April RandomKit - Prime

In April I complete another circumnavigation of the sun. This year I'll be 53 which is a prime number and I am clearly (ahem, no laughing at the back there) in my prime. Your challenge is to read a book with a relation to primes.

You could read a book with prime in the title. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie or The Prime Minister would be examples of this.

You could read a book with a prime number in the title. (Remember, a Prime number is one that can only be divided by itself and 1: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89 and 97 are the primes below 100 - they obviously continue upwards!)
Some examples: A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers, Thirteen Moons, Nineteen Minutes, 97 ways to train a dragon. You get the idea.

You could read a book with a prime number of chapters, of pages or even (if you had that information) of words.
Let's see where that lot gets you!

Oh, how interesting!

I'm going to plan on One Stick Song by Sherman Alexie since I've been meaning to read more of his collections, but I'll also keep an eye out to see if any of my other reads meet the challenge! Can't wait to see what variety we have here :)

>1 Helenliz: You must have been reading my mind: my tentative TBR for April includes BOTH The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope!!

I'll have to check the various series I've got on the go and see which ones I've reached a prime number-th in. Alternatively, I may read Antonia Fraser's biography of Charles II.

Prime number years in the 20th and 21st centuries:
1901 1907 1913 1931 1933 1949 1951 1973 1979 1987 1993 1997 1999 2003 2011 2017

I'll probably read book two in the Charlie Priest series, The Mushroom Man by Stuart Pawson.

Not sure yet what I'll read, but Helen, we are the same age! (Though my birthday is much later in the year.)

That’s a very cool idea, Helen. Not sure yet what I will read, though.

My choice is a childhood favorite! One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Ooh, I have had this one on my TBR for a while - Once Upon A Prime, perfect for maths/book nerds!
What a great challenge!

Great prompt! I've had A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Complete Swan Lake TRILOGY on my shelf for years.

I think I am going to use this month's RandomKit to take a look at my series reading. The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum is the 7th in the series so I will plan on reading that.

I plan on reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

>12 lowelibrary:
That one has been on my shelf for a long time. Think I’ll go with that too.

Thanks all, great variety of reading being suggested.

>3 kac522: I promise I've not been rummaging around in your head!
>4 Robertgreaves: good shouts, year published and position in a series could both be primes.
>6 LibraryCin: Clearly 1972 was a good vintage! Happy birthday for later in the year.

>14 Helenliz: Ha, yes it seems it was! Thank you and an early happy birthday to you in April!

>12 lowelibrary: and >13 nrmay:, I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale, so I hope both of you will also!

I plan to continue with a few series, and some of the books are the second or third in the series, so I will go with that angle. I like this unusual topic and am looking forward to everyone's choices!

I think I might read Diamond Fire, a novella in the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews. In a world where the elite is mutants with extraordinary power, so called Primes, Catalina and Rogan is getting married - and it is not without challenges.

I am also reading Wild Scottish Beauty which is Book 5 in the Enchanted Highlands series, so that would fit in here.

I have A Tale of Two Cities on a table next to my couch so good time to read.

Ok, I picked something out!

Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III / Michael Hicks

Today I started a re-read on audiobook of The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope. At 691 pages it should take most of the month of April.

I'm about to start Highway Thirteen, which will fit both the CoverCAT and Random KIT.

I just finished Braided (Sisters Ever After), which is 5th in its series.

COMPLETED Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan - second in the series and 2 is a prime number.

Finished One Stick Song by Sherman Alexie, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I've enjoyed other works by him. Full review written, still. (For anyone curious about his work, my go-to recommendation is The Summer of Black Widows--a great work if you want to celebrate April being National Poetry Month!

I have read the 7th in the Thrush Green series, Affairs at Thrush Green. I have another that will fit the theme underway.

I read Loretta Chase's My Inconvenient Duke, which has three words in the title and is the third book in a trilogy.

Here's a link to the wiki if anyone needs it! https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_RandomKIT#April:_Prime

Read Lost Ark Dreaming, a climate crisis dystopia in which humanity has sought refugee from the floods in a high-tower outside what used to be Lagos. The head of the tower is called The Prime.

I finished The Acceptance World, 3rd in Dance to the Music of Time series.
And The Bookshop which has a prime number of letters in the title.

I have completed my read of The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum.

I have read Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman, the 2nd in the series.

Because You'll Never Meet Me has 5 words in the title and is the 1st book in a series!

Ollie lives in an isolated rural cabin because of his allergy to electricity, while Mortiz, who has a pacemaker, is bullied at school because he was born with no eyes. Although they could never meet in person, they begin exchanging letters.

Pretty much from the moment I started reading the first letter, I feel in love with these characters. They have such strong voices, and they are both funny and charming in their own ways. I would say the main focus of this heartwarming novel is the characters' growth, especially in the way they prompt each other to become better versions of themselves, but there is some action and intrigue (and a little teen romance) as well. The book does get a little sci-fi at parts, but I would describe it as very very light sci-fi; no laser blasters or spaceships. I was a big fan of this one.

I read The High Lord by Trudi Canavan, which is the third one in a series and has a three word title.

I read The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge.

A prime of primes:

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (2nd in series)
Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (3rd in series)
The Serpents of Harbledown by Edward Marston (5th in series)
A Capitol Death by Lindsey Davis (7th in series)
Smoke in the Wind by Peter Tremayne (11th in series)

I will count Cold Copper Tears by Glen Cook for this month, it is book 3 in the series and has a 3-word title.

I finished Genevieve Cogman's The Dark Archive, which is book #7 in the Invisible Library series.

I read Booked for Murder by Val McDermid.

#5 in the series, published 1997, both prime numbers.

COMPLETED The Cruellest Month by Hazel Holt (2nd in series)

Starting Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger (3rd in series)

COMPLETED Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

I read The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver for women in their prime.

>43 Cecilturtle: love this!

>44 amberwitch: I definitely recommend the book too :D

I finished my audiobook re-read of The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (1876), the fifth in his Palliser political novels.

Scythe, first book in a series

Every problem humanity has ever had has been solved once we reach near-infinite computing power and a benevolent AI called the "Thunderhead" (instead of the Cloud — get it?) has taken over the concept of government. But now humanity has a new problem — having conquered natural (and unnatural) death, something has to be done about a growing population that can never die. The Scythes, who operate under no laws or authority but their own, remain the only true source of fear. And two teenagers who encounter this fear, are chosen to become apprentices. But who wants to take lives for a living?

I always enjoy the worlds Shusterman creates, and he always raises a lot of interesting and thought-provoking questions, even when I don't always agree with his premises. This book was no exception, and often had me on the edge of my seat. Although I enjoyed it overall, there were a few descriptions of fat people in the book that were weird and bordering on dehumanizing. I felt the ending was satisfying, but I'm actually discovering there are sequels, so I will have to keep an eye out.

COMPLETED One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson, the 2nd in her Jackson Brodie series.

Starting When Will There Be Good News?, the 3rd in the series, but obviously won't finish it this month.

At last I found a book for this month’s RandomKIT: The School at the Chalet which is the first of many books in a long-running series.

>49 MissWatson: I have that book on my shelf!

Thank you all for joining in. Hope you found some prime reading material!

I finished one more yesterday: Die kalte Mamsell by Elsa Dix, it is the third in a series and the title has three words.

I am adding a late entry with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a teacher who uses the phrase "in my prime" disturbingly often.

I finally finished my book for this challenge.


88. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield ★★★½

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny. All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist. The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission. As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden, and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.(description from book blurb)

I found this book to be a very slow start, and I set it aside last month. I picked it back up this month and the book did not get interesting until halfway through. I did enjoy the twists at the end of the book.