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 Monday, August 31 and results will be posted in the morning of Friday, September 4 (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 that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list
2. A pop culture book
3. A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N
4. A book with a female villain, criminal, or wrong-doer
5. A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure
6. A book related to Australia
7. A book related to magic or magicians
8. A book with a character who has a title
9. A book with a character who is starting over
10. A book featuring a competition, game, or contest
11. A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars
12. A book featuring a multiracial family
13. A satire, comedy, or humorous book
14. A book with a wild animal on the cover
15. A book with an article of clothing on the cover

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

Vote here tomorrow
NOTE: We will not have the ability to contact anyone who misvotes. Please be sure to check your voting before submitting.

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

2. A pop culture book
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/pop-...

3. A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N
National Book Awards https://www.nationalbook.org/national...
Nobel Prize in Literature https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lis...
Nebula Award for Science Fiction (search by year) https://nebulas.sfwa.org/award-year/2...
Newberry Award (children’s books) https://abqlibrary.org/newbery/All
National Book Critics Circle Award https://www.bookcritics.org/awards/
National Poetry Series https://nationalpoetryseries.org/nps-...
Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas http://www.hanksville.org/storyteller...
The NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature https://www.neustadtprize.org/the-nsk...
NAACP Image Award https://aalbc.com/books/naacp-list
NERO Book Awards (UK) https://nerobookawards.com/about/

4. A book with a female villain, criminal, or wrong-doer

5. A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure

6. A book related to Australia

7. A book related to magic or magicians

8. A book with a character who has a title
Example: Doctor, Captain, Judge, Professor, Reverend, Senator, President, Prince, Empress, Lord, etc

9. A book with a character who is starting over
This can be either fiction or nonfiction.

New career
New home
New relationship
Recovering from a loss (spouse, partner, child, job, etc.)
Reinventing themself
After being released from an incarceration
After recovery from an addiction
https://modernmrsdarcy.com/fiction-bo...
https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/fi...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/st...

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=El...
Brooklyn - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
The Spellshop - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Atomic Habits - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

10. A book featuring a competition, game, or contest

11. A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars
This could be a:
A book in the Star Wars cannon - https://www.goodreads.com/genres/star...
Or a book involving space, aliens, robots.
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/space
Or a book related to the creators, actors, technology of the franchise, fiction /nonfiction
Or a book that builds on some of classic themes of Star Wars - in an epic fantasy, realistic or historical setting (for those that don’t like fantasy)
Themes include:
Rebels versus an empire
Diplomacy between different species or planets,
Multi planet universe-building.
Fantastical communication and travel

12. A book featuring a multiracial family

13. A satire, comedy, or humorous book

14. A book with a wild animal on the cover

15. A book with an article of clothing on the cover

First thoughts, I will be going 3 up and 5 down. I'm going to think on some of these.

I'm kind of meh on these. No definite downvotes but very few that excite me.

I missed suggestions due to sleeping in, but it's going to be hard to pick.

I love:
A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list
A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N
A book related to magic or magicians
A book with a character who has a title
A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars
A satire, comedy, or humorous book

I want to love, but have no idea what I'd read:
A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure
A book related to Australia
A book featuring a multiracial family

I like and will upvote:

1) A prompt who didn't make the list
3) Award lists beginning with N
7) Magic and magicians (my favourite this round!)
14) Wild animal on cover
15) Clothing on cover

I'll downvote:

2) Pop culture
13) Satire or humorous book - no, I like seriousness, thrills and horror. (I laugh a lot and am a humorous person, I need to balance that with either darkness or serious matters that don't make me laugh. I could do with another kind of uplifting book, a book that makes me feel content and happy in a calm way, but not comedy! I preferred an earlier suggestion about an uplifting book.)

The rest are Neutral or "why not"? But "why not" is not enough for me to upvote, I won't mind them being upvoted but others though.

Satire doesn't have to be humorous.

Just a note of clarification: the Nobel Prize for Literature is actually awarded to an author for their body of work, and there are no individual books that get nominated.

I know there are some who don't like lists but the N sounds promising. A lot of the links just go to the most recent year, but if the prompt wins, we could include how to find previous years. And some of the links just show the winner, not those nominated/long listed. Wikipedia usually lists the whole history. of each award.

To Joy's point, it could be any book by a Nobel winner.

One where the up votes need whittling down:

1. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list
A definite yes.

2. A pop culture book .
A downvote, but so general that it would be mangeable if it got in.

3. A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N
An upvote

4. A book with a female villain, criminal, or wrong-doer
Not particularly interested in this. Probably neutral.

5. A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure
I like this one.

6. A book related to Australia
I would be ok with this, but we have the Africa/Asia/Australia setting this year.

7. A book related to magic or magicians
An upvote

8. A book with a character who has a title
I wouldn't mind if this got in, but not sure I like it enough for an upvote. Probably yes.

9. A book with a character who is starting over
Doesn't inspire me.

10. A book featuring a competition, game, or contest
No, this seems to crop up regularly and it is always a pain for me.

11. A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars
An upvote, lots of possibilities,

12. A book featuring a multiracial family
Ok, neutral on this.

13. A satire, comedy, or humorous book
Again, not inspired.

14. A book with a wild animal on the cover
15. A book with an article of clothing on the cover
Both of these are ok, probably neutral.

I think 6 upvotes and 2 definite downs, but will whittle up and down I think to give the ones I really like a better chance.

• Read a book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure
Because one usually leads to the other. Some topic ideas:

⚓ Pirates/Privateers, Vikings, Sea Explorers, Mariners/Naval Personnel, Deep Sea Divers, Mermaids/Mermen, Jacques Cousteau
⚓ Sea Serpents, Kraken, Moby Dick, Jaws,
⚓ Naval Battles, Mutinies, Shipwrecks, Being Shang-Hied
⚓ Hurricanes, Tsunamis,
⚓ Sunken Treasure, Deserted Islands, Ghost Ships

I am sure there is at least one Listopia.

Joy D wrote: "Just a note of clarification: the Nobel Prize for Literature is actually awarded to an author for their body of work, and there are no individual books that get nominated."

Good to know. I will still downvote the prompt, but if it gets in, this is likely what I'll do.

My thoughts:

1. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list - Upvote

2. A pop culture book - Upvote or neutral as I have some memoirs that would fit

3. A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N - Upvote

4. A book with a female villain, criminal, or wrong-doer - Maybe; it depends on how many definite ups and downs I have.

5. A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure - Neutral

6. A book related to Australia - Neutral or down; we have a lot of setting prompts, and I'm not sure what else to do with it.

7. A book related to magic or magicians - Upvote

8. A book with a character who has a title - Maybe - I kind of like this one.

9. A book with a character who is starting over - Neutral

10. A book featuring a competition, game, or contest - Neutral

11. A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars - Upvote or neutral

12. A book featuring a multiracial family - Not sure... I did a search and mostly came up with children's picture books
-
13. A satire, comedy, or humorous book - Maybe

14. A book with a wild animal on the cover - Doable but blah.

15. A book with an article of clothing on the cover - Doable but blah

It's not a very exciting list to me but I'm not actually strongly opposed to any of these.

1. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the 2027 list - An easy upvote for me. There are a few I really liked that didn't get in
2. A pop culture book - Very easy to fill, but will leave it neutral
3. A book nominated for the National Book Awards, the Nobel Prize in Literature, or any other literary competition starting with N - Most likely an upvote. I want to read more of Han Kang anyway
4. A book with a female villain, criminal, or wrong-doer - Not sure yet
5. A book about a maritime adventure and/or misadventure - Not sure either
6. A book related to Australia - I dunno. I'll probably leave it neutral
7. A book related to magic or magicians - I could easily fill it, but not sure I want to vote for it
8. A book with a character who has a title - Probably leaving it neutral
9. A book with a character who is starting over - Could be interesting, not sure about a vote yet though
10. A book featuring a competition, game, or contest - Not sure about this one either
11. A book in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars - I'm honestly not the biggest Star Wars fan (I barely remember the one time I watched the 6 movies) but I probably could find something if it got in
12. A book featuring a multiracial family - I think I need options to decide
13. A satire, comedy, or humorous book - Can it be only humorous to me? My sense of humour can be pretty dark (like cannibal jokes Hannibal Lecter style)
14. A book with a wild animal on the cover - Well, wild animal could be pretty anything ...
15. A book with an article of clothing on the cover - Well, any person that is not nude would work, so very easy if it got in

N award possibilities:

Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
Norma Fleck Award (youth non-fiction)
Ngaio Marsh Award (NZ crime fiction)
National Hispanic Cultural Center Literary Award
National Jewish Book Award
National Outdoor Book Award
National Poetry Series
National Translation Award
Native Writers' Circle of the Americas
Nebula Award for Science Fiction
Newbery Medal
The New Criterion Poetry Prize

Dubhease wrote: "N award possibilities:

Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
Norma Fleck Award (youth non-fiction)
Ngaio Marsh Award (NZ c..."

Thanks for this list, Dubhease! So many options for different reading tastes - without being "read any book."

Sorry I didn't clarify that the Nobel Prize in Literature is for a body of work (for our purposes, read anything by a winning author).

There are 3 that I really like: the N Lit awards, Star Wars, and suggestion that didn’t make the list. I’m not averse to any of the prompts so maybe no down votes this week. Maybe.

Re: the awards, I know some people don’t like list prompts. I’m usually one of them but it does depend on the list. I like that there is a variety of lists and some really good ones! I tend to read books that are on lit award lists anyway but I also like to browse different awards and look for new titles. The Nero award is one I’ve never heard of and looks interesting! I’m always interested in the Nebula, the National Book award and the Nobel Prize. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Newberry list, which I also like, is linked to my local library in Albuquerque. 😃 I also found 2 other awards: Naoki prize (Japan) and the Nordic Council Literary prize.

Sandra wrote: "Satire doesn't have to be humorous."

True, but I haven't got any that I haven't already read and I'm not that interested.

Dubhease wrote: "N award possibilities:

Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
Norma Fleck Award (youth non-fiction)
Ngaio Marsh Award (NZ c..."

Thank you! I'm always in for reading the Nobel Prize winners, (it's a huge event in Sweden, since it's a Swedish prize and the ceremonies and deep discussions and the festivities are always broadcasted. I'm curious to know if it's broadcasted in any other country? )

But there are several other interesting award lists included here!

Nike - I think you can livestream the ceremony but it’s not broadcast on major commercial TV stations in the U.S.