Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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2020 Reading Challenge Listopias
I think it's important to specify that it's the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers in the title, since Abe is a website & may have other lists on there.
I'm not sure if this would be the best place for a librarian in the group to see it but the Abe list has Fingersmith twice, currently 20 and 31.
If no one's working on a book related to the arts, I've got a bit of time now this afternoon and can get this one started...
Here's the link for the arts category: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...I don't think I have a lot to add, but I figured that wouldn't matter as other people will add to it!
I can also do the book related to time, if no one is doing that one...
There's a handy tool for librarians that will find and remove duplicates from lists. I'm happy to go into the lists and run that when they're further along, rather than people looking for duplicates.A way to avoid duplicates is to not add from your shelves. The search way of adding just gives the default edition, so duplicates will just be extra votes.
Kathryn wrote: "Here's the link for the arts category: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...I don't think I have a lot to add, but I figured that wouldn't matter as other..."
I'm really glad this list is being created, because I am so stumped!! Since writing & literature ARE arts, I have no idea how I'm supposed to pick one book among thousands to be related to the arts. I'll be looking at everyone's ideas on this list!!!
Nadine wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Here's the link for the arts category: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...I don't think I have a lot to add, but I figured that wouldn't..."
You could decide to exclude anything relating to writing and literature, Nadine, and choose something from the other types of arts...? That should narrow things down a little.
Here’s one for the first in a series:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Certainly there’s a personal aspect to the prompt, but even for personal prompts I enjoy seeing which books people are considering.
One for a book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Mod
Thanks for starting those, Chinook and Kathryn!
I'm trying to decide how to do the binary topics... any ideas?
I was wondering if we want to have one for the NYT list? It could link to all the lists and then you’d be able to see a shorter list of books people are thinking of reading? Or no?
Mod
For the binary topics, I’d say maybe people just add both books and include their partner book in the notes, since the list doesn’t always stay in order.
I can do the NYT one later when I take a break from unpacking.
What counts a series for the 'first book' list? I just went through and added everything on my owned TBR that was labeled as 'book one' in any way, but it turned out to be SIXTY books, and I think a few of them are just first in duologies or trilogies. Should I pare down my additions somehow, either by length of series, likelihood of my actually using it for the prompt, or both?
Mod
That being said, I think first in a duology or any book labeled as a "book one" would count.
I think it’s up to you. I only added the ones I’m actively considering, but more for time reasons than anything else. I think that duologies and trilogies count myself, though maybe others wouldn’t.
Raquel wrote: "What counts a series for the 'first book' list? I just went through and added everything on my owned TBR that was labeled as 'book one' in any way, but it turned out to be SIXTY books, and I think ..."I did the same as you, and added anything that I either had already read and would suggest, or that I thought would be a good option from the books I hadn't read yet. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'm actively considering each and every one of those books, but I think it's good to have the options there. Even if I'm not considering it, someone else might.
Mod
The link to the book from the New York Times 100 notable books of any year:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
For this one, I think people should only add a few that they are actively considering for the prompt, rather than just anything on their TBR, because there are already listopias for each year (which are linked in the info).
In theory I'm considering reading anything on my TBR list, but yeah, I am going to have to narrow it down at some point, so maybe I should keep to the ones I'm most interested in getting to soon. I had no idea I had so many first in series books on my TBR, but it makes sense because a lot of them are kindle books that were free in hopes of getting readers hooked to buy the rest of the series.
Ellie wrote: "There's a handy tool for librarians that will find and remove duplicates from lists. I'm happy to go into the lists and run that when they're further along, rather than people looking for duplicate...A way to avoid duplicates is to not add from your shelves. The search way of adding just gives the default edition, so duplicates will just be extra votes.
"
Thank you! I have never added books to listopias and I was hesitant to start adding because I did not want to add duplicates. I'm glad to know how to do it using the search way.
Raquel wrote: "In theory I'm considering reading anything on my TBR list, but yeah, I am going to have to narrow it down at some point, so maybe I should keep to the ones I'm most interested in getting to soon. ..."
I’ve been trying to stick to a few series at a time, getting to the end of them before starting the next. Can’t say I’m doing well at it.
I’m finding it quite nice to have an overarching additional requirement for all the prompts. It makes it easier to narrow down choices, for sure.
The four horsemen and set in a place you wouldn’t want to live are two prompts that lend themselves to listopia that we don’t have yet. Does anyone want to create them?
We could also do the Southern Hemisphere and the one syllable author. Oh, and the published in prime number year. I’d say we ask people to try and keep that to books they are fairly set on reading or it would be an unending list, but it still gives ideas. And for the book read in a day, I’d suggest looking at books under 200 phs or so, maybe?
Thanks to everyone who adds the "reason" the books fit, especially for the "news story" and the "we didn't start the fire" lists. Makes it much easier.
I think for prime number, we leave out 2017? These lists aren’t as useful when they get super long. One syllable author also could get really long, and is easy enough to search for that a listopia seems unnecessary to me, but ymmv.
Or just ask people to generally stick to five suggestions?
I personally don't see the downside of having many suggestions on lists when it's for broader topics like first in a series, two-word title with the, etc. If I were looking for options for a prompt, I'd prefer to have a longer list so I can find a variety. I know not everyone is willing to skim through page after page, but wouldn't it be better to have the option to do so there for those who want it?I can understand for something like the prime number prompt that it can get excessive since literally any book from those years could be added, but especially for something like a title prompt, I find it really helpful to have a range of available options listed in one place. I love having these listopias because it shows me tons of options, and lets me see which of those are already marked as TBR for me.
For those of us who are not planning what to read as we compile the list, it's hard to narrow it down to only add the books we're thinking of to the list because we're just not there yet (or I'm not, at the very least). I guess those of us who haven't decided yet could wait and contribute later, but that seemed a bit against the idea of the lists to me. Maybe in future, if the concern is that the lists will be too long, it would be better to compile the lists closer to the end of the year, and ask people to only post the few options they are likely to pick?
I started one for the four horsemen (I'll add the links when I'm on my laptop).https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Rachel wrote: "I personally don't see the downside of having many suggestions on lists when it's for broader topics like first in a series, two-word title with the, etc. If I were looking for options for a prompt..."ITA. For my own personal list of what I'm thinking about reading, I need to keep it short so I don't get overwhelmed. But for a group list like this where members all have different tastes and requirements, and a lot of members don't have access to a large library, I think a long list is just fine. I only added books I actually want to read, but in some cases that was 40-50 books (in others, it was ... one book). This is a good time to have lots of choices.
For some of the prompts, like We Didn't Start the Fire, I added a lot of books that would fit, even if it's not a book I plan to read, to provide options for those who need ideas. For other prompts that have a ton of options, like the one word title, I will just add the books I'm most likely to actually read for the challenge.
Mod
There’s some prompts that I think a longer list would be helpful. In those cases, members can add books a little more freely and then just try to add a note for why it was added.
Looking at the current list, I would break it down like this:
Limit to read/recommend or plan to read:
- A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win (note prompt used)
- A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
- A book by an author whose last name is one syllable
- A book originally published in a year that is a prime number
- A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year
- A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers
Any book that fits:
- A book with an emotion in the title
- A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The"
- A book with an "-ing" word in the title
- A book related to the arts (eg. literature, performing arts, visual arts)
- A book related to time
- A book inspired by a leading news story
- A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (death, war/conquest, famine, plague/pestilence)
- A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan
- A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We didn't Start the Fire"
- A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live (dangerous, inhospitable, etc)
- A book set in a global city
- A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area
- A book set in the Southern Hemisphere
- A book with a neurodiverse character
- A book that can be read in a day
- The 20th book (eg. on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list) - Do not include books based on your own TBR since that’s personal and not applicable to everyone
- The first book in a series that you have not started
- Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites (e.g. hot/cold, top/bottom, high/low, etc.)
- A book featuring a nontraditional family
Do we have the "book you can read in a day" yet? I'd like to see that list. I'm thinking I'll read graphic novel but I'm interested in seeing other options.
Nadine wrote: "Do we have the "book you can read in a day" yet? I'd like to see that list. I'm thinking I'll read graphic novel but I'm interested in seeing other options."Awhile ago, I created this list of Contemporary Short Fiction for the prompt "a short book" for some challenge (maybe ATY 2018?). It's intended to be a list of books with 100-200 pages, but who knows what people have added to it, which is a problem with listopia lists.
dalex wrote: "... but who knows what people have added to it ..."Right, Listopia is great because you can see your own shelves, but of course everything has to be double checked, because you never know ...
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Thanks guys, I’ll update the first post as soon as I get home.
Emily wrote: "Here's the link for the rural area list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1..."These lists are awesome, Emily. It is so helpful in highlighting books that are buried in my TBR list (approaching 700 books) to use for prompts. While I don't mind researching to find books, having handy lists like these will be a great time saver. I don't see myself becoming someone who plans the whole year, the minute the ATY list is finalized, I am finding that having books designated for some prompts really helps with staggering library requests. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
Mod
Laura wrote: "I think it’s a good goal to stick to books that you’ve read and recommend or those that you reasonably plan on reading in the near future. There’s some prompts that I think a longer list would be..."
Thanks, Laura! I was thinking along the same lines for which prompts would make sense for more limited lists vs. "any book" lists.
These lists are so helpful, and will really make my process of choosing books so much easier.
Ellie wrote: "I've started one for a book set in the southern hemisphere."I'm not sure what countries in Africa and South America are in the southern hemisphere so I might've added some wrong books to the list. :/
dalex wrote: I'm not sure what countries in Africa and South America are in the southern hemisphere so I might've added some wrong boo..."
This is a pretty good map for Africa with hemisphere lines: https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/c...
Nigeria is in the northern hemisphere. If I spot any I know don't belong I'll delete them. The equator always seems a lot further south than I think it should be!
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Bless Me, Ultima (other topics)Wyrd Sisters (other topics)
The Shape of Water (other topics)
The Witches of Eastwick (other topics)
Vintage Murder (other topics)
More...
Emotion in the title
A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers
Books based on "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Neurodiverse characters
Two-word titles starting with "the"
A book with an “ing” word in the title
A book set in a global city
A book seet in a rural area
A book inspired by a leading news story
A book related to the Arts
A book related to time
The first book in a series
A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan
A book from the New York Times ‘100 Notable Books’ list for any year
A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
A book that can be read in a day
A book set in the southern hemisphere
A book featuring a nontraditional family
Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites
A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live
A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win
A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover
A book with a mode of transportation on the cover
A book with a major theme of survival
Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand Authors
Published in 2020
A classic
Historical fiction or history
Mystery
Underrated or Lesser Known Books or ATY Group Members Recommendations
A title without the letters A, T or Y
A place in the title
A book that was nominated for one of the 10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World
Related to Maximilian Hell
A book by an author your loved
The 20th Book
One syllable in author's last name
Published in a prime number year
Genre starting with a letter in your name
Author name you don't know how to pronounce
Something you were prompted to read
Silhouette on the cover
Related to witches
400-600 pages books
LGBTQIA+ characters or authors
A collaboration between 2 or more people
An author you've only read once
A fantasy book