Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It is now time to vote for our ANNIVERSARY LIST: Throwing it back to 2020!

For more information about this special Anniversary List, see this thread.

Voting will open in the morning of Sunday, August 25 and results will be posted in the morning of Friday, August 30 (CDT time).

How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favorite and least favorite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes)
- You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.

We are asking people to include their Goodreads profile address when they vote. To find this, just go to your own profile and then copy the URL/web address. If for some reason you can't link to your Goodreads profile, please post your full Goodreads name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile.

As this is an ANNIVERSARY LIST poll, only ONE prompt will make the final list. Use your votes wisely!

Poll Prompts:
10. A book with a female villain or criminal
12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation
17. A book with a Muslim character or author
23. A cross genre novel
26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards
31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years
32. A book whose cover shows more than 2 people
34. A book with a travel theme
41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author
44. A book whose title contains a negative
45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?”
49. A book with an ensemble cast
52. A book related to "the end"

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/fkqAEhE21nrQ3GLD8

Really excited to see the Warwick prompt back up for grabs (even if I have no hope of it actually winning). I did the 2021 list twice that year, and both books I read for that prompt were excellent.

This will be a tough one for me. I see only 1 or 2 that immediately jumped out at me as something I'd want (again), but quite a few that I strongly, strongly do not want. I'll have to sit on this a bit before I vote.

I read 38 books in 2021 and of the prompts I didn't attempt, 6 pf them are on this list. (So obviously I have different ideas about what the best prompts of 2021 were.

The code word from the NATO alphabet was my favourite prompt of the year. I loved it so much that for our weekly family movie night, we picked movies corresponding to all the NATO words. Good memories.

Emily - I will probably vote for the Warwick Prize also since I just bought one of the 2020 nominees, Abigail by Magda Szabó. (The prompt doesn’t say nominated, though, it says eligible so that’s a different criteria, right?) I’m curious which books will be on the 2024 Warwick long list. I really like this set of prompts. It’s going to be hard to choose!

I have such positive memories of all of these prompts, and the great books I read.

I hope to see some of these prompts suggested for poll 11 or 12. I like “new-to-you” as a way to make many prompts a little more challenging. I have many more books on my tbr for a Muslim character than I did back then.

I liked the Warwick prompt too, and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. I think we have a translation prompt already, but I wouldn’t mind another.

The deck of cards prompt is a creative variation of the royalty prompt that didn’t get in last time.

My least favorite is the “you read what?” prompt. I had a very hard time with this one last time. I kept second guessing my choices to find one that would really be shocking. I strongly prefer the weird title prompt that was a close call before.

Pam wrote: "Emily - I will probably vote for the Warwick Prize also since I just bought one of the 2020 nominees, Abigail by Magda Szabó. (The prompt doesn’t say nominated, though, it says eligible so that’s a..."

I loved Abigail and The Door by Magda Szabo.

I really like "you read what?!?" That's basically the reaction I got when some guy on the bus saw me reading How to Raise Your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children. He couldn't even with that, as they say.

So good to see the Warwick Prize again. I really like the deck of cards and NATO phonetic alphabet as well.

One up (the NATO phonetic alphabet), seven down and I could have easily added a couple more. I didn't start participating in ATY challenges until two years ago, so all the anniversary lists so far have been new to me. This one appeals to me far less than any other that I have seen.

Five up, three down.

I can work with any, though. A good list.

That NATO category seems fun, but I really struggled with it last time (to my surprise!) so that's a downvote for me.

Fingers crossed for "you read WHAT?" to get in!!!

Rachel wrote: "This will be a tough one for me. I see only 1 or 2 that immediately jumped out at me as something I'd want (again), but quite a few that I strongly, strongly do not want. I'll have to sit on this a..."

Thats how I feel! I loved the deck of card last time and then had a tough time filling it! The NATO one fell in my lap- I read a book with a character named India, but it's still a bit of a "read everything, you just need to find a link," I hated the "you're reading what"- I don't like prompts that are judgement calls, although I do read many books that fall in that character.

I voted for the travel prompt since I didn't vote for the journey prompt last week,

Gosh, I read a lot of stinkers that year.

The deck of cards prompt doesn't specify playing cards. You could interpret it as tarot cards--that makes the prompt a lot more interesting to me. Read a book with a hermit, or a fool. I like that.

Four up and three down. I voted for cross genre, short books, travel, and, Nato Phonetic Alphabet. I almost didn't vote for short books since it included the disclaimer regarding being unfamiliar. I particularly liked travel since it can include terrestrial travel, space travel, or time travel, which broadened this choice for me.

I voted against Warwick Prize, title with negative, and "You read what?" I am open to reading a Warwick Prize; however, I found the site difficult in book selection since each book didn't have links to the synopsis. Don't like negative titles. Since I am an eclectic reader there isn't much I won't read. Therefore, a selection would really be out there for me to get this reaction, which would probably involve a book I wouldn't want to read.

Ciara wrote: "The deck of cards prompt doesn't specify playing cards. You could interpret it as tarot cards--that makes the prompt a lot more interesting to me. Read a book with a hermit, or a fool. I like that."

The 2022 list had tarot cards as one of the prompts so we might be seeing that prompt next week.

Do we have the old listopias for this year?

Jill wrote: "Do we have the old listopias for this year?"

2021's listopia https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Jillian wrote: "Jill wrote: "Do we have the old listopias for this year?"

2021's listopia https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks

Thanks for posting these. I’m going to see what books I have that fit these. I tried several other bipoc authors since then, so I’ll add to that list

I only did 2 upvotes and 6 downvotes.

5 up and 3 down

Another really fun list!

Upvotes:

10. A book with a female villain or criminal
17. A book with a Muslim character or author
26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards
31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years
41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author
48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?”

Downvotes:

12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for example is a Muslim country)? I wonder if the prompt is about delving into every day life of a muslim family for example or if the intension was secular or religious and maybe that's not what matters but my mind starts wrestling with these questions.

A short book by a new author - why both? Why not just a short book or a book by a new-to-me author?

Character found in a deck if cards - that's just three then - a queen or a knight or a king and then it could just be a royalty prompt. Because noone is a five or an eight or how am I supposed to think about this?

Spanned more than 21 years - someone who has written a lot of books or someone who has written simply two books but with a lot years in between?

Cross genre - which genres shall I mix?

And related to the end - all books heads towards an end, does this mean the end of the world, the end of a relationship, the end of a war?
I don't know why these prompts started messing with my brain so much, they normally don't so what's with this specific round?

as far as character in a deck of cards, we call the one after King and Queen - Jack or Knave, both of which could show up in a book - either a person named Jack or an unsavory character, which is the connotation of knave today. Also I suppose someone could be an Ace at sports, music, or other skills.

Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for example is a Mu..."
I can't answer all your questions but will try.

I don't really recall the discussion on why Muslim but imagine it revolved around reading more broadly.

No clue on short book.

Deck of cards was hard for me but you could also include Jacks - character named Jack. I think some people used other decks like tarot.

21 years would include anyone who had books in a 21 year period. So kind of your choice.

Any two genres that float your boat.

The first prompt of 2021 was A book related to “In the Beginning...” I don't' recall if this was a multi week prompt.

Samantha wrote: "Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for ex..."

Thank you for reminding me of Tarot! Now that will be an upvote instead of the downvote I had in mind. Suddenly much more exciting.

Robin P wrote: "as far as character in a deck of cards, we call the one after King and Queen - Jack or Knave, both of which could show up in a book - either a person named Jack or an unsavory character, which is t..."

We call him Knekt - the equivalent to Knight - thus included in a book with royalty and that's why I didn't mention him/it. And it's still to boring even if I include the ace but someone just reminded me of Tarot cards and that's what makes the difference! Now it's exciting.

Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for example is a Mu..."

Tarot are a deck of cards too.

You could use Go Fish, Phase 10, Magic The Gathering, even Pokémon cards. It's a Read Any Book prompt, I think.

Mandy wrote: "Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for ex..."

Yes, Samantha just reminded me if that one and that changed my downvote to a definite upvote 🙂

Angela wrote: "You could use Go Fish, Phase 10, Magic The Gathering, even Pokémon cards. It's a Read Any Book prompt, I think."

Of all those games I just know about Pokemon. Maybe the others are named something else in Europe or they don't exist outside the US. But I'll go for the Tarot. (But I'd like to know what the others you mentioned are).

Also, ace can refer to someone who is asexual. And don't forget the Joker!

You must have Go Fish. You can play it with a regular deck of cards, but they do make special decks for kids that are easier for them to understand. You deal out 5 cards and place the rest of the deck in the middle as a "pond". You take turns asking the other player/s for cards to match the cards in your hands, "do you have any 5s?" and if they do, they give them to you. If they don't, they say "go fish" and you pick a card from the pond. You're trying to get the most sets of cards to win. (I have a 6 year old, I play this a lot....!)

Phase 10 is like Gin Rummy, but you're trying to get specific combos each round.

Jennifer W wrote: "Also, ace can refer to someone who is asexual. And don't forget the Joker!

You must have Go Fish. You can play it with a regular deck of cards, but they do make special decks for kids that are eas..."

Yes, that's absolutely right - we play Go Fish - didn't know there were a special deck for it though. But as you describe the game I know perfectly well which game you mean. 🙂

I just don't find king, queen, knight, ace and joker funny or interesting enough. But the Tarot gives a whole other dimension to the prompt.

We call it "It's in the lake".

Jennifer W wrote: "Also, ace can refer to someone who is asexual. And don't forget the Joker!

You must have Go Fish. You can play it with a regular deck of cards, but they do make special decks for kids that are eas..."

love phase 10

Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for example is a Mu..."

The Muslim author prompt was a way to encourage diversity. No reason, no restrictions on what the books had to be about.


Short book + new author was because simply finding a short book was seen as to easy.

Cards: There are also nicknames for some cards (One-eyed jacks etc) that could be used for certain characters. Plus the whole tarot card thing.

21 years career - There was no restrictions. Even if the author had only published 2 books, as long as they were published 21 years or more apart, it would count. I know some people stretched it even more, but again, it's up to each person how they interpret each prompt.

Cross genre - Again, it doesn't matter, it was just a genre prompt that wasn't too specific to appeal to people who don't want to step outside of their preferred genres.

A book related to the phrase "In the beginning" and A book related to the end were not a multi week prompt, both suggestions got voted in separately in different weeks, with people voted for the second because they liked the symmetry of having both. And how the book related to the beginning/end was up to each person. So all you're examples would work.

Kendra wrote: "Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for ex..."


Well, my wondering wasn't that literal - it was more that I didn't like the wordings. I wouldn't want to read something by a Christian, Jew or atheist either. What I mean is that I don't want that as the leading word. I don't mind at all to read a book by a Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Hindu writer - but I'd prefer if it said that I should read a book by an Arabic, Indian, Nigerian or East European author.

Maybe the cards numbered 2 - 10 are called nick names in English but they are not in Swedish. But when someone said I could use Tarot - card it became really interesting all at once.

I don't like the wordings of the other I mentioned and that is what's bothering me. I rarely react to how prompts are prompts are worded but here it bothered me that so many of them were worded in an irritating way.

But thanks for taking time and effort to answer me so thoroughly, I really appreciate that 🌺🌺🌺

Angela wrote: "You could use Go Fish, Phase 10, Magic The Gathering, even Pokémon cards. It's a Read Any Book prompt, I think."

Anyone mention "Old Maid"?

When I was a kid, I had a card game called "Authors", which was played like rummy. Each author had 4 cards with a different book on each. That's where I learned about the "classic" authors: Dickens, Hawthorne, Alcott, Stevenson, Twain - 13 in all.

I looked over what I read for the prompts in 2021 and it changed my views somewhat. For example, I liked the author I read for muslim character or author and new to you BIPOC author (obvioulsy I need a different one if this gets through but there are plentyI haven't read yet) so decided to upvote these. I also upvoted cover shows more than 2 people (although now that I'm thinking about it maybe covers that show more than 2 people are ensemble casts, which I downvoted) and short book with new to you author (and just realisng now we had 2 new to you author prompts and i"ve voted for them both)
I ended up with 4 up and 4 down.

I downvoted ensemble cast as I thought too similar to the one we have with 4 or more unrelated people already. And also warwick prize for women in translation, travel them and you read what. Just ones I found hard in 2021.

Robin H-R wrote: "Angela wrote: "You could use Go Fish, Phase 10, Magic The Gathering, even Pokémon cards. It's a Read Any Book prompt, I think."

Anyone mention "Old Maid"?

When I was a kid, I had a card game call..."

I would have loved a card game like that 💜

Nike wrote: "I still haven't voted, having trouble with this one. Overthinking.

For example - why muslim, not Arabic (and yes I know there are more muslims then only Arab people, Indonesia for example is a Mu..."

I think it works well as a character prompt that is not limited to one geographic region. We also had prompts about black, LGBTQ, Latinx, and Jewish characters or authors.

Nike wrote: "We call it "It's in the lake"."

Haha, that makes sense! I figured you must have it. :)

Well, I just think that wording it with a religious affiliation makes it focusing on the religion, not the ethnicity or culture or the region of the earth, thus making it uninteresting. To me in any case. I'd rather read a book "about Islam" than a book by a "Muslim author" if that makes any sense to anyone else.

Nike wrote: "I'd rather read a book "about Islam" than a book by a "Muslim author" if that makes any sense to anyone else..."

Well, that would certainly focus it on the religion! Whereas a Muslim author can and does write about anything. When we had this last time I read one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's novels about Mycroft Holmes (and enjoyed it).

Dixie wrote: "Nike wrote: "I'd rather read a book "about Islam" than a book by a "Muslim author" if that makes any sense to anyone else..."

Well, that would certainly focus it on the religion! Whereas a Muslim ..."


I probably write in a slightly confusing way now, haven't been able to sleep since yesterday.
I love to read about religion but I don't like the wording, that is what I mean. If I want to read about religion then I would like to "read a book about Islam". If I want to read a book in the Middle East I'd like it to be worded "read a book set in the Middle East". I feel that the wording is off, that's all. Not everyone in the Middle East is a muslim and when it's worded "read a book by a muslim author" it's as if the religion is a priority otherwise it ought to have been worded "read a book by a writer from this or that area. If it really is the religion that's important it should say "read a book about Islam".

I mean the author you mentioned might not be a muslim just because he has got an Arabic name. I'm to tired to try and sort this out anymore, I hope I finally managed to explain what I mean.

I don't particularly want to read about religion, but I do want to support Muslim writers who are often disadvantaged, have to put up with politicians and the media stoking hatred against them, and then they're told they have to "write about Islam" when maybe they just want to write a romance, thriller or fantasy.

Ellie wrote: "I don't particularly want to read about religion, but I do want to support Muslim writers who are often disadvantaged, have to put up with politicians and the media stoking hatred against them, and..."

This is why I'm interested in this prompt.

Nike - I can see your problem with the wording, but I'm just choosing to interpret it how I want, which is pretty loosely, and based on what I'm guessing the suggester's intent was.

Ellie wrote: "I don't particularly want to read about religion, but I do want to support Muslim writers who are often disadvantaged, have to put up with politicians and the media stoking hatred against them, and..."

How do you find out whether she or he is a muslim though? In several muslim countries people are forced to be muslims but beneath that mask they can be atheists or belong to another forbidden religion.

Nike wrote: "How do you find out whether she or he is a muslim though?..."

They put it in their bio?