the year, so that I do not have to continue debating if a book set in a tropical country that has deserts in it counts as tropical.


message 16: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 28. Dark

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) by Naomi Novik
A Deadly Education
🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏋️‍♀️

A school that kills is students on a daily basis is definitely dark. The amount of PTSD in this book is remarkable.


message 17: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 31. A book found by inputting a favourite author in the literature map website

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
The Speed of Dark
Elizabeth Moon
⭐⭐⭐⭐

The author I entered was Anne McCaffery

I am very happy that I discovered this new author. I will be adding more of her books to my TBR


message 18: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 32. Set in A UNESCO city of literature

Let The Dead Lie (Detective Emmanuel Cooper, #2) by Malla Nunn
Let The Dead Lie
🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍
It takes place in Durban, South Africa

This was not on my TBR. This year I wanted to tackle the books I have already listed that I want to read. There are so many. This did not work out with this prompt. But there is always a silver lining.

This book does fulfil my other challenge of reading books from around the world. I learned more about the beginnings of the Apartheid in South Africa. That it was not a longstanding law, that it was started after the second WW, makes it even more horrendous.


message 19: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments Discard Challenge - Involves art, music, dancing or acting
Shine and Shadow Bingo Challenge - A nonfiction about an ethnic minority

We Were Dreamers An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🍁🦉🗑️

This was on the Canada Reads long list for 2023. I am so glad that it was. I highly recommend listening to the book. It is read by the author, who is a great actor. His emotions come through in the reading making it even more poignant.


message 20: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 1. The setting starts with A, T or Y
G4 - Written by a celebrity

Mycroft Holmes (Mycroft Holmes and Sherlock, #1) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Mycroft Holmes
by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍🦉

This was originally for the Shine and Shadow Bingo prompt, a book written by a celebrity, but when most of it was set in Trinidad it was the perfect fit for the A,T, Y setting prompt.


message 21: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 48. An unusually large animal in the story
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita
⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🌏

I so lucked into this one. It was originally on my list for the translated prompt. When I heard the cat described I was so excited. Finding an unusually large animal in a novel is not easy, while translated literature is so much easier.

He is not just a random animal either. He is an active participant with a voice, even better.


message 22: by LeahS (new)

LeahS | 1453 comments Anastasia wrote: "48. An unusually large animal in the story
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita
⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🌏

I so lucked into this one. It was originally on my list for the..."


I have that one down for this prompt. Did you enjoy it - I tried it before and couldn't settle into it, so I am determined to finish it this time.


message 23: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments LeahS wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "48. An unusually large animal in the story
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita
⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧🌏

I so lucked into this one. It was originally ..."


I have read some nonfiction about Russia about this time period and read some other Russian fiction. Because of that it was easier to understand some of the references he was making. I also listened to the audiobook, which I find makes it easier to get through the slow spots. I suggest finding a narrator you enjoy listening to if you try the audiobook.

The cat swinging from the chandelier shotting at the police while the apartment burned around them was very funny. I think part of it was the fact the narrator seemed to have fun while reading it.

HTH


message 24: by LeahS (new)

LeahS | 1453 comments Thank you. I have read other Russian fiction but mainly set in the nineteenth century, so I'll see how I get on. I might well go with an audiobook.


message 25: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 49. ATY Best Book of the Month

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
The Cartographers
⭐⭐⭐🎧

I am not sure what month this books was the best, but I probably just went through the list until I found one already on my TBR.
It was a quick read that did not consume to much of my limited mental capacity at the time. Which is exactly what I needed.


message 26: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 46. A title that contains a word in a recipe
Shine and Shadow N33 - A novella

Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
⭐⭐⭐⭐🦉

I enjoyed reading a story from the POV of an elderly female immigrant. There are snippets of POV from some of the characters she meets as well. It is interesting how they see her in comparison to how she views herself. It is a gentle reminder to treat others with kindness.

I love the cover of this one.


message 27: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 37. A theme about going home

The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3) by Nnedi Okorafor
The Night Masquerade
⭐⭐⭐🎧🏋️‍♀️

Binit is going home but it does not turn out how she imagines.

It is much like how we all wish that we can return to a time in our childhood when we felt safe. That it will still be the same. We know that it is not, nor can be.


message 28: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 22. A book with a faceless person on the cover
The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8) by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
The Last Orphan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I enjoy Evan Smoak's books. There are some strong female characters in the book as well, which make me smile.


message 29: by Anastasia (last edited Apr 22, 2023 06:41PM) (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 35. A book with a school subject in the title
O 60 Shine and Shadow Bingo prompt - A "Herstory" style book

A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister
A Curious History of Sex
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏋️‍♀️🦉

The author of this book was on Twitter posting tidbits about female sexual history. She went under the handle Whores of Yore. Of course I wanted to read a non fiction book that explored the history of sex from the female perspective.


message 30: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments Shine and Shadow Bingo G 31 - A book written by a Native author outside to the USA
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Penguin Modern Classics Edition by Drew Hayden Taylor
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass: Penguin Modern Classics Edition by Drew Hayden Taylor
🦉🍁⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I laughed out loud several times with this book. The pokes at white society were so good. There were quite a few tongue in cheek jokes that had me in stitches. I have put all of his other books on my list.


message 31: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 4. Interracial Relationship
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Reading List
⭐⭐⭐⭐🏋️‍♀️
The two main characters develop a friendship while reading library books from a mysterious reading list.

I immediately started making a similar list of books. :)


message 32: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 8. Debut Novel
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
Salt Houses
by Hala Alyan
⭐🎧
I want through my TBR searching for something to fit this prompt. Everything I tried I could not get through the first chapter. I stuck this one out just to knock it off the list.


message 33: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 9. A book nominated for an award starting with the letter W
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili
The Eighth Life
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌍🏋️‍♀️🎧

2020 WARWICK PRIZE FOR WOMEN IN TRANSLATION - WINNER

I loved this epic saga


message 34: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 11. Character with a Disability
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
Noor
⭐🎧🌍🏋️‍♀️d
The main character is born with out two of her limbs. She is then in a car accident which causes further disabilities. She choses to have implants and augmentations. This sets her even further apart from those in her society.


I read two books that would fall into this category. I read the other one for a different challenge. It is important to me that books with different types of main characters are represented in literature.

G22 - Disabled MC ( Bonus if ableism is not a prominent part of the plot) Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow


message 35: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 12. A book connected to birds, bees or bunnies
Revery A Year of Bees by Jenna Butler
Revery: A Year of Bees
⭐⭐⭐🍁🏋️‍♀️
This was on Canada Reads long list this year. It is a short book on raising bees on a hobby farm in Alberta.


message 36: by Anastasia (new)

Anastasia (anastasiaharris) | 1731 comments 15 and 17 books 1&2 from different centuries

The Great Escape A Canadian Story by Ted Barris
The Great Escape: A Canadian Story
1945
⭐⭐⭐⭐🍁

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World
2011
🌍🏋️‍♀️⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


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