Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2021] The Wild Discussion
what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction. I added the *or* to include books that are not exclusively written in letters and non-fiction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistol...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
I agree with Steve that Conny's wording allows for more than "biographical fiction" would. You might include The Water Dancer, in which Harriett Tubman makes a brief appearance but is in no way a biographical fiction.
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Conny wrote: "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..."
Conny, I really like this one! Time travel books where the travelers interact with real people from the past is what I first thought of, along with historical fiction about royalty, but I'd be interested to look around for a non-fiction about a fictional persona (like a famous cartoon character, or a superhero) - those would be fun to find!
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There are a number of recent books that are written in emails/interoffice communications/texts.
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A book of fic..."
The Secret History of Wonder Woman is an example of a non-fiction about a cartoon character.
Nicole wrote: "what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction...."I'd vote for it.
Nicole wrote: "what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction...."I think this makes a good prompt and there are a lot of books of varying types and genres that fit this. Though I've been annoyed recently because although I theoretically enjoy books like this and have certainly enjoyed some in the past, I haven't enjoyed any of the ones I've read recently! I think it's kind of a tricky style to do well. But I'd still vote for it - I still have some options on my TBR that I want to give a try.
Yes! The Wonder Woman one is on my TBR list so I would totally vote for it. I also read a lot of historical fiction with real people as characters, usually side characters. Some recent examples are The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Eleanor Roosevelt makes an appearance) or What the Wind Knows (Michael Collins).
Conny wrote: "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..."
I read a lot of stuff like this anyway, so it would be an easy upvote for me.
Nancy wrote: "I also read a lot of historical fiction with real people as characters, usually side characters. Some recent examples are The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Eleanor Roosevelt makes an appearance)...”Actually it’s a roman à clef, based on the Blue Fugates
Nicole wrote: "what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction...."I like the suggestion, and would vote for it. I agree with Emily’s suggestion about removing fiction or nonfiction, but it still feels super wordy to me. If you are open to it, how about simplifying it to:
A book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, etc.)
Conny wrote: "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..."
I love this suggestion too. I think I prefer your wording of just being super simple saying fiction involving a real person or nonfiction involving a fictitious person. The other terms brought up seem more limiting to me, and also don’t seem as related to each other when in the same prompt.
I would vote for it Conny as you wrote it. If you begin to use the other terms, I might not. I agree they limit and confuse. And, for people who do not follow the thread, I think they might be a turn off because they might not fully understand what they mean. I know what it is, but I always feel it is pretentious to use bildungsroman instead just saying "coming of age". Hey, all us little people know what that is.
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Emily wrote: "Nicole, I really love epistolary novels, so I'm all about that prompt. I would take off the "fiction or nonfiction" because it's not really necessary. But I would vote for that one."You are right, the fiction or nonfiction is not really necessary.
Avery, I originally wanted it to be just "an epistolary novel", but I thought this would exclude a lot of letter compilations like Jane Austen's Letters and similar ones.
But yeah, it is quite long.
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dalex wrote: "Actually it’s a roman à clef,"Sure. But I can guarantee if that's in the prompt it will not get votes, a la nom de plume, as others said. And my two examples may be considered that type of novel, but not all fiction with real historical characters is.
Connie I love that prompt! I would definitely pick it. I’m one of the people that had to google epistolary novel. Instead of the “or” can you just have the second portion which is the definition?
Nicole wrote: "what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction...."I agree that Conny's original phrasing is better. I would vote for it like that, but I wouldnt vote for 'biographical fiction' because I feel like that would eliminate things like Stoker's Wilde and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Yes, you are all right. I think Avery's wording -A book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, etc.)- is the most on the point. If I don't miss the suggestion thread because of time differences, I'll suggest it on Wednesday.
Better yet, if you wanted to keep "epistolary novel" in the prompt, it could be in the parentheses part. A book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, epistolary novels, etc.)
Nicole wrote: "what does everyone think about Read a epistolary novel or a book that is mostly written as a series of documents (letters, emails, blogs, newspaper clippings, diary entries) fiction or non-fiction...."
love books like this! i tried to suggest 'a book with a multimedia element' in an earlier round and it didn't get through. i think adding the wording to make it clearer what 'multimedia' actually means is so much better.
love books like this! i tried to suggest 'a book with a multimedia element' in an earlier round and it didn't get through. i think adding the wording to make it clearer what 'multimedia' actually means is so much better.
Robin P wrote: "I like the idea of counting your higher rated books, but for me 3 star books are fine, they just don't stand out. Or maybe they just aren't my type. If I wanted to be sure to have more 4 star books..."
i think of three stars as a positive rating generally but i'm thinking of only counting four or five stars next year. i'm not sure yet. i definitely don't read a lot of 5 stars in a year but i can usually read 250-300 books a year so i should be able to get 52 four star books pretty easily. i know what you mean about it unintentionally limiting what i read next year. usually i like this aty challenge for stretching me out of my comfort zone but i really just want to chill next year and read stuff i love, even if it means i read less widely. (with that being said, i'm a pretty eclectic reader and apart from adult literary fic & classics which i read rarely, i'll read basically anything).
i think of three stars as a positive rating generally but i'm thinking of only counting four or five stars next year. i'm not sure yet. i definitely don't read a lot of 5 stars in a year but i can usually read 250-300 books a year so i should be able to get 52 four star books pretty easily. i know what you mean about it unintentionally limiting what i read next year. usually i like this aty challenge for stretching me out of my comfort zone but i really just want to chill next year and read stuff i love, even if it means i read less widely. (with that being said, i'm a pretty eclectic reader and apart from adult literary fic & classics which i read rarely, i'll read basically anything).
Nadine wrote: "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 ..."
this made me laugh! i just find it so hard to tilt my head and read the prompts if it's switch around hhaa
this made me laugh! i just find it so hard to tilt my head and read the prompts if it's switch around hhaa
Katie wrote: "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 t..."
thanks katie! wow, only over 450 pages? that's such a challenge! i don't think i'd be able to to do very easily. i think a lot of people are struggling this year! you're definitely not the only one. it's why i want to focus on the positives next year.
i looooove the idea of focusing on reading from women of colour! i'd love to have a focus on #ownvoices authors or reading from maginalised authors in general. hmm, i might have to think on that.... thanks for the idea.
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 t..."
thanks katie! wow, only over 450 pages? that's such a challenge! i don't think i'd be able to to do very easily. i think a lot of people are struggling this year! you're definitely not the only one. it's why i want to focus on the positives next year.
i looooove the idea of focusing on reading from women of colour! i'd love to have a focus on #ownvoices authors or reading from maginalised authors in general. hmm, i might have to think on that.... thanks for the idea.
annie wrote: "love books like this! i tried to suggest 'a book with a multimedia element' in an earlier round and it didn't get through. i think adding the wording to make it clearer what 'multimedia' actually means is so much better. ..."I guess I was confused by "multimedia element" when you suggested it because I thought you meant a book with photos, attached pdf's, inserts, a song list, etc. "Multimedia" to me means more than one medium, so writing with painting or photos or song or a collage. Like, stuff that's not physically part of the book but you need to read/experience/listen to. The only book I could think of was S.
annie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "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...this made me laugh! i just find it so hard to tilt my head and read the prompts if it's switch around hhaa "
True! I angle the headings by 45 degrees, so it's not TOO bad. But mostly I just end up memorizing the categories so I don't need to read them closely.
Everyone, thank you for your input on my real person fiction/fictitious person non-fiction prompt!I am indeed familiar with the terms "biographical fiction" and "roman à clef", but as most of you have already correctly assumed, I wanted to keep it open to the possibilities that already came up in discussion (a real person appearing as a side character in a novel or making a cameo appearance (e. g. Agatha Christie in The House at Riverton), fictionalized accounts of the adventures of real persons such as The Interpretation of Murder or The Woman on the Orient Express). Biographical fiction would be too limiting for what I had in mind. Also, if I remember correctly, a roman à clef disguises real people behind a veil of fiction by giving them other names/identities, for example, which is where the term actually stems from (because you need a key = clef to decode it), so it's also not quite what I had in mind but could certainly be included!
The Secret History of Wonder Woman is a perfect example of the other side of the prompt.
So I will see if the next round of suggestions is compatible with my time zone and suggest the prompt as I originally worded it :) If I'm unable to make it (I'll let you know), feel free to suggest it for me :)
Nadine wrote: "annie wrote: "love books like this! i tried to suggest 'a book with a multimedia element' in an earlier round and it didn't get through. i think adding the wording to make it clearer what 'multimed..."I agree, multimedia sounded like it came with a CD-Rom or something like that. Epistolary or told through documents is very different to me.
I liked the 2020 category of "A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win." Since this is my first year with ATY, is this a category that is on the list every year? If not I think that would be a fun option. It gives you multiple options and if there was one you were looking forward to but it didn't "win" you can still do it.
I was wondering that too. We also don't have any author name prompts, do people wait until later polls to start submitting those?
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You're best bet to get something like that in is to suggest it when we are closer to the end of the polls so everyone has an idea of what prompts they will have to work with.
Nancy wrote: "We also don't have any author name prompts, do people wait until later polls to start submitting those?"Actually, there are six prompts related to authors -
A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u"
A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author
A book with a Muslim character or author
A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read
Only two of those are specifically about the author's name, though.
Actually, yes, I did say author's name. I know we have prompts related to author.I did forget about the ATY and u prompt though. I guess I was thinking more about prompts like the ones related to author origin or number of syllables in the name.
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I am hoping to see both the epistolary prompt (I also votad for multimedia!) and the "suggestion that didn't make the list". I'll suggest that one myself near the end of the polls if nobody else does ^^
Am I correct that as of now, before the Poll 14 results are announced, we have 32 prompts?
I was thinking about a book with a cast of characters listed at the beginning.A couple of my recent books had them, both fiction and nonfiction, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women and The Travelers.
Yes, it was 32. But now we have these 3 plus 1 from the read a thon winner. So we’ll be at 36. 16 more to go!!
@Jill, would there be an easy way for people to find that if they don’t have the physical books in hand?
Alicia wrote: "@Jill, would there be an easy way for people to find that if they don’t have the physical books in hand?"That is the sticking point. I haven’t found one yet.
I like the idea of the characters listed at the beginning. I have read a few of these lately, such as Miracle Creek and the My Brilliant Friend series. It would be difficult to know beforehand if you don't own the book but I'm sure the group would be able to put a good Listopia together.
Alicia wrote: "@Jill, would there be an easy way for people to find that if they don’t have the physical books in hand?"A lot of books on Goodreads have a preview option that may help, though it only works when I’m on my computer. You can also preview the beginning of books on Amazon, which usually shows table of context and things like that before the text.
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Jill would you be willing to make it a list of characters or a family tree?
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O dear, do I have a reputation? Haha! I’m not very familiar with non-fiction so I don’t have any ..."
I think that "biographical fiction" might be more limiting than the prompt Conny has in mind (if I'm interpreting correctly). Biographical fiction places the real person as the main character but my reading of "involving..." means that they could be a secondary one. Like Rodham would be "biographical fiction" in my mind, but Lincoln in the Bardo would be borderline since he's not the main focus of the novel. Chains is one where the main character encounters historical figures but they are more background characters. I think that would still meet the "involving a real person" standard but not the biographical fiction label.
I could be wrong in my interpretation of Conny's prompt, though!