Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
ATY 2026
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[2026] Poll 7 Voting
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I voted 4 up and 4 down. With the blank of blank title prompt, I originally read it thinking it was a 4 word title “The ___ of ____”. It doesn’t state 4 words and doesn’t even sound like there needs to be a preceding “The”. This suggestion, as worded, is a lot easier than I thought it would be so I did vote for it. I have at least 10 books, that match this pattern, which I had planned to read this year (and will not get to) so I have plenty to choose from!
Judy wrote: "This is the toughest vote yet, I like 12 of the ideas this round. Favorites:
6. A sapphic story
10. A book set in a country bordering the Indian Ocean
7. A book that could fit the quote: “May yo..."
Judy, I can appreciate your comments about the wording on the "boat" prompt. Originally I had it more straightforward. I changed it though because I know many people might say "but the whole book is not on a boat, so it can't count". And since there are probably a much narrower swath of books that are ENTIRELY set on a boat, I wanted a way to indicated just that the important part of the book would be on a boat. I did a similar thing with the "set in nature" prompt we are doing this year. Instead of saying "set in nature" I changed it to "primarily set in nature", because I didn't want someone to set a book aside because the beginning of a book took place in a city with people planning a trip into nature that would take up the rest of the plot.
In both instances it wasn't so much to please everyone, it was because I know many people are very literal with their interpretations of prompts, and for both a nature setting and a boat setting, I thought there might be too few options for books that are ENTIRELY set in those types of places.
Judy wrote: "I like the boat and poverty ideas, but not the tentative wording. My journalism teacher would ask, “Was this line written by a committee?” You can’t please everyone, so say what you mean."I used “economically disadvantaged” because it's the term commonly used in the public sector (I work in that space), and it's generally considered a respectful way to refer to people experiencing financial hardship.
I also chose it because it's broader than just “poverty.” It can include people who are low-income, underemployed, or experiencing temporary financial instability (i.e. not just those living below the poverty line).
In the Wild Discussion, several of us talked about suggesting a book about poverty, so if this character-based prompt doesn’t make the cut this time, maybe that version could be a great pick for a future round. I just wanted to try it as character prompt first since we don't have one yet.
I’m sorry. You’re right. It is a more respectful term. I’ve been working with people who ridicule anything they consider “politically correct”(said in a whiny voice). They insist on plain speak and it’s rubbing off on me. I’m sorry.
Judy wrote: "I’m sorry. You’re right. It is a more respectful term. I’ve been working with people who ridicule anything they consider “politically correct”(said in a whiny voice). They insist on plain speak and..."Hi Judy. I know your comment above is really for Andrea, but I wanted you to know that I'm glad you made your comment to begin with. It allowed Andrea to discuss her prompt in more detail, which maybe educated us all a bit more about the topic.
My favourite of these is the planet related one. I'll probably be upvoting sapphic and the Indian Ocean too. I like the idea of a book relating to Singin' in the Rain and horse on the title or cover, but there isn't many books popping into my mind.
Pamela wrote: "Judy wrote: "I like the boat and poverty ideas, but not the tentative wording. My journalism teacher would ask, “Was this line written by a committee?” You can’t please everyone, so say what you me..."It's definitely a pattern I've been noticing over the years. Sometimes the extra wording can be helpful, but I often find it makes prompts unnecessarily clunky or feels like two distinct ideas mashed together. I'm not talking about any of this week's suggestions specifically, just more of a general comment.
7 UP, 1 DOWNI upvoted a few that I don't think will make it, but maybe if others do the same, they will? I could really use any of them, except for the one I down-voted. It's a decent prompt, just doesn't fit at all with anything I read.
Mod
Some are overthought- sometimes good as in this week when just throwing out an idea could have been resulted in a prompt less respectfully worded. I want people to feel they can suggest anything. As much as I want some broad prompts, I want some whacky narrow ones that will force me to dive into the depths of my tbr prompts. (there was a good narrow one suggested in Wild recently but it was focused on one genre. When you do narrow, you need to keep genre out! )
Mod
8 votes. Split however you'd like. But no more than 8.
Questions about Location in the titleDo Chinese, Asian or American work?
Or should it be China, Asia or America?
Mod
Do Chinese, Asian or American work?
Or should it be China, Asia or America?"
Not my prompt, but since the challenge is self-regulated, whatever you think works.
Pamela wrote: I'm with you on that- I think people are so eager to get their prompts in they try to be as broad as possible. I would have gone with "a book that mostly takes place on a boat."My esp beef is "related to." Just be.
I agree also! To quote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead:
Rosencrantz: We might as well be dead. Do you think death could possibly be a boat?
Guildenstern: No, no, no... Death is...not. Death isn't. You take my meaning. Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not-be on a boat.
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats.
Guildenstern: No, no, no--what you've been is not on boats.
(Well, I thought it was apt, anyway :)
Katie wrote: "Questions about Location in the titleDo Chinese, Asian or American work?
Or should it be China, Asia or America?"
Since it asks for a location reference, for myself, I would use The Artisans: A Vanishing Chinese Village but not American Born Chinese. In other words, it would depend on whether the words Chinese, Asian, or American applied to a location or not. But as Pamela said, we're allowed to interpret the prompts however we see fit.
7 up and 1 down for me. Several good prompts I didn't have votes for. I am especially enthusiastic about "something edible" and "interesting times"
Pamela wrote: "Rachel wrote: "It's definitely a pattern I've been noticing over the years. Sometimes the extra wording can be helpful, but I often find it makes prompts unnecessarily clunky or feels like two dist..."For sure! It very heavily depends on the specifics of the prompt and the wording. I like when prompts are open enough to have a decent range of options, but not so open to the point where literally anything can count (unless that's the intent). It's definitely a bit of a balancing act!
I went 4 up and 4 down. I wanted to upvote 8, but I picked the 4 that seem most interesting and challenging to me, I downvoted 4 title prompts that seem too easy.
Mod
As I've said before-- my sweet spot for a prompt is 4-10 choices. Love those ones!
Pamela wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Rachel wrote: "It's definitely a pattern I've been noticing over the years. Sometimes the extra wording can be helpful, but I often find it makes prompts unnecessarily..."I have a more than 100 hundred books that fit the ____ of _____ format. That’s too many.
I did 7 up and 1 down. I thought this was a great group of prompts.
Hi all! Last round excited me more but these still have some good ones-here i go with my opinion. Poll Prompts:
1. A book where being on a boat is important to the story -neutral on this one. Cant think of anything right now.
2. A book set primarily somewhere creepy or scary-neutral or down? I like thrillers but i don't like scary locations-defintiley not a horror fan.
3. A book with a location in the title-probably upvote. can think of a couple that i've been wanting to read.
4. A book written in the present tense-probably an upvote. A lot of what i read seems to be in the present tense.
5. A book whose title follows the "______ of ______" pattern-downvote probably. When i looked at the goodreads list i seem to remember lots of fantasy-which i avoid. just can't get into those.
6. A sapphic story-another down. Nothing against sapphic. I'm not a big romance fan. whenever i read those (not for book club), I always say "why did i do that?)
7. A book that could fit the quote: “May you live in interesting times.”-probably upvote. I love historical fiction.
8. A book related to a planet other than earth.-probably downvote. Not a big fan of scifi
9. A book that features a horse in the title or on the cover-neutral on this. Can't think of anything that i want to read that meets this
10. A book set in a country bordering the Indian Ocean-sounds good to me. I'm sure i can find something that meets this
11. A book set in one of the world’s great cities.-probably up or neutral. When we did the 25 prettiest cities so many of my books took place in NYC without trying
12. A book with something edible in the title-sure upvote. Maybe i can finally read a cozy mystery
13. A book related to the song “Singin’ in the Rain”-probably downvote. I'm not a big song title prompt person
14. A book with a six word title-probably up? I wouldn't mind counting words in titles all year lol
15. A book with an economically disadvantaged protagonist-I really like this one-up
Ended up doing 5 up, 3 down. wished i had one more vote.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Artisans: A Vanishing Chinese Village (other topics)American Born Chinese (other topics)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (other topics)
The Invention of Morel (other topics)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (other topics)
More...
"Be" doesn't always work, though. "Related to" is a shorter way of saying "approach this from any angle" or "any aspect of this idea is okay for this prompt". I don't see how you could use any form of "be" to express this meaning for "related to a planet other than earth": "This could be a book set on an unknown planet in a sci-fi, connected to the horoscope sign related to a planet, the god related to the planet, the name of the planet or any other fun thing you can think of." Or are you saying prompts should all be simple and straightforward, and not approachable in so many different ways?