Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2019] Suggestions for 1st Mini-Poll
Ok, I guess I'll get us started! I'm sure this has come up before but since I've come across some great authors over the past couple of years, I've added quite a few of their previous works to my TBR list but have yet to get to them so:Read a new to you book by an author you "discovered" in 2017 or 2018.
A book set after a time of war (ex: post WWII). My thought with this was a book that focuses on the recovery and life after war versus life during war.
Read a book with a number in the title (spelled out or written as a digit). Goodreads has a list of ideas: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Mod
Manda, Cheri, and Rachelnyc, I'm going to hold on to your suggestions and will enter them next round. Sorry!
Mind, Body, SoulSuggestions:
Mind, a book that you learn something new or stretches your understanding, a book about schools/teaching,
Body, a book about athletes, or someone who struggles with eating disorders, or has a body on the cover
Soul: A book that moves or insptires you or a book spiritual in nature
Books related to the four cardinal points of a compass: North, South, East, West.
Four books, one for each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: pestilence, famine, war, and death.
Three unrelated books that are linked only by having the same word in the title. (I think this is the one that made it to the tie breaker last year).
Here’s one I suggested last year, but didn’t win.Read a book about Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll.
Each of these can be broadly definited. For example:
Books about sex can include erotica, books on gender or feminism, romance novels, crime novels involving sex themes
(prostitution). Books with sex in the title (e.g., the Second Sex) would work too.
Books about drugs could be about addictions, crime involving the drug world, medical mysteries.
Books about rock ‘n roll, could be biographies about rock musicians or fiction with rock ‘n roll themes. Here are relevant goodreads lists.
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=ro...
I second the books related to the four cardinal points of a compass: North, South, East, West.
Books related to the four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn, winter
Okay, I've been trying to figure out how to get the wording for this. I think this will make sense.My suggestion is to read three books representing three stages of life... so:
Childhood/adolescence - Could be a book you loved as a kid, a book featuring a child or adolescent as the main character, a children's book, a memoir about an young person, a book you associate with childhood, etc.
Adulthood - Could be a book with an adult character, a non-fiction book about an adult, a book you didn't discover until you were an adult, a book that has adult-only themes, a book with an adult on the cover, etc.
Old age - Could be a book featuring an elderly character, a book about a centuries-old vampire, a memoir, a book with "old" in the title, a book written by an author when he/she was older (for example, a recent work by Stephen King), etc.
These could be fairly open to interpretation and could work for fiction and non-fiction.
Completely blanked on the fact that we need to second suggestions before we make the list. I will second Michelle's four horsemen of the apocalypse suggestion.
Jillian wrote: "Three unrelated books that are linked only by having the same word in the title. "I second this!
I’ll second North, South, East and West.
I like the idea of a travel theme so I'll just recommend a little twist on one mentioned in the prompt:Read a book by an author from each of the 5 continents.
Mod
If people think 5 books is too many then we can modify 5 the continents be 4 of the 5 continents.
Ira wrote: "Books related to the four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn, winter"I second this prompt.
I loved this suggestion last year someone (I’m sorry, I don’t remember who) made: 5 books that can make up a poker hand. ex: Hard EIGHT, To the NINES, TEN Big Ones, The Last Days of JACK Sparks, and The QUEEN of the Damned = a Straight).
I second Manda's suggestion. I would add that 4 of a kind is a poker hand too. You could take a theme like betrayal and read 4 books that are linked by that theme.
I really liked this years ‘ A book published in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) by an author you haven't read before’ prompt so I wanted to suggest something similar:3 books published in three following years by authors you haven’t read before. (eg 2017,2018, 2019 or 1987, 1988, 1989...or...)
Read the Rainbow.... Choose four books that are linked by one of the 7 colors of the rainbow. The color can be on the cover, in the title, the authors name, a character name etc. You can use four different colors if you truly want to read a rainbow of books.
Angie wrote: "Okay, I've been trying to figure out how to get the wording for this. I think this will make sense.
My suggestion is to read three books representing three stages of life... so:
Childhood/adolesc..."
I second this one
My suggestion is to read three books representing three stages of life... so:
Childhood/adolesc..."
I second this one
Lori wrote: "Angie wrote: "Okay, I've been trying to figure out how to get the wording for this. I think this will make sense.My suggestion is to read three books representing three stages of life... so:
Chi..."
I already did second it
I’m a big Harry Potter fan and have seen a lot of lists for books for each of the Hogwarts houses so I’m going to suggest a book for each of the four houses.
Mod
My suggestion is four books that make a family —- so four books with a family member in the title.
Lizzy wrote: "My suggestion is four books that make a family —- so four books with a family member in the title."I second this one
°~Amy~° wrote: "Read the Rainbow.... Choose four books that are linked by one of the 7 colors of the rainbow. The color can be on the cover, in the title, the authors name, a character name etc."I second this.
Read a non-fiction book. Then using the topic of that book, read two more books about the topic, at least one of which should be fiction.
"It's raining cats and dogs."Three books:
rain (or any form of storm or water) in the title, cover art, plot, or other form
cats (in any feline form - domestic cats, tigers, lions, panthers, etc.) in the title, cover art, plot, or other form
dogs (in any canine form - domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes, etc.) in the title, cover art, plot, or other form
In the hopes of getting a second on this, I want to point out that these absolutely do not have to be animal-centric books. For example, Wolf Hall would work for the dog part. And
has a cat on the cover but it's really not about cats at all (though there is a cat who is a very very minor plot point.)
Mod
Jackie wrote: "For the continents one, which are the 5 continents to be included? At least in my American education, we were taught 7 continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and..."I was taught the 7 continents theory as well but since the challenge only calls for up to 5, I figured we'd use the system other parts of the world do. It could be up for debate but I was thinking, North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia with the sub region of Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) as part of Asia. I've seen it mentioned where Europe and Asia are combined as well though so I'm open to suggestions.
Your initials.For example, your name is Jane Ann Smith.
Read a book by an author whose first or last name begins with J
Read a book by an author whose first or last name begins with A
Read a book by an author whose first or last name begins with S
Sophie wrote: "Here’s one I suggested last year, but didn’t win.Read a book about Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll.
Each of these can be broadly definited. For example:
Books about sex can include erotica, books ..."
I second this one! Good theme, Sophie ;)
Jackie wrote: "For the continents one, which are the 5 continents to be included? At least in my American education, we were taught 7 continents..."Maybe participants could choose which 5 of the 7 continents they want to use?
Two questions:1) For the continents suggestion, I was under the impression that we said no more than 4 weeks for a multi-week prompt. Am I mistaken?
2) In response to dalex's suggestion about using your initials -- I think it's a great idea, but it would be hard to keep it consistent. Not everyone has a middle name. How would we make it fair for everyone?
Sophie wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Here’s one I suggested last year, but didn’t win.Read a book about Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll.
Each of these can be broadly definited. For example:
Books about sex can include ..."
Thank you, Sophie!
If I recall, it was very polarizing last year. I tried to provide examples of each that would allow fiction or nonfiction and that would fit a range of topics. We’ll see!
Rachel, right now the rules say between 3-5 weeks. I cannot remember what was discussed on limiting the weeks.
Rachel wrote: "In response to dalex's suggestion about using your initials -- I think it's a great idea, but it would be hard to keep it consistent. Not everyone has a middle name. How would we make it fair for everyone?."Good point! Maybe there could be a "rule" that it has to be three books. If you only have 2 initials you have to duplicate one; for example, Mike Jones would have to do MMJ or MJJ. And if you have four or more initials, you just have to do three of them, so Mary Ann Susan Foster-Brown would only have to do, like, MSB.
Is that too complicated to explain for a prompt? Maybe.
Mod
Chinook wrote: "Read a non-fiction book. Then using the topic of that book, read two more books about the topic, at least one of which should be fiction."I second the fiction/non-fiction prompt.
Rachelnyc wrote: "I like the idea of a travel theme so I'll just recommend a little twist on one mentioned in the prompt:Read a book by an author from each of the 5 continents."
I also like the idea of a travel theme, so I second this.
Chinook wrote: "Read a non-fiction book. Then using the topic of that book, read two more books about the topic, at least one of which should be fiction."I know this has already been seconded but I just want to say that I do not like the idea of "forcing" people to read a specific genre for a multi-prompt. I do not ever never ever read non-fiction. I was able to use my Wild Card for this in 2018 but what would I do when an additional 2 (or more) build upon that first non-fiction book? Surely I am not the only one in the group who doesn't read non-fiction?
Mod
That being said, I think the purpose of the challenge is to push us out of our comfort zone. I never read much nonfiction before this year, but I’ve found some I’ve liked and now I’m finding myself reaching for it more and more. It may surprise you (especially narrative nonfiction, which reads like fiction does)!
I agree about letting people choose which five continents they read from, if that prompt makes it through.
Emily wrote: "dalex, the prompt says that one of the books that follow must be fiction, and the other can be either nonfiction or fiction. So if you used your Wild Card for the first one, the following two would just be fiction books related to the same topic."If that interpretation of the prompt is possible, why not just word it as "three books with a common theme and/or plot element" and nix the non-fiction requirement altogether?
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Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
84, Charing Cross Road (other topics)Wolf Hall (other topics)
Stray City (other topics)
How it will work:
The topics for the 2019 RC list will be determined through around 13 mini-polls. Suggestions for each poll will be opened until 15-20 suggestions are received + “seconded”. Then a poll will be opened for voting for one week. Each user will vote for their favorite 4 (or fewer) topics in each mini-poll, which will then add up to the 52 topics (13 polls x 4 topics/poll=52 weekly topics). This timeframe allows for a completed list in October-November.
Rules:
- One suggestion per poll per user OR one "second" per user
- Suggestions close after 20 total seconded suggestions
- The number of seconded suggestions can vary and will be announced in the topic
- If the categories are not balanced enough at some point, the mods will add rules to encourage variety
This is a multi-week prompt poll
- That means that all suggestions should each cover 3-5 weeks total
- Some examples discussed:
* 3 books starting with a specific letter
* 3 books starting with letters following each other in the alphabet (eg. L-M-N)
* 3 books having increasing numbers in the title (eg.Slaughterhouse-Five, The Woman in Cabin 10, Around the World in Eighty Days)
* A book from each major writing perspective
* A book set on each of the 5 continents
There will only be one winner for this poll
As always, please express any and all feedback (respectfully, of course), either here or in the The Wild Discussion
A link to the poll will be posted in a new thread as soon as 20 suggestions are received.
Poll Entries
1. Four books related to the four cardinal points of a compass: North, South, East, West
2. Four books, one for each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: pestilence, famine, war, and death
3. Three unrelated books that are linked only by having the same word in the title
4. Three books related to "Mind, Body, and Soul"
5. Four books related to the four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn, winter
6. Five books that can make up a poker hand
7. Three books representing the three stages of life: childhood/adolescence, adulthood, and old age
8. Four books that make up a family (members in the title)
9. Three books related to Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll
10. A book related to each of the 4 Hogwart's Houses (Harry Potter)
11. Read 3 books on the same topic, at least one being non-fiction
12. Four books by authors from 4 different continents
13. Three books published in 3 different decades in a row (i.e. 1960, 1970, 1980)
14. Read the Rainbow (Four books related to the colors of the rainbow)
15. Four books inspired by the wedding rhyme: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
16. Three books published in three consecutive years by authors you haven’t read before
17. A book with an animal in the title, a book with an animal on the cover, and a book where an animal is central to the story
18. Three books with the theme "raining cats and dogs"
Available to be Seconded:
- [1) A book (fiction) from the year you were born.
2) A biography or autobiography about band/musician/author/actor/athlete who was famous the year you were born.
3) A non-fiction book about a historical incident or political leader that occurred the year your were born.]