Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's now time to get ready to vote for our LAST set of prompts! The thread will be open for at least 24 hours before the poll gets posted. This is a good opportunity to ask any question you may have regarding the prompts, do some research or ask for recommendations.

Voting will open in the morning of Sunday, October 18 and results will be posted in the morning of Thursday, October 22 (CST time).

How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favourite and least favourite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes) - You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list (between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)

We are asking people to include their Goodreads profile address when they vote. To find this, just go to your own profile and then copy the URL/web address. If for some reason you can't link to your Goodreads profile, please post your full Goodreads name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile. We’ve introduced this for two reasons:

1. On a few occasions in each poll, people have used more than the allotted number of votes, either because they aren’t familiar with the rules or just by mistake. When this happens our only option is to disregard the vote as we can’t identify the voter to ask them to resubmit. By asking for your profile address we’ll be able to message you and ask you to vote again if you’ve accidentally used more than the allotted number of votes.

2. Unfortunately a very small number of people have voted more than once per poll and so we are asking for this information to prevent duplicate votes.

As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.

Possible Prompts:
1. A book related to a number in the Fibonacci Sequence
2. A book featuring a member of a religious organization (nun, priest, pastor, rabbi, imam, monk, etc.)
3. A book that features a mode of communication (letters, texting, telephone calls)
4. A book related to the 21st _____
5. A book featuring non-British royalty
6. A long book
7. A book about something lost
8. A book with a triangle
9. A book related to a mineral such as Scandium (21st element), or Brass or Nickel (21st wedding anniversary)
10. A book related to the subject of a Google Doodle
11. A book that takes place in at least two decades
12. A book where a character or author shares the name of someone in your (immediate/found) family
13. A book related to the Royal Albert Hall
14. A book related to alcohol
15. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover

Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.

As a reminder, we only have TWO available spots on our final list. Only the top two prompts will make it on to the list. You will still have 8 total votes, however, so use them wisely.

VOTE HERE: https://www.surveymoz.com/s/G504YP/

NOTES AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book related to a number in the Fibonacci Sequence
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584...

A BIO option could be to use the number 21 in honor of 2021!

I immediately think about books related to one of the numbers like Thirteen Reasons Why, Twenty-one Truths About Love, Miracle on 34th Street, etc. or books that are related to Friday the 13th, lucky 13, characters turning 21, blackjack 21, etc.

It could also be books published in a year ending in one of the numbers (2013, 1921, 1989, etc.) or authors who were 21, 34, 55, years old when they published the book. Maybe an author's 13th or 21st book.

I also think about Angels & Demons and how that book references the Fibonacci Sequence all throughout the book.

4. A book related to the 21st _____
In a similar spirit to choose-your-own-adventure books, let's have a choose-your-own-adventure prompt! You can choose what to put into the blank. Some suggestions include: birthday, anniversary, amendment, element, book on your TBR, century

6. A long book
You can interpret "long" however you'd like. Maybe you read a lot of 400+ page books, so you push yourself with a 600+ pager. Maybe you mostly enjoy 250 page books so you go for 400 or 500 pages. Maybe you want to tackle Anna Karenina or Gone with the Wind! Here's your excuse to dive into a longer book in the middle of this challenge.

7. A book about something lost
It could be a lost love, lost land, a lost year of your life. It could cover anything from history to romance, science fiction to adventure.

8. A book with a triangle
Triangle could be in the plot, like a love triangle, a triangular object, or just a shape on the cover.
21 is a triangular number, so this was inspired by the year.

9. A book related to a mineral such as Scandium (21st element), or Brass or Nickel (21st wedding anniversary)
People can BIO the prompt by focusing on the examples in the prompt, or KIS by expanding to any mineral.

Mineral: doesn’t grow, isn’t alive, and comes from the ground, including things made primarily of rocks or metals. We’ve had prompts in the past related to plants and animals.

Title examples: “On the Road”, “ And the Mountains Echoed, “, Guns, Germs and Steel”, “The Nickel Boys”, “The Bronze Horsemen”, The Sword in the Stone, “Three Day Road“, “Queen of Swords”, “The Hammer of Eden”

Mineral-related jobs (miners, jewellers, jewelry burglars, masons, soldiers/sailors, pilots, drivers, weapons makers/users)

Author names, Pierre, Stone, Ruby, Steel, Mason

Story related: quarry (Pillars of the Earth), castles, buildings (hotel at the corner of bittersweet), ships (The Shipping News” ), planes, trains, automobiles, weapons, jewelry, mountains, hills, rocks

It turns out that the “traditional“ gift for a 21st wedding anniversary (I’m not sure how many cultures this tradition applies to) is brass or nickel, so minerals would fit well with the year 21 without being too restrictive (although someone who wants to BIO it could restrict minerals to only these two).

10. A book related to the subject of a Google Doodle
Link to an archive: https://www.google.com/doodles#archive

13. A book related to the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2021. You could read a book about a musician, the performing arts, set in Victorian London, about royalty, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_A...

14. A book related to alcohol
Since the century turns 21 this year and can finally drink legally all over the world- how about a book about alcohol, good or bad views. You can read books about people having fun drinking or who are alcoholics, books that take place in vineyards or about people who make wine or champagne or bootleg, books about the history or how to appreciate alcohol, about bootleggers or temperance crusaders. Or a book written by an alcoholic. Or just has a word like wine or rum or such in the title, So many choices!

Lists:
Alcohol in title: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
By or about "drunkards": https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
AA and recovery: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Alcoholism in romance novels: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Histories of food and drink: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Books with drinks on the cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

I was going to limit my ups because of only two being left but as that does not matter
UP
4. A book related to the 21st _____ ( I suggested it and for someone else and its a great way to get the number in with everyone able to show what it means to them
11. A book that takes place in at least two decades ( I suggested last time and it was a close call, very touched someone agve it another go
3. A book that features a mode of communication (letters, texting, telephone calls)
Down
14. A book related to alcohol and 5. A book featuring non-British royalty ( I just find it contradictory to be excluding my countries monarchy presumably for diversity while having another prompt where the rationale is heavily US centric)
6. A long book ( 52 books is the most I have read in a year anyway, i dread having to include a long book in it)
12. A book where a character or author shares the name of someone in your (immediate/found) family ( I feel it disadvanatges people whose families sue unusual or ethnic names)

Yay finally a poll that has some really great prompts. Like so many of them. Boo we can only have 2.

UP
4. A book related to the 21st _____
I can see myself actually using this to read a book related to Scandium. I'd probably vote for this over prompt 9 though to give everyone else a wider choice of topic.
1. A book related to a number in the Fibonacci Sequence
3. A book that features a mode of communication (letters, texting, telephone calls)

Down
2. A book featuring a member of a religious organization (nun, priest, pastor, rabbi, imam, monk, etc.)
5. A book featuring non-British royalty
6. A long book
13. A book related to the Royal Albert Hall
14. A book related to alcohol

I'll have to do some thinking about this list. At first glance, very little jumps out to me. I find so many of these prompts incredibly broad (ie. the Google Doodle, which I really like but also feels like a freebie unless I limit it for myself).

Since the last time a nun prompt was suggested I've read Afterland and The Pull of the Stars which both had nuns in but weren't about religion overall. I think the new wording really opens it out to a lot of genre fiction.

I don't feel there's anything in this list I really don't want. The family member name is just a bit boring for me, so that's probably my only downvote. I. Not overly interested in royalty but at least I could read a fantasy book with made up royalty.

Probably voting for the 21 related prompts, although the mineral one seems a bit wordy and confusing. Is it just related to minerals in general, and scandium, nickel and brass are suggestions?

Some suggestions for the communication propmt

Telephone
The Operator
Carry On
Illuminae
This Is How You Lose the Time War
Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine
Letter To An Unknown Soldier: A New Kind of War Memorial
Books about Morse code or the pony express could fit here too.

Ellie wrote: "Since the last time a nun prompt was suggested I've read Afterland and The Pull of the Stars which both had nuns in but weren't about religion overall. I think the n..."

I'm also confused by the mineral prompt, especially as I don't think the examples are actually minerals.

The only one I really couldn't do is the google doodle one- it sounds fun but I have ocd so would need to look through literally every single one. Most of the others sound great though

This is an interesting list. I like the prompts A book related to the 21st, A Long Book (I anyways plan on reading couple of big classics and fantasy books next year), A book related to a number in the Fibonacci Sequence. There are a couple of others I like too.

The only downvote for me for now is A book where a character or author shares the name of someone in your (immediate/found) family. As Thomas pointed out earlier it is very disadvantages to people who have ethnic names. My entire family has typical Telugu names (Telugu is one of the many languages spoken in Southern India). This not just limits my pool to may be a author or two but also makes this prompt nearly impossible for me. I till now haven't come across a single author who shares my name or one of my family member's.

Steve wrote: "I'm also confused by the mineral prompt, especially as I don't think the examples are actually minerals. ...."



which examples are you looking at that aren't minerals?

Glad it's not just me who's confused about the mineral one! If it's any mineral I have lots of books that I can read, but I don't really get why there's the extra bit to the prompt if it is any mineral? Maybe I've missed some discussion somewhere?

Thomas wrote: " 5. A book featuring non-British royalty ( I just find it contradictory to be excluding my countries monarchy presumably for diversity while having another prompt where the rationale is heavily US centric)."

There are a bazillion books about British royalty so the reason for the exclusion is to make the prompt more challenging. It was originally suggested as non-European royalty but that is almost too narrow.

Yes, that was my concern about the name one, either very difficult like yours or too easy for others. I guess one could be creative/ cheat by saying Harini equates to Harry, for instance, but that seems like some people having to adapt their own perfectly good names to a mainstream ideal. I am sure those who proposed it didn’t intend exclusion but I appreciate your giving a good example of how this could be a problem in real life.

On the mineral prompt, it sounds like there are 2 ways to look at it- a specific mineral or anything that isn’t animal or vegetable. For instance, there were examples with the word “stone”. Stone can contain minerals but I don’t think of it as “a mineral.” I tend to interpret all prompts flexibly, so I don’t have a preference, but it could be a stumbling block.

I already have two of these prompts on my rejects challenge list - google doodle and nun. And I have the music prompt on that list also so I could use that book for the Royal Albert prompt. So those are definitely upvotes.

I did quite a bit of research the last time the royalty prompt came up and found several books I thought sounded interesting so I'd really like that prompt to make it through this time.

The Fibonacci Sequence one is clever but I don't know what I'd do with it. I agree with others about the name prompt - it's either too easy or too hard (depending on how much of your family you choose to include and/or if your family has primarily unusual names).

It's going to be very interesting to see which of these become our final two prompts!

I’m very impressed that the moderators guessed correctly months ago that it would take exactly 19 polls to get 52 prompts. Of course, they would have added more, but, considering some weeks yielded only 1-2 prompts, and others more, it seems quite remarkable to me how well they predicted.

We could only have one winner Robin! Or none. !! But I suspect this will be the final poll.

First thoughts are yes to Fibonacci (unique prompt but one with plenty of options). Probably yes to communication since epistolary novels are normally a hit for me. Related to 21st will probably be an upvote (it’s connected to the year without being to confining). Flowers or greenery on the cover will be a downvote (don’t feel like we need another cover prompt, they aren’t my favourite and I’ve done this one before). Royal Albert Hall feels similar to Grand Egyptian Museum in that it’s a prompt devoted to a specific building and one is enough for me. Mineral will probably be a downvote since I don’t think it is clear or well worded ( any mineral vs just the ones listed?) and I think the 21st prompt allows Scandium fans to fold it in there, while non-Scandium fans can go some other route.

Technically, a mineral has to be naturally occurring - I think that's what Steve was referring to. Brass is an alloy and nickel and scandium are elements (you get nickel and scandium out of minerals). This is all somewhat semantic, because I do understand what the prompt was going for, which was rock/mineral/element/metal/any inorganic substance that human beings usually put in this category. But I was one of those kids who was really into rock collecting, ha.

I have three upvotes. We only have 2 cover prompts which does not seem like a lot. I love cover prompts. I like the idea of a long book being open to each member to decide what is a long book to them. Also, all the members wanting the nuns have swayed me to upvoting the religious member.

I feel a little better that I'm not the only one thinking about how none of those are minerals! I understand the intent of that word is in the sense of animal, vegetable, mineral, and I do like that concept for a prompt (basically nature stuff that's not alive).

Nickel is a mineral.
Here's what seems like a comprehensive (though a little overwhelming) list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

My top favorites out of this group are:
- a book related to a number in the Fibonacci Sequence: I love this idea and I have a couple with related numbers in the title (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Three Women, Orphan Number Eight)

- a book related to the 21st _______: Also love this one. I may just go with the 21st element Scandium for this, but also looking at 21st book on TBR, 21st book read in 2021, 21st Amendment, 21st birthday, 21st year

I also like a long book (I do a long reads challenge for myself every year to knock out some of the 500+ page books that I own), a book about something lost (interesting prompt), and a book with flowers or greenery on the cover (I have some really pretty covers that fit this description on my TBR).

I had the same issue with the ambiguity of the mineral prompt. If it's just supposed to be A book related to a mineral, then I think it should get rid of the examples. If it's supposed to have the 2021 link, I think it should just say A book related to scandium, nickel or brass.

I really like the 2 decades prompt from last poll. I am excited it's getting another chance.

I like the triangle one too. That feels really creative to me.

This is probably my favorite set pf prompts! The ones I like the best are:
- Fibonacci Sequence
I still like the 2-1 syllable idea, title or author, so I would likely use it for one of these numbers 1, 2, 3, 13 or 21.

- Member of a religious organization
Buddhist nun: A Tale for the Time Being

- Non-British royalty
I'm interested in reading about the Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, after touring Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace and, also, Haile Sealssie I, the last king of Ethiopia.

Here are a few lists.
- European Royalty (a few British are included)
https://www.caliglobetrotter.com/roya...
- The Best Romanov Books, The Russian Tsars and Russian Royal Family
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
- Spanish Royalty Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
- French Monarchy Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

- Alcohol
I would probably look to a book by an author (e.g. Jack Kerouac) who was a known alcoholic. Either that or a type of alcohol in the title or on the cover.

Maybes - Need to think about some more!
- Triangle (maybe a cover prompt)
- Mode of communication (letters, texting, telephone calls)
- Royal Albert Hall ( Music-related - I always like!)
- Flowers or greenery (I like cover prompts!)

Will one of the mods correct the topic header to say 2021 instead of 2019?

I like the alcohol prompt because I've been meaning to read A History of the World in 6 Glasses & Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts for a few years now. This would help me.

Pam wrote: "Will one of the mods correct the topic header to say 2021 instead of 2019?"

Oops, LOL. I hadn't even noticed that, but I changed it for you ;-)

( and then had to change it again, because I had "fixed it" to 2020- the year that will forever be stuck in my head)

This is the first list I pretty much like all of them. I like that what ever doesn't make it in from here will be my winner for the reject prompt one.

I had thought about suggesting a prompt about acts who performed at the Albert Hall, can't totally remember why I didn't - I really liked this view of all the people who had performed there over the years

http://appearing.royalalberthall.com/

I did some research about ways to fulfill the Fibonacci prompt.

For those who wanted a rabbit prompt, Fibonacci is your guy. The original problem that Fibonacci investigated was about how fast rabbits could breed in ideal circumstances. The solution to this problem is the famous Fibonacci sequence.

The design of a lot of nature things is based on the Fibonacci Sequence - trees, flowers, fruits, goat horns, spider webs, shells.

A book about music would work. Piano keys in an octave are made up of Fibonaccie Numbers; eight white, five black, and thirteen in all.

The cochlea of the inner ear is a spiral that follows the Fibonacci Sequence, so a book with a character that has a hearing impairment or something like that.

Spiral galaxies follow the sequence, so any space sci-fi.

And there’s the golden ratio. I don’t understand it but it has something to do with Fibonacci. So, gold in the title or set during the Gold Rush or something.

It’s actually a really really broad category if you get creative with it.

dalex wrote: "I did some research about ways to fulfill the Fibonacci prompt.

For those who wanted a rabbit prompt, Fibonacci is your guy. The original problem that Fibonacci investigated was about how fast ra..."

Brilliant, dalex, thanks!

May I say however the final vote goes I have really enjoyed putting it together with you guys. I really hope we can all enjoy doing the challenge too.

Anyone have ideas for the "triangle" prompt? I have no idea. And I'm not jazzed about reading a love triangle, so I'm looking for some other ideas.

I think it could be on the cover but yeah not a prompt I am very sure about

Lots of great prompts this round. Currently, I'm thinking of upvoting: (1) Fibonacci sequence - I love Pam's idea of turning this into the 2-1 syllable prompt which I loved, (2) religious org - I'm going full nun's on this one (3) related to the 21st ___ - this was my prompt so of course. Thanks Thomas for allowing me to sleep in!, (4) non-British royalty - I want to do a book on Marie Antoinette but have tons of great Russian suggestions, (5) a long book, (6) Scandium - even though the prompt is confusingly worded I liked the idea of Scandium, (7) Google Doodle and (8) Royal Albert Hall.

If only they could all make it in!

I've looked for books with triangles on the cover, but I'm not finding much.

Nadine - Thanks for the Whiskey Robber suggestion! What a great option! I found it on Overdrive and added it to my TBR.

"A book that takes place in at least two decades" has so many possible options:
-Family saga books that cover multiple generations e.g. Ann Patchett's Commonwealth, Pachinko
-Books like The Map of Salt and Stars which have two story story lines that are set in different time periods.
-Biographies and autobiographies that cover several decades of the subject's life.
-Books like Homegoing
-Time travel books

Here are my thoughts as of now. I'm being especially picky this round, as this is likely the last poll.

• Fibonacci Sequence: I mean, it just seems like a number prompt. I could do it easily enough, but it doesn't excite me.
• Member of a religious organization: Doable.
• Mode of communication: I could use an epistolary novel here.
• A long book - I generally try to tackle a doorstopper or two every year, so this would be a nice push.
• Related to the 21___: I have a feeling it'll get in regardless of how I vote but it's just not one that I'm really feeling. I was hoping the discussion would give me more ideas for this one, but thus far, it hasn't.
• Non-British royalty: I'm not a fan of reading about royalty.
• Something lost: Some possibilities, but I don’t know. I guess I could do almost any mystery.
• Triangle - Not a clue what to do with this one other than treat it as a cover prompt. And I’m not finding much on my TBR that is suitable. I’m not particularly interested in a love triangle. Specific book ideas would be helpful.
• Mineral/Scandium: I had a hard enough time with "periodic table" in 2019.
• Google doodle: Doable.
• Set in at least two decades: This is a definite upvote. I voted for it last time, and I'll vote for it this time. I love this kind of thing.
• Shares the name of someone in your family: I initially balked at this, but I did some digging, and it could be fun to find options.
• Royal Albert Hall: This was fun to research, and I came up with quite a few options
• Alcohol - To be honest, my first impulse is to read an author who is/was a noted alcoholic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
• Flowers/greenery on the cover: Cover prompts are my least favorite prompts, but this one isn’t bad.

I also liked Pam's idea of using the Fibonacci sequence as a variant of the 2-1 syllable idea, except I think I would do 1-1-2, as the first numbers in the sequence, but still 2s and 1s. And I just checked my TBR list - and I have a goodly number of 3 word titles with one syllable, one syllable and 2 syllables!

I have three up votes: Long book because I like to read a few every year, Book featuring non-British royalty, and nuns/priests because of the number of mystery series I have that feature nuns or priests.

Angie wrote: "Anyone have ideas for the "triangle" prompt? I have no idea. And I'm not jazzed about reading a love triangle, so I'm looking for some other ideas."

you could always read a book which has a polyamorous relationship or romance with three people (not a love triangle), like Lady Midnight, Strange Grace, The Wicker King, The Other Side of the Sky, To Be Taught, If Fortunate or A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams?

or maybe something with mountains? the shape of a triangle is often an icon for a mountain. you can either a mountain on the cover (so many choices!), a survival story, or nonfic/fiction about hiking or climbing?

For upvotes I'm thinking:
- member of religious organisation (I have Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope on my TBR which would work well. I wonder if a KIS option could also be simply a follower of a religion rather than a more senior figure, then in similar vein Educated could work)
- long book (I always put them off and I have lots that have been stuck on my TBR for several years)
- set in more than one decade (I love a good family saga)

Also considering: Fibonacci and book related to alcohol - the latter will need a bit of research I think, though I would likely pick a mystery/thriller as alcoholism seems to be a common character flaw in those genres.

As for downvotes:
- same name as a family member (I could personally make it work but it doesn't feel very inclusive)
- non-British royalty (no options on my TBR)
- mineral (would have preferred if it was just Scandium)

Also for triangle you could do something about delta, which is represented by a triangle. So this could be about planes, change, defendants in trials, jazz, Greece, really anything STEM.

i think this is my favourite list of prompts so far but i am still, somehow, undecided on how to vote! i don't know whether to be strategic and only upvote my top favourites or just use my full eight to upvote i really like

i particularly love:

- A book featuring a member of a religious organization
- A book that features a mode of communication (letters, texting, telephone calls)
- A book featuring non-British royalty
- A book about something lost
- A book related to the subject of a Google Doodle
- A book related to the Royal Albert Hall
- A book with flowers or greenery on the cover

I have two definite downvotes for now:

- The book related to alcohol, because it's taboo for people of certain religions/cultures/backgrounds and I can't think of a KIS option that would stay away from alcohol as a topic/theme/title. It might be easy for people to say, "Just read a book by an alcoholic" or "find a book with a drink on the cover", but the spirit of it still makes some people very uncomfortable. Also, it's very U.S/western-centric to associate 21 with alcohol at all.

- The name of the immediate family member. Similar reason. Not really fair to people with unusual or "ethnic" names in their families, especially if, like me, you don't speak/read the language of the names in your family. And being young and unattached, I only have my parents and older brother in my immediate family.

If someone could suggest some good KIS options for these two, I'd love to hear them! Particularly the immediate family members' names one. Broadening it to extended family doesn't help if your parents are only children :(

Irene wrote: "I have two definite downvotes for now:

- The book related to alcohol, because it's taboo for people of certain religions/cultures/backgrounds and I can't think of a KIS option that would stay away..."

i'm a little uncomfortable with the alcohol prompt as well. i know it may seem prudish of me to complain but i am only thinking that if there any people in our group who are in recovery for addiction, i would assume this would be a very triggering prompt

i don't mind it being us-centric because honestly online i kind of expect most book-related content to be us-centric at this point

I really prefer the simpler prompts. In this batch, I quite like long book, book about something lost, book with a triangle, and book related to alcohol.

Some KIS ideas for anyone not wanting to read directly about alcohol if it gets in:

A book set in a region famous for its drink, eg Bordeaux, Islay, Burton, Napa Valley

A book related to a famous cocktail, eg set in Manhattan or a beachy romance

Ethanol is used in lots of others things, eg a book about perfume.