Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's time for another round, everyone!

But first, a little reminder of how things are done around here (head to this thread for all the nitty-gritty details):

How it works:
- The topics for the 2020 reading challenge list will be determined by a series of mini-polls, the number of which depends on the number of prompts winning in each mini-polls
- Suggestions for each poll will be opened until 15-20 suggestions are received and “seconded” (this number can change, which will be announced in each suggestion topic)
- We'll wait for one day between the end of the suggestions and the start of the poll to allow for research and discussions
- The poll will be opened for voting for one week
- Each user has 8 votes to spread between their favorite (top) and least favorite (bottom) prompts
- The prompts with the more "positive" votes (top - bottom) will be added to the final list (between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)

Rules:
- Each member can only suggest OR second one prompt
- Suggestions close after 20 total seconded prompts
- If the categories are not balanced enough at some point, the mods will add rules to encourage variety
- We'll be organizing a multi-week only poll at some point (where you'll have the opportunity to vote against the inclusion of any multi-week prompts if it's not your jam), so please don't suggest any for the time being, as they will not be accepted
- For now, we won't limit polls to new suggestion only, but that can be considered in the future
- For now, members who have suggested or seconded a prompt don't need to wait for 24 hours before doing so again in the next poll. That may change in the future if members express a need for this rule to be reinstated

As always, please express any and all feedback (respectfully, of course), either here or in The Wild Discussion

Poll Entries:
A book related to Earth Day (for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day)
A book that has illustrations or pictures that isn't a picture book or graphic novel
A book featuring magical realism
A book related to the arts (eg. literature, performing arts, visual arts)
A book published in the last three years (2018, 2019, 2020) that had a lot of buzz
A story with a curse
A book by one of the National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' authors
A book with a theme of discrimination, persecution or prejudice (eg. race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity)
A book related to a museum
A book related to a marine animal
A book from a TED summer reading list 
A book from the Texas Library Lariat lists
A book published before 2019 with less than 2000 reviews on Goodreads
The 20th book (eg. on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list)
A book related to 20/20 (eg. vision, sight, eyes, blindness, viewpoints, insights, hindsight)
A book with an "-ing" word in the title
A book recommended by Reese Witherspoon or Oprah Winfrey
A book set in space or about space
A book from a school's summer reading list
A work of/inspiration for fan fiction

Available to be seconded:
A book recommended by a booktuber 
A book by an author whose politics you disagree with

A book related to Earth Day (for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day)

A book published in the last three years (2018, 2019, 2020) that had a lot of buzz
We can remove the years listed after voting, if people don't want it to be as long

I was thinking it could be a book you see all over instagram, maybe a book that everyone read for a specific prompt on this group (like The Hate U Give or There There), or even a book that your friends/family has all read but you haven't read yet. You can define what "buzz" means to you.

A story with a curse.

A book that has illustrations or pictures that isnt an actual picture book or graphic novel.

A book featuring magical realism.

https://bookriot.com/2017/10/17/100-m...
https://shereads.com/magical-realism-...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/magi...

I can already tell I’m going to love this round of suggestions.

A book with a theme of racism, sexism, genderism, religious persecution, sexuality, or prejudice of any kind.

Sexuality mostly referring to sexual orientation.

I’ll second the one related to Earth Day.

A book related to a marine animal (fish, shark, whale,octopus, turtle, coral...)

Kerry wrote: "A book that has illustrations or pictures that isnt an actual picture book or graphic novel."

I will second this.

Sarah wrote: "A book featuring magical realism.

https://bookriot.com/2017/10/17/100-m...
https://shereads.com/magical-realism-...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/magi......"

I second a book featuring magical realism.

Since we had a book related to STEM this year, I suggest:

A book related to the arts (eg. literature, performing arts, visual arts)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_arts

A book by one of the National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' authors

https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-p...

2018:
- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Hannah Lillith Assadi
- Akwaeke Emezi
- Lydia Kiesling
- Moriel Rothman-Zecher

"In 2006, the National Book Foundation established the 5 Under 35 prize to recognize young, debut fiction writers whose work promised to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape. 5 Under 35 has identified some of the most celebrated young writers working today. Previous honorees include Brit Bennett, Angela Flournoy, Phil Klay, Nam Le, Valeria Luiselli, C.E. Morgan, Téa Obreht, ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, Justin Torres, Claire Vaye Watkins, Tiphanie Yanique, and Charles Yu."

Laura, do you have a link to those lists?

doh.

https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-p...

You can see previous years in the drop down below.

I just discovered this site last night and I’m curious to explore it more, so here’s my prompt:

A “book” from fanfiction.net

Once you select a book, movie, tv show, comic, etc. that you are interested in, you can filter the available fanfiction by length and/or number of favourites/reviews received. Some fanfiction is very short with less than 1000 words, so if nothing seems that interesting, it’s fairly easy to knock off a “book”without making a huge commitment.

It may be useful to expand it to:

A work of/inspiration for fan fiction

Emily wrote: "A book published in the last three years (2018, 2019, 2020) that had a lot of buzz
We can remove the years listed after voting, if people don't want it to be as long

I was thinking it could be a b..."

Seconding this.

I agree with Laura. I think a lot of people would be hesitant to read fan fiction (myself included), especially since most of them wouldn’t count on Goodreads for any other challenges. Opening it up to books that have also inspired fan fiction might be better received?

Emily wrote: "I agree with Laura. I think a lot of people would be hesitant to read fan fiction (myself included), especially since most of them wouldn’t count on Goodreads for any other challenges. Opening it u..."

Sure, I’m happy to expand the prompt. I didn’t think about the fact that fan fiction wouldn’t count on Goodreads. Perhaps there is a way to count these types of books. For example, as a group, we could agree to select the original book that inspired the fan fiction and put it in as a reread...

I’m going to assume the persecution/discrimination prompt was made with good intentions, but as written it definitely makes “[queer] sexuality” sound like a problem just like racism. I hope this was just meant to be more “inclusive” than only saying something like homophobia, but I really object to the message this sends.

I'll second book with a curse

Rebecca wrote: "I’m going to assume the persecution/discrimination prompt was made with good intentions, but as written it definitely makes “[queer] sexuality” sound like a problem just like racism. I hope this wa..."

I don't think that it was intended for sexuality itself to be seen as a negative thing. I assumed she meant homophobia or sexual discrimination. It would probably be best to reword the suggestion as A Book with a Theme of Persecution or Discrimination. That would include ALL instances of persecution, not just those specifically listed.

A book set in space or about space

There are books on Goodreads that are fanfiction, and if they are not, you can add them. I know of one example:

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

I would say “inspiration for” would make it almost a freebie as there are tons of fanfictions out there about almost everything. I would say a fanfiction, or a book inspired by or featuring fanfiction, such as Fangirl. I dont read fanfiction but my daughter does, it would be fun to ask her for recommendations :)

Laura wrote: "A book by one of the National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' authors

https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-p...

2018:
- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- [author:Han..."

I’ll second this.

I think given the theme of the suggestion, it’s safe to say that she meant sexual discrimination or homophobia.

But I do think it would be better to just word it as “A book with themes related to a form of prejudice or discrimination”

Sorry! I’m fine with the way it was rephrased on the list to be seconded. I’m definitely trying to bring in books that address discrimination or prejudice against any group of people based on the items I mentioned (sexual orientation, race, gender, sex, religion). I’m trying to bring in more diverse prompts without singling one topic out. Not a homophobe over here and I apologize for how it was misleading.

A book recommended by a booktuber

I'm not a huge fan of book lists, but I know some people are wanting some lists on next year's challenge, and I think the Texas Library Lariat list was a close call last year.

So: a book from current or past Texas Library Lariat lists - https://txla.org/tools-resources/read...

I second a book with a theme of discrimination, persecution or prejudice.

A book related to a museum

I second a book related to a museum

I'll second related to a marine animal

A book from a TED summer reading list

2019
2018
2017

Sophie wrote: "A book from a TED summer reading list

2019
2018
2017"

I'll second this. I've been reading a lot more nonfiction and these lists look pretty interesting

I'll second the Texas Library Lariat lists.

Since it's 2020: the 20th book.

Could be:
- the 20th book in your TBR pile
- the 20th book in a series
- the 20th book written by a specific author
- the 20th book mentioned in any award list or list of suggestions

Good morning, readers!

8 spots left!

How about "A book published before 2019 with lesser than 2000 reviews on GoodReads"?

All the English-language books I discover tend to be the ones most "hyped up" - typically thanks to excellent marketing by big publishers. I would love to read more books from smaller labels (or even self published) next year!

I second the book before 2019 with less than 2000 reviews.

And along the lines of Fourevver’s theme, since it’s 2020, how about a book related to 20/20? It could feature themes of vision, sight, eyes, blindness, viewpoints, insights, etc.

And could include cover/illustrations related to eyes - eye charts, for example. (Like one cover of Margot Livesey’s Mercury, which I’m reading for this year’s challenge.)

Fourevver wrote: "Since it's 2020: the 20th book.

Could be:
- the 20th book in your TBR pile
- the 20th book in a series
- the 20th book written by a specific author
- the 20th book mentioned in any award list or ..."


I second this

I second a book related to 20/20 (vision, sight, eyes, blindness, etc.)

Fourevver wrote: "Since it's 2020: the 20th book.

Could be:
- the 20th book in your TBR pile
- the 20th book in a series
- the 20th book written by a specific author
- the 20th book mentioned in any award list or ..."

Just for the sake of the list structure, could we word this as:

A book related to the number 20

That would still be same examples but it would fit in with our typical wording.

Laura wrote: "Could we word this as: A book related to the number 20"

I do see this rewording covering the same examples, but it would greatly expand the books that could work for this prompt, like a book with 20 on the cover or in title, or a book published in 1920, 2020, etc. Just something to think about.

I would keep the 20/20 prompt worded as is. Changing it to 20 is too broad and not focused enough. For the examples though, I would add "hindsight" to the list. Hindsight could open up some of the suggestions to be about memoirs, such as all the things someone learned after heartbreak, or going through something tough.

Avery, I think Laura was talking about changing the #20 book, not the 20/20 book.

I agree that it needs to be reworded, but also agree that it does change the prompt significantly with the way that Laura stated it. I personally like it better the way Laura mentioned it, but I wasn't the suggester or seconder.

I think we can just leave it as “the 20th book” - that’s short and clear. It’s up to each member if they make it the 20th in a series or 20th on the TBR it whatever.

A book related to the number 20 is, I think, different from the 20th book.