Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
2025 Reading List Creation
>
[2025] Poll 4 Voting - MULTIWEEK
Mod
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end
"Some examples of beginning themes could be a new relationship, birth, starting something new like a job or hobby, the start of a civilization, childhood, title with the word “beginning” or “first” or “start”, the first book of a series, etc.
Some examples of ending themes could be death, breakups, settings of nighttime, quitting or giving something up, adulthood, New Year’s Eve, the last book of a series, the end of an empire or civilization, titles with the word “end” or “last” or “final”, etc."
2. 3 Weeks: A book relating to Blood, A book relating to Sweat, and A book relating to Tears
Blood could e g be a thriller or a romance novel or a multigeneration family saga.
Sweat could e g be a book set in a tropical environment or about a stressful situation like being hunted by enemies. Maybe a novel including sports or giving birth.
Tears could e g be a book about grief or unhappy love. Tears of relief or tears of joy.
3. 2 Weeks: Two books with sequential numbers in the title
Examples- One Hundred Years of Solitude, 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think
One Italian Summer, A Tale of Two Cities
The Three of Us, The Four Winds
Station Eleven, Twelfth Night
Twelve Years a Slave, Thirteen Reasons Why
Slaughterhouse Five, Six of Crows
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Eight Hundred Grapes
4. 4 Weeks: A book connected to Northeast, A book connected to Southeast, A book connected to Northwest, & a book connected to Southwest
The NE, SE, NW, and SW is a geography prompt.
Reads could use the equator and prime meridian and read from one of the 4 quadrants of the globe.
Or use a continent, like Africa or Asia.
Or use a country, like the one they live in, or a country they'd like t read more books from
5. 2 Weeks: Two books related to high and low
Ideas:
High and low altitude settings, eg. mountains and sea-level
A high fantasy and a low fantasy
High and low temperatures
High stakes and low stakes plots
High and low income characters
High rises and single story homes
6. 2 Weeks: Two books featuring complementary colors
Examples of Complementary Color Combinations
In the traditional red, yellow, blue color wheel, the complementary color combinations are as follows:
red and green
yellow and purple
blue and orange
red-orange and blue-green
yellow-orange and blue-violet
yellow-green and red-violet
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compl...
So, for example, one book red cover, one book green cover. Or for BIO challenge, red book with green accents, then a green book with red accents.
7. 2 Weeks: Two books with a connection from different genres
Possible examples:
connection ""octopus"" Remarkably Bright Creatures (fiction) and The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness (non-fiction)
connection ""apple on cover"" Apples Never Fall (mystery/thriller) and Twilight (YA)
connection ""set in London"" Wolf Hall (historical fiction) The Flatshare (romance)
connection ""same title"" Joyland (horror) Joyland (fiction/graphic novel)
possible genre pairings:
fiction and non-fiction
contemporary and historical fiction
classic and retelling
thriller and romance
science and memoir
Everyone gets to choose what their connection is and genres
9. 2 Weeks: One book that asks a question and one book that offers a solution
This may refer to the title or the theme
11. 3 Weeks: A book relating to "up", A book relating to "down", & A book relating to "sideways"
You could look for the words in the title, or it may be part of the plot:
Up: climbing a mountain, flying into space, moving up in society, heaven, treetops, high-rise buildings
Down: going underground, plot taking place underwater, in a cave or a subterrean world, graves and graveyards, having bad luck, being sad
Sideways: something going sideways (wrong, out of control), directions in the title (east, west, north etc or left/right), something going an unexpected way, a parallel universe – plotline, a profile picture on the cover
12. 2 Weeks: Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles
Example pairs of words:
Before / after
Light / dark
Everything/ nothing
Come / go
Summer / winter
Wet / dry
13. 2 Weeks: A book that matches the season/month that you read it during, and a book that is opposite the season/month that you read it in
Examples:
Read a holiday romance in Dec. and then one in July.
Read a book that is about Black history for Feb. and then one in Aug. (6 months later)
Read a 'beach read' during the summer, then read a book about people trapped by a blizzard.
Read a book about sharks for shark week, then read about birds
14. 2 Weeks: A book that is short (less than 250 pages) & A book that is long (greater than 450 pages)
Reason: One report said that typical novels are 250-450 pages long.
Although for these prompts both fiction and non-fiction would count, in fact, you could do one of each!
Pros:
• Sometimes I worry about a longer book in case it affect my ability to finish the challenge. But by balancing it with a shorter book this would not be a problem
• For anyone who tracks total pages read in a year, this would balance out the same as two average length books as well
15. 2 weeks: Lost and found: One book featuring themes of loss and another "found"
for example - lost love, death, grief, lost fortunes
or - found family, finding identity, reunited characters (second chance romances) etc
I love the up, down , and sideways prompt. I'm thinking up in terms of growing up, coming-of-age stories, or a rags-to-riches vibes, down - i would choose a mental breakdown story or and sideways could be plans gone wrong as mentioned in the prompt. I think there's so much that can de done with this prompt.I also love the sequential numbers challenge just because it feels like it would be fun picking the first book and the second would end up being significantly narrowed down and force you to read something out of your comfort zone more or less based on the choices available to you. I like having some prompts that extremely limt your choices so you are exposed to something new.
for the NE, NW, SE, SW one, I think it will end up being quite similar to the European authors one or choosing authors from different continents. So if any goes through, I hope it is not more than one of them. Either way I am ambivalent about them.
Initial reaction, before reading the additional info, is 4 up and 5 down. Need to narrow that down.One other idea for "sweat" that I thought of immediately is about an athlete or involving a sport.
Also are seven and eight hundred really sequential? lol
#13, with the opposite season/month, might be hard for those reading in order.
Nancy wrote: "Initial reaction, before reading the additional info, is 4 up and 5 down. Need to narrow that down.One other idea for "sweat" that I thought of immediately is about an athlete or involving a spor..."
I thought the same thing about the 7 and 800 lol. For the blood, sweat and tears one, any story involving war or battle would be good for blood as well
"9. 2 Weeks: One book that asks a question and one book that offers a solution"I'm intrigued by this one but would like to see some examples first. If I'm thinking about it correctly then maybe these examples would work...
title- Where'd You Go, Bernadette ---> The Summer Cottage
theme- Migrations (dystopian climate change) ----> non fiction climate change book?
I'd love to see any examples you may have.
Nancy wrote: "Initial reaction, before reading the additional info, is 4 up and 5 down. Need to narrow that down.One other idea for "sweat" that I thought of immediately is about an athlete or involving a spor..."
Yes, I did add that but I think I have to notify Emily of the alternatives I added to each.
Nancy wrote: "Initial reaction, before reading the additional info, is 4 up and 5 down. Need to narrow that down.One other idea for "sweat" that I thought of immediately is about an athlete or involving a spor..."
Great observation! I included that one as an example that as long as the number is there then the options can be more broad. Lots of books have titles with One Hundred or Eight Thousand etc, and I think its acceptable to use the One and Eight alone, or as the whole number as its written.
Emily wrote: "THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end
"Some examples of beginning themes could be a new relationship, birth, startin..."
Before the suggestion round was over I added some alternatives to the blood, sweat and tears theme:
"Blood could e g be a thriller or a romance novel or a multigeneration family saga.
Sweat could e g be a book set in a tropical environment or about a stressful situation like being hunted by enemies. Maybe a novel including sports or giving birth.
Tears could e g be a book about grief or unhappy love. Tears of relief or tears of joy."
Haha yeah the pedant in me would never consider 7 and 800 sequential but I guess that could be a KIS.Sorry I didn't read through the suggestions thread before commenting on sweat!
Nancy wrote: "Initial reaction, before reading the additional info, is 4 up and 5 down. Need to narrow that down.#13, with the opposite season/month, might be hard for those reading in order...."
I think they can be read back-to-back; one example given is "Read a 'beach read' during the summer, then read a book about people trapped by a blizzard." So a book from the current season followed immediately by a book from a season six months away.
For Nr 12 - as I understand it:The first book has "before" in the title, and the second "after" - right?
So two books where each of them has (only) one half of the opposites in the title.
For the sequential numbers challenge, I guess I better get cracking on my manuscript for "11/23/05", a coming-of-age tale about a particularly eventful Thanksgiving, so people can read it after they finish 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Just kidding.
I don't know what to vote for. The nominating went so fast I missed it entirely. I really like the "book that asks a question/book that proposes an answer" idea, & I really wish there were some examples!
How Can I Help You/What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/The Old Man and the Sea
Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama/I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?/Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
Can You Keep a Secret?/Tell It to Me Singing
Mod
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end
"Some examples of beginning themes could be a new relationship, ..."
Hey Nike, could you type it out exactly as you'd want it copy and pasted?
Emily, will the results be on Wednesday (last week’s dates are in post 1).
Ciara wrote: "For the sequential numbers challenge, I guess I better get cracking on my manuscript for "11/23/05", a coming-of-age tale about a particularly eventful Thanksgiving, so people can read it after the..."I love YOUR ideas - very clever!
Today is Friday, right? Emily, does voting open Saturday or Sunday?
Emily wrote: "It's now time to get ready to vote for our first set of prompts! The thread will be open for at least 24 hours before the poll gets posted. This is a good opportunity to ask any question you may ha..."Hi--you cut and pasted this but forgot to change the dates :)
I didn’t even notice the dates. Just the days of the week. Lol. Summer dates all blur together. So voting will begin on Saturday.
Nancy wrote: "Haha yeah the pedant in me would never consider 7 and 800 sequential but I guess that could be a KIS.Sorry I didn't read through the suggestions thread before commenting on sweat!"
No, please don't be - I'm glad you showed your interest! ❤️
Emily wrote: "Nike wrote: "Emily wrote: "THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end
"Some examples of beginning themes could be a new r..."
Blood could e g be a thriller or a romance novel or a multigeneration family saga.
Sweat could e g be a book set in a tropical environment or about a stressful situation like being hunted by enemies. Maybe a novel including sports or giving birth.
Tears could e g be a book about grief or unhappy love. Tears of relief or tears of joy.
Demetra wrote: "I didn’t even notice the dates. Just the days of the week. Lol. Summer dates all blur together. So voting will begin on Saturday."I notice dates year round, but then I'm a calendar person. I'm more likely to forget the day of the week than the date, but I can forget both. However, today's date and the time are on the upper right corner of my monitor so I am not likely to forget while online :)
#12 is (to me) a little unclear. Does each book need to have a title that contains opposites? (i.e. North and South being in one of the books title) Or does one book need to have an element that is opposite of the other book? (i.e. One book has North, and the other book has South)
Angela wrote: "#12 is (to me) a little unclear. Does each book need to have a title that contains opposites? (i.e. North and South being in one of the books title) Or does one book need to have an element that is opposite of the other book? (i.e. One book has North, and the other book has South).."
The last one I think.
One book has before, the other after
One book has hot, the other cold
The wording on that one is a little unclear, but it wouldn't make sense to be a multiweek prompt if it was just the same prompt twice, I think.
Sibylle wrote: " it wouldn't make sense to be a multiweek prompt if it was just the same prompt twice."Good point. Thanks for the clarification! I do like this prompt, it's a likely upvote from me.
Ciara wrote: "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?/Everyone in My Family Has Killed SomeoneCan You Keep a Secret?/Tell It to Me Singing..."
LOL I wasn't really vibing with that suggestion until I saw your ideas ... that is so funny! now I kinda like the category sugestion.
Thinking on paper regarding this poll prompts.Poll Prompts:
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end.
So would a debut book and a last book by an author work or does it have to be about a beginning event and an ending one?
2. 3 Weeks: A book relating to Blood, A book relating to Sweat, and A book relating to Tears.
I admit that this one was hard for me to conceptualize until someone suggested sports for sweat.
3. 2 Weeks: Two books with sequential numbers in the title.
I, at first, thought sequential meant one number after another, but the dictionary definition is "a set of numbers in a particular order or a set of numbers that follow a pattern" so that you could count by hundreds and 100, 200, 300 would be sequential numbers. The prompt does not say consecutive numbers. I like this prompt.
4. 4 Weeks: A book connected to Northeast, A book connected to Southeast, A book connected to Northwest, & a book connected to Southwest.
Not fond of this one.
5. 2 Weeks: Two books related to high and low.
Really? Why?
6. 2 Weeks: Two books featuring complementary colors.
As long as the complementary colors are listed in the prompt, this one would be fun.
7. 2 Weeks: Two books with a connection from different genres.
I didn't like this at first, but it is growing on me.
8. 3 Weeks: Three books by authors from 3 different European countries.
OK. It would get me to spread out my reading from Italy and France.
9. 2 Weeks: One book that asks a question and one book that offers a solution.
Cute. I think I would like this one.
10. 3 weeks: Three books by authors from three different continents.
Similar to the three European authors. Also like this one but will probably vote for one or the other.
11. 3 Weeks: A book relating to "up", A book relating to "down", & A book relating to "sideways".
Like the sideways part, so would probably find this one fun to research.
12. 2 Weeks: Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles.
I agree. If the idea is to take one pair of opposites and read a book for each, it would be OK. However, if it is to read a book with a pair of opposites in the title and then another book with a different pair of opposites in the title, it strikes me it would be restrictive. Not to my liking.
13. 2 Weeks: A book that matches the season/month that you read it during, and a book that is opposite the season/month that you read it in.
A bit unclear. So depending on the month or season that I chose to read a particular book, that book should match...set in summer because reading it in summer. And book two should be set in winter even if it is still summer? I think it could be worded more clearly.
14. 2 Weeks: A book that is short (less than 250 pages) & A book that is long (greater than 450 pages).
I like this one. It would be easy to fill with my favorite genres.
15. 2 weeks: Lost and found: One book featuring themes of loss and another "found".
Not sure what I feel about this one. I think I would stay neutral.
One thing I want to throw out there - as a planner, I don't like prompts that mean if I need to change the book for one prompt, I likely need to change it for the others. E.g. sequential numbers, with a connection, question and solution, etc.I'm much more likely to vote for a prompt like blood, sweat, and tears, or beginning and end. I get that people like to tie the prompts together but I don't usually do that, so if I pick books for beginning and end, and need to change the end book, I don't have to change the beginning book too.
Dixie wrote: "I think they can be read back-to-back; one example given is "Read a 'beach read' during the summer, then read a book about people trapped by a blizzard." So a book from the current season followed immediately by a book from a season six months away"So this means I'd have to read a book in the season that the prompt was set in, done by Emily. So if she decides that prompt will be in June, I have to read a book set in summer, and then one set in winter. I prefer to read beachy books in summer and cold and snowy books in winter. And then there's the fact that June is both spring and summer. And now I'm overthinking.... which means I'm not likely to want this prompt.
Bea wrote: "Thinking on paper regarding this poll prompts.Poll Prompts:
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end.
So would a debut book and a last book by an author work or doe..."
I did mention a few alternatives by every part though. I actually did write sports as well.
@Bea, Re: #1 Beginning and EndingAnything that is a beginning and any anything that is an ending could work. So yes, an author’s first book and their last book could work.
BUT, the first and last don’t have to be a matched set. You could read one author’s first book and if it’s newer, it’s likely they don’t have a last book yet. So you could read a different (most likely no longer living) author’s last book. OR you could read a book about an ending (say retirement, death, a breakup) to go with that debut novel.
Make sense? Basically, the “beginning” and “the ending” don’t have to go together. And it doesn’t have to be “about” either. (Sorry for my rambling)
Nancy wrote: "Dixie wrote: "I think they can be read back-to-back; one example given is "Read a 'beach read' during the summer, then read a book about people trapped by a blizzard." So a book from the current se..."That's only if you read in order. You can read the book in any season, so long as it matches or is opposite of that particular season. You can read a beach read in June and then read another beach read in January if you wanted!
(Note, I'm not crazy about the suggestion, not trying to sell it, but I dont' think you're stuck reading in the season Emily chooses.)
Nadine in NY wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Dixie wrote: "I think they can be read back-to-back; one example given is "Read a 'beach read' during the summer, then read a book about people trapped by a blizzard." So a book from ..."Nancy reads in order. I also am planning on reading in order again next year but, I don’t match books to seasons so it doesn’t bother me.
I'm surprisingly ok with most of these despite really not liking multiweeks in generalBlood, Sweat and Tears is by far my favourite but I might also vote for beginning/ending.
All the geography-related prompts are downvotes for me. I'm not planning to up vote more than the one or two I said above that I like, so I still have a few possible votes to use up. I'll have to see which prompts seem the most difficult/annoying to find options for.
Multi-week is my favorite. Definitely upvoting blood, sweat, and tears. I also love the question/solution prompt after seeing some examples. I think the only prompt I'm not suuuuper crazy about is the season one, but it's because I rely heavily on my library for books and it can be hard to plan my holds if I need to read them at a certain time. I can definitely make it work if it gets through though!
Ciara wrote: "For the sequential numbers challenge, I guess I better get cracking on my manuscript for "11/23/05", a coming-of-age tale about a particularly eventful Thanksgiving, so people can read it after the..."I love your suggestions. I like the prompt now :)
Bea wrote: "5. 2 Weeks: Two books related to high and low.Really? Why?..."
It's not any more random than up/down/sideways. It was suggested a previous year and I liked it, so I suggested it again. I personally like the high and low fantasy option, which wouldn't work with up/down, but I know restricting it to fantasy has zero chance.
Nike wrote: "Bea wrote: "Thinking on paper regarding this poll prompts.Poll Prompts:
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end.
So would a debut book and a last book by an author..."
I saw that you had done so later after I wrote this. Thank you.
Tracy wrote: "@Bea, Re: #1 Beginning and EndingBUT, the first and last don’t have to be a matched set. You could read one author’s first book and if it’s newer, it’s likely they don’t have a last book yet. So you could read a different (most likely no longer living) author’s last book. OR you could read a book about an ending (say retirement, death, a breakup) to go with that debut novel."
Thank you, Tracy, for clarifying this for me.
Ellie wrote: "Bea wrote: "5. 2 Weeks: Two books related to high and low.Really? Why?..."
It's not any more random than up/down/sideways. It was suggested a previous year and I liked it, so I suggested it again..."
Sorry about my response, although it was what popped into my head. I think, other than fantasy, it really left me wondering how to read for it. And, I couldn't tell you on a dime what the difference is between high and low fantasy although I bet I read a lot of both.
All I could think of was the Episcopalian high church and low church designations! Maybe I will look at this among my books and change my mind.
Mod
https://forms.gle/XF5gUiWKBCv5wYPT6
4 up and 4 down this time. Not really excited by the choices
6 down, 2 up. I'm not really interested in any of the prompts that were for longer than 2 weeks. Love the question/answer prompt and the two connected books from different genres prompt.
I managed all up votes. Like Jill, some were not so very exciting, but I did not have any down votes...and am one that tries to use all votes.
I only voted two up and two down. I loved the blood, sweat, and tears prompt and the up, down, and sideways. I could work with anyone of them; however, I thought the number sequence and question and answer pair might give me greater problems.
Mod
I like Blood Sweat and Tears. It just so happens that I've been recently noticing *a lot* of books with blood in the title. I like up down and sideways, and I always love reading a work of fiction and nonfiction that are connected (I know there's other options, but that's what I would do). I was a little iffy on the question and answer prompt, but the more I think about it, the more it could be either a really easy one, or really challenging. The questions and answers in the titles could get really entertaining, or the themes could get really challenging. Like you could read a book about politics and then read a book about meditation (stress, and the answer is self care). ;)
Bea wrote: "All I could think of was the Episcopalian high church and low church designations! Maybe I will look at this among my books and change my mind..."Lol, all I can think about are the highs and lows of drug use or mental health. Are these prompts Rorschach tests??
I voted 2/6. There were more that I liked but since there will only be 2-3 winners, I choose to give my favorites a better chance.
In the end, I went hard on the downvotes. This is a weird batch of suggestions. A lot of ideas that sound good in theory, but once we are reading next year, I feel like they will just be uninspiring or annoying. My fave is question/answer because I like the creativity it engenders.I'm really looking forward to the results! No matter what gets voted in!
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
How the Light Gets In (other topics)How to Walk Away (other topics)
How to Stop Time (other topics)
The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get It Back (other topics)
How to Build a Boat (other topics)
More...
Voting will open in the morning of Saturday, July 20 and results will be posted in the morning of Wednesday, July 24 (CST time).
How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favorite and least favorite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes)
- You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list
We are asking people to include their Goodreads profile address when they vote. To find this, just go to your own profile and then copy the URL/web address. If for some reason you can't link to your Goodreads profile, please post your full Goodreads name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile.
Poll Prompts:
1. 2 Weeks: A book related to a beginning and a book related to an end
2. 3 Weeks: A book relating to Blood, A book relating to Sweat, and A book relating to Tears
3. 2 Weeks: Two books with sequential numbers in the title
4. 4 Weeks: A book connected to Northeast, A book connected to Southeast, A book connected to Northwest, & a book connected to Southwest
5. 2 Weeks: Two books related to high and low
6. 2 Weeks: Two books featuring complementary colors
7. 2 Weeks: Two books with a connection from different genres
8. 3 Weeks: Three books by authors from 3 different European countries
9. 2 Weeks: One book that asks a question and one book that offers a solution
10. 3 weeks: Three books by authors from three different continents
11. 3 Weeks: A book relating to "up", A book relating to "down", & A book relating to "sideways"
12. 2 Weeks: Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles
13. 2 Weeks: A book that matches the season/month that you read it during, and a book that is opposite the season/month that you read it in
14. 2 Weeks: A book that is short (less than 250 pages) & A book that is long (greater than 450 pages)
15. 2 weeks: Lost and found: One book featuring themes of loss and another "found"
Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.
As a reminder, we will be limiting the amount of weeks that will make it to the top of the Multiweek Poll to 6 weeks maximum. You will have the normal amount of votes to cast, but only the top 2-3 will get in based on how many weeks they are.
VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/XF5gUiWKBCv5wYPT6