Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Hooray! We have our FINAL set of results! There were two very distinct winners, no close calls or even prompts that had enough downvotes to qualify them as in the bottom. We appreciate this great split for our final poll, and we are so happy you all participated in the process with us!

Top:
A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages
A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind

Bottom:
None qualified this round!

Listopias:
A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages - SHORT BOOK
A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages - LONG BOOK
A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind

A few housekeeping notes:
- The final list order will go up sometime in the next couple of days - probably Monday or Tuesday.
- When the final list order goes up, we will open a folder for you to begin your planning threads. The planning tab on our Community Spreadsheet will remain open until December, so you have some time to copy over your plans from the spreadsheet to a GR thread.
- Weekly threads will begin going up this week. We will not be posting them in order and 1-3 will go up each day. Give us some patience on these because it can be a lot of work to find good links and resources for y'all!

YAY! Thank you Mods for all your hard work :)
AND suggesters and voters LOL
It's been fun!

Wow! I did not expect my page length suggestion to make it. Goes to show that the discussion doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the final results.

Exciting that we have the whole list now! Thanks to all the mods for coordinating this massive undertaking! 🎉

Hooray! We have a list!

Katie wrote: "Wow! I did not expect my page length suggestion to make it. Goes to show that the discussion doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the final results.

Exciting that we have the whole list n..."

It worked well becuase it ofeered those who need it a long book option without imposing it. I'm just glad the Goodreads awrds was kept out and becuase two got in that door has now closed.

How nice that we had two clear winners with no close calls or losers!!! That's synchronicity!

I know I up-voted 7 and only down-voted 1. (And I voted for the two winners, so I am happy!) Perhaps most members had a lot more up votes than down, to get these results.

So glad to have a prompt that works well for nonfiction. In fact both of these do.

Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. No offense to those who supported it/suggested it.

The page count prompt is good. Lots of choices.

Angie, I understand your concern about triggers related to books about psychology, but I think you’ll find that if you look at the Listopia for this prompt there should be some non-triggering books. There is one about sleep (I’ve read some of this one — interesting), ones about what makes us smart, or happy. It’s not all dealing with mental illness or mental trauma. Maybe focus more on the “neuroscience or the mind” part of the prompt. Good luck!

Angie, you could go losely with 'the mind' for that one; such as a fantasy, scifi, paranormal with mind control or something along those lines.

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

You could do something that's supernatural, fantasy or horror where a character uses the power of their mind to do something out of the ordinary. Carrie is the first one I thought of, but there must be lots more.

Or you could just wildcard it, I've realised the last couple of years doing that helps my own mind a lot, so it'd be fulfilling the prompt in a roundabout way!

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

I plan to use a paranormal book for this prompt. A main character who is psychic for example.

It showed that there were a lot of good prompts this week in that there were no choices that were obviously at the bottom. I enjoy the process but I am glad we are done!

Maybe it's not obvious but I think the intent of the suggester was that 220 and 440 are related to next year's ending in 22. There were a number of suggestions relating to that and I think this is the only one that actually made it in.

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

I’m sorry to hear that the psychology prompt is triggering for you. I was happy that one made it in, mostly because I was a psych major in college and have some books on my TBR that I’ve been meaning to read for ages. I’ve added an embarrassing number of books to the Listopia, most of which I have read and highly recommend. I’m also very intrigued by the ones the other lovely people here have been adding to the Listopia this morning. Perhaps something on that list will work for you. I know I find the Listopias to be very helpful when I’m stumped on a prompt. Kudos to the mods for setting those up and for managing this whole process.

Angie, I have trouble with any prompt that is medical based. I thought this one was open up enough not to have to be medical. I think something paranormal like Sookie Stackhouse series would work. Hopefully, others will add more ideas to the listopia.

I definitely preferred the famous pair to the page length prompt, but I like that the final two prompts are not the norm and are a bit different, and am so happy to have the final lists done for planning purposes!

For the neuroscience, psychology, mind prompt I plan on reading When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald. It may be a stretch but I’ve wanted to read it since it came out. This book may be a kinder gentler way to fill the prompt. We’ll see.

I'm so happy we have a list. Huge thanks to the mods who have kept us going through so many months of voting. I can't wait to start reading with you all again next year.

I had only one down vote this time. I am very happy with these two, though all but 2 were fine with me this time around. So happy to begin making lists for these last two prompts! YAY!

SO many good ones this time, and I love that it ended on a high note. I'll miss the process but I have the Good Reads vote to look forward to. Thank you moderators for all your hard work!

Yay- and thank you so much mods for all the hard work. This makes herding cats look easy!

Yay list complete! I only voted for 1 of them (psychology) but I'm happy with both winners. For the page count I'm glad we have the option of long or short book. I agree with others that the psychology prompt is very broad and there are plenty of options that are far removed from mental health so I hope everyone can find something they are comfortable with.

I'm so glad we've finished the list and can't wait to start planning properly. I will try to hold off until December time though. Thank you mods again for all the effort you put into this process! ⭐

I'm very happy the psychology prompt got through! I was a psychology major in university, so it's still a huge buzzword for me. For those who don't want to read about mental health, I'd suggest Lisa Genova's books which focus more on the neuroscience side.

I'm not such a fan of the page count prompt and I think I even downvoted it. I like the connection to the year, but to me, it felt like two separate prompts mashed together. I would have strongly preferred if it had been either one or the other of the options instead of both. At least it will be pretty easy to fulfill.

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that the process is over so early this year. I don't do any of my planning until December when a few more challenges come out, and this seems way too early to be done. I guess the many multiweeks we had sped things up a lot.

Yay for a final list! Thanks to the mods and everyone for the fun list-making process.

I'm amused that This Is How You Lose the Time War is at the top for now for <220 pages, that was a DNF for me. It's one of those "books you hated that everyone else loved!"

I'm glad the list is done. I'm hoping to be done with this year's challenge within a month. That way I can concentrate on fun things that I want to read that don't have an attachment to anything. I enjoy the 52 week challenge and find that there are a handful of prompts to push me to read out of my box. This year I've noticed I mostly read books published after 2007. I only read a couple that were older. I wanted to mostly go rogue this year and not worry about fitting in what I thought I should read. I struggled a bit last year.

I like these prompts as I can fit a lot of books in them and it keeps my options open. I do find I'm a mood reader. I also love to bargain shop books or browse in a bookstore for employee picks. I love used books too. I have so many I need to read so I need to keep options open.

For the psychology one I may go with a psychological thriller. I seem to be stacked up on those. For a book under 220 or over 440 - knowing me I'll pick a short classic I need to read.

I do have a lot of bigger books that I put off because of the challenge. I need to see what I can do about getting some of them read. I'm not a fast reader and without audio I'd probably barely be able to finish the challenge.

Yay a complete list! Thank you mods for the hard work you put into this every year!

I didn't vote for either of the new prompts but don't hate them. I almost only read ebooks and audiobooks and page numbers are not always available. I try to use goodreads but seems like they can get them wrong so always wonder if I am inadvertently cheating. In any case this shouldn't be to hard and could be fun.

A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind is a good twist on the mental illness prompt. I think it broadens it to using Sci-fi like Recursion, horror like The Final Girl Support Group or psychological thrillers like The Golden Couple and Goodnight Beautiful.

Sherri wrote: "For the neuroscience, psychology, mind prompt I plan on reading When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald. It may be a stretch but I’ve wanted to read it since it came out. This book may be a ..."

Such a good book and it definitely fulfills the prompt (although, I don't know if it's easier... there is some abuse in there).

I've done the prompts for years, but this is my first year participating in the voting. I think the moderators did an amazing job of organizing 18 polls.

On mobile so I can't quote, but Robin, you are correct! I love the 22 connections, which is why I suggested 220 and 440 as the page lengths.

Also Why We Sleep is a FASCINATING book about how important sleep is to both body and mind. Highly, highly recommended for reading regardless but it would be a perfect book for the mind/neuroscience prompt!

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

I down voted psychology, but I have since found a detective series
where a psychological profiler is the main character.

A huge thanks to the mods for all their hard work.

I can work with these two choices but a bit fascinated that I had 7 up votes and 1 down vote and these two prompts were neutral for me :-)

Happy that we have a final list to work towards next year!

I went back and forth on the number of pages prompt because I thought people wouldn't vote for it, so I left it neutral. I did vote for the psychology/neuropsychology prompt and I'm happy with both the topics chosen this week.

I'm glad we're done! I think this was one of the smoothest nominating processes yet and I thank the moderators for their coordination and work and the people who took the time to discuss prompts. I'm looking forward to the planning process.

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

Two classic Sci-fi suggestions (relating to the mind) for you: 1) The Lathe of Heaven (connection is dreams) by Ursula K. Le Guin and Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (No spoilers - you will have to read it to understand the connection!) Any book relating to dreams or creativity would work for the "mind" aspect of the prompt.

Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-related issues. ..."

Angie I promise we will help you to find lots of options that don't involve mental illness at all. Here are some non-fiction options. I'll add fiction later.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
The Art of Happiness Dalai Lama
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom - small but powerful. I guarantee that at least one of the 4 topics will give you some true "aha' moments
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts - not a psychology book, but it's consistent with needs theories, and it works.

Personality styles - these books are all similar, based on Jung and the MBTI. It's really interesting unless you've already done this at work 10 times:
I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just Not You: Using Personality Insights to Work and Live Effectively with Others
Type Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job
Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. A bit of a stretch, but her her main premise it's consistent with research on the detriments of having too many choices. (This book isn't for me, but many swear by it.)

There are also many books on meditation, stress management, happiness, self-care, and boundaries that can help people cope with stressful situations, mental illness, or challenging people.

For Angie and others looking for psychology fiction: I created a listopia for Psychology and Neuroscience Fiction.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I consciously avoided mental illness and twisted thrillers at the beginning but there will be some. If you can't tell from the blurb of a book, look at the tag lists (genres) for mental illness, suicide or other triggers. Also look at reviews or the Q&A section

Psychology related fiction topics:

Perception:
*Racism, bias, stereotyping, prejudice
*Immigration experience, cross-cultural misunderstandings
*Romance involving first impression bias, stereotyping - Pride and Prejudice and it's many variations would all fit

Groups/Leadership:
*Fantasy novels often have interesting team or leadership dynamics, group roles, individual v group needs, cooperation, competition, conflict.
*War, disasters, crisis situations often bring out hidden strengths and cooperation.
*Workplace settings, teams, organizational politics

Identity:
*YA books with LBGTQ, cultural differences, bi-racial families, adoption, diversity, perceived differences, conflicts with parents
*New Adult books, same plus career vs romance decisions00
*Romance, marriage, grief, third act - might all involve reexamination of identity.

Family dramas often combine many complex issues:
The Aviator's Wife -I'm reading this now

Common themes in fiction related to psychology:
Purpose, meaning, growth
Values, ethics, responsibility
Loneliness, connections, family, friends
Conflict, cooperation, competition
Self vs others, community, country, spirituality
Needs, drive, ego, life satisfaction,
Change, resilience, coping, leading change

Psychological thrillers often have psychopaths, sociopaths, or manipulative narcissists, but they are so unrealistic, they might not trigger any personal connections at all.

Nina, Rachel and others with psychology education or interests... Can you think of other psychology or neuroscience topics or keywords that people might use to tag a book? Non-fiction is easy, but fiction is a lot harder.

I created a listopia for Psychology Neuroscience FICTION, if you can add more to it from other fiction genres.

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

NancyJ wrote: "Nina, Rachel and others with psychology education or interests... Can you think of other psychology or neuroscience topics or keywords that people might use to tag a book? Non-fiction is easy, but ..."

Good idea. There are probably some good options in SF/fantasy that would be less likely to be triggering. I’ll see what I can come up with.

It's a great list with something for everyone. You all should be very proud of all the work you put into it. My reading has been haphazard until now and I'm glad I found this group.

For mystery readers, the Maisie Dobbs series is about a woman who is a trained psychologist and detective in the 1920's. The Jackson Brodie series Case Histories is also very good for psychology.

I was sorry that we didn't get one of the edgier suggestions on the list. "Mad Bad Dangerous to know" could be a psychological thriller.

Jill wrote: "Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-re..."

Which one is that Jill? I like psychological mysteries too.

Rachel wrote: "I'm very happy the psychology prompt got through! I was a psychology major in university, so it's still a huge buzzword for me. For those who don't want to read about mental health, I'd suggest Lis..."

It actually wasn't over early, maybe a week or two sooner. But there is always time before year-end for planning. I know a lot of us are enthusiastic to get started!

Nancy wrote: "Yay for a final list! Thanks to the mods and everyone for the fun list-making process.

I'm amused that This Is How You Lose the Time War is at the top for now for <220 pages, that was a DNF for me..."

I also couldn't get into This is How You Lose the Time War. I got a couple chapters in and felt repelled by the whole thing. And I love time travel stories in general.

On behalf of the Mods, thanks to everyone who participated in discussing and shaping the prompts, proposing them, explaining them, creating lists, and voting. It wouldn't work without you!

Robin P wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I'm very happy the psychology prompt got through! I was a psychology major in university, so it's still a huge buzzword for me. For those who don't want to read about mental health, ..."

To be fair, I always think mid-October is a little early to be done, especially when other challenges generally aren't posted until December. Maybe that's just because I don't start planning until other challenges are out and I decide which ones I want to do, but with about 3 months left of the year still, it seems very early this time to me.

Oh well, I generally don't look at the list again until just before I start planning anyway so I don't get too burnt out on the prompts before it's time to actually read them. So I guess I just have more time to read for this year's challenges and the list will be a nice surprise again by December.

NancyJ wrote: "Angie wrote: "Apologies for expressing my negative opinion, but I'm disappointed that psychology won. I have no idea what to do for it. As I said earlier, it's a trigger for me because of family-re..."

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom is excellent :)

Rachel, I also usually feel it's a bit early to start planning, but this year I finished the ATY challenge so early that I'm excited to start planning for this one, and I don't seem to have a ton of overlap between what I plan to read for the rest of the year and what I want to read next year (except for Migrations and Once There Were Wolves lol... I'm dying to read them but they are filling fauna and Earth Day for me.)

Judy wrote: "It's a great list with something for everyone. You all should be very proud of all the work you put into it. My reading has been haphazard until now and I'm glad I found this group.

For mystery r..."

Thanks for the Maisie Dobbs idea. I have been trying to remember which mystery series have a character who is a psychologist.

Robin P wrote: "I also couldn't get into This is How You Lose the Time War. I got a couple chapters in and felt repelled by the whole thing. And I love time travel stories in general.."

I do too! I normally love time travel and heard so many great things about it.

Thanks to all the mods for another incredible year of setting and keeping this choo-choo in motion. I wish I had more time to fully participate in the polls, but my hat is off to all ATY'ers who do such a great job with coming up with nominations, creating listopias, answering questions for us all, etc.

With 11.5 books to go, I'm looking forward to another wonderful year of reading in '22.

RachelG. wrote: "Judy wrote: "It's a great list with something for everyone. You all should be very proud of all the work you put into it. My reading has been haphazard until now and I'm glad I found this group.

..."

I like Maisie Dobbs too. She's wonderful with soldiers who suffered during WWI (with what we now call PTSD).

Suspect by Michael Robotham is the first book in a series about a British psychiatrist who investigates cases.

Louise Penny's Armond Gamache also uses psychological insights to solve murders. Still Life is the first book, set in Quebec. This is the only mystery series that I still loyally follow.