January
| National & International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| Australia Day, Australia. 26th January | Happy Valley by Patrick White Australian classic; Australian Nobel prize-winning author; set in Australia. |
| Republic Day, India. 26th January. | The far field : a novel, by Madhuri Vijay Set in India; Indian author. |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Victorian Premier’s Literary Award | To Name Those Lost, Rohan Wilson 2014 Winner Victoria Premier’s Literary |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| Two of the words in the title start with the letter M. | Meet Me at Lennon’s by Melanie Myers |
| The theme of the book is survival that does not involve war situations. | After the Flood by Kassandra Montag |
| The book is set in a small town. | Taking Tom Murray Home by Tim Slee |
| The book is set in Italy, India or Indonesia. | The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay |
| The theme is North American aboriginal people. | The Round House by Louise Erdrich |
| There is a wild animal on the cover. | The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle |
| Set in the 19th century | To Name Those Lost by Rohan Wilson |
| A book written by a Nobel Prize in Literature winner. | Happy Valley by Patrick White |
February
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| Waitingi Day, New Zealand 6th February | Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh Set in New Zealand; New Zealand author. |
| Estonia Independence Day 24th February | The Willow King : the birds of the muses, by Meelis Friedenthal Set in Estonia; Estonian author |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Winner announced 29th February 2020 | The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones 2020 shortlist |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| The cover has a key | The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield |
| The book is set between 1760 and 1820. | The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan |
| The book’s genre is time travel. | The Lost Girls by Jennifer Spence |
| The word “king” is in the title | The Willow King : the birds of the muses, by Meelis Friedenthal |
| Originally published 2018 | The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones |
| There is one or more sheep on the cover. | Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh |
| The book was translated from another language to English | A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende |
| First or second in a series | The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde |
March
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| World Wildlife Day 3rd March. Celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. | Tiger by Polly Clark – about the Amur (Siberian tiger), of which there are only about 500 left in the wild. |
| International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 21st March | The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Hamid Mohsin One of the themes of the novel is race discrimination. |
| Ghana Independence Day 6th March | The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry The story is set partly in Ghana 1957. |
| Pakistan Republic Day 23rd March | The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid Mohsin Hamid is a British/Pakistani writer. The novel takes place partly in Pakistan, dealing with its cultural and political issues. |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Indie Book Awards (Aus) | Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar Indie Book of the Year Debut Fiction 2016 |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| The book has “tiger” in the title. | Tiger by Polly Clark |
| The book is set in New York | The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Hamid Mohsin |
| The cover has a woman wearing a hat. | The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry |
| The genre is Scandinavian mystery | Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen. |
| A book by an Irish author, other than C. S. Lewis | The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan |
| The cover has a detailed feather on it. | Here We Are by Graham Swift |
| Setting is between 1900 and 1920 | House of Glass by Susan Fletcher |
| Other | Title |
|---|---|
| A known author. I’ve also read: “The Gathering” and “The Green Road”. | Actress by Anne Enright |
| Recommended to me | The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave |
April
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| St George’s Day, England. | To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx 1994 winner |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| Set in one of the 4 Maritime Provinces of Canada (The Shipping News is set in Newfoundland/ Labrador). | The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx |
| Written by French author. | The Braid by Laetitia Colombani |
| Set in Iceland, or written by an Icelandic author. | The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson |
| Cover is 75% green. | Greenwood by Michael Christie |
| The genre of mythology. | Circe by Madeline Miller |
| A classic written by a woman. | To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf |
| Other | Title |
|---|---|
| Genre: Historical fiction | The Year Without Summer Guinevere Glasfurd |
| Known author; Australian historical fiction | True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey |
| Australian history | Mrs Kelly by Grantlee Kieza |
May
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| Jordan Independence Day 25th May | Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| Author is a Mary, Edith or Sybil | The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing by Mary Paulson-Ellis |
| Mountains on the cover | The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin |
| The word “Orphan” is in the title or a significant character is an orphan | A Thousands Moons by Sebastian Barry |
| Flower other than orchid on cover | The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian |
| Other | Title |
|---|---|
| Recommended | Conjure Women by Atakora, Afia |
| Known author | The Dickens Boy by Tom Keneally |
June
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| World Environment Day June 5 protect our environment | Only the Animals, Ceridwen Dovey |
| Republic Day, Italy June 2 | The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante |
| Iceland June 17 | Oblivion by Arnaldur Indrioason |
| Democratic Republic of Congo June 30 | Brazzaville Beach, William Boyd |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| International Dublin Literary Award Winners announced June 12 2019 | Idaho (Shortlisted) |
| Walter Scott Prize Winners announced June 17 2019 | |
| Australian Book Industry Awards | Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham – 2020 Longlist – Australian Book Industry Awards |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| A horse on the cover | Peace by Garry Disher |
| The title is one word starting with D | Dominicana by Angie Cruz |
| Genre is thriller | The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel |
| Hand on the cover | The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau by Graeme Macrae Burnet |
| Other | Title |
|---|---|
| Recommended; Australian setting and author | A Treacherous Country by K.M. Kruimink |
| Known author | Gulliver’s Wife by Lauren Chater |
| Recommended | The Redeemed by Tim Pears |
July
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| World Population Day 11 Jul | |
| Burundi 1 July | Small Country Gael Faye L |
| Canada Day, Canada 1 July | |
| Somalia 1 July | Crossbones by Nuruddin Farah The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed The World’s Most Dangerous Place by James Fergusson After the monsoon Karjel, Robert Somali Dawn by Charles Joseph |
| Belarus 3 July | Gingerbread by Robert Dinsdale |
| Liberation Day, Rwanda 4 July | |
| United States of America 4 July | |
| Cape Verde 5 July | The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida |
| Venezuela 5 July | Chronicles of a Nomad: Memoirs of an Immigrant by A. A. Alvarez |
| Comoros 6 July | Kaffir of Karthala (Le Kafir du Karthala) by Mohamed Toihiri |
| Lithuania Satehood Day 6th July | |
| Malawi 6 July | |
| Solomon Islands 7 July | |
| South Sudan 9 July | |
| Bahamas 10 July | |
| Anniversary of Mongolian People’s Revolution, Mongolia 11 July | |
| Kiribati 12 July | A Pattern of Islands Arthur Grimble In the South Seas Robert Louis Stevenson |
| São Tomé & Príncipe 12 July | The Shepherd’s House (A casa do pastor) by Olinda Beja |
| Montenegro 13 July | Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, by Rebecca West |
| Bastille Day, France 14 July | |
| Colombia 20 July | Author: Juan Gabriel Vásquez; Gabriel García Márquez Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo Latin American Trilogy by Louis de Bernières |
| Accession of King Leopold I Belgium 21 July | |
| Anniversary of Revolution, Egypt 23 July | |
| Liberia 26 July | The Land of My Fathers – Vamba Sheriff Boy Interrupted, by Saah Millimono Murder in the Cassava Patch – Bai T. Moore |
| Maldives 26-27 July | |
| Peru 28 July | Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman |
| Throne Day, Morocco 30 July | |
| Vanuatu 30 July | |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| Other | Title |
|---|---|
| All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton HELD Redlands | |
| The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo HELD Redlands | |
| Miss Austen by Gill Hornby HELD Redlands | |
| The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld HELD Redlands | |
| Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell HELD Redlands | |
| How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee HELD Redlands | |
| Miss Austen by Gill Hornby HELD Redlands | |
| China HELD Redlands | |
| Rising From the Flood HELD Redlands |
August
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| Switzerland 1 August | Mary Shelley Frankenstein Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes The Pledge, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt Beauty on Earth by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, translated from the French by Michelle Bailat-Jones |
| Benin 1 August | The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin |
| Constitution Day, Cook Islands 4 August | |
| Burkina Faso 5 August | |
| Bolivia 6 Aug | American Visa by Juan De Recacoechea The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel García Márquez |
| Jamaica 6 August | Pao by Kerry Young A The Hills of Hebron by Sylvia Wynter A The True History of Paradise by Margaret Cezair-Thompson A Augustown by Kei Miller A A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes S |
| Côte d’Ivoire 7 August | |
| Singapore 9 August | Sharlene Teo’s Ponti S |
| Ecuador 10 August, | |
| Chad 11August | The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary S |
| Liechtenstein 15 August, | |
| Liechtenstein 15 August, | |
| Gabon 17 August, | |
| Proclamation of Independence, Indonesia 17 August | Twilight in Jakarta Mochtar Eka Kurniawan The Year of Living Dangerously, by CJ Koch Map of the Invisible World Tash Aw Black Water by Louise Doughty |
| Afghanistan 19 August | Born Under A Million Shadows, Andrea Busfield Nadeem Aslam – The Wasted Vigil Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari |
| Day of the Foundation of the State of Hungary & St Stephen’s Day, Hungary 20 August | Embers by Sándor Márai War & War by László Krasznahorkai The Book of Fathers by Miklós Vámos The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro ? |
| Ukraine 24 August, | The Boy from Reactor 4 by Orest Stelmach Penguin Lost by Andrey Kurkov |
| Uruguay 25 August | The Purple Land by W.H. Hudson |
| Moldova 27 August, | |
| Kyrgyzstan 31 August | Enemy of the good Palmer, Matthew |
| Malaysia 31 August, | Layers of Deception The Gift of Rain Tan Twan Eng The Harmony Silk Factory, Tash Aw Lord Jim Joseph Conrad The Consul’s File Paul Theroux My Life as a Fake Peter Carey Evening in the Whole Day Preeta Samaeasan The Separation Dinah Jefferies |
| Trinidad and Tobago 31 August | Mycroft Holmes : a novel Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem A House for Mister Biswas Naipaul, V. S. (Vidiadhar Surajprasad), |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Miles Franklin Award | |
| James Tait Black Prize | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
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September
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| International Day of Peace | Peace by Richard Bausch Slaughtherhouse-five Kurt Vonnegut Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys The War Prayer by Mark Twain, John Groth Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo War No More: Three Centuries of American Antiwar & Peace Writing by Lawrence Rosenwald (Editor), James Carroll (Foreword) Lay Down Your Arms by Bertha von Suttner, T. Holmes (Translation) War Is a Lie by David Swanson |
| Constitution Day, The Slovak Republic 1 September | |
| Uzbekistan 1 September | The Devils’ Dance by Hamid Ismailov |
| Vietnam 2 September | Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong |
| National Foundation Day, San Marino 3 September | |
| Swaziland 6 September | |
| Brazil 7 September | Paulo Coelho Anonymous Celebrity, Ignácio de Loyola Brandão A Breath of Life: Pulsations, Clarice Lispector, t. from Portuguese (Brazil) Raduan Nassar (Brazil), A Cup of Rage Chronicle of the Murdered House, Lúcio Cardoso, t. from Portuguese (Brazil) |
| Andorra 8 September | |
| Macedonia 8 September | |
| Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 9 September | How I Became a North Korean, by Krys Lee |
| Tajikistan 9 September | |
| Costa Rica 15 September | |
| Chile 18 September | Ways of Going Home by Alejandro ZambraIsabel Allende |
| Armenia 21 September | The Sandcastle Girls Chris Bohjelain |
| El Salvador 15 September | |
| Guatemala 15 September | Mr. President by Miguel Ángel Asturias Silence on the Mountain by Daniel Wilkinson Love in a Fearful Land by Henri Nouwen |
| Honduras 15 September | |
| Nicaragua 15 September | The naturalist in Nicaragua by Thomas Belt |
| Papua New Guinea 16 September | https://crocodile-prize.com/The Crocodile, by Vincent Eri Brokenville, Leonard Fong Roka |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis 19 September | Caryl Phillips |
| Belize 21 September | Joey Garcia Beka Lamb Zee Edgell, |
| Malta 21 September | The Kappillan of Malta – Nicholas Monsarrat Sirius the Star of the Maltese Temples – Lenie Reedijk Death in Malta by Rosanne Dingli |
| Proclamation of Independence, Mali 22 September | The Fortunes of Wangrin (L’Etrange destin de Wangrin) by Amadou Hampâté Bâ, translated from the French by Aina Pavolini Taylor |
| Saudi Arabia 23 September | Queen of the Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell Princess by Jean Sasson Jeddah City of Art; The Sculptures and Monuments |
| Guinea-Bissau 24 September | The Ultimate Tragedy (A última tragédia) by Abdulai Silá, translated from the Portuguese by Jethro Soutar |
| Proclamation of Independence, Mexico 27 September | Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, 2002 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, 1989 The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes, 1962 The Years with Laura Diaz by Carlos Fuentes, 1999 |
| Botswana 30 September | Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
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October
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| International Day of Older Persons 1 October – to highlight the contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world. | |
| World Animal Day 4 October – to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe. | |
| World Teachers’ Day 5 October – to honor teachers and recognize their contributions to education and development. | |
| World Mental Health Day 10 October – a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. | |
| World Food Day 16 October | |
| World Cities Day 31 October – to promote interest in global urbanization, and to address challenges of urbanization. | |
| The People’s Republic of China 1 October | |
| Cyprus Independence Day 1 October | |
| Nigeria Independence Day 1 October | |
| Tuvalu Independence Day 1 October | |
| Palau Independence Day 1 October | |
| Guinea Independence Day 2 October | |
| National Foundation Day, Republic of Korea National Foundation Day3 October | |
| Day of German Unity, Germany 3 October | |
| Lesotho Independence Day 4 October | |
| Croatia Independence Day 8 October | |
| Uganda Independence Day 9 October | |
| Fiji National Day 10 October | |
| Equatorial Guinea Independence Day 12 October | |
| Spain 12 October | |
| Niue Independence Day 19 October | |
| Zambia Independence Day 24 October | |
| Austria National Day 26 October | |
| St Vincent and the Grenadines Independence Day 27 October | |
| Czech Republic Independent Czechoslovak State Day 28 October | |
| Turkey Republic Day 29 October | |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Queensland Literary Awards | |
| Western Australia Premiers Book Awards (even years) | |
| Man Booker | |
| Governor-General Canada Awards | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
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November
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| World Tsunami Awareness Day 5 November | |
| Universal Children’s Day 20 November | |
| International Day for Tolerance 16 November | |
| Antigua and Barbuda Independence Day 1 November | |
| Anniversary of the Revolution, Algeria 1 November | |
| Panama Independence Day 3 November | |
| Dominica Independence Day 3 November | |
| Tonga National Day 4 November | |
| Cambodia Independence Day 9 November | |
| Poland Independence Day 11 November | |
| Angola Independence Day 11 November | |
| Oman National Day 18 November | |
| Proclamation of Independence, Latvia 18 November | |
| Monaco National Day 19 November | |
| Lebanon Independence Day 22 November | |
| Suriname Republic Day 25 November | |
| Mauritania Independence Day 28 November | |
| Albania Independence Day 28 November | |
| Barbados Independence Day 30 November | |
| St Andrew’s Day, Scotland 30 November | |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Irish Book awards | |
| National Book Award | |
| Scottish Book Awards | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
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December
| National and International Days | Title |
|---|---|
| International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2 December | |
| International Mountain Day 11 December | |
| Human Rights Month | |
| Myanmar (date varies) | |
| Central African Republic Republic Day 1 December | |
| Romania Great Union Day 1 December | |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic National Day 2 December) | |
| United Arab Emirates 2 December | |
| King Bhumbibol Adulyadej’s Birthday, Thailand 5 December | |
| Finland 6 December | |
| Bahrain 16 December | |
| Kazakhstan 16 December | |
| Jamhuri Day, Kenya 12 December | |
| Bhutan 17 December | The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden |
| Niger 18 December | |
| Qatar 18 December | |
| Emperor’s Birthday, Japan 23 December | |
| Libya 24 December | |
| Literary Awards | Title |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (Australia) | |
| Year-long Challenge: Twisted Trivia | Title |
|---|---|
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