Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's now time to get ready to vote for our next set of prompts! The thread will be open for at least 24 hours before the poll gets posted. This is a good opportunity to ask any question you may have regarding the prompts, do some research, or ask for recommendations.

Voting will open in the morning of Wednesday, September 18 and results will be posted in the morning of Sunday, September 22 (CST 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.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list

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.

Poll Prompts:
1. A book with ‘all’ or ‘nothing’ in the title
2. A book related to mushrooms, moss, or meadows
3. A book related to LIVE, LAUGH, or LOVE
4. A book set in the winter
5. A book that involves digging up the past
6. A book relating to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, or the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz
7. A book that is the source for one of the quotes from https://www.literaryclock.com/
8. A book with a character who struggles with fame or notoriety
9. A book by a "local" author
10. A book by an Irish author
11. A book where science or technology has gone wrong
12. A book considered a classic
13. A book related to time
14. A book on a Modern Mrs. Darcy Book List
15. A book or author that has been controversial

Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/7sdER5EU6UnxHtmt7

THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

3. A book related to LIVE, LAUGH, or LOVE
LIVE: biography, bildungsroman, biology
LAUGH: anything that makes you laugh
LOVE: romance

Or it could be a title prompt, if that's your bag

5. A book that involves digging up the past
this could relate to archaeology or paleontology, or to someone looking into or finding out about family history/ancestry, or bringing up events from the past in an argument

6. A book relating to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, or the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz
Ideas:
Scarecrow:

- character who is a protector (security guard, secret service, mom, etc.)

- set on a farm

- something to do with the brain or intelligence

- character who is “stuffy” (since the Scarecrow is stuffed with hay)

- story involves birds

- story involves theft (referencing crows stealing crops)


Tin Woodsman:

- a character who is loving, caring, or kind

- a character who works with wood (logger, forestry, carpentry) 

- set in a forest

- relating to tin (tin soldiers; tin is used in food packaging, electronics, glass, bronze, pewter, copper)

- oil is important to the story

- story involves factories or factory workers


Cowardly Lion:
- a character who is courageous or brave

- a character who is afraid or fearful

- set in a jungle (even though lions don’t live there they are known as “the king of the jungle”)

- set in sub-Saharan Africa (the savannah - where lions actually live)

- character who is a king

- character with long hair

7. A book that is the source for one of the quotes from https://www.literaryclock.com/
The creator collected (at least one) book quote for every minute of the day, and put them together in a website that tells the time.

The list of works used can be browsed here: https://www.literaryclock.com/posts/L...

8. A book with a character who struggles with fame or notoriety
Could be a celebrity longing for more privacy or a person who became famous/notorious through no fault of their own (being involved in a high-profile murder case, was abducted and found again as a child) or for the wrong reasons (e.g. not for merit but for department politics).

9. A book by a "local" author
This could be from the reader's town, county, state/province, region, country, or continent, depending on their situation

10. A book by an Irish author
irish Literature: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
Female Irish Authors: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Irish YA: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

14. A book on a Modern Mrs. Darcy Book List
https://modernmrsdarcy.com/category/b...

15. A book or author that has been controversial
This could include authors who have made controversial statements, authors who have behaved badly or criminally, nonfiction books that turns out to be more fictional than not, banned books, books about politics, etc.

For the literary clock one, is there a whole list of the books somewhere so you don't have to go through all the pages? How many total books are on the list? (It seems like A LOT.) Is there a version of the list anywhere that is sorted by genre?

I really dislike the "live laugh love" phrase. I find it trite and saccharine. Yes, I could find a book for it as a prompt but I really would rather not have to see the phrase constantly for an entire year.

The "all or nothing" prompt could easily be included in the "opposites in title" prompt we already have. (I actually considered "all" or "none" as possibilites for the opposite prompt.) "Mushrooms, moss, or meadows" is covered by the nature prompt.

I'm kind of weary of prompts about controversial/banned/etc books and/or authors.

As a fan of sci-fi, I'm all about the "tech gone wrong" prompt. I enjoy the scavenger hunt of finding a prompt based on season. Irish author is kind of limited but that also means it's not a prompt that you see in every challenge every year so that makes it intriguing for me.

His intro in that section says it's 1313 books. Which is actually a little shorter than I expected, given that there's 1440 minutes to account for. I know he used some books multiple times, if they qualified, but I also thought for times with multiple options he kept them all and the clock picks one, but maybe not.

Another version has a link to this list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/tab...
I think they all started with similar sources, so certainly wouldn't dispute using something off there. However it's from 2011, so probably even older.

Don't know of a sorted by genre option.

dalex wrote: "The "all or nothing" prompt could easily be included in the "opposites in title" prompt we already have...."



maybe? to me they are different. In this case, it's just one of the words in the title. For opposites, you would need to find both words.

I like it just because last time it was suggested, I looked through my TBR and found a lot of good books that fit.

There's an All or Nothing Listopia here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I like "digging up the past" a lot. If I can't find something about literally digging up the past, I quite enjoy a cold case mystery now and then.

I always feel like I am cheating at "local" prompts because everything's just a bit further than what I would personally consider local.

Joanna wrote: "Another version has a link to this list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/tab..."

Thank you for sharing that. It's much easier to navigate than the website!

It seems to be about 98% classics. If we're going to have a prompt that requires us to read an old book I'd rather have the more open "book considered a classic" prompt.

I'd almost feel like I'm cheating if the local author prompt got in because I live in Portland & I read so many local authors every year because so many of my favorite authors live here! But I seem to discover new ones every year, so I'm still gonna vote for it!

I do share dalex's loathing for "live laugh love" though. Easy enough to fulfill as a prompt; I just don't want to look at it all year. I missed nominations AGAIN & my first thought was, "How did that make it past security?!"

Ciara wrote: "I do share dalex's loathing for "live laugh love" though. Easy enough to fulfill as a prompt; I just don't want to look at it all year. I missed nominations AGAIN & my first thought was, "How did that make it past security?!""

LOL!

I just thought "Live, Laugh, Love" was funny.

I like live, laugh, love quite a lot! Never read the book, never going to, but some fun options there!

I like Irish author, which I rarely read, and also local author. I own 3 books from Albuquerque authors. SF/F authors Roger Zelazny and Rebecca Roanhorse are 2 other NM authors on my TBR. I’ve given up on George RR Martin. I might also consider Mexico, being our southern border and part of our state’s name.

The time clock list is interesting. I disagree that it’s 98% classics. Looks more like 50/50 to me. I saw quite a few contemporary or late 20th century authors: Murakami, Haddon, Steven Tolz, Delillo, JK Rowling, Bolano, Stephen King, PK Dick, William Gibson, Paul Auster, Dean Koontz, etc. I might vote for it just because it’s different and a good selection of books for me.

I’m ok with Live, Love, Laugh just because of the humor and satire options. Those genres are hard to get in as prompts.

Oops… meant to write Literary (not time) Clock!

dalex wrote: "I really dislike the "live laugh love" phrase. I find it trite and saccharine. Yes, I could find a book for it as a prompt but I really would rather not have to see the phrase constantly for an ent..."

It's that and also too much a "read any book." But it's too much a inscribed on everything quote.

I think we might be getting too creative- I have lots of nos. And my yeses I'm betting won't make it through.

Verity wrote: "There's an All or Nothing Listopia here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2..."

I just searched in my to read list and got 6 pages for All. Sure, some are Hall and Wall and Allow, but I'm sure there's enough other ones.

I love this week's offerings. Will be doing mostly upvotes.

The Wizard of Oz prompt is my favourite.

I'm usually the person who hates list prompts, but I find the clock prompt and Mrs Darcy's cover a range of books and even I can find something to read.

dalex wrote: "Joanna wrote: "Another version has a link to this list:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/tab..."

Thank you for sharing that. It's much easier to navigate than the website!

It seems to be about 9..."

That's funny- I thought it was mostly last 20th century British make writers. And that book about a dog at midnight.

Pamela wrote: "That's funny- I thought it was mostly last 20th century British make writers. And that book about a dog at midnight."

In the FIRST HOUR: Proust, Shakespeare, James Joyce, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Oscar Wilde, Dickens, Jon Donne, Poe, Samuel Beckett, Nabokov, Emile Zola, Edith Wharton, Wilkie Collins. (And those are just the ones I recognized.)

Old, old, old.

Haha I seconded the Live Laugh Love prompt as a tongue in cheek, that's kind of hilarious sort of way. I don't think it will make it in, but it's certainly something I haven't see before lol

I honestly feel like the Mrs Darcy Book List has the same concept as the NPR Book List. I'd gladly swap one for the other, but I'm not keen on having both.

Chrissie wrote: "I honestly feel like the Mrs Darcy Book List has the same concept as the NPR Book List. I'd gladly swap one for the other, but I'm not keen on having both."

The NPR lists are one page of books per year that are sortable by genre, mood, etc. The Darcy lists are pages and pages and pages of blog posts of book recommendations and it can take hours to look at even a few of them. Vastly different (imo).

I like the concept of the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow but dislike that there are too many options for how to interpret it - similar to Ben and Jerry's, decision paralysis. I'm voting against it. (I also disliked Do Re Mi for the same reason, and really hope we don't go that direction 2 weeks in a row!)

dalex wrote:
“The NPR lists are one page of books per year that are sortable by genre, mood, etc. The Darcy lists are pages and pages and pages of blog posts of book recommendations and it can take hours to look at even a few of them. Vastly different (imo).
"

I appreciate your explanation since I was confused when looking at the Darcy site. I saw blogs with various amounts of books and 38 pages to look through. I didn’t see an easy way to search the blogs.

dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "That's funny- I thought it was mostly last 20th century British make writers. And that book about a dog at midnight."

In the FIRST HOUR: Proust, Shakespeare, James Joyce, Emily Bron..."

Old and wonderful, and still around for a reason.

I agree that the Mrs. Darcy prompt is overwhelming. I don't mind a list prompt but it has to have some kind of a focus, not just a neverending list of meandering blog posts to sift through! I don't doubt for a second that I could find a book I'd enjoy somewhere on one of Mrs. Darcy's lists, but how much of my life am I willing to spend scrolling through them? With the NPR list, I can scroll through all the book covers on a single page. (Plus the NPR list has already been voted in, & how many list prompts do we need in a single year?)

I also feel like the Wizard of Oz prompt is creative & well-thought-out, but in the same spirit as the do-re-mi prompt--that kind of pop culture touchstone interpretive challenge. Always fun, but there's a limit to how many I need on a single yearly list. Had Wizard of Oz come first, it would have gotten my vote, but alas, do-re-mi has already been voted in.

& my take is that I require zero "read a classic" prompts, but that's just because I don't want to read a classic unless I really want to read a classic, haha. I swear the reading lists were why I decided to major in creative writing instead of English literature in college. I was like, "All the writing & having to have my portfolio voted into the program junior year seems a little intense, but the reading list is so much more contemporary! I choose creative writing, even though I will be forced to take MANY poetry classes." If I'd rather write poetry than read Evelyn Waugh, you know it's serious. One of my teachers ONLY wrote poems about talking animals & I had to take him seriously as a voice of authority. Even though he only gave two forms of criticism: "dank" (that meant good) or "schwag" (that meant bad).

Chrissie wrote: "I honestly feel like the Mrs Darcy Book List has the same concept as the NPR Book List. I'd gladly swap one for the other, but I'm not keen on having both."

I see Mrs Darcy more like the Five Books this year cause you need to find a category and then a book.

dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "That's funny- I thought it was mostly last 20th century British make writers. And that book about a dog at midnight."

In the FIRST HOUR: Proust, Shakespeare, James Joyce, Emily Bron..."

I looked between 5 and 5:20 and had not heard of many of them and each one I googles was British published 1960-2000. There was one Hawthorne which despite pretty much working for the guy I've not heard of.

Although just looked and got a Mark Twain.

Here's the Literary Clock booklist

https://www.literaryclock.com/posts/L...

Pamela wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I honestly feel like the Mrs Darcy Book List has the same concept as the NPR Book List. I'd gladly swap one for the other, but I'm not keen on having both."

I see Mrs Darcy more l..."

Tough with the Five books, you could sorta based on genre/award etc and I don’t see any way to sort on the Darcy site.

Jillian wrote: "Tough with the Five books, you could sorta based on genre/award etc and I don’t see any way to sort on the Darcy site"

I looked up key words- I saw there was a "if you're travelling to..." category so looked up some of those lists. Found a book for the 25 Most Beautiful Cities prompt....

For the controversial prompt, it was previously suggested that this could include books about experiments deemed controversial or that have gone wrong. Is this still the case?

Oops never mind, I see it's a separate prompt. :)

As much as I appreciate the Literary Clock as a concept, I kind of can't wait to downvote it on the basis of terrible UX.

Ciara wrote: "As much as I appreciate the Literary Clock as a concept, I kind of can't wait to downvote it on the basis of terrible UX."

I agree about the UX.

Dixie wrote: "Old and wonderful, and still around for a reason."

I spent several years telling myself exactly that about classics so I tried to read them. *yawn* I'm infinitely happier now that I'm ignoring classics and reading books published in the last 20 years or so. So I very much dislike any prompt that is going to try to force me to read a classic. Been there, done that.

I like classics a lot but that means I've read many of them, especially since I was a French & English Lit major way back. So that means I would have to scrounge up something I didn't like enough to read back then.

Dixie wrote: ""Old and wonderful, and still around for a reason."

I agree with you. I love classic literature; the prose in classic books is unmatched. The plots feel more original. As well as the themes they usually explore and the ideas they convey are very interesting and universal. I liked the literary clock prompt a lot, and I am excited there are lots of classics on that list.

dalex wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Old and wonderful, and still around for a reason."

I spent several years telling myself exactly that about classics so I tried to read them. *yawn* I'm infinitely happier now that I'..."

Like modern books, love some, hate others.

First impressions:

1. A book with ‘all’ or ‘nothing’ in the title - I'm pretty indifferent to this one. I wouldn't downvote it, but I don't love it enough to necessarily vote for it either.

2. A book related to mushrooms, moss, or meadows - For some reason, I preferred this when it was just mushrooms but I'd still probably vote for it again.

3. A book related to LIVE, LAUGH, or LOVE - I actually prefer this as a multi-week. If it gets in, I'd likely treat it as one, but I don't love it strongly enough as a single-week prompt to be motivated to vote for it.

4. A book set in the winter - Meh, I inevitably end up reading at least a few of these every year anyway so I'm pretty indifferent.

5. A book that involves digging up the past - Love this! It's one of my favourite tropes, especially in thrillers.

6. A book relating to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, or the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz - Love this! It's another one that I can see myself possibly treating as a multi-week, but even individually I love the concept

7. A book that is the source for one of the quotes from https://www.literaryclock.com/ - Likely a downvote. I browsed briefly through the library of quotes available and didn't really see anything that interested me. Of course, I didn't go through all the options yet, but at first glance it doesn't appeal.

8. A book with a character who struggles with fame or notoriety - Love this one, especially the notoriety half. I love books that focus on reclusive former writers, for example, and I can see something along those lines fitting in here.

9. A book by a "local" author - Downvote. I've done this prompt too many times already and have never really enjoyed it.

10. A book by an Irish author - Not a big fan, but possibly could be persuaded if I had enough options on my TBR.

11. A book where science or technology has gone wrong - I loved this the last time it was suggested, and I still love it now!

12. A book considered a classic - Downvote. I've done this prompt too many times from different challenges and don't have a ton of classics left on my list that I actively want to read.

13. A book related to time - A strong maybe, but there's lots of others that I love more.

14. A book on a Modern Mrs. Darcy Book List - I need some time to browse the lists a bit, but likely an upvote if I still have votes available.

15. A book or author that has been controversial - A strong maybe, but not my favourite from this batch so probably just leave it neutral

Liz wrote: "For the controversial prompt, it was previously suggested that this could include books about experiments deemed controversial or that have gone wrong. Is this still the case?"

I'm disappointed that this suggestion ended up worded as a controversial book or author instead of the wider approach to controversy that was talked about in the Wild Discussion. The aspect I was interested in was reading about a controversial issue, but that is missing from this wording.

Dixie wrote: "Liz wrote: "For the controversial prompt, it was previously suggested that this could include books about experiments deemed controversial or that have gone wrong. Is this still the case?"

I'm dis..."

Dixie, I think that could still work. A book about something controversial is also going to be controversial, I would think. If it doesn't get in (and doesn't get bottomed), we could reword it. I just submitted something based on memory, sorry if I missed some of the nuance.

Voting is open! https://forms.gle/7sdER5EU6UnxHtmt7

Rachel wrote: "First impressions:

1. A book with ‘all’ or ‘nothing’ in the title - I'm pretty indifferent to this one. I wouldn't downvote it, but I don't love it enough to necessarily vote for it either.

2. ..."

I also prefer the old wording for my beloved mushrooms but since they haven't got in I've had to think of another way to possibly make it more attractive to the non-mushroomers. Thus the moss and the meadows. (But you can forget about the miss and the meadows - I know I probably will )

I liked a lot of the prompts in this poll - it was hard to narrow down my votes.

2 up, 6 down. Which means we'll have a record number of new prompts this week!

I will say, I would have done 7 down, but when I went through the various listopias with the prompts, the Irish writers turned me to a yes. So research helps but giving people easy research helps too!

Pamela wrote: "2 up, 6 down. Which means we'll have a record number of new prompts this week!"

LOL

4 up and 4 down

8 up. May be first time ever.