Kristina’s Comments (group member since May 26, 2021)

Kristina’s comments from the Around the Year in 52 Books group.

Yay Van Gogh! I wasn't around to re-suggest it, so glad someone else did and it made it in this time! I like all of these, though I hope someone suggests the river or the Obama list prompts again - those are the two I would've liked to see go through this time around that didn't make it.

Hi, Emily! I went through and cleaned up/edited my thoughts & references - would you be able to update the Van Gogh prompt with the list below instead? A little more comprehensive and easier to read :)

For reference a list of his paintings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Books with the same titles/title words
- Covers with the same primary color or color palettes (a color palette example: https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit...)
- Covers with a subject from the painting somewhere on them (e.g. crows, sunflowers, stars, a church, a chair, a skeleton, a cigarette)
- Set in or written in the same year/century as the painting (Van Gogh painted from around ~1881 - 1890; 17th century)
- Books with a similar theme as the painting: about death, country living, the natural world, featuring peasant/rural characters, etc.
- Set where the painting was painted - as general as the country (the Netherlands, France) or as specific as the city/area/or even counting in a garden or house or mental institution (Van Gogh painted some of his most famous works when he was hospitalized)
- Or set where the painting is currently hanging - a lot are in the Netherlands, but there are others in the USA, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and more! The Wikipedia link has where each painting is currently housed, for reference.
- An autobiography or memoir - many of his paintings are self-portraits!
- A fun BIO option could be the specific painting is on the cover or mentioned in the book :)

Thank you!!!

Tracy wrote: "Nike wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Oh wow, I'm never online when suggestions start. Crazy coincidence!

My suggestion: A book related to a painting by Vincent Van Gogh

For reference a list of his paint..."

Thank you!! He's also my favorite artist - one of my top places to go when I visited Amsterdam was the Van Gogh Museum 😊

Oh wow, I'm never online when suggestions start. Crazy coincidence!

My suggestion: A book related to a painting by Vincent Van Gogh

For reference a list of his paintings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Books with the same titles/title words
- Covers with the same primary color or color palettes (a color palette example: https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit...)
- Covers with a subject from the painting somewhere on them (e.g. crows, sunflowers, stars, a church, a chair, a skeleton, a cigarette)
- Set in or written in the same year/century as the painting (Van Gogh painted from around ~1881 - 1890; 17th century)
- Books with a similar theme as the painting: about death, country living, the natural world, featuring peasant/rural characters, etc.
- Set where the painting was painted - as general as the country (the Netherlands, France) or as specific as the city/area/or even counting in a garden or house or mental institution (Van Gogh painted some of his most famous works when he was hospitalized)
- Or set where the painting is currently hanging - a lot are in the Netherlands, but there are others in the USA, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and more! The Wikipedia link has where each painting is currently housed, for reference.
- An autobiography or memoir - many of his paintings are self-portraits!
- A fun BIO option could be the specific painting is on the cover or mentioned in the book :)

I really love the Greek letter prompt and I'd definitely upvote it. There's a lot of fun ways you could take that if you wanted to be creative with it, but it's also straightforward enough to be used at face value too.

I'm indifferent to any overlap - if anything, that's useful for people who might want to kill two prompts with one stone, so to speak. And it's really not much of an overlap to be honest - there's plenty of other countries to use for the Mediterranean prompt and for me the focus is different.

I also like the 24 pages/24 chapters idea!

For me, a strong sense of place is really brought on by specificity. For example, the Rivers of London series evokes a seriously strong sense of place for me because the author's prose is dense with references with specific streets, buildings, and backstories of areas of London that just can't come without insider knowledge of the city. I felt that this year when I read The Sentence which also happens to be set in my home city - the author talked about shops I've been in and streets I've lived on before, so it was almost eerily full of place for me.

But that's just cities! I have to agree with other comments that "strong sense of place" is really about how the setting is handled; if you can really visualize where the book is set, whether it be a city, a spooky house (Mexican Gothic), a spaceship (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet), a school (A Deadly Education) then that would count as a "strong sense of place" for me. I think fantasy worlds with really great worldbuilding would also count for this prompt, too.

The only thing I don't like about this prompt is that I am a planner and as others have mentioned, it's a difficult one to plan for unless you're doing a re-read. Blurbs can give you hints, but I'd probably rely on authors who I know do this kind of setting-rich writing already.

Tracy wrote: "Velvet wrote: "What does everyone think about an epistolary novel as a prompt?"

I'm not usually drawn to epistolary novels, but one I came across yesterday sounds interesting. It takes place (enti..."

I was just about to suggest Several People Are Typing! I just read it for the first time last month and loved it. The entire novel takes place through Slack messages and even though the premise is absolutely bonkers, it's funny, weird, and strangely heart-warming. It's a great example of a modern epistolary novel imho and a fun read on its own.

Personally I love epistolary novels so I'd upvote. Also an easy KIS option would include any books that are only partially epistolary (so books like the hugely popular Red, White & Royal Blue could also qualify, to make it easier for people who don't much like fully epistolary novels).

Kristina C.

✅ 1. Reading Railroad - A book with 400+ pages: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
✅ 2. Vermont Avenue - A book featuring a cover that contains fall colors: Vicious by V.E. Schwab
✅ 3. Go to Jail - A book featuring a crime: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
✅ 4. Marvin Gardens - A book with a green cover: Jade City by Fonda Lee
✅ 5. Pacific Avenue - A book set in Asia: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
✅ 6. Boardwalk - A book where the first letter of each title word is found in the word BOARDWALK: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

I'd go 1, 3, and 6 😊

Karin wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Nike wrote: "Even though Swedish is our official language there are also five official minority languages and information is always provided for the biggest immigration languages so I..."

This tends to be a very American phenomenon, but whenever the idea of English as the official (legal) language comes up politically, it very much does stem from xenophobia - because the rhetoric around it is less "well it's practical to have a shared language!" (true!) and more "if you don't speak English you don't belong in this country" (untrue!). Obviously a language in common is very useful in multiple ways... but whenever there are attempts to codify that into law, it's more of a "we want to get these non-English speakers out of our country" angle people come from.

English as a lingua franca is super interesting since it's basically five languages standing on top of each other in a trench coat. We've borrowed very liberally from a bunch of other languages and cobbled it together into something that, in all honesty, has bizarre, byzantine rules and structures, so the fact that it's become such a shared language is pretty wild (and obviously owes a lot to British colonialism in general for being so widespread). I used to teach English overseas and it's a very hard language to learn to speak, especially to speak like a native.

One of my favorite stories to highlight how crazy English is (or maybe just the craziness of language evolution in general!) is the history of the letter "h" in "ghost" - apparently the original Anglo-Saxen ghost actually comes from "gast" or "gost." But the first people in England who were capable of setting down books into type had Flemish typesetters (specifically William Caxton) and practiced their trade in Flanders. And in Flemish, ghost is "gheest" - so these Flemish typesetters added in the h, as the spelling was more familiar to them. And since this version of ghost was in the Bible, which would be the book most literate people of the day would be reading, it became the standardized spelling. Which is why today we have a silent "h" in ghost!

Robin P wrote: "Mandy wrote: "in the USA, there have been bills and amendments trying to make English the national language. 30 states have the law stating it is the official language of that state. a couple recog..."

Yeah, there's really no reason to legally declare English as a national language - and tbh when it comes up politically it tends to stem from xenophobic and anti-immigration circles. Which I always find a little funny since English itself is also an imported language to America. Like even taking into account colonialism, there were huge swathes of the country under French and Spanish rule before the English ever got there... so in reality, English has only very recently (historically speaking) been widespread enough to be considered a lingua franca. But there are plenty of Americans who like to talk like English has been used here since the dawn of time and it's some kind of patriotic betrayal for anyone to speak a different language or not know English.

Anyway, obviously Spanish is huge, but in my area (Minnesotan here!) there's a huge community of Somali and Hmong immigrants and almost all of our major public works provide language support for them. I used to work in a hospital that made a point to have financial docs in Somali and Hmong. Minnesota actually has one of the largest Hmong immigrant populations in the country. Whereas in places like Texas or New Mexico, I'm sure it's a much higher percentage of people who speak Spanish. So it really depends on where you're at for what the next most common spoken language is after English.

Poll 4 - 1. Three Weeks: Three books where each one is related to land, sea, or air - BIO
- Three books that relate to land, sea, or air all written by the same author

Poll 7 - 1. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list - BIO
- A book that was polarizing or a close call that didn't make the final list

Poll 11 - 1. A book with a senior citizen character - BIO
- A book with a senior citizen as the main character
- A book with multiple senior citizen characters
- A book whose senior character is an octogenarian (80s) or nonagenarian (90s).

Poll 11 - 2. A book involving a crime other than a murder - KIS
- Minor crimes also count (e.g. jaywalking, shoplifting, etc.)
- The book has a crime involving murder as well as a non-murderous crime

Poll 11 - 2. A book involving a crime other than a murder - BIO
- The book has no murder in it at all
- The crime involved is real or based on fact
- The crime involved is not theft or fraud

Poll 12 - 1. A book related to Boats, Beaches, Bars, Ballads, or Jimmy Buffett - BIO
- A book that relates to every category on the prompt list

Poll 12 - 2. A book by an author known by their initials - BIO
- A book by an author who uses three initials in their name (e.g. J.R.R. Tolkien)
- A book by an author who has one (or more) of the four least used letters in the English alphabet as their initials (JQZX)

Poll 12 - 3. A book by an author from an African country - BIO
- A book by an author who still lives in an African county
- A book translated from an African language

Summer Reading Challenge Winner - A book by an Edgar Award-winning author - BIO
- The book that won the author an Edgar award
- A book by an author who has won an Edgar award multiple times
- A book by an author who has won an Edgar award and any other award

🍁 Individual Fall Read-a-Thon 2023
September 09 - 17, 2023

🍁 Currently Reading 🍁
1. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

🍁 Prompt Tracking 🍁
✅ 1. Reading Railroad - A book with 400+ pages: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
✅ 2. Vermont Avenue - A book featuring a cover that contains fall colors: Vicious by V.E. Schwab
✅ 3. Go to Jail - A book featuring a crime: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
✅ 4. Marvin Gardens - A book with a green cover: Jade City by Fonda Lee
✅ 5. Pacific Avenue - A book set in Asia: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
✅ 6. Boardwalk - A book where the first letter of each title word is found in the word BOARDWALK: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Ellie wrote: "Tracy wrote: "The synopsis likens it partially to Mexican Gothic, which wasn’t for me, but this sounds fun!"

I generally try to ignore publisher comps. Either I'm disappointed they're not like a b..."

I would give Mexican Gothic a try! I've read a lot of Moreno-Garcia this year (she's an author I had on my list this year to read more of), so I hard agree about Gods of Jade and Shadow (which I finished but skimmed the last half of). I mostly enjoyed The Beautiful Ones and Certain Dark Things, and I'm still debating about trying The Daughter of Doctor Moreau or Silver Nitrate next year - I think her ideas/aesthetics are always so unusual and strong, but the execution varies and her writing is a little clunky, imho.

That said, I thought Mexican Gothic was pretty good and I definitely think it's her strongest novel. And for a weird mushroom book, it's certainly up there - I can see why Kingfisher mentioned it as an inspiration for What Moves the Dead. If the mushroom prompt gets in, both of those books are great contenders to fulfill it (and great books to read in spooky months like October!).

Oh, I love short stories! I went neutral on that prompt because I felt like we already had one that it could be folded into (the non-novel prompt) but if it gets in, there's plenty to choose from. One thing I like about short stories is that it feels like there's more room for experimentation - I've read a lot of short stories that do weird, cool stuff with form or genre or have a really off-the-wall idea that would never work in a full novel but is just right for short fiction.

Some I've read I'd definitely recommend:

1. Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado - this one is def. not for everyone, but if you like weird, speculative fiction that plays with form & function, this one could be a good choice! I read one of these stories in college and it stuck with me so much I remembered it immediately when I re-read the collection this year. Sharp prose, interesting story forms, and a ton of cool/creepy body horror.
2. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - if you watched Arrival, the story it's based on is part of this collection. Great SF stories and Ted Chiang is a master of the genre.
3. Self-Help by Lorrie Moore - another one that won't necessarily appeal to all, but Lorrie Moore was one of my first short story collections so I had to include her. Sharp, funny, and weird tends to be my favorite kind of short stories.
4. The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra - seconding this rec. One of the best collections out there.
5. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - another set of interconnected short stories - very enjoyable, plays with form, and well-written. This one could also count for the musician prompt if that gets in. (I also read The Candy House which is another interconnected collection and mostly enjoyed it, but not quite as much as Goon Squad.)
6. Tenth of December by George Saunders - George Saunders is a king of short stories, but I have to mention this collection because the titular story is one of my favorites. I didn't love every short story in this one, but you honestly can't go wrong with Saunders.
7. The Dead Fish Museum by Charles D'Ambrosio - I last read this one in college, but I remember enjoying it!

Also, there are usually "Best" themed books (The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 / The Best American Short Stories 2007) for example which are usually pretty good collections, especially if you want to just dip your toe in a genre or get an idea of what's popular in a given year.

If this one got in, I'd probably go with Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, Sansei and Sensibility, Birds of America: Stories, Your Duck Is My Duck: Stories, or You Will Never Be Forgotten: Stories.

Poll 9 - 2. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads - BIO:
1. A book with exactly 2024 ratings

Poll 10 - 1. A book that has been on your TBR for over a year - BIO:
1. A book that has been on your TBR for five or more years
2. A book that has been on your TBR for ten or more years

Poll 10 - 2. A book with a botanical cover - BIO:
1. A book with your favorite flower on the cover
2. A book with five or more different kinds of botanical plants on the cover
3. A book with a rare or unusual botanical plant on the cover (e.g. Venus Flytrap, Hammer Orchid, etc.)

Mandy wrote: "there are quite a few manga-ka that are women.

Hiromu Arakawa -- fullmetal alchemist
Clamp -- Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa, XXXholic
Rumiko Takahashi -- Inuyasha, Mao, Ranma 1/2
Naoko Takeuchi -- S..."

Seconding Mandy's list - Japanese manga in general has a ton of female artists or teams and it's actually a much easier prompt once you include them in your pile. Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 is actually one of the best stories I've ever read and it's always on my list when I recommend giving that genre a try.

But if Japanese manga isn't your jam (and that's fair!) there's also some great graphic novels - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood for example is heavy-hitting and beautiful. Pretty much anything by Alison Bechdel or Kate Beaton is great. Books like The Prince and the Dressmaker, Adulthood Is a Myth, Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine, and Anya's Ghost are all good. I've never read Lumberjanes, but I really enjoyed Nimona.

Also Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 01 would count for this, which I love and always recommend to people who love cozy stories.

G. Willow Wilson does the new Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal and Tee Franklin has done a fun Harley Quinn: The Animated Series - The Real Sidekicks of New Gotham Special for anyone interested in trying more traditional American comics.

I agree that it's a harder category but there actually is a wide range of books within it that apply!

Jennifer wrote: "A fun suggestion that works for the “real person” prompt is Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne and Horowitz series (genre: cozy mystery?).
I think it is so creative and entertaining how the author has wr..."

Oh, I'll second that! It's a very good mystery series and a fun way to fill the "real person" prompt. I don't know about "cozy" mystery for the genre, though - it's a little too bleak for me to match what I think of for cozy mysteries, but as a mystery writer in general, I think he's excellent! He has great pacing and a good nose for narrative tension that made his Alex Rider series a favorite of mine as a kid and made all of his mysteries I've read as an adult a thrilling ride.

I'm sure someone else would suggest this one, but Outlander and most of the series has cameos by various real historical figures. And I'd second The Alienist rec - I enjoyed that one. Also a lot of books by Philippa Gregory would count toward it, as she writes so much historical fiction based on real people (e.g. The Other Boleyn Girl). And it's YA, but I read Jane Yolen's Queen's Own Fool when I was young and it remains a favorite - it stars Mary Queen of Scots and her court as major characters. Also read Hamnet this year which was excellent and has William Shakespeare as a major character. There's a ton of books that could fill this prompt, and I like the flexibility of potentially doing a memoir or nonfiction book instead as an option. Definite upvote from me!

Also really like the five books prompt! I think it's fun to get such detailed little lists and there's a lot of cool recommenders on there and a lot of list themes I wouldn't think of at first.

Pamela wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Curious if we could stretch this prompt to include books that take place on a single day, as leap day is an one extra day in the year - in that case, books like Lillian Boxfish Tak..."

Well, the suggestion was not so much for me, but as a potential spin for anyone struggling to think of ideas to fill it or to anyone who may not be enamored with the time travel interpretation. (Personally if it gets through, I'll probably go the time travel route.) You could also take "leap" into a bunch of different directions if you wanted to get creative with what "counts" to the prompt.

That said, it seems like a shame to claim that additional interpretations of a prompt weaken it, to be honest. Part of the fun of prompts is figuring out what kind of books fit, and being creative with that can make a prompt more interesting (at least, for me!). If I left "leap year" at its most basic interpretation, I'd be hesitant about it - there aren't many books that take place on a leap day or specifically in a leap year. But having the potential spins on the original - time travel, repeats, a "leap" of some kind - allows a lot more flexibility.