Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The results are in!

Winners
- A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere
- A mystery
- A dual timeline novel
- A book being released as a movie in 2017

Bottom:
- A book that features at least one character from a different author's book
- A book someone found so bad it was hilarious
- A book by the ancient Greeks

Polarizing:
- A book set during Christmas
- A high fantasy book

The next round of suggestions will open Saturday, August 13 at 8am EST.

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with these results, and I'm very surprised that high fantasy didn't win. It seems like there are a lot of huge fantasy fans in this group. I'm on the fence about the mystery prompt, juts because I think there were others on the list that were a bit more challenging. I may have to think about how to add an extra layer of challenge onto that one for myself.

I love that dual timeline won, and the Southern Hemisphere prompt is also interesting. The one that I'm most disappointed in is the book being released as a movie in 2017 (no offence to the person who suggested it), just because I've already done that kind of prompt in a few challenges. And of course, I'm a bit disappointed that my suggestion (a book by or about a person with a disability) didn't make it, but even when I suggested it, I wasn't sure how much people would like it.

Two of my four top made it! And I am Ok with the other two. So, great choices :-)

Rachel, I think the mystery prompt is the perfect opportunity to add another layer since the suggestion is so broad. I will probably do that myself.

I like the dual timeline,it give me a reason to pick and read Outlander since I finally brought it as a kindle book.

I'm very pleased the timeline one got in. The mystery and Southern Hemisphere ones are very open. I'm extremely pleased with the bottom 3 . Life is too short to read bad books on purpose! And no way did I fancy the ancient Greeks.

None of my top four made it but I'm not massively surprised. I didn't think they'd be the very popular topics. I do find it interesting that my suggestion was one of the polarizing topics. I wonder if I'd just suggested 'a fantasy book' rather than specifically a 'high fantasy' book it may have done better. Who knows.

I'm happy with the topics that made it, though! Although I'll definitely need a list for the books becoming movies in 2017 because I'm not sure which ones are.

I've added some lists for three of these topics which should hopefully help a little bit, if anyone has or finds more please add them. I haven't added any for the 'southern hemisphere' topic because I found it hard to find lists for it specifically (not helped by my terrible geography skills and the fact that I had to google which countries specifically qualify and some countries have only part of them that do) but I'm sure there are some out there that people with a better grasp on geography will be able to find.

Some of these prompts that are just "mystery" or "romance" I tend to vote against, I'd rather a prompt be more specific than less.

I would rather it was a specific mystery, but I suppose that is up to the individual. I was hoping for the LGBT one as I don't think we have had that before, or the wartime one, but I suppose I can make it a wartime mystery.
Will need help with the film one.

For the 2017 book/movie, I have my heart set on "Silence," a movie directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the novel by wonderful Japanese author Shûsaku Endô. It's being released end Dec, so would it still qualify for the category?

Stacey, it looks like it depends on the country where you live since it will be released in November/December for some and then January for others. Unless you want to bend the rules ;)

I am happy with this batch. The reason why is because most of them fit with my own personal challenges as well. I am kind of surprised about the high fantasy being polarized when there seemed to be a lot of interest in the topic.

Francesca wrote: "None of my top four made it but I'm not massively surprised. I didn't think they'd be the very popular topics. I do find it interesting that my suggestion was one of the polarizing topics. I wonder..."

I'm with you- nothing I voted on won! And they were good topics! I would like to see some of the wackier prompts win! Although in defense of mysteries, I also like a couple wide ones as well.

I agree that some broad prompts are good. They also fit how I use the challenge though, so I'm a little biased.

We are halfway there now! 26 down. :)

2 of my tops made it. I'm ok with the 2 others, even if "just mystery" is a little disappointing. I didn't vote for the dual timeline but I read books like this several times a year and enjoy them so it won't be difficult to find something to read.

I've a hard time to find ideas for the Southern Hemisphere (most of Asia isn't in it and I don't know the places for my TBR books set in Africa), so I'm looking forward to the suggestions and plans :)

For the 2017 movie, I absolutely don't want to read It but there are Annihilation, Dark Tower and An Ember in the Ashes that are scheduled and the 3 are on my TBR.

For high fantasy, I voted against it because we already have a fantasy category and high fantasy tends to be series. I'd prefer a speculative fiction category for a genre we didn't already read ("A steampunk or alternate history book" would be nice).

I was kind of hoping the genre you've never heard of before would have made it. I had already picked out which one I'd read for that. Oh well, maybe in a later poll.

Laura wrote: "Stacey, it looks like it depends on the country where you live since it will be released in November/December for some and then January for others. Unless you want to bend the rules ;)"

Haha, Laura. Me, bend the rules? No, never! ;)

I was also hoping for the genre you never heard of before.

I didn't vote for any of the topics that won, but there's always the next poll! :)

At least one of my top 4 was picked, so I'm happy about that!

In reviewing my TBR, I have so many short story books to get through. Wow.

Has the short story been included in the polls yet? Maybe next time we can add it in there, along with designated specifics or something more creative, i.e. short stories from a particular global region or country, a minimum number of short stories in the book, your least favorite genre as the main theme, etc. Just a thought...

Two of my picks made it in the top four! I am kind of sad that 2 of my other picks ended up in the bottom 4.

Stacey, no short stories suggestion for the moment. I'd like very much to see at least one category like this in the final list but they don't seem popular :(

I'll add it for poll #9, Zaz. Let's see how it goes :))

I don't think I voted for any of the winners.

For mystery I'm reading the Maisie Dobbs series (slowly, she's a challenging persona) so I'll squeeze one of those in, or a Poirot. I just think it is a tad unchallenging, but hey, majority has spoken so no complaints.

Sad about the philosophers though, but I'll move the ultimate challenge onto myself instead, to bake in some of the losing categories.

Short stories or novellas? Or both?

I like the Southern Hemisphere prompt. The Mystery novel and the 2017 movie seem pretty boring. I feel like people just pick prompts that fit books they already want to read. Take a look at this year's books -> ones being made into films are some of the most popular, even without a prompt.

Not sure I fully understand the 'dual timeline' prompt. I thought I did, but I wouldn't have thought that Outlander would qualify. While it does have two time periods, there isn't a plot occurring in the present at all. Doomsday Book would have been more of what I would think of as Dual Timeline as there are two subsequent plots occurring simultaneously, one in the past and one in the future, which both affect each other.

I didn't vote for the dual timeline because I wasn't sure how this could work , but right now I am reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and this is written in that way and is really interesting... no idea which other book has dual timeline, but I am pretty sure that somewhere there is a list :-D

The Dispossessed does this cool thing where the odd chapters start at a given timepoint and move forward, but the even chapters start way in the past and move forward until you get to Chapter one. This produces a cyclical read for the book, where if you finish reading it and immediately started again, the odd chapters would continue the even chapter storyline.

Life After Life is a really good dual time one. There are some other good ones on the list Amy put up

Jennifer wrote: "I was kind of hoping the genre you've never heard of before would have made it. I had already picked out which one I'd read for that. Oh well, maybe in a later poll."

I completely forgot that "genre you've never heard of" was in this poll! For some reason, I thought it was in the previous one. I also wish that would have won.

I have no problem with the mystery prompt since I have plenty of mysteries on my TBR that might fit. The only reason I'm disappointed with it is because there were quite a few other prompts that I would have (and did) pick ahead of it.

The Southern Hemisphere topic is not really a problem for me either, since I like Liane Moriarty's books which are all set in Australia. I may try to branch out a bit more and pick something from South America or Africa instead.

I'm actually a little confused about why books that are becoming a movie are such popular prompts every year. I know a lot of people like to read the book before they see the movie, but it seems that this kind of prompt is in every single challenge I've done in some form.

Also, I saw someone above said they weren't surprised that high fantasy didn't win since we already have a fantasy prompt. I just took a look at the list so far, and I didn't notice any fantasy prompts...

Rachel, they may have been talking about the list for this year, since there is a top 100 fantasy prompt.

I can tell you that the movie prompt was far and away the most popular topic in its poll both last year and this year. I personally always vote for it because I like to watch a movie after I read a book just because I enjoy seeing the translation and it's a way to extend my time with a book that I loved. There's also just something fun about the comparing the two.

Laura wrote: "Rachel, they may have been talking about the list for this year, since there is a top 100 fantasy prompt.

I can tell you that the movie prompt was far and away the most popular topic in its poll ..."

Fair enough. I just find it a bit odd since people can read the books that are becoming movies within the year anyway, even if it isn't a prompt. I'm sure many of them would fit other topics. Although I guess the same could really be said about any prompt at all.

Out of curiosity, would it be possible to know (either here or by PM) how my suggestion of "a book by or about someone who has a disability" fared? I thought given all the chat about diversity after the last poll that it might stand a chance, but I guess not so much, lol.

The winners are alright. I voted for mystery, because I generally don't read them. I read a couple for the challenge this year and last year and really enjoyed them so wanted to get another one in. The other winners are good, but there were other topics I would have preferred over them.

I'm not even a little surprised by the bottom picks though.

I am really surprised High Fantasy didn't make it though. I think there are a lot of fantasy fans in this group, so I honestly thought it was a shoe-in. Maybe it was because it was a specific sub-genre...

Rachel wrote: "Also, I saw someone above said they weren't surprised that high fantasy didn't win since we already have a fantasy prompt. I just took a look at the list so far, and I didn't notice any fantasy prompts... "

You're right - as far as fantasy goes, we definitely do not have a fantasy-specific topic in our list yet. There are some topics that can easily be filled by fantasy books, but none that are specific to the genre.

Peter wrote: "I am really surprised High Fantasy didn't make it though. I think there are a lot of fantasy fans in this group, so I honestly thought it was a shoe-in. Maybe it was because it was a specific sub-genre... "

Perhaps there are a good number of members in our group who don't like Fantasy. While some people (myself included) use Fantasy to fill a few prompts, I did notice that the 'Top 100 Fantasy' week has the fewest hits in the Progress thread, meaning that it seems to be the most avoided topic. AND more than half of the books that people have listed in that thread are Sci-Fi novels.

J wrote: "Peter wrote: "I am really surprised High Fantasy didn't make it though. I think there are a lot of fantasy fans in this group, so I honestly thought it was a shoe-in. Maybe it was because it was a ..."

Well....the fewest posts doesn't necessarily mean it is the most avoided topic. That is a huge assumption. Statistically speaking, there's just not enough information to determine that.

Most of the books in that thread appear to be fantasy novels though, with a couple sci-fi. But that is most likely because the list in the "suggestions" thread is a list for top 100 fantasy and sci-fi, not just fantasy.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

I realize this was an early poll and not all members participated, but poll 17, as well as a number of discussions this year and last year pointed to Fantasy as a very popular genre.

I'm just very surprised it didn't make it as a topic.

I'm glad the author from the Southern hemisphere won, as I don't read much from that part of the world. I was hesitant about the dual timeline so will have to do some research to find something. I'm okay with the movie topic, but I agree that it has been in every year in some form. I was surprised that the high fantasy didn't rank higher, given the amount of fantasy readers. I guess its because it didn't challenge them too much?
Overall, the list is shaping up nicely. I can't believe we are halfway done!

J, there may not be many postings in the fantasy progress post yet because that prompt was for later in the year. If there a lot of members like myself who are reading in order, they just may not have gotten to it yet.

As far as that topic not making it this time, i am kind of shocked because as was stated there seemed to be a lot of members that like that genre, me being one. Maybe next time be a little more general with the type of fantasy, it may get more votes.

Zaz wrote: "I've a hard time to find ideas for the Southern Hemisphere (most of Asia isn't in it and I don't know the places for my TBR books set in Africa), so I'm looking forward to the suggestions and plans :)"

Don't forget that big old island down under too! Plus New Zealand and South America. Or you could really branch out and read something in Antarctica. :) Maybe another Liane Moriaty book?

I'm a huge fantasy fan, that's why I didn't vote for the High fantasy prompt, as it isn't challenging at all for me. I also don't like the movie to book adaptation, because I don't know what to choose for this year's Popsugar prompt.

I'm happy about the dual timeline and the Southern Hemisphere though!

I've become a fantasy fan too, but that's exactly why I didn't vote for the high fantasy prompt. I'm looking for prompts that challenge me to read books I wouldn't normally have read. That's also one of the reasons why I didn't vote for the mystery prompt, and also because we have a mystery prompt in this years challenge.

I'm sorry to see that the "genre/subgenre you've never heard of before" didn't win. That would be an interesting challenge. So now I'm suddenly liking the idea of a resubmitting pole :-) But will we have another one of those? I'm confused...

I voted for the dual timeline and Southern Hemisphere, so I'm very happy about those.
The movie prompt... Well, I feel the same as with the mystery. We've kinda been there already, and I tend to struggle a little with finding books to read for these topics. I'll definitely need some inspiration from you guys.

You can always just resubmit a topic you like in a normal poll.

Peter wrote: "You can always just resubmit a topic you like in a normal poll."

Of course, why do I keep forgetting that? It's like I have this idea, that we aren't allowed...

I am a little obsessed with my 2017 readings these days and I am quite pleased with the results; although I don't usually go to dual timeline stories, I don't mind reading one.

My mistake, I remembered the "A book from the Goodreads "Top 100 YA Books"" as a fantasy prompt (most of the titles are fantasy or dystopia, so it probably mislead me).

Jody > yes I know there's Australia in the possibilities but I don't really see (so far) the difference between Australian novels and English ones. I'd prefer to discover a new place/culture for this category.

For books to movies, usually I want to read the book when I discover a new trailer that is interesting. Usually I like very much the book and hate the movie :D

I love fantasy book, but I didn't vote for high fantasy, because it was a very specific subgenre which I had never heard before :P and I decided it was better to vote for "genre/subgenre you've never heard of before" which I thought included the high fantasy for me and others interesting options, besides other suggestions in the list as a speculative-fiction novel.

I love the book-movie suggestions, because I had discovered books I had love, just taking ideas from the trailers of upcoming movies :)

Thank you for the list Elizabeth. I find the movie prompt difficult since most movies listed for 2017 do not interest me so far.

For all of the Stephen King fans in the group, the It remake is scheduled to be released in September. I may have to use that one for the 2017 movie prompt since I've started it multiple times and have never finished. There's also a remake of The Stand happening but I'm not sure when it's being released.

It's great to hear all the love for the "genre you had never heard of" prompt! Mostly because it was my suggestion :P

ok so i'm re posting this , since it went missing:
25 books becoming movies
http://booksandchardonnay.com/books-b...

Anastasia wrote: "Thank you for the list Elizabeth. I find the movie prompt difficult since most movies listed for 2017 do not interest me so far."

your very welcoming, I actually find it easy but this time it was difficult , think goodness I already had a copy of Splinter Cell by David Michaels or I might have to buy a book

Elizabeth wrote: "ok so i'm re posting this , since it went missing:
25 books becoming movies
http://booksandchardonnay.com/books-b..."

The list actually put me off the prompt even further, since there was only one book on there that even somewhat interested me (Ready Player One). I guess this could be a prompt that I use my wild card to skip, but I don't really like doing that.

Ready Player One is the only book on that list I'm interested in too, but one is enough ... as much as I don't want to plan any of my list for 2017, I think that one might be a given.