Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Welcome, Team Yellow Car! The theme of this Read-a-Thon is the Game of Life! So let's get into our little car and start playing!



Each group will be asked a series of questions, which you will answer with the books you read. You can answer these questions using the title, cover, or plot of the book.

THE PROMPTS

Childhood
A book with a bright colored cover
A book with a child as a major character
A book whose title includes the letter A, B, and C
A book related to a fairy tale, myth or legend
A book featuring a game or sport
A book by a debut author
A book with a main page genre of Child or Children
A book by an author who was once a child (*wink wink*)

Adolescence
A coming of age book
A romance
A book featuring a group of friends
A book where someone leaves home
A book with scenes in a school or college
A book with a pink cover
A book by an author whose initials are found in HIGH SCHOOL
A book with a rebellion

Adulthood
A book set in a workplace
A book where someone gets married
A book where money is a concern
A book with a house on the cover
A book where a child is born
A book with a green cover
A book by an author who has written 5+ books
A book featuring a dinner party

Middle Age
A book where someone changes jobs
A book that includes family problems
A book featuring a professional (doctor, lawyer, scientist, etc.)
A book where a relationship ends
A book where a character achieves success
A book where a character travels
A book whose title starts with a letter in ADULT
A book with an orange or red cover

Older Age
A book featuring a character over 65 years old
A book where someone deals with a death
A book you have been wanting to read for a long time
A classic
A book with a gray or white cover
The most recent book an author has published
The first book a prolific author (10+ books) had published

*Note: Just because a prompt is under a specific stage of life does not mean the main character needs to be that age. For example, you can choose a book featuring elderly people leading a rebellion, or middle aged people falling in love


The Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Team Leaders: Roxana and Sophia

Amy
Brittany
Emily B
Kathy
Samantha
Emma R

Yay, go Team Yellow Car! So excited to spend the week reading with y’all 💛

Looking forward to it! Haven't done one of these before. I'm starting this morning on The Brides of High Hill, a nice short book that I think will fit into the Adulthood/dinner party category.

Glad to join Team Yellow Car. I’m finishing (a little more than 100 pages left) The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore. It fits many prompts.

Good morning, looking forward to reading with team yellow car. My husband wanted to buy a yellow SUV a few years ago because it reminded him of one the old waterproof Walkman’s. I was less of a fan of having a bright yellow SUV so we got a black one.

I slept in so have done zero reading yet but I started Nothing Ever Happens Here yesterday and it’s going fast. Sadly it also seems to fit the title a little too well.

I said I would read 4-6 books. I have 7 books left in the primary yearly challenge so going to try to push myself.

Amy wrote: "Looking forward to it! Haven't done one of these before. I'm starting this morning on The Brides of High Hill, a nice short book that I think will fit into the Adulthood/dinner part..."

Welcome to your first read-a-thon :)

Hello Team Yellow Car 🚖 I had a few Libby loans come through so my plan is to read those. I think I’ll be able to find a spot for them. I’ve got Bees in June, Problematic Summer Romance, Fahrenheit 451, and Devolution. Started Bees in June and loving it so far ❤️🐝 Can’t wait to see what everyone is reading!

Samantha wrote: "Amy wrote: "Looking forward to it! Haven't done one of these before. I'm starting this morning on The Brides of High Hill, a nice short book that I think will fit into the Adulthood..."

Thanks!

Popping in to say hi, I'm very excited to have a team that's my favorite color! As always if you ever have issues/questions about the spreadsheet, don't hesitate to let us know. I'm starting the week with The Thursday Murder Club and Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America - nonfiction always takes me a while so I have to get started quick 😅

Amy wrote: "Looking forward to it! Haven't done one of these before. I'm starting this morning on The Brides of High Hill, a nice short book that I think will fit into the Adulthood/dinner part..."

I finished this one and then finished a book I'd already started (had 172 pages left), so a good start! Please let me know if I put things wrong on the spreadsheet.

I finished a book that fits in several slots. Is there a strategy to where we slot a book or just pick one?

Brittany wrote: "I finished a book that fits in several slots. Is there a strategy to where we slot a book or just pick one?"

You can just pick one! It's usually helpful to pick the prompt that has the fewest options available on the planning sheet but otherwise it's up to you.

On the completed tab, should I be assigning what I finished to just one category? Originally I just copied the plan column over to the completed tab, but I've now changed it to where I have one column and I slotted the two things I finished into prompts in that column.

Amy wrote: "On the completed tab, should I be assigning what I finished to just one category? Originally I just copied the plan column over to the completed tab, but I've now changed it to where I have one col..."

Each finished book counts for one prompt, yes! we check everything that a book might count for in the planning tab so that everyone can see what still needs filling but for the finished book, you pick just one prompt.

Amy wrote: "On the completed tab, should I be assigning what I finished to just one category? Originally I just copied the plan column over to the completed tab, but I've now changed it to where I have one col..."

Yup, you'll pick one prompt (of the however many it potentially fits) for your finished book, and add that into the spot for it in the category tab (the ones labeled "Childhood," "Adolescence," etc.) Then in the Completed Plans tab, you can add them as you originally did, where it's one column for one book, noting everything the book can potentially fit; I personally like to highlight the one I did end up putting it on, if we do it that way. Makes it a bit easier if anyone needs to move it later, when we've run out of prompts a bit more. :) I think it's also convenient to highlight the row of a completed prompt in the Plans tab, so everyone can see at a glance which have been filled or not.

I added your two to the prompts you picked for them and highlighted them on the Plans tab, so you can see what I mean! :)

A bit tangentially... What did you think of The Brides of High Hill? I love that series (and everything Nghi Vo writes, lol), but I feel like I don't run into *that* many people who've read them.

Oh I see! I completely ignored all the other tabs, like what did I think they were there for? lol

I liked The Brides of High Hill quite a lot - I've liked all in the series so far. This one had more horror in it than the other ones and I found it a nice addition. I really like her writing and have her "Gatsby" book on my list.

I finished The Lonely Hearts Book Club and put it under Middle Age: A book where someone changes jobs.

Amy wrote: "Oh I see! I completely ignored all the other tabs, like what did I think they were there for? lol

I liked The Brides of High Hill quite a lot - I've liked all in the series so far. This one had mo..."

The next one in the series comes out in October, I read an ARC (and loved it); it leans more horror, too, which I do think suits Vo's writing really well. The Gatsby one is fantastic, too! If you read & like it, I also highly recommend her Siren Queen, as well; I think it has more in common with the Gatsby retelling than with the Singing Hills novellas because it's also historical, some similar fantastical elements between them.

I finished The Graceview Patient tonight (very good, unsettling + gross) and put it in for Adolescence's "author whose initials are in HIGH SCHOOL" (Caitlin Starling).

Hey Team Yellow Car!

Sorry I was MIA yesterday - my toddler decided that playing on my laptop was more important that whatever I was trying to do on it, and I literally had to hide it in my closet to keep it from her lol.

I've added my things to the spreadsheet, including what I've read yesterday! Cheers for the yellow team!

Roxana wrote: "Amy wrote: "Oh I see! I completely ignored all the other tabs, like what did I think they were there for? lol

I liked The Brides of High Hill quite a lot - I've liked all in the series so far. Thi..."

Nice! I have the next one on hold at the library for when it comes out.

Hopefully I didn’t screw you all’s spreadsheet up too much in my excitement.

The Thursday Murder Club is done and I put it under "a book featuring a group of friends", and next I'm going to try and knock out The Young Colonists A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars since it's tagged as Childrens and it's pretty short.

Good morning. I finished Nothing Ever Happens Here. I will be starting Dominion shortly. It short so hopefully can read in a day or two.

I finished Black Woods, Blue Sky. I put it in the category of "A book whose title includes the letter A, B, and C" in the Childhood category.

Hi all,

I'm a late addition to the group. I've been in a super bad reading slump since the end of July and I'm hopeful this will help me start reading again. I've been working on finishing two books and will be adding those to the spreadsheet

Emma R. wrote: "Hi all,

I'm a late addition to the group. I've been in a super bad reading slump since the end of July and I'm hopeful this will help me start reading again. I've been working on finishing two bo..."

Welcome to the team!

I finished Dominicana and added it for Adolescence: A coming of age book.

I finished Dominion and put it under A book where a relationship ends.

I started A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, it might end up not being my cup of tea but going to give it a little longer before I decided if it is a DNF or not.

Hope everyone is having a great day of reading!

I finished The Birds by Aristophanes and put it for Older Age: A Classic.

I finished The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association and put it in the category of "a book with a child as a major character" in the Childhood section.

Finally done with The Young Colonists / A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars (that was a rough one!) and put it under "main page genre of Child/Children" and now to read something more fun I'm starting either Cahokia Jazz or The Forever King. We're doing an excellent job covering our options, so that's always good to see!

Y’all are crushing it!!

I feel like I haven’t finished almost anything, but I’m reading several books at the same time, so it’s very much a feast or famine situation where I’ll probably finish three or four in one day 😅

I'm glad you tackled the genre one, thanks for that Sophia :)

I've put a book each on the "green cover" and "pink cover" categories in the plan tab as they had zero plans so far.

I'm glad someone took the cover ones! I had a really hard time finding any pink covers outside of YA? I was willing to pick up if we really needed it 🤭

Sophia wrote: "I'm glad someone took the cover ones! I had a really hard time finding any pink covers outside of YA? I was willing to pick up if we really n..."

I had these two at the top of my list to read already. The pink one is definitely not a YA book, lol. That one you linked looks pretty good too, I wasn't reading a lot of graphic novels or comics when that came out so wasn't aware of it.

I finished The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and put it for Middle Age: A book where a character achieves success.

Sophia wrote: "I'm glad someone took the cover ones! I had a really hard time finding any pink covers outside of YA? I was willing to pick up if we really n..."

for what it's worth, Sex Criminals is great lol

Logged 2 books over the weekend. But then dipped off and didn’t get much reading done yesterday. But I’m back at it today! I think I’ll finish Fahrenheit 451. I’m thinking red cover slot if it’s still available. Happy reading everyone!

Finished Flawless Girls and placed it on the rebellion prompt. I'm close to finishing two more, whether tonight or early tomorrow.

I finished Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space and put it in the "book with a green cover" category in Adulthood.

Good morning. I finished A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and put it under a author with more that 10 books.

I started on When Among Crows this morning it should be quicky but I having a hard time staying focused. I am still hoping to finish it today.

If I can't focus I will start on my next read which is a graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. Technically I think it should be quick but I also might get lost in the pictures.

I finished Universality and put it under Middle Age: A book featuring a professional.

Just checking in to say that I'm about halfway through Cahokia Jazz (it's good, but slow going) and i am determined to finish tomorrow come hell or high water.

I finished All My Puny Sorrows and added it under "a book you've been wanting to read for a long time."

Added A Deadly Education to 'title starts with a letter in ADULT' and If We Were Villains to 'scenes in a school or college'.

I finished The Divine Flesh and put it in the category 'has a pink cover" under Adolescence. Holy crap, that book was something.

Now I need to figure out what to read next. I'll try to figure out something with multiple options.

Hey y'all, sorry I've been MIA this week! I ended up in the hospital a couple of days ago with some pre-term contractions (everything is ok, but they kept me overnight) so not much reading, and not much Goodreadsing.

Will catch up on my numbers, and I did finish The Homemade God, which I'll slot in!

Emily, I’m happy you’re okay! Take care.

Yes, glad to know you're all right!

Emily happy to hear you are doing ok, sounds scary.

I finished When Among Crows, I had intended to listen to it yesterday while I was doing some other things but I kept getting lost so had to read it with my eyes. Even that seemed to confuse me yesterday, seems like my brain wasn't screwed in correct.

I started Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and The Compound today.