Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2024
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03. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list


(With that, the mini-reject challenge and the Canadian/Australian/New Zealand author, that gets me to 3/5 being prompt fills. Depending on the list, hopefully I can find other prompts for the last two.)
I have used the Goodreads Choice Awards the last few years. As much as I'm itching to get planning my January books, I guess I'll wait until November for the longlist to be announced. I'm also using the Tournament of Books as my connection for prompt 2, so that's another one I'll be waiting on.


Right now, the two books I have selected are:
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Rejected prompts that fit - A book with a body part in the title; A book related to "civil rights"; A book that has a character with a non-traditional name; A book related to X marks the Spot (set during era of Generation X); A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists; A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award; A book with a character who is marginalized; A book with a hot topic; A book featured on a list for a media or celebrity book club
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Rejected prompts that fit - A book with twins; A book with a hand on the cover; A book that plays with perceptions of reality; A book related to fire; A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists; A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award; A book another ATY group member gave 5 stars; A book that is between 400-600 pages; A book by a female author which won an award


dalex, Take My Hand is phenomenal. Such an impactful and infuriating book.
I think I'll wait until December to decide what my favorite prompt was that I want to repeat, but I have a feeling it will be this one lol.
I think I'll wait until December to decide what my favorite prompt was that I want to repeat, but I have a feeling it will be this one lol.

I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews so I’m really looking forward to it.


I'm reading The Frangipani Tree Mystery because I wanted a book set in Singapore. The MC is a nanny, so that was covered by the 'MC in domestic service' suggestion.
For a second bite of the cherry, which is an attempt to clear a lot of my TBR list, I'm using the suggestion 'book with a girl, boy, man or woman in the title' to read The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear.
But I have used books for other prompts that could also cover failed suggestions that I'm disappointed about e.g. I'm reading Wednesday’s Child for the botanic cover prompt, but it would also work for the failed 'book related to the Addams Family' suggestion.

I'm going to attempt my version of reading in order (I have to finish the books in order).
3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (A book the that helps you reflect or recharge)-

I'm also planning on using related to mushrooms.
Since, we have had this prompt I feel like mushrooms are everywhere. On FB, I keep getting an ad for some mushroom game. My friend posted a picture of her daughter's birthday with a book about mushrooms to help her overcome her fear of mushrooms. I open up news app and there are article about the benefits of mushrooms. I type "music" into the search engine on Libby with in the first page of books I get


I'm either reading The Story Girl, Jane of Lantern Hill, or Further Chronicles of Avonlea.
And I'm finally going to have an Anne inspired tea party, like I've been meaning to do since someone bought me a book with recipes in it.

I would take that as a sign too! I'm considering mushrooms for this prompt, but I'll probably wait to see what other challenges are doing before committing.

I do like the Goodreads Choice Award idea, my initial thought was "A book with a word in the title related to reading." But on looking through my TBR that will be harder to fill than I thought. "A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian" is always a good one too.
I may also go the route of picking a book and then finding a prompt that fits, or seeing if a book club book during that time fits a prompt.

That would be me...

Literary Fiction - The Overstory
Banned Book - The Awakening
Set in BCE - The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
As of right this moment, I'm thinking of going with 'a Goodreads Choice Award nominee' since I always add a bunch to my TBR. A few of the older possibilities for me:
A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman
Finding Me
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune
A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman
Finding Me
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

Some that would be interesting for me to read for:
A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards
A book related to the year of the wood dragon
A book involving pirates, maps, or treasure
A book with a piece of fruit on the cover
2 Weeks: A book with "life" in the title, and a book with "death" in the title
4 Weeks: Four books where each cover is related to a different season (fall, winter, spring, summer)
A book with a person on the cover and you can’t see their whole face
A book related to fire
A book recommended for or related to your zodiac sign
A book with a character that could be described as one of the classes in Dungeons and Dragons
A book with a clock on the cover
Will see which one I go for. :)
Update: Initially I was excited for the D&D one, but I ended up with A book related to the year of the wood dragon, and I picked The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Kay O'Neill. I gave it a 4.5 rounded up and with this I finished the trilogy. <3
Totally recommend!

Roses are red
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
Violets are blue
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Sugar is sweet
The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West
And so are You
You by Caroline Kepnes

One of them will definitely be Eleanor Roosevelt: Fighter for Justice by Ilene Cooper, which was banned in Oct 2022 in a Texas school district. Seriously, who bans Eleanor Roosevelt?

Book with a known great last line -
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
A Tale of Two Cities
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
The Great Gatsby
The Return of the King
To the Lighthouse
Crime and Punishment
Don Quixote
1984
Audie Award nominees/winners -
The Alice Network
Neverwhere
Project Hail Mary
The Nickel Boys
The Jasmine Throne
The Republic of Thieves


I've been wanting to read this since at least last year, so when Nike suggested the surprising A book related to mushrooms I thought I had my chance! Well, I guess I still do. I hope it's as interesting as I think it will be. I also just found out that there is an illustrated edition, which I think would be really great. I hope I can find that!
If for some reason this doesn't pan out, I'm sure I have something else I can fit in here, and will report back if that's what happens.
I found this book would fit not only for "botanical cover" as mentioned above, but 10 other prompts, including A book that is not a novel, A science or science fiction book, and for me — A book connected to something you read in 2023, as I read Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard, which also includes a lot of discussion about fungi and how they help forests flourish.

[bookcover:Entangled Li..."
I just finished this a few weeks ago. I thought it was fascinating! I've been regaling my adult kids with mycelial facts ever since.

- A book that features a hobby - The Sewing Machine by Natalie Fergie
- A nonfiction book about a topic you have always wanted to learn about - Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn
- A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges - The Asylum by Karen Coles
- A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian - Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
- A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante


more then one MC
MC - mad bad or dangerous
title refers to one or more characters in the book
A book with a character whose name that starts with a letter in the phrase LIBRARY CARD

Right now, the two books I have selected are:
Take My Hand by [author:Dolen..."
Thank you for including the prompt that "Take My Hand" fit under. I had such a hard time finding the rejected prompts, when all along I could've just come to this discussion lol
This is what I have decided to read for this prompt :)


"Dora Greenfield left her husband because she was afraid of him."


A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards
and currently reading What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez, which will also help me by reading a book off of my BOTM backlog and physical shelf.
Take 2: Probably going to use the same prompt option, but maybe one of these books from the Tournament of Books Shortlist (which were all either winners or nominees from the choice awards)
Big Swiss
The Bee Sting
Wellness
Let Us Descend



short and sweet review: 5.0
It's one of my favorite love stories this year. Ryan is the perfect book boyfriend. Indy seems to have been in the right place at the right time.

From Poll 7
---A book told from multiple character POVs

BIO: A 2nd suggestion that didn’t make the final list --- A book with more than one main character (From Poll 9)
Finished : 01/12/2024
4 stars

Belle Da costa Greene was personal libratian to JP morgan - both real people.
Her role is little known and the book has a very interesting narrative line but I failed to be captured by the characters in a way that would make this book truly memorable

Belle Da costa Greene was personal libratian to JP morgan - both real people.
H..."
Another book featuring Belle Da costa Greene is The Ghost of Madison Avenue by Nancy Bilyeau. It's a novella.




There is a link in the 1st post that shows all the prompts that were suggested so anything that isn't on the main list would be a fit.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
at the bottom of the sheet are various tabs including one for 2024 rejects.
Books mentioned in this topic
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness (other topics)What Strange Paradise (other topics)
I'm Glad My Mom Died (other topics)
Go, Went, Gone (other topics)
Leaden Skies (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ann Parker (other topics)T. Kingfisher (other topics)
Bernard J. Farmer (other topics)
Jenny Tinghui Zhang (other topics)
Linda Stratmann (other topics)
More...
Prompts That Didn't Make It In: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
What are you reading for this prompt, and what prompt does it fit?