Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2023] Wild Discussion
Nancy wrote: "Jill wrote: "I don’t do rereads. Life is too short and there are so many undiscovered gems out there."Same. So many books, so little time is my motto."
I agree. I generally won't read a book unless it's a series and I need to remember what happened as there was a big break between books. (And The Magic Faraway Tree I've read a few times :P)
Bec wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Jill wrote: "I don’t do rereads. Life is too short and there are so many undiscovered gems out there."Same. So many books, so little time is my motto."
I agree. I generally won't r..."
I love The Faraway Tree books
I think “a book with faith as a theme” was a bottom vote. I wonder if the mods would consider any religious type prompt ineligible to resubmit? Even if it is allowed, I suspect people wouldn’t vote for a religion prompt if they didn’t like faith.
NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Jill wrote: "Some time ago we talked about religion. How do you feel about a book connected to a religion that is not your own. If you are an atheist that would leave the whole field ..."Nancy, have you read The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding? It's a non-fiction but reads beautifully.
Tracy wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm never present for the suggestions threads, but maybe a prompt for an unreliable narrator could be good."I hear this term a lot, but have to say I don't really know how a narr..."
I think we had this discussion a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't nominated?
Agreed, the only book I've re-read is The Hobbit.
I don't reread that much. But I have three series that I'm constantly rereading (all old teenage favourites), and whenever I get stressed I tend to reread my old favourite romance novels. Sometimes when my brain is like pudding, I just need something familiar to pull me out of my funk!Which is all to say: I'd quite like the reread prompt! Especially as I'm planning to tackle Discworld again next year.
I'd also quite like "a book involving religion". I think it stands a slightly higher chance of getting through than faith, it's a bit more specific, and there are fun options there.
I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I might suggest A Book Related to Animal Crossing.This could include:
-A book with an animal protagonist
-A book set in a small town
-A book related to a video game
-A Book with a main character who shares a name with an Animal Crossing character (https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wik...)
--Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
-A book with an author who shares a name with an Animal Crossing character (https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wik...)
--Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
-A book published between 2001-2020
-A book originally published in Japan
-A book about Animal Crossing itself
Amy (Other Amy) has other great ideas here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
So, lots of options!
dalex faith and religion are not the same thing,and yes i think it was discussed with the mods. forget it
is animal crossings a game?if s lot of people in tne group play it, it might get in. i could read a different book involving animals.
Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I might suggest A..."I love this idea. I'm wanting to read the Assassins Creed books (which is another computer game). But I'd love to figure out what other books would fit.
Actually I just had a look at the list of character names, and I have loads of ideas of books with characters that have the same names!!!
i cannot follow this discussion on the app. later
NancyJ wrote: "is animal crossings a game?if s lot of people in tne group play it, it might get in. i could read a different book involving animals."Yes its a computer game series where the characters are animals who live in a town and own shops etc. The game is about building a house, and making friends with the villagers and doing tasks for them. It's super cute and its very popular. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_...
The latest iteration had the (dubious?) luck of coming out March 2020, so basically right at the start of the pandemic. As a result a good portion of people spent the entirety of 2020 playing it obsessively, and a lot of people have continued since then.It's excellent stress relief! And the main video game I cite when people start complaining about all video games being too competitive/violent. There's no violence and competition, you just wander around a pretty island for half an hour a day!
Lindsay wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I..."I'm so glad somebody else likes it! There are so many characters, and although a lot of them have unique names it'd be relatively easy (but just challenging enough to be fun) to find one that fits.
Siobhan wrote: "A Book Related to Animal Crossing..."Big yes from me!
Would totally upvote animal crossing! Never played it but like a lot of the interpretations listed. I have lots of books that deal with video game isekai stories.
NancyJ wrote: "dalex faith and religion are not the same thing,and yes i think it was discussed with the mods. forget it"Semantically, they're different. But imo the books that fit one would fit the other so they are very similar in terms of prompts.
I have the faith prompt slotted for my rejects challenge and if a religion prompt were to get voted in I would just move those books to that prompt instead.
Mandy wrote: "Would totally upvote animal crossing! Never played it but like a lot of the interpretations listed. I have lots of books that deal with video game isekai stories."
I'm actually really pleased that so many people are into it! When I post (if I post, hoping that work will be slow!) I'll definitely be sure to list the interpretations too.
Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I might suggest A..."I love this prompt. I haven't ever played Animal Crossing but it's a game that interests me. And I like how many interpretations it has.
Mod
As someone who's never played animal crossing, it would probably be a downvote for me if it ever turned up.
I was wondering whether to revisit the Queen one. Maybe modifying it to "a book written by, or about, someone honoured by Queen Elizabeth II". That would widen it to include biographies.
I've never played Animal crossing and I know 0 about it, so i'd downvote immediately..
For the queen one I think it needs to be broadened to "related to royalty"
Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I might suggest A..."LOL that is so quirky that I would vote for it. My daughter plays Animal Crossing. What I know: small town, island, ocean (or river), clothing choices, bugs, sharks, fruit trees. I could find a book that fits one of those things.
As honoured by the Queen was a close call I’m going to try it again with an addition to include books about someone honoured by the Queen
I've never played Animal Crossing but I wouldn't downvote it just for that reason. I just wouldn't vote for it.
Mod
Thomas wrote: "As honoured by the Queen was a close call I’m going to try it again with an addition to include books about someone honoured by the Queen"Please try it again Thomas, but don't make it just "related to royalty" - that is just too broad.
I feel we don't really have enough "challenging" prompts, but maybe that's just me? Maybe people want broad prompts? We also need something fun? I don't know anything about Animal Crossing, but sounds like that could be fun.
Animal Crossing is actually a Japanese game (which could be another interpretation, actually!) but I think it is very popular in the US. I'm in the UK and it's quite popular here too.I think I might try to suggest it if I can. If it doesn't get in that's fine, but there's a lot more interest than I was expecting!
well they just added NPR so that’s one more specific prompt
Robin P wrote: "I wonder if Animal Crossing is mainly a US thing. I know it exists but never play it (or any other online games except word-related ones!) It might be another case where anyone who doesn't immediat..."According to wiki it’s newest game is world wide, selling over 39.38 million copies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_...
There are many ways of ‘terping this game. Here are two others.
Book that takes place on island
Book that involves sea travel
What platform is Animal Crossing on? Do you have to have a gaming console to play?
Nintendo Switch for sure. Not sure about others or if there is a PC version.
dalex wrote: "What platform is Animal Crossing on? Do you have to have a gaming console to play?"You don't, actually! The main game series is generally on console (the current generation is on the Nintendo Switch), but there's also an iteration of it (Pocket Camp, I think) that you can get on your smartphone.
It's one of those that got so popular that they've basically branched out to as many areas as possible.
Siobhan wrote: "dalex wrote: "What platform is Animal Crossing on? Do you have to have a gaming console to play?"You don't, actually! The main game series is generally on console (the current generation is on th..."
Thanks! I might have to check it out. I used to be an obsessive Sims player and this sounds somewhat similar.
I would like an animal crossing prompt. It's one of my favorite games because I don't have to be a master video gamer to play it. It totally reminds me of the sims but with cute animals as villagers.
I would absolutely upvote a book related to Animal Crossing. As a game, it's too much of a chore for me, but as a prompt there are just so many neat things you could do to slot a book.
I like the 1950's new article idea, lots of places to go with that. Religion, re-read and unreliable are all downvotes for me for reasons already hashed out above. Animal Crossing - my knee jerk reaction was no but I do think it is different and as Nadine said, quirky so I think I would upvote just for that.
Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I might suggest A..."I like this idea. For people who would downvote it just because they don't know the game, please don't. I think the various descriptors that Siobhan has included should give you lots of directions to go without even once seeing the game in play.
As others have described, it's basically a Sims game with animals fishing and farming and trading and being good to one another (from what I remember when my kids played it ~15 years ago).
The list of character names provided is also an easy way to go. I started scanning the list and came across the name "Biff", which reminded me of this book that could work for Animal Crossing OR a book connected to religion (but without being religious at all from what I remember of it): Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. If you aren't familiar with Christopher Moore, his books are described as "comic fantasy". Some of his more recent ones are a bit different from that, but Lamb definitely fits that description.
Mod
From my experience trying to get Tookie's book list from The Sentence through (and past years when people nominate the Rory Gilmore books), people do a lot of "I won't vote for it because it's not something I know about" and that seems short-sighted when it's just about picking a book.
So my reaction is a) I have no clue what animal crossing is so b) I would need to look at some listopias. I am not going to research the game to understand it and figure out book links, but give me some lists of books that might work and I would use those to decide.
You see I’ve seen that a few times but speaking for myself, I don’t vote things down because I don’t know about them. I voted down Tookie because there were no books on the list I wanted to read and when it’s a list there is no scope for interpretation, it’s on or it’s not.
Pamela wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "I'm already half convinced that it won't get in, but if I'm around for the next suggestions round (I might be! It's a good time for Europe, but also I'm working the next two days) I..."Good idea Pamela - let those who are already familiar with a proposed topic populate a Listopia so those that don't know about it, and understandably don't want to research it just to vote, can at least look at a list of books that fit to see if it will still work for them.
I know that the official listopias aren't created until after the results come out, but suggesters often do present links with ideas (and others add to it), so usually there is SOMETHING to work with.
Thomas wrote: "You see I’ve seen that a few times but speaking for myself, I don’t vote things down because I don’t know about them. I voted down Tookie because there were no books on the list I wanted to read an..."That's what I didn't understand about Tookie's List. Downvoting because you weren't interested in the very easily read list makes sense, but downvoting because you don't know where it came from (Louise Erdrich's The Sentence), or hadn't read that book, confused me.
Tracy wrote: "Thomas wrote: "You see I’ve seen that a few times but speaking for myself, I don’t vote things down because I don’t know about them. I voted down Tookie because there were no books on the list I wa..."I agree that is strange especially when most people doing this challenge presumably have internet access.
Siobhan wrote: "Animal Crossing is actually a Japanese game (which could be another interpretation, actually!) but I think it is very popular in the US. I'm in the UK and it's quite popular here too...."I definitely saw a variety of languages when trying to get custom patterns!
We've seen it in the past with songs as well, which hasn't really come up this year. Last year there were several prompts related to songs that were suggested and people were like, "I don't know that song so I'm not going to vote for it." Even when there were so many ways you could interpret the song if you just read the lyrics.Tookie's is another one where I just didn't vote either way. I haven't read the book but I know where it comes from because of this thread. I wasn't really interested in any of the books on the list either. So just decided to not up or down vote it.
Gail wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Jill wrote: "Some time ago we talked about religion. How do you feel about a book connected to a religion that is not your own. If you are an atheist that would leave t..."Gail, that book sounds interesting. I sometimes feel angry about all the ways that religion has divided people, but women like this give me hope. It’s possible to bridge those gaps or at least try. I read an audiobook last year by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. It was wonderful to hear the affection they have for one another.
Mod
With our voting process, we necessarily have to appeal to a large group, it's the opposite of challenges like Book Riot where a few people in charge choose what they want everyone to read.
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Around the Year in 52 Books
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I’m in favor of a book that “includes a religious topic.”
“About religion” is too restrictive, and I’d rather let people choose any religion or topic. It doesn’t need to be the main topic. I had a planned prompt involving a religious person or topic, but I shelved it after the chess prompt.
Religion is a huge part of history, culture, beliefs and behavior, for better or for worse. And it’s in many genres including science fiction. It affects people’s motives, and can be a source of conflict between individuals, groups, countries and regions. Plots need conflict, characters need depth, and settings need interesting details. Religious beliefs, events, rituals, and ceremonies help ground a story in a culture, even if the precepts of that religion are not discussed.
It shows up in personal stories, family stories, conflicts about marrying outside their religion, cultural values,norms. Add in stories about the Inquisition, Henry VIII and other royals, civil wars, WWII, 9/11, genocides, etc. There are both positive and negative stories involving the Catholic Church in history, as well as many other religious groups. Religious groups have been behind banned book lists, censorship, organized book burnings, censorship in movies, protection of child abusers, oppression of women, head covering, stoning, killings of women , gays, etc.
I ended up reading many books this year that included religion as part of the context, or the plot, or a main character. Only two were planned for that. None of them proselytized, two were very critical of the church, and they all told fascinating stories. One of the Maddaddam books had a religious group (in the future) that was very entertaining.
I would still like
A book with a religious topic
A book involving religion or culture
A book that touches on religion or cultural beliefs
A book that includes a religious institution or building.
A book with a religious topic or setting