Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

When I first started this challenge is was in 2015 when it was POP Sugar. There were several reasons I was looking to start a reading challenge. I needed something I loved to do that I could have total control over and was easy to complete. I really needed to have simple wins in my life to feel like I was able to win at something. The second was to expand my reading horizons. Both of those things happened.

Now I have a TBR that needs to be weeded down to something more manageable and I am again in a position were I need to feel I am in control. This year will be about removing books from that large TBR, whether it is by admitting I will never read that book, because it was DNF'd or by reading it.

I will try to be more diligent in tracking the books I read this year by adding a short reason why the book was chosen and what other books I possible DNF'd for each prompt. Each prompt will be planned ahead of time, but that book may not be used for the above stated reasons.

The following icons will be used to track the types of books that have been read for each prompt. It is more for those who maybe following this thread to help them in their search rather than any goals of my own. It also looks pretty when completed.

🏳‍🌈 or 🏳️‍⚧️ LGBTQ+
🎧 Audiobook
🌍Around the World (Somewhere other than the USA, Canada or the UK)
🍁Canadian


Each book when completed will have the cover and the title links displayed. It is difficult to follow the covers on the app, and this will make this list easier for those using either the app or desktop to access.

Please feel free to add suggestions for prompts with or without books listed, or to comment on my choices.

✔️1. A book with a cover that has an image of something that starts with A, T, or Y - An arch

Into the Broken Lands
🍁🏋️‍♀️🏳️‍🌈
5⭐


✔️2. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list - Character struggles with notoriety and fame

The Lightning Bottles
3⭐🍁

✔️3. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song

Swing: A Mystery
Jazz - music was mixed into the audio book
🎧
2⭐

✔️4. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld


A Letter to the Luminous Deep - under water
🏳️‍🌈🎧🏋️‍♀️
5⭐

✔️5. A book with a weird or intriguing title

Safecracker: A Chronicle of the Coolest Job in the World

✔️6. A book with a serpentine element on the cover

The Serpent's Shadow - Serpents
3⭐

✔️7. A book by an author that uses 3 names

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
3⭐🎧

✔️8. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings

Project Elfhome
3⭐

✔️9. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year

Boys Weekend - 2024
4⭐🏳️‍🌈

✔️10. A book about witches, goddesses or nuns

Weyward
3⭐🎧

✔️11. A book set in a fictional location

The Bruising of Qilwa
🏳️‍🌈🎧
3⭐

✔️12. A book by an Irish author

The Library at the Edge of the World
by Felicity Hayes-McCoy
3⭐🌍

✔️13. A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family


Sweetness in the Belly
5⭐🎧
An orphan who builds a family everywhere she goes.


✔️14. A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
3⭐🎧🏳️‍🌈🏋️‍♀️

15. A book of secrets, lies, or deception
The Connellys of County Down

16. A book that fits a prompt from the 2016 ATY list (22. The first book in a new to you series)
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams
I have wanted to start this series for a while now.

17. A history or historical fiction book set prior to 1925
Paris, 1919: Six Months that Changed the World
- a history

✔️18. A book set primarily in nature

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
🎧
3⭐


✔️19. A book with a cover that has a building or cityscape

Anna and the King of Siam
🎧🏋️‍♀️
4⭐


20. A book with an animal, vegetable (plant), or mineral in the title
Big Bear

21. A book connected in some way to any collective noun for animals
- Caravan ( Camels)
The Winter Road

22. A translated novel from Asia

The Tale of Genji- This is ambitious because of it's length, so it
maybe changed

23. A book that involves art, music, dancing or acting

Mister Magic - A children's television show similar to Romper Room

24. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal

25. A book with waves on the cover

Vacationland


26. A book by an author with a common noun in their name

27. A book set in the winter

28. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 1
29. Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles: Book 2
30. A monster book
31. A book with a coastal setting

32. A mystery or true crime book
Anywhere You Run
or
Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed and the Quest to Reach the Ends of the Earth

33. A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time

34. A book title that could be a country song
35. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists

36. A book with a common household object on the cover

The Diary of a Bookseller
- A cup

✔️37. A book featuring adult friendships
Project Hail Mary
Dr Rhyland Grace and Rocky
5⭐

✔️38. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 1 - Vikings - nonfiction

The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women
4⭐🎧

✔️39. Two books with a connection from different genres: Book 2 - Vikings, Fantasy

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
4⭐🎧

✔️40. A book you'd consider a comfort read

Elfhome
🏋️‍♀️
4⭐

✔️41. A book that involves digging up the past

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
4⭐🎧

✔️42. A book set in a manor, mansion, or estate

Gideon the Ninth
🎧
3⭐

43. A book whose title has ten or fewer letters
Norma

✔️44. A haunting book

Never Lie
🎧
3⭐

45. A book by an author whose publishing career spans at least ten years
46. A book related to one of the traditional full moon names
47. A book relating to fire

✔️48. A book with a character dealing with death

A Jingle Bell Mingle
4⭐🏳‍🌈

49. A book that deals with time travel, alternate universes, or alternate timelines
The Boat of a Million Years

50. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025

✔️51. A book published in 2025

Onyx Storm
🎧🏋️‍♀️
3⭐
52. A book with a sunset vibes on the cover

38. Two books with a connection from different genres - Book 1


The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women
4 ⭐
I always enjoy a good herstory.
The connection is Vikings.

37. A book featuring adult friendships


Project Hail Mary
5⭐
Dr Ryland Grace and Rocky become friends in a difficult environment, working together to solve an earth changing problem. It causes the Dr. Grace to grow as a person.
There are some gentle moments in a book that could have been violent instead.

39. Two books with a connection from different genres - Book 2


The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
4⭐🎧

The connection between the two books are Vikings. The previous book dealt with the true history of Valkyries. This book is a historical fantasy written as Christianity was being adopted by the people of Ireland.
Both books are told from the view point of women. The first one is written to correct the historical lens the Viking women have been written through. This second book takes that previous truth and tells a story of the old being replaced by the new way of life. The old "gods" or peoples that were worshipped as gods are learning to live in this world that believes in the "One God" and his son.

48. A book with a character dealing with death


A Jingle Bell Mingle
4 ⭐🏳‍🌈

I was not looking forward to this prompt. It was one that I contemplated using a wild card for, which I have not done in all the years of completing this challenge. Everyone deals with grief and loss of a loved one in different ways. I personally have been struggling for the last year with this emotion myself and did not want to have my coping mechanism taken away from me. Luckily for me I read this book by chance and it fit in this slot.

The male main character is a young widower who lost his wife 5 years ago during the Christmas season. The female character lost her parents at a young age during the same time of year. While these events happened a few years before the time period of the book, it is central to the plot.

Grief is dealt with in a caring way. It is not dismissed because the loss was a few years ago. It realistically depicts the effects of such a loss on each character and how it has shaped them, and how they are working through those emotions to become whole.

:) Romance stories have come along way in the last few decades.

1. A book with a cover that has an image of something that starts with A,T or Y


Into the Broken Lands
🍁🏋️‍♀️🏳️‍🌈
5⭐

Yeah, there is an arch!!!
I had another book in this slot, but moved it to another prompt as it fit that spaces better. I really lucked into this one. Tanya Huff is one of my go to authors.
There is currently a contraversy around female sci-fi and fantasy authors being relegated to their books being deemed romantasy. I thought it was a weird argument as so many of my favourite sci-fi and fantasy authors are female. Anne McCaffery,Melanie Rawn, Mercedes Lackey and Tanya Huff do not write romantasy. Yes, there can be romance in some of their work, but they are not the main plot.
So, of course I had to read one of their books to make sure that they are still part of the conversation.

3. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song


Swing: A Mystery
🎧
2⭐
The songs that the characters sing, or play are incorporated into the audio book and are performed in conjuction to the text. It was fun to have the songs be performed as if the book was a podcast, or radio program.
The main character is a jazz musician and music is instrumental to the story.