Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2021] The Wild Discussion
I am currently reading The Only Plane in the Sky and it has me thinking. 2021 is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. What about a book (nonfiction or fiction) where the events of 9/11 play a part.
Great idea, Jill. I like things that tie specifically into the year, and that would be an important anniversary for most of us. I think there is a wide-enough variety of books now that it would not be difficult to fill the prompt with either fiction or non-fiction.
I enjoy horror novels :) My favorite author is Stephen King (who does not only write horror, of course, but also gave us beautiful works about what it means to be human, like The Green Mile or Rita Hayworth and the Hawshank Redemption), so here is a spontaneous brainstorm about horror-related prompts that may also appeal to people who do not like the genre:As previously suggested, "A book with an element of fear" is a pretty good one because it doesn't necessarily mean horror/thriller. It could involve fearing for a loved one (perhaps they have gone to war or on an adventure), fear of failure, teenage angst, stuff like that. Although perhaps that would defy the purpose of making it a horror prompt... Friday night brain does not compute :D
Other ideas:
"A book with a supernatural element"
"A book featuring a ghost, vengeful spirit, or lost soul"
"A book featuring a threat of any kind"
"A boom with the classic theme of good vs. evil"
"A book featuring a monster" (could be literal, metaphorical, human, or otherwise)
"A book with a theme of overcoming fear or guilt" (which is at the heart of most horror fiction)
"A book with a sinister character"
Wouikd you consider any of these worth refining?
I love horror too and would love a prompt that includes it. Of the ones you'd listed, I'd lean toward these:"A book with an element of fear"
"A book with the classic theme of good vs. evil"
I'd stay away from something like "a book that scares you" because I couldn't tell you the last time I got scared by a book, even when I've tried! But phrasing it as "an element of fear" could be taken many ways.
I do like the idea of featuring a ghost, et al, or featuring a monster, but those do narrow it down some. Fear or good vs evil makes it broader while not losing the spirit (no pun intended) of the prompt.
As for a 9/11 book, that was part of my large-scale tragedy or disaster prompt that didn't make it last round. I personally don't love books about 9/11, I feel too many have used it as a plot device, and for a really long time I had a hard time reading about it at all (I grew up 10 miles from NYC).
Mod
I love all of those, but this one stuck out to me in particular:
"A book featuring a ghost, vengeful spirit, or lost soul"
It just seems so different from other prompts I've done in the past. The lost soul part could easily be taken in a more metaphorical direction for those who don't like spooky stuff.
The Read Harder challenge this year did a horror book published by an indie press. I read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I probably wouldn’t have read this book if not for this prompt.
Sara wrote: "Great idea, Jill. I like things that tie specifically into the year, and that would be an important anniversary for most of us. I think there is a wide-enough variety of books now that it would not..."There is quite a wide variety of books. Some that only mention 9/11 in passing to others that focus on that day.
Just from the books I have read or are on my TBR;
Fiction:
28 Summers
A Fall of Marigolds
Hope and Other Punchlines (YA)
The Submission
Nonfiction
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
Middletown, America: One Town's Passage from Trauma To Hope
Conny - Gosh I like a lot of those ideas.I agree the ghost idea is fun/different. That one doesn't always have to be spooky either, A Christmas Carol and Hamlet both come to mind! You could also read some non-fiction about the spiritualist movement or a place that is supposedly haunted.
"Lost soul" also could apply to someone currently living which probably misses the intent of the prompt but a work around or KIS for someone who doesn't want to read anything with a supernatural element.
I also really like the "element of fear" and "sinister character" one too. "A book featuring a monster" might be too close to a prompt from last year which I think was "a book with a monstrous character" if I remember right. I wouldn't mind doing it again since it's a slightly different angle, but I know some people don't like to do similar prompts over.
Didn’t we have a ghost prompt in a previous year? Maybe 2018?
dalex wrote: "Didn’t we have a ghost prompt in a previous year? Maybe 2018?"I think it was in the Popsugar challenge last year?
PopSugar had "A ghost story" last year, yes.
dalex you are correct, ATY 2018 44. A ghost storyIt was one of those prompts I was not looking forward to and ended up loving the book I read.
These are previous horror(ish) prompts -2019
A book with a monster or "monstrous" character
2018
A ghost story
2017
A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold)
2016
A book about a thing that goes bump in the night
Ah ok 2019 was the first year I participated so I wasn't aware of the ghost story one. I still like the prompt Conny suggested as something different since ghost story to me = campfire story but I am betting a lot of people might have read a book with a ghost in it.
That is why I included the "lost soul, " because as Jackie said it provides a way out for people who really do not want to read "proper" ghost stories.I did not participate last year, so wasn't aware there was a ghost prompt already. I only remember one ghost-related prompt in my five years of taking reading challenges and that was for Popsugar a few years back, I believe.
I agree that last year's "monstrous character" is too similar to the monster wording, so let's strike that.
Nancy, I had the same problem with "A book that scares you", I read a book which I was sure would scare the heck out of me but it only ended up being mildly thrilling. There are to this day only three books that I remember as being truly scary, as in, I switched off the lights after reading and felt a bit uncomfortable in the dark.
So I take it that the element of fear (credit for which goes to somebody else further up this thread), ghost/vengeful spirit/lost soul, and good vs. evil are the ones that might merit a closer look? I'll sleep on that^^
I like the ghost/vengeful spirit/ lost soul and the good vs. evil. I've been in the group since 2015 and don't mind repeats if they're a couple years apart.
Mod
Two fiction books I can think of are The Emperor's Children and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I didn't think the first book was very good overall (lots of self-centered characters) but I thought it described what the day was like emotionally quite well. I think just having it about that event is a bit restrictive though. I would like to read The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. I was supposed to be seeing the musical Come from Away (based on that book) this month, but of course that's not happening. I feel like it's a positive side to the events.
I really like the "element of fear" wording because there are so many directions to take that. I also love the idea of a book with supernatural elements, featuring ghosts/monsters/witches etc In terms of non-fiction, I think the majority of the prompts on the list can easily accommodate non-fiction, so I don't see the need for a specific prompt requiring one. I'm actually much more likely to pick up a non-fiction book in general (even though I rarely care to) if I don't feel forced into it. I really like Amy's suggestion though of using a graphic novel option for non-fiction, since it's not something I would have thought of on my own for a non-fiction prompt, even though I've read several graphic memoirs.
As a sidenote, I really hope the "second chance" prompt gets resubmitted at some point! I was hoping it would in the current round, but unfortunately it didn't. I would have suggested it myself, but I completely missed the entire process this time.
Sorry to double-post, but I thought I'd share this (although I don't know if it's of any interest to anyone else).I have a Word document on my computer with the rejects prompts from each year. I'm sure Excel would be better, but I'm terrible with spreadsheets. Anyway, I just finished adding the rejects prompts from the past few years and I'm noticing a bit of a trend:
2016 - 185 prompts
2017 - 178 prompts + 40 that were resubmitted again in polls specifically for resubmissions, so that's 218 total
2018 - 224 prompts
2019 - 192 prompts (this year seems to a bit of an outlier)
2020 - 272 prompts
Keep in mind that my list does not eliminate prompts that were duplicated, and multi-weeks are counted as 1. I just found it kind of interesting that, except for 2019 for some reason, we've had progressively more rejects prompts (and therefore more suggestions overall!) each year.
Robin P wrote: "Jill wrote: "Sara wrote: "Great idea, Jill. I like things that tie specifically into the year, and that would be an important anniversary for most of us. I think there is a wide-enough variety of b..."I’ve been wanting to read the Gander book ever since I drove through it a couple of years ago and visited their 9/11 museum. It’s a very uplifting story during a very dark time. The book has definitely become more popular since the musical.
I looked into 9/11 for the disaster prompt and found a few interesting fiction choices. I live in the UK and was 8 so I remember it happening but at the time didn't really understand the devastating impact it had and what it would lead to. https://offtheshelf.com/2017/09/11-no...
Last week I read False Impression by Jeffrey Archer. It's an art heist book that starts on 9/10 and it is important to the story. Last year I read My Year of Rest and Relaxation which starts in New York at the end of 2000 and mentions 9/11 towards the end.
Kat wrote: "I looked into 9/11 for the disaster prompt and found a few interesting fiction choices. I live in the UK and was 8 so I remember it happening but at the time didn't really understand the devastatin..."I would recommend The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 as well.
Rachel wrote: "Sorry to double-post, but I thought I'd share this (although I don't know if it's of any interest to anyone else).I have a Word document on my computer with the rejects prompts from each year. I'..."
I wonder if this means that there is less agreement as the community grows and therefore needs to be more rounds to fill all 52 slots.
When you look at 2016, almost 1 in 3 suggestions are chosen. Compared to some our polls with 15 options and only 1 getting in.
I like the idea of a book with an element of fear prompt. I’ve just finished War and Peace , and I know some people would fear a boom of this size. For some reason I’ve always felt intimidated by The Milkman by Anna Burns . Not sure why but I’ve heard it can be tricky to comprehend. So I would probably go in that direction.I can see why a book connected with 9/11 could be triggering for some people. I downvoted the natural disasters prompt because the past decade of my life has been dominated by a series of major earthquakes, and then battles with insurance companies re payouts for said earthquakes etc. I know I could choose another type of diasaster but I just preferred not to go there.
If you want to suggest something similar to something done in past years, go for it. If people are against repeats they can downvote, and the majority can decide in the poll.For the horror ideas I like element of fear best because I don't tend to pick up horror with the classic tropes of the genre. I like weird unsettling things! Good Vs evil seems more of a fantasy thing but I like ghost/spirit/lost soul one too.
We always struggle with non-fiction prompts, hence why we end up with prompts related to real events/people. I relate with whoever said they can never fit in the non-fic they personally want to read. That happens to me too.
Conny, I love "A book featuring a ghost, vengeful spirit, or lost soul" because you could look at it as a genre prompt or a character prompt depending on how you interpret it. I'm always trying to read more horror, but the more I think about it, the more non-horror books with ghosts come to mind! Like A Christmas Carol, The Graveyard Book, the Harry Potter books, Beloved, The Woman Warrior, The Lovely Bones, and even Hamlet. And that's not even getting into all the "lost soul" books! I love all of these "fear" related prompts!
Jill wrote: "Sara wrote: "Great idea, Jill. I like things that tie specifically into the year, and that would be an important anniversary for most of us. I think there is a wide-enough variety of books now that..."My only concern about this is for people who don't want to read about 9/11 due to trauma (or any reason really), it would be pretty difficult to know which books are going to just mention it in passing. Listopias are helpful, but my favorite prompts are the ones where I can print out a list and then do a scavenger hunt with the books I already own to see which books would fit which prompt. I tend to have more trouble with prompts where you don't know if a book will fit until you finish it. (Like Popsugar's "A book that passes the Bechdel test"; unless I specifically ask people if a book passes, I have no way of knowing until I finish the book, especially since a lot of people can't remember if a book passed or not since all you need is a very brief dialogue).
Could we make a more general prompt such as a book read in memory of 9/11? Then it is up to each person if they read about it directly or you could read a book set in New York or about first responders.
Mod
I have a Word document on my computer with the rejects prompts from each year. I'..."
I wonder if the reason it is taking a while to get prompts agreed on as opposed to earlier years is that many people were around for several years and don't want repeats. As a new person this year, it's not an issue for me.
Somewhat related to the 9/11 prompt, what about "a book about a major event that happened since the year 2000"? Not sure if that is too broad, who would define "major" event? There could also just be "a book that takes place in the 21st century", which is really broad but not something I've seen before.
What about “a book about 9/11 or terrorism”?
I like the sound of the 'a major event that happened since 2000', I don't tend to read about modern major events, so a prompt like that would push me to do so, and take me out of my usual reading habits, which is what I'm looking for in the list now, something to challenge me.
I would love some horror related prompt unless it would be phrased like "A book that scares you", because I don't scared by books, I read horrors for cool atmosphere and imagery. The only things that scare me somehow are creepypastas and videos, but movies and books proper don't have that effect. 9/11 seems limiting to me, but I guess I'd finally read The Mirage for that.
I’m not interested in a 911 book but the wording “other terrorism” opens up possibilities to include the SLA and the Party Hearst kidnapping, the IRA, etc. If it’s not limited to non-fiction, then books like American Pastoral by Philip Roth, The Rotters Club by Jonathan Coe, and The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad could work.
It could be worded as a book about something that scares you. So murder, illness, pandemic, death of a loved one, etc. Edited because I accidentally hit the post button on my iPad before I was done!
In regard to: "a book about a major event that happened since the year 2000," if it were worded "a book related to a major event that happened since the year 2000", it could include fiction.
About doesn't exclude fiction, there are plenty of novels that feature real events. I just read a alt-history fantasy that was still about the French Revolution in a roundabout way.
Mod
Robin P wrote: "My idea was to include fiction. I would say that the 2 novels I mentioned above are “about 9/11” but I am fine with changing the wording."As long as fiction is included, the wording is fine.
Robin P wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Sorry to double-post, but I thought I'd share this (although I don't know if it's of any interest to anyone else).I have a Word document on my computer with the rejects prompts fro..."
I was wondering about that too. Last year in particular, I seem to remember quite a few polls where we complained we were only getting 1 or 2 results at a time. It all works out in the end of course, but it does mean more polls overall and therefore more rejected prompts in total.
I suspect part of the reason is because for people who have been participating for years, it's harder to think of prompts that haven't been done before, or might just have a good idea of what we like/dislike, which could affect the way we vote. Maybe we voted for a genre in the past, now know we don't like it, and wouldn't vote for it again, just as one example.
The process has changed quite a lot over the years, that must have had an impact. To start with, it seemed like a mad rush of suggestions, with no seconding needed we'd have 20 prompts in no time. Then on to voting, with no discussion beforehand, no working out how a prompt could be interpreted or re-worded before the early votes had been cast.
Maybe having less of a filter to weed out bad prompts before the vote, combined with not being able to upvote everything you like because you only had four upvotes, made it more likely there'd be a consensus?
Marie wrote: "The process has changed quite a lot over the years, that must have had an impact. To start with, it seemed like a mad rush of suggestions, with no seconding needed we'd have 20 prompts in no time..."
Maybe. I would have thought with 20 suggestions per poll, there would have been more rejects total. Even if we assumed we got a full Top 4 every single time, from a list of 20 that would leave 16 rejects, compared to only 11 from a list of 15.
If anything, I'd say there's less consensus over the years based on the number of rejected prompts going up each time. Maybe as a group, we're getting a little pickier/more selective. I definitely love the changes to allow more discussion of prompts, since it sometimes helps me figure out an interpretation I might never have thought of on my own.
Either way, I have no idea what the trend really means, nor is it probably important for anything. I just thought it was interesting. Seeing the list of all the old prompts kind of reignited my interest in (somehow, at some point) doing a full rejects challenge, but that's definitely a long-term process and not feasible while I'm doing other challenges.
I really like a book related to 9/11. There are firefighter romance novels, non fiction, and any book with terrorism. It really could fit a wide variety of tastes.
Mod
I am still thinking about a more general one, since we will be in the 21st year of the 21st century - "a book related to a major event of the 21st century"
Examples - 9/11, Me Too Movement, Black Lives Matter Movement, political issues or elections in any country, economic issues, but also rise of smartphones, online shopping, online dating. The latter could be good for someone who doesn't want to read about heavier topics. Any of them could be fiction or nonfiction, essays, poetry, etc. KIS option would be relating to a major event in your own life, such as moving, having a child, a new career, etc.
I'm going to resubmit my "a book with a non-binary/trans/+ author or character". This is my first year with voting. Emily mentioned it was VERY close all. As for strategy, if there is any such thing, should I submit it in this next round (aka tomorrow)? Or wait for a couple more rounds?
My original suggestion was this: a book (nonfiction or fiction) where the events of 9/11 play a part.
I understand if 9/11 might be a trigger but I think expanding it to a major event makes it too broad. What about including terrorism as Dalex suggested.
A book (nonfiction or fiction) where the events of 9/11 or terrorism play a part.
I’m not sure if that is any better just trying to narrow the focus a bit.
Alicia wrote: "I'm going to resubmit my "a book with a non-binary/trans/+ author or character". This is my first year with voting. Emily mentioned it was VERY close all. As for strategy, if there is any such th..."
It is really hard to say. Sometimes it is helpful to wait a round or two but sometimes it works if it is the next poll. Mainly, I think it has to do with what the other prompts are in a poll. If I had one more up vote last poll it would have been for this prompt. There were just a ton that I really did not like on the last poll so I spent most of my votes on down votes.
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I’m still trying to decide if I should resubmit my lesser known literary prize prompt. I think I submitted and resubmitted too soon in the process, and don’t want to do the same with its last chance. It’s always an interesting issue strategy wise . Submit again too early and there still won’t be the appetite for list or prize prompts. Leave it too late and some others may get voted in and then there will be no appetite for more of that type of prompt.
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Quite possibly, but not necessarily the non-fiction that I want to read 😅 I was just thinking it would be nice to have a category where I could slot in any history book I want, since I have so many on my shelf.