Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

2026 Challenge
Completed: 0/52

1. A book from a genre that starts with A, T, or Y
2. A book with a primarily red, green or blue cover
3. A book that fits a prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
4. A book by a new-to-you author
5. A book you want to read because of something you read in 2025

6. A book related to blood, sweat, or tears
7. A book with a character who appears in more than one book
8. A book set in Africa, Asia, or Australia
9. A book with a number, ordinal, or iterative numeral in the title

10. An award winning book
11. A history or historical fiction book
12. A book with cover text that is NOT black or white
13. An author's second/sophomore book
14. A book related to a painting by Vincent Van Gogh

15. A book you've wanted to read for a long time
16. A book featuring a character with a similar occupation to one of the Clue/Cluedo characters
17. A book set in the wellness or beauty industries
18. A book with a location in the title

19. A book related to yesterday
20. A book related to today
21. A book related to tomorrow
22. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author

23. A book with a road trip or long journey
24. A book that is either frothy or gothy
25. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list
26. A book with a Z in the title and/or author name
27. A nonfiction book

28. A book related to a resistance, rebellion, or revolution
29. A vacation book
30. The most recently published book by an author and a book from that same author's backlist: Frontlist Book
31. The most recently published book by an author and a book from that same author's backlist: Backlist Book

32. A novella of 100-250 pages
33. A book with an Indigenous character or author
34. A book with a window on the cover
35. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a museum, a school, or another public building
36. A book with a primary character who is a woman over 40

37. A book that includes a science topic
38. A book that's part of a series
39. A book connected in some way to the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie
40. A book that has a punctuation mark in the title

41. A mystery or true crime book
42. A book set in an isolated location
43. A book involving survival
44. A book with a symbol of death on the cover

45. A book connected to "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
46. A book that is not a novel
47. A book with "this", "that", "these", or "those" in the title
48. A book with something edible in the title
49. A second book for your favorite prompt

50. A book with a bird on its cover
51. A book published in 2026
52. A book related to the name of one of Santa's reindeer

2026 Plan/Ideas prompts 1-26

1. A book from a genre that starts with A, T, or Y
Adventure:
Travelogue:
YA: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. A book with a primarily red, green or blue cover
Red: The Women by Kristin Hannah (also #4)
Blue: Y No Se Lo Trago La Tierra / ...and the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera (also #4)
Green:
3. A book that fits a prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
- A book exploring personal or cultural identities
4. A book by a new-to-you author
The Betrothed: A Novel by Alessandro Manzoni

5. A book you want to read because of something you read in 2025

6. A book related to blood, sweat, or tears
Blood Music by Greg Bear
7. A book with a character who appears in more than one book
8. A book set in Africa, Asia, or Australia
Africa
Asia: Lenin's Kisses by Yan Lianke
Australia
9. A book with a number, ordinal, or iterative numeral in the title

10. An award winning book
Feed
11. A history or historical fiction book
China by Edward Rutherfurd
12. A book with cover text that is NOT black or white
Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
13. An author's second/sophomore book
So Disdained by Nevil Shute
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
14. A book related to a painting by Vincent Van Gogh
Whitehorn's Windmill by Kazys Boruta
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

15. A book you've wanted to read for a long time
16. A book featuring a character with a similar occupation to one of the Clue characters
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
The Campus Trilogy: Changing Places / Small World / Nice Work by David Lodge
17. A book set in the wellness or beauty industries
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
18. A book with a location in the title
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci

19. A book related to yesterday
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
20. A book related to today
21. A book related to tomorrow
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (reread)
22. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author

23. A book with a road trip or long journey
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
24. A book that is either frothy or gothy
Gothy: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë; The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake
25. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list
The Plot Against America; The Poisonwood Bible; Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light; Vineland; The Book of Disquiet; Neuromancer; Foucault’s Pendulum; White Noise; The Name of the Rose
26. A book with a Z in the title and/or author name
The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig; Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig

2026 Plan/Ideas: 27-52

27. A nonfiction book
28. A book related to a resistance, rebellion, or revolution
29. A vacation book
30. The most recently published book by an author and a book from that same author's backlist: Frontlist Book
31. The most recently published book by an author and a book from that same author's backlist: Backlist Book

32. A novella of 100-250 pages
33. A book with an Indigenous character or author
34. A book with a window on the cover
35. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a museum, a school, or another public building
36. A book with a primary character who is a woman over 40

37. A book that includes a science topic
38. A book that's part of a series
39. A book connected in some way to the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux (train)
40. A book that has a punctuation mark in the title
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light

41. A mystery or true crime book
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
42. A book set in an isolated location
Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa
43. A book involving survival
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
44. A book with a symbol of death on the cover

45. A book connected to "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
Frightening:
46. A book that is not a novel
Non-Fiction
47. A book with "this", "that", "these", or "those" in the title
That Was Then, This Is Now (reread)
48. A book with something edible in the title
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
49. A second book for your favorite prompt

50. A book with a bird on its cover
The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
51. A book published in 2026
52. A book related to the name of one of Santa's reindeer
Thunderstruck
The Comet Seekers

Books I own that I plan to Read (finalize by Dec 31 2025)

1. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
2. The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
3. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
4. Independent People by Halldór Laxness
5. The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
6. Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
7. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
8. October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Miéville
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
10. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
11. Y No Se Lo Trago La Tierra / ...and the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera
12. The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso
13. World of Wonders by Robertson Davies
14. Ties by Domenico Starnone
15. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
16. China by Edward Rutherfurd
17. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
18. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
19. Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa
20. The King's General: A Gripping Historical Tale of War and Desire by Daphne du Maurier

Library Book Club Reads

NTLTRC Group Reads
Try to fit these in!

Jan-Feb
Franz Kafka: Amerika: The Trial, The Castle

March
Mario Vargas Llosa: Le dedico mi silencio or Death in the Andes or Conversation in the Cathedral
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

May
Daphne du Maurier: The King's General
Don Casmurro by Machado de Assis

May-June: Gabriel García Márquez

July
Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence

August
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

September
Justine by Lawrence Durrell

Nov-Dec
Mikhail Lermontov: A Hero of Our Time

November
Thomas Hardy: Mayor of Casterbridge or Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Continung a personal challenge from 2025:
Read 3 Nobel Laureates - 0/3
Include only ones not read in 2025

1,
2.
3.

My list is off-line but here are some choices:

Anatole France (1921) Penguin Island
Thomas Mann (1929) The Magic Mountain
Herman Hesse (1946)
Halldor Laxness (1955) Independent People, The Fish Can Sing
Saul Bellow (1976) The Adventures of Augie March, Henderson the Rain King
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982) One Hundred Years of Solitude
Toni Morrison (1993) The Bluest Eye
Kenzaburo Oe (1994)
Gunter Grass (1999)
Orhan Pamuk (2006) Snow, My Name Is Red, The White Castle
Doris Lessing (2007) The Golden Notebook, The Grass Is Singing
Herta Muller (2009)
Mario Vargas Llosa (2010) Death in the Andes
Mo Yan (2012) Red Sorghum
Alice Munro (2013)
Patrick Modiano (2014)
Svetlana Alexievich (2015)
Olga Tokarczuk (2018) - The Books of Jacob
Peter Handke (2019)
Annie Ernaux (2022)
Jon Fosse (2023)
Han Kang (2024) - Greek Lessons
TBD (2026)

Authors at the Santa Fe Literary Festival in March

Santa Fe Literary Festival
* - Priority/most interest

*Liz Moore - The God of the Woods
*Ocean Vuong - The Emperor of Gladness
James McBride - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Lauren Groff - Brawler: Stories, Fates and Furies,Matrix
*Carl Hiaasen - Fever Beach
Vigil - George Saunders
Rebecca Solnit - The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change - Coming out in March 2026
Judy Blume
Isabel Wilkerson - The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
*Wade Davis: The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombis, and Magic, Beneath the Surface of Things: New and Selected Essays
*Colm Tóibín - Long Island, Brooklyn

New books (2025 & 2026) - Award nominees and winners

reserved for whatever....