Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2024] Poll 12 Results
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@Nike - I forgot earlier to add to the chorus of people who would like you to consider resubmitting the Mushroom prompt in a couple/few weeks. Love the idea!
For Africa, Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus were recommended by friends. Half of a yellow sun is on my plan for this year. I really liked Happiness by Aminatta Forna. The main characters are an environmentalist and a psychologist, so it was right up my alley. Note - I took off P. Djili Clark, since he was born in the US
Just putting a plug out there for Homegoing or Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gasyi for the African Author prompt!
Tracy wrote: "@Nike - I forgot earlier to add to the chorus of people who would like you to consider resubmitting the Mushroom prompt in a couple/few weeks. Love the idea!"Egypt counts as part of Africa but P. Djeli Clark, the author, is American
Pam wrote: "Here are some more ideas relating to the Jimmy Buffett prompt:1. He died at his home in Sag Harbor so you could read a book set on Long Island, which there are many including Colson Whitehead’s S..."
Great ideas. I might read about Brian Wilson, the creative genius behind The Beach Boys. It fits beach and musician, and the music has a similar vibe. I saw a great film about him, including his struggles with mental health. I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir is on sale at Audible today. There are other books too.
Shelley wrote: "I picked up People We Meet on Vacation from a tiny library. That's being penciled in for the Buffett prompt to be read on summer vacation next year."That sounds perfect.
Karin wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Yes, I was really surprised Jimmy Buffett got in given the number of people in Wild Discussion who had absolutely no idea who he was - as opposed to other pop culture prompts where pe..."I think this is exactly my issue with the Jimmy Buffett prompt. Because of all the other options to it, it felt like a bit too much of a "catch-all" prompt to me (even though it's still limited). I'm curious if the voting would have been the same if it had just included his name and not the other options spelled out. I assume those other items are connected to him in some way, but for those of us who don't know who he is, it's not necessarily so clear. I'm probably just going to read Float Plan for this one.
In terms of the African author, I personally would count anyone who has either been born in Africa (even if they now live elsewhere), or who lived for a good amount of their life in Africa even if born elsewhere. These kinds of distinctions are why I often don't like prompts based on where an author was born or lived. It's too easy to second-guess who "should" count.
Maddie wrote: "Just putting a plug out there for Homegoing or Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gasyi for the African Author prompt!"I've had Transcendent Kingdom on my TBR for a while now and keep putting it off. I voted for African author just so I can read it. I really hope I do and don't swap it out for something else (which I think is what happened the last few years - I had it slotted in for something in the challenge but keep subbing it out).
I've read Homegoing.
NancyJ wrote: . I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir is on sale at Audible today. There are other books too..."hmm, not on sale at Audible.com.au
Tracy wrote: "@Nike - I forgot earlier to add to the chorus of people who would like you to consider resubmitting the Mushroom prompt in a couple/few weeks. Love the idea!"I'm part of that chorus too!
Tracy wrote: "At the moment, for the Jimmy Buffett prompt, I think I’ll read “Three Women and a Boat”, which is about a narrowboat trip through the canals of England. I’m picking this because I’ve wanted to take..."I have heard of that book but can't remember from where. It's already on my TBR, so maybe I'll choose it for the Buffett prompt.
@Charlsa - I found “Three Women and a Boat” on the initial Listopia for Jimmy Buffett when there were only 4 books there!
Nike wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "The author must be an active member to submit for the award. Here are the rules to be an active member https://mysterywriters.org/how-to-bec...-..."
@Nike, I'm trying to add Swedish authors (other than Fredrik Backman) to my reading goals. Who were the Swedish winners?
Tracy wrote: "@Charlsa - I found “Three Women and a Boat” on the initial Listopia for Jimmy Buffett when there were only 4 books there!"I keep misreading this title as Three Men On A Boat. I know it as The Narrowboat Summer, which might be the US title. It’s the title my library and audible (US) use.
I'm happy we finally have more than 1 or 2 prompts that made it this time. Buffett related is easy for me. I may one of the books he authored for it.
I didn't realize how many authors who use initials I already read, so another easy one.
I was concerned about the African author because I've read most of what interests me from Yaa Ghasi and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, but then I remembered I still have read Born A Crime by Trevor Noah.
A book by an Edgar-award winning author should be easy as well. Plenty of choices.
I'm a little disappointed the mushroom prompt didn't make it, but maybe it will show up again.
Nike wrote: "I just came up with an excellent idea for my problems concerning the Jimmy Buffett prompt! Sweden has - as well as Ireland - a vast history of ballads from the Middle Ages up til now and I just rea..."You used whose correctly. Well done because English is hard to learn.
Great research to come up with a book for the Buffett prompt.
Tracy wrote: "@Charlsa - I found “Three Women and a Boat” on the initial Listopia for Jimmy Buffett when there were only 4 books there!"Haha! I probably heard about it from Modern Mrs. Darcy as we read another of the author's books a couple of years ago.
I had forgotten that Buffett also loved to fly, so books about flying or planed would work for the prompt as well.
Pam wrote: "Nike - Since you are interested in African authors, here is a book that also works for the Jimmy Buffett prompt. I know nothing about the author or the book other than it was on a list of 10 essent..."Thank you! Seems like an interesting author.
Pam wrote: "I found a 2017 article from Publishers Weekly that discusses 10 Essential African Novels. The choices came from five novelists, each from a different African country and with a new novel out at the..."Would you be so kind to share that link? 🌸
Dixie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "Robin wrote: "Emily wrote: "Yea, I'm just trying to see what the group thinks. This is one of the few prompts that I don't own any books that fit, so I'm trying to figure out where to..."Robin wrote: "Nike wrote: "I don't like the Jimmy Buffett prompt at all. I didn't know who he was and when I watched the video someone linked to I was made aware the he's s country artist and I so dislike countr..."
Camus is one of my favourite authors. But he is French, born in Algeria by French parents in a part of Algeria where French colonists lived and then went back to France when he was 14, so I would personally not count him as African.
Tracy wrote: "Nike wrote: "I just came up with an excellent idea for my problems concerning the Jimmy Buffett prompt! Sweden has - as well as Ireland - a vast history of ballads from the Middle Ages up til now a..."Thank you for your suggestion, that could be helpful!
If you are interested in Arabic authors I'd recommend two Egyptian books: Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz and Zeina by Nawal El Saadawi.
Dixie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "Robin wrote: "Emily wrote: "Yea, I'm just trying to see what the group thinks. This is one of the few prompts that I don't own any books that fit, so I'm trying to figure out where to..."I read The Plague, classics are not really my thing so you may enjoy it a bit more than I did. It is not just a story of sickness, it explores the "what ifs" of life, love, death. Looks into the soul of human resistance and resilience. 3 star read for me
I would classify Jimmy Buffet more as calypso/Island music -think Jamaica! If you re going to think out of the box, I would say that any book with word Island in the title would work!
Joanne - I agree with your description of Buffett’s music and I like the idea of using Island in the title since I started Island by Aldous Huxley this year and really should finish it! I feel like I have a lot of choices for that prompt!Nike - GR won’t let me share the link, unless I’m doing something wrong. Just query PW 10 essential African authors and it should pop up.
Pam wrote: " ... Nike - GR won’t let me share the link, unless I’m doing something wrong. Just query PW 10 essential African authors and it should pop up."https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
Thank you Nadine! I thought I followed the html instructions. Can you share the formatting?
Thomas wrote: "Glad someone with understanding won the summer one ( after last years I was quite sceptical of the ones we don’t vote on) Initials great, Jimmy Buffett okay and well will cope with Africa"
I did the challenge this year but did not participate in the voting, so I'm curious, what was the Summer Challenge winner's prompt last year?
Pam wrote: "Thank you Nadine! I thought I followed the html instructions. Can you share the formatting?"I just copied and pasted on my computer!
If you were trying to embed the link, that was your problem. GR no longer allows us to embed external links inside html formatting. But if you just paste in the address, it is okay.
I found a strange overlap in two of these prompts if you take the KIS approach; Egyptian writers with sand-based fantasy books. I don't have any books that meet the criteria, but I really want to now.Spice Road is about travel across the sand. Sand=beach, but the author is Saudi-Australian.
The Jasad Heir and The Daughters of Izdihar are both from American authors who spent time during their childhoods with family in Egypt, but I'm not sure how vital sand is to the plots.
Thrilled that Jimmy Buffett made the cut and mushrooms didn't (due to possible mycophobia - nothing personal). I'm also happy about initials as I have 2 C.S. Lewis books on my TBR list. I'm not sure about an African author since I don't especially enjoy heavy-to-me topics. Hence, the love of Jimmy Buffett escapism.
Shelley wrote: "The Jasad Heir and The Daughters of Izdihar are both from American authors who spent time during their childhoods with family in Egypt, but I'm not sure how vital sand is to the plots..."I am a big fan of the sand-based fantasy subgenre! I was a bit disappointed in The Daughters of Izdihar but some characters do magic with sand in it. (I much preferred The Stardust Thief but she's from Kuwait originally so wouldn't work for the African prompt.)
Mod
Initials great, Jimmy Buffett okay and well will cope with ..."
I'm not sure which was which, but the two prompts chosen by winners of our Summer Reading Challenge and Fall Individual Read-a-Thon Challenge were:
A western
A book with an unusually large animal
Ellie wrote: "Shelley wrote: "The Jasad Heir and The Daughters of Izdihar are both from American authors who spent time during their childhoods with family in Egypt, but I'm not sure how vital sand is to the plo..."Oooooh I have that on my TBR list as well. This is definitely a route I wasn't expecting a Jimmy Buffett prompt to take.
Nike wrote: " actually knew this. Maybe I'm starting to get senile! Lol. (I'm in the menopause and I've read several times that memory can gets affected .."As my friend says ...That's why they call it "Mental Pause" ... 😊
Mod
LOL!
Re: running out of alphabet — since ATY didn’t start until 2016, we missed out on the chance to connect the year to a letter for A through O. How about after 2026 we just start at A and continue from there?
A is already part of the ATY theme, so we'd have to start from B.
Book Concierge wrote: "Nike wrote: " actually knew this. Maybe I'm starting to get senile! Lol. (I'm in the menopause and I've read several times that memory can gets affected .."As my friend says ...That's why they ca..."
Mental pause! Love that one 🙂🙏! I'm going to start using that expression from now.
For anyone who isn't familiar with a lot of African authors, but wants to learn more by not picking just one author, I came across a book of short stories by African authors. When published (2012) this book specifically tried to focus on newer writers, with some more established writers sprinkled in. Now that we are 11 years into the future, I'm assuming that at least some of these writers would now be considered "established".The book is The Granta Book of the African Short Story edited by Helon Habila. One contributor that I'm familiar with (and how I came to find this book) is Laila Lalami.
Tracy wrote: "For anyone who isn't familiar with a lot of African authors, but wants to learn more by not picking just one author, I came across a book of short stories by African authors. When published (2012) ..."Great suggestion!
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Granta Book of the African Short Story (other topics)The Stardust Thief (other topics)
Spice Road (other topics)
The Jasad Heir (other topics)
The Daughters of Izdihar (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Helon Habila (other topics)Laila Lalami (other topics)
Nawal El Saadawi (other topics)
Naguib Mahfouz (other topics)
Fiston Mwanza Mujila (other topics)
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Love the idea of the legal bar! I guess, if you don't consider spelling, you could also use the ballet "barre"?