[2022] Wild Discussion Showing 701-750 of 2,340

[Conny]

I actually quite like the circus idea, provided we could allow somewhat similar forms of entertainment, too (traveling carnivals, freak shows, variety shows, cabaret, etc.). I have the Caraval trilogy on my TBR, which would be a great fit ;)

We have had the four seasons before, I believe, but what about the four Gaelic seasonal festivals (Beltane, Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh)?
A simpler idea: two books related to day and night/dusk and dawn, or three books related to morning, noon, and evening/night?

[Jill]

A circus could encompass elephants, dancers, clowns, jugglers, tents, horses, rings, magic.

[Nancy]

I think I'd rather see the circus as a regular prompt, not multi-week. I get the 3 books/3-ring relationship, but I think it would be hard to come up with 3 books related to the circus, even with all it encompasses.

[Tina]

I have no idea what I could read for the gaelic festivals but it sounds fun, I'd vote for it

[Alicia]

Multi-week prompts are my favorite prompts!!! It's like Christmas within this wonderful List Holiday Season.

Conny wrote: "what about the four Gaelic seasonal festivals (Beltane, Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh)?"

Do you have more info on these? I know about Beltane (fire ceremony, lots of love and matchmaking) and Samhain (similar to the US Halloween).

[Juliet]

Imbolc is more less May Day , probably the closest modern celebration to Lughasnach would be Octoberfest

[Alicia]

Thanks Juliet!! I’d definitely vote for this prompt.

[Sue]

Re the rock, paper, scissors prompt, my first thought for scissors was metal, as rock, paper and metal are all different materials - fairly easy to find titles for all 3 of those.

[Kat]

I love multi week prompts just find it difficult to come up with ideas. Some great ones have been suggested so far so can't wait to see what else we get.

I like rock, paper, scissors and 3 continents. For some reason 3 week prompts appeal to me more than 2 or 4.

I'm terrified of clowns so even though there are so many ways to interpret the circus I just can't get past the thought of creepy clowns.

[Thomas]

How does voting work for the multiweek?

[Ellie]

Juliet Brown wrote: "Imbolc is more less May Day , probably the closest modern celebration to Lughasnach would be Octoberfest"

I grew up in southern Scotland so we generally had a mishmash of English and Scottish traditions, but I do know the Gaelic festivals are based around the farming calendar.

Imbolc - 1st February marks the start of lambing season
Beltane - 1st May marks the start of summer
Lughnasadh - 1st August marks the start of harvest
Samhain - 1st November marks the beginning of winter

There are lots of odd traditions that have mostly died out, but a few have been kept up. I did see while checking the dates that the Common Riding is timed to be around Beltane (I guess makes sense, patrol the borders to protect the crops and livestock).

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Thomas wrote: "How does voting work for the multiweek?"

It's the same as a regular week. 15 prompts on the list, 8 votes to use how you'd like. The winners all make it in (we can have more than one winner).

[Thomas]

Has that ever happened?

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Yes, there was a year that we had a 2-week prompt and a 3-week prompt, I believe.

EDIT: Actually, looking back, in 2019, we had a 2-week and a 4-week. 2 week was two books related by the same topic, theme, or genre, and the 4 week was the wedding rhyme (something old, new, borrowed, blue)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

That wedding rhyme one was my favorite multi-week I've done since starting ATY in 2018, I think.

[Sherri]

The 2020 multi week two books related to each other as a pair of binary opposites was my favorite. I haven’t enjoyed this years multi week prompt. For me 3 weeks is too long.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Sherri, I typically vote against most 3 week prompts and all 4 week prompts just because I agree that it's too long, but for some reason, I really liked the wedding rhyme one... probably because they were relatively easy prompts to fulfill on their own (old publication, new publication, borrowed from the library, blue cover).

[Gem ~ZeroShelfControl~]

Some ideas I have for things in 3s:

~the three branches of science - chemistry, biology and physics

~the traffic light system - Red(stop) Amber(ready) Green (go)

~the three R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

~the other 3 R's - Reading, Writing, Arithmatic

but I love the 3 evils idea!!

[Gem ~ZeroShelfControl~]

Sherri wrote: "The 2020 multi week two books related to each other as a pair of binary opposites was my favorite. I haven’t enjoyed this years multi week prompt. For me 3 weeks is too long."

i loved the opposites tasks too!!

[Thomas]

What are the three evils?

[Gem ~ZeroShelfControl~]

Thomas wrote: "What are the three evils?"

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I just fell down a rabbit hole of traffic lights and what they mean in different countries lol. I'd probably vote for that one since it's easy to fulfill if you want to (cover colors) or you can use titles or content as well.

[Nadine in NY]

I really like
- three contients (especially if it's "three continents other than the one you currently live on")
- four seasons / seasonal festivals
- three branches of science
- traffic light (we could look for books with red, green, and yellow/amber covers!) - do all countries use the same traffic light system?


The wedding rhyme idea was so very clever, and it lent itself perfectly to book choices.

[Thomas]

I really don’t think the one you live needs excluding, it’s still two others required

[Nancy]

I agree that the 3 continents one would be better if it excludes the one you live on, though that could also be a BIO option.

Some other ideas:

3 Books in a Trilogy
3 books related to the saying 3 Is A Crowd - could have an ensemble cast, be about an introvert, a love triangle
3 primary colors
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Small, Medium and Large - could be length of book or age of character

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

I love the three branches of science one! Easy to adapt too: can read nonfiction for more literal interpretation and more serious reading, or romance for chemistry, zombies/medical thriller, etc for biology and steampunk/sports/airplane related, etc for physics for those who want a lighter version.

[Thomas]

Nancy wrote: "I agree that the 3 continents one would be better if it excludes the one you live on, though that could also be a BIO option.

Some other ideas:

3 Books in a Trilogy
3 books related to the saying ..."
Unfrotunately the trilogy would be defnite downvote for me. It requires there to be a trilogy you happen to want to read. Unlike the other suggestions so far that allow to read three seperate books albeit with a common theme

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Nancy, I love almost all of those suggestions, particularly 3 is a crowd and the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Pam]

I kinda like the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly idea.

Here’s an idea for a duo prompt:
1) One if by Land
2) Two if by Sea
from Henry W. Longfellow’s poem Paul Revere’s Ride.

[Jill]

I still think Amy's Rock Paper Scissors is the best suggestion so far. 4 weeks seems too many, as that is a whole month out of the year.

[RachelG.]

The good, the bad and the ugly put a smile on my face. I also like Pam’s idea for a duo.

[Sarah]

I love following this discussion so I can see just how broad prompts are meant to be! I feel like I've been doing this challenge WAY too literal all this time and totally struggling, but seeing how creative the prompt creators are makes me feel like I should learn to creatively interpret as well!

Also, I LOVE the good, the bad, and the ugly prompt suggestion!

[Rachel]

I like the Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil idea, but I'm a little stuck for how I would tackle it.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

My first reaction is to read one book with a blind character, one with a deaf character and one with a mute character. The last is probably pretty limiting though...

[Pearl]

I like the three continents idea the best.

Scissors could be a book with swords. Medieval fantasy. King Arthur, stuff like that.

Are there examples of books that would go with good, bad and ugly? And the 3 evils. My mind is stuck on fantasy books or repressive military regimes.

[Tina]

I think speak no evil could include all speech impediments (stutter, aphasia, lisp, etc), too

[Dubhease]

I love the Rock Paper Scissors idea.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Trilogies are most common in certain genres, and some of them are incredibly long, so I don't think that will go over as well as some of the others.

I like Rock Paper Scissors or Good Bad Ugly (could relate to the story, character, cover art, etc)

[Alicia]

When I think of good, bad and the ugly, I think of good books (books I like), bad books (books that weren't great), and ugly books (books that make me rant for days).

Or am I the only one that rants about some books?

[Kendra]

Alicia wrote: "When I think of good, bad and the ugly, I think of good books (books I like), bad books (books that weren't great), and ugly books (books that make me rant for days).

Or am I the only one that ra..."

You're not the only one. But I do try to DNF books because I generally feel that life is too short to read bad books.

[Ellie]

Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) wrote: "My first reaction is to read one book with a blind character, one with a deaf character and one with a mute character. The last is probably pretty limiting though..."

I've read a couple of YA books with a selectively mute character, A Quiet Kind of Thunder and Silence is Goldfish.

[Nadine in NY]

If Good, Bad, and Ugly makes it in, I would choose a book that either has good ratings or is about improving the world somehow, a book with a "bad" character (like a villain or a bad boy romance), and a book with an ugly cover.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Alicia wrote: "When I think of good, bad and the ugly, I think of good books (books I like), bad books (books that weren't great), and ugly books (books that make me rant for days).

Or am I the only one that ra..."

The books I rant about are ones that are very much hyped and "everyone" loves but I don't (such as All the Light We Cannot See, Beautiful Ruins, Gone Girl, and Where the Crawdads Sing). If it's just a bad book, I generally dismiss it or DNF. For the books above, I finished them to see what would happen but then wished I had that time back.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I'd personally love to see more two week options thrown out there. I like the one if by land, two if by sea, but I don't know how to word that so it comes across in a single sentence prompt.

[Pam]

Emily-I’d like to see more 2 prompt options also. While the 3 prompts sound interesting when voting, I don’t find them as interesting when I start trying to fill them!

How about this wording - 2 books related to the quote “One, if by land and two, if by sea” from the poem Paul Revere's Ride?
The books could be related to the numbers one and two, the American Revolutionary War (e.g. one fiction and one history), land or sea (setting, cover, title). Lots of ways to interpret!

[Jill]

Prompts could be whittled down by using "read two of these" then the phrase or saying IE ( North, south , East, West,) whatever the subject is

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

Two week ideas:

Read 2 books related to—
Black and white
Male and Female
Famous twins (the idea being that each reader picks their own set of famous twins, and reads one book related to each of them)
City and country
A hobby/profession you currently have, and one you’d like to have
Improvement and Contentment (one about striving to be better, one about learning to love where you are)
Beauty and Knowledge
Flora and Fauna


Just a bunch of random ideas, but maybe it will spark something interesting for someone else to formulate better!

[LindaLH]

How about a book featuring a "dynamic duo" (or "popular pair"?)? This is similar to the two week idea, but with one book. I thought of this because the year "22" has a pair of number "2"s.
A "dynamic duo" could be a famous literary pair, twins, a duo in the title (there, there, Catch-22, Pride and Prejudice...), a cover element, etc.

Would this be interesting? Is it too broad or confusing? Is there a better way to word it? Your comments and feedback are appreciated, thanks!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Linda wrote: "How about a book featuring a "dynamic duo"? I'm thinking of the "duo" aspect because '22 has double numbers. A "dynamic duo" could be a famous literary couple, twins, a duo in the title (there, the..."

I like dynamic duo, which is more open-ended than twins, I can't think of any famous twins, except the original "Siamese" twins or the actresses Mary Kate and Ashley!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Linda, would that be a multi-week prompt? Or just workshopping a one-week prompt for later polls?