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We've had a few discussions on this topic on the main 2017 discussion thread. It's been noted that an auto-/biography occurs over a character's life span.

Others I can think of include: All the Light We Cannot See and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

What do you recommend?

A man called Ove. This goes back to his childhood and takes the story through to older age. I think this would count and it's a great book and an easy read.

I enjoyed The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I don't recall if his birth is mentioned but his childhood is. It's non-chronological and full of fun stuff.

The Glass Castle description sounds like it would apply.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman follows the life of a woman who lives for 110 years. She is born a slave and lives to see the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. One of the best books I've ever read.

Justine wrote: "A man called Ove. This goes back to his childhood and takes the story through to older age. I think this would count and it's a great book and an easy read."

Oh I like that! I've been wanting to read A Man Called Ove.

I just finished The Lake House (wow it took me FOREVER to read!), and it definitely fits this category. The main character is Alice Edevane, a woman in her 80s in 2004. This takes place in multiple times (so would work for that category as well), and from multiple POVs. Most of the book focuses on her childhood at The Lake House, and the present time in London, but there are also vignettes from her grandmother's youth, plus quite a bit from her mother's youth and young adulthood, and many passages from Detective Sparrow's POV, as she investigates the "cold case" dating back to Alice's youth, and a few other POVs from other people.

I *think* The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August might work for this. At least I hope it will because I'm really interested in reading it.

I'm thinking of reading Life After Life. The whole premise is that the main character dies and is reborn over and over with different life circumstances each time. I tried the audiobook this year, and it didn't work for me. It's an odd story. I may try it in print. Here's the goodreads description:

On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual.

For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.

Sara wrote: "I'm thinking of reading Life After Life. The whole premise is that the main character dies and is reborn over and over with different life circumstances each time. I tried the audio..."

I've chosen Life After Life as well. It has some mixed reviews, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. But I love the premise.

I really enjoyed Life After Life. It takes a while to get into and grasp what is going on but once you have a handle on the novel, it is gripping. Every choice has a consequence.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
A Man Called Ove

Both sound good!

I've chosen Life After Life. It's #60 on my TBR list. It's time to try.

I read both Life After Life and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August this year and loved both. The latter would work for the 'book with a day or month in the title' prompt, too.

I've chosen The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani for this prompt.

The Egyptian is about a man living in Egypt during the time of the pharoahs. He was found as a baby and now writes his story as an old man living in exile.

Les Mis
Picture of Dorian Gray

My Sister's Keeper definitely takes place over the character's life.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is another one (and it is short)

I am reading Aztec where an old man recounts the main events of his life.

A Prayer for Owen Meany. I would argue that Cider House Rules spans a life-time.

Tinisha wrote: "A Prayer for Owen Meany. I would argue that Cider House Rules spans a life-time."
"A Prayer for Owen Meany"! Love, love, love.

One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera

Cider house rules is really great!!!

Also, two suggestions from France: Ce que le jour doit à la nuit by Yasmina Khadra (translated as What the Day Owes the Night) and L'Exposition coloniale by Erik Orsenna (translated as Love and Empire). Both follow a character from early childhood to old age, and in a hugely overlapping period; both with a link to France colonial past. Otherwise, those two books couldn't be more different: pretty dark for the former, a reminder of the Algerian tragedy; rather light, with darker passages, for the latter.

I still have no idea of what I'm going to read for that prompt, though!

Anything for YA in this category? I'm stumped.

The Diary of Mattie Spenser

Mandee wrote: "Anything for YA in this category? I'm stumped."

I'm struggling with this category too, not because I'm looking for YA, I just can't seem to find anything that grabs me.

You could consider a biography, especially one about a person who dies young, if you really want to hew to the letter of the law and span the full life time, such as The Diary of a Young Girl or Go Ask Alice, or about a former rock star who died young.
YA biographies on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ shelves



I don't know if that helps. I'm still searching. I don't know what I'll read for this category.

Megan, for sure 15 a lives fits the bill.

If you like dogs and are willing to be creative with this prompt, you can read A Dog's Purpose. It takes place over the span of a dog's life. Well actually, many lifetimes as the dog is reincarnated again and again. Very interesting.

One other option is The Nix by Nathan Hill which I'm reading now. Although the protagonist is still fairly young (I think he is supposed to be in his 30s or 40s), a lot of the book is told in flash back to his childhood and even his mother's childhood. I'm not sure yet whether he ages more than he does now or if it's just told from his youth to present day as a middle-aged man. But depending on how strict you are with this category, it could count. Plus it's great!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

I'm going to read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, looks like it will work too.

Oh, Molokai! That one has been on my TBR list for a while. Thanks for the idea, I've been unsure what to read for this

Moloka'i is on my list too! I picked it up from the library this year but didn't get a chance to read it.

I'm actually thinking of reading Night as the lifespan category. I also have owned life after life for years, but haven't read it.

The World According to Garp fits the bill for this.

Or another one I read last year The Seamstress

I think I'll go for one already waiting on my kindle The Japanese Lover which, as far as I can make out, takes her from young girl to elderly so that counts enough for me.

I just started _Seraphina_ to qualify for this. This got great reviews and I really in a dragon kick at the moment.

It's good so far but I am just a few pages in. Others that I enjoyed that come to mind are the _World According to Garp_ and _The world to come_, about art theft and family ties. It's been ages but I think _Satanic Verses_ and/or _Midnights Children_ might qualify.

Seema wrote: "I just started _Seraphina_ to qualify for this. This got great reviews and I really in a dragon kick at the moment.

It's good so far but I am just a few pages in. Others that I enjoyed that come t..."

Do you mean the Rachel Hartman book Seraphina? I LOVED that book!!! (didn't love the sequel so much, so be warned, but read it anyway). But it doesn't take place over a character's life span. You can use it for the "title is a character's name" category, or "mythological creature" for the dragons (although these dragons are not like any dragons you've seen before, so I don't even know if they qualify!). Or I suppose "non human perspective" but I think that would be a huge reach and outside the bounds for me.

Nadine wrote: "Seema wrote: "I just started _Seraphina_ to qualify for this. This got great reviews and I really in a dragon kick at the moment.

It's good so far but I am just a few pages in. Others that I enjoy..."

Yes, Seraphina. And, I totally agree on both your other counts. I am halfway through Shadow Scale. Not nearly as good. And, I would have to say it wouldn't work for me about he non-human perspective b/c the point seems to be that the human in Seraphina far outweighs the dragon.

David Copperfield ?

If you haven't read it already, you should consider reading The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields or Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. These are two of my all-time favorites.

I love William Boyd's novels and he has written 3 'cradle to grave' books - The New Confessions (highly recommended), Any Human Heart and Sweet Caress. The latter is his latest book and will be what I read for this category.

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer covers a pretty decent life span on a couple characters! Loved this read too.

As the crow flies by Jeffrey Archer. An amazing read by a great storyteller.

I'm finally going to read The Picture Of Dorian Gray :D

I think I'm using Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for this one. It covers the narrator's life from age 6 or 7 through her 80s (when she's telling the story) and is sort of written like a fictional memoir.

I just finished The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg and it takes place across almost all the characters entire life spans. It starts in the late 1800s and ends in 2021. Even with 402 pages I finished in one day. Very good read.

Ashley wrote: "I'm actually thinking of reading Night as the lifespan category. I also have owned life after life for years, but haven't read it."

Life after Life is wonderful-the sequel totally blah...

I think The Red Tent would work for this prompt.

Laura wrote: "I think The Red Tent would work for this prompt."

That's on my TBR and I've been struggling with this prompt so thanks for the suggestion!

I'll read Sentir de Cristina Ferreira, a portuguese television presenter.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert would be perfect for this category. It's a gorgeous, epic novel spanning one woman's entire life.