Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2023] Wild Discussion
Rachel wrote: "Personally, I prefer to be able to make a connection between the book I pick and the prompt on my own, instead just choosing from a list that others told me have worked."That's totally understandable, too. I would vote for Pokemon even though I haven't played it, but I don't mind doing research on a video game just because I love them as an art that much. But I can absolutely get how people don't really want to delve into something they don't know well (it's how I feel about every single list prompt with two exceptions). And making that connection and slotting your puzzle piece into place is exactly what makes reading challenges fun.
Robin P wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Or a book involving death? Not spoilery death but about someone dying or has just died. Would people think that is morbid/ depressing?I just started a book about cemeteries, so cle..."
I am so sorry about your daughter. Sending you both strength & calm.
I did not vote for faith (I don't think, can't remember exactly) but I WOULD vote for a book about religion.I'm really mostly interested in books where someone escapes a fundamentalist religion or books about cults which don't feel like they fit the "faith" type prompt but are fine for "religion". I interpret prompts as literally as possible.
Rachel wrote: "I think there's a bit of a difference between not voting for something because you don't know it at all, and not voting for it because you have no connection.Just as an example, I've never played..."
I feel pretty much the same way. If I don't feel that personal connection, I'm unlikely to vote for it, no matter how well I understand it, because there are going to be other categories I DO feel connected to ... and we only get 8 votes :-)
And that's why I love the Animal Crossing idea (because my daughter plays it often) but I would not be as excited by Mario or Pokemon (despite the fact that the same daughter likes both of those - she does not play those games around me so I'm not familiar with them).
I also like to be able to know if a book fits without having to consult a list - I want to be able to pick a book of a shelf and know right away if it works or not. Categories that don't allow me to do that are less appealing to me.
Robin P wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Or a book involving death? Not spoilery death but about someone dying or has just died. Would people think that is morbid/ depressing?I just started a book about cemeteries, so cle..."
I am so sorry Robin. Sending her a lot of strength and good wishes.
i have to ask is it possible to read about colonialism and avoid the British Empire?
The French, Dutch, and I think Germans were also colonialists. Take a look at a lot of Caribbean Islands and Africa for examples. Also parts of Asia (Philippines - the Spanish I forgot to include, certain times in Malaysia, etc))
Just off the top of my head Heart of Darkness is about colonialism and not the British Empire ( I want to say the colonial power in it was Belgium but I might not be correct)
Sorry to hear Robin, sending positive thoughts to you and your family.
Also Russia, Spain, the United States, Japan, China. Most of the large world powers would fall under that category at some point
Sorry to hear about your daughter, Robin.I too would downvote a prompt about death or dying
Healing thoughts to you and your daughter Robin <3
We have murder so I suppose may seem to similar
Thomas wrote: "i have to ask is it possible to read about colonialism and avoid the British Empire?"Yes! The whole world is filled with examples of colonialism. In the US, for example, the violence against the indigenous peoples would definitely qualify.
Here are a few I can think of offhand:
- Belgium in the Congo
- Portugal in Japan
- Italy in Ethiopia
- Spain and Portugal in Latin America
- Many different countries going into Africa, including France and Netherlands
- Ottoman Empire in southeastern Europe
- China in Tibet
These are just a few of numerous examples.
I highly recommend the book Rape of Nanking to learn about Japan’s attempt to take over China and the massacre in Nanking
Mod
Yes! The whole world is filled with examples of colonialism. In the US, for example, the violenc..."
And there's always Rome....
Per the request for “more joyful prompts next time”, how about:“A book focusing on a parent and child relationship”?
I know not all ARE joyful, but there is certainly a lot of opportunity here.
For colonialism, there are also a lot of sci fi books about colonizing other planets if someone wanted to go that route.
Colonization is a subgenre of sci-fi.http://worldswithoutend.com/searchwwe...
https://www.tor.com/2022/02/01/5-fant...
https://eisenhowerlibrary.org/andy-we...
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/17-best...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
That’s an option. I don’t think we have any real sci-fi prompts do we.?
Just curious, does anyone else track their voting throughout the process?So far, for the prompts that have made it into the 2023 challenge, I have upvoted 11 (28%), downvoted 5 (13%). and was indifferent about 22 (55%).
We have voted on 195 prompts (15 prompts X 13 weeks). I have upvoted 42, downvoted 60, and was indifferent about 93.
My numbers are slightly off because there was the summer challenge prompt that we didn't vote on and I didn't start tracking until Week 1 so the pre-poll isn't include in my calculations.
Mod
So far, for the prompts that have made it into the 2023 challenge, I have upvoted 11 (28%), downvoted 5 (13%). and was ..."
Very impressive! Not only don't I track, but I often forget what I voted for immediately after doing so - except for those few I really feel strongly about for or against.
Robin P wrote: "Very impressive! Not only don't I track, but I often forget what I voted for immediately after doing so - except for those few I really feel strongly about for or against.."Same I might remember ones I really disliked and really loved, but I couldn't tell now how I voted in most of the polls.
Dalax, I track mine but have not looked up the percentage yet.
Mod
My voting has definitely changed this year though, with more emphasis on broader prompts (because, baby coming), and generally more upvotes than downvotes (last week was the first time I went 5 down, it's always been 4 or less), so that makes the stats make sense.
Emily if you don’t mind me asking why does having a baby give you more interest in broader prompts
Mod
dalex wrote: "Just curious, does anyone else track their voting throughout the process?So far, for the prompts that have made it into the 2023 challenge, I have upvoted 11 (28%), downvoted 5 (13%). and was ind..."
Yes. So far, I've upvoted 10 of the winners, and downvoted 7 of the winners. It's almost always this way for me.
For joyful prompts, perhaps:A book with one of your favorite tropes.
A book with a happy ending.
A humorous book (something similar has been suggested at least once, and did not make a showing in the results.
A book with a party (this is a category in this year's Popsugar).
A book in which the characters are on a vacation/holiday.
I think "joyful" might be different for everyone, though, which is probably why I don't see this list as depressing.
Nadine in NY wrote: "For joyful prompts, perhaps:A book with one of your favorite tropes.
A book with a happy ending.
A humorous book (something similar has been suggested at least once, and did not make a showing in..."
I'm not so keen on the vacation/holiday one, but I'd quite happily vote for all the others! A very joyous set of prompts.
(Although I'd probably use the party one for a house party where there's a murder, which may not quite fit the spirit of the prompt...)
"A book with one of your favorite tropes" is fun!
Very smart idea. I’ll admit last year I didn’t love the number of what I considered broad prompts and I found I still had trouble fitting them in. There just isn’t as much time to dive into a Goodreads rabbit hole to find the perfect niche book. Also, I’m just now (10 months later) getting to a point where my eyes don’t immediately start trying to fall asleep when I try reading a physical book or kindle. Finally, my moods have changed. Much less serious books, and a lot more frivolous fun.
I’m sure that’s not the case with everyone, but my reading took a sharp turn immediately post-baby
I've been tracking for this first time this year. I adjusted my stats to remove the pre-poll, since I didn't track that, and the one from the challenge. So I'm only calculating 35 prompts instead of 37 (we have 40 weeks of prompts but because of the multi-week we voted in 37 prompts). Of prompts that made it in, I upvoted 24 (69%) and downvoted 0. This is pretty amazing that none of my downvotes have made it in!
Of total prompts, I upvoted 69 (35%) and downvoted 33 (17%). I've been downvoting more in the later polls than I did earlier.
Of the prompts that have made it in so far I upvoted 11 and downvoted 6.
I did a quick count and it looks like 14 prompts I have up voted and 8 prompts I have down voted made it on the list. With my extra votes (after narrowing out my favorite and least favorite), I do generally up vote prompts I like that I think have a chance of making it that also may push a prompt I don’t like as much into being a close call. I also down vote prompts that I don’t like that I feel like they have a chance of making it even if there are ones I dislike more but don’t think they have a chance.
Joanne wrote: "I did not vote for faith (I don't think, can't remember exactly) but I WOULD vote for a book about religion.I'm really mostly interested in books where someone escapes a fundamentalist religion o..."
Thanks Joanne, I think that’s an important distinction. People could choose to read a book that is spiritually meaningful, or critical, or something in between. An escape from a cult or rescuing girls from ISIS could be exciting.
Looking at what got in, I know I voted 20 of the prompts, plus the 2 multiweek ones.I can only remember downvoting 6 of the prompts that got in.
The rest might have been an upvote or downvote, or neutral. I guess those aren't bad odds.
Mod
A book with one of your favorite tropes.
A book with a happy ending.
A humorous book (something similar has been suggested at least once, and did not make a showing in..."
I like the party idea!! It's enough of a restriction without being overly so and appeals to a bunch of different genres.. And if people want to be grumps about it, they can always read a book about a political party. Or the Donner Party
Nadine in NY wrote: "For joyful prompts, perhaps:A book with one of your favorite tropes.
A book with a happy ending.
A humorous book (something similar has been suggested at least once, and did not make a showing in..."
I'm not sure if I have a favourite trope, but I love happy ending, party in the book, and vacation/holiday.
Nadine in NY wrote: "For joyful prompts, perhaps:A book with one of your favorite tropes.
A book with a happy ending.
A humorous book (something similar has been suggested at least once, and did not make a showing in..."
I especially like "favorite trope". "Party" could be good too.
Anyone interested in a book involving the idea of "cold"? Could be weather/climate related (snow, ice, glaciers, storms, etc.), Cold War topics, ice cream, giving someone the 'cold shoulder', someone having a cold (ok, I can't imagine what this book would be, but it is involving 'cold', so maybe someone knows a book), ice skating, skiing, Mt. Everest, Alaska, Siberia, 'taking someone in from the cold', etc.
Edit: OOPS! Forgot to include a link to a genre list that includes books that could be used: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
In our Poll 14 Voting discussion NancyJ mentioned a few ideas, including a book involving "found family" that several people thought was appealing, so I'm bringing it here so that more people might preview the idea.Mandy mentioned that Pop Sugar is doing this prompt, so there is already a listopia to check out titles that might be used for this topic: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
I found several I had read, and many more that were already on my TBR. Obviously I love this idea too!
Not sure how I would know in advance a book has a happy ending - it would for sure be a spoiler.
Pamela wrote: "I like the party idea!! It's enough of a restriction without being overly so and appeals to a bunch of different genres.. And if people want to be grumps about it, they can always read a book about a political party. Or the Donner Party.."I do not have an issue with "party" in general, but can we stay away from labelling people based on their reading tastes? I would probably be one reading about the Donner Party.
Party can also include an adventuring party like the fellowship of the ring or like in eye of the world.
Tracy wrote: "Anyone interested in a book involving the idea of "cold"? Could be weather/climate related (snow, ice, glaciers, storms, etc.), Cold War topics, ice cream, giving someone the 'cold shoulder', som..."
I would vote for this. I like prompts like light and dark and shapes that could get interpreted a few ways.
Joy D wrote: "Not sure how I would know in advance a book has a happy ending - it would for sure be a spoiler."It depends what kind of books you like to read. Romances tend to end happily. Most epic fantasy that is a clash between good and evil have good win in the end. Jane Austen books end happily. I'm sure there are certain other authors who want their books to end happily.
Some people might wait until they find a book that ended happily and slot it in. I did that with the PS party prompt this year. Eventually a read a book with a party and I slotted it in.
As found family was one of many reasons I didn’t do Popsugar this year it would be a big down for me I’m afraid.
@Thomas - would it be intrusive to ask what you don’t like about “found family”?
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I just started a book about cemeteries, so cle..."
Wishing her well, Robin.