Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2021] The Wild Discussion
I was thinking of a prompt about "forbidden fruit". It could be about loving the wrong person, wanting the unsuitable job, or jealousy. I was thinking, "a book were the main character goes after the forbidden fruit"
That does not sound right though.
Anastasia wrote: "I was thinking of a prompt about "forbidden fruit". It could be about loving the wrong person, wanting the unsuitable job, or jealousy..."A book about the pursuit of "forbidden fruit"? Or do you want it to be specifically a character prompt?
Hi Anastasia,I can see that your suggestion could lead to some interesting reads but the term “forbidden fruit” feels problematic. Maybe it’s just because I’m reading My Dark Vanessa at the moment but it does have rather sordid connotations to me.
Avery, I would definitely vote for the "You read what!?!" prompt again and I thought the wording was perfect the first time around.Anastasia, I like Ellie's suggested wording of the forbidden fruit prompt.
Not sure why the term "forbidden fruit" should be problematic though...? (Perhaps it's that non-native speaker thing again) Or is it simply because it makes you think specifically about the very uncomfortable theme of the book you're currently reading, Joyce?
I think for a lot of people the phrase ‘forbidden fruit’ has sexual connotations that could make it an uncomfortable prompt
Would a different idiom be better than "forbidden fruit"? Something that means the same thing but with less negatives attached.
How about "A book were the main character goes after something that is unobtainable"
I would struggle to come up with ideas for genuinely unobtainable things. I can only think of taboo and off-limits as idioms and I'm not sure they are direct translations.
These are mostly suggestions that can only be known by reading the book or knowing the plot in advance. So, I either have to spoil the book for myself or wait and plug in something I find that happens to fit after I have read it. That would be my objection to voting for this, no matter how you word it.
Totally lost track of this, but would like to suggest the random word generator prompt. Maybe word it like this, “a book inspired by one of (#) _____ words produced by the (URL goes here) random word generator”. Do we limit the number of words generated, or leave it up to the individual’s discretion?
Stacey wrote: "Totally lost track of this, but would like to suggest the random word generator prompt. Maybe word it like this, “a book inspired by one of (#) _____ words produced by the (URL goes here) random wo..."I think the phrasing of "inspired by A word..." allows the discretion to the individual to determine if they go with the first thing that comes up or if they spin the wheel a few times.
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Just read an article about an experiment where people were to flip a coin. If it came up heads, they got money ($5 or $10). For tails, they got nothing. Nobody was with them when they did it, they were just supposed to self-report. There was a hidden camera though. Some people who got tails honestly reported it. Some didn't even flip a coin, they just wrote down that they got heads. The third group, if they got tails, flipped again till they got heads and then wrote it down, so they felt like they didn't really cheat. I so much relate to the third group! And that is how I would do this kind of prompt, for what it's worth.
I would leave it open to number of tries, some people might just have bad luck, and no one wants anyone to be stuck with a terrible prompt.
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lol. I would be saying to myself (in my mother's voice) God is always watching. So, I would be in group one and hating it.
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I was looking at the list of all prompts that we have so far and I didn't see "related to ice" from the summer challenge winner.
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I would like to suggest a sibling-related prompt, but since “a theme of sibling rivalry” was bottom-voted, would something like “a book that focuses on a sibling relationship” be ineligible? Also, do you think people would be interested in considering it?
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I'm not sure it's always clear that is what a book is about until you get into it.
Robin P wrote: "Kristina wrote: "I would like to suggest a sibling-related prompt, but since “a theme of sibling rivalry” was bottom-voted, would something like “a book that focuses on a sibling relationship” be i..."That's when it becomes very important that others write in the comments why they vote for a book in the Listopia
I also have an idea that would rely on other's input in Listopia. Female characters in jobs usually held by men. I am reading Things You Save in a Fire right now and the female lead is a Firefighter.
Robin P wrote: "Kristina wrote: I would like to suggest a sibling-related prompt, but since “a theme of sibling rivalry” was bottom-voted, would something like “a book that focuses on a sibling relationship” be ineligible? Also, ..."I'm not sure it's always clear that is what a book is about until you get into it. "
Hmmm I'm thinking more of books that feature siblings as the main characters, which usually you can see that just from the synopsis.
Such as: A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall or Cobalt Blue
Maybe better wording would be "A book that features siblings as the main characters"
Stacey wrote: "Totally lost track of this, but would like to suggest the random word generator prompt. Maybe word it like this, “a book inspired by one of (#) _____ words produced by the (URL goes here) random wo..."
we decided to go with A book related to a word given by randomwordgenerator.com but i wasn't awake during the last suggestion round so i couldn't nominate it, sorry! i'm happy if you want to suggest it during the next round though. i don't know if i'll make it again but i really love to see it put forward
and here's the example if you do nominate it :)
for example, my 'spin' got: key, brainstorm, patience, vote, stick, ice, strict, lost, provoke, and action.
you could read a book with a key, stick or ice on the cover for people who like cover or title prompts. you could read a book with strict parents, set in a cult or maybe a strict dystopian world for 'strict'. you could read a book about election or politics for 'vote' or a heist for 'key'. you could read a mystery with a missing person/disappearance element for 'lost' etc etc
we decided to go with A book related to a word given by randomwordgenerator.com but i wasn't awake during the last suggestion round so i couldn't nominate it, sorry! i'm happy if you want to suggest it during the next round though. i don't know if i'll make it again but i really love to see it put forward
and here's the example if you do nominate it :)
for example, my 'spin' got: key, brainstorm, patience, vote, stick, ice, strict, lost, provoke, and action.
you could read a book with a key, stick or ice on the cover for people who like cover or title prompts. you could read a book with strict parents, set in a cult or maybe a strict dystopian world for 'strict'. you could read a book about election or politics for 'vote' or a heist for 'key'. you could read a mystery with a missing person/disappearance element for 'lost' etc etc
Kristina wrote: "I would like to suggest a sibling-related prompt, but since “a theme of sibling rivalry” was bottom-voted, would something like “a book that focuses on a sibling relationship” be ineligible? Also, ..."I downvoted sibling rivalry but would be fine with another sibling related prompt, it was more the rivalry I didn't like.
I like the idea of siblings as main characters. We haven't had anything like that before, and I think there would be tons of options.
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I've been debating in my head between "main character" and "sibling relationship", but I think I want to stick with "A book that features siblings as the main characters" for the perspective, though the theme/focus of the book doesn't necessarily have to be about their relationship. I would say that if the family drama features the siblings as prominent characters then that could still count even if their relationship itself isn't the focus of the story.
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annie wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Totally lost track of this, but would like to suggest the random word generator prompt. Maybe word it like this, “a book inspired by one of (#) _____ words produced by the (URL goes ..."Thanks for wordsmithing, Annie. I'll add it to today's suggestions thread for our latest poll. Sweet dreams.
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Emily wrote: "Stacey, did you mean to put this in the suggestions thread?"Ugh. Yes. Just realized I posted in the wrong place. I'm useless at this!
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Ugh. Yes. Just realized I posted in the wrong place. I'm useless at this!"
Not at all, it can be confusing. I still don't understand totally the current readathon game and all the threads for it (and I literally have 3 college degrees!)
thank you so much for suggesting the prompt stacey! hopefully it's well-received *fingers crossed*
i'm thinking of doing a general BIO for the whole challenge next year where i can only count a book towards the prompt if i enjoyed it (like it was a four or five star read). if it's not, i have to try again with something else! i just think it might be a good way of tackling my physical tbr and keeping me engaged for the whole year. i read way more than 52 books in a year personally, so i tend to complete the challenge in the opening few months otherwise.
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oh don't worry, i'm definitely planning ahead of time! i have two spreadsheets dedicated to my plans haha. i am definitely like you where i have (embarrasingly long) lists of books that fit each prompt. my plan is if the book i have chosen for the prompt ends up being something i didn't enjoy, i'll circle back at the end and try something else from my pre-challenge idea sheet. i'd love to have a list at the end made of only books i loved and would recommend
That’s a fun idea Annie. I might retrofit my list this year. I’m sure I ended up picking 3 star books for some prompts and have since read a book that would work that I liked a lot more. I’m even mulling the logistics of putting every book I read next year against every prompt it would work for and then towards the end of the year somehow untangling it all so I only had the best books counting. I suspect this would be a nightmare though (especially if I want to have a separate book for each prompt) so I’m also trying to talk myself out of it.
Serendipity wrote: "I’m sure I ended up picking 3 star books for some prompts and have since read a book that would work that I liked a lot more.."
that's kind of what prompted me to try this next year! it's been a pretty shitty year overall so i thought it'd be nice to focus on the positives next year and boost the books i adored.
i am a bit of an over-organiser and actually have a spread on my spreadsheet where i keep track of what prompts each book covers! so on the y axis i have all the prompts listed out and on the x axis i write in the book i just finish so i can see what corresponds
here's my spreadsheet set up ready for next year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
so it should be easy for me but i can see why you would shy away from the amount of work it'll take to retroactively figure it all out!!
i'm also planning on only doing it for specific prompt so if i read week one's book and it's a two star read, i'll just immediately pick something else that'll fit and try again. so it doesn't getting too confusing? if that makes sense haha
that's kind of what prompted me to try this next year! it's been a pretty shitty year overall so i thought it'd be nice to focus on the positives next year and boost the books i adored.
i am a bit of an over-organiser and actually have a spread on my spreadsheet where i keep track of what prompts each book covers! so on the y axis i have all the prompts listed out and on the x axis i write in the book i just finish so i can see what corresponds
here's my spreadsheet set up ready for next year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
so it should be easy for me but i can see why you would shy away from the amount of work it'll take to retroactively figure it all out!!
i'm also planning on only doing it for specific prompt so if i read week one's book and it's a two star read, i'll just immediately pick something else that'll fit and try again. so it doesn't getting too confusing? if that makes sense haha
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annie wrote: "a spread on my spreadsheet where i keep track of what prompts each book covers! so on the y axis i have all the prompts listed out and on the x axis i write in the book i just finish so i can see what corresponds..."that's funny because I have the same thing, but the books are in a column and the categories go across the top. Transposing it just feels so wrong, like scraping a fork on aluminum foil haha
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I'm thinking my plan for next year will be to read what I want and then retro-fit the books I read into whatever prompts they work for. I've read a lot this year, even with a lot of months of no reading at all, but I think I got stuck trying to force myself through things that I wasn't feeling like reading at the time. I think I'll give myself permission to pick up whatever catches my eye and if it fits, it fits.
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I love that idea, Annie. That's really cool.I'm trying to figure out what to do for my challenge next year. This year, I'm only reading books that are 450+ pages for the challenge. It's been to try to encourage me to read those longer books I tend to pass over. I don't think it's working so well. I've only read 19/52 books for the year. This may be my first year of not completing the challenge. But I don't know how much that is because of the long books or because 2020 and working from home totally derailed my regular reading habits.
Last year, I read diversely for the challenge, focusing on racial, sexual, gender identity, socioeconomic, religious & ability diversity. I loved it and finished the challenge in April. For next year, I'm leaning toward using only books by women of color.
Random Sunday morning prompt idea coming up, because I just saw a book called The Haunting of H. G. Wells in my news feed: How is everyone feeling aboutA book of fiction involving a real person or a non-fiction involving a fictitious person or persona?
I know the "real person" prompt has been done before but I quite enjoy books featuring real people and thought that this may be a fun way to tweak it a little and make it into something more original. For the non-fiction part I'm thinking books about famous characters like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, books on people operating under an alias or who were never identified (Jack the Ripper, anyone?), possibly anything mythological (we can work on the wording "fictitious" if that feels offensive when applied to mythology) ... and I'm sure dalex would be able to think of some more ways to make it work^^
Conny wrote: "... and I'm sure dalex would be able to think of some more ways to make it work^^ ."O dear, do I have a reputation? Haha! I’m not very familiar with non-fiction so I don’t have any immediate input but let me think on it for a bit.
I really love this prompt idea, especially the way you made it include both fiction and nonfiction!
By the way, the correct terminology (if you want to use it) is
biographical fiction - fiction about real people
or
roman à clef - novel in which real people are depicted under fictitious names.
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I agree with the first wording too; so I suppose next week might be a good week to resubmit if anyone wants to use their suggestion on it! I’m happy to suggest it if I get to the poll in time!