Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
ATY 2026
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[2026] Poll 15 Voting
Ciara wrote: "I think "read in a -ber month" is a prompt in this year's 52 Book Club challenge. It's definitely one of the most annoying ones (on their list--a high bar as they also have both "told in verse" & "..."I sometimes finish the challenge before September so for me it would mean a re-read of a book that I "read in a -ber month" before. Then it's not so easy and you don't have to wait. But I'm not a big fan of re-reads.
Tracy wrote: "Just thought of another use for “A character who is passing”. It could be a character who uses a pseudonym (stage name or pen name, etc.). I’m reading one now (The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers) w..."I hope people read the possibilities for this one before voting. I keep thinking of books that would fit character passing (as)
Who Is Vera Kelly? is a fun spy book that would fit. Vera is posing as a student in a country that is in the verge of a coup.
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station - and probably most of her books would work .
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is not about dying. It’s about a gay woman who passes as Catholic in order to get a job in the church office, I loved it.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot is about two women with terminal illness. It was a sad but engrossing story.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is a wonderful story about racing - and passing other boats.
Passing is about a black woman passing as white. I’ve been meaning to read it for years.
The Personal Librarian is similar.
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Opinions needed.
Which has a better chance to get in? Magical realism or Frothy - gothy?
I think many magical realism books might count as frothy or gothy. Sara Addison Allen books are light enough, and some magic books are eerie enough to call gothic. I like both prompts, but I need to cut something, I think I will vote for whichever one has the best chance of getting in. Thoughts?
NancyJ wrote: "Opinions needed.Which has a better chance to get in? Magical realism or Frothy - gothy..."
I want both, but upvoted frothy/gothy because it's so creative and fun. Can't say that means it has a better chance of getting in, but it wouldn't surprise me if I'm not the only one to find it delightful.
Rosemary wrote: "Ciara wrote: "I think "read in a -ber month" is a prompt in this year's 52 Book Club challenge. It's definitely one of the most annoying ones (on their list--a high bar as they also have both "told..."Thinking about it, a book that you start December 31 2025 and finish in January would count.
NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Just thought of another use for “A character who is passing”. It could be a character who uses a pseudonym (stage name or pen name, etc.). I’m reading one now (The Fellowship of the P..."Thanks for the great examples NancyJ!
NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Just thought of another use for “A character who is passing”. It could be a character who uses a pseudonym (stage name or pen name, etc.). I’m reading one now (The Fellowship of the P..."I agree with Dixie. Frothy/gothy is new and delightful. You can go light or dark which is a big plus.
Dixie wrote: "Charlsa wrote: "Re: 4. A book that is either frothy or gothy.Thanks! It popped into my head at about 4:00A.M. when most people are sleeping. One of my cats woke me up because he was playing in the other room with a toy that has balls in it that he can bat around.
My hope is that it will be fun for everyone to find a match for it.
I'm all in! I decided to go with 8 upvotes.
First impressions: 1. A magical realism or magical book - Love it! Most likely an upvote
2. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2025 or 2026 - Indifferent at the moment, but I could be swayed if there were enough options that are on my TBR
3. A book about a family or family relationships. - Another likely upvote
4. A book that is either frothy or gothy - I have no clue what "frothy" means in relation to a book (and the description given doesn't make sense to me), but I love the gothy half so I might vote for it on the basis of that alone
5. A book that won an international literary award - Probably a downvote. I don't care at all about awards
6. A book with characters in a club - Love this! Likely an upvote
7. A book that includes a “forbidden” topic in polite conversation, such as, sex, money, religion, politics, or personal issues. - I still like this one, but not sure if I want it strongly enough to vote for it
8. A book that is related to one of the group’s moderators - Downvote for me (no offense to the mods). I don't like prompts based on personal details, and even less so when based on someone else's personal details.
9. A book featuring a feat of engineering - Not particularly interested
10. A book with a character who is passing - I like the variety of ways this could be interpreted. Strongly considering upvoting.
11. A book featuring a writer or the craft of writing - Definite upvote. I love books that feature writers or characters involved in publishing
12. A book connected to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen - Another strong maybe. There's enough in the lyrics that I think I could connect to
13. A book that includes a single parent - I like this, but not sure I like it enough to vote for it.
14. A book set in an alternate history or an imaginary world/universe - I feel like this overlaps with the magic/magical realism one a bit, and I prefer that one. Since I'm already voting for that, I don't necessarily want both
15. A book you read in a -ber month - It's useful to have a freebie, but not sure I want it strongly enough to vote for it
If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Month threads, but as a prompt I really struggle with it. It's basically a list prompt that is released in 12 increments and having it in consecutive years means half of the list of options will be the exact same as this year (since they both include the 2025 threads). As a planner, I dislike having to check the threads every month to try to find more options. I just checked the 2025 listopia and only have 2 options from the 300+ books, and both are first books in incomplete series (which I would like to avoid). If this prompt gets in, I hope everyone who upvotes it will participate in posting their best books every month since it seems like only 21 people posted in the August thread.
Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Month threads, but..."
What kind of books are you looking for?
I guess I have stopped posting mine, but I'm not sure I would post what you are looking for anyway. I read a lot of series and nonfiction. I struggle with finding picture books on the lists, but I usually find something.
Irene wrote: "If this prompt gets in, I hope everyone who upvotes it will participate in posting their best books every month since it seems like only 21 people posted in the August thread..."This is a valid point. I need to get better at doing this myself. Thanks for the reminder.
And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so that wouldn't help very many people, it would just clutter up the list.
Pamela wrote: "Nike wrote: "But I will upvote:1
2
3
4
5
9
10
11
and
14"
That's 9...."
Oops, didn't even notice - thank you! But now it's even more difficult!
Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so that wouldn't help very many people, it would jus..."It would if someone else is reading that series. I've had issues where I want to keep reading a series, but the four previous books have already filled up all of the spots that the series fits in.
Shelley wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so that wouldn't help very many peop..."I guess I just assume most people are at a different place in that series that I am, but yes, anyone who is currently reading the In Death series, please feel free to let me know where you are.
Would going back and posting my 5 start reads in previous months be a help or is it just too late?
Mod
Oops, didn't even notice - thank you! But now it's even more difficult!"
Don't worry, would have sent you a message if you did it when voting!
Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so that wouldn't help very many people, it would jus..."Yes, definitely post a 4-star book that was your favorite read of a month. If you really liked it but did not find it amazing, it still might be worth someone else's reading it -- and they might find it amazing.
Vicki wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so that wouldn't help very many peop..."Thanks, I will do that for August and I already have one 5 star for September that I'm surprised nobody has already posted, but I'm still not sure if I should even consider looking at previous months.
Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Month threads, but..."
It has taken me like four years to realize it, but you can KIS this prompt by just using your own BOM (as long as you put it in the BOM thread). I know not everyone does any kind of KIS for their challenge, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
Mod
Mod
One I enjoyed in the engineering space is To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design.
Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Mont..."
Thank you! I should have done that when I was struggling for a picture book. There's already one on the 2025 list that I plan on reading in 2026 though.
Another KISS option for the ATY BotM is reading a book from the same series as a book that's been posted. So posting any series book, and not just the first in the series is still important.
Kendra wrote: "Another KISS option is reading a book from the same series as a book that's been posted. So posting any series book, and not just the first in the series is still important."I never knew that. OK, then I can just post one In Death book and not all of them.
Thanks, that is helpful.
Mod
Also David McCullough's The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge (but that's NF- I was trying to show you could read fiction for the prompt!)
Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Month threads, but..."
I’m with you on the song, but I really want the ATY bom prompt too. I’m really glad you spoke up because you reminded a lot of us that we need to get better at posting our own reviews.
Who knows, some of us might have read 4 or 5 star books this year that are sitting right on your shelf waiting for you!
I often add books to my tbr based on ATY reviews that sound good. They add to the pool of books I consider for other prompts. I don’t really plan for this one because I never know what I’ll have left. I usually have multiple choices that are already done,
Have you found any “book twins” in the group that like the same books that you do? Reading Tracy’s reviews last month reminded me to post because we often like the same books.
@ Dixie, @ Deborah, @Shelley, @Irene, @Vicki, @Amy other Amy, @kendra, @ Tracy, @Gail, @Pamela, @ Trish Deborah wrote: "Shelley wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in August. Should I post my 4 star reads? All of my July 5 stars are from the middle of a single huge series, so ..
Yes please post them.
I’m going to go back and mention my favorite books from this year. I don’t think it’s too late to add books to any of the ATY BOM review threads. Jackie and Emily clearly note where they left off in the list, so they’ll know what still needs to be added.
This would be the perfect time to add them. If a bunch of us add our favorites from this year, it could be really helpful for people finishing this year’s list as well as the voting. I really look forward to reading the reviews. They can be very short.
NancyJ wrote: "@ Dixie, @ Deborah, @Shelley, @Irene, @Vicki, @Amy other Amy, @kendra, @ Tracy, @Gail, @Pamela, @ Trish Deborah wrote: "Shelley wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star reads in Augus..."
Okay! That will be my project for this afternoon, after I go catch a quick rest after a very busy morning shift at the zoo (but so worth it. Baby cheetahs!).
Dixie wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "@ Dixie, @ Deborah, @Shelley, @Irene, @Vicki, @Amy other Amy, @kendra, @ Tracy, @Gail, @Pamela, @ Trish Deborah wrote: "Shelley wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star..."
Baby cheetahs — what a cool job!
Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Mont..."
If you use your own BOM, are you re-reading? How does this work? What am I not getting here?
Such a good "crop" of prompt suggestions... again! Makes for hard voting, but results that you know will be great no matter the outcome.Like most of you, I had 8 upvotes. Since there were books I could read on my TBR for all the prompts, I leaned toward prompts that were particularly fun, interesting, or different.
Tracy wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the AT..."
You might call it cheating instead of KIS, but she means, you read a book, then post it as a favorite, then count it as satisfying the prompt of reading a best of the month. It's a way to get around not finding anything on the listopia that you want to read.
Tracy wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the AT..."
I don't think it's reading - I'm guessing that it's a retrospective fill in. So you look back at the month, and whatever your best book was, you can put it in the thread and then fill it in for this prompt (if you didn't already use it for another).
I have to say, I didn't think of that either, but it's a cute and clever way to meet the prompt!
Thanks for the explanations Deborah and Joanna G ;)
LOL I mean, you could, if you think it's possible to cheat on your own challenge, but I think it's a perfectly valid KIS.
Update: Sorry I hit the wrong person's reply button!
Irene wrote: "If I could put all my upvotes towards Bohemian Rhapsody (and maybe Frothy/Gothy) and all my downvotes for ATY Best Books of 2025/2026, I would! I love the ATY Best Books of the Month threads, but..."
You have very succinctly pinpointed my issue with this prompt. However there is a spreadsheet shared in the one of the threads that has a downloaded version of the listopias: https: //tinyurl.com/ ATY-Best-Books-of-the-Month (remove spaces)
The last tab also has the export instructions for any other SheetsGeeks
I can't take credit, but only express my gratitude that they shared!! I used it for the prompt this year and found a book within the first 5 entries.
Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Joanna G wrote: "You might call it cheating instead of KIS ..."LOL I mean, you could, if you think it's possible to cheat on your own challenge, but I think it's a perfectly valid KIS."
Some of us just aren't used to using KIS. I only started this in 2023.
Mod
For those working, raising kids, etc., feel free to do whatever works. It is ok to use children's books or picture books if you choose to. Since I've been retired, I can read a lot more and usually find something I was reading for another purpose.
Deborah wrote: "Some of us just aren't used to using KIS"Understandable! I avoid it most of the time, except when I don't. Sometimes done is done, and that's good enough.
I use whatever sorts of books I want to use to fit prompts--as long as it reasonably fits. I do try to read a few children's books I missed growing up each year, so those can be blended in. I wound up doing 6 up and 2 down. It's a good batch of prompts.
Dixie wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "@ Dixie, @ Deborah, @Shelley, @Irene, @Vicki, @Amy other Amy, @kendra, @ Tracy, @Gail, @Pamela, @ Trish Deborah wrote: "Shelley wrote: "Deborah wrote: "And I didn't have any 5 star..."
Done! I added books to every month's BOTM after going through a list of everything I've read so far in 2025...except one month, to which, to my surprise, I had already added my favorite books. Next year I'll try to do this at the end of every month instead of in one big batch at the end of the year!
For finding books on BOTM list, it can also be helpful if you see a book you already read and liked to look for other books recommend by that person in different months. I use the threads rather than the listopia for this.
Jillian wrote: "For finding books on BOTM list, it can also be helpful if you see a book you already read and liked to look for other books recommend by that person in different months. I use the threads rather th..."You could do the same thing on the listopia by picking out a book, clicking on the number of people that voted for it, then click on each person to see what else they voted for.
Deborah wrote: "You could do the same thing on the listopia by picking out a book, clicking on the number of people that voted for it, then click on each person to see what else they voted for. "Not really for the BOTM listopia. Most of the books are added by a mod. Since they are limited to 100 books they sometimes ask members to vote for books. So, if you look at the books I voted for on the 2024 list, I only voted for books that Jackie had added but didn't have any other votes that way she could remove her vote and add more books. (I have no clue if the books I voted for are actually ones I'd recommend).
Jillian wrote: "Deborah wrote: "You could do the same thing on the listopia by picking out a book, clicking on the number of people that voted for it, then click on each person to see what else they voted for. "..."
I went through the 2025 list today and voted for the books I definitely recommend, plus those I want to read. I helped Jackie a couple times in the past, but I didn’t see any votes that I didn’t mean. - oops I see a few where I am now the only vote, even though it’s a tbr book.
I will use Deborah’s idea to pick out people with similar interests when I really start planning. I someone has a favorites shelf or 5 star shelf, you can tell quite a bit if you match a little.
I appreciate the effort many people are taking to get up to date with their BOTM suggestions :)
Jillian wrote: "Deborah wrote: "You could do the same thing on the listopia by picking out a book, clicking on the number of people that voted for it, then click on each person to see what else they voted for. "..."
Oh, I always go back and vote for the books I posted as well as any others I recommend or am interested in. Not just random books.
1. A magical realism or magical book: upvote - always an upvote. Love all things magical4. A book that is either frothy or gothy: downvote - not interested
5. A book that won an international literary award: downvote - this is akin to the "list" prompts for me. No.
7. A book that includes a “forbidden” topic in polite conversation, such as, sex, money, religion, politics, or personal issues.: downvote - still a no. Always a no.
10. A book with a character who is passing: Downvote - just no. I am probably averse to this one because there have been so many deaths around me lately. I know there can be other meanings, and if it gets in, then I'll look for something that fits that.
12. A book connected to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen: Upvote - Love, love, love, love, love this one! How freaking fun.
14. A book set in an alternate history or an imaginary world/universe: Upvote - also love this one.
15. A book you read in a -ber month: Downvote - too limiting
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tsar of Love and Techno (other topics)The Tsar of Love and Techno (other topics)
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge (other topics)
The Great Divide (other topics)
To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Anthony Marra (other topics)Anthony Marra (other topics)
Catherynne M. Valente (other topics)
1. A magical realism or magical book - neutral...I like it but not enough to change a downvote
2. A book posted in one of ..."
Jette wrote: "3 up, 5 down - This round evoked stronger leanings for me than last week.
1. A magical realism or magical book - neutral...I like it but not enough to change a downvote
2. A book posted in one of ..."
Thanks for mentioning that the international awards prompt includes the GR Choice Awards. I didn’t see that. I really want it, but I have too many upvotes and I wasn’t sure it even had a chance. But I think it will be more attractive to those who want the GR Choice award. So if we vote this one in now, that’s covered too. So I’m keeping it as an upvote.