Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

For those who are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the poll, this week there’s need to spend results day refreshing Goodreads because....the results are in!

Top
A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce
A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
A book with a place name in the title (town/city, state/province, country, continent, planet...)
A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019

Close call
A book with a cover that reminds you of the sky (either sky-like colours or an actual skyscape)

Polarising
A book with a word in the title determined through using your birthday (in the first book you read for the challenge, go to the page number that corresponds with your age, then the line that corresponds with your birth date, then the word that corresponds with your birth month).
A nonfiction book about something you see on a regular basis
A book related to a NASA mission name (in celebration of 20 years of the ISS)

Bottom
A book with a title based on an idiom

The next round of suggestions will open at 7pm GMT on Sunday 22 September.

Really bummed the birthday prompt didn’t make it through. Wonder if rewording so it applied to any book and not just the first you read would help. Maybe for the planners but not for those who don’t like personal prompts I’m guessing. I don’t think I voted for any of the winners and I know I downvoted one but I don’t think I’ll have any difficulty filling them.

I like that we have an ATY prompt and a decent amount of winners but nothing I really wanted made it through and one downvote did.

We seem to be liking the title prompts this year!

I voted for two of the winners, so I'm happy about that. I've got some definite ideas about the name pronunciation one, and I just realized that one of my books from the sadly defeated sky prompt will fit for place name in title.

The prompt inspired by something I read in 2019 threw me a bit. I guess I'll just read the next book in a series.

wow. I liked SO MANY of the ideas this time, and yet ... the winners ... well ... I like half of them anyway?

I'm sure I can find something to read for each. It's just so hard when you really love some categories, to see them not make it.


And, this is stupid, I didn't vote for it, but I was hoping the NASA mission would make it in so that it would force me to finally (FINALLY) read O Pioneers!

The spreadsheet is updated!

I'm excited to see so many winners, even if there's only one I voted for. The two title prompts will be pretty easy scavenger hunts, and I'll probably either read the next book in the series for the inspired by 2019 prompt, or I'll piggyback on the 2019/2019 author prompt and read another by one of them.

One of my top and one of my bottom votes made the top. I’m not really thrilled with the results but I’m glad my least favorite prompt did not make it. Though, I did not love this round to begin with, so I’m not surprised with my lack of enthusiasm over the results.

Emily wrote: "The spreadsheet is updated!

I'm excited to see so many winners, even if there's only one I voted for. The two title prompts will be pretty easy scavenger hunts, and I'll probably either read the ..."

You're a mod now?? That's great!

As for this group of prompts: I upvoted one (pronunciation), but I think I downvoted two of them. Oh well. Those are the breaks.

Thanks, Steve! :)

I really love the results this week (even though not all the tops were ones I voted for).

I have several books I added to my 2020 reading list just because they seem somewhat similar to books I really enjoyed in 2019 so I'm excited about the "prompted to read" prompt.

And I'm glad all the kerfuffle about the pronunciation prompt being offensive didn't prevent people from voting for it. I think it will be interesting to see what people choose.

Some of my most favorite prompts for this round ended up as close calls or polarizing, which is disappointing... Setting that aside though we did get 4 decent prompts passed this round, so at least it was a productive week.

I may try resubmitting a new, standardized version of the word in title prompt, because I love the concept of it. Maybe just "A book with the word in the title that was the second word on the second page of one of the other books you read for the challenge" for simplicity.

I only had 3 up and 3 down votes this week. 2 of my upvotes made the top, which is nice, but I'm really disappointed to see the pronunciation prompt made it through. It still makes me uncomfortable and it was an immediate downvote for me even before reading through all the commentary. I'll replace this prompt one of the other suggestions that didn't win after the final list is chosen.

Raquel wrote: "Some of my most favorite prompts for this round ended up as close calls or polarizing, which is disappointing... Setting that aside though we did get 4 decent prompts passed this round, so at least..."

You could make it: the 20th word on the 20th page :-)

Kristina wrote: "I only had 3 up and 3 down votes this week. 2 of my upvotes made the top, which is nice, but I'm really disappointed to see the pronunciation prompt made it through. It still makes me uncomfortable..."

I feel exactly like you, Kristina, and I'll use a wildcard for this prompt.

Do you think for place name in the title, it has to be a real place? Like would Blackfish City be in the spirit of the prompt, or is it more a KIS option?

I think that’s totally within the realms of the prompt.

Emily wrote: "Thanks, Steve! :)"

Thanks for pointing that out, Steve. Emily's hard work landed her this prestigious position! :)

I’m not generally a fan of title prompts but these should be easy to fill and I’m happy with the results in general.

I’m especially excited about the prompted to read category! Keep in mind the prompt doesn’t specify you need to be prompted by a book you read so if an article, tweet, IG post or even a thread you read on GR leads you toward a subject or book, that should work!

I'm quite happy with these results. Two or three of the winners ( I have trouble remember how I voted) were my picks. It is also great to have 4 winners.

While I have no problem with title prompts, IMO we do desperately need more genre prompts, but that is a conversation for another poll.

After Poll 13, we do have 4 prompts that are considered genre prompts on the list (mystery, history/historical fiction, classic book, and genre starting with a letter in your name).

Looking at the categories, the two categories with the least prompts are character-based prompts (currently at two with neurodiverse character and non-traditional family) and awards-based prompts (currently at two with NYT and Abe list).

I'd personally like to see more character-based prompts, but I also understand that those are much harder to search for/plan for without spoilers. Also, we usually only have one or two awards-based prompts on the list, so we are fine there.

Kristina wrote: "I only had 3 up and 3 down votes this week. 2 of my upvotes made the top, which is nice, but I'm really disappointed to see the pronunciation prompt made it through. It still makes me uncomfortable..."

I'm glad to see others feel this way. I'm very disappointed it won. I plan to fill it with a book published under a pseudonym where the author's true identity is unknown, so that way I'm not making any value judgment about a person's actual name. I thought I'd be in for a lot of research since I'm not particularly interested in Elena Ferrante, but I pretty quickly turned up The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven. My dad's favorite movie is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so I'm excited to read the source material.

I'm fine with the results, but also not particularly excited about them. Only the title without A, T, or Y was in my top choices. I'm a bit disappointed that my social media/technology suggestion didn't make it given that I saw some interest for it in the thread, but at least it wasn't in the bottom either. One of my bottom choices was in the bottom, and the other two were polarizing.

I'd like to point out that just because I admit to not knowing how to properly pronounce someone's name, it does not mean I'm making any sort of value judgement on who they are as a person.

I was hoping for the social media prompt also, but may work it into my reject challenge.

Peter wrote: "I'd like to point out that just because I admit to not knowing how to properly pronounce someone's name, it does not mean I'm making any sort of value judgement on who they are as a person."

Thank you! I used to teach English, and I spent so much time reassuring students that it's ok not to know how to say something and it's ok to speak with an accent (we all do).

Peter wrote: "I'd like to point out that just because I admit to not knowing how to properly pronounce someone's name, it does not mean I'm making any sort of value judgement on who they are as a person."

Agreed! I feel that not knowing how to pronounce a name is a weakness on my part.. and gives me an incentive to find out how to pronounce the name. I grew up with a maiden name that was routinely mispronounced and then misspelled and folks often pronounce my nickname "Edie" as "Eddie". I don't make a big deal out of this, but I do respect those who take the time to get names right and try to do so for others.

While I fall into the uncomfortable camp re the name you aren’t sure how to pronounce prompt I understand what others are saying. Since I try and read diversely and am slowly reading my way around the world I’m sure a book I read for those goals will work for that prompt.

Serendipity wrote: "While I fall into the uncomfortable camp re the name you aren’t sure how to pronounce prompt I understand what others are saying. Since I try and read diversely and am slowly reading my way around ..."

Could you explain for me what exactly makes you uncomfortable? I just don't understand why it would be uncomfortable for someone to admit they don't know how to pronounce someone's name properly and I'd like to understand your perspective.

Realistically, all of us, regardless of our backgrounds, have at some point come across an author, regardless of the author's background, that we are unsure on how to pronounce their name. Stated a different way, none of us have a complete and full knowledge of every author's correct name pronunciation. It's just a fact that based on our own native languages and experiences with other cultures/languages/global regions there will be differences in what names we all find difficult to pronounce, but no one person is ever going to know how to correctly pronounce every single other name, even within our own native language/culture/etc.

I'd be more uncomfortable remaining ignorant of the correct pronunciation and just bumbling my way through it. I see this prompt as a way to find an author and learn the correct pronunciation, or use an author I have at some point learned I was pronouncing wrong.

I'm realize people are worried that it exoticizes names and targets vulnerable demographics, but it just doesn't. I has absolutely no requirement for the group member to use a name from any specific background or demographic. It is literally just find an author who's name you're not sure how to pronounce. I think people may be conflating the prompt with some of the possible ways to interpret the prompt when it was suggested, specifically that it *could* be used to choose an author from a diverse background, but those ideas are not actually part of the prompt.

Peter wrote: "Serendipity wrote: "While I fall into the uncomfortable camp re the name you aren’t sure how to pronounce prompt I understand what others are saying. Since I try and read diversely and am slowly re..."

For me, as a Dutch person, this is an easy prompt. There are a lot of English names I am not sure of how to pronounce them.

Glad we have 4 winners! I really like 3 of the prompts and am ok with the 4th (ATY letters). I plan to use the “prompted by something you read in 2019” prompt to be setting/topic related and specifically not the same author. That’s the prompt I’m most excited about! I knew exactly what I wanted to read as soon as I read the prompt.

I'm thrilled with the results! I up-voted all four of the winners, and I love that we got four this week. Woo hoo! 😊

I read a book review this morning that got me super excited. Now I’m wondering if I should hold off and make that my read inspired by something I read in 2019.

I think one can be uncomfortable with the idea of a prompt in a reading challenge, which is an amusement or hobby, that is about (at least in some cases) marking certain names as “other”. Has nothing to do, for me, about being uncomfortable admitting what you do and don’t know how to pronounce.

Marin wrote: "I read a book review this morning that got me super excited. Now I’m wondering if I should hold off and make that my read inspired by something I read in 2019."

You've peaked my interest. What was the review for?

It was for A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill (I’d link it but not sure how to do that on the app). It sounds like a really good read.

Marin wrote: "It was for A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill (I’d link it but not sure how to do that on the app). It sounds like a really good read."

👍🏻 I'll have to check that out.

Chrissy wrote: "I think one can be uncomfortable with the idea of a prompt in a reading challenge, which is an amusement or hobby, that is about (at least in some cases) marking certain names as “other”. Has nothing to do, for me, about being uncomfortable admitting what you do and don’t know how to pronounce.
"

As the week, went on I felt more uncomfortable with the prompt and even though I know my one vote would not have mattered. I regret not down voting the prompt. You summed up how I feel. I have never used a wildcard before but I will be using one next year for this prompt.

I think when you say it’s for fun and amusement then it does become more uncomfortable. But when you look at it that way, don’t many other prompts also become uncomfortable? (I.e social justice, ‘own voices’, country other than your own, etc.)

I guess when it comes down to it, it depends on why you do the challenge. I do it as a way to guide my reading, not so much as a form of fun.

Count me as one who participates in this challenge to broaden my reading and introduce to me to ideas and authors I am unfamiliar with. And yes, it is fun and if there are those who do it only for fun, I have no issues with their choice.

Peter wrote: "Serendipity wrote: "While I fall into the uncomfortable camp re the name you aren’t sure how to pronounce prompt I understand what others are saying. Since I try and read diversely and am slowly re..."

Peter, I’m French, and my French name is hard to pronounce even by French people. But I didn’t even think of that as I first read the prompt suggestion. I happen to be a teacher with students from all kinds of geographical and ethnical backgrounds, and I immediately thought of occasions at school when well-meaning adults ask a student in front of a whole group : “Please tell me if I mispronounce your name, because I don’t want to pronounce it incorrectly.” And the student blushes and reluctantly answers with a tiny voice, or an overly aggressive tone, depending on their character. Because the well-meaning teacher has subtly – or not so subtly - pointed out that this student is not like the others, and we know that for most teenagers – and many adults- belonging to the group is more important than everything else.

When reading the prompt, I also had in mind a scene that just happened to me at the beginning of the schoolyear: I had to pronounce the name of a student with a long and foreign name for the first time. He was just in front of me, and I saw him tuck in his shoulders as I was about to say his name. Luckily for both of us, I could pronounce it correctly, and I saw him literally breathe a sigh of relief. This kind of scenes make me think that one can’t dismiss the subject by saying things like: “some people don’t mind if you say their name incorrectly, so why bother?”. They don’t mind if, like me, they belong to a group that’s dominant in their country. But it can very easily become a sensitive issue.

I’m sure the person who suggested the prompt and most or all people who voted for it had good intentions, but I honestly don’t understand why, after being told that the prompt could be hurtful to some people, they still have upvoted it and even bragged about doing so. There have been so many creative and stimulating prompts suggested so far, so why stick to one that can - and will – be, even unintentionally, harmful?

I voted for the name prompt because I had my own interpretation that I was excited about, but also because as a result of the discussion I found it way more harmful to act like not initially knowing how to say a name is somehow shameful when it pretty much happens all the time.

I definitely feel for your students who get singled out — I always had mine introduce themselves, but I know that might be impossible due to class size/structure/age.

Marin wrote: "I voted for the name prompt because I had my own interpretation that I was excited about, but also because as a result of the discussion I found it way more harmful to act like not initially knowin..."

I can see your point and, had we been at the beginning of our voting process, may be my gut reaction would have been different. But at this point, I can't help but feel disappointed that our first "diverse" prompt is such an ambiguous one.

I work with people who are a different ethnicity then me. I asked about the name prompt when a similar topic was introduced. The answer was that it did not offend them at all.

As immigrants they had difficulty pronouncing names from the country they immigrated to. Many of them also have more than one language. It was pointed out that while learning those other languages they had difficulty pronouncing those new names too.

As the dominant ethnicity in my country it is important that I do not force views on others. Including ones that dictate how they should feel about a missed pronounced name.

Anastasia wrote: "I work with people who are a different ethnicity then me. I asked about the name prompt when a similar topic was introduced. The answer was that it did not offend them at all.

As immigrants they ..."

I agree with Anastasia on this one. I voted for this prompt because the person who suggested it had clearly thought long and hard about it. Also the fact that I can’t pronounce someone’s name is my problem, and this prompt is a way for me to learn something and do better.

On the other hand, I have tended to down vote “diversity “ prompts where I have to select a book based on an author’s ethnicity or sexual identity/orientation (unless lists are provided) because clicking on authors ‘ pictures to see if they are the “right” ethnicity or have the right sexual background makes me uncomfortable (I know very little about authors’ personal lives).

Even if I’m uncomfortable or comfortable with a prompt, I assume that the person who suggested the prompt meant well. I also assume the same of people’s motives for voting for or against a prompt. Intentions matter, and unless shown otherwise, I’m going to assume that people mean well, irrespective of the prompt they suggested or voted for or against.

I’ve enjoyed the process of selecting prompts. However, this year, there is just too much diversity policing. People are being judged on the “ right “ way to interpret prompts, and whether these should be up voted or down voted. I’m at the point where I hope that no other “diversity “ related prompts get suggested so that we can avoid this kind of negative discussion in the future. Perhaps light and fluffy prompts are the way to go.

Marin wrote: "I voted for the name prompt because I had my own interpretation that I was excited about, but also because as a result of the discussion I found it way more harmful to act like not initially knowing how to say a name is somehow shameful when it pretty much happens all the time."

Thanks Marin for explaining exactly how I feel about this prompt and the whole debate.

I think it’s odd that this whole name/discrimination thing didn’t come up with the one syllable author name prompt. I mean, the same argument could be made. You’re more likely to find a one syllable Japanese name than a Polish one so aren’t you, in a sense, making a judgement about Asian people?

dalex wrote: "I think it’s odd that this whole name/discrimination thing didn’t come up with the one syllable author name prompt. I mean, the same argument could be made. You’re more likely to find a one syllabl..."


I don't think it's comparable.

I don't think the "can't pronounce" category was meant to be "othering" but I can see how some people are taking it that way, as: "you're name is so weird and so not part of my mainstream culture that I don't even know how to say it." I know that's not the intent, and to me the category is a great way to say: "I realize I am unfamiliar with huge portions of this world, let me educate myself about something new."

But one syllable names are everywhere, there's nothing "othering" about them.

They are all over Europe: English is rife with them (Smith, Jones, Grey, Hall, King, Lee, etc).
Irish: Boyle, Flynn
German: Aust, Koch, Schaff
French: Gosse
Scottish: Duff, Glen
Welsh: Lloyd, Vaughan
Swedish: Lang
Dutch or German: Klein
Jewish: Klein, Schwartz, Stein
Hungarian: Kish


And they are all over Asia:
China: Wang, Li
Korea: Cha
Vietnamese: Minh, Trang
India: Das, Singh

The Middle East: Baz, Deeb

Some of these names cross cultures, I didn't go through all the continents, and this is hardly exhaustive, I'm sure we can all think of others.

Sophie wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "I work with people who are a different ethnicity then me. I asked about the name prompt when a similar topic was introduced. The answer was that it did not offend them at all.

A..."

I definitely agree, especially the good intentions part. None of us want to suggest a prompt and then be told we’re -phobic in some way.

Raquel wrote: "Maybe just "A book with the word in the title that was the second word on the second page of one of the other books you read for the challenge"..."

I downvoted the original prompt, but I would definitely vote for the wording here, especially if taking Fourevver's suggestion of the 20th word on the 20th page. Another reason I like this wording is that the book you read could be from another year's challenge, not just 2020.

I am also a bit sad about the birthday word one not getting in. Will we have "a book from the polarising or close call"-prompt? Or de we have to vote it in like the others?