Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Voting is now open!

The entire Around the Year challenge list is generated by the group members. We enjoyed the process so much in the past three years that we are creating another list for 2019.

The Process:
The topics for the 2019 RC list will be determined through around 13 mini-polls. Each user will vote for their favorite topics in each mini-poll, which will then add up to the 52 topics (13 polls x 4 topics/poll=52 weekly topics). Suggestions for each poll will be opened until 15-20 suggestions are received+seconded. Then a poll will be opened for voting for one week so you can select your favorite suggestions. This timeframe allows for a completed list in October-November.

The Rules:
- You have 8 votes to allocate to TOP and BOTTOM picks in whichever manner you choose. eg. You may still vote for your TOP 4 and BOTTOM 4, or you could vote for a TOP 7 and a BOTTOM 1, or a TOP 3 and BOTTOM 5, etc. You are allowed to vote for less than 8 total.
- Voting ends October 15
- One vote per poll per user

- see the suggestions thread for more details on some entries.

Poll Entries:
1. A book in the "up lit" genre (uplifting literary novels with themes of optimism and hope despite hardship and trauma)
2. A book from the ATY Group Members Recommendations list of lesser known books
3. A dark fairytale
4. A book featuring a mythical creature or figure as a character (eg. centaur, dragon, death, fairy, etc)
5. A book you never read in school
6. A book selected only by the appearance of its cover
7. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes
8. A book by an author who uses one or more initials
9. A book by an author who is more famous for something other than writing
10. A book recommended by a favourite author
11. A book related to something cold (could be theme, title, author, cover)
12. A book you meant to read last year but didn't get to
13. A book with a romantic element or featuring a romantic relationship
14. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list
15. A book with a non-traditional family

Survey Link

I just wanted to remind folks that we already have a category for a book with a monster or monstrous character, which to me seems to overlap strongly with the mythical creature or figure on this week’s poll. I was planning on mermaids and djinns for my “monsters”.

This was another one where I was glad we could use our eight votes however we wanted. I had three tops & five bottoms this week, which was the opposite of how I voted last week. I'm mostly okay with any of the ones I didn't vote for either way, though, so I just hope none of my bottoms make the top.

My monstrous character will be a zombie, so for me the mythical creature is a completely separate category.

And haha last poll I was so blah with most ideas, but this poll I love many of them!! I'm still narrowing it down, but it looks like I may up-vote six and down-vote two.

One other near-repeat I just noticed... we already have “A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet”, which is similar (ish) to a book you meant to read last year, in my opinion.

I’m not pointing these out to drag on the nominations, just because I know people don’t remember the list so far when nominating and voting, and also that folks have complained in the past when there were overlapping prompts.

I think I will have 3 up and 5 down this week. I need to think about it a bit more.

This was a weird week for me. When I first saw the close I felt pretty good about things. Then when I went to vote, I realized that wasn’t the case. There were only 3 that I could say that I would be over the moon if they won, but found 7 I was cringing at :/

When I clicked on the NPR list for 2018 it mentioned the National Book Award which we already have as a prompt. Is it just routing me there for that list and the NPR list is different? I'm confused on this one.

Wow this was a quick one! I saw the first few suggestions before I went to bed last night and was too busy at work to check back in until now so was surprised the poll was already up!

Manda and Amy, I am with you. While there are several I would be fine with, only 3 stood out as tops and there were several that are too similar to others we have or I have no interest in. In addition to the ones mentioned, I think a children's classic we've never read and a book you never read in school are too similar for me to vote for the latter.

I'll wait to see if the discussion sways me but as of now I have 3 tops:

Up Lit
AtY list of lesser known books
Polarizing or close call

Here is the NPR Link. The latest list is 2017. Dalex mentioned that the 2018 list will not be published until December 2018.

I scoured both the NPR list and the National Book Award list, and found very different books on each! Cheers to hoping the NPR prompt makes it!

This was an off poll for me as well. As things made the list, I kept thinking, please no. I ended up voting for 2 tops & 6 bottoms, though I really had 8 bottoms I felt very strongly about.

The only top that has me really excited is the NPR list. Part of that is because I love list prompts, and part may have something to do with how pretty the website is, haha. But I plan to scour each year & add a bunch of stuff to my TBR, whether it ends up making it or not.

I'm super curious if we'll get a top 5. I doubt we will, but I'm wondering if this is the last poll or if there are more to come.

Avery wrote: "Here is the NPR Link. The latest list is 2017. Dalex mentioned that the 2018 list will not be published until December 2018.

I scoured both the NPR list and the National Book Award list, and found..."

Thank you! That is a much better link than I was using!

Ugh, I really like the NPR list and am already adding to my TBR but I just don't know if I like it more than I dislike the ones I plan to downvote...

It doesn't seem that the new voting system changed the results much this past week so my guess is we'll have another top 3 and have one more poll before reaching the finish line! I've slowly started to add potential books to the spreadsheet but I'm very excited to see the final list so I can go into planning overdrive!

Katie wrote: "I'm super curious if we'll get a top 5. I doubt we will, but I'm wondering if this is the last poll or if there are more to come."

I really hope this is the last round of suggestions & voting. It seems like people are running out of ideas; there are so many repeated and/or reworded prompts.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. This is (I think) the 3rd time for the ATY list and I still like it and voted for it. But other suggestions that have come 'round yet again? Not so much.

Chrissy The book you have had on list for at least a year, can be any one fitting that time scan, but the book you meant to read last year could be one you are waiting for from a library or the publishing of it was late . So can be a recent book.

I voted for the ATY list again because it looks so fun and I don't even like lists. But not getting my hopes up

For my top 6:
- ATY lesser known books, just because is very unique . I mean, that one will not be found in any other challenge, it's ours! :D
- I'd like also try the UP LIT.
- The Dark fairy tale sounds great! I know we have the borrowed category that can sound very similar to this one, but the dark part is exciting.
- A polarizing or close call, because this open so many new categories that I really liked.
- A book written by an author known by initials, maybe I can finally read something by H.P. Lovecraft or read something else by LM Montgomery ( I want more of Anne!)
- And finally: A book with a romantic element. I hate romance books, but I love a good romance in my fantasy books :)

For bottom:
- A book recommended by a favourite author, because we already had this category last year.
- A book you never read in school ... not sure if it means that I had to read a book and I didn't, because if that is the case, I don't have books that fit :) ... I don't know, but it feels like something is missing in the description of this option.

I guess it’s pretty hard to come up with a few hundred totally unique prompts as well as trying to please the majority. I don’t mind similarities as long as there’s a way to interpret things differently.

I like most of these. I will probably only downvote one or two.

My favorites were:
- NPR list (I remember adding a bunch to my TBR last year and I love their website set-up)
- Romantic element (I think it will balance the more challenging prompts)
- Book selection by cover (I wanted more moody-related prompts, who doesn't like pretty covers?)
- Author's Initials (Finally a prompt that would fit The Light Between Oceans)
- Famous Author (I love Ken Jennings!)

Sorry guys, but I'm that person that downvoted the ATY Lesser-Known Prompt - don't hate me :)

I like the "book you never read in school" prompt, and I think it's completely different from "childhood classic" - my daughters are in junior high & high school, and I read any books assigned to them that I've never read, just as a way to expand my reading. So I could use one of those books here!

3 Up votes And 5 Down votes for me, but there were a lot more down ones I could have had. Had trouble with the NPR one, maybe because I don't live in US

I love NPR!!! I actually have a cover quilt of their recommendations listed somewhere here on GRs , so that will be an up vote for sure. I'm with Katie, I'm a list lover. I also Like the ATY lesser known list and especially after reading Silvia's comment, it really is a prompt that we would only come across in ATY because we made the list. I have no idea how I'm going to vote. I'm not going to wait, but there are so many that I like here. We'll see what happens when I click on the link. Cant wait for the list to finally be finished and also for all of the other challenge lists to come out. I could use a week of planning. Its my favorite time of year. I doubt I'll finish any challenges this year, but I'm so excited to try again next year!!!!

Edit: up voted 6 and down voted 2

Taking my time to ponder with this poll. Last one I sort of skimmed through, voted by instinct and then discovered that one entry didn't say what I thought it said so I up-voted something I didn't really want. First time I've been pleased when something I voted for didn't get in!

6 up votes 2 down votes this time around.

I dislike like books recommended for schools. They really have not changed either. My children have to read the same ones I did. 😖
My favourite authors have mostly passed away so that was a difficult one last time around. I really do not want to scrounge around for another one.

Up lit, ATY list, dark fairy tale, cold, romance, non-traditional family are all on my list.
I like dark with a light at the end of the tunnel. Our list is just so much fun. Dark fairy tale retelling are away to connect with my daughter. We had warm this year so it is time for cold. Romance can come in all kinds and not the Harlequin type, yuck.

Families are captured in all genres. Octavia Butler has a good trilogy with a different type of family. Mysteries, true crime, literature, historical and non fiction all have non-traditional families.

In regards to the Up Lit prompt, here are some links that might be helpful! (I meant to post this earlier, but work went about distracting me all day...)

What is Up Lit?
Goodreads List

EDIT: A few people have mentioned that the GR list is maybe not the most accurate, so here's a few more lists that can give you a better idea of what Up Lit means!

Harper Collins
The Guardian
Seattle Public Library
Penguin

A lot of these lists have some overlapping books (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and A Man Called Ove being two of the most perfect examples of "up lit"), but hopefully we will get some great recommendations from the group as well.

Ok so.... I have 5 bottom and 3 top. And I had to narrow down my bottoms to only be 5 (because I really like my top 3).

Top 3 are Up Lit, NPR List, and (surprise!) the romantic element one. I was really anti-romantic element, but I think I'm just in the mood for a feel good book right now, and Up Lit and romantic both fit the bill. Hopefully at least one gets on the list!

In support of the ATY list - the discussion and the list formation (and the concept was also discussed in the Pop Sugar group), I’ve read two books so far suggested by people and both were quite good. Neither seem like things I would have just stumbled across either, so I think it’s a really great prompt idea.

I downvoted the recommendation by fav author because I found that one hard to research in a past year and the school book one - I feel like that’s turned up over and over on Challenge lists and I always have to fudge it by reading something people in other schools read that we didn’t and it’s been quite a mixed bag of books thus far.

I upvoted six - can’t recall them offhand right now and I’m too lazy to look. The remaining prompts I’d be okay with but they would be really disappointing, if that makes sense. Some weeks I have extras that just fail to make the cut, this time there were no personal close calls for me.

"A book you never read in school" seems like a very open prompt. Pretty much anything would fit, except a reread of a book that I did read in school. But I guess it's good to have some "anything goes" prompts. I won't vote against it, but I hope there won't be too many on the list like this.

Rosemary wrote: ""A book you never read in school" seems like a very open prompt. Pretty much anything would fit, except a reread of a book that I did read in school. But I guess it's good to have some "anything go..."

Exactly!!!! That was the same I thought! As I was saying before, it feels like something is missing in the description of this category.

For the recommendation by a favorite author... the way I've worked around this prompt in the past ( last year for pop sugar and I used it again for pop sugar a category you liked from a previous year) was to just go to a favorite authors good reads page and look for books that they have read and rated 5 stars ... I would count a 5 star rating from someone as a recommendation to read.

Of course last year ( oh wait did we do this for ATY?) I read The Troop, which was a five star rating by Stephen King and ended up reading the most horrifying description of genetically modified tapeworms ever LOL.... I couldn't stop talking about it for weeks .

Tracy, I also thought about looking at author's reviews/ratings here on Goodreads. Also there's Good Minds Suggest here, which was also a suggested prompt earlier this year.

Typed up a post about what I'd voted for and why, but GoodReads decided I wasn't a member of the group so couldn't post. Let's up I don't strike the same glitch again. I ended up-voting 5 and down-voting 3 and there was a fair bit of angst around the margins! In the enDecision finalld I voted for Up-lit (I liked the fact that is was a new-to-me genre), a dark fairytale (something I wouldn't read otherwise, and I'm intrigued rather than hating the idea), polarizing/close call (since I liked so many of them), non-traditional family (since it seems this could bring in some diversity which is a little lacking so far) and NPR. I strongly considered voting for ATY lesser known reads but decided I'd have a too hard a time actually finding any of them given the limitations of my library system. I did like the uniqueness of this prompt though. I downvoted mythical creature, never read in school, meant to read last year for a combination of too similar to other prompts this year or last and/or too broad. I nearly downvoted the cver prompt since I never judge a book by its cover and dont like being forced to.Lots of the others I was pretty "meh" about.

I was really excited about this one. I had 5 top votes and 3 bottom votes.

I've been dying to read a dark fairytale.

I like the author that is famous for something else. I generally read autobiographies so I like this one - although it really isn't pushing me to broaden my horizons since I would've done it anyway.

I voted for the cold one, NPR and the non-traditional family. I have a ton of cold related books to read - hence why I suggested it. NPR looks interesting and I like the idea of a non-traditional family. I've been stuck on watching The Fosters so I love the non-traditional family prompt.

I think I down voted the book recommended by a favorite author, book based on its cover and maybe the ATY group one. I don't judge books by their covers (ha ha - see what I did there?) and I was kind of stuck on the author recommendation last year and the lesser known books I just felt like it would have increased my TBR. My TBR feels big enough lately.

I wound up going 5 tops and 3 bottoms. The only hard no picks for me were the cover one (I never choose a book ONLY by the cover) and dark fairy tale (I've had several prompts like this in various challenges and am over-saturated). I also downvoted "should have read in school," because it seemed too open.

My top choices were the ATY list, the NPR list, author recommendation, author known for being something other than a writer, and mythic creature. The author one seems doable to me. I follow a couple of authors on BookBub, and they frequently post recommendations.

I created an "Up Lit" shelf and added almost 50 books. Some of them I have read and think they qualify. Some of them I've seen in articles about Up Lit. Some of them just sound like they would fit the description. You can see the shelf HERE.

ETA: I'm somewhat amused by what seems to be the "Up Lit Formula" - (elderly person-young person-quirky person) plus (name in title or poetic title) multiplied by (tragedy minus sunshine).

dalex, I love this... but I would say (tragedy plus sunshine) instead of minus!

EDIT: I also think The Rosie Project, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would work for up lit!

I completely missed the suggestion process since it all happened overnight, so it was interesting to come back to it after the full list of 15 was available and get an initial reaction that way. I ended up reading through the suggestion thread anyway just to see if there were any links to lists or commentary on any prompts.

I originally thought I'd have only 3 tops and 5 bottoms, but it ended up being the opposite. I love the Up Lit suggestion since I have quite a few of those on my TBR and I've enjoyed all the ones I've read, and I was excited to see non-traditional family suggested again. I also love the dark fairy tale even though I don't seem to have too many options yet.

I was torn between mythical creature and NPR list, but gave the very slight edge to NPR because I'd done mythical creature twice before within the same year, and NPR just had a ton of books that I'm already interested in reading. My only hesitation with it is that we already have NY Public Library Staff Picks list, and there might be some potential for overlap.

I actually had quite a few that I considered downvoting as well, but ultimately narrowed it down to the three I was most strongly dreading. I found "a book you never read in school" a bit vague. I assume the intent was a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't (which I would have downvoted anyway, since I've done that one to death...and I never skipped my assigned readings), but the way it's worded seems like it could count literally any book that you hadn't read while in school.

I downvoted the author famous for something other than writing because it seemed quite non-fiction heavy to me. My initial interpretation of it was something along the lines of a celebrity memoir or book by a politician, and neither of those interest me.

I'm also not really a fan of the "lesser known" list. There are a small handful of books there that I'd like to read, and it just didn't feel like enough options for me for a prompt that I wasn't that into in the first place. I even took the time just last week to go through the list one by one to see if there was anything that I wanted to add to my TBR, and I think I added maybe 2 books from the whole thing.

What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?

Nadine wrote: "What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?"

Agreed -- I'd like to see some lists or something for that. My first thought was Grimm's, but I'd like more options.

Lost Boy about Peter Pan is dark. So is Anne Rice's retellings of fairytales. Hers tend to be bondage related.
Some other more moderate ones are like Uprooted. Dark but not to dark.
HTH

Anastasia wrote: "Lost Boy about Peter Pan is dark. So is Anne Rice's retellings of fairytales. Hers tend to be bondage related.
Some other more moderate ones are like Uprooted. Dark but not to dark.
HTH"

oh geez, if everyone in the group starts reading The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, LOL.... we don't even have any (many?)Fifty Shades of Grey fans here and I think those books pale in comparison...

Anastasia wrote: "Lost Boy about Peter Pan is dark. So is Anne Rice's retellings of fairytales. Hers tend to be bondage related.
Some other more moderate ones are like Uprooted. Dark but not to dark.
HTH"

I would slot in the Dorothy Must Die series here. These YA books turn the Wizard of Oz upside down with Dorothy being evil. I have read a couple of these and would use this as a reason to read the 3rd book in the series.

In my mind dark fairy tales are books that take a known story and put a gritty or dark view on it. I would actually say that Grimms would work because they took known oral tales and kept the dark parts. From my list I'd include:
The Looking Glass Wars
Redemption in Indigo
Dorothy Must Die
Enchanted
The Wrath and the Dawn
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West


Things that may be a stretch, but I'd "allow" it
The Big Over Easy nursery rhyme murder mystery
Cinder Bit lighter but still lots of fighting and talks of slavery
The Red Tent I know calling a portion of the old testament a fairy tale is a stretch for most, but I'd include Red Tent as an old story that's been redone
The Song of Achilles Calling the Iliad a fairy tale may be a stretch, but I think it hits all of components

Stories that feel like original dark fairy tales that I would use even though it breaks my own definition above
The Hazel Wood
Tithe
The Fairy's Tale

Original stories that I don't think I'd use, but wouldn't judge others for including them:
The Night Circus
Coraline
Inkheart
Brown Girl in the Ring

This was way harder than I thought it would be on what to include and what to not. In case it's not obvious, I'm a big fan of this difficult to define genre.

Nadine wrote: "What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?"

Fairy tales are all dark to me! Poison, kidnap, forced marriages, child abuse, being eaten by wild animals... the list is endless.

Ellie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?"

Fairy tales are all dark to me! Poison, kidnap, forced marriages, child abuse, being eaten by wild animals... the list is e..."

True Ellie! I wrote about this in my reading journal years ago. My question was "why are fairy tales children stories?" basically because like you mentioned everything is dark and scary. It was just a thought that came up at the time, I don't even remember what fairy tale I had read but that was my question.

I just remembered that I read/reviewed an ARC of this graphic novel The Little Mermaid. The pictures were gorgeous and it was definitely dark.

Emily wrote: "EDIT: I also think The Rosie Project, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would work for up lit! "

I think Rosie is more Chick Lit? Maybe?

I don't think historical fiction (Guernsey) fits Up Lit. It's more like a separate category, or something. Imo, Up Lit is contemporary.

And isn't Mr. Penumbra more a fantasy novel?

Ellie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?"

Fairy tales are all dark to me! Poison, kidnap, forced marriages, child abuse, being eaten by wild animals... the list is e..."

Exactly! that's why I'm wondering: how "dark" are we going here?? I read Uprooted and didn't find it especially dark, but if that one counts then I'd guess The Bear and the Nightingale series would also count? Does ANY fairy tale count? Like Bitter Greens? The Sleeper and the Spindle? Princess of Glass? Do mermaid stories count as fairy tales? Like Rolling in the Deep?

Here is a link for dark fairytales. I was also thinking Hunted and I want to read Dorothy Must Die

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Nadine wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "What exactly is a "dark fairy tale"? How dark is "dark"?"

Fairy tales are all dark to me! Poison, kidnap, forced marriages, child abuse, being eaten by wild animals......"

I wouldn't call Mira Grant's mermaid books fairy tales, I think it needs to be a retelling or something in the style of a fairy tale. So a Little Mermaid retelling like The Surface Breaks would a be a dark fairy tale about mermaids.

I think dark just means it's not been sanitised for children!

I upvoted 6 and downvoted 2 (book you didn’t read in school - I read everything I was supposed to - not really sure what others were recommended and book recommended by favourite author - we’ve had this before -last year maybe, and I really struggled with it)