Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Archives
>
[2022] Wild Discussion

There are some very pretty covers that fall into this category, I would certainly vote for it.

As Kat said, hopefully it should have a wide appeal compared with other cover prompts as I found examples from lots of genres, including non-fiction.
But I need to find a way of wording it that makes it clear we're not expecting people to find perfectly symmetrical books. Or is that made clear using examples?

I agree. One of the pluses of having a 650+ TBR list is that there always seems to be something that fits. As someone who would rather spend time reading rather than researching what to read, I love the listopias that are created.

There are tons of clerical mysteries with a variety of settings and religions! Here are a few examples:
Father Brown (made into a popular British TV show)
Sister Pelagia (Russian Orthodox)
Sister Agatha (set in NM)
Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn (Welsh)
Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne (a police chief and a female priest)
Sister Rose Callahan (Shaker)
Brother Cadfael
The Rabbi Small
Sister Fidelma (Irish nun, 7th century)
A Ministry is Murder (clergy couple)
There are also lots of other non-mysteries (fiction and non-fiction) to choose from. Any thoughts??

and don't forget The Name of the Rose

I've also been thinking for awhile about a prompt about reading from a different perspective, such as where the main character and/or author follows a different religion from your own. If you are non-religious, this could be any novel (or nonfiction) that has a main character of any faith, or a faith different from yours if you do practice. I'm not Muslim but read a couple books by authors who are Muslim (with characters who are the same), and I loved being able to see a glimpse of the culture/worldview.

When this suggestion came up last year I added the first book in each series of all the crime-solving nuns to my TBR, so I'd definitely vote for this!

This is a multi-week prompt that I actually LOVE! Usually I'm not s super fan of them, but this would be delightful!

Jillian wrote: "I think making it “main character” has to be a member of the clergy is too narrow for me since I have a few books that would work with the general theme but I’m not positive about the main character."
Maybe "a major character" instead of "the main"?
Maybe "a major character" instead of "the main"?



I really like these kinds of pairings linked in some way. I often learn about a topic in a fiction book, and then want to learn more about it in a nonfiction book. Science & Science Fiction, History & historical fiction.

Deborah wrote: "I love Betty White. I think this is a good one. I think since she is turning 100, you might be able to tie in books that take place 100 years ago, for 100 years, 100 years in the future...etc."
Jen K wrote: "Could also have the word "White" or "Golden" in the title or a character named Betty. Really fun idea! I love Betty White!.."
Nancy wrote: "It would get me to finally read her memoir! Elin Hilderbrand's newest book is called Golden Girl and it was really good."
Jill wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "OK I think I have one that might work for 2022. This is my first suggestion, so any help is appreciated.
Read a book that honors Betty White (who will turn 100 in 2022).
Love this I would definitely give an upvote."
Nicole wrote:
I love Betty White! This would definitely be an upvote for me.
Kim wrote: "Love the idea for a Betty White prompt!!"
Thanks for the support and the extra ideas!

Kat wrote: "I don’t always like cover prompts as they can lean towards certain genres or niche interests. Symmetrical covers is a great idea and should work for everyone. They are also really satisfying to loo..."
I like it. I agree that those covers are pleasing. How about a cover 'with a symmetrical design?' To me, this would suggest that the background design would be symmetrical, but words or another image could be superimposed over it.


Monks, friars, brothers would also fall under the non-clergy by definition.


NancyJ wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I know cover prompts aren't everyone's favourite, but I've read a lot of books lately that had symmetrical covers and I wondered if there was a good prompt in there somewhere. Somethi..."
In 2020 we had “a cover with a geometric pattern” (or design , I forget which): Not exactly the same but similar.
In 2020 we had “a cover with a geometric pattern” (or design , I forget which): Not exactly the same but similar.

Thoughts?

My concern with "where your family originated", is for African Americans. Many of us don't know where our family originated from, with the exception of an entire continent. Others can point to specific countries, but we don't always have that option. Reading a book set in any African country is a bit broad and doesn't really include us within the fun of the prompt like others.


As a often literally brained person, I might have trouble with 'where your family originated', just because, what counts as originating? 100 years ago? 1000?
Maybe it could be something more like 'related to your ancestors' or even 'connected to your history' which could include religious history.
Edited to add: after seeing Nancy's post above, I'm shying away from the word 'ancestors', actually. There are lots of ways to interpret the word family, and that doesn't have to be biological, but ancestors does pretty much tie it to biology.


I still interpret "where you come from" to be origin or where I grew up, California. I wouldn't think of family traits, history, common professions (maybe a long line of farmers), etc.

My experience with voting has been that some people shy away from anything that relates to their personal lives - family, childhood, etc.



Is "author with 3 names" clear enough that initials are also included? Am I overthinking this?

To play devil's advocate, J.K. Rowling technically doesn't have three names. Her name is/was (don't know if it changed re: marriage) Joanne Rowling and she actually doesn't have a middle name but the publishers thought it should have two letters, so she added K for Kathleen. Long random facts aside, do you mean an author's real name or pen/publishing name? I'm guessing publishing name, since most authors would have a middle name. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it now too.
I like the prompt idea, I just don't know if I would automatically include each initial as its own "name".
- J Ryan Stradal, yes. It feels like three distinct publishing names.
- N.K. Jemisin probably not because it feels like she uses N.K. as one "first" name, even if it is a combination of her first and middle name.


And that's why I wonder if I'm overthinking. I also don't people to start arguing over what "3 names" means lol.
You could go with 3 names (3 full names like Taylor Jenkins Reid), and use initials as a KIS option. So tailor the actual prompt to mean three full names, but if people need to compromise, they can do it with initials.


If people thought it was too restrictive I thought we could open it up to include Michelle and maybe other Presidents. It wouldn't be too hard to go through and list the books from 2010 but I haven't had the time to do so.
On his lists he has everything from non-fiction to classics to best sellers. It's an eclectic list.
Anyone have opinions or maybe how to change the prompt up?


https://qz.com/quartzy/1688457/all-of...
Here is 2020
https://www.afar.com/magazine/barack-...
and 2021
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know...

Then here is favorite overall for 2020: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI6Hwx7g9...
That said, I wouldn’t mind the prompt, but I could see this not flying well for those that didn’t like Obama or are international and don’t have a connection to US presidents.

Then here is favorite overall for 2020: https://www.instagram.co..."
I was thinking that too. His list is eclectic though and that's what inspired me.
Maybe the prompt could be changed to books recommended by world leaders? Or something along those lines.

Then here is favorite overall for 2020: https://w..."
All concerns about potential downvotes because of politics and whatever aside, I'm mostly a genre reader (fantasy, scifi, horror etc) and I see almost nothing on these lists I would even think about reading, so it would probably be a downvote for me
Books mentioned in this topic
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (other topics)Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans (other topics)
Among Others (other topics)
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks (other topics)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Renée Ahdieh (other topics)S.A. Chakraborty (other topics)
Stacy Reid (other topics)
James Ellroy (other topics)
Ta-Nehisi Coates (other topics)
More...
I like cover prompts, and I understand what you mean by "symmetrical" ... but I think this one would make me crazy, as I stare at different covers and try to decide if they are symmetrical or not. So I'm leery.