Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Archives
>
[2022] Wild Discussion
Johanna wrote: "It looks like the color of the year for 2022 will be "Orchid Flower." It seems like that could offer some possibilities: the color orchid (is it purple?), a book with "orchid" in the title, a book ..."How kind of them to announce it early. It's kind of a magenta colour, so no one can decide if it's pink or purple!
Ellie wrote: "Jax wrote: "Book recommended by someone to a generation or more younger then youBook recommended by someone a generation or more older then you"
Would this work for Gen Z? They not all going to h..."
Yes I wodnered the same. i thought maybe it could be combined as recommended by someone in a different generation.
Mod
I can see how you could choose a children's book but what is an elderly person's book? Once some one can read then they can read any book. So it is just someone to recommend a book.
Jill wrote: "I can see how you could choose a children's book but what is an elderly person's book? Once some one can read then they can read any book. So it is just someone to recommend a book."I think what it emant was get an older person to recommend you a book, not that the book is an old peoples book. Is that what you meant Jax?
Okay I am going to be the Devil's advocate here. The recommended by .... prompt has been done to death. I also do not ask the other readers in my life for recommendations because they read books I would never read. Yes there are other places to get recommendations, which we discuss ad nauseam every year, but many of us really do not want to go that route again. I am sorry that this will come of as snark. Please ignore the snark.
A book by an author you disagree with would be a down vote. I’m not interested in an author’s personal views to begin with so then to have to find an author I disagree with does not seem like fun.
At the end of the day we all have types of prompts we don’t like, mine is picking from a list.
Anastasia wrote: "Okay I am going to be the Devil's advocate here. The recommended by .... prompt has been done to death. I also do not ask the other readers in my life for recommendations because they read books I ..."I agree...most of the books I read for the challenge are 'recommended' by people in this group...in that I see what others are talking about and pick them. They don't actually say - hey Bec, read this book...but I don't think I need that.
Thomas wrote: "At the end of the day we all have types of prompts we don’t like, mine is picking from a list."Those are also my least favorite.
We had a whole listopia of the books people here thought were the best reads they had, and I enjoyed looking at them, so asking them would be the same. Perhaps we will have the same next year, so there would be no point in asking individuals.https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Personally I would love La Vie Boheme as a lyrics-based prompt. I just listened to the song again and while there are some "inappropriate" lyrics, there are many, many more options to choose from that I think anyone would be able to find something suitable. It has everything from playing hooky (YA books about teens cutting school, maybe?), to riding bikes to specific food items, references to famous figures, etc. It even has a reference to The Wizard of Oz! To be honest, I'd say the "inappropriate" lyrics are a very minor part of the song and easy to skip over, if people are not comfortable finding a book related to those words.
Jill wrote: "We had a whole listopia of the books people here thought were the best reads they had, and I enjoyed looking at them, so asking them would be the same. Perhaps we will have the same next year, so t..."I would really like that best books of the month prompt back again. It's great opportunity to fit in a book that keeps getting praise from the group and our tastes are so varied there really is something for everyone.
I would not vote for the generational recommendations one myself but if it got in I would probably go pick a book from a blog where I thought the blogger was much younger/older than me. But I don't like prompts that aren't a level playing field depending on personal aspects.
Ellie wrote: "Jill wrote: "We had a whole listopia of the books people here thought were the best reads they had, and I enjoyed looking at them, so asking them would be the same. Perhaps we will have the same ne..."I agree about the level paying field. Why I always hate book recommended by your Libran ( I don't have one) and book you were supposed to read in school but didn't (it assumes you skipped one which is more likely in certain education than others)
On another note does anyone have any suggestions for diversity prompts?
Mod
Maybe an author or character in AAPI (Asian and Pacific Islanders) - covers India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, etc.
Thomas wrote: "On another note does anyone have any suggestions for diversity prompts?"Here are few that I came up with:
Book written by an author from a different country than you.
Book with an AAPI Character
Book written by a member of the AAPI, Black, or LGBTQ+ community
Book with a religious character
Book that has a LGBTQ+ Protagonist
Robin P wrote: "Thomas wrote: "On another note does anyone have any suggestions for diversity prompts?"Maybe an author or character in AAPI (Asian and Pacific Islanders) - covers India, China, Japan, Southeast A..."
I'd be up for that; I have a friend who's really into Japanese literature and he's lent me lots of books I'd never heard of before (e.g. The Memory Police) and it's really expanded my worldview. Would be great to hear what recommendations people in this group have for other AAPI authors.
I like the AAPI idea. I'm wondering though does it actually cover all of Asia or is it just Asian Americans? (Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm new to the US and had not heard the term until recently!)I don't think we've had a prompt for a Latinx (hopefully the correct term?) author before so that could be another one.
Mod
You could also do "A book written by an author of API descent and set in that region" if you wanted to have it be own voices and set in that area. Or even "An own voices book set in Asia or the Pacific Islands". I'd vote for all of those prompts.
Between AAPI and API, I think I'd prefer AAPI. Asians are underrepresented in America and are very much a minority (only about 5% of the American population) whereas Asians globally make up more than half of the entire world's population. A lot of Asian-Asian authors have some level of fame/prestige (Haruki Murakami, Tagore, Salman Rushdie, etc) whereas many Asian American authors get categorized as being less "literary," sadly. But that's just my opinion. API would still be awesome at increasing the diversity of authors/books, it would just put less emphasis on Asian Americans (who are facing the brunt of Asian hate crimes and all that).
What about an author who is an ethnic minority in your country?
I feel like I barely read any British Asian authors, and in genre fiction there aren't a lot of Asian authors from Asia being translated into English. I've seen plenty of comments that UK publishers often choose to reach their diversity goals by picking up US authors rather than nuturing home grown writers.So I think comments that suggest Asians outside of the US somehow have it easy in Western publishing are not helpful. I'm sure a young British Indian YA writer does not feel much reassurance that "Salman Rushdie is famous" when they're being turned down for not writing "Asian enough" characters.
So for that reasoning I do prefer API over AAPI.
Ellie wrote: "I feel like I barely read any British Asian authors, and in genre fiction there aren't a lot of Asian authors from Asia being translated into English. I've seen plenty of comments that UK publisher..."I agree with your comments regarding Brtish authors. But regardign Asians in Asia it could be argued could it not that they are not facing persecutions in the same way. yes they may not be getting translated into English which is a shame but in Asia they amy be widely read, they are also not being houdned day to day for their ethnicity in the way their compatriots who live in America or Britain or even Australia are.
Ellie wrote: "I feel like I barely read any British Asian authors, and in genre fiction there aren't a lot of Asian authors from Asia being translated into English. I've seen plenty of comments that UK publisher..."That's such a good point Ellie. Now I think about it, I can't name a single British East Asian author other than Kazuo Ishiguro, but my local bookshop frequently displays books by Asian-American writers like Celeste Ng, Min Jin Lee and Kevin Kwang. (This isn't meant as a criticism of them or their books, just an observation).
There are a few more British South Asian authors that spring to mind, such as Monica Ali and Meera Syal, but even then they're not exactly abundant.
I think API rather than AAPI would be better for an AtY prompt because it gives people scope to read books by Asian diaspora writers in their own countries, rather than limiting it to Asian-American writers.
If people want to take the straightforward option and read a book by an Asian writer living in an Asian country, that should be okay too - everyone interprets the prompts differently after all.
While probably less relevant to publishing: the Rohingya people in Myanmar and the Uighars in China are Asians in Asia being rounded up by their own countries. Sadly racism is not solely a Western experience.
o another note I thought of a multi week prompt linked tot he four things for a wedding ( something old, new, borrowed and blue) but I was unsure how to do borrowed.
Ellie wrote: "While probably less relevant to publishing: the Rohingya people in Myanmar and the Uighars in China are Asians in Asia being rounded up by their own countries. Sadly racism is not solely a Western ..."very true.In the same way that Europeans can be prejudiced against other Europeans as with anti east European violence in the UK.
I only just caught up on reading, and as a huge fan of "Rent", I am all over the idea of a "La Vie Boheme" prompt, and honestly ... does it matter than some lines in it are not all-ages appropriate? I don't believe we have many ten-year-olds doing this challenge, and if so, they are probably doing it together with a parent, anyway, who could then edit the song lyrics and leave out the kinky stuff and use the Wizard of Oz reference instead. Young kids aside, I believe that teens/young adults should be able to handle a reference to HIV or masturbation in a song, shouldn't they? It doesn't mean they have to pick that line for their book.Not to offend anyone, but I personally would find it ... exaggerated ... to refuse to pick a (harmless) line from a song simply because that song happens to have a few other lines that are more juicy, i.e., to reject that choice of song only because of that. If you generally don't like song lyrics prompts and that is why you're downvoting, that's different of course :D :D
Thomas wrote: "o another note I thought of a multi week prompt linked tot he four things for a wedding ( something old, new, borrowed and blue) but I was unsure how to do borrowed."Didn't we have that exact same prompt a couple of years ago?
Conny wrote: "Thomas wrote: "o another note I thought of a multi week prompt linked tot he four things for a wedding ( something old, new, borrowed and blue) but I was unsure how to do borrowed."Didn't we have..."
Yes. Been there, seen it, done it
Kelly linked in the “Outside Challenges” section to a reading challenge that is all about positivity:https://homeschoollifemag.com/blog/20...
While I’m not suggesting outright copying, I do like its upbeat ethos particularly the section that’s all about celebration:
“Read a book that celebrates Black Joy.
Read a book that celebrates Native life.
Read a book that celebrates Asian life.
Read a book that celebrates Latinx life.
Read a book that celebrates LGBTQ+ life.
Read a book that celebrates women.”
Going to the other extreme I was considering suggesting a book featuring a curmudgeon. Partly because I like the word and partly because I enjoy finding atypical people in books. ‘Neurodiverse’ , which I think we’ve had before, doesn’t quite cover it. I’m thinking A Man Called Ove, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared and Hagar from The Stone Angel.
Mod
Conny wrote: "Thomas wrote: "o another note I thought of a multi week prompt linked tot he four things for a wedding ( something old, new, borrowed and blue) but I was unsure how to do borrowed."Didn't we have..."
My apolgies. i didn't do it till 2021
Conny wrote: "I only just caught up on reading, and as a huge fan of "Rent", I am all over the idea of a "La Vie Boheme" prompt, and honestly ... does it matter than some lines in it are not all-ages appropriate..."I think I would down vote that one because I prefer some of the other song lyric suggestions (Bohemian Rhapsody in particular) and I wouldn't want too many song lyric prompts.
Joyce wrote: "Kelly linked in the “Outside Challenges” section to a reading challenge that is all about positivity:https://homeschoollifemag.com/blog/20...-..."
Ohhh, I just had a look, and yes, maybe we could draw some inspiration from that :)
I personally love the "Read a book by an author you'd like to take a class with" prompt and would't mind if we, well, *borrowed* it^^
Thomas wrote: "My apolgies. i didn't do it till 2021"No need to apologize :o It is a splendid multi-week prompt idea, it's just that the last time we had it isn't that long ago (and I remember struggling with it).
Conny wrote: "Thomas wrote: "My apolgies. i didn't do it till 2021"No need to apologize :o It is a splendid multi-week prompt idea, it's just that the last time we had it isn't that long ago (and I remember st..."
Thanks. I will stick to my original multi week suggestion of a word chain.
Thomas wrote: "I think I would down vote that one because I prefer some of the other song lyric suggestions (Bohemian Rhapsody in particular) and I wouldn't want too many song lyric prompts."Oh, absolutely, I wasn't suggesting having more than one song lyric prompt. I would be very happy with "Bohemian Rhapsody," too :)
Conny wrote: "Thomas wrote: "I think I would down vote that one because I prefer some of the other song lyric suggestions (Bohemian Rhapsody in particular) and I wouldn't want too many song lyric prompts."Oh, ..."
thanks
Joyce wrote: "Kelly linked in the “Outside Challenges” section to a reading challenge that is all about positivity:https://homeschoollifemag.com/blog/20...-..."
Hi! Kelly here...so I'm doing this Home School Life challenge on the side. (ATY and Reading Women are my main challenges (one book per prompt, no overlaps between the two), and HSL with some overlap with the other lists, or other books that catch my eye as the year goes on.)
Anyway, these particular "celebrates" prompts have been rather difficult for me, as I have found I tend to read books about how terrible life can be. But that makes them difficult in a good way! I recently read Firekeeper's Daughter for an ATY prompt, and even though the plot centered around criminal activity, the way the author included day-to-day Anishinaabe culture and ceremony was "celebratory" (one of my best books of the year so far).
Lots of fun ideas for prompts so far - looking forward to the suggestion & voting rounds :)
I have several ideas to suggest this year, but one I want feedback on first is:A book related to a predicted event for 2022 from https://www.futuretimeline.net/21stce...
I think there's enough variety here that everyone could find something (several different countries mentioned, train travel, winter olympics and soccer, water shortages, etc.) but there are a lot of space-related items on the list, which could be off-putting to some.
Let me know your thoughts - thanks!
Multiple week prompt idea - Modes of Travel: Air, Land and Water.
One other one - looking back on past ATY lists, I think the "A, T, or Y" options have been exhausted for both author and title.What about: Includes the word "Around" or "Year" in the title?
(KIS: the word Years instead of Year, BIO: both words!)
Anastasia wrote: "Multiple week prompt idea - Modes of Travel: Air, Land and Water."As in connected to the travel or to those three things?
Kelly wrote: "I have several ideas to suggest this year, but one I want feedback on first is:A book related to a predicted event for 2022 from https://www.futuretimeline.net/21stce...
I think ther..."
I can se the idea. tbh proably not my first chocie but not a total turn off for me either.
Kelly wrote: "I have several ideas to suggest this year, but one I want feedback on first is:A book related to a predicted event for 2022 from https://www.futuretimeline.net/21stce......"
Interesting, I'd like to read a book centred around the idea of water as a weapon of war, though I realise this is a very niche opinion and probably won't be able to find a book! 🤣
Kelly wrote: "One other one - looking back on past ATY lists, I think the "A, T, or Y" options have been exhausted for both author and title.What about: Includes the word "Around" or "Year" in the title?
(KI..."
I really like this idea. I was hoping we could figure out a way to keep this going, it's good to have something in the list that links to our group.
Around the Year in 52 Books
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...
Book recommended by someone a generation or more older then you"
Would this work for Gen Z? They not all going to have access to children to ask for recs from.