The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge

 

Will be joining Liz for the fourth round of her reading challenge at The 52 Book Club. Hers is a low-key challenge, so there is no pressure to fulfill all 52 categories I'm setting a personal goal of 20. I may read more that fit the categories, but at 20 I can claim my challenge goal fulfilled. I can honestly say that I probably won't read all of them. I'm not real keen on the prompt every year that requires a book published that year--I struggled to find one for 2020 that appealed to me. And "set before the 17th century isn't exciting me much either...but we'll see. I've listed tentative selections below.

1. Set in a school: Dead as a Dodo by Jane Langton (1/24/21)

2. Featuring the legal profession: My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2/13/21)

3. A dual timeline: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (6/4/21)

4. An author that is deceased: Raffles [The Amateur Cracksman] by E. W. Hornung (1/28/21)

5. Published by Penguin: Death of a Millionaire by G. D. H. & Margaret Cole (1/4/21)

6. Character with same name as male family member: Murder in the Bookshop by Carolyn Wells [Philip--same name as my dad, though my dad spells it Phillip] (4/17/21)

7. Author with only one published book: Theoretically Dead by Tinker Marks [as far as I can tell this is the only book by this husband/wife team] (5/19/21)

8. Book in 900s of Dewey Decimal system: Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn J. Atwood (5/5/21)

9. Set in Mediterranean country: The Trolley to Yesterday by John Bellairs [Constantinople--now Istanbul, Turkey] (5/13/21)

10. Related to the word "fire": Fire in the Thatch by E. C. R. Lorac (4/30/21)

11. Book with discussion questions inside: Dracula by Bram Stoker (graphic novel version adapted by Naunerle Farr) [3/2/21]

12. Title starting with letter "D": Dead, Man, Dead by David Alexander (3/7/21)

13. Includes an exotic animal: Mr. Smith's Hat by Helen Reilly [monkeys in a NY renovated farmhouse] (4/7/28)

14. Written by an author over 65 (when published): The Double-Jack Murders by Patrick McManus (2/2/21)

15. Book mentioned in another book: The African Poison Murders by Elspeth Huxley [mentioned in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards] (4/21/21)

16. Set before 17th Century: The 13th Warrior (aka Eaters of the Dead) by Michael Crichton (5/22/21)

17. Character "on the run": The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer (2/19/21)

18. Author with nine-letter last name: The Cannibal Who Overate by Hugh Pentecost (2/14/21)

19. Book with deckled edge: Death & the Dutch Uncle by Patricia Moyes (1/18/21)

20. Made into a TV series: Sidney Chambers & the Shadow of Death by James Runcie (1/14/21)

21. Book introduced by Kristin Hannah: Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love & Reunion (3/10/21) [only place I'm using the "your challenge, your rules out--I can't find a book actually written by Kristin Hannah that interests me enough to finish]

22. A family saga: Howard's End by E. M. Forster (2/27/21)

23. An ending that surprises you: Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (1/2/21)

24. Book you think they should read in schools: Malcolm X & the Fight for African American Unity by Gary Jeffrey (5/8/21)

25. Book with multiple POV: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (3/6/21)

26. Author of color: The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher (7/3/21)

27. First chapter ends in odd number: The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club (Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, et. al) [ends on page 21] (1/17/21)

28. Includes a historical event you know little about: Mr. President, Private Eye by Martin H. Greenberg & Francis M. Nevins, Jr. (1/22/21)

29. Featuring the environment: Road Rage by Ruth Rendell (7/2/21)

30. Watch out for dragons!: Dragon's Cave by Clyde B. Clason (6/21/21)

31. Shares similar title to another book: Murder by the Book by Frances & Richard Lockridge [same title as a book by Rex Stout] (5/5/21)

32. Selfish character: The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (ed) [there are a whole slew of them in these fairy tales] (1/9/21)

33. Featuring adoption: Innocent Blood by P. D. James (5/12/21)

34. Book you'd rate five stars: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix (1/18/21)

35. Set in country that starts with "S": Mystery on the Isle of Skye by Phyllis A. Whitney [Scotland] (6/22/21)

36, Nameless narrator: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (2/24/21)

37. Educational read: Murderess Ink: The Better Half of the Mystery by Dilys Winn (5/28/21)

38. Recommended on BookBub: The Devil & the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (4/1/21)

39. Alternate history: The Fantastic Civil War by Frank D. McSherry [ed] (6/23/21)

40. Found via #bookstagram: Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy (3/29/21)

41. Endorsement by famous author on cover: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz [endorsed by Jacqueline Winspear, A. J. Finn, and Sophie Hannah] (2/4/21)

42. An Epistolary: The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers & Robert Eustace (4/24/21)

43. Character with a pet cat: One Lady, Two Cats by Richard Lockridge (1/31/21)

44. Includes a garden: When Falcons Fall by C. S. Harris [3 gardens, actually] (6/15/21)

45. Coming of age novel: A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (5/7/21)

46. National Book Award Winner: A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle [children's winner 1980] (5/8/21)

47. Character with a disability: Where the Dead Lie by C. S. Harris [Paul Gibson--lost a leg in the war] (6/16/21)

48. Cover with woman facing away: Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (2/22/21)

49. Flavor in the title: The Bitter Path of Death by Pierre Audemars (6/18/21)

50. Shoe on cover: Murder at Bray Manor by Lee Strauss (2/21/21)

51. Published in 2021: Two-Way Murder by E. C. R. Lorac (7/9/21)

52. Re-do one of previous categories from this challenge: A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore [shoe on cover--four shoes, actually] (2/25/21)