Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This is my first ever attempt at this challenge. All books listed (except for the 2023 release) are books I already own.

COMPLETE

THE 2023 LIST
[✅] 1. A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y
TBR book: Gods of Jade and Shadow

[✅] 2. A book by an author you read in 2022
TBR book: Happy Place

[✅] 3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the 2023 list (can be found on Project Gutenberg)
TBR book: Emma

[✅] 4. A book with an interracial relationship
TBR book: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

[✅] 5. A book with 4 or more colors on the cover
TBR book: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

[✅] 6. A book where books are important
TBR book: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

[✅] 7. A book with ONE of the five "W" question words in the title
TBR book: I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

[✅] 8. An author's debut book
TBR book: Wuthering Heights

[✅] 9. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
TBR book: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

[✅] 10. A book related to one of the Spice Girls' "personalities"
TBR book: Carrie Soto Is Back

[✅] 11. A book about a person/character with a disability
TBR book: Girl, Interrupted

[✅] 12. A book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies
TBR book: A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation from Round River

[✅] 13. A book that has an object that is repeated on the cover
TBR book: How High We Go in the Dark

[✅] 14. A book with a con, deception, or fake
TBR book: Spinning Silver

[✅] 15. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 1 (mythological times)
TBR book: The Wolf Den

[✅] 16. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 2 (BCE-1700s)
TBR book: The Pillars of the Earth

[✅] 17. Three books, each of which is set in a different century: Book 3 (1800s-1900s)
TBR book: His Majesty's Dragon

[✅] 18. A book related to science
TBR book: The Gene: An Intimate History

[✅] 19. A book related to the arts
TBR book: All's Well

[✅] 20. A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel
TBR book: The Last House on Needless Street

[✅] 21. A book by an Asian diaspora author
TBR book: The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

[✅] 22. A book with a faceless person on the cover
TBR book: The Book Eaters

[✅] 23. A book with a body of water in the title
TBR book: A River Enchanted

[✅] 24. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy
TBR book: The Final Empire

[✅] 25. A book with a tropical setting
TBR book: One Hundred Years of Solitude

[✅] 26. A book related to pride
TBR book: Red, White & Royal Blue

[✅] 27. A book by an author from continental Europe
TBR book: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

[✅] 28. A book that is dark
TBR book: Rebecca

[✅] 29. A book that is light
TBR book: The Light Pirate

[✅] 30. A book related to a chess piece
TBR book: I Capture the Castle

[✅] 31. A book found by inputting a favorite author on https://www.literature-map.com
TBR book: Magic for Liars

[✅] 32. A book set in a UNESCO City of Literature
TBR book: Normal People

[✅] 33. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
TBR book: The Kaiju Preservation Society

[✅] 34. A novella
TBR book: Every Heart a Doorway

[✅] 35. A book with a school subject in the title
TBR book: The Secret History

[✅] 36. A book that has been translated from another language
TBR book: The Easy Life in Kamusari

[✅] 37. A book with the theme of returning home
TBR book: The Hollow Places

[✅] 38. A book with the sun, moon, or stars on the cover
TBR book: Daughter of the Moon Goddess

[✅] 39. A western
TBR book: The Hunger

[✅] 40. A book with a full name in the title
TBR book: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

[✅] 41. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
TBR book: The Hacienda

[✅] 42. A book related to a ghost, spirit, phantom, or specter
TBR book: Gideon the Ninth

[✅] 43. A book that involves a murder
TBR book: Wrong Place Wrong Time

[✅] 44. A book where the cover design includes text that is not completely horizontal
TBR book: Thistlefoot

[✅] 45. A book whose author has published more than 7 books
TBR book: The Mist

[✅] 46. A title that contains a word often found in a recipe
TBR book: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

[✅] 47. A book related to a geometric shape
TBR book: When the Moon is Low

[✅] 48. A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story
TBR book: Cackle

[✅] 49. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023
TBR book: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

[✅] 50. A second book that fits your favorite prompt (translated)
TBR book: The Sound of Things Falling

[✅] 51. A book published in 2023
TBR book: Age of Vice

[✅] 52. A book with an unusual or surprising title
TBR book: I'm Glad My Mom Died

January Wrap-Up

February Wrap-Up

March Wrap-Up

April Wrap-Up

May Wrap-Up

June Wrap-Up

July Wrap-Up

August Wrap-Up

September Wrap-Up

October Wrap-Up

November Wrap-Up

December Wrap-Up

Buzzword Reading Challenge

COMPLETE

[✅] January: "life" and "death": The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

[✅] February: verbs: Spinning Silver

[✅] March: "secret": The Secret History

[✅] April: emotions: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

[✅] May: flavors/seasonings: House of Salt and Sorrows

[✅] June: "other": The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

[✅] July: weather words: The Quarter Storm

[✅] August: body parts: The Bone Ships

[✅] September: game words: Pachinko

[✅] October: magic words: Magic for Liars

[✅] November: "good": All Good People Here

[✅] December: sound words: Cackle

Overeducated Women with Cats Reading Challenge

COMPLETE

[✅] January: a book by a BIPOC author: The Blood Trials

[✅] February: a book that spans multiple generations: One Hundred Years of Solitude

[✅] March: a book purchased from your local independent book store: House of Hunger

[✅] April: a book that has been on your TBR for over a year: They Mostly Come Out at Night

[✅] May: a book that passes the Bechdel test: Carrie Soto Is Back

[✅] June: a book by an indigenous author: White Horse

[✅] July: a book with less than 500 Goodreads reviews: Branches

[✅] August: a book translated from another language: The Sound of Things Falling

[✅] September: a debut novel: The Fortunes of Jaded Women

[✅] October: a collection of short stories: Fruiting Bodies: Stories

[✅] November: a book with a cat on the cover: The Last House on Needless Street

[✅] December: a classic you've always meant to read: Emma

January Summary:

13 books, 4222 pages, average 4.08 star rating

3 fantasies, 3 mysteries, 2 horror, 2 contemporary fiction, 2 historical fiction, 1 scifi

11 novels, 2 novellas

10 by female authors, 3 by male authors

9 white authors, 2 Black authors, 2 asian authors

February Summary:

11 books, 4,026 pages, average 3.5 star rating

4 romance, 2 fantasy, 2 historical fiction, 1 mystery, 1 thriller, 1 classic, 1 memoir

10 novels, 1 novella

9 female authors, 1 male author, 1 nonbinary author

8 white authors, 1 Black author, 1 Asian author, 1 Latinx author

March Summary:

12 books, 4,095 pages, average 3.8 star rating

1 romance, 1 mystery, 2 horror, 1 memoir, 2 fantasy, 2 contemporary fiction, 2 sci fi, 1 thriller

1 translated work

9 novels, 3 novellas

10 female authors, 2 male authors

4 white authors, 2 Black authors, 3 Asian authors, 2 Latinx authors

April Summary:

27 books, 7881 pages, average 3.7 star rating

12 horror, 8 fantasy, 3 scifi, 1 mystery, 1 thriller, 1 romance, 1 memoir

19 novels, 8 novellas/short stories

5 self- or indie-published books

1 translated work

16 female authors, 8 male authors

14 white authors, 5 Asian authors, 2 Black authors, 2 Latinx authors, 1 Native American author

May Summary:

14 books, 5489 pages, average 4.1 star rating

2 horror, 5 fantasy, 3 thriller, 1 historical fiction, 1 romance, 2 literary fiction

13 novels, 1 novella, 1 ARC, 1 YA

11 female authors, 3 male authors

12 white authors, 2 asian authors

Woooowwwww, look who never posted her June Summary

15 books, 4608 pages, average 3.6 star rating

1 contemporary fiction, 2 mystery, 4 scifi, 4 horror, 1 fantasy, 1 romance, 1 nonfiction

13 novels, 1 short story, 1 poetry collection, 2 translated works

8 female authors, 7 male authors

6 white authors, 3 asian authors, 2 native American authors, 1 Black author, 1 middle-eastern author

July Summary:

12 books, 4911 pages, average 3.6 star rating

2 horror, 1 historical fiction, 2 thriller, 2 mystery, 2 fantasy, 3 scifi (we're here for the escapism this month)

11 novels, 1 manga

2 indie/self-published works

1 translated work

8 female authors, 4 male authors

9 white authors, 2 asian authors, 1 Black author

August Summary:

14 books, 4964 pages, average 3.7 star rating

4 historical fiction, 2 mystery, 3 fantasy, 2 horror, 1 thriller, 1 literary fiction, 1 comedy

2 translated works

5 male authors, 8 female authors

9 white authors, 1 Latinx author, 2 asian authors

September Summary:

16 books, 5625 pages, average 3.9 star rating

5 fantasy, 5 horror, 1 thriller, 1 mystery, 1 non fiction, 2 historical fiction, 1 contemporary fiction

4 male authors, 12 female authors

13 white authors, 3 asian authors

October Summary:

12 books, 3839 pages, average 3.9 star rating

5 horror, 3 short stories or anthologies, 1 fantasy, 1 thriller, 1 memoir, 1 historical fiction

1 translated work, 5 LGBTQ+ works, 3 BIPOC works

3 male authors, 8 female authors, 1 anthology with multiple authors (2 male editors)

10 white authors, 1 author of Asian descent, 1 anthology of Indigenous authors

November Summary:

The reading slump was slumping

10 books, 3855 pages, average 3.8 star rating

2 fantasy, 1 memoir, 3 nonfiction, 1 thriller, 1 horror, 1 historical fiction, 1 lit fic

7 female authors, 3 male authors

December Summary:

I typically use December to finish some series, ensuring I go into the new year with less baggage. I also feel like finishing series eases some end-of-the-year reading pressure.

I read 9 books (DNF 1), 4123 pages, average 4.3 star rating

7 fantasy, 1 classic, 1 mystery

3 male authors, 4 female authors

LGBT representation in 4 books, and BIPOC representation in 3 books.