Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Archives
>
[2023] Poll 6 Voting
I remembered another very good book set in Harlem in the 1950s (not the time of the Renaissance but definitely inspired by it):Another Country by James Baldwin
I like to read Christmas books leading up to the holiday, and I am far from religious, even if I was raised Catholic. I have a ton of Christmas books on my TBR and I know I'll probably going against the grain but I will vote for it.I liked the "on the road" prompt that was floated in the Wild Discussion, which didn't have the requirement of it being part of their job. I don't think I'll downvote it, but it won't be an upvote.
I like how the on the road was suggested as a character prompt and I’ll be up voting it. The version on the wild discussion would have been a down vote for me.
Mod
I tried googling and I only seem to find books by authors that were part of the movement. I’m trying to find out..."
Passing, Their Eyes Were Watching God , Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo", Invisible Man, The Blacker the Berry..., or anything by those writers
Mod
But if you look at the citation on you, it's people creating content on the web. So that narrows it down,
Mod
Juliet Brown wrote: "Like you I do multiple challenges and I think there IS a tendency to fall back on 'christmas' for 'holiday' but they ARE different prompts"Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I meant that I don’t like if they state any particular holiday, like Christmas, Easter, Halloween (those are the common ones). If it was a holiday in general, it would be much more interesting to me, as one could incorporate other holidays from all over the world, like Diwali, as it was mentioned, or the fourth of July, or Bastille Day, or I could for instance read about Saint István King for August 20th in Hungary, because I am Hungarian… it would be really fun to research that. But Christmas or Halloween books are usually highly commercialized, or for children, or romance, or horror, or generally light, which do not appeal to me. (there are a few exceptions, of course.)
I really love Tinket, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I did not know much about the Harlem Renaissance, and I googled it, looks highly interesting. I have read Harlem Shuffle, it is set in the early fifties so it is a bit after the golden era, but there are references to it as decaying neighborhoods once having seen much luxury and prestige, so it could fit.
There was some discussion in the Wild section about reading book set around a holiday you do not celebrate.I thought it was an interesting prompt. Should Christmas not get in, we could re-discuss it.
Jillian wrote: "I like how the on the road was suggested as a character prompt and I’ll be up voting it. The version on the wild discussion would have been a down vote for me.."Not sure how you know a character's occupation before you read the book, though.
The synopsis would listed the MC's profession if it is central to the plot.
It's not always listed. I've looked. I have a workaround, though. I'll read a non-fiction travel book written by a journalist. Problem solved.
Joy D wrote: "Jillian wrote: "I like how the on the road was suggested as a character prompt and I’ll be up voting it. The version on the wild discussion would have been a down vote for me.."Not sure how you k..."
I don’t like pre-planning books or researching books, instead I like to fill prompts as I read. I read a fair amount of fantasy novels and mysteries where characters have to travel for their job. I also prefer series over stand alone novels so I generally know the character’s occupation.
I'm not a fantasy, mystery or series reader. I try to read books I already own and I'm a planner, so we definitely have different reading habits.It helps me to "talk it through" in these threads. I now know what I choose for this prompt if it wins.
No obvious downvotes right now. There are some I'm meh about, but nothing I would be unhappy to do.My definite upvotes will be:
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - in which I think I will read that actual book
- debut book
- different race and gender - this may be really easy for some, but i actually read predominantly women writers and I'm biracial so I get to exclude two races. Asian or Hispanic men for the win!
I'm on the fence about farm. At first thought I'm not interested, but then I think about reading a book about migrants in California. So probably an upvote.
Murder seems too easy as I read mysteries regularly.
I can see how crossing over to another world can be stretched to moving to the big city or what not, but is that really "crossing over"? Wouldn't that just be moving. Crossing over to me implies something much more dramatic especially when describing different "worlds". That might be a downvote for me.
Also Time Person of the Year sounds interesting at first, but I also think can get too broad. I feel like that's the prompt I would use if i read a book and it didn't fit anywhere else because I'm sure I could relate it to something.
Joy D wrote: "I'm not a fantasy, mystery or series reader. I try to read books I already own and I'm a planner, so we definitely have different reading habits.It helps me to "talk it through" in these threads...."
The threads help me too. Sometimes knowing I have at least one book that would work for a prompt I’m not as interested in helps even though I rarely use that book when the prompt gets voted in.
I find it interesting how we all approach this challenge differently.
I know what you mean. I am much less likely to downvote something if I know I have a book that will work. And it is interesting how many different reading habits there are out there!
Michelle wrote: "as a non Christian I respectfully propose we broaden the Christmas prompt to include winter in general. it's really not cool to all the non Christians out there"Personally I don't see why you would broaden Christmas to include winter. As an Australian it's crazy hot at Christmas so winter and Christmas are not related for everyone. And in my mind it changes the intent of the prompt.
dalex wrote: "Does anyone know of historical fiction novels that focus on the Harlem Renaissance?I tried googling and I only seem to find books by authors that were part of the movement. I’m trying to find out..."
I found this listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
For graphic novel and comics fans, there's a series set in the Harlem Renaissance:Bitter Root, Vol. 1: Family Business
And Monk!: Thelonious, Pannonica, and the Friendship Behind a Musical Revolution is about a jazz musician.
UpAn author's debut book - I think this is a really interesting one! And will give me a chance to read somebody exciting and new.
A book that involves a murder - I love crime!
A book involving wolves or werewolves - I was one of those teenagers who was absolutely obsessed with wolves, so I feel like I have to honour that…
A book written by an author that is a different race and gender than you are - I don’t actually read that many male authors, so I think this’ll be an interesting challenge.
Down
A Christmas book - Technically this’d probably be a very easy fill for me, there are a LOT of Christmas themed romance novels, but ehhhh. I’ve just never really liked a Christmas book!
A book from the first 5 books added to your TBR (the books that have been on your list the longest) - I just feel that this is a bit hard to figure out, tbh. And in most cases the oldest ones on my list are ones that I’m not super interested in bumping up to the top of the pile.
A book related to the Harlem Renaissance - I don’t think I have anything on my kindle that would fit this. It’s interesting enough, but I feel that if it did get in it’d definitely be one of the last ones I read next year.
A book related to a recipient of Time Magazine's Person of the Year award - I just feel like it’d require a lot of research and stretching for me, which I wouldn’t find all that fun.
–
The others I wouldn’t really mind either way! There are a lot of interesting options here.
I think the Harlem Renaissance is an interesting prompt but it seems like the only options are books published during the movement or non-fiction, which I am not interested in reading. I may not downvote it but I’m definitely not upvoting it. Pamela wrote: "Passing, Their Eyes Were Watching God , Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo", Invisible Man, The Blacker the Berry..., or anything by those writers."
Those are the “old books” that I don’t want to read. I’m trying to find recently published historical fiction about the Harlem Renaissance.
Juliet Brown wrote: "I found this listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1..."
Nothing I’m interested in on that short list but I appreciate it.
Steve wrote: "Off the top of my head, all I can think of is Toni Morrison's Jazz."
I’d prefer something more recently published. I’m trying to avoid “old books.”
Joy D wrote: "Homegoing spans centuries, but has a segment set in Harlem after the Great Migration."
I absolutely loved Homegoing! Weirdly I remember absolutely nothing about the Harlem Renaissaince in the book, though.
Nancy J wrote: "Probably the most recent is: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead I don't know when it is set. Showtime at the Apollo: The Epic Tale of Harlem’s Legendary Theater……"
I’m not interested in non-fiction. I don’t want to read “old books” (published during the Renaissance) or older publications like Jazz or Ragtime. Harlem Shuffle is set in the 1960s, not the Renaissance.
Mod
This is the first time I've been excited about the choices and voted. Up
A Christmas book - I really like a good Christmas book!
A book written by an author that is a different race and gender than you are - I don’t read that many male authors and enjoy reading books written from a different culture, too.
A book related to the Harlem Renaissance
A book related to a recipient of Time Magazine's Person of the Year award - I think there's so many possibilities for these two!
Down
A book from the first 5 books added to your TBR
A book involving wolves or werewolves - just not my thing
A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy
A book about crossing over to another world
Neutral about:
An author's debut book
A book that involves a murder
I voted 6 up but the ones I am most excited about are:A book with a character that travels as a part of their job
A book about a farm, a farmer, or a farming family
An author's debut book
A book related to a recipient of Time Magazine's Person of the Year award
I have learned that I tend to down vote prompts that make me do a bunch or work looking for a book to read but I am glad that I took time yesterday to look at debut books that interest me. I have been thinking for awhile of re-reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and found that it won several awards as a debut.
Mod
If you want to read "new" books, I bet that there will be new books published on the Harlem Renaissance in the next year given the current interests of publishing. Several non-fiction books were published this year.
Here's a list, not all that place in Harlem exactly but you can finesse the prompt if you find it hard (the first book which is quite good takes place in Chicago, but it's still a black neighborhood and jazz in the 20s so close enough!)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Mod
Wow... you don't preplan? You just read and hope you'll randomly pick 52 books that'll fit? I do preplan but as the year goes on I read other books that look interesting and find a place for them., but I like having a plan for the more obscure prompts.
Yeah not having any plan at all is so beyond my comprehension! Although my first year with this challenge I found it toward the end of the year, and I was able to slot books I'd read into all but 10 or so prompts. I make a plan, with 2-3 options per prompt, and typically read one of the options. But sometimes I come across something else entirely and the planned options go out the window. I'm reading in order this year which has made me stick to the plan more than usual because I'm not reading a book and going, oh this fits this prompt so I'll read it instead of what I'd planned.
Pamela wrote: "Jillian wrote: "I don’t like pre-planning books or researching books, instead I like to fill prompts as I read. I read a fair amount of fantasy novels and mysteries where characters have to travel ..."I have found the surest way for me not to read a book is put it down on a list to read for a prompt way in advance. I know many people enjoy creating list of books for prompts but I find it no fun. If I get to a prompt, that I have not filled then I look for a book that will fill it. I use challenges more to help pick my next few reads.
I think that was the first vote ever that I completely missed! I like the prompts on travel, author, and moral dilemma. Some other ideas about characters who travel - politicians, travel writers, spaceship personnel, marketing/PR (e.g. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has a games programmer who travels), and pro athletes. I have quite a few choices for non-white male authors - Richard Wagamese, Chang-Rae Lee, Haruki Murakami, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, to name a few. Moral dilemma - some Russian classics come to mind but lots of contemporary books fit this prompt. For me, it’s a no to anything related to a number on my TBR. Also, it’s probably a no for a purple cover and Christmas story.
I narrowed down my top votes for the ones that I wanted the most.2. A book with a character that travels as a part of their job (We don't have any character prompts so far and I like this one).
4. A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy (Same reasoning as prompt 2).
5. A book about a farm, a farmer, or a farming family (This one I went back and forth on being a up, down, or neutral vote. In the end, it was not one I have had before and I do quite a few challenges so I decided to up vote it.)
My down votes were for prompts that were too narrow, too broad, or ones I've done before and did not like. There were a few that on different poll would have been up votes but I did not think that they really would win so I passed on using an up vote on them.
I down voted Harlem Renaissance because it is very American centric. There may be one book on my TBR that fits and I do not want to add more books just because. I like TTSS, traveling for job, apartment or house setting. I also voted TBR otherwise I may never read them. If that is so I will be forced to admitt it and clean up my list. ;)
I am the same as Jillian re: pre-planning. I do enjoy researching books and creating a plan but I only read maybe 5 books from my original plan. I think that maybe I just like picking a book I had not even thought about reading! This year, I might forgo a plan and see how that feels.
I'm sort of hybrid with my planning. What I do is look at the prompts and decide which ones are "easy" to fill and which ones will require some effort either because nothing jumps out at me off my TBR or the parameters are such that I need to have a list to choose from for that prompt.Typically for the first few months, I just read whatever books I want and note what prompts they'll work for. Then after maybe 10-12 books read, I'll start slotting them and working on a plan to fill in the "gaps" of prompts I haven't addressed yet.
Ended up with 6 up and 2 down. While I wasn't as excited about this list as I was about the previous ones, there are a number of prompts that could help me discover some interesting books. (e.g. Harlem Renaissance, farmers).
Emily wrote: "There was one or two perspectives in Homegoing set during the Harlem Renaissance! I think one of the characters was a jazz singer? It's been a couple years but that's one of the parts that stands out."I vividly recall the beginning and the ending of the book but the middle bits are fuzzy. If this prompt makes the list maybe I should re-read it!
It is possible to read a book set during Christmas-time without being about the holiday. For example:The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
The Green Road by Anne Enright
Winter by Ali Smith
The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale
Marley by Jon Clinch
Christmas books do not have to be Hallmark movies in print form. And they do not have to be religious.
Definitely downvoting Christmas. (Sorry, I’ve even read and enjoyed some Christmas books, but I just have had a lot of feelings about being alienated and othered by it my whole life and don’t particularly want it in a reading prompt🤷🏻♀️)I like the tinker tailor soldier spy prompt…and if it gets in, I’ll probably just read the actual Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, because it’s *right there* lol.
Don’t love the TBR prompt either to be honest, it just doesn’t really work with the way I keep book lists.
But I do like crossing over to another world (I like that my first reaction is portal fantasy, which I love, but it’s definitely beyond that for those who don’t want to read that genre), and apartment/house (i like a prompt that makes me go “oh, that would fit. And that book. And that one!” right off the bat 😂) plus a few other upvote options…
The race/gender prompt feels overly personal to me. If a person is non-binary they might not want to publicly declare that. And for a non-binary person it's a very broad prompt - anyone male or female, as long as they are a different race. Honestly, I think I've gone from being indifferent about this prompt to feeling like I have to downvote it.
Mod
That's kinda what I do, as I know as the year progresses new books will come out or people will make recommendation.
At about the same time the list comes out, my book club's list for the next year gets decided. So I go through and match up those books. Then I look at the prompts, skip the gimmes or ones I can think of 20 books just looking at it and try to figure out books for the tough prompts (maybe the favorite part of the whole thing). I normally have about 20 weeks at a time planned out because I read mostly library books so also have to play the hold shelf. Then when I want to read a book not on the list, I find a place and sometimes have to do some shifting. Between when the list is released and the end of the reading club, I probably read 15 books I planned to on their original weeks. But boy did I have fun planning and moving and adjusting!
I love the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy prompt. It seems limited enough to be challenging, but not so much that I won’t find anything to read. Same thing with farming. My other upvotes were debut book and different race and gender.I downvoted moral dilemma, wolves/werewolves, Time’s Person of the Year, and purple cover. The first three seem too limiting (and I couldn’t really find any books I like. And I’m not a fan of cover (or title) prompts just because they seem so arbitrary. I think others like them for that exact reason, though so I might be in the minority here.
I like the Tinker, Tailor prompt since I have a few espionage books. I wasn’t sure about the farm setting but it’s growing on me and will be a yes vote. I bought a book in the All Creatures Great and Small series and could use a reason to read it, maybe when the new season starts in 2023. Does anyone else have the problem of finding the perfect book for a next year prompt and wanting to read it now??
Mod
I'm the opposite- books keep getting near the top of my hold list I don't have a week for this year and I keep going "but that would be perfect for 2023...."
I feel like we are going to have a bunch of “polarizing” results this poll!!
My choices this round, some are surprising to me!Down:
#10: A book involving wolves or werewolves — just because I have no particular interest in wolves, fantasy or otherwise. I DO have a suggestion below that I enjoyed, and happens to contain a wolf at a pivotal point, but that was not obvious upon reading the book summary.
Up:
#3: A book from the first 5 books added to your TBR — this was surprising because I was actually still interested in reading all of my first 5, which were added 8-9 years ago
#4: A character that might be called a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, or Spy — first, I appreciate the rework from the original suggestion of "warrior, spy" in our Wild Discussion. I think this version opens it up to a wider variety of options.
#6: An author's debut book — it's always nice to support new authors, and I have been pleasantly surprised most times that I have read debuts.
#7: A book that involves a murder — not something I normally go for, BUT, I was just on a jury for several months involving multiple murders. I was inspired to find a book about jurors, and found this one (Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh) that sounds intriguing. This one would also be good for something like "a book with an interesting tagline" - which was discussed in Wild Discussion recently. The tagline for this book is "The serial killer isn't on trial, he's on the jury"
#9: A book that involves a moral dilemma or question — I wasn't finding long lists on Listopia, but I know there are a ton of books out there. One list was called Trolleyology, which was a term I wasn't familiar with, but means something along the lines of "Fiction and nonfiction dealing with trolley problems (broadly understood as moral dilemmas in which the only way to prevent some horrible event involves causing another)". This will finally give me a reason to read Sophie's Choice, which must be the ultimate moral dilemma book!
#11: A book written by an author that is a different race and gender than you are — since this year I have read a pretty balanced ratio of female/male authors, I think I would use this one to read a non-binary author, as I am binary. I know that some people think that authors may not publicly identify as non-binary, but several do, and should be supported. When I checked this Listopia for Fiction by Non-Binary Authors, it wasn't incredibly long, but I already had 7 options of books I had already marked Want to Read, and at least a couple of them were by authors that are also a different race than I am.
#15: A book set in an apartment building or house — I have already read some good books set in apartment buildings, and have seen others that look interesting.
Some suggested reads for this roster of prompts, whether I voted up, down, or not at all:
1. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker: I LOVED this book. Unfortunately I chose it for my IRL book group as the last book chosen before COVID lockdown, so by the time we got back together, people didn't remember enough about it to discuss it, but did remember loving it too. This would fit for #5 FARMS, FARMER, FARMING FAMILIES, #7 A BOOK THAT INVOLVES A MURDER, #9 A BOOK THAT INVOLVES A MORAL DILEMMA, #10 A BOOK INVOLVING WOLVES. Also would work (with a wink and a nod) for our recently voted in "A TITLE THAT CONTAINS A WORD OFTEN FOUND IN A RECIPE" (if you reference the nursery rhyme "Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie".
2. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman: would work for #9 A BOOK THAT INVOLVES A MORAL DILEMMA, and a prompt that has already been voted in "A BOOK WITH THE SUN, MOON, OR STARS ON THE COVER"
3. I didn't vote for #1: A Christmas Book, but was happy to find that there were at least a few books on the genre page for Christmas that I might be happy to read, especially The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman!
NancyJ wrote: "Is anyone else having a problem with Goodreads today? I've had to sign in at least 10 times in the past 30 minutes. I have several windows open but that's nothing new, as I go back and forth betwee..."It's been like that for me the last 3 days! I wish Amazon cared about Goodreads, but I don't suppose that will ever happen...
Mod
GR encourage people to read and then buy books! They should! Instead, I doubt the site has had any updates since 2010.
Joy D wrote: "I remembered another very good book set in Harlem in the 1950s (not the time of the Renaissance but definitely inspired by it):Another Country by James Baldwin"
I think that fits, and If Beale Street Could Talk. I think Toni Morrison would fit the spirit of the prompt too.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Little Women (other topics)The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod (other topics)
Blending Chords (other topics)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (other topics)
Swinging at The Savoy. The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jan Morris (other topics)T.E. Kinsey (other topics)
T.E. Kinsey (other topics)
Claude McKay (other topics)
James Baldwin (other topics)
More...
Like you I do multiple challenges and I think there IS a tendency to fall back on 'christmas' for 'holiday' but they ARE different prompts