Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2023] Wild Discussion
I like the nordic prompt, the north / south hempsphere prompts and international awards prompt.The pre poll list looks ok to me.
The pre-poll looks fine to me. I personally don't like the "ATY book of the month" prompt but would happily vote for/accept any of the others.
Louise wrote: "Agree - I find the GR Choice award to be mainly marketing fluff.."I also agree. Since Amazon took over GR, they mostly put in books they want to promote and sell.
I like them all. In order of priority:4. A book that fits a suggestion that didn't make the list this year. This one is essential imo.
5. A book inspired by something you read in 2021 - "inspired" is more meaningful to me than "connected," but I'll vote for it either way. Looking for connections is always fun for me.
6. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022. This is good for the group as a whole.
2. A book published in 2022. I always read new books even when I vow to wait.
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3. A book you meant to read in 2021. I always have books left over, so this is easy for me. But if it's not here, I'll find other spots for those books.
1. A winner or nominee from the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards. I stopped caring about this last year, but it's an easy way to find a spot for bestsellers, or new non-fiction books. Realistically, these books are likely to show up on the ATY best bom threads if they're good.
Oooh 2023 list already! I'm travelling for the next few months so probably won't be able to participate in the suggestions as much as I'd like to this year but still excited to see what the group comes up with. Lots of great ideas in this thread already.As for the prepoll I'm fine with the proposed list as those are all prompts that get suggested every year. If we leave any out they will almost certainly come up again later in the voting. I would be fine with whatever makes the cut, though I wouldn't vote for them all as there is some overlap for me personally (e.g. 'released in 202X' and GR choice awards - I would prefer the former over the latter). I would most like to see the prompts connected to the group make the final list, such as ATY best books of the month.
I like the idea of an extreme north and extreme south pairing, but I think it would be more practical to keep them separate. I really want to read a Nordic book, and I might want to read another Antarctica book. I'm not sure others would agree with Antarctica. - North hemisphere + South hemisphere = the whole world, so that's too broad.
- North poll and south poll is too narrow, and unequal. (In another challenge we discovered few options for the north poll.)
- I looked for a latitude line that might work, but nothing looked right. It's easier to identify countries.
Thomas wrote: "I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like “inspired” what if you don’t have a new favourite author or favourite genre?"I often get inspired by books to read more about a topic, a time-period, or region of the world. Some books mention other books that I might want to read. The Sentence and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress led me to other good books. "Connected" works too, and it doesn't have to be a "new" interest. I'll vote for it with either wording.
NancyJ wrote: "I like the idea of an extreme north and extreme south pairing, but I think it would be more practical to keep them separate.I wonder if people would be open to a more generic "a book related to one of the cardinal directions" prompt? That way you could read a book set in the far north/south if you wanted to take a country approach, or a book with one of those words in the title, or interpret some other way. It could also work as a multi-week prompt (e.g. two books related to north and south).
That said I do also like the specific Nordic prompt if we really want to keep the country connection
NancyJ wrote: I looked for a latitude line that might work, but nothing looked right. It's easier to identify countries...."I thought the Arctic Circle might be a good one to pick a list of countries but of course it includes the US thanks to Alaska.
Ellie wrote: "Just going down a rabbit(!) hole of googling the number 23, discovered there are 23 books in Beatrix Potter's series that starts with The Tale of Peter Rabbit and that there is a thing..."I might have to re-read A Wild Sheep Chase next year... :-D
I know I don't read anything different unless it is a prompt on our list, one of the reasons I do this every year. I would like to see a prompt or two on some of the new genres or cross genres I come across as a librarian. Maybe bromance, western-sci fi, Historical fiction/mystery, rom/com or comedy with any other genre. Oooh weird westerns. I know that we have had the cross genre prompts before, but they are getting more popular and it might be nice to narrow it down a little.
I'm new to ATY this year and don't have history with how to word prompts for this group. I had some thoughts on 23 though.The earth's axis is tilted to about 23.5 degrees. This creates our seasons. We could read a book with a season in the title or with a planet shown on the cover or about astronomy.
The Koran was revealed to Muhammad over the course of 23 years. To go along with learning about other cultures we could read a book set in a predominantly Muslim nation.
It is a prime number. Read a book with any prime number in the title.
Yay for 2023 list making! I have been, of course, pondering how to get my beloved book-related prompt in. Last year I tried A book about books and A book with a character who loves books, the second of which was a close call.So the alternative I came up with is A book where books or reading are important.
This opens it up to setting (book shop, library), character (author, avid reader, publisher), or theme (about books), plus I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of.
I'm not tied to the wording, any thoughts?
Diane L wrote: "I'm new to ATY this year and don't have history with how to word prompts for this group. I had some thoughts on 23 though.The earth's axis is tilted to about 23.5 degrees. This creates our season..."
not sure on Islam becuase we had a Muslim prompt last year and then a Jewish character or author prompt this year. So personally I would prefer it if we carried on going around,
NancyJ wrote: "I like the idea of an extreme north and extreme south pairing, but I think it would be more practical to keep them separate. I really want to read a Nordic book, and I might want to read another An..."If we keep the north and south idea vague enough, there are options for all kinds of interesting pairings. Like, you could read a book set in North Korea and one set in South Korea. Then the people who want their arctic exploration books could do that and others who aren't a fan could do northern/southern hemispheres, or North and South America, or north and south of the same country (North and South, anyone?)
Mod
Robin P wrote: "That could be a 2-week prompt - book somehow related to north & somehow related to south."I certianly North and South as a multiweek prompt. So many options
On another note one that often comes up in other challenges when suggestions are asked for “a book you were meant to read in school but didn’t” this is difficult for some people like me because of how our school system works but is there a way to rephrase it rather than ditching the idea completely?
Thomas wrote: "On another note one that often comes up in other challenges when suggestions are asked for “a book you were meant to read in school but didn’t” this is difficult for some people like me because of ..."You could try "A book that is often assigned as a school assignment that you've never read". And that way it leaves it open for more recent books that are now being assigned to kids or books from other countries and not just the 'Classics'.
I was some one who read every book I was assigned in school, plus several of the books my friends were assigned, just because they looked interesting.
Thomas, do you mean something like this? A classic often taught in high schools.
A great book often taught in high schools. (There are lots of lists of these books.)
A classic you feel like you should have already read.
A great book that you missed in your youth
A great books you meant to read long ago.
A great book you always meant to read.
A book someone else said "I can't believe you never read ___."
Maybe the wording 'A book that is often taught in schools', anyway I like the idea.
Diane L wrote: "I'm new to ATY this year and don't have history with how to word prompts for this group. I had some thoughts on 23 though.The earth's axis is tilted to about 23.5 degrees. This creates our seasons. We could read a book with a season in the title or with a planet shown on the cover or about astronomy.
The Koran was revealed to Muhammad over the course of 23 years. To go along with learning about other cultures we could read a book set in a predominantly Muslim nation"
Uhh I like both of these!
NancyJ wrote: "Thomas, do you mean something like this? A classic often taught in high schools.
A great book often taught in high schools. (There are lots of lists of these books.)
A classic you feel like you sh..."
All great but i particuarly like the first two
Mod
1. A winner or nominee from the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
2. A book published in 2022
3. A book you wanted to read in 2021
4. A book that fits a suggestion that didn't make the list this year
5. A book connected to something you read in 2021
6. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022
(I personally love the GR Choice Award prompt because I always have a million of them on my TBR lol. And I don't really like the suggestion that didn't make it because it feels like a lot of a freebie. But I know I'm in the minority on both of those haha!)
Emily wrote: "Updated the wording on a couple of these to match the discussion. What do y'all think now?1. A winner or nominee from the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
2. A book published in 2022
3. A book you wa..."
They all seem good choices. I'm not saying i would vote for all of them but thye all look right as options.
I've only skimmed this thread now because work, ugh, but I like what I've seen in passing, so many creative ideas!I was wondering if I could try my "degrees of separation" prompt from two years ago again. It was pretty polarizing and ended up at the bottom last time, so I didn't suggest it for 2022, but I think lots of people didn't really understand it and thought they would be required to reach out to an author themselves ...
As a reminder, I suggested the prompt "Read a book by an author no more than two degrees of separations away from you", which meant they could read a book by an author that either (a) they themselves or (b) someone they know had met or had a meaningful interaction with (such as a conversation on social media). Since we all know each other in this group, I started a thread where we could all post our author interactions, so anyone in this group could have picked any author from that thread.
I think people felt it was either too compliated or too broad, and one person even stated blankly "I'm not interested in reading a book because somebody met the author" (which made me wonder how they would argue being interested in reading books for other prompt-related reasons, but OK). I still love the idea, though, because it honors us as a group, and it's unlike any prompt I've seen before.
Any thoughts?
I liked it the first time around, Conny - and still think it’s a great idea :) I would vote for it.
Emily wrote: "Updated the wording on a couple of these to match the discussion. What do y'all think now?1. A winner or nominee from the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
2. A book published in 2022
3. A book you wa..."
I'm not sure about that Emily, goodreads chocie has got in in the past so you aren't alone in liking it. In previosu years the past suggestion never wins at first but tneds to win at a later date, presuambly becuase after a few polls a lot of peopel have one they really wnated that didn't get in
Mod
Emily wrote : "Updated the wording on a couple of these to match the discussion. What do y'all think now?1. A winner or nominee from the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
2. A book published in 2022
3. A book you wanted to read in 2021
4. A book that fits a suggestion that didn't make the list this year
5. A book connected to something you read in 2021
6. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022
Just a few of my thoughts. I think they are fine.
1. I like the GR Choice Awards winner or nominee from 2021 because there are always books on there I wanted to read or own. I do miss the write in option for the awards but never felt a write in got chosen. If you do more than one reading challenge some version of this prompt is usually in another challenge.
2. A book published in 2022 is another prompt that is in other challenges so I will be doing this prompt any way.
3/5 seem close to each other for me.
4. A prompt that didn't make the list is a good time to read about birds, bees, bunnies, books with something from a song in them, etc.
6. I'm always looking for book recommendations.
Uhm .. silly question, but shouldn't the Pre-Poll questions be updated to fit into 2023 ...? Hence:1. A winner or nominee from the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards
2. A book published in 2023
3. A book you wanted to read in 2022
4. A book that fits a suggestion that didn't make the list this year
5. A book connected to something you read in 2022
6. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2022 or 2023
Conny wrote: "I've only skimmed this thread now because work, ugh, but I like what I've seen in passing, so many creative ideas!I was wondering if I could try my "degrees of separation" prompt from two years a..."
Something I've been thinking about lately is how when I first started doing this challenge, I was intimidated by prompts that seemed like it would be difficult for me to independently research. But as I've kept participating, I now really like prompts where I feel like I can make use of the ATY group to find a book to fit! Your degrees of separation prompt seems like that second kind, especially since you have the list already created. Maybe we can think about a way to word it that highlights that aspect of it!
On the same note, I had a prompt suggestion last year that I think also might have not gotten in because it seems hard to research ("a book about a minority group in a country that's not your own.") But part of the reason I'd like this prompt to get in is that I've really liked the books like this that I've read and because they are hard to research, it would be great to have an ATY-sourced list of them!
I think it's fun to think of prompt suggestions like this. "If I could have a tailor-made list of books that fit a certain theme or category, what would I want that to be?"
Emily wrote: "(Just a head's up: I've updated the community spreadsheet for the 2023 voting, if you want to go claim a spot.)"For those of us who are new this year, where can we find the spreadsheet?
ETA - I think I found it as a separate tab in the current 2022 s/s.
Had a conversation about the meaning of names, which veered into names that are or sound like things/nouns. What about an author whose name contains or sounds like it contains a noun/thing in some language: - ship, van, stone, star, mat, coffee,...
Some examples:
Jeff VanderMeer
Matt Haig
Nic Stone
John Steinbeck
Seanan McGuire <-- sounds like 'wire'
Kathleen Sky
Donna Fielder
Conny wrote: "I've only skimmed this thread now because work, ugh, but I like what I've seen in passing, so many creative ideas!I was wondering if I could try my "degrees of separation" prompt from two years a..."
I also like it and would vote for it!
I was wondering if I could try my "degrees of separation" prompt from two years ago again. It was pretty polarizing and ended up at the bottom last time, so I didn't suggest it for 2022, but I think lots of people didn't really understand it and thought they would be required to reach out to an author themselves ...I'm not a huge fan of this prompt, because if you don't interact with authors personally/know anyone outside the ATY group who does, it feels almost like picking a book based on coincidence rather than for a meaningful reason - like picking a book because you wanted to read it for some other reason and thankfully it turns out someone liked the author's Twitter update once.
But I do like the broader idea of reading a book connected to the group, like if everyone nominated an author who inspired them or something and then we could all give someone else's beloved authors a try.
I'm also not taken with the "separation" idea - I'm wondering what if I don't want to read any author that someone in the group has met/interacted with? - Seems a bit too tight?I would be happier with something broader, for instance picking another member's 5 star read, or an author of a 5 star read.
Mod
For clarification: so last year Ruth Ware did a q and a and I asked a question and she answered it. so would that mean that I could read anything by her for this prompt because of that exchange?
Mod
Thomas, yes, that would fit 1 degree of separation.
NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Two suggestions having nothing to do with 2023, celebratory months/years, or bunnies…1) A book set in a place you’d like to visit. It could be a foreign country, a city/state/provin..."
1) I'm please to see that several people like my idea about reading a book set in a place you'd like to visit / travel to!
2) Nancy - I like your rework of my original idea to read about a character who does what you "wanted to be when you grow up". Your rework "A book with a character who has a job or career you might have loved" is great. I would further rework it (to open it up a bit more) to:
"A book with a character who has a career or hobby you think would be interesting".
This could mean reading about a cancer researcher, an anthropologist, a fashion designer, etc. OR someone who is a mountain climber, a bird watcher, an amateur painter, etc. Basically, trying on someone else's Vocation or Avocation on for size.
Tracy wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Two suggestions having nothing to do with 2023, celebratory months/years, or bunnies…1) A book set in a place you’d like to visit. It could be a foreign country, a ci..."
Would vote for either of yours
Diane L wrote: "Read a book with any prime number in the title."Or a book with the word "Prime" in the title.
I like the North/South hemisphere books for 2 prompts. I don't think it's too broad.
And maybe a book published in a year ending in a prime number
Hi everyone! :DI'm not caught up on this discussion, but as always, I love the rabbit prompt (we need to band together and make sure this is the year it happens!!) and the prompts that are specific to the year 2023.
Apologies if this is something that has already been discussed, but this year, I would absolutely love to see creative prompts that are a bit more out-there. I'm one of those people who dislikes "related to" prompts, and would always rather do a more difficult but more specific and original prompt than an easy generic one. My least favorites tend to be the ones that are repeated frequently in other challenges.
Kahlia wrote: "But I do like the broader idea of reading a book connected to the group, like if everyone nominated an author who inspired them or something and then we could all give someone else's beloved authors a try"Last year I put together a list of favorite books recommended by members of this group. I'm wondering if there would be any interest if I re-suggested the prompt of "Read a book from the ATY-curated list of Great Books" since that was something personal/unique to the members of the group (and I could add new members' responses to the list, of course).
Edit: Found it! It's a list of 54 books and I included the name of the person who nominated the book and their reason for choosing it as well:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
There are a lot of amazing books on there, but I guess I'm biased!
I think since we always end up having a few list-type prompts anyway, it would be cool to have one that's specific to this group even if it's not the prompt I'm suggesting. Thoughts and ideas? :D
Irene your list prompt seems better than many others. I’m not a fan of list prompts but I would choose over many others. Otherwise we will have to agree to disagree. I don’t want prompts that are difficult to fill because that means time and effort spent finding them which could be better spent actually reading ( I know some say it’s not a challenge if the prompts are easy to fill but to me reading 52 books in a year is the challenge) plus it means the odds of my existing tbr fitting it are lower. I’m not saying some harder prompts shouldn’t be there but I would hate them to dominate.
Thomas wrote: "Irene your list prompt seems better than many others. I’m not a fan of list prompts but I would choose over many others. Otherwise we will have to agree to disagree. I don’t want prompts that are d..."Thomas, I agree with you! I wouldn't want the more difficult ones to dominate either, but I would love to vote for easy prompt suggestions that are also original, if that makes sense :) For example, I think our tarot card prompt is pretty much a freebie but it's super creative so I really like it!
I've just seen the news that the Costa book award has been discontinued after 50 years, what a shame. Perhaps a prompt to read one of the winners of any year? Or a short-listed or long-listed book to make it broader?
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I admire your organization, Marie, I keep changing my plans all the time. But if this prompt wins, I definitely think "a book I wanted to read" is a fair interpretation.
Many of our members are honest to a fault and want to capture the exact literal meaning of each prompt. I am more freewheeling, and where the ATY challenge differs from many others is that our motto in general is "If you say it fits, it fits." Which doesn't mean I just choose anything, but I might have a "creative" explanation of why I think a book fits a prompt. I like that there is no one "right" way to do the ATY challenge, such as a moderator determining what counts.