Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
2026 Plans
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GailW's 2026 ATY Reading Plan
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REJECT CHALLENGEincludes the prompts for the "Lists and Awards" challenge and the "Science, Social Issues, and A Sense of Place" challenge
☀ Progress: 0 / 55
Prompts by theme:
GENRE
1. A Bildungsroman (coming-of-age) book: Checkout 19
2. A biography, memoir, or autofiction: A Manual for Cleaning Women
3. A book on one of Goodreads New Releases by Genre page: Hot Wax
4. A book related to medical science or health: The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight
5. A book related to psychology, mental health or neuroscience: Selfless Act of Breathing
7. A book tagged by Goodreads readers as Literary Fiction: Happiness: A Novel
8. A magical realism or magical book: Ghost in my Suitcase
9. A mystery without a murder: Gaudy Night
JUST PLAIN FUN
10. a book by an author who shares one of your initials: H: Sadie Hartwell - A Knit before Dying
11. A book related to baking: Icing on the Murder
12. A book related to penguins: Death and the Penguin
13. A book that would fill a favorite prompt from last year's list: A Mystery or True Crime book: The Locked Room
21. A book with the word friend in the description: My Friends
LITERARY AWARENESS
22. A book about books: The Cat Who Saved Books
24. A book featured as a Book of the Month Club pick: The Lost Story (2024)
25. A book from any widely recognized list of your choice: PBS Great American Read: Ghost
26. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists: The Vanishing Half
27. A book listed in any ‘Best Books’ list of 2024 or 2025: Colored Television
28. A book on one of Obama’s reading lists: Anything is Possible
29. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2025 or 2026: Endling; The River Has Roots; Lula Dean's: Hazelbourne Ladies; Behind you is the sea; island of missing trees
30. A book set in an alternate history or an imaginary world/universe: Bozamba's Revenge
31. A book shortlisted for a Dublin Literary Award: Arthur & George
32. A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
34. A book that was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in any year: I have some Questions for You
35. A book that won an international literary award: author, László Krasznahorkai, won the Nobel Prize in 2025 and International Booker Prize in 2015: Chasing Homer
LOVED THE IDEA
-. 2 Weeks: :
37. * Book where the first word of the second title: House at the End of Hope Street
38. * Is the same as the last word of the first title: Rental House
-. 2 Weeks: Elena knows what time the Sexton's spade doth rust.
39. * Book where the second book's title provides a response or continuation…: What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust
40. * … of the first book's title: Elena Knows>>>>>>>>
-. 2 Weeks:
41. * Last name of one author: Phaedra Patrick - Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone
42. *... is the first name of the other author: Patrick Radden Keefe - Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
SOCIAL AWARENESS
44. A book about Women crossing borders and boundaries: The Lion Women of Tehran
45. A book connected to a Time's person of the year: Dear Barack: The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel
46. A book exploring personal or cultural identity: Death of an Author
47. A book featuring a holiday that you don't celebrate: The Latke in the Library & Other Mystery Stories for Chanukah
48. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues: Dayton Peace Prize: The Underground Railroad
49. A book that could fit the quote: “May you live in interesting times.”: So Far Gone
50. A book that includes a “forbidden” topic in polite conversation - the politics of vaccines: Vaccine Nation: Science, reason and the threat to 200 years of progress
51. A book that is related to one of the group’s moderators: Rad Women A-Z
52. A book that was banned or challenged: Freedom Writers Diary
54. A book with an orphaned or adopted character: BIPOC adoptee narrative:: Invisible Boy
WORLD AWARENESS
-. Three books: one in each quadrant of the world excluding North America::
55. * Read one book in the N+E hemispheres (Asia, Europe or Northern Africa): Europe (Belarus): A Replacement Life
56. * Read one book in the S+ E Hemispheres (Oceania, and Southern Africa): Oceania: Dragonfruit
57. * Read one book in the S+W hemispheres (South America): Habitus
58. A book about wildlife or nature conservation: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
59. A book connected to the Middle East in some way: Author from Egypt: Woman at Point Zero
60. A book related to a national park: An Unforgiving Place
61. A book set in a country bordering the Indian Ocean: Kuwait: The Book Censor's Library
62. A book set in one of the world’s great cities: Tokyo: Salvation of a Saint
63. A book set in or near the Caribbean: Cuba: Simone
64. A book set in the opposite hemisphere from where you reside: Southern- Bolivia: Affections
65. A book that takes place in a country/place along the path of totality for the 2026 solar eclipse: Iceland: History. A Mess.
66. A book with a “green” topic or character: The World We Once Lived In - author founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights in Kenya
67. A book with a desert setting: Signs Preceding the End of the World
ATY - WINTER-THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMASDuration: December 1, 2025 - February 28, 2026
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
1. The first letter of the title (excluding A, An and The)
2. The author's first and last initials
3. A genre on the main book page
4. The first initial of the first name of the book’s main character.
☃️ Progress: 0 / 24
1. T -
2. H -
3. E -
4. T -
5. W -
6. E -
7. L -
8. V -
9. E -
10. D -
11. A -
12. Y -
13. S -
14. O -
15. F -
16. C -
17. H -
18. R -
19. I -
20. S -
21. T -
22. M -
23. A -
24. S -
Books mentioned in this topic
The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories (other topics)The Locked Room (other topics)
Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone (other topics)
The Cat Who Saved Books (other topics)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Patrick Radden Keefe (other topics)Phaedra Patrick (other topics)
Sadie Hartwell (other topics)
Carmen Posadas (other topics)
Dina Nayeri (other topics)
More...


OFFICIAL CHALLENGE
☀ Progress: 0 / 40
1. A book from a genre that starts with A, T, or Y: YA: If You Find Me
2. A book with a primarily red, green or blue cover: The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories
3. A book that fits a prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list: A book that would fit the 26th prompt from any ATY52 year: 2021: A short book (<210 pages) by a new to you author: Why Do You Dance When You Walk? by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Djibouti
4. A book by a new-to-you author: Carmen Posadas - Little Indiscretions
5. A book you want to read because of something you read in 2025: The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri. I read her brother Daniel's book "Everything Sad is Untrue" which is on the same topic but written for middle grade.
6. A book related to blood, sweat, or tears: All the Colors of the Dark
7. A book with a character who appears in more than one book: Col. Race - Sparkling Cyanide
8. A book set in Africa, Asia, or Australia: Africa - Co-Wives, Co-Widows
9. A book with a number, ordinal, or iterative numeral in the title: Nineteen Steps
10. An award winning book: Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (2024): The Berry Pickers
11. A historical fiction book: Byron and the Beauty
12. A book with cover text that is NOT black or white: gold: I See You've Called in Dead
13. An author's second/sophomore book: Brendan Slocumb - Symphony of Secrets
16. A book featuring a character with a similar occupation to one of the Clue/Cluedo characters: maid: The Housemaid
18. A book with a location in the title: Death on the Nile, other book with the character Col. Race
22. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author: Gu Byeong-mo - Apartment Women
23. A book with a road trip or long journey: Less Is Lost
26. A book with a Z in the title and/or author name: Zuleikha - Guzel Yakhina
27. A nonfiction book: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
28. A book related to a resistance, rebellion, or revolution: The Silence and the Roar
29. A vacation book: An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
30. The most recently published book by an author…Kate Atkinson - Death at the Sign of the Rook
31… and a book from that same author's backlist: Transcription
32. A novella of 100-250 pages: Pereira Maintains
33. A book with an Indigenous character or author: both New Zealand Māori: Where the Rekohu Bone Sings
34. A book with a window on the cover: The Murder of Mr. Wickham
35. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a museum, a school, or another public building: The Library
36. A book with a primary character who is a woman over 40: Mother-Daughter Murder Night
37. A book that includes a science topic: Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy
38. A book that's part of a series: Dorothy Sayers Peter Whimsey and Harriet Vine: Have His Carcase
39. A book connected in some way to the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie: In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917
40. A book that has a punctuation mark in the title: Martyr!
41. A mystery or true crime book: Gone Before Goodbye
42. A book set in an isolated location: I Who Have Never Known Men
46. A book that is not a novel: short story collection: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
47. A book with "this", "that", "these", or "those" in the title: I Need You to Read This
48. A book with something edible in the title: Black Cake
49. A second book for your favorite prompt: A novella of 100-250 pages: The Good Life Elsewhere
50. A book with a bird on its cover: Death at Bishop's Keep
51. A book published in 2026: The Murder at World's End