Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2023] Wild Discussion
I thought the road prompt was already a cover prompt
Was the prompt "A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story" from Summer Read-a-Thon Winner, mentioned in the result thread of poll 12 accepted? Only it is not in the "Topics chosen" list https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... I also think that the number of chosen topics there must be wrong.
I see "one of the greatest British novelists", Dame Hilary Mantel, has died. RIP.
Jaana wrote: "Was the prompt "A book with an unusually large version of an animal in the story" from Summer Read-a-Thon Winner, mentioned in the result thread of poll 12 accepted? Only it is not in the "Topics c..."There are 42 prompts listed there, so I think the large animal prompt is just missing rather than the count being wrong.
NancyJ wrote: "I thought the road prompt was already a cover prompt"The prompt was "A book with a cover or title that includes a route of travel," so not cover only.
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So 9 left to vote for so on recent average 5 polls yet
Someone mentioned the KIS/BIO list recently and after taking a year off I realized that I was kind of missing it. So, I have resurrected the KIS/BIO list!We are a bit behind so I am opening up discussions for a few prompts at a time. In a few days, I will open up a few more and so on until we are caught up.
UP FOR DISCUSSION:
Whole list Options
1. A Book Published in 2023
2. A Book Where Books Are Important
3. A Book With A Faceless Person on the Cover
4. A Book With a Body of Water in the Title
I'm looking forward to rebuilding KIS/BIO up bigger and better with the help of all you creative geniuses!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
BIO option for body of water, must be specific e.g Nile, Mississippi, Amazon not general like river or ocean
Thomas wrote: "BIO option for body of water, must be specific e.g Nile, Mississippi, Amazon not general like river or ocean"Great options Thomas! Can you jump over to the KIS/BIO thread and add them there as well? That way I won't forget them when I pull everything together in a day or two :)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
I am sad I don't have an S (although my middle name starts with one!) cause "splatterpunk."
Another genre prompt could be to read a -punk book.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I’ve always understood diaspora to just mean people that “dispersed” from their homeland. So it can be people that were forced to leave (possibly a book where the characters are refu..."Well, I didn't have an understanding of what diaspora meant and I would guess I am not alone. The definitions all include "forced" migration... so for those of us who need to look the word up, most Asians outside of Asian would not be included in the prompt...although I thought the intent was to be more inclusive. Is there a way to word this NOT using the word diaspora? I like the intent, not the wording.
What about ex-pat? An Asian ex-pat would be someone living in another country, right?
Nancy, your “ex-pat” is much better than my long-winded thought “an Asian author who no longer lives in Asia”.I like Ex-Pat.
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Shannon SA wrote: "I see "one of the greatest British novelists", Dame Hilary Mantel, has died. RIP."Oh that's very sad news. RIP.
Pamela wrote: "I agree, the Goodreads genre list is just whacky. Here's the wikipedia list which is pretty detailed but not as strange:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
I am sad I don't have..."
Thanks for that link Pamela, I will use that when I suggest the prompt today.
I prefer diaspora over ex-pat. Second gen Asian Americans would not be considered ex-pats.
Robin P wrote: "I would think of diaspora as including later generations, unlike ex-pat, which is specific individuals who left."True, I hadn't considered that.
I think diaspora works in its current meaning. In the past it had negative connotations (forced migration), but not as much now. But if people still carry those connotations, then maybe:
Authors of Asian decent not living in Asia.
Authors whose family migrated out of Asia.
Asian authors not living in Asia.
Something like one of these?
Pamela wrote: "I agree, the Goodreads genre list is just whacky. Here's the wikipedia list which is pretty detailed but not as strange:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
I am sad I don't have..."
Your middle name IS part of your name. I say go for it!
Shannon SA wrote: "I see "one of the greatest British novelists", Dame Hilary Mantel, has died. RIP."So sad...
A book by an author of Asian heritage whose primary country of residence is not an Asian country (?)
Dalex- that’s seems the best it’s clunky but the alternatives are subject to misinterpretation
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We are a bit behind so I am opening up di..."
Thank you Amy!! This list is extremely helpful when we are putting together the weekly threads, but I didn't have the capacity to run it myself so I appreciate your work on this.
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Actually, the dictionary uses "the diaspora of boat people from Asia" as the example
"Asian diaspora" is the term I see used most often by authors who are part of the Asian diaspora. Is the fear that people will think it is a negative thing and not vote for it?
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True, I hadn't considered that.
I think diaspora works in its cur..."
Are we overthinking? I read a fair number of Asian writers and would guess 80% of them do not currently live in their original country (what if you have a Chinese writer who lives in Singapore). I would guess the authors the majority of people will use for this prompt are not living in Asia.
Nadine in NY wrote: ""Asian diaspora" is the term I see used most often by authors who are part of the Asian diaspora. Is the fear that people will think it is a negative thing and not vote for it?"I would be more likely to vote for it if the prompt was a non-specific diaspora as we had an Asian/Pacific Islander author prompt this year. I'm not sure if I would necessarily down-vote it or just use another heritage as a KIS option.
However, the ex-pat idea thrilled me. In my dreams, I ex-patriate to a tropical paradise...particularly in the bleak midwinter.
I personally think the word diaspora would work. One of the meanings of the word is - people settled far from their ancestral homelands and this perfectly suits our idea.
Edie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I’ve always understood diaspora to just mean people that “dispersed” from their homeland. So it can be people that were forced to leave (possibly a book where th..."I still like Asian descent, because that's a term that is often used for other ethnicities or nationalities.
A book written by someone of Asian descent who now lives in the west.
A book by an Asian author born or living outside of Asia.
A book written by a person of Asian descent
A book written by a person of Asian descent who now lives in the west.
I think Irene wanted to include authors who born in the West (not just expats) or elsewhere, because anyone who looks Asian is being discriminated against in parts of the US. (Thanks to he who shall not be mentioned.)
Diaspora would be fine as long as the prompt is followed by a good definition.
I’m having de je vu of the immigration debate two years ago
I'm not sure if I missed something. I don't get why there is a strong desire/discussion going for Asian decent/ex-pat/Asian diaspora. This year we have "18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander author." I think, those are covered within this year's challenge and it is not one I'd like to repeat again this year.
Jillian wrote: "I'm not sure if I missed something. I don't get why there is a strong desire/discussion going for Asian decent/ex-pat/Asian diaspora. This year we have "18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander..."
Because anyone who looks Asian is being discriminated against in parts of the US. (Thanks to he who shall not be mentioned. He repeatedly blamed China for the Pandemic.)
Jillian wrote: "I'm not sure if I missed something. I don't get why there is a strong desire/discussion going for Asian decent/ex-pat/Asian diaspora. This year we have "18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander..."
Because people in the Asian diaspora, living in non-majority-Asian countries, are experiencing a unique level of discrimination right now, AND because many people tend to seek out Asian authors from Asia for prompts like this year's "API author" so the idea was to direct us to read a book by an Asian author who is NOT living in Asia.
I'm all for it, I'll definitely vote for it if it shows up.
I have two prompt ideas for today. 1. A book involving friends, family, or a found family.
Found family is a type of plot I enjoy, but some don't like it (perhaps because it can feel too contrived).
This could include a family drama, family vacation, family reunion, a trip with friends, or every day life with friends or family. Found family involves a group of friends who substitute for a biological family.
Found families are most relevant for people whose families disapprove of their sexual identity, roommates and neighbors who don't have family nearby (single people, students, people who work together). (I once had a found family when I worked on a long-term project out of town. The company rented a large house for us.)
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/family
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/frie...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
2. A book that provides a view of the future
This could be a science fiction book set in the future, a time travel book that goes to the future, or a non-fiction book that describes or predicts a future. The non-fiction book might include cultural trends, financial or job forecasts, climate change consequences, or other projections.
Which do you think is most interesting?
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https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://malwarwickonbooks.com/nonfict...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/time-t...
https://www.rd.com/list/books-that-pr...
I like #1 - a book involving friends, family or found family.
I like the future idea. I’d either read a J D Robb future detective book or a dystopian future book.
Jillian wrote: "I'm not sure if I missed something. I don't get why there is a strong desire/discussion going for Asian decent/ex-pat/Asian diaspora. This year we have "18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander..."
Jillian, I completely understand if you are not interested in reading an Asian author again, that's completely fair. But if I recall correctly, the context of that prompt being suggested like year was in light of the Stop Asian Hate movement (similar to Black Lives Matter) due to the amount of discrimination faced by Asian minorities in the countries their consider their home being hugely exacerbated by the pandemic. My suggestion at the time to have it be specific to Asian minorities was not taken, so this is my second attempt. Just as how there is a difference between a European and European-American author, or African vs African-American author, this is not the same prompt being repeated. "Read an Asian author" is not the same as "Read an Asian-American author". It's like having a "Read an African author" prompt in light of Black Lives Matter. It kind of misses the point because BLM is strongly related to African-Americans.
To everyone who mentioned expat, that is not in the spirit of what I'm trying to suggest. An expat is someone who themselves moves to another country. That would eliminate everyone like me who has parents or grandparents who were immigrants from Asia, and would eliminate most Asian-American authors who were born in the U.S. It would make it a much more narrow prompt because you would have to search up country of birth, and the fact that children who immigrate are not considered expats means you would also have to narrow down the age at which the author moved to another country.
I really like Nancy's wording of "A book by an Asian author born or living outside of Asia," aside from the fact that I do not want to exclude, say, a Korean author who lives in Japan, who is a member of the Korean diaspora because they live in another country that is not their homeland. I also don't want to limit it to the west.
I'll scramble together a post for the suggestions thread right now, if it's not too late!
NancyJ wrote: "I have two prompt ideas for today. 1. A book involving friends, family, or a found family.
Found family is a type of plot I enjoy, but some don't like it (perhaps because it can feel too contriv..."
I like both. Do you want me to post one for you?
Judy wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I have two prompt ideas for today. 1. A book involving friends, family, or a found family.
Found family is a type of plot I enjoy, but some don't like it (perhaps because it can f..."
Thanks! the friends family?
Irene wrote: "Jillian wrote: "I'm not sure if I missed something. I don't get why there is a strong desire/discussion going for Asian decent/ex-pat/Asian diaspora. This year we have "18. A book by an Asian or ..."
I understand why you want it now. I just think that Asian authors work well for other prompts. I think, it is good to read books from people different backgrounds. Their books work in other prompts too. I personally don't like prompts that are limited to something an author has not control over.
Thanks Judy and Dubhease. I'll need to find some links.https://www.goodreads.com/genres/family
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/frie...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
We are getting some great prompts today. I could have seconded about 4 of them.
Jillian, I totally get that! Sometimes I want to be color-blind, and sometimes I want to support minority groups (related to race, sexuality, religion, anything else we don't control) who are struggling a lot. Sometimes it's more symbolic than anything else, but since we have other prompts about things an author doesn't have control over I figured I'd give it a shot :) I also sometimes think that while most people understand the struggles with something like BLM, a lot of people still don't understand that many Asian-Americans consider themselves American (without the Asian- prefix) first and foremost, in the same way that majority of white Americans don't call themselves European-Americans despite that being their ancestry. We don't always want to be lumped together or considered the same as Asians, unhyphenated, who live in Asia and don't have the experience of being mistaken for immigrants (again, like how I'd imagine most white Americans don't consider themselves European, without the hyphen). It's quite annoying for people to assume you're an immigrant or that you speak another language just because of your appearance.
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I agree, I was so negative last week, now I love everything!
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https://www.goodreads.com/genres/family
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/frie...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/fou..."
You could paste these in the Suggestions thread so that Emily will include them in the Voting thread.
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Around the Year in 52 Books
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There are a lot more when you look at all the sub genres on different websites.
Literary fiction used to refer to fiction that did not fit a genre. But there are excellent literary writers that want the freedom to explore different kinds of stories or create something new. For instance a literary fantasy novel might be character-driven, focused on good writing, perhaps a philosophical message, while using some fantasy concepts in the story.