Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2022] Poll 1 Voting
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A book where the page count of any edition is a multiple of 22
(22, 44, 66, 88, 110, 132, 154, 176, 198, 220, 242, 264, 286, 308, 330, 352, 374, 396, 418, 440, 462, 484, 506, 528, 550, 572, 594, 616, 638, 660, 682, 704, 726, 748, 770, 792, 814, 836, 858, 880, 902, 924, 946, 968, 990, 1012, 1034, 1056, 1078, etc)
In honor of the classic second season episode, "Twenty Two," read a book related to The Twilight Zone.
Background: This episode is about a dancer hospitalized for fatigue who gets recurring nightmares about the hospital morgue, Room 22.
Wikipedia for episode summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_...
This would work for a book related to any revival of the Twilight Zone as well, which opens it up to, for example, reading any book related to Stephen Spielberg since he directed the 1983 Twilight Zone movie!
Some ideas for this prompt:
- A sci-fi or dystopian book
- A dark/scary book
- A book published or set in any year the show aired: 1959-1964, 1985-1989, 2002-2003, 2019-2020
- A book with a surprise/twist ending
For a BIO option, read a book related to this specific episode:
- A book related to a hospital/healthcare/illness/doctors/nurses/etc
- A book related to entertainment because the main character is a professional dancer
- A book related to dreaming or nightmares
- A book related to premonitions
- A book where something keeps repeating
- A book considered not an author's best: this episode was one of just 6 filmed on a cheaper type of tape as a cost-saving experiment, and is therefore considered inferior, visually to the other episodes
- A second book in a series, as this episode was from Season 2
Creative takes:
- A book set in a hotel because of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland/Disney World
-A book related to any of the actors who starred in The Twilight Zone, like William Shatner, Burt Reynolds, etc
A book connected to the phrase "Here (There) Be Dragons":
This phrase (in Latin: "Hic sunt dracones") famously appears on the Hunt-Lenox Globe, one of the oldest maps of the world, to denote blank spots/unchartered territory. Medieval maps were often illustrated with sea serpents and other mythological beasts in places that had not yet been explored. Alternately, "Hic sunt leones" ("Here Be Lions") was used.
The phrase "Here Be Dragons" has entered the English language as an idiom warning against (potential) danger.
Possible books to fit that prompt could involve mapmaking, historical/adventure novels featuring explorers venturing into the unknown, books with literal dragons, related the the Year of the Dragon, or a more general plot involving the investigation of something unknown and potentially dangerous (scientific research etc.). There should be loads of options to make this prompt work
A book related to glass
2022 is the UN International Year of Glass.
Could be in the title, on the cover (windows, drinking glass, spectacles, shards of glass), about something generally made of glass, or glass plays a part in the story, eg. Cinderella.
I just searched my TBR list for "Around" and "Year" in the title and ... I came up one nonfiction book that has "year" in the subtitle. That's it. I'd love to hear what titles people are thinking about for this one!!!
Okay I willd eifntely vote for the no the title promppt ( as I suggesyed it) and the Disney one. The only one I really don't like ehre is the book you didn't read cos it was overhyped. That has jsut never happeend with me, I have books I read ebcuase of hype and regretted, also books I emant to read and din't get round too depsite the hype but nevr put off by the hype itself.
Nadine wrote: "I just searched my TBR list for "Around" and "Year" in the title and ... I came up one nonfiction book that has "year" in the subtitle. That's it. I'd love to hear what titles people are thinking a..."I have many with year in the title, here are a few:
This Time Next Year
Your Perfect Year
Next Year in Havana
The Ten-Year Nap
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Year of Wonders
I don't have as many with "around," just Around the World in Eighty Days.
Mod
I don't tend to like prompts with page numbers because I can't scan my physical and/or GR shelves and quickly find something. I have to look up the page count for each one. And if it's an ebook, that can really be a mess.
As far as indigenous author, it isn't restricted to North America. I had that prompt for a challenge a few years back and realized that a memoir I had from a Maori woman would fit.
When I went to bed last night I had definite ideas on top and bottom votes, but now that we have more suggestions it got a bit tougher to have a 8 vote limit.I like the one with "around" or "year" in the title because I think I can find something I would enjoy at the library fairly easy. My local library has over 800 adult titles with "around" in it and over 1,000 with "year".
I am having trouble coming up with a book related to a birds eye view. Maybe I need more information on what this prompt is suggesting?
"Birds Eye View" Ideas from the wild discussionBook that inspires you to have a bigger view of the world
Book about birds
Book that has birds cover
Book that has eyes on the cover
Book that involves a character who flies
Book that reflects a different viewpoint than one you hold
A book with a cover that the view is from above (Examples: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)
A book with or about maps
Mod
Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in 72 Days
Sailing Alone around the World
Some books I have with "year"
750 Years in Paris
My Beer Year: Adventures with Hop Farmers, Craft Brewers, Chefs, Beer Sommeliers, and Fanatical Drinkers as a Beer Master in Training
The Missing Years
I have 6 definite ups and 1 definite down for now. I will not vote for indigenous author, since Pop Sugar did it this year, but I don't know that I'll downvote it.I'm super excited for the Disney and dragons ones.
Deborah wrote: " "Birds Eye View" Ideas from the wild discussionThanks Deborah. That helps me out a lot!
Some extra inspiration for books related to glass.Titles
Through The Looking Glasses: The Spectacular Life of Spectacles, The Glass Hotel, The Glass Menagerie, Throne of Glass, The Glass Republic, Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës, Jack Glass, The Amber Spyglass, Glass Sword, Glass Houses, The Glass Palace, Girls Made of Snow and Glass, The Shadow in the Glass, The Looking Glass War, The Glass House, The Glass Room, House of Glass: The story and secrets of a twentieth-century Jewish family, The Glass Bead Game
You could also include mirror or obsidian in the title.
Covers
Listopia
Glass and mirrors
Girls with Glasses in Romance
Books with glass jars, bowls, snowglobes, domes etc on the cover
Written on Glass
Nadine wrote: "I just searched my TBR list for "Around" and "Year" in the title and ... I came up one nonfiction book that has "year" in the subtitle. That's it. I'd love to hear what titles people are thinking a..."As Nancy said, I didn’t have a ton of books for “Around”, and most of the ones on my list have the word in the subtitle, not the simple title. However, I had 65 books on my TBR for “Year.”
For Around, I had:
Wide-Open World: How Volunteering Around the Globe Changed One Family's Lives Forever by John Marshall
Death Around the Bend by T E Kinsey
The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God's Goodness Around You by Shannan Martin
How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together by Dan Kois - BONUS - this one has both words!
Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
A Walk Around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day by Spike Carlsen
Some that I had for “Year” are:
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
The Year They Fell by David Kreizman
The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner
The Year I Left by Christine Brae
My Penguin Year: Life Among the Emperors by Lindsay McCrae
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Those are just a few of the ones on my list that I just kind of randomly picked out, some fiction, some nonfiction.
Instant upvotes to here be dragons, birds eye view and twilight zone.I don't avoid hyped books. I understand it's just something the publishing industry does to get attention for a title, so if a book interests me but happens to have a big marketing budget, why would I avoid it? And I see people using overhyped in a kind of superior way, like a book is popular but because they didn't like it, it's obviously been overhyped by the thousands of people who did like it. So that is going to have to be a downvote for me.
I had loads of great options for Popsugar's indigenous author prompt this year I have no problem doing it again.
I think that non-fiction with no subtitle is going to be hard. I found one option on my non-fic shelves and that's a book that's technically only an essay. Subtitles seem to be a given.
So many great prompts already. I can see a few of these ending up on the final list.
On my shelves I have the following books with year in the main title:The Yearbook
The Year of the Witching
The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country
In Five Years
The Year of the Flood
The Year After You
...And a Happy New Year?
Year of Wonders
The Year of the Ladybird
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
A Year of Marvellous Ways
So I feel it's common enough for a prompt.
Only one with around:
Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure
A couple more 'around' and 'year' books that I can recommend:- The Thing Around Your Neck
- We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
I'll definitely vote for the Disney one since I think it's a clever take for the song-related one that many of us have been trying to pitch. Definitely going to vote for competition since I proposed it!I'm not sure of the multiples of 22 page count because there's only a handful of numbers in the usual length range of books I like. I don't know how I'll allot the rest of my votes; we'll see how this discussion develops over the next few days.
What a great batch of prompts! I don't have any I want to downvote, and am deciding between 6-8 upvotes. (A couple I like the idea of, but might prefer to see if someone comes up with a more creative/clever prompt around the same idea later.)
For #5, Nonfiction without a subtitle - is there a restriction against using memoirs, etc.?
I started looking through books from my TBR that might fit for the Disney challenge, but that's going to take something thinking about what I would and wouldn't count.This isn't a great format for looking through, but it does (supposedly) have a list of all the songs that would apply to this challenge collected in one place:
https://www.listchallenges.com/the-co...
Editing to add some general ideas:
"A Place Called Slaughter Race" from Wreck It Ralph 2: any book that includes a lot of violence, or competitive racing
"How Far I'll Go" from Moana: A travel book
"In Summer" from Frozen: A beach/summer read
"Mother Knows Best" from Tangled: A family drama
"God Help the Outcasts" from Hunchback of Notre Dame: A book about refugees or specific oppressed people group
I think personally I'd prefer to do something where the title of the book is closely related to the title of the song though, and that's harder to decide what's a close enough match.
Blinding Beauty for the song Sleeping Beauty is good though...
Kim wrote: "For #5, Nonfiction without a subtitle - is there a restriction against using memoirs, etc.?"I didn't get that impression. I interpreted this to mean that you could use any non-fiction (including memoirs) as long as it doesn't have a subtitle.
Yes no restriction on the type of non-fiction :) in fact most of the books I found are memoirs
I just found at least one site that you can browse books by plothttps://www.bookbrowse.com
It may help with deciding if you like a prompt, or just add to your TBR.
This is a great list and it will be hard for me to choose just 7! There is only 1 that I plan to downvote.Since I like non-fiction, I will vote for non-fiction without a title. I have 443 books on my GR Non-fiction shelf and found lots that work. Here's a few off the top of the list:
Toil & Trouble
That Quail, Robert
Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
The Elephant Whisperer
Notes from a Young Black Chef
The Great Railway Bazaar
Townie
The Penguin Lessons
One that I recommend is China in Ten Words
For the language or nationality, here are a few suggestions: The Polish Boxer, My Italian Bulldozer, The Good German, Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination, The Dutch House, Mexican Gothic, October: The Story of the Russian Revolutions, The Turkish Gambit, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, and Seven Little Australians. There are lots of options for American, especially if you include subtitles. Also, Vulcan is considered a language and there are some books with Vulcan in the title like Vulcan!, a Star Trek Adventure.
Being a bird lover, I will have to vote for Bird's Eye View! I have a lot of bird-related books on my TBR but I like the other interpretations also!
Kim wrote: "For #5, Nonfiction without a subtitle - is there a restriction against using memoirs, etc.?"No.
I really like these prompts! I don't think I will be down voting anything. There are a few I'm less interested in but not enough to down vote them.
I couldn't find any books with 'around' in the title on my TBR but I found a small number with 'year':My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Initially I thought this prompt was too restrictive but actually the few books I found are ones I really want to read so it might be nice to have a prompt with not too many options in this case.
Robin P wrote: "I don't tend to like prompts with page numbers because I can't scan my physical and/or..."Hi Robin - There is a way you can add the column "# of pages" in Goodreads. So as long as you added it as an eBook/Hardcover/or Paperback you can get that information easily!
Well, Here Be Dragons, Bird's Eye View, related to glass and no subtitle are all immediate upvotes for me. I love them all and hope they all make it in. The only prompt I really don't want is the page number one. I was also the one who suggested orange cover. I suggested it as a nod to Orange Shirt Day (https://www.orangeshirtday.org/) but book by an indigenous author works too.
Found a list about books with a competitionhttps://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/... or
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/co...
I love that Shark vs. Train is on that first list, my son LOVED that book when he was little.
Mod
Hi Robin - There is a way you can add the column "# of pages" in Goodreads. So as long as..."
Thanks, I didn't know that! I love words but as soon as numbers are mentioned my eyes glaze over, so I never thought to check for that. I have needed this for other groups and wasted a lot of time looking one by one.
I am so, so happy and excited about this poll because I don't have any firm downvotes at the moment - there are just a few that would be more challenging for me because nothing on my TBR fits. The 4 I know for sure I'll upvote:
- Here Be Dragons
- Related to glass
- Disney song title
- Twilight Zone (my suggestion!)
I'm going to vote for the Disney one since that was my suggestion originally. I also like the language/nationality in the title, competition as a plot element, and possibly a book I haven't read because it's overhyped. I do tend to avoid books sometimes when they are overhyped because I get so annoyed with seeing them. I liked the Birds Eye view suggestion when it was previously discussed as a cover prompt, but I'm not as into it with the current wording. I have a hard time in general with "related to" prompts (even though I suggested on of those myself) since it can be hard for me sometimes to see the connection clearly enough for it to make sense. If this gets in, I'd probably just go with a cover from a birds eye view, but I'm not that interested.
I like that the page count prompt is open to any edition, but it's a likely downvote for me because I can already see myself being annoyed if the specific version I pick doesn't have the "right" page count. I'm also kind of over "book in translation" as a prompt. I have many books that would fit if it does get in, but I've seen this prompt so many times on so many different challenges, that I think I'd just prefer something else.
So excited for the process to start again!! And a good batch to start with.Upvotes
- indigenous author, even if it was on PopSugar's list. I found a lot of great authors this year through that prompt.
- "in translation" because any time that I can recommend Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a win for me! Seriously, please read this book.
- "Around"/"Year" as I think it's a new twist on our A, T, Y prompt which I think we've run out of options on.
- Disney anything will always get an upvote from me, although I may pick the song ahead of time to make it a bit more challenging as there are a TON of Disney songs.
- language/nationality because it seems like a fun search/hunt as well as a way to find new books.
Downvotes
- "a", "an" or "the" only because I think it's just too easy for me. I'm fine with easy prompts and I don't want only prompts that require research or hunts, but looking at my list this year 30 of my picks would meet this requirement. I think that's just a bit too much of a freebie for me.
Questions
Is there any meaning or significance to "Bird's Eye View"? I'm intrigued but not sure how to connect it in a broader sense (outside of a cover prompt).
Re:the bird’s eye view question that a couple of people asked about, I think of it as seeing the world in a broader perspective, detecting patterns you haven’t seen before. Maybe a book that expands your views and/or introduces new ideas. Could be a book on a different religion, culture, or political view. Anything with a global perspective.
Pam wrote: "Re:the bird’s eye view question that a couple of people asked about, I think of it as seeing the world in a broader perspective, detecting patterns you haven’t seen before. Maybe a book that expand..."Thanks Pam! That definitely helps and I think pushes it to one of my upvotes! I was just having trouble being as creative with my thought process as the rest of you.
Mod
Hi I wouldn't normally do this but as it doens't seem to be emtnioned in the discusion I hope you won't mind if I state my case for the one I proposed. I like a mix of rpromts rangign from easy to find to medium to ahrd. No words a, an or the is flexible prompt with amny options but my no emans afree bie as many books do not fit it. thanks
Only up votes for me this time. We are off to such a great start this year with prompts.Disney Love this one. It even opens it up to villians which can be so much fun.
"Year" and/or "Around" A nod to our specific challenge is always an up vote
Non fiction with no subtitles There are at least a few non fiction on my TBR. Narrowing it down adds to the challenge.
Bird's Eye View So many possibilities; books with large strokes of politics, geography etc; epics with long views; Coffee table books with pictures from a distance, or space; books by or about astronauts.
"Here There Be Dragons" My mind is totally spinning with ideas. So many that I really can not list them.
Not sure which one I will pick of the next prompts
Competition everything from horse races, to building competitions to nature studies.
language or nationality Around the World challenge
Twilight Zone My library has some audiobook versions. It could be fun. It could include car trips with family.
Related to glass sounds interesting but drawing a blank on ideas other than titles.
Mod
I wouldn't normally do this but as it doens't seem to be emtnioned in the discusion I hope you won't mind if I state my case for the one I proposed. I like a mix of rpromts rangign from easy to..."
I think it's fine to advocate for your proposal. I also appreciate that you were open to changing the wording slightly to make it clearer. It's hard for us active participants to believe, but some people vote on the prompts without reading any of these discussion threads. They just look at the description in the poll and if they aren't totally sure about what the prompt means, they don't vote for it.
Still ruminating on my choices, but here are some thoughts:Here be Dragons will be a definite upvote. I'll probably be literal and read a book with dragons.
Leaning toward an upvote in the non-fiction category. I recently bought a book that would work for this, and I would guess I have others.
The overhyped book prompt is an interesting idea, and there are books I've actively avoided because I hear way too much about them. Maybe I'll finally read Gone Girl.
I have some definite ideas for the Disney song prompt.
The Twilight Zone prompt would probably just lead me to horror, but that's a positive.
Still researching. I'll know better what (if any) I'll downvote based on what I can come up with.
Thomas wrote: "Hi I wouldn't normally do this but as it doens't seem to be emtnioned in the discusion I hope you won't mind if I state my case for the one I proposed. I like a mix of rpromts rangign from easy to..."
Always advocate your position! It can definitely change minds and you should fight for your prompt!
I never mean my downvotes to be negative or a reflection on the suggester. I just think it's helpful when we see why the group likes or dislikes a prompt. It gives me a sense of the group and what everyone is looking for or not.
Alicia wrote: "So excited for the process to start again!! And a good batch to start with.Upvotes
- indigenous author, even if it was on PopSugar's list. I found a lot of great authors this year through that p..."
Alicia, I also wanted to make the Disney prompt a bit more challenging so I took a semi-official quiz to see what Disney song I was, and am going to go with my first result! ("Bella Notte" from Lady and the Tramp). It's one way of narrowing it down since you're right that there are really a ton of Disney and Pixar songs.
I like the Here Be Dragons prompt in theory, but can't seem to get my mind past anything other than a book that literally contains dragons, and I know from having that on another challenge this year that it's hard to find options.
Rachel wrote: "I like the Here Be Dragons prompt in theory, but can't seem to get my mind past anything other than a book that literally contains dragons, and I know from having that on another challenge this yea..."The phrase 'Here be dragons" was put on old maps for places that hadn't been explored much or that were really dangerous. So books about the unknown, historical fiction about pirates, or even just a book with a map could also count depending on how strict about interpretations you want to be.
Rachel wrote: "I like the Here Be Dragons prompt in theory, but can't seem to get my mind past anything other than a book that literally contains dragons, and I know from having that on another challenge this yea..."You have a good point! I really like this prompt because it's not too vague and I have a lot of options that work, but they are all books that do literally contain dragons. Some other options I can think of are titles (like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), character names like Draco from the HP series, books with a character that fits the "dragon lady" stereotype like the female relatives in These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong, etc.
Irene wrote: "Alicia, I also wanted to make the Disney prompt a bit more challenging so I took a semi-official quiz to see what Disney song I was, and am going to go with my first result! ("Bella Notte" from Lady and the Tramp)."I loved that quiz, and I hope we include it in the description if the prompt gets through. I got a Whole New World! Which actually is one of my favorite songs. There's just so many good ones, it's hard to choose just one.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Long Flight Home (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sharon Kay Penman (other topics)Sharon Kay Penman (other topics)
Maria V. Snyder (other topics)
Voting will open in the morning of Saturday July 3rd and results will be posted in the morning of Tuesday July 6th.
How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favorite and least favorite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes) - You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list (usually between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)
As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.
Possible Prompts:
1. A book in translation
2. A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney or Pixar movie
3. Title includes the word "Around" or "Year"
4. A book without the words "a", "an" or "the" in the title
5. A non-fiction book without a subtitle
6. A book with a competition as a main plot element
7. A book you haven't read because it is or was overhyped
8. A book related to the phrase “Birds Eye View”
9. A book with a language or nationality in the title
10. A book where the page count of any edition is a multiple of 22
11. Read a book with an orange cover
12. Read a book related to The Twilight Zone, in honor of the classic second season episode, "Twenty Two"
13. A book connected to the phrase "Here (There) Be Dragons
14. A book related to glass
15. A book by an indigenous author
Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.
VOTE HERE: Poll 1