Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Hey everyone! It's time to get started on our 2024 list making! Can you believe it?! Some rules for this thread:

- This thread is meant for brainstorming prompts for upcoming polls. Please keep all discussion about prompts that are currently being voted on in the proper (suggestions, voting, results) thread.

- If you have questions about the voting process, please see THIS THREAD. We cannot guarantee an answer to your question if you post it in the Wild Discussion.

- As always, please respect the members of this group. We are a large group made up of unique perspectives, and we want to treat each other with dignity and respect. Any violation of these rules will result in 1) a warning or 2) removal from the group.

Happy planning!

I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts...

I thought I'd make a list of 2024 anniversaries to see if that gets peoples' creative juices flowing.

- 50th anniversary of ABBA winning the Eurovision song contest with "Waterloo". The 2024 contest is due to be hosted by Sweden too, so maybe a Sweden prompt?

- 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act in the US

- 25th anniversaries of the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament (the UK parliament devolved some powers to Wales and Scotland, allowing them to make some of their own laws)

- 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Terracotta Army in China

- 50th anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', a skeleton of an extinct hominid that is (probably) an early ancestor of modern humans

- 80th anniversary of the 'Great Escape'; allied prisoners of war escaping from Stalag Luft III camp in Germany

- 200th anniversary of the birth of author Wilkie Collins, best known for The Woman in White (January)
- 300th anniversary of the birth of the philosopher Immanuel Kant (April)

I’m so excited! Besides the actual reading, this is my favorite time in ATY52 — I have MANY prompt ideas. 🥳

@Aimee - thanks for your great list of ideas to base our prompts on. I don’t think any of these were on my radar.

Aimee wrote: "I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts...

I thought I'd make a list of 2024 anniversaries to see if that gets peoples' crea..."

Those are great, thanks for the research, Aimee!

Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS options

Hey, everybody!! This is my first year participating in the challenge (I am doing so-so on keeping up with my reading, I better get moving! lol). I really look forward to being a part of the whole nominating/voting process for 2024. I came up with a few prompts but the one I'm going with is probably a multi-prompt (requiring 2 books).

Ana AZ wrote: "Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS options"

Dumb question: What are BIO & KIS?

D.L. wrote: "Ana AZ wrote: "Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS options"

Dumb ..."

Not a dumb question! BIO stands for Bring it on and KIS for Keep it simple. If the prompt seems very easy for you, the BIO options will make it narrower or more challenging in various ways. On the other hand, if the prompt seems hard, the KIS option will make it easier. You might find some of these in the various discussion threads for the prompts. Some people set up their whole year with a challenging aspect like having books by minority authors. Or they might make it easier by using children's books. It's totally up to you.

Robin P wrote: "D.L. wrote: "Ana AZ wrote: "Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS op..."

TY for replying :)

So excited for this time of year! I had such fun with the polls last year. No ideas yet, but sure some will occur to me in time. :D

Robin P wrote: "D.L. wrote: "Ana AZ wrote: "Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS op..."

Thanks for answering this, Robin P

Added the BIO/KIS question to our FAQs thread!

Just a heads up that I started a FAQ thread this year because I often lose track of the Wild Discussion, and might miss questions that are asked. Feel free to ask questions here for members to answer or in that thread for mods to answer.

Aimee wrote: "I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts..."

I think Waterloo has a lot of potential as an open-to-interpretation style prompt!
- character trapped in a relationship
- enemies to lovers
- set during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
- a Swedish book
- featuring Eurovision
- featuring a battle
- Anglo-French relations
- a book bought at Waterloo station (there's a Foyles there!)

Now I have the song stuck in my head...

I also like Lucy as an idea.

24 is the number of carats in pure gold, so Gold could be a fun inspiration - you could take it as a color on the cover, in the title, or as a topic/theme.

I'd probably read this one: The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

hmm, 24 hours in a day - the word Day or any day of week in title?
24 inches = 2 feet - book with exactly 2 feet on cover?
2+2=4 - book featuring 2 couples?

Depending on how nerdy we want to go, 24 is an interesting number mathematically - it's the largest number divisible by all integers less than its square root. A book that references one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, or 24?

Robin P wrote: "hmm, 24 hours in a day - the word Day or any day of week in title?
24 inches = 2 feet - book with exactly 2 feet on cover?
2+2=4 - book featuring 2 couples?"

I really like the book with a day of the week in the title idea. There are a number of books that would work for it :)

Tina Turner passed away today (rest in peace, queen!) That made me think about music prompts. Maybe a character who is a singer or musician of some sort??

My one suggestion is "A book set in Paris" for the summer Olympics.

Open to suggestions of how to make it more open for both non fiction and books that only take place partly in Paris (like All the Light We Cannot See".)

This is my multi-prompt idea:

2 books written by the same author, each in a separate & distinct genre.

(For example, Melissa de la Cruz wrote the YA contemporary novel The Au Pairs & also the adult paranormal Witches of East End)

D.L. wrote: "Tina Turner passed away today (rest in peace, queen!) That made me think about music prompts. Maybe a character who is a singer or musician of some sort??"

Or a book that spans decades or long periods of time? Since her career lasted over 50 years!

Excited to see everyone’s new ideas and I’m sure there will be some good recycled ones, also!

Ellie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts..."

I think Waterloo has a lot of potential as an open-to-interpretati..."

This sounds fun. I adored the classic movies that involved the Waterloo Bridge.

Dubhease wrote: "My one suggestion is "A book set in Paris" for the summer Olympics.

Open to suggestions of how to make it more open for both non fiction and books that only take place partly in Paris (like All th..."

I love this idea. There are so many great books set in Paris, I'd be happy to keep it simple. A Book Set in Paris, for the summer Olympics. A nonfiction book that is *about* Paris would fit without adding any qualifiers.

I would also love a prompt based on the Civil Rights Act. It could involve discrimination, bias or unfair treatment based on race, color, creed, national origin, religion, or sex. (I feel like something is missing, but disability and gay rights were addressed decades later.)

Trivia - Some politicians insisted on adding "sex" because they were sure that most of the men would NOT vote on a law giving equality to women. Haha, that one backfired on them.

Jennifer W wrote: "D.L. wrote: "Tina Turner passed away today (rest in peace, queen!) That made me think about music prompts. Maybe a character who is a singer or musician of some sort??"

Or a book that spans decade..."

That's a good one :)

It’s the year of the wood dragon in the lunar new year. The element of earth. the color is green for the masculine yang energy. the symbol is pine tree.

Books with dragons, wyrms, wyverns, etc
Books with dragon in name or title like Arthurian pendragon or the pendragon books.
Books that take place in the forest
Books with earth in title or on cover, gardening themed, or something else that deals with Earth or earth.
Books with green cover or with pine trees.

These are obvious ones. And there probably more that I can’t think of at the moment.

I love the idea of a book with wood(s) or dragons.

"There by dragons" got me into reading the Eragon series, so now I have to try to fit books under some heading.

I know some people were going to use the extraordinary sized animal prompt this year for dragons books. So, people, including me, seem down for dragon prompts.

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie :

Pie or Pi books: Books about baking, but also books related to impossible dreams or societies ( pie in the sky) ; a person who is involved in many things ( a finger in every pie) ; a person who has to repent about an action (eat humble pie) or books about mathematics, Life of Pi etc.

Ellie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts..."

I think Waterloo has a lot of potential as an open-to-interpretati..."

I like this a lot! Swedish book might be a bit limiting for some but "related to Waterloo" is nice and broad with plenty of KIS and BIO options. Happy to second if you want to submit it.

Cory wrote: "24 is the number of carats in pure gold, so Gold could be a fun inspiration - you could take it as a color on the cover, in the title, or as a topic/theme.

I'd probably read this one: [book:The La..."

Gold can also be winning, banking, the Wizard of Oz or anything related to the Gold Standard, the Gold Rush in US or Australia (there's a good Phryne Fisher mystery related to Ballarat). So many ideas! I'm there!

My only vote against Waterloo is having the d-- song in my head all year!

The UN has named 2024 the International Year of Camelids, Make of that what you will

I like the woods & dragons prompts :)

I really liked the double interpretation for There Be Dragons last year. It was very clever. There was a quick clear interpretation (dragons) AND another approach (off the map) that could challenge you to explore something unusual. The quick option made it easier to vote for, but in the end I felt good when I found a book that fit the off the map interpretation.

I would love to see more like that. It's fun to have a couple prompts where almost anything can fit, but I'd rather see those proposed at the end after we already have a good variety.

I am excited! I participated in this process for the first time last year and really enjoyed it - even got a prompt on this year’s list, which was fun. Looking forward to participating again this year.

24 hours in a day makes me think of the prompt, “A book that takes place in a single day” which can be fun.

I imagine you've done this before (this is my first year), but a work of fiction and nonfiction that are related (about the same person, event, or in the same time period- or other ways of being related) for a 2 book prompt.

D.L. wrote: "Tina Turner passed away today (rest in peace, queen!) That made me think about music prompts. Maybe a character who is a singer or musician of some sort??"

I didn't realize until I was reading about her later years, but she had kidney disease and received a transplant (so have I, PM me and I'll talk your ear off about it! :).

A book about a person going through a medical issue.

A book about a transplant, which could include someone who has moved someplace new (she also moved to Switzerland and became a citizen, so she was both kinds of transplants!).

Jennifer W wrote: "I imagine you've done this before (this is my first year), but a work of fiction and nonfiction that are related (about the same person, event, or in the same time period- or other ways of being re..."

We haven’t done it n the last few years, it sounds good.

Just realized my last post had a typo and Goodreads on my phone won’t let me edit. 🙄

I was suggesting A book that takes place in a single day in relation to the idea of 24 hours.

I also like the transplant idea. That is one I haven’t seen before!

D.L. wrote: "This is my multi-prompt idea:

2 books written by the same author, each in a separate & distinct genre.

(For example, Melissa de la Cruz wrote the YA contemporary novel The Au Pairs &..."

I like this. I know a few authors that span middle, ya, and adult as well. Like de la Cruz.

Jennifer W wrote: "I imagine you've done this before (this is my first year), but a work of fiction and nonfiction that are related (about the same person, event, or in the same time period- or other ways of being re..."

I'm sure I remember this being talked about at one stage but I don't know why it didn't make it in. Or maybe that was another challenge. Personally, I really like the idea :)

Jennifer W wrote: "I imagine you've done this before (this is my first year), but a work of fiction and nonfiction that are related (about the same person, event, or in the same time period- or other ways of being re..."

I always loved this idea.

Mandy wrote: "D.L. wrote: "This is my multi-prompt idea:

2 books written by the same author, each in a separate & distinct genre.


There are also adult authors who have written different genres such as Tami Hoag who has written mainstream romance & also suspense thrillers. :)

Or for example, John Grisham who wrote the light Skipping Christmas but also heavy legal thrillers like A Time to Kill

Are there enough literary prizes starting with A, T, or Y to make that our ATY prompt for the year?

Jennifer W wrote: "I imagine you've done this before (this is my first year), but a work of fiction and nonfiction that are related (about the same person, event, or in the same time period- or other ways of being re..."

I tried that last year and would 100% support it coming up again! I think it's a genius idea!

Michelle wrote: "Just realized my last post had a typo and Goodreads on my phone won’t let me edit. 🙄

I was suggesting A book that takes place in a single day in relation to the idea of 24 hours.

I also like the..."

Love the 24 hour theme- so timely!

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

Ana AZ wrote: "Hooray! I've been waiting for this because I already have a prompt in mind to suggest. 2 books with covers that give off the same vibe. It can easily have BIO and KIS options"

I had a similar multi-week prompt idea. I just called it Two books with similar covers.

Some of my matches:
(pick 2)





(pick 2)

Ellie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I can't believe it's that time of year already! It feels like only weeks ago we were talking about 2023 prompts..."

I think Waterloo has a lot of potential as an open-to-interpretati..."

This sounds like fun! Maybe just related to ABBA or any of their songs?

I love that idea of similar covers! A KIS would be books from the same series/author since publishers deliberately make them similar. But the unrelated ones look like more fun!

Dubhease wrote: "Are there enough literary prizes starting with A, T, or Y to make that our ATY prompt for the year?"

There are but the y catagory is mostly Asian, which many of them might not have translations into English.

The wiki was slim on T too

Dubhease wrote: "My one suggestion is "A book set in Paris" for the summer Olympics.

Open to suggestions of how to make it more open for both non fiction and books that only take place partly in Paris (like All th..."

I would love if this idea turned into something like A book related to the Paris Summer Olympics. This is for two reasons:

1) I think this more easily opens it up to being Paris related OR Olympics related, as well as more easily flowing into either fiction of non-fiction.

2) (and more selfishly) It would allow the Setting idea I have to not seem like a duplicate. I was thinking of A book set in a Megacity (there is a list, but basically cities with more than 10 million people, like Paris, London, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Kinshasa, Bogata - all continents except Antarctica and Australasia are represented). I would possibly want to suggest this as a multi-week prompt, Two books: one set in a Megacity, and one set in a very small town or village.

Does any of that sound interesting?