Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Another round of results added to our 2022 Reading Challenge!

Top:
A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
A book connected to a book you read in 2021
A book where the main character is a female detective, private investigator, or police officer

Bottom:
A book whose author is younger than you
A book with a history

Close Call:
A book by an author with 3 names
A book with a character who has a disability

Polarizing:
A book that honors Betty White, who will turn 100 in January 2022

Listopias:
A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
A book connected to a book you read in 2021
A book where the main character is a female detective, private investigator, or police officer

*We have slightly changed the wording for the female detective or police officer prompt to make it more concise and fit better with the rest of the prompts on our list.

Is there a reason private eye was excluded since detective implies official and private eye is more free lance? It is a small change but I think it narrowed the prompt.

Are we including amateur detectives (cozy mysteries) in the listopia?

Amy, I was planning on going that way if I did not find an official detective/private eye. I do have a series with a female police officer and will probably use that but I like to have options.

I took out private eye because I felt lit was redundant since private eyes are just.. detectives that are not employed by the police. I can change it if y'all are concerned about it limiting, but I feel like detective or police officer encompasses the whole scope?

For what it's worth, I NEVER read books with detectives/private eyes/police officers as the protagonist, so I'm probably missing the nuance lol

Most of the books I read the main character is either a private investigator or an amateur detective and then the secondary characters are the official detective/officers. I think, they are different enough to add back in the P.I. (It is kinda similar but bit more extreme but it is all I can think of at the moment is a member of the military verses a mercenary).

Well, my apologies for being unclear on where I was going with the "book with a history" prompt. It's a bottom vote, so I cannot resubmit it even after some more workshopping, I guess.

Conny wrote: "Well, my apologies for being unclear on where I was going with the "book with a history" prompt. It's a bottom vote, so I cannot resubmit it even after some more workshopping, I guess."

I think there are still ways to rephrase it if you want to. It seems like anything that could be about one's personal life is hard to sell. That wasn't necessarily your direction, but people may have taken it that way. Or they just didn't read anything about it and didn't understand.

On the detective question, because this is ATY, it's ultimately up to you if you interpret "detective" as a professional title. Maybe a KIS would include a female amateur who solves a crime, of which there are thousands.

I would count an amateur detective as a detective, I guess a private eye might not do detective work? I don't really know enough about the differences but I would count someone doing detecting at any level!

I enjoyed learning about The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective: Secrets and Lies in the Golden Age of Crime last year.

Happy to have a cover prompt and light source has so many options. I am sure I can concoct a connection to a 2021 book, most likely I'll use it to continue a series.

I am happy with all three winners. Poor old Disney fell down again, maybe it was resubmitted too soon.

Ellie - a private eye is a detective that works on their own for customers, not for the police department so they would fall under the heading of a detective.

My thoughts on the cozy mystery type amateur detective is that the characters don't work as detectives, they simply fall into situations that they want to investigate on their own. Technically they are doing detective work but they aren't an "actual" detective per say. I would count an amateur detective for the challenge but I wasn't sure if they should be on the actual listopia or not.

I didn't love the book connected to one you read in 2021, but I can always just read the next book in a series I read this year, or a book by an author that I liked. This type of prompt never really jumps out at me.

My take is that if the book blurb describes the character as a detective, I'm counting it. If the prompt said they worked in that field, that would be different.

I didn't vote for A book connected to a book you read in 2021 but I like it. I add a lot of books to my TBR based on books I'm reading. Sometimes it's another book by that author or a similar topic. Many more times, it's a book or author that was mentioned in a book. If I'm not familiar with a literary refence I usually will look it up. I will have to start tracking them in my reading log otherwise I will never remember them.

Light source - I don't have any ideas but am not worried about it. Something interesting will pop up when I need it!

Looking forward to tomorrow's suggestions! So many good ideas being tossed around!

Nancy, I usually use this prompt to read an author’s backlist. I so rarely pick a book by the author, so it’s a good push to intentionally go look for author’s I liked.

As for the female detective, I can add PI back in there if y’all want it. I’ll be at my computer later this afternoon and can edit it. I kind of felt like this prompt was calling for people who were employed as detectives or law enforcement (like that’s how they made money) and less about women who fall into a mystery and have to solve it for personal reasons. I’d say those can be KIS but I think are fine on the listopia.

(I’m clearly making this all up as I go so feel free to discuss 😂)

I only voted for 1 of the 3 winners (connected to 2021 - I will read a book by one of my favourite authors this year) but I'm happy with the others that made it. I'm sure the listopia will be useful for the detective one as nothing springs to mind other than Miss Marple!

I think my issue with the connected to a book in 2021, is that I may add books to my TBR in 2021, but by the time 2022 comes around I don’t remember which ones I added for that reason. Then I just make up random connections and lie to myself that it works. :)

For the female detective/police officer, are we counting those that don’t do it for a job? Like Nancy Drew, Aurora Teagarden, many cozy mysteries?

Conny wrote: "Well, my apologies for being unclear on where I was going with the "book with a history" prompt. It's a bottom vote, so I cannot resubmit it even after some more workshopping, I guess."

I was neutral with the history but even reworking it would still be neutral for me. I don’t think it was a bad prompt or unclear just not the right fit for how I like to pick books.

I didn’t vote either way on the 2021 connection because it will just be a continuation of a series that I read on this year. I have a ton so it will be nice prompt for a book that might not fit elsewhere.

I’m very happy with the cover prompt.

Personally I'm using the female detective/police for any kind of detective work. I think it's open to interpretation whether you want it to be in a strictly professional capacity or not.

i love these picks. Thank you all for picking mine.

I'm a little frustrated that Disney still didn't make it in, and if anything probably did worse this time since it wasn't even a close call. I know it wasn't quite a close call last time either, but it was mentioned that it had been a frontrunner for a while. I'm probably not going to suggest it anymore since it's just going to be part of my rejects challenge anyway, but if anyone else still wants it, please feel free to try again.

I'm really not a fan of a book connected to something I read in 2021 because it's a total freebie to me. I read close to 200 books in a year, so practically anything can be connected to something I read. I'd really need to find a way to narrow it down, I guess, but I'm just not enthusiastic about it at all.

I'm happy the female police/detective got in, since that was one of my top choices. Light source on the cover is fine too. I'd considered voting for it, but there were other things I wanted more.

For "A book connected to a book you read in 2021" prompt, the related listopia is titled, "related to something you read in 2021". So, does it have to be connected to a book, or anything you read? They are two different things. Last year's challenge included the prompt "A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019," which allowed for anything -- book or otherwise. Is that the case this time, too? If so, maybe the prompt should be reworded (or the listopia). Personally I prefer it be open to anything read, but that's just my opinion.

Sorry, the prompt says “a book” so I’ll update the listopia title so it isn’t confusing. I clearly did all this before coffee this morning!

Emily wrote: "Sorry, the prompt says “a book” so I’ll update the listopia title so it isn’t confusing. I clearly did all this before coffee this morning!"

I can so relate to that! Thanks for clarifying (and everything else you do), Emily!

Beth wrote: "I only voted for 1 of the 3 winners (connected to 2021 - I will read a book by one of my favourite authors this year) but I'm happy with the others that made it. I'm sure the listopia will be usefu..."

Miss Marple is a good example of someone who clearly does detective work, but I don't think she is ever paid for it. It's been decades since I read those books! For those who want to be really strict, they can stick to someone paid for their detecting work if they want to. Others can interpret it more broadly.

I like all the prompts that made it in, so yay! I am sad about a few that didn’t make it, but that’s always going to happen when I like so many of the options...

I would have just assumed that detective included anyone who did any kind of detecting, but maybe my perspective is skewed by growing up on “Nancy Drew, girl detective”.

Two of the tops were two of my bottoms so not thrilled with these results. Looking at my list of books I've read so far this year, I don't see anything on the list of ~45 books that's inspiring me to read something else next year.

Steve, out of curiosity, how do you normally choose books to read? Presumably it’s not based at all on books you’ve enjoyed in the past?

I'm sad to see that Betty White was so polarizing but I'm glad that the World Cup one wasn't bottomed so it can at least be suggested again. Then again, it didn't seem to be very popular so it might have to be reserved for my rejects challenge.

I like all 3 of the prompts that got in, but I'm sad that the book with a history prompt can't be re-suggested, since I think a lot of people misunderstood it (myself included). I didn't downvote it, but I thought it meant a book that was historically significant. Maybe it can be re-workshopped into something more like, A book with personal significance to you? Although I guess, like some of you mentioned, the problem might just be that people avoid prompts that are personal in general.

Also surprised about the Disney prompt! It really shows that the people who comment in these threads really don't represent the entire group of people that vote without participating in the discussion. I thought it would be a close call!

Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) wrote: "Steve, out of curiosity, how do you normally choose books to read? Presumably it’s not based at all on books you’ve enjoyed in the past?"

I rely a lot on “best of” lists and reviews to find books. There are a couple of authors whose books I generally read when they come out, but generally I rely on end-of-year lists to help me come up with my TBR pile.

For some reason, I'm not getting notifications on this thread and it's driving me bonkers.

Steve, I'm the same way. I read mostly new fiction (books published this year and last), so I rarely rely on authors to decide what to read. You could choose a book that is "connected to" one you read because they are on the same list. For example, maybe you picked up a book that was on the Millions Most Anticipated list for 2021, and then next year, you read a book that is on the Millions Most Anticipated list for 2022... That's a way that books could be connected without necessarily being by the same author.

Emily wrote: "For some reason, I'm not getting notifications on this thread and it's driving me bonkers.

Steve, I'm the same way. I read mostly new fiction (books published this year and last), so I rarely rely..."

Thanks for those thoughts/suggestions, Emily! I’m sure I’ll find something without too much effort when I think about it more in my planning phases at the end of the year. Just nothing that stands out now when I look at my 2021 list.

Hmmm what an interesting result. I voted for connected to book you read in 2021 as I've read lots of good books this year so seems like a good way to read from the same authors. the other 2 winnes I didn't vote for either way.
The 2 close calls were in my top votes so I would love for them to be resubmitted.

Emily, I have been having problems with notifications for the past few days. I have been looking at all my groups unread posts to find the ones I’m following but not getting notifications.

I'm happy with the results. I'm hoping we can get the close calls in on another round. I like them.

On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might also include investigations involving HSA, CIA or other agencies. Can someone let me know if I'm stretching it too far to include CIA investigations?

I understand why Betty White had a split reaction. It meant different things to different people, and some were conflicting.

I am really interested in books with diverse protagonists, including people with disabilities and older characters. I'm disappointed disabilities didn't get in, but I have confidence it will. There are a lot of entertaining books that are not depressing (imo).

I don't know if anyone else agrees with me about the age category. I like reading about old people, and about aging, and there are a lot of interesting (and sometimes very funny) novels. I'm semi-retired and I can't even find a term I like. (I used to do EEO investigations, so I feel like I should know a good PC term, but the legal terms don't work here.)

If anyone is interested in helping to workshop an age related prompt, please let me know. I know I tend to overexplain.

NancyJ wrote: "On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might also include inv..."

I would count all of those.

Jillian wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might a..."

Thanks Jillian.

I'm happy with the winners. I voted for two of them.

I didn't vote for the book with a connection to something I read in 2021 because that just seems like a free read to me. But it's certainly doable.

I was walking through the bookstore the other day and saw a lot of great covers that fit the light source prompt. I don't normally gravitate toward cover prompts, but I like this one.

I voted for the female detective/PI/police officer prompt. The conversation and current wording is confusing me a bit. But in any case, I might use this as an excuse to either finish the last book in the Dennis Lehane's Kenzie/Genarro series or revisit one of the earlier books in the series. If anyone is looking for a good read featuring a female private eye, check those out.

Angie wrote: "I'm happy with the winners. I voted for two of them.

I didn't vote for the book with a connection to something I read in 2021 because that just seems like a free read to me. But it's certainly do..."

I'm the same way. I paid little attention to covers before, but I'm suddenly spotting sources of light everywhere. It's fun.

The winners were a top, a bottom and a meh for me. It is nice to see the list taking shape.

Emily wrote: "For some reason, I'm not getting notifications on this thread and it's driving me bonkers. ..."


SAME!! I am glad to hear it's not just me. I keep double-checking that I have notifications turned on - yep, I do.

Some other posts (not just in this group) have been giving me weird notifications, either delayed, or sending me to the wrong page of comments. So clearly Goodreads is having a problem with notifications again.

And the few threads I'm getting notifications for won't let me see the actual posts. Maybe this is Goodreads way of telling me I need to be reading instead of playing on Goodreads all day lol.

Plus it seems that our listopias are not updating their ordering (like they are allowing you to add books, but they aren't resorting the books in order of votes)

NancyJ wrote: "On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might also include inv..."

This was my suggestion. I was thinking that the character would be a professional/getting paid, so a spy or someone working at the CIA would definitely fit. But... I also feel like the Truly Devious series would work and the main character is not paid, but she's clearly "a detective." I wasn't trying to include the more thriller-y side of the genre like "my sister went missing and now I have to find her and solve the mystery," if that makes sense? But part of the fun of the challenge is how people interpret certain prompts, so I think it's fine either way!

Lindsey wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might a..."

Thanks for the clarification Lindsey, I was wondering how to approach this prompt. So the original intent was that the character has an investigatory job, or at least does it full-time rather than it being a hobby or a one-time thing, right? I love having specifics because it calms down my OCD (which doesn't like prompts that are open to interpretation!)

Lindsey wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "On the detective prompt, the original suggestion mentioned FBI, so I was thinking about terrorism, homeland security and maybe even spies. I'm going to assume that the prompt might a..."

Thanks Lindsey, that's really helpful. There are already a lot of great choices on the listopia that fit your description. I noticed a few with male detectives though; perhaps they have female partners or colleagues. I'm going to review my listopia votes and eliminate any that don't fit your description.

I'm happy to see that you consider spies investigators. That's most of the job. I would encourage anyone to read about Virginia Hall who was a spy during WWII. She might have been one of the first female CIA agents when it was formed.