Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Summer reading challenge chat

Post anything you like here! Need recommendations for a particular prompt? Want to recommend a five star book you read for the summer challenge? Want to chat about your summer travel plans? Enjoy! :-)

I am SO EXCITED about this! And what an awesome prize!

This is just fantastic!!! And I was able to use all the books I already had planned to read this summer so it was super easy to set up my challenge.

ANNNNND it gives me something to plan so I'm not bugging everyone about the 2020 list haha!

This is such a clever idea!!!!

I love it!

I was all ready to post a discussion thread about: "what do I do next. I am almost done for the year." And then this pops up. What a relief.

Can't work on my plan tonight...but tomorrow I'll be planning a list! Don't know how many of these I will be able to fit in, but it will be fun to try.

This is so cool - this reminds me of Wacky/Wanderlust challenges, which I *love*!

I just gotta say... those beach read lists. Who are they trying to market to? I have never met anyone who thinks "I can't wait to go to the beach and pick up a dusty classic from the 1800s!"

When I think beach reads, I think light and fluffy and easy to read. Am I alone in this?

Emily wrote: "I just gotta say... those beach read lists. Who are they trying to market to? I have never met anyone who thinks "I can't wait to go to the beach and pick up a dusty classic from the 1800s!"

When ..."

I hadn't looked at the list yet, but someone put The Princess Bride on their challenge from one of the lists and I thought, that's a weird beach read choice. If it were like the movie, then yeah, it would be fun and light, but it's really not. Sounds like maybe the whole list is like that though?

The first two lists are definitely like that. The last list has more contemporary stuff on it. I was just surprised by the choices haha!

Yeah I don’t understand some of those beach read lists. When I’m at the beach, I’m distracted by all the people around me and my brain is half fried by the sun. I don’t want to have to think too hard!! In fact, I’m not capable of thinking very hard.

Currently reading Ivanhoe by the pool lol. Guess I am in the minority. I did bring a big variety of genres with me though, not just classics.

Sarah wrote: "Currently reading Ivanhoe by the pool lol. Guess I am in the minority. I did bring a big variety of genres with me though, not just classics."

If you're alone by your own pool, I can see that working. But if you are at a public pool, then your powers of concentration far exceed mine!

This is great. I'm hoping it will keep me on track!

It is so exciting I can get a lot of fun and fluff books in the prompts. It is time to read and relax for the summer and just have fun. No more 500 plus books. No more new releases. Just fluff.

Wouldn't mind tackling The Princess Bride, but who is reading Romola at the beach? Of course, for some of us, the beach read might have to be done in the backyard on a blanket.

@Nadine I'm still in Costa Rica until tomorrow. Definitely not got my own pool back home in Yorkshire though!

The weirdest “Beach Read” list book I ever saw was Jaws. That’s pretty much the last book I’d be reading at the beach!

Jody wrote: "The weirdest “Beach Read” list book I ever saw was Jaws. That’s pretty much the last book I’d be reading at the beach!"

Now see - I think that stuff is fun to read on the beach. I've read a couple of Peter Benchley books at the beach. White Shark and Beast

No way, Jose. I’ve already been within about a metre of a shark in the ocean when I was a teenager - I don’t need any more nightmare fuel if I’m gonna be swimming!

Jody wrote: "No way, Jose. I’ve already been within about a metre of a shark in the ocean when I was a teenager - I don’t need any more nightmare fuel if I’m gonna be swimming!"

I was SHOCKED when I read Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption and they talked about just bopping the sharks on the nose to get them away from you. I thought that was a myth, but apparently it's a real thing that they trained soldiers to do in WWII!

I love this idea! I’m really looking forward to planning my reads for this challenge and it’s come at exactly the right moment as it is half term this week.

Jody wrote: "This is so cool - this reminds me of Wacky/Wanderlust challenges, which I *love*!"

Hi Jody, could you tell me what Wacky/Wanderlust challenges are?

Haha, I do see what you mean about the beach reads lists. My usual beach fare is more like John Grisham or Robert Galbraith!

The first one does get lighter towards the end of the list (Where'd You Go, Bernadette, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency etc). The second one is probably a bit more heavy going, with the strange exception of a Jilly Cooper book!

Yay, I got my plan posted! I'm really happy about this challenge because I was eyeing the 카지노싸이트 summer challenge, but so many of their prompts overlap with Popsugar or ATY prompts that I've already finished... I think trying to do that one would end up feeling tedious.

This one has such flexible options though, that I can fit in all the books that are high priority on my TBR right now. (I just have to remember not to accidentally start any of them before Saturday.)

Same Raquel! I have room for one more book in May, but I don't want to start any that I have on my plan...

Thank you for not making the tasks too complex! Great idea mods!

Hannah, I'm not sure about Wunderlust, but I followed Jody to Wacky Challenges and it's a ton of fun.

This is the link to the group...

And this is the link to my challenge list, if you want to get an idea of what the challenges look like!

Hannah wrote: "Hi Jody, could you tell me what Wacky/Wanderlust challenges are?"

Sorry for the late reply, Hannah! I see Emily already linked Wacky for you, but here is the link for Wanderlust. They both have a big range of challenges (Wacky's is enormous, Wanderlust smaller as it's newer, only a year or so old, IIRC) - some are big (one that I'm doing needs over 400 books to complete), some are small, some are in between. A lot of them you can just start whenever, some have "deadlines", some don't, but the deadlines are pretty flexible (I'm often finishing late, but it still counts!). Some prompts are really specific (like a book with a rose on the cover ... that's one I'm still trying to find!), and some are really broad, but a lot of the prompts have a similar feel to the ones in our summer challenge, and they just suit me perfectly. I personally love the variety of the challenges - there's just so much to pick from!

Wacky has a lot of different themes/groupings for the challenges, and Wanderlust is (as you can probably guess from the name!) based around travel.

I'm so excited about our new challenge here! I'm a little fatigued from yearly challenges, as this is my fifth year doing them. This is easily my favourite group, because of all of the book discussion that goes on (not as much of that anywhere else), so I'm totally thrilled to have a new kind of challenge here.

Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm sure there are thousands of books that will work here, but it's hard to search for.

Or a book in which the main action takes place at night? I guess a vampire book would work? Yet again, I've been drawing a blank. I don't really need this one as much, since I found The Sun Is Also a Star with a character named Daniel (for Danny from Grease).

Any of the mysteries by Sheila Connolly that take place in a pub in county Cork . I am reading Many a Twist Fun, easy read.

From my recent reads God's Own Country, An Abundance of Katherines and The Girls all have characters drinking beer. There are probably more from earlier in the year, but my memory's not that good.

Fictional detectives are probably a good bet - Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is constantly in the pub drinking beer and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone half lives in her local bar (though she's a wine drinker).

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

I suspect a lot of Charles Dickens and other British classics would have at least one scene in a pub, but I can't remember any for sure, except The Scarlet Pimpernel. Neverwhere definitely has a couple of pub scenes.

The Name of The Wind is someone telling their story whilst in a tavern. That's kind of a pub right?

There's a pub in To Kill A Kingdom too if anyone wants YA

Oh and nearly all of the Southern Vampire books have a bar in them (And might work for the night time prompt too)

Or Angela's Ashes and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with drunken fathers.

I just finished Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse for the indigenous prompt, and they visit a bar!

haha you all are naming a lot of books I've read and forgotten about! You are right, Cormoran Strike always gets a pint or two, but I'm all caught up on those. I might give a Sheila Connolly mystery a try. Or, do you think Roanhorse's sequel, Storm of Locusts, has the same bar setting?

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

Strange Weather in Tokyo - The 2 characters are frequently dining and either drinking beer or sake!

Tuesday Nights in 1980 - I haven't read it yet but I'm pretty sure there are bar scenes.

My guess is that Storm of Locusts would feature the bar at some point, because the characters who live there are in this second book as well. I haven't started reading it though, so I'm not sure!

Emily wrote: "Hannah, I'm not sure about Wunderlust, but I followed Jody to Wacky Challenges and it's a ton of fun.

This is the link to the group...

And this is the link to my challenge list, if you want to ge..."

Emily, thank you for providing those links - I’ve just joined the group. It looks really fun, and there are so many different challenges there. I just need to decide which challenge I’m going to start with.

Jody wrote: "Hannah wrote: "Hi Jody, could you tell me what Wacky/Wanderlust challenges are?"

Sorry for the late reply, Hannah! I see Emily already linked Wacky for you, but here is the link for Wanderlust. T..."

Thanks for your reply, and all the information Jody! I’ve joined both groups, and there are lots of challenges I want to join in with. I really enjoy the scavenger hunt bit of the challenges, so I just need to decide where to start. The rose on the cover is really specific. I’ve had a look on my shelves, and these are the books I have that would fit:

. . . . .

I’ve only read Wolf Hall so I can’t recommend one over the others, and I’m not sure which type of books you prefer, but there may be something you would be interested in. A couple of them are quite long if that doesn’t put you off. You could also go for a book with the word Rose in the title, unless the wording of the prompt is that specific.

For rose-on-the-cover, I immediately thought of Luckiest Girl Alive (which I did not like, btw, but it seems popular)

Nadine, much of Once Upon a River is set in a bar.

If you like historical non-fiction at all, this book is great for rose on the cover:


And I'm sure there are quite a number of Beauty and the Beast retellings with roses on the covers, but this an old favorite of mine that immediately comes to mind:

Nadine wrote: "Can anyone recommend a book in which the characters drink beer or are at a bar? The only book I can think of is Sunburn by Laura Lippman, which I read last year. I'm ..."

No Exit takes place over one winter night. And it's pretty short.

So I read the discussion about characters drinking beer before I went to bed last night, and then had a dream where someone had asked if butterbeer (from Harry Potter) would work. And, in my dream I said I’d check with the other mods because you can drink butterbeer hot or cold so I wasn’t sure it counted as a beer! 😂 (Anyone planning a Harry Potter book for this prompt, go ahead, it definitely counts!)

Also...I second the recommendation of Wolf Hall for a book with a rose on the cover. It seems to be one of those books people either love or hate (partly beside the narrator’s voice takes some getting used to) but I personally enjoyed it.

Or, I know you like lists Jody, and I’m pretty sure The Name of the Rose is on lots of the usual best book lists. My edition has a rose on the cover but that might be unusual.

I just spent ages working out if it was worth doing the 카지노싸이트 summer challenge and then I saw this, which is miles better!