Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

New year, same old rules: use books from my TBR where possible, stick to the order as much I can, and every book fits both a winning prompt and a loser.

I resisted the temptation to add extra books to some of the prompts this time, to leave room for any side reads I need for other challenges. OK, so I gave in to temptation when I got good deals on a couple of books I'm desperate to read that fit next year's prompts perfectly, but I didn't want to ditch the ones I'd already chosen. And then, in my determination to read a Bermuda-set book, I added another one!

This year my wildcard has developed the magical ability to change just one word in one prompt, instead of replacing the whole thing.

1. A book related to “In the Beginning...”
Artificial Condition - Martha Wells
A book with a non-human narrator

2. A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
IQ - Joe Ide
A book nominated for a lesser known literary prize (Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel)

3. A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
A book related to the name of a professional sports team (Brentford FC are nicknamed The Bees)

4. A book with a monochromatic cover
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews
A book for which you are (or were) not the intended demographic/audience

5. A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read
Here Comes the Sun - Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn
An own voices book featuring a story about love

6. A love story
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu - Joshua Hammer
A book about books

7. A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list
A book that concerns something or someone mentioned on the Wikipedia page of your birthday
Cinder - Marissa Meyer (The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted. From some non-spoiler googling it seems that Cinder has an artificial heart.)
A book about the forbidden

8. A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited
The Killer's Guide To Iceland - Zane Radcliffe
A work of fiction with a reference book in the title

9. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year
Before the Fall - Noah Hawley
A book that uses something other than consecutive numbers to designate chapters

10. A book with a female villain or criminal
Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch
A book about or involving a team or organisation

11. A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Extraordinary Things - Alice Hoffman
A book with a large-scale disaster or tragedy (the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire sounds like a disaster and/or tragedy)

12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: Amateur detective

13. A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020
The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon
A book related to the Royal Albert Hall (set in an alternate future where Edward VII (son of Victoria and Albert) was outed as Jack the Ripper, and also the first Voyant)

14. A book set in a made-up place
The Lost Island of Tamarind - Nadia Aguiar
An author you've never read, an author you've read once or twice, an author you've read many times: Never

15. A book that features siblings as the main characters
Bridge of Clay - Markus Zusak
Animal, vegetable, mineral on cover or in title: Mineral

16. A book with a building in the title
Dragons at Crumbling Castle - Terry Pratchett
A time travel novel

17. A book with a Muslim character or author
And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini
A book recorded on the 2020 ATY Community Spreadsheet
The Art of Disruption: A Manifesto For Real Change - Magid Magid
A book you find inspiring or uplifting

18. Three books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1: Past
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
A book you once started but never finished

19. Three books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2: Present
Wanderers - Chuck Wendig
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: pandemic/dystopia

20. Three books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3: Future
Record of a Spaceborn Few - Becky Chambers
An author you've never read, an author you've read once or twice, an author you've read many times: Once or Twice

21. A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u"
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
Animal, vegetable, mineral on cover or in title: Vegetable

22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
A book set in the 19th century

23. A cross genre novel
Boneshaker - Cherie Priest
A book about an invention or discovery

24. A book about racism or race relations
Kindred - Octavia E. Butler
A book with a house on the cover
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho
A book with a sports connection

25. A book set on an island
The Gathering - Kelley Armstrong
A book that you had to wait for (I’ve been looking for a second hand copy of this since 2014, and I found it in September 2020)

26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
The Empress of Salt and Fortune - Nghi Vo
A book related to a rabbit

27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards
Persuader - Lee Child
A book that deals with a postponement, redo, or second chance

28. A book connected to ice
A Darkness Absolute - Kelley Armstrong
A book where characters are trapped together

29. A book that you consider comfort reading
Hardcore Twenty-Four - Janet Evanovich (it’s about zombies, what could be more of a comfort read?!)
A humorous book

30. A long book
A Conjuring of Light - V.E. Schwab
A book with more than one primary setting

31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years
Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen
Animal, vegetable, mineral on cover or in title: Animal

32. A book whose cover shows more than two people
Let it Snow - John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
An author you've never read, an author you've read once or twice, an author you've read many times: Many Times (John Green, though if I hadn’t read that short story by Lauren Myracle, this book would’ve fit the prompt on its own)

33. A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions - Neil Gaiman
A book title or an author where the first word has two syllables, and the second word has one syllable

34. A book with a travel theme
Heroes of the Frontier - Dave Eggers
A book related to mental health/mental illness

35. A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer
Patron Saints of Nothing - Randy Ribay
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: Amateur detective

36. A book with six or more words in the title
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
A book you picked up because of an adaptation of it or a related work (the movie is supposed to be coming out in 2021)

37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list
The Feast of the Goat - Mario Vargas Llosa
A book originally written in a language you don't speak

38. A book related to a word given by a random word generator
(Stamp; Onion; Divorce; Talkative; Mourning; Grand; Spring; Demand; Fountain; and Excitement)
All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven (mourning)
A book with a theme of opposites

39. A book involving an immigrant
Brick Lane - Monica Ali
A book by an author with the same initials as you

40. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover
Filthy Beasts - Kirkland Hamill
A book set in a former colony other than the United States and Canada

41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author
The Toughest Indian in the World - Sherman Alexie
A book of poetry, short stories or essays by a single author

42. A mystery or thriller
The Vanishing Stair - Maureen Johnson
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: Amateur detective

43. A book with elements of magic
A Gathering of Shadows - V.E. Schwab
A book closely related to what you wanted to be as a kid (from the blurb it seems that Lila is a pirate)

44. A book whose title contains a negative
You're Never Weird on the Internet - Felicia Day
A book related to an element of your favourite film/tv show (Felicia Day is Charlie Bradbury in Supernatural)

45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Vicious - V.E. Schwab (Victor)
A book with an illustrated cover

46. A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab
A book that fits a category from another challenge

47. A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir
Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
A book with a protagonist who works in a job you know nothing (or very little) about
Justice Denied: Bermuda's Black Militants, the Third Man, and the Assassinations of a Police Chief and Governor. - Mel Ayton
A book with a triangle

48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?”
Beyond Heaving Bosoms - Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan
A book that tells the story behind the story

49. A book with an ensemble cast
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: pandemic/dystopia

50. A book published set in 2021
The Children of Men – P.D. James
Three books from the same genre set in different countries: pandemic/dystopia

51. A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A book with the letter Z on the cover (the neckline and arm of her dress)

52. A book related to "the end"
MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood
A book with found family

AtY #1
1/1/21



I love Murderbot. I don't think I've ever identified with a fictional character so much. This was the perfect start to the year, a great book and short enough to get through in one day and put me a little ahead in the challenge. It's good to have an early lead, because I'm going to have to fit some more Murderbot in as side reads this year.

AtY #2
2/1/21 - 4/1/21



I really enjoyed this, a fairly straightforward detective story but with different characters to usual so it didn't matter that the main storyline was a bit predictable. It was dual timeline, and the earlier of the two wasn't obvious at all. Rest of the series now on my "to get" list, and hopefully will move on to the "to read in 2022 list".

I own the next couple of books on the plan, but I'm reading at a good pace so I thought I'd maybe check out the one after that from Overdrive. True to form with library books in my plan - it's not available. I've placed a hold, and it looks like the library have a paper copy, so I might have to get that, assuming the library is even open with the current Covid restrictions. Grr!

AtY #3
5/1/21 - 9/1/21



I'm on a bit of a roll, three good books in a row. We had a prompt a couple of years ago "a strong sense of place", and this would've fitted perfectly for that. Also, there were so many really good characters that barely made an appearance, I'd love a series set in this town.

Going totally out of order now, to avoid library-related stress. Here Comes the Sun is still unavailable on OverDrive. As I'm working from home and can only get to library on weekends I decided to do the six mile round trip walk on Saturday to get the paper version. While I was there I thought it was a good idea to check out the other two library books in my plan. All three have different dates to go back, so that's the order I'm reading them in.

AtY #12
10/1/21 - 13/1/21



This was disappointing. I was expecting a mystery novel, but felt this was much more literary fiction with a tiny bit of a mystery as a side plot. The astrology stuff was really dull and didn't even seem to have a point, and the characters were all quite one-dimensional despite being quirky. I'm interested in how they made this into a film, because it's so slow and uneventful I can't see how it would work.

AtY #40
14/1/21 - 16/1/21



There wasn't as much Bermuda as I was hoping for in this, and it wasn't as incident-filled as I expected, but it was interesting and an easy read. It was a little disappointing that it didn't include photos, I'd have loved to have seen what they all looked like. I'm three books ahead now, which is nice! I'm also considering carrying on with the idea of getting all the library books out of the way asap, and once I've done with the paper ones carrying on with the ebooks. I'm a bit nervous that some of them might disappear like Here Comes The Sun has, and if they don't have them in paper then my plan would be a mess. Not sure I want to read five ebooks in a row, but I'm excited to get to Addie LaRue early.

AtY #5
17/1/21 - 22/1/21



I don't know why anyone would want to read (or write) a depressing book full of unlikable characters, but that's what happened here. The quality of the writing is great, but there are some really nasty, selfish people in here, so it was difficult to care. The only one who did seem to be genuinely good, Verdene, I didn't understand her motivation at all. Why give up your life to live somewhere that everyone hated you, where you were in danger, and didn't even have an income? Makes no sense.

Next up I'm reading book number 4 to fill that gap or it will bug me, but then I've decided to prioritise the library ebooks, just for my peace of mind. Also, I'll be back in the office next week, and so it'll be easier to make progress on the ebooks than the paper books.

AtY #4
22/1/21 - 24/1/21



I read a tiny bit of this on the 22nd, but mostly I flew through it on Saturday and Sunday. Really enjoyable, and I'd love to see the film. I've been very lucky with my books so far this year, and am now well ahead. I don't think I've ever read so much in January.

AtY #26
25/1/21 - 1/2/21



Working in the office last week and losing those two extra hours in commuting every day really slowed my pace. Also, considering the subject matter, this was kind of slow and not that exciting. I would have liked more first hand accounts from the people who were saving the books. The book started with one of those, but then changed to journalistic reporting and it took the tension out of it.

AtY #6
2/2/21 - 7/2/21



This was ok, but quite frustrating. It felt a bit like the author had written an outline for an large fantasy novel, but didn't have time to write it, so filled out the outline with these small stories that one of the characters was telling to someone else. I would've rather read the big chonk of a novel. It's the start of a series, so maybe I'll give the next one a go, but I'm in no rush.

AtY #35
8/2/21 - 15/2/21



I enjoyed this one, it was interesting and did very well at painting a picture of the Philippines. I'd definitely read other stuff by this author. I appreciated where it went with the end of the murder mystery, and I'd be interested if there was a follow up.

AtY #36
16/2/21 - 3/3/21



That was a slog! I didn't really take to the human characters, but I loved Manchee. Unfortunately I was stressed because I thought he would die, so that took a lot of the enjoyment out of the book (and I eventually googled the answer). The book is at a constant frantic pace, with no real time to breathe and get to know the characters and the world, and I didn't enjoy that. It's not far off being one long action scene. Apparently the series gets better, so I'll still try and work book 2 into my plan for next year. Part of the reason for fitting this one into this year's plan was so I could see the movie, but it's out this weekend and I'm not really enthusiastic about going - partly because I didn't enjoy the book, partly because the trailers don't look very good, and partly because I'd had be see it on the worst screen on the Island, and in the evening because they're only open reduced hours at the moment (thanks Covid!), so I'll probably skip it and wait for streaming, unless it gets amazing reviews.

AtY #42
3/3/21 - 8/3/21



This was enjoyable enough, but I still find this series a bit disappointing. Maureen Johnson is so funny on twitter, but that doesn't seem to translate to these books. Also, it gave away a big piece of the mystery right at the beginning, I'd rather have clues and suspicions and then find out the answer, that's what a mystery should be, not "here's whodunnit, now lets what the characters figure it out". Number 3 will be on my plan for next year, hopefully there's some satisfaction in the end.

Addie LaRue should be the next up, but is still checked out at the library. It's been out all year, I might have to get on the waitlist. For now I had one more library book to read, the one I'm reading just so I can get Bermuda on the AtY group map. It turns out not to be in the right format for Overdrive/Libby, so I have to read it on my laptop. I'll have to have something more mobile on the go at the same time, so I'm back to reading in order for that.

AtY #7
9/3/21 - 21/3/21



I enjoyed this, it wasn't amazing but it kept me interested and I'll definitely be eagerly continuing with the series. Always a bit weird reading about a worldwide pandemic during a worldwide pandemic though! It was slow going only because I was reading a library book at the same time, and trying to binge watch a six season TV show that was about to leave Netflix, so it wasn't my priority.

AtY #47.1
11/3/21 - 20/3/21



The subject matter of this book is interesting, and it was an easy read, but it seemed a bit problematic. It felt like the author was maybe straying into white supremacy/pro colonialism territory in places and if those are his views then it likely impacted the story he told. Having said that, there were a lot of things that felt truthful for how Bermuda is now, and it gave me a new perspective on things. I'd love to read more Bermuda history in general, and more about this era and the incidents from a more neutral point of view, if that's possible. It took a little longer than it should have because it was only available from the library in some weird PDF format that I could only read on my laptop, and also I was on that Republic of Doyle binge watch.

Addie Larue is still checked out of the library, so I've given in and joined the waitlist, so I'm back to reading in order but ready to pause the current book when she becomes available.

AtY #8
23/3/21 - 2/4/21



Well that was dull! Not much more to say really. Big disappointment.

AtY #9
3/4/21 - 7/4/21



I was a bit worried about reading two thriller-ish books in a row and considered switching the order, but no need - this was so good. It was a big relief to enjoy reading something for a change, I flew through it and I'm a bit sad it's over (though Peter Grant is next on the list, so not that sad!). The notes in the back say it's going to be made into a movie, and I can totally see that working, though googling doesn't find anything, so maybe it won't happen.

AtY #10
7/4/21 - 11/4/21



I love this series, I enjoyed this so much. Another one that I'm sad is over. I wish I had more in my plan for this year. I'd love for them to make a TV show of these.

AtY #46
13/4/21 - 21/4/21



One chapter into AtY #11 and I made it to the front of the queue for Addie. For about 80% of this book I liked it a lot, I had a few issues (it felt like Addie wasted a lot of time in the same places, I would've liked more travel and variety of experiences), but then the last 20% really stuck the landing and it became an amazing book. I absolutely loved it, best read of the year, and something I'll likely read again. The library have the audio version (with no queue!) so I might have a listen in the not-too-distant future. This is my last AtY book this year that I don't own, so I can relax and go in order now.

My reject for this one is A book that fits a category from another challenge, but weirdly I've not made a note of which category or challenge - I'll have to do some research and figure out what that's supposed to be! I've got this as "A book about forgetting" in PopSugar 2021, and that's a perfect prompt for this book.

AtY #11
12/4/21 - 2/5/21



This definitely suffered from coming after Addie, it's an ok book, I like the story but I'm not a fan of the execution. The timeline is all over the place, which makes it quite confusing, and every chapter was at least 50% in italics, which made it hard to read.

The historical events were interesting, it works really well for my reject with two real large-scale tragedies/disasters in there - the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the (view spoiler)[Dreamland fire on Coney Island (hide spoiler)]. It felt almost like it tried to fit too much in, while at the same time spending ages on things that didn't really matter.

AtY #13
3/5/21 - 12/5/21



This was perfectly fine, that's about all I can say. It's the start of a very long series, and it was written when the author was young, so I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this more as it goes along. The next one will definitely be on my list for next year.

I love how this fitted for the reject, Edward VII isn't a character in the book, but he is a catalyst for the changes in society that have taken place to get the UK to this point, and there's even a play that takes place in which he is a character.

I'm exactly on target at the moment, but that makes me feel like I'm on the verge of being behind, so I need to get a move on read quicker!

AtY #14
12/5/21 - 19/5/21



I'm going to start by criticising that cover. Seagrape the parrot is an important character, it says repeatedly that she's green, but on the cover she's red. Grrr! The story itself was ok, it was very long and involved for a kids' book, and there was a lot of peril. I'll probably get around to reading the rest of the series, but they won't be on my must read in 2022 list. On the plus side, the brief descriptions of Bermuda are the most accurate I've read in fiction, which is a bonus of reading a Bermudian author.

AtY #15
20/5/21 - 29/5/21



I didn't enjoy this as much as I Am the Messenger, and for a lot of time I felt like it dragged (I'm not a fan of all over the place timelines), but by the end it was very satisfying and I think I'm a Zusak fan, despite not getting on with The Book Thief at all.

I'd just gotten started on the next book when I noticed the AtY Summer Challenge was up, and I like it, I'm doing it, and my next AtY book is going to be one of the Challenge books, so I've had to put that one hold, but to try not to get behind I've read the beginning of the next three books as well - I think that's within the rules, so long as I don't read more than 100 pages. So I've got a couple of light reading days before really going for it from 1st June. It's quite nice to have a little break.

AtY #16 SC #1
29/5/21 - 3/6/21



I'm conflicted about this one, it's very early work by my favourite author, written for children, so it's both great and average at the same time. I love that there are footnotes, I don't know if they were there when the stories were originally published but they're such a TP thing that I'm going to decide that they were there in spirit even if they weren't on paper. It doesn't quite fit for my reject - one of the stories was about time travel, but not the whole thing. The reading rest put me behind for about a day, so I need to push hard or I'm going to fall behind - I've got some big books coming up.

AtY #17.1 SC #2
29/5/21 - 12/6/21



I both loved this and found it frustrating. It's more a collection of interlinked short stories than a novel, and some of the stories were really interesting and I wanted more detail, while others were not that great and I could've happily done without. Overall it was still great, and he can make me cry even if I barely got chance to know the characters. I was a bit worried it wasn't going to work for the Summer Challenge prompt about a character travelling, but then the penultimate story is about Markos and he travels a lot, so I'm good!

AtY #17.2 SC #3
30/5/21 - 12/6/21



I love Magid Magid, even if he does support the wrong football team! I'm looking forward to a proper memoir later in his life, when he's achieved even more. There are little bits in here that feel like they could've been better edited, but overall it's really interesting and inspiring.

AtY #18 SC #4
30/5/21 - 27/6/21



This was a bit of a drag, some bits were interesting but there was a lot that wasn't. It's also very white male centric, and surprising US slanted. It's 20 years old already, so it's a bit out of date as well.

AtY #19 SC #5
14/6/21 - 7/7/21



That was a massive disappointment. It started off so well, but then became a dreary humourless trudge. I liked two of the peripheral characters, but one of them disappeared quite quickly. I found the main characters really annoying and I didn't really care what happened to them. I'm very glad it's over!

Went on holiday for three weeks, got very behind in updating this (and also in my reading)

AtY #20 SC #6
7/7/21 - 26/7/21



I was so disappointed in this. I'd loved the first in the series and really liked the second, but just couldn't get into this one at all. The only character I really liked was killed off before they got going, and despite that nothing really seemed to happen. I found the whole book just a bit pointless. Which is probably why it took three weeks to trudge through.

AtY #21 SC #7
26/7/21 - 2/8/21



This was ok, but felt pretty bland considering the author and the subject matter. It never felt like it got going, and writing this over a week after I finished it, I couldn't even tell you how it ended. So another disappointment.

AtY #22 SC #8
31/7/21 - 8/8/21



This one I actually enjoyed! I loved the characters, the premise of it, the writing, everything was great, and such a relief after a run of dullness.

AtY #23 SC #9
9/8/21 - 22/8/21



After a brief respite, back to books that drag :( I don't know why I couldn't get into this one, it wasn't badly written, it was an interesting premise and world, but I just didn't connect with it, which is why it took so long to get through. I really had to force myself to keep going.

AtY #24.1 SC #10
10/8/21 - 20/8/21



Same again here, totally dragged, didn't enjoy it at all, no idea why I didn't connect with it, because it's well-written and an interesting idea. Very glad it's over.

AtY #25 SC #11
22/8/21 - 25/8/21



That was lovely downhill reading, such a relief. I wish I could just carry on with the series now, instead of waiting until next year.

AtY #28 SC #12
24/8/21 - 30/8/21



More downhill reading. Kelley Armstrong is so good, it must be really difficult to write something that's so effortless to read. Lucky for me that this was a quick one, just managed to finish the summer challenge in time. Now to try and catch up on AtY, since I'm two books behind.

AtY #29 AC #1
4/9/21 - 6/9/21



I've started a couple of other books, but they were slow going and I felt like I needed to something easier, so I skipped ahead in the plan to this for the bank holiday weekend, and really enjoyed it. Diesel makes an appearance, which is great, and makes a joke about Stephanie and Joe dating for 30 years and I think it's been about that long since this series started. Time must move differently in Trenton, because no one has aged, and Rex is still going strong despite being by far the oldest hamster in history :)

AtY #27 AC #2
2/9/21 - 24/9/21



I'm not enjoying the Reacher books as much as I used to. I really struggled with this one (which is why it took so long). I've got so many left to go in the series, but not much enthusiasm for reading them.

AtY #32 AC #3
17/9/21 - 23/9/21



Kindle updated the cover after I bought this one, I much prefer the original:



This was another disappointment, the stories were bland and I didn't really like any of the characters, and they didn't intertwine as much as I'd have liked. It still beats the film version though, which is so different it only really keeps the title and a few character names.

AtY #43 AC #4
25/9/21 - 30/9/21



I loved this book, I love all the characters and the world and everything about it. I'm really excited there's going to be a follow up series, and I loved this one so much I'm going straight on to the next one.

AtY #30 AC #5
30/9/21 - 9/10/21



OK, I still love this series, and I really enjoyed this book but I've got a tiny complaint - stop creating good characters just to kill them off so the main characters can feel some loss. It's not fair, and it also makes the books less enjoyable. I was also slightly dissatisfied with the ending, so I'm really glad I know that she's in the process of writing a follow-up trilogy, otherwise it would've made me a bit grumpy.

I'm a bit behind on the challenge, so to speed things up I'm switching the order so I can read books that I have as both electronic and paper versions and can read in more places.

AtY #38 AC #6
9/10/21 - 13/10/21



This was funny and sad, and I thought the characters were great, and I especially loved Finch. I watched the film for the movie challenge and was hugely disappointed with that, even though Jennifer Niven co-wrote the screenplay there were changes that seemed unnecessary and in some cases meant it didn't really make sense. It lost all the humour of the book, and I didn't even cry!

AtY #31 AC #7
13/10/21 - 24/10/21



Urgh! This was such slow going for the first half that I've lost all the time I caught up. It had a couple of good laughs, and once I forced myself to read for a while in one go I did get into it, but it was hard work. Now I'm really behind! It's extra-frustrating because Carl Hiaasen is usually one of my go-to authors for downhill reading, now I'm relying on something unexpected to be a fast read, or I'm giving up sleep to get done in time.

AtY #33 AC #8
24/10/21 - 30/10/21



I don't like collections of short stories that aren't connected to anything else, but the upside is I find it a bit easier to motivate myself to get through them, because I can think "I'll read this whole story before I do anything else", so it was done in less than a week. I'm tempted to read out of order to get to some quicker books, but I'm not sure what's actually going to be fast at this point.

AtY #50
17/10/21 - 4/11/21



I started this one ages ago, when I arrived somewhere half an hour early and needed something to read, but didn't really get going until last week. It felt like a missed opportunity, it's a great idea but then nothing much was really done with it, so it ended up being quite disappointing.

AtY #34
30/10/21 - 4/11/21



Finished two books in one day! (Plus a side "read" on audio of And Then There Were None). This is another one that's a great idea that I thought was poorly executed. Some parts are really fun and interesting, and others are dull and pointless (the internal monologues about musicals she wanted to create for one!). The ending was weird and unsatisfying, it almost seemed like it should've been a true story, because fiction is fuller and less messy narratively than real life.

On the plus side, I'm only one book behind now, so if I keep going at this pace I can get myself ahead a little bit. I've got a couple of hardbacks that I want to get out of the way, since I'm away for the last couple of weeks of the year and they are less portable, so I'm going to be out of order for now.

AtY #51
5/11/21 - 7/11/21



I loved this book, it was enjoyable downhill reading, but not at all lightweight. It only took two days to read, because I was out all day on the 6th and didn't pick it up at all. Definitely need to add some Taylor Jenkins Reid to my TBR (though too late to include her in the 2022 plan unfortunately, it'll have to go on the priority list for 2023!). Also, with this I'm now back on schedule, if I can keep up this pace I might even get ahead.

AtY #47.2
8/11/21 - 10/11/21



I'm on such a roll, even the non-fiction is downhill reading! I really enjoyed this one, it was exciting even though it was on a subject I know nothing about and that I expected to be hard work. Apparently there might be a Netflix movie, I would be really excited to see it. I'm going to have to add some more Michael Lewis to my TBR. That's the last of my hardbacks for the year. Now I'm going to prioritise the paperbacks that I have access to an electronic copy of as well, so I can increase my reading time.

AtY #37
11/11/21 - 15/11/21



Roll over! Although I did get through this quickly, it was a chore. There's a good story in there, but I thought it was pretty poorly executed. I didn't care about any of the characters and it seemed to go out of its way to be slow and dull. Also, the sections for Urania switch between first, second and third person and that makes it really confusing and hard work.

AtY #39
15/11/21 - 22/11/21



Most books like to focus on the big things - births, deaths, marriages, moving countries, and they skip the day-to-day drudgery of cleaning, footcare, staring out the window in boredom and pointless conversations that take place to fill the silence. Not this one, this one went the opposite direction - every time something big was going to happen, it stopped and started up again after it had happened. This could have been a really good book, but instead I had to shudder through gruesome descriptions of the main character's wifely duty of cutting her husband's corns, and be as bored as she was by the never-ending housework. On the bright side, I managed to force my way through it in a week, so I'm still just on schedule.

AtY #44
22/11/21 - 25/11/21



I loved this. She's so funny and interesting, and her life has been really different and full of entertaining stories. The only disappointment is that she only mentioned in passing the acting work that she did on two of my favourite shows, Buffy and Supernatural. Even Doctor Horrible didn't get much of a mention. I would've liked a tale or two about those, especially as Joss Whedon does the intro.

AtY #48
26/11/21 - 1/12/21



This one started off well, I laughed a few times and although I don't like romance novels, it was interesting. For more than half the book my biggest complaint was that they were writing about erotic fiction, rather than romance, but since I avoid the genre maybe they're all non-stop shagathons, what do I know?! But then it did this "choose your own romance novel" section, which was lots of really poor (possibly supposed to be funny) bits of romance writing that you could string together into different stories, and it was utter garbage! The book finished quite soon after that, so I'm left feeling that the whole thing was bad when it wasn't. I particularly liked the section on a specific plagiarism scandal that they were involved in.

I'm a little bit ahead now, hopefully I can keep that going - only four more books to go!

AtY #49
1/12/21 - 8/12/21



I'm surprised it took me the full week to read this one, it wasn't difficult reading but I guess I just didn't get into it. Maybe it's because I'm living through a pandemic, but it didn't ring true that everyone would just give up on civilisation and go back to pre-technology living. These last couple of years it seems most people want to be back to normal as quickly as possible, regardless of the risks. I get that things like electricity would stop, but the knowledge is there, someone would figure out how to get it up and running pretty quickly, and the new settlements would grow around that. I'm looking forward to seeing the TV version of this, I think it will be a lot better than the book. I didn't like the multiple timelines, and the set up with getting to know one character as everything kicked off and then ditching him for the majority of the book. I'd also have liked to have experienced more of the immediate aftermath, rather than have the big time jump.

Urgh, 2021 Marie was a lazy cow and didn't keep up to date with this! She did just manage to finish the reading on time though

AtY #52
8/12/21 - 18/12/21



This was massively frustrating. There was so much backstory, it would've been annoying in the first of a trilogy, but just felt like such a waste in the final of a trilogy. I wasn't a fan of the ending, and I'm going to say that rape is still rape, just because it was perpetrated by a species that didn't understand the concept doesn't mean it was ok! I'm thinking this fits the prompt in another unexpected way - it's almost definitely my last Margaret Atwood!

AtY #45
20/12/21 - 26/12/21



This was good, though it did my hated thing of being all over the place with the timeline. I prefer my stories told in chronological order. I kind of wish I'd read it straight after the first, as there were things that I didn't remember well enough that were relevant. But it was still a nice way to spend Christmas, in between an epic night out with my BFF and climbing a mountain :)

AtY #41
19/12/21 - 31/12/21



I need to stop reading short story collections, I really don't like them, and this was worse than most. I didn't like most of the characters, wasn't interested in most of the stories, it was an effort to get through it and I only managed it on the morning of the last day of the year. But I did it, and finished on time.

Since I have the space, a pretty cover round up of the year

I over-estimated how much space I'd need for my updates, so I've got some space to fill for a little round-up of 2021.

I managed to read 55 books for AtY, and just squeezed them in by finishing on the last day, which is a bit tighter than I'd like! That's 20,969 pages read, with an average of 381 per book. My shortest read was 95 pages of Marvellous Murderbot with Artificial Condition, my longest was the disappointing Wanderers with 800.

My favourite book of the year was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, though I also loved Artificial Condition, Lies Sleeping, A Gathering of Shadows and A Conjuring of Light (as I expected I would).

Biggest disappointments were Wanderers, Record of a Spaceborn Few and Persuader. I wonder if I've fallen out with Jack Reacher, or if it was just a one-off.

I managed to buy no paper books for the whole year (that might have been a first!), which means I've reduced the books on my shelf by 29. This has had a knock-on impact on my 2022 plan, I struggled to find paper books I wanted to read, so only have 24 planned for the year.

Film Challenge

I'm doing the AtY Film Challenge again, prompts are my own interpretation of the AtY Reading Challenge, and subject to change if I can't make them work. Hopefully I won’t have to rely on streaming so much this time.

1. A film related to “In the Beginning...”
Iron Man
2. A film by a director/writer whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - directed by George C Wolfe
3. A film related to the lyrics for the song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music
The Aristocats
4. A film with a monochromatic poster
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
5. A film based on a book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read
Malcolm X
6. A love story
Everybody's Talking About Jamie
7. A film that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list
A film that concerns something or someone mentioned on the Wikipedia page of your birthday
The Vast of Night - in 1897 Marconi obtained the patent for radio, and this film is about mysterious radio broadcasts
8. A film set in a state, province, or country you have never visited
Black Widow - Norway, Morocco and Russia
9. A film you associate with a specific season or time of year
Notting Hill
10. A film with a female villain or criminal
Wild Rose
11. A film to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum
Red Notice
12. A film based on a book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation
Sounds Like Love - based on Fuimos canciones by Elísabet Benavent
13. A film by a director/writer of one of your best films of 2020
Godzilla (2014) - was directed by Gareth Edwards, who also directed Rogue One
14. A film set in a made-up place
The Suicide Squad - Corto Maltese
15. A film that features siblings as the main characters
Enola Holmes
16. A film with a building in the title
The Glass Castle
17. A film with a Muslim character, writer or director
Wadjda - written and directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, who is the first female Saudi Arabian film director, the characters in the film are Muslim, I don't know about the director
18. Three films related to "Past, Present, Future" - Film 1: Past
The Current War
19. Three films related to "Past, Present, Future" - Film 2: Present
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
20. Three films related to "Past, Present, Future" - Film 3: Future
The Cloverfield Paradox
Theme: electricity/power generation
21. A film whose title and director/writer both contain the letter "u"
Sound of Metal - directed by Darius Marder
22. A film based on a book posted in one of the ATY Best Film of the Month threads
News of the World
23. A cross genre film
Colossal -a comedy-drama and also Kaiju
24. A film about racism or race relations
Marshall
25. A film set on an island
Kong: Skull Island
26. A short film by a new-to-you director/writer
Relish - directed by Aaron Rogers
2020 - written and directed by Stephen Ford
Two Distant Strangers - directed by Travon Free (who also wrote it) & Martin Desmond Roe
If Anything Happens I Love You - written and directed by Will McCormack & Michael Govier
27. A film with a character who can be found in a deck of cards
Smokin' Aces - Buddy "Aces" Israel
28. A film connected to ice
Let It Snow
29. A film that you consider comfort watching
Soul
30. A long film
Django Unchained - 2 hours 45 minutes
31. A film by a director/writer whose career spanned more than 21 years
Phantom Thread - Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed, his first movie was 1996, this was 2017 and he has another due this year
32. A film whose poster shows more than two people
Hustlers
33. A film that is a collection of short stories
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
34. A film with a travel theme
Nomadland
35. A film set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer
Kill Me Three Times - Australia
36. A film with six or more words in the title
The Trial of the Chicago Seven
37. A film based on a book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
38. A film related to a word given by a random word generator (Stamp; Onion; Divorce; Talkative; Mourning; Grand; Spring; Demand; Fountain; and Excitement)
All The Bright Places
39. A film involving an immigrant
Minari
40. A film with flowers or greenery on the poster
Love and Monsters
41. A film by a new-to-you BIPOC director/writer
Always Be My Maybe - directed by Nahnatchka Khan
42. A mystery or thriller
Inside Man
43. A film with elements of magic
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
44. A film whose title contains a negative
You're Not You
45. A film related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Hotel Artemis
46. A film based on a winner or nominee from the Goodreads Choice Awards
A Wrinkle in Time
47. A documentary that isn’t about a specific person’s life
13th
48. A film that might cause someone to react “You watched what?!?”
An American Pickle
49. A film with an ensemble cast
Pride
50. A film released in 2021
Flora & Ulysses
51. A film whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name
The Intern
52. A film related to "the end"
Greenland - it's about an extinction level event - end of the world!

Finished just in time - that Warwick prompt was tricky, but thanks to going to the UK for Christmas and getting access to their Netflix I was able to find something that fit.