Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The full moon has long fascinated cultures, who come up with their own folklore surrounding this modern spectacle in the sky. This week, you are finding a book that is related to one of the traditional names of the full moons.

Information about the Full Moon names and where they come from can be found here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy...
https://www.nps.gov/apis/learn/histor...

These are roughly broken down by months in the northern hemisphere.
Great Spirit Moon / Wolf Moon
Sucker Moon / Snow Moon
Crusted Snow Moon / Worm Moon
Sugaring Moon / Pink Moon
Flower Moon / Milk Moon / Mother's Moon
Strawberry Moon / Planting Moon / Mead Moon
Halfway Through Summer Moon / Buck Moon
Blueberry Moon / Sturgeon Moon / Dispute Moon
Ricing Moon / Harvest Moon
Bright Leaves Moon / Hunter Moon
Icing Over Moon / Beaver Moon / Mourning Moon
Little Spirit Moon / Cold Moon

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

What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit?

I found this interesting article about the moons and the traditional teachings by the Anishinaabe (a collective name for three tribes - the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi). For example, "The Big Spirit Moon’s purpose is to purify us and to heal all of Creation."

https://durhamcollege.ca/info-for/ind...

Because the moons are part of indigenous culture, I plan to read a book by an indigenous author and match the theme of the book to a moon teaching.

Here is an article from the Lakota Times regarding Lakota month names, which begin at each full moon:

https://www.lakotatimes.com/articles/...

I've said this before, but I highly recommend Moon of the Crusted Snow, and it's sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves.

I love it so much, and it fits so well that I have a hard time looking at other options, and so this category may well end up being a reread for me.

Blood Runs Cold by Neil Lancaster fits for this one. It's the second of a series I heard about on All Things Murderful.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
Sunlight on Cold Water - Francoise Sagan
The Dead of Winter (Josephine Tey #9) - Nicola Upson

I’ll probably go with buck moon since July is my birthday month. I’m going to leave this one open and not try to plan for it, although I have a few ideas.

I'm planning Once There Were Wolves for the January Wolf Moon, and Blood and Land: The Story of Native North America for Blood Moon which is the traditional name for the moon during a lunar eclipse - this was important to many ancient cultures, including the Mayan.

I’ve chosen another from my tbr for this prompt: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

Taking the easy way out with this one - Blue Moon by Lee Child.

I like one of these choices:
Smilla's Sense of Snow
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

I jumped the gun and read this in November - Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice. I think I liked this one even more than the first book. It appears that different tribes have slightly different names for the various moons, so I might look at multiple lists for inspiration for the next book.

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is also very good.

Denise wrote: "I like one of these choices:
Smilla's Sense of Snow
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"

How does the second book fit? It’s a possibility for another prompt I have (related to Hip, Hippie, Hipsters).

Oh I see - Tom Wolfe. Clever.

This is the only prompt that I have definitely decided what I'm going to read (unless I start it and it's a dud). For the full moon prompt I'm going with the Beaver Moon, and reading
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter


A couple of years ago I read The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World which was very interesting, so I'm hoping the same will be true in learning about another animal that I know very little about. PLUS, love the clever title!

I'm reading a book of poetry for this prompt: Seasons by Robert Frost. It includes Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Tracy wrote: "This is the only prompt that I have definitely decided what I'm going to read (unless I start it and it's a dud). For the full moon prompt I'm going with the Beaver Moon, and reading
[book:Eager: ..."

That sounds good to me too. Let me know if you like it!

NancyJ: not sure when I’ll be reading this but I’ll try to remember to let you know when I do!

The Finnish month names :-D

Oak moon
Pearl moon
Earth/soil/dirt moon
slash-and-burn moon (the traditional agricultural work of turning forest into fields)
Spring work moon (the agricultural works for springtime)
Summer moon
Hay moon
Harvest moon
Autumn moon
Mud moon
Death moon
Yule moon or Winter moon

Ketutar wrote: "The Finnish month names :-D

Oak moon
Pearl moon
Earth/soil/dirt moon
slash-and-burn moon (the traditional agricultural work of turning forest into fields)
Spring work moon (the agricultural works ..."

I find it interesting that different cultures have different names related to their region and life. So very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

For this prompt, I read:
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice - 3* - My Review

I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Midsummer is more or less halfway through summer

I read Pink Moon. This was cute and short, I don't think I would continue with the series but it was a good fit and easy enough to read.

I read High-Rise by JG Ballard, related to dispute.

I read Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder for the Wolf moon in January . I liked the author's honesty and lack of sentimentality, and there were powerful comments from the 'elder', Dan.

For my 2016 round, I read The Woman in Blue for 'blue moon'. Some of the important scenes were set at night, and there was a focus on women in the priesthood which seemed to fit with a moon theme. It was set in the week leading up to Easter, so also worked for the English traditional name, 'Lenten moon'.

So...I am gonna stretch this and say the book I just read Ghost works for this. Since there is both a great spirit moon and a death moon, and a ghost is like a spirit.

I read Penelope in Retrograde which has a full moon on the cover.

I am reading The Blue Note by Charlotte Bingham. A blue moon is the extra moon in a season with 4 full moons. It can also mean the 2nd full moon in a calendar month, or a moon that looks bluish, which is a rare event.

I read:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

REJECT: A book with royalty

Finished: 07/05/2025
Rating: 4 stars

From Goodreads:
In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

First in the Thomas Cromwell series. Hard to follow at times; just need to slow down and concentrate. Very well written.

I still need a round 2 book for this prompt. I think this might be the one. I wanted an indigenous book. It’s by the author of The Berry Pickers which I really liked.

Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories by Amanda Peters.

Originally I was reading Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter for Beaver Moon. It started out interesting (and I like the clever title), but eventually became very repetitive and was more about the people trying to save them (thank you!) than the beavers themselves. So, I DNF'd this and instead read:

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. This was a fairly long book (500+ pages), but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was about the possiblity that a women had actually written several of Shakespeare's plays (as well as other people who wrote under Shakespeare's name). Two timelines, both of them good.

So, the connection to Full Moons? The cover relates to both a Pink Moon and a Flower Moon.

I read The Summer We Ran. Summer Moon is during the summer solstice. The Native American name is Aabita-niibino-gilzisi.

I read Every Day Is Mother's Day, Hilary Mantel's debut novel, for "Mother Moon". It reminded me a lot of Shirley Jackson, or Muriel Spark, or The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing -- sort of a domestic horror novel, and very different from Wolf Hall!

My full review can be found here.

I read Black Ops and Beaver Bombing: Adventures with Britain's Wild Mammals (Beaver Moon) and Flower Fairies of the Summer (Flower and Summer Moons). That one was so short it felt a little cheaty, but since it was the second (and fit so well!) I'm counting it.

I read Blood Moon by Garry Disher for this topic (Read August 22nd; 4*)

I read The Blue Hour for the blueberry moon.