Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Happy Lunar New Year! We are ringing in the Year of the Snake, and with that, we are hunting for a book that has a serpentine element on the cover. This can be a literal snake, or a winding river, or another serpentine element.

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this week?

I've gone back and forth (haha, kind of serpentine) among various options, but I think I'm going with and

Others I have that would work, but that I'm using for other prompts, are , , and .

But I ended up reading

234 books on the list but none are jumping out at me. But I'm sure I have books with roads or rivers on them I will use.

I'm using and .

I will probably use .

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

It’s the second book in the series. Hopefully I like the first book well enough to continue because I don’t have a back up plan!

I might try to get to the second book in the trilogy, . I really recommend the first book!

My next door neighbor LOVES the Ruth Galloway series and encouraged me to try it a couple of years ago. I read the first three and enjoyed them, so I'll try to catch up on the series in 2025.

A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.

I’m planning on reading The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.

I feel like the non-serpentine-shaped snake on Sunrise on the Reaping is ruining the aesthetic, but it's an option, because I know I'll end up reading it.

This is one of those prompts where I knew what it had to be almost immediately:



I keep finding other serpentine covers, though, and I'll put what I have so far in case it helps other people:

I definitely want to read a book I own. some choices include:
City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
The Crime of Olga Arbyelina by Andreï Makine
The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso

I'm going for a path that snakes - The Hiker by M.J. Ford

I want to finish the Dune series (Frank's six books) in 2025, and I have this edition of Heretics of Dune that I'll be putting in this prompt:

For me, it's The Neverending Story.

I'm currently thinking about one of the following:

-The Hike by Drew Magary
-There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
-Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt

I'm planning to wrap up my Hunger Games experience:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Do these look close enough?

I'd say so, NancyJ.

Same Tania.

My first book of 2025 was Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley. I liked it, and I think it will set an interesting tone for the year.

I read the path from the monument is serpentine

I read Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu.


This book is also on the Tournament of Books short list.

I have Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, but I'm honestly not excited about it. My kid wants to read it, so if she does, I will likely read it with her.


More likely I will read either The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins or The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters.

I read:
The Jade Dragon by Garrett Hutson

REJECT: A book with an East-West connection

Finished: 01/23/2025
Rating: 3.5 stars

Set in 1930's Shanghai, a US Naval analyst (West) is sent to Shanghai (East) on a "secret mission" and becomes involved in all sorts of intriguing situations while trying to find out who killed a childhood friend. First in a series; lots of loose ends.

So many good serpentines! I read by Amy Tintera, which shows a serpentine microphone cord.

I read Carpentaria by Alexis Wright for this topic. (Read Feb 9th;3*)

Kathy wrote: "I read Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu.


This book is also on the Tournament of Books short list."

Me too!

Would the lightening on the cover of Revival count as serpentine?



I do have a couple of others that could count. I'm just trying to throw this book somewhere.

Do you think I could use a book with the WORD "serpentine" on it? Would that count?

I'd say that's a serpentine element! Also, the S itself would be enough to fulfil the prompt, so I think you're covered.

On my TBR. Fell behind this week; I’m just a girl in the world.

Angie wrote: "For me, it's The Neverending Story.

"

I copied Angie's pick. I have been meaning to read that book for almost 40 years.

I read Infinite Country by Patricia Engel.

I read The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. 5 stars. I enjoyed it.

I read The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North, 5 stars.

I read

I enjoyed Navigational Entanglements, which has a stylised snake middle right.

For this prompt, I read:

The Famished Road by Ben Okri - 3.5* - My Review

As serpentine as you can get!

Trish wrote: "I enjoyed Navigational Entanglements, which has a stylised snake middle right.
"

Wow good eyes!! That artwork is amazing.

I didn’t think I had another book for round 2, but after enlarging the titles I found these:




✅The Mighty Red
✅Snow Road Station
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
✅The Maniac
✅The Music of Bees
Summer of '69

I read which was a lovely, gentle read and - not one of the author's best, although the setting was interesting.

I needed a book to accompany my Tour de France viewing, and I'd already used the "breakfast club" (athlete) category. However, I'd say the line of cyclists on a curving road on the cover counts as a serpentine element!

That's the one I plan to read, but I suppose if I wanted to go for a truly serpentine road, it'd have to be the famous Alpe d'Huez climb from the tour, and apparently there's a book/cover for that too...

I read Sunrise on the Reaping

I read Dominion.

I am reading Fear in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. It's a long shot but the S in the title is very snakelike!

I read Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. The cover has a ribbon behind the title:
.

I really enjoyed this book much more than I anticipated. The inner dialogue of the protagonist (14 or 15 year old girl) about understanding, accepting, and loving people was wonderful.

I'd love to read more by this author, but her next book is a bit of a mystery. She announced that it was supposed to be published in early (January?) 2024, but it does not seem to have happened. The title was supposed to be "Mary Ann" and is a work of historical fiction, but it is nowhere to be found. There is nothing more on her website, and the time between this latest announcement, and her most recent previous post had an 8 year gap!

Anne wrote: "I am reading Fear in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. It's a long shot but the S in the title is very snakelike!"

Anne, I think the road pictured in the top half of the cover is very serpentine and not a stretch at all!