Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Happy 2020, everyone! Good luck with this year's challenge.


MY 2020 CHALLENGE SELECTIONS

52/52 TASKS COMPLETED


A-F, Y


✔= read

✔ 1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y:

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

✔ 2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable:

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

✔ 3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019:
In November of 2019, I read the first several pages of this book compliments of Random House's First Look Book Club emails. I now wish to finish it.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

✔ 4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live:
Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

✔ 5. The first book in a series that you have not started:

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

✔ 6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover:
galleon silhouette

The Unfinished Land by Greg Bear

✔ 7. A book set in the southern hemisphere:
Antarctica

South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

✔ 8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The":

The Binding by Bridget Collins

✔ 9. A book that can be read in a day:

The Giver by Lois Lowry

✔ 10. A book that is between 400-600 pages:

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson

✔11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number:
1993

Shipping News by Annie Proulx

✔ 12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people:

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

✔ 13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge [link]:
2016's #35: An award-winning book [2007 Man Booker Prize]

The Gathering by Anne Enright

✔ 14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female
Writers:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

✔ 15. A book set in a global city:
London

Glass Town by Steven Savile

✔ 16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area:
This story is set in the backwoods of Pennsylvania.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

✔ 17. A book with a neurodiverse character:

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary

✔ 18. A book by an author you've only read once before:

The Paladin: A Spy Novel by David Ignatius

✔ 19. A fantasy book:

A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M. Harris

✔ 20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.]:
I started subscribing to the Indiespensable program in early 2016 and discovered that I had yet to read my 20th book!

A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

✔ 21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720:
His surname is in the title, and he helped to track the path of Venus, the planet named after the goddess of love, which is also mentioned in the title.

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell by M.C. Beaton

✔ 22. A book with the major theme of survival:

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

✔ 23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

✔ 24. A book with an emotion in the title:

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

✔25. A book related to the arts:

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland

✔ 26. A book from the 2019 카지노싸이트 Choice Awards:

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

✔ 27. A history or historical fiction:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

✔ 28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author:
The author is a member of the Canadian Métis community.

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

✔ 29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book:
In my opinion, this book is lesser known than Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

✔ 30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year:
2019

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

✔ 31. A book inspired by a leading news story:

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin

✔ 32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan:
Both the games and the story are set in Tokyo.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

✔ 33. A book about a non-traditional family:

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

✔ 34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name:
A-Action/Adventure

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco

✔ 35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover:
The cover contains prominent line segments which ghost into sides and edges of other geometrical figures.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

✔ 36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim:
Upon browsing my physical TBR shelves, I discovered this forgotten lagniappe that I received with a book order long ago.

The Silk Road by Kathryn Davis

✔ 37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1
A man acquires a neurological condition in which he cannot forget anything.

Memory Man by David Baldacci

✔ 38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2
A high school senior, Naomi, loses here memory but gains valuable insight.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

✔ 39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce:
His full name is Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis [ʒoaˈkĩ maˈɾiɐ maˈʃadu dʒi aˈsis]. My Portuguese stinks, but at least I now know how it should sound. :)

Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis

✔ 40. A book with a place name in the title:

Philly Stakes by Gillian Roberts

✔ 41. A mystery:

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

✔ 42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’:
2018 Costa First Novel Award

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

✔ 43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (Pestilence, War, Famine, or Death):
It relates to all of them.

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

✔ 44. A book related to witches:

Witches Be Crazy: A Tale That Happened Once Upon a Time in the Middle of Nowhere by Logan J. Hunder

✔ 45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018:

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch

✔ 46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire" :
Jack Kerouac, a pioneer of the Beat Generation along with Burroughs, appears in the assigned lyrics and is responsible for the title of this book.

Naked Lunch: Modern Classic Collection by William S. Burroughs

✔ 47. A classic book you've always meant to read:

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

✔ 48. A book published in 2020:
March 3, 2020

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

✔ 49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win: [link]
Mini-poll 1: Read a book written by an Irish author.

The Gates by John Connolly

✔ 50. A book with a silhouette on the cover:

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

✔ 51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

✔ 52. A book related to time:
On February 13, 2001 at 2:27 p.m., a global timequake takes place, and the universe decides to revert back to 1991 and replay the decade.

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

This is the earliest that I ever have reached the midpoint. Only 26 more tasks to complete!

So much for reaching the midpoint early. I finished just in time to meet the deadline!
🌟 It has been a fun challenge, and I look forward to 2021's goals. 🌟