Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This is the thread for you to boast about completing the challenge!

Winter Scavenger Hunt

On the twelfth day of Christmas
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
Why? One short story in this collection is called The twelve clues of Christmas

my true love gave to me
Tinsel Street
Why? Doubts about a 'true love' and a significant gift.

twelve drummers drumming
Drummer Girl

eleven pipers piping
Eleven lines to somewhere
Why? The London underground system is important; the Tube map resembles pipes.

ten lords a-leaping
Cecily
Why? Set at the end of the 100 Years War and the start of the Wars of the Roses - many lords leaping into battle.

nine ladies dancing
The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens
Why? Dancing was a pastime and a role for ladies-in-waiting

eight maids a-milking
Milk: On Motherhood and Madness

seven swans a-swimming
Swanfall

six geese a-laying
Death at the Sanatorium
Why? Six employees at a deserted sanatorium - and murder.

five gold rings
Five Gold Rings: Where Christmas magic meets real-life messiness

four calling birds
Under a Fire-Red Sky
Why? Four teenagers flock together during the Blitz

three French hens
Handa's Hen Bilingual French-English

two turtle doves
The voice of the turtle

and a partridge in a pear tree.
The Return of the Grey Partridge: Restoring Nature on the South Downs
and
My Brother's Ghost by Allan Ahlberg
Why? Author also wrote Each Peach Pear Plum

I went the letter route.

T - Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey
H - A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon
E - Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
T - A Home for the Holidays by Taylor Hahn
W- A Wonderful Christmas Crime by Jacqueline Frost
E - Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
L - The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford
V - The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
E - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (MC: Esther)
D - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A - Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
Y - More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
S - The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan
O - Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
F - Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
C - Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood
H - The Storm by Rachel Hawkins
R - The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
I - Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer
S - The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler
T - Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
M - The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia
A - All I Want Is You by Falon Ballard
S - The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

Winter Scavenger Hunt
Prompts: 14/14

On the twelfth day of Christmas - Christmas in Chicago is Murder
My true love gave to me… - Bessie’s Gift: A Tudor Short Story of the Mistress Who Gave Henry VIII His First Son
Twelve drummers drumming, - The Yada Yada Prayer Group (Twelve members)
Eleven pipers piping, - The Waxwork Man (Eleventh in series)
Ten lords a-leaping, - Ten Days in a Mad-House
Nine ladies dancing, - The Gang of St Bride's (Ninth in series)
Eight maids a-milking, - Henry VIII: A Life from Beginning to End,
Seven swans a-swimming, - Vanishing Act (Seven "sisters" aka the vigilantes)
Six geese a-laying, - The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - A Nightmare in Whitechapel (Sixth in series)
Five gold(en) rings, - Five Weeks in a Balloon
Four calling birds, - The Four Just Men
Three French hens, - Search for a King: The Star Rises (Three Wise Men)
Two turtle doves - The Gentleman Thief (Two Thieves)
And a partridge in a pear tree - The Second Coming of Christ: Living with Anticipation, Joy, and Eternal Perspective for His Glorious Return (Grapevine Edition), A.W. Tozer

Dixie's Winter Challenge Attempt Finished! 2/1/2026

√On the twelfth day of Christmas Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas (title and topic!)
√My true love gave to me… Thirteen Months of Sunrise because this sounds like the next in the sequence!
√Twelve drummers drumming, Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend There's a great deal of crashing in this book
√Eleven pipers piping, Time and Mr. Bass Lots of music in this book, as well as the "piping" voices of the Basidiumites.
√Ten lords a-leaping, The Lost World the story actually contained Lord Roxton a-leaping through the jungle
√Nine ladies dancing, A Wallflower Christmas with ladies dancing
√Eight maids a-milking, Finn Family Moomintroll (The Snork Maiden)
√Seven swans a-swimming, Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me About seven women, the six sisters plus the author
√Six geese a-laying, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet not geese, but a hen a-laying is an important plot point
√Five gold(en) rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
√Four calling birds, A Charm of Goldfinches and Other Collective Nouns groups of birds, some of them calling!
√Three French hens, Last Night in Montreal Speaking French is part of the story
√Two turtle doves The Austen Affair (lovebirds)
√And a partridge in a pear tree. Shibui: The Japanese Art of Finding Beauty in Aging (fruit on the cover)

√T The Two Towers (title)
√H Half World (title)
√E The Fire Next Time (genre: Essays)
√T Then Came You (title)
√W Devil's Daughter (main character Weston)
√E Emergence (title)
√L The Last Animal (title)
√V Voyager: Constellations of Memory (title)
√E Endling (title)
√D Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (title)
√A Ayesha at Last (title)
√Y You Have Arrived at Your Destination (title)
√S Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health (genre: Science)
√O Oh, I Do Like to Be (title)
√F The First Men in the Moon (title)
√C Darkest Light (Genre: Canadian fiction)
√H The Heroine's Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture(title)
√R Raven's Haven for Women of Magic (title)
√I It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History (title)
√S Sinkable: Obsession, the Deep Sea and the Shipwreck of the Titanic (title)
√T The Return of the King (author Tolkien)
√M Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? (author Moore)
√A All Passion Spent (title)
√S Zahrah the Windseeker (Genre: science fiction)

Spell Out
Finished 02/02/2026

T - The Ripper Lives(#1 To Catch A Killer)
H - Hourly History, Paul Newman: A Life from Beginning to End
E - Easter Rising: A History from Beginning to End
T - The Boys in Chicago Heights: The Forgotten Crew of the Chicago Outfit (Genre: True Crime)
W - Wind River
E - E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
L - The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - The Living and the Dead
V - Vote For Murder: A Suffragette Murder Mystery
E - Ellis Peters, The Virgin in the Ice
D - Deadwood: A History from Beginning to Present
A - An American Carol
Y - Luck of the Titanic (Genre: Young Adult)
S - Saving Ebenezer: The Continuing Saga of a man named Scrooge
O - On the Rocks: A 1920s Historical Cozy Mystery
F - The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Psycho (Main character's first name is Fred)
C - Conrad Bauer, Shergar: A True Crime Story of Kidnapping, Racehorse and Politics
H - The Holly House Mystery
R - R. Barri Flowers, Murder Aboard the Titanic
I - The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I - Into the Black
S - The Ripper Lives(#3 Secrets and Lies)
T - Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West – A True Crime Biography of Trauma, Outlaws, and the Cherokee Nation(True Crime)
M - Kevin Morris, The Ripper Lives: Jack the Ripper Series I: Faith and Fear
A - Anne Perry, Silence in Hanover Close
S - Safe in Death

Barb’s Winter Challenge

✅ T: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (3. genre = Time Travel) 1/9/26
✅ H: Cape May by Chip Cheek (4. main character first initial = Henry Tarleton) 1/3/26
✅ E: The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown (4. main character first initial = Elizabeth Barton) 1/20/26

✅ T: The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (3. genre = Thriller) 1/6/26
✅ W: White River Crossing by Ian McGuire (1. first letter of the title) 12/31/25
✅ E: Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton (4. main character first initial = Ember Agni) 1/17/26
✅ L: American Reich: A Murder in Orange County, Neo-Nazis, and a New Age of Hate by Eric Lichtblau (2. author's last initial) 1/30/26
✅ V: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance (2. author's last initial) 12/29/25
✅ E: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (4. main character first initial = Edmond Dantès) 1/31/26

✅ D: The Determined by Rachel Rueckert (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 12/26/25
✅ A: Somewhere Soft to Land by kai alonté (2. author's last initial) 1/26/26
✅ Y: Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han (4. main character first initial = Young-Ja) 1/23/26
✅ S: Skylark by Paula McLain (1. first letter of the title) 12/14/25

✅ O: The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill (2. author's last initial) 12/23/25
✅ F: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 1/28/26

✅ C: Candide by Voltaire (4. main character first initial = Candide) 1/8/26
✅ H: Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 12/26/25
✅ R: Heretic: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God by Catherine Nixey (3. genre = Religion) 1/21/26
✅ I: In the Shadow of Sinai by Carole Towriss (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 1/18/26
✅ S: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 12/19/25
✅ T: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 2/5/26
✅ M: Unexpected Lessons from Professor Higgins by Patti Smith (3. genre = Memoir) 1/18/26
✅ A: Off the Record by Sara Goodman Confino (3. genre = Adult fiction) 1/16/26
✅ S: The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar (1. first letter of the title, excluding a, an, or the) 1/1/26

Kathy's Winter Reading Challenge
24/24 finished 2/12/26

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

✅T - The Warden - Anthony Trollope (author - T)
✅H -The Christmas Appeal - Janice Hallett (author - H)
✅E - The Correspondent - Virginia Evans (author - E)

✅T - The Pale Horse - Agatha Christie (main character - Thyrza Grey)
✅W - How to Read a Book - Monica Wood (author - W)
✅E - Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread - Michiko Kakutani (title)
✅L - Quicksand - Nella Larsen (author - L)
✅V - What We Can Know - Ian McEwan (main character - Vivian)
✅E - The Prairie - James Fennimore Cooper (main character - Esther Bush)

✅D - A Cold Day for Murder - Dana Stabenow (author - D)
✅A - Heartwood - Amity Gaige (author - A)
✅Y - Little Women - Louisa May Alcott (genre - Young Adult)
✅S - The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times - Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams (genre - Science)

✅O - Black Coffee - Charles Osborne, adapter of a play by Agatha Christie (author - O)
✅F - Sunlight on Cold Water - Francoise Sagan (author - F)

✅C - Classic Christmas Stories: A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales (title)
✅H - The Secret History of Christmas - Bill Bryson (genre - Holiday, History, Humor)
✅R - The Christmas Surprise - Jenny Colgan (main character: Rosie)
✅I - Under the Net - Iris Murdoch (author - I)
✅S - A Novel Christmas - Charity Shane (author - S)
✅T - As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - Laurie Lee (genre - Travel)
✅M - The Birthday Murders - Lange Lewis (genre - Mystery)
✅A - The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding: a Hercule Poirot Short Story - Agatha Christie (title)
✅S - The Secret Christmas Library - Jenny Colgan (title)

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:


12 drummers drumming: Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas by Stuart MacBride
11 pipers piping: Eleven by Carolyn Arnold
10 lords a-leaping: Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger
9 ladies dancing: Nine Lives by Peter Swanson
8 maids a-milking: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
7 swans a-swimming: The Seventh Body by Catherine Kirwan
6 geese a-laying: The Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker
5 gold(en) rings: The Fifth to Die by JD Barker
4 calling birds: The Fourth Monkey by JD Barker
3 French hens: The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
2 turtle doves: Two Wrongs by Mel McGrath
1-a partridge in a pear tree: First Do No Harm by Joe Kenda

Completed:
Prompt challenge:

❄️On the twelfth day of Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas Agatha Christie 12 Dec (title)
❄️My true love gave to me…
Black Candle Women Diane Marie Brown 22 Dec (...a curse! Their true loves die due to a curse)
❄️Twelve drummers drumming,
To Paradise Hanya Yanagihara 23 Dec (MC listens to drummer)
❄️Eleven pipers piping,
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 14 Feb (Dickon has a little menagerie that follows him and it reminded me of the Pied Piper of Hamlin)
❄️Ten lords a-leaping,
The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 10 Jan (initials)
❄️Nine ladies dancing,
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir Griffin Dunne 15 Feb )a lot of parties/dancing in the book)
❄️Eight maids a-milking,
Me Before You Jojo Moyes 14 Dec *Louisa is hired as a companion/maid)
❄️Seven swans a-swimming,
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Washington Irving 16 Jan (initials)
❄️Six geese a-laying,
Tom Lake Ann Patchett 25 Jan (geese spotted in lake)
❄️Five gold(en) rings;
An Old-Fashioned Girl Louisa May Alcott 27 Dec (the book wraps up what 4 engagements)
❄️Four calling birds,
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel 23 Jan (initials AB)
❄️Three French hens,
Killing It: An Education Camas Davis 20 Dec (partially takes place on France and has hens)
❄️Two turtle doves:
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland Patrick Radden Keefe 27 Dec (turtle doves are a type of pigeon, and one of the people in the book keeps pigeons)
❄️And a partridge in a pear tree.
The Safekeep Yael van der Wouden 31 Jan (there is tension over pears in one scene)

I used letters and only a few words:

ATY - WINTER-THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Duration: December 1, 2025 - February 28, 2026
Completed: 2/17/2026

☀ Progress: 10 / 10

☀ 4. T - 1 - They Called Us Enemy
☀ 5. W - 2 - Chris Whitaker - All the Colors of the Dark
☀ 6. E - 2 - Elizabeth Berg - Night of Miracles Dec '25
☀ 7. L - 2 - Lea Ypi - Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History
☀ 8. V - 2 - Vladimir Lorchenkov - The Good Life Elsewhere
☀ 9. E - 2 - Bernardine Evaristo - Mr Loverman

☀ 10. D - 1 - Dizzy in Durango Dec '25
☀ 11. A - 2 - Richard Ayoade - The Unfinished Harauld Hughes Dec '25
☀ 12. Y - 2 - Ovidia Yu - The Betel Nut Tree Mystery Dec '25
☀ 13. S - 1 - So Long a Letter Dec '25

Finished!

T - ✅ The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
H - ✅ The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch
E - ✅ The Lost Daughters of Ukraine by Erin Litteken

T - ✅ The Golden Cage by Camilla Läckberg (genre - thriller)
W - ✅ Gold by Catherine Winters
E - ✅ Women in Wonderland: Lives, Legends, and Legacies of Yellowstone by Elizabeth A. Watry
L - ✅ The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living by Joseph M. Marshall III
V - ✅ The Break by Katherena Vermette
E - ✅ Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans

D - ✅ A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos
A - ✅ Both Career and Love: A Woman’s Memoir 1959-1973 by Anne Rankin Mahoney
Y - ✅ The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl (character - Yuki)
S - ✅ Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

O - ✅ Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
F - ✅ Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo (genre - fiction)

C - ✅ Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
H - ✅ Good Spirits by B.K. Borison (main character - Harriet)
R - ✅ A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair (genre - romantasy)
I - ✅ I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
S - ✅ Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward)
T - ✅ Silver Tears by Camilla Läckberg (genre - thriller)
M - ✅ The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (genre - mystery)
A - ✅ The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
S - ✅ Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Challenge completed!

T: Television – Lauren Rothery
H: Here Beside the Rising Tide – Ainslie Hogarth
E: Everyone in the Group Chat Dies – L.M. Chilton

T: The Tarot Reader – Finley Turner
W: A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy – Tia Levings
E: Extinction Capital of the World: Stories – Mariah Rigg
L: Luminous – Silvia Park
V: Veal – Mackenzie Nolan
E: Everything Lost Returns – Sarah Domet

D: Dykette – Jenny Fran Davis
A: All This Could Be Yours – Hank Phillippi Ryan
Y: Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke
S: Saltcrop – Yume Kitasei

O: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This – Omar El Akkad
F: The Faceless Thing We Adore– Hester Steel

C: The Catch – Yrsa Daley-Ward
H: Hole in the Sky – Daniel H. Wilson
R: Ring Shout – P. Djélí Clark
I: Isola – Allegra Goodman
S: Several People Are Typing – Calvin Kasulke
T: Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt
M: My Heart Is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones
A: Animal – Lisa Taddeo
S: Someone You Can Build a Nest In – John Wiswell

Donna's ATY 2025-26 Winter Challenge
Spell-it-out-challenge

24/24 Completed 2/23
✔️T Time of the Child by Niall Williams 12/9 - 4⭐️
✔️ H Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier 2/15 4⭐️ Genre: Historical fiction
✔️ E Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 1/25 - 5⭐️
✔️T Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 2/2 - 3.5⭐️ Thriller
✔️W When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 12/26 4⭐️
✔️ E Common Sense by Thomas Paine 1/10 4.5⭐️ Genre: Essays
✔️L Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin 12/20 - 4. Genre: Literary fiction
✔️V The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 1/3 - 5⭐️
✔️E Emily Bronte: A Life in 20 Poems by Nick Holland 2/13 - 4.5⭐️
✔️D Lock, Stock & Jingle Bells] by Donna Kauffman 12/19 - 3⭐️
✔️A Lightbreakers by Aja Gabel 1/11 - 5⭐️
✔️ Y The Rose by W.B. Yeats 2/2 - 4⭐️
✔️S A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao 1/9 - 3.5⭐️
✔️ O Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite 2/2 - 4.5⭐️
✔️ F Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent Dipo Faloyin 1/29 -5⭐️
✔️C A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas 12/19 - 3⭐️ Title
✔️ H Hiroshima Notes by Kenzaburō Ōe 1/17 - 4.5⭐️ Title
✔️R The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A. Dick 1/30 - 4⭐️
✔️I What We Can Know by Ian McEwan 1/19 - 4.5⭐️
✔️ S Sophie’s Choice by William Styron 1/2 - 5⭐️
✔️ T Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 2/21 - 3⭐️
✔️M Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks 12/23/25 - 5⭐️
✔️ A The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin 2/23 - 4⭐️
✔️S Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden 2/5 - 3.5⭐️

I went for the spell-it-out version.

T = {T}hin Ice, Paige Shelton – 27/01/26
H = Cold Company: an Alaskan mystery, Sue {H}enry – 21/01/26
E = Tabby or Not Tabby, {E}ryn Scott - 19/02/26

T = Stamped Out, {T}onya Kappes – 20/01/26
W = Bonfire of the Calamities, Kim M. {W}att – 14/12/25
E = {E}spaña: A Brief History of Spain, Giles Tremlett – 12/01/26
L = {L}ittle House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder – 04/12/25
V = Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, {V}icki Delany – 26/12/25
E = Dying Fall, {E}lly Griffiths – 08/01/26

D = The Secret of Logan Pond, Kathi {D}aley – 12/12/25
A = Bluebird, Bluebird, {A}ttica Locke – 11/12/25
Y = More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Satoshi {Y}agisawa – 16/01/26
S = The Man with the Silver Saab, {A}lexander McCall Smith – 09/12/25

O = The Impossible Fortune, Richard {O}sman – 16/02/26
F = Mystery in White, J. Jefferson {F}arjeon – 24/12/25

C = A {C}hristmas Memory, Kathi Daley – 02/12/25
H = {H}oliday Grind, Cleo Coyle – 04/01/26
R = {R}ead and Gone, Allison Brook – 08/12/25
I = The Buried Giant, Kazuo {I}shiguro - 17/02/25
S = The {S}ittaford Mystery, Agatha Christie – 03/12/25
T = {T}ime Will Tell Kathi Daley – 15/01/26
M = Christmas at the Cat Café, {M}elissa Daley – 03/12/25
A = {A}ll the President's Menus, Julie Hyzy – 14/01/26
S = Bookman Dead Style, Paige {S}helton – 05/01/26

Winter Scavenger Hunt

√On the twelfth day of Christmas
Die Goldgräber-Bande by Stefan Wolf
Author‘s INITIALS in the Phrase

√My true love gave to me…
Not in Love
"LOVE" in the title and the phrase

√Twelve drummers drumming,
The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen
Author's INITIALS in the phrase

√Eleven pipers piping,
The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly
Author's first name, ERIN, in the phrase

√Ten lords a-leaping,
Stimmen der Vergangenheit
Main character's name, ELLA, is contained in the phrase

√Nine ladies dancing,
Die achte Posaune
The NINTH prompt in the ATY 2026 challenge

√Eight maids a-milking,
The Housemaid
MAID

√Seven swans a-swimming,
Die Märchen von Beedle dem Barden The Tales of Beedle the Bard : Harry Potter Hogwarts Schulbücher
Seven voice artists named on the Cover

√Six geese a-laying,
The Secrets of Us
First letter of the title (S) and first letter of the author's name (L) in the phrase

√Five gold(en) rings,
Sea of Tranquility
One of the main characters is called OLIVE, the letters of which are in the phrase

√Four calling birds,
Zwei an einem Tag
FOUR words in the title and I have it slotted for Popsugar prompt #4

√Three French hens,
A Court of Wings and Ruin
THIRD book in a series, and hens have WINGS

√Two turtle doves
The Hallmarked Man
The two main characters' attraction toward each other is a major plot point

√And a partridge in a pear tree
The Untold Story
Main character's name, IRENE, contained in the phrase

A couple of these are a stretch!

On the twelfth day of Christmas - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - 12/8
My true love gave to me… - Blob: A Love Story - 2/10
Twelve drummers drumming, - Drums Along the Mohawk - 2/5
Eleven pipers piping, - The Woman Who Wouldn't Die - mysterious music is heard - 2/15
Ten lords a-leaping, - The Tainted Cup - nobles are part of the plot - 12/3
Nine ladies dancing, - The Café With No Name - people dance at the cafe - 12/13
Eight maids a-milking, - The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat . . . Everything with Ranch - features Wisconsin dairy farms - 2/13
Seven swans a-swimming, - Savage Season - main characters swim in a river looking for loot that was supposedly lost there - 12/10
Six geese a-laying, - Dead Lions - multiple people are laying traps for others - 2/26
Five gold(en) rings, - The Impossible Fortune - a huge amount of money is a plot point - 12/4
Four calling birds, - Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast - there is a talking parrot - 12/9
Three French hens, - Les flammes de pierre - set in France - 12/11
Two turtle doves - Catered All the Way - romance - 12/10
And a partridge in a pear tree. - Heated Rivalry = a pear/pair of lovers - 2/4

I completed both winter challenges right in the nick of time 2/28/2026!

Winter Scavenger Hunt Challenge
On the twelfth day of Christmas- The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
takes place during Christmas

My true love gave to me- Kissing Kosher
Romance

Twelve drummers drumming- The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Eleven pipers piping- The Piper's Son

Ten lords a-leaping- The Compound
ten women and ten men participate in reality show

Nine ladies dancing- Open Water
narrator falls in love with a dancer

Eight maids a-milking- We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

Seven swans a-swimming- The Swan's Daughter

Six geese a-laying- Bad Bad Girl
geese on the cover

Five gold(en) rings- Rings of Fate

Four calling birds- The Correspondent
birds on the cover

Three French hens- The Bombshell
set in Corsica, a French territory

Two turtle doves- Good Spirits
fated lovers romance

And a partridge in a pear tree- Appleseed
tree on the cover


Spell It Challenge- using titles
T- The 39 Steps
H- Heart the Lover
E- Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

T- Train Dreams
W- Where Are You Really From
E- Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
L- The Land in Winter
V- The Virgin Suicides
E- Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales

D- Disgrace
A- America Is in the Heart
Y- Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass: The Graphic Novel
S- Saving Francesca

O- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
F- Frankenstein: The 1818 Text

C- Cover Story
H- The Heartbreak Hotel
R- Ravishing
I- Intermezzo
S- The Summer We Ran
T- Tilda Is Visible
M- The Mysterious Affair at Styles
A- America Is Not the Heart
S- So Long a Letter