Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

And our pick for the 2019 Anniversary List prompt is...

18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements

The 2020 round of voting will open on Sunday!

Not one that I voted for ...

Ooh a break in our streak of run of the mill prompts! If you want to tie the element into the anniversary number 10 is neon (neon signs on cover?). Or to link to the year 25 is manganese, for those that wanted a manga prompt.

Interesting.

Wow, I voted for this one.

Wow, I’m surprised. I voted for this one, but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would.

Emily, what else was near the top of the list? We might suggest a couple for the next regular poll.

I love this prompt!

Excellent!

Not one I voted for but it's a good creative one! Last time I found a good book for it. I'm sure I will this time as well!

Yay for not a "read any book" prompt!

eta- Arsenic is an element. That'll add some murder books!

I love this one, but certainly didn’t expect it to get in, especially for this project where only a single prompt is allowed to rise to the top! Looking forward to getting creative with this :)

Ellie wrote: "Ooh a break in our streak of run of the mill prompts! If you want to tie the element into the anniversary number 10 is neon (neon signs on cover?). Or to link to the year 25 is manganese, for those..."

Fantastic ideas Ellie! I've noticed a lot of books lately with Neon on the cover so I'll probably go that route. Love how it matches up with the 10 year anniversary.

Here's a list is anyone else want to go that route

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

Nice one!

Finally a non-bland one! I love this one.

NancyJ wrote: "Emily, what else was near the top of the list? We might suggest a couple for the next regular poll."

It was back and forth between this and the unique title prompt (52. A book with a weird or intriguing title) the whole time... it was just in the last 12 hours that periodic table clenched the win. If this were a normal poll, both would have been in the top.

We are getting to the point where I remember the books I read for each prompt. I chose The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women for this prompt back in 2020 and WOW did I hate it lol. I think that's what kept me from upvoting this one this time around.

Yay! I voted for this one so I could read manga. haha

Hmm. I wonder if people are bored with the regular prompts that keep being voted in for the other list?

This prompt opens up a chance for some real creativity.

Emily wrote: "We are getting to the point where I remember the books I read for each prompt. I chose The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women for this prompt back in 2020 and W..."

Some of my downvotes have been based on how much I disliked the book I read for the prompt.

This prompt is really both a BIO and a KIS prompt.

Some elements are named after places - Polonium, Francium, Germanium, Americium, Europium, Moscovium, Californium, and Tennessine to name a few. If people hate this prompt, that is the KIS option.

Here's an alphabetic list of the elements: https://sciencenotes.org/alphabetical...

And a list of periodic elements in titles: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

I am pleased this won. Last time I used it to fit in a book I'd been loaned, The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach, so now I can have a creative go at it.

I've been looking for prompts to plan Mark Lawrence books, that's what I'll likely use this one for. (#103, Lawrencium, Lr)

Yay an upvote finally won! I like prompts like this because you can go really simple and choose a book with gold, silver etc. on the cover or can get really creative and go down a rabbit hole investigating random elements. It should suit everyone.

I wonder if its worth suggesting any of the list prompts for the 2025 list. I miss a good list.

Wow! Love this! And agree with everybody else that I really didn't expect this one to win but this was one of my absolute favourite prompts to vote for 🥰

And as the need I am I'll read 30-Second Elements: The 50 Most Significant Elements, Each Explained in Half a Minute by Eric Scerri

Is anyone else interested in joining me when the time comes?

Nike - I might be interested if my library acquires a copy. On Hoopla, they have 6 books in the 30 second series but not that one.

I didn’t vote for this prompt but I like it. Lots of angles and options!

i saw:

kypton = superman = superheroes
palladium = paladin = magic knights
plutonium & neptunium = pluto & neptune = space, scifi
Titanium & promethium = titans & Prometheus = greek/roman mythology
Lawerencium & Rutherfordium = lawrence and Rutherford (author names)
Selenium = selene = the moon

I know I mentioned this in wild discussion, but it could also be tied in by using an author with the initials of an element.

I don't think I voted for this, but I'm excited for it anyway!

Very happy with this result. I will be swapping in my manga prompt that was bottomed in the regular 2025 voting.

Emily wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Emily, what else was near the top of the list? We might suggest a couple for the next regular poll."

It was back and forth between this and the unique title prompt (52. A book with ..."

I went back and forth on that one because it reminded me of the ‘title sounds like a country song’ idea in poll 8. I think the country song idea is more original, but I’d be very happy with the unique title prompt (as a poll 9 suggestion) as well. They are different enough that I’d like to see both on the final list.

Glad to know about Rutherfordium , as I have 3 Rutherfurd books on my shelf (spelled differently, but close enough for me)!

Gadolinium is used as a contrasting dye for medical imaging, so maybe a medical story, or one that contrasts the difference between siblings (or others)?

Emily wrote: "We are getting to the point where I remember the books I read for each prompt. I chose The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women for this prompt back in 2020 and W..."




LOL I hated Radium Girls SO much!!! And my scathing review of this book now has 821 "likes" which I think might be more likes than any other review of this book (and more likes than any other review I've posted, too). So we are not alone!

Happy day! This is one of the ones I upvoted.

I read a Louise Penny mystery that included a plot line about the secret mining of a rare mineral. I wish I could remember which one it was. I’m pretty sure I used it in a rejects challenge.

NancyJ wrote: "I read a Louise Penny mystery that included a plot line about the secret mining of a rare mineral. I wish I could remember which one it was. I’m pretty sure I used it in a rejects challenge."

I've only read the first Louise Penny in the series, so no help there. BUT, could you use the Penny connection since US pennies are coated in copper? They used to 100% copper, but are now copper coated zinc — well I guess that also means a connection through zinc then!

Unless you specfically wanted to read the one about the mining. I'm sure that can be figured out if so.

For easy options, you can use Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, and other everyday words. It could be in the title or it could be in the story, the author's initials as mentioned above, etc. Last time I think I read The Oxygen Murder, which is part of a series based on the Periodic Table. I didn't realize it before, but they are even in order, The Hydrogen Murder, The Helium Murder, etc.

The book I had planned to read last time, for this prompt, was The Periodic Table by Primo Levi. I’ll probably look for it again. Either that or The Tin Drum by Günter Grass. I like the creative twists that have been suggested! Another option is to use the 2 letter elements as a setting - state or country abbreviation. There’s around 15 US states. I didn’t look for countries.

Pam wrote: "Nike - I might be interested if my library acquires a copy. On Hoopla, they have 6 books in the 30 second series but not that one.

I didn’t vote for this prompt but I like it. Lots of angles and ..."


If they'll get it for you, just let me know 🙂

Mandy wrote: "i saw:

kypton = superman = superheroes
palladium = paladin = magic knights
plutonium & neptunium = pluto & neptune = space, scifi
Titanium & promethium = titans & Prometheus = greek/roman mytholog..."

I love your creative interpretation of this 💜

Erica wrote: "Very happy with this result. I will be swapping in my manga prompt that was bottomed in the regular 2025 voting."

i voted for it. i was thinking about doing that too.

NancyJ wrote: "I read a Louise Penny mystery that included a plot line about the secret mining of a rare mineral. I wish I could remember which one it was. I’m pretty sure I used it in a rejects challenge."

or pennies are copper.

Robin P wrote: "For easy options, you can use Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, and other everyday words. It could be in the title or it could be in the story, the author's initials as mentioned above, etc. Last time I ..."

Wow, then one can expect quite the amount of coming murders!

Pam wrote: "The book I had planned to read last time, for this prompt, was The Periodic Table by Primo Levi. I’ll probably look for it again. Either that or The Tin Drum by Günter Grass. I like the creative tw..."

Oh, I'd forgotten about that book - it's on my TBR. Thank you!

A lot of the books in this year’s Go for the Gold listopia could also probably be used for this prompt.

Nike - I will def let you know if my library acquires the 30-second book. They have the Shakespeare one and I checked it out.

Demetra wrote: "I know I mentioned this in wild discussion, but it could also be tied in by using an author with the initials of an element."

That's a good idea in case I get stuck. I do have Iron Gold to read but I keep pushing it aside for others.

Tracy wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I read a Louise Penny mystery that included a plot line about the secret mining of a rare mineral. I wish I could remember which one it was. I’m pretty sure I used it in a rejects ch..."

Thanks! I didn’t even think about her name, I have a preorder on her next book too. I was trying to remember the name of the book so I could put it on the listopia. With this type of prompt, I like the challenge of looking for topics within the book first, though title words often jump out at me right away. Maybe I’ll try for one of each including author name,

My first choice for this prompt is The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan. He can make a difficult science topic entertaining. His book on the Great Lakes had a big impact on me, and opened my mind to reading science nonfiction.

ETA
There was a similar prompt in my 2021 rejected prompt challenge.

“A book featuring a prominent role for a mineral (cover, title, author’s name, or story): All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny - Rare earth minerals, Neodymium. “

As a chemistry teacher I definitely voted for this one, but never thought it would actually win! So excited!