Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2022] Wild Discussion
Here are the prompts I consider fun, or relate directly to the year. I didn't include those in the bottom or from the multi-week poll.A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney or Pixar movie
A book related to the phrase “Birds Eye View”
A book related to The Twilight Zone, in honor of the classic second season episode, "Twenty Two"
A book related to the 22nd chemical element Titanium
A prompt related to the 2022 Year of the Tiger
A book that honors Betty White, who will turn 100 in January 2022
A book connected to the World Cup
A book related to a rabbit
A book with the word “cloud” or an image of a cloud on the cover
A book related to the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody
A book related to Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
A book related to The Wizard of Oz
A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards
A book related to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
Nancy wrote: "I'm disappointed none of those are getting in as well. I was hoping the tarot one would get in. I feel like we had a similar issue for this year though, there are maybe 5 or 6 I'd consider fun, and..."The tarot one didn't get in? That's really surprising. It sounded like it got a lot of love. I think many of them will get in if they're resubmitted.
Ellie wrote: "Can we convince the mods to have a fun prompts only poll?!"I like that idea a lot. I was also thinking it would be good to have all the song ideas go head to head.
@amy
I can only speak for myself, but I like to get the big/clear topics in first, before the ones that are more fun or interpretive. I'm going to try to relax my thinking about the suggestions from now on.
I like cover prompts too and hope we get some more voted in. An idea I had was a lucky symbol on the cover. There are lots to choose from if you look at different cultures. I'm not sure that this would be classified as a 'fun' prompt exactly but I enjoyed looking through the lists of symbols and their meanings.I'm also wondering whether people feel we have enough setting prompts now? I stumbled across a list of UNESCO cities of literature which I thought was interesting and could make for a good prompt. Not sure if it's too specific though and/or people might feel we have too many setting prompts already.
Here is the list if anyone is interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of...
Thank you Nancy for the list! I agree with those. As Robin said, should we set up a coup for tomorrow and suggest these prompts?? I’ve always wanted to feel wild. I think this may be my chance!
Alicia wrote: "Thank you Nancy for the list! I agree with those. As Robin said, should we set up a coup for tomorrow and suggest these prompts?? I’ve always wanted to feel wild. I think this may be my chance!"
A Coup you say? Well that could either be VERY interesting, or the first time in history that a poll comes back with NO winners! lol
All the setting prompts so far feel really broad so I wouldn't mind a prompt that limits the options a bit. Such a great list of interesting prompts, so many of them are 2022 appropriate which makes them extra special in my view. If I'm around whenever the suggestions open I'll throw one in. (I'm on holiday with incredibly patchy internet connection)
I don't know if this is fun, but it's a little more interpretive. Something like this: Other colors (such as green) would work too.
1. "Read a Blue book: Content, Title, Cover or all three.
BIO: read a book with 3 or more interpretations of blue
KIS - read a book with at least 1 blue meaning
I thought of many different ways that a book could relate to something blue (content, setting, characters, plot points, emotional tone, names, title, cover). A book about blues music, blue moods, depression, an erotic story, a cold setting, a musician, or a book that makes you cry. Blue in a character name, title or cover. A blues song or singer's name in the title of a book.
Green would also work for multiple topics (jealousy, nature, ecology), and maybe others (purple prose).
I hope it doesn't come back to bite us though, if people downvote too many!
I will definitely second a fun prompt!
We now have 6 setting prompts which are my least favorite so I will down vote all setting prompts.
Nancy wrote: "Here are the prompts I consider fun, or relate directly to the year. I didn't include those in the bottom or from the multi-week poll. A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney..."And Taylor Swift songs
Taylor Swift was a bottom so cannot be suggested again.I probably will not vote for anymore settings prompts either. 5 of the 6 are location so I definitely won't vote for a location prompt.
I love the Betty White prompt and was sad to see it did not win. You could do SO MUCH with that prompt. Just off the top of my head, I thought of these:• A book set in Illinois (where Betty was born)
• A book about Hollywood or set in L.A. (where Betty grew up)
• A book related to the radio (where Betty got her start because movie studios said she was "not photogenic)
• I book set in Minnesota, where two of her most iconic characters – Rose Nylund and Sue Ann Nivens – were from
• A book with a character with the same name as a character Betty has played
o Rose Nylund (Golden Girls)
o Sue Ann Nivens (The Mary Tyler More Show)
o Ellen Harper Jackson (Mama’s Family)
o Ann Douglas (The Bold and the Beautiful)
o Elka Ostrovsky (Hot in Cleveland)
• A book with a main character in their “golden” years
• A book with an animal as integral character – Betty has been a relentless advocate for animal rights and animal health
With a career that spans 8 decades, it just seems like the options are endless. Plus, she just seems like someone to celebrate. 😊 I hope this one gets another chance.
I agree with others on setting prompts. They're my least favorite, and it's pretty early for there to be six of them. I'll likely downvote additional setting prompts.Cover prompts aren't my favorite, but we should have another one or two. I'd like cover prompts to just be cover prompts, though, and not cover and/or title prompts, as we already have several title prompts.
Shannon wrote: "I love the Betty White prompt and was sad to see it did not win. You could do SO MUCH with that prompt. Just off the top of my head, I thought of these:b..."
Go for it Shannon. We need some 22 prompts, and Betty was born in 1922. She is most definitely fun. You thought of so many more ways to celebrate Betty than I did. You should run with this. She really is amazing and funny. She holds the record for the longest TV career for a woman, and at 99, she is still working on production deals.
This started as a prompt to celebrate Betty as a role model for an active old age, but I love your ideas. Others might have feedback on ways to improve the phrasing.
I was working on an alternative prompt about old age, but I'll hold off on that. If Betty gets in, I might read a book about a feisty old woman. If not, I'll suggest an age prompt or maybe an up-lit prompt since many of the books I had in mind are both. We were discussing this the other day, trying to come up with a good term (I don't like elderly) or an age recommendation. It's funny the wide range of ages that people might use to define "old." I didn't even think of "golden years."
We don't seem to have any theme prompts either. Those are usually some of the first to make the list. I'm surprised we don't have any yet.
I think one of the challenges of some of the theme type prompts have is many members don't have a connection to it or if they do it is negative. Kinda why Taylor Swift and Soylent Green ended up in the bottom. Why Disney, Betty White, Twilight Zone, and Wizard of Oz are just in the middle.
Angie wrote: "We don't seem to have any theme prompts either. Those are usually some of the first to make the list. I'm surprised we don't have any yet."Which prompts this year are theme prompts?
I was starting to think of a prejudice theme because it seems timely, but don’t have any solid ideas.
I totally forgot we had a racism prompt this year. So ignore my last comment.
There has been some talk of an LGBTQ+ prompt. As a member of that community, I am thinking about suggesting an LGBTQ+ love story. I've read so many books where the gay kid has so much trauma inflicted on them, and it's so painful to read. While those books are important because that pain DOES exist and deserves to be seen, our love stories are just as important and crucial to the LGBTQ+ experience. There are some fabulous books out there and they do not all necessarily fall into the "romance" genre that makes some people (like me) cringe. Some of my recent favorites have been Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Carry On, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.What do you think? Too limiting? Would anyone vote for it?
I think you might be more successful with ‘not about LGBTQ+ pain’ vs ‘love’ story , because, as you mention a lot of people go directly from ‘love’ to romance genre, which is polarizing
What is it that some of you dislike about setting prompts?
Shannon, I love that idea, and think “love story” is clearly different from romance. But you could also word it something like “a book hat features LGBTQ+ love”?
I don't mind setting prompts, but 6 of them, with 5 of those being location prompts, is a lot. Same reason I don't want any more title prompts. I'd love more that are theme, genre, and another list/reward prompt but I know those aren't popular.One I thought of though, is A book from the Goodreads "Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week" feature. These are books that have a lot of buzz within Goodreads - a lot of people have them on their to-read shelves. It doesn't have to be a current list, it could be one from last year that has a book you haven't read yet.
Chrissy wrote: "Shannon, I love that idea, and think “love story” is clearly different from romance. But you could also word it something like “a book hat features LGBTQ+ love”?"Shannon, I like this idea too. I think "features" or "includes" LGBTQ+ love (or something similar) might help guide towards the idea you are describing. For instance, I loved House in the Cerulean Sea and while it did contain a love story, I wouldn't call it a love story.
What if I worded it like this: A book of any genre that features a loving LGBTQA+ relationship??
I think you can cut out "any genre", because it would be assumed. I would definitely upvote it, but I would say I think because we have 3 diversity prompts that got in this round, I think any LGBTQIA+ prompt is going to have a hard time getting in. I tried submitting one last year with no luck.
I think the best chance would be to go with LGBTQIA+. I prefer to add extra qualifiers for myself, BIO on KIS. I also don’t like it when prompts have to meet two different criteria.
I'm still not sure what you mean by theme, as opposed to a topic or genre. I would think of a theme as something bigger than one prompt. The 3 continent prompts give us a world/international theme. And we have several prompts together that give us a diversity theme. Flora/fauna give us a nature theme, and water could be a part of that too, depending on what you pick. I may use them together to create an ecology or climate change theme.
Shannon, I would be fine with an LGBTQIA+ Love story. I like romantic stories, even though I hate the predictability of the romance genre tropes. The best romantic stories seem to be categories in some other genre first. I don't think it will be hard to find realistic love stories without the romance genre label, through reviews, lists and recommendations. (There is an intense love story in Migrations, but the author doesn't use any of the romance genre tropes. Romance doesn't show up until page 2 of the genre tag list.)
@shannon I would vote for that. I have read some good sci-fi that includes LGBTQ love stories.
With theme " a comfort read" " a book that you would read around the campfire"
Mod
I'm still a bit sad that Disney/Pixar didn't get in! I actually went ahead and made myself a list of all the movies that had soundtracks with multiple songs that had lyrics (as opposed to just instrumentals), and it's a lot of movies to choose from!
Nancy wrote: "I'd love more that are theme, genre, and another list/reward prompt"Would an epistolary novel (or book) be fun? That's a book written as a series of documents, like letters, diary entries, email, etc.
Or a bildungsroman? Merriam Webster defines it as "a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character."
I tried to link to goodreads shelves for Epistolary Novels and Bildungsroman Books but my html failed.
Anastasia wrote: "With theme " a comfort read" " a book that you would read around the campfire""We currently have a "comfort read" on the list this year.
Personally, I wouldn't vote for that because we have it this year, but I'm also in the group that usually downvotes on "comfort" or "books that bring me joy" prompts. All books bring me joy and reading in general is very comforting to me. If a book is a chore, it's usually a book I'm not enjoying.
Linda wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I'd love more that are theme, genre, and another list/reward prompt"Would an epistolary novel (or book) be fun? That's a book written as a series of documents, like letters, diary e..."
I would vote for epistolary.
Linda wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I'd love more that are theme, genre, and another list/reward prompt"Would an epistolary novel (or book) be fun? That's a book written as a series of documents, like letters, diary e..."
That would definitely be a different prompt. (As opposed to the same ones every year.) I can think of a couple of books that fit the prompt.
I am really tired of bildungsroman books but would vote for epistolary.
I love epistolary books, but I'm on the fence about whether I'd vote for it this time since it's a prompt that I've already seen come up fairly often in different challenges.
Mod
I'm going through the backlog of various challenges and epistolary seems to have come up a lot. There weren't that many I wanted to read and I don't think I enjoyed any of them. I've never sat by a campfire so that one confuses me a little. Can't all books be read there?
I would vote for a LGBT+ love type prompt. If you read SFF or YA there is so much to choose from.
You’ll do great Robin! I’m going to pull from the list Nancy created or redo my Year of the Tiger prompt. There’s just so many good ones on the list.
Robin P wrote: "I have posted an announcement that the suggestion thread will open Thursday around 1:30 pm Central Time. So anyone with big plans can be ready, or ask another member to submit your idea. It will be..."I can just see me interrupting dinner to be "hang on, I need to go take part in a coup! Back in a second" 🤣
Ellie wrote: I can just see me interrupting dinner to be "hang on, I need to go take part in a coup! Back in a second" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Anastasia wrote: "With theme " a comfort read" " a book that you would read around the campfire""I like this, because it could be a nature book, an adventure story, or a ghost story, or an all-ages family friendly book.
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* Note - I probably made a lot of mistakes when I added/voted on books with light sources, so if you spot covers that shouldn't be there, please note it in the comments section and I'll delete the ones I voted for. I got a migraine while looking for them, which makes my vision worse. I loved all the sunrises and sunsets, but I might have imagined light sources that weren't actually visible.