Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's time for our next round of suggestions!

Just a reminder that you can find a full list of prompts already on the 2023 list in the third post on this thread.

A little reminder of how things are done around here:

How it works:
- The topics for the 2023 reading challenge list will be determined by a series of mini-polls, the number of which depends on the number of prompts winning in each mini-polls
- Suggestions for each poll will be opened until 15 suggestions are received and “seconded”.
- The voting thread will open the day after suggestions go live. You can find the schedule here.
- The poll will be posted after the voting thread is opened for 24 hours, and will remain open for three full days.
- Each user has 8 votes to spread between their favorite (top) and least favorite (bottom) prompts
- 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)

Rules:
- Each member can only suggest OR second one prompt
- Suggestions close after 15 total seconded prompts

When suggesting and seconding, feel free to provide examples and descriptions that may help other members understand the prompt better. These descriptions and examples will be copied over to the voting thread for further discussion.

As always, please express any and all feedback (respectfully, of course), either here or in The Wild Discussion.


Moving on to Voting:
1. A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y
2. A book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies
3. A book with a two or three word title
4. A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman
5. A book with a cat in the story, title or cover
6. A book recommended on Goodreads
7. A nonfiction nature book
8. A book with a color in the title or author’s name
9. A book that’s mentioned in the Rory Gilmore Book Challenge
10. A book with an alliterative title
11. A book involving an "ism"
12. A book by an author with three names printed on the cover
13. A book with a title beginning with W
14. A book related to dreams or dreaming
15. A book involving genetics, genealogy, traits, heredity, heritage

Available to Second:
- An Isekai novel (crossing over to another world)
- A book about a farm, a farmer, or a farming family

Read a book recommended on Goodreads.

This can come from group suggestions, recommendations found under the browse header, Goodreads Choice Awards, Readers also enjoyed, news and interviews, etc.

My suggestion:

A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y

This could be fiction or non-fiction city, state, province, region, place name, environment, geographical site, school, locale, era, ship, etc.
It can easily be applied to fantasy or science fiction – name of planet, spacecraft, fantasy world, imaginary place name, society, social environment, etc.

A book with a cat in the story, title or cover.

I’m out and about, but if the car prompt gets seconded I have suggestion links I can add.

A science fiction/fantasy novel written by a woman.

There is a lot of discrimination against female authors in these genres in particular, as it has been historically considered a genre written by men for men. Only about a third of SFF authors are female. Often, female authors publish under pseudonyms or use initials in lieu of their first names to avoid this bias, as to this day it continues to effect sales.

Suggestion:
A book connected to Birds, Bees, or Bunnies.
This could be:
1) Books with one or more of these creatures (in the subject matter, title, or cover).
2) Books connected to them together.
- "The birds and the bees" -suggests pollination, eco-systems, sex education, reproduction.
- All three together suggest nature, friskiness, mating, reproduction, birth, and population growth (bunnies) or decline (bees).

https://www.goodreads.com/genres/birds
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/bees
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/nature
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/repr...

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

I'm seconding

A book set in a location that begins with A, T, or Y

:)

As it’s 2023: a book with a two or three word title

Second A book connected to Birds, Bees, or Bunnies

Hey Dubhease, it looks like Conny beat you to the second. Feel free to suggest or second something else.

Thomas wrote: "As it’s 2023: a book with a two or three word title"

That's close to what I was coming to recommend, so second

Jayce wrote: "A science fiction/fantasy novel written by a woman.

There is a lot of discrimination against female authors in these genres in particular, as it has been historically considered a genre written b..."

I'll second this

I second 'A book with a cat in the story, title or cover'.

I'll second Read a book recommended on Goodreads.

Non fiction nature book.

A book with a color in the title or author’s name

Tina wrote: "Non fiction nature book."

I really hope this gets seconded.

I second Non-fiction nature book.

I'll second "A book with a color in the title or author’s name"

Suggesting: A book involving an "ism"

"Ism" = a practice/system/doctrine/theory, regarding social, political, economic, philosophy, religion, etc.

Some examples: ableism, sexism, feminism, racism, communism,, activism, capitalism, humanism, idealism, nationalism, individualism, nihilism, spiritualism, Buddhism, Hinduism

This was suggested last year, I think, but the intent was limited to social/political - I liked the more inclusive version of any "ism" with philosophy and religion so I'm suggesting it this year!

This wording also leaves it open to a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres.

I would love some examples of the nonfiction nature book!

Emily wrote: "I would love some examples of the nonfiction nature book!"

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach would be one, off the top of my head.

Perfect example, I already own it lolol

Suggestion: Read a book that’s mentioned in the Rory Gilmore Book Challenge
https://julesbuono.com/wp-content/upl...

Goodreads link to nonfiction nature books: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Emily wrote: "Perfect example, I already own it lolol"

It's not her best, but it's still good!

More nonfiction nature books:

"Nature" is rather broad - I've limited this list to the plants/animals/environment/biology interpretation, but you could include books about human biology or bacteria/viruses/diseases also.

The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species
Last Chance to See
Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea
The Diversity of Life
The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar: Evolution's Most Unbelievable Solutions to Life's Biggest Problems
After the Ice Age: The Return of Life to Glaciated North America
A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
In the Shadow of Man
Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution
The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here
The Feather Thief
Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators
For Love of Lakes
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem
The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be
The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
Serendipity: An Ecologist's Quest to Understand Nature
Life in the Undergrowth
The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature from a Small Wood
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

I’ll second Rory Gilmore

My first thought for non-fiction nature was A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.

This is the type of prompt that I like because it's unique and makes me broaden my horizons so I hope it gets in.

A book with an alliterative title

I'll second the alliteration!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

5 spots remaining

Kelly Sj wrote: "Suggesting: A book involving an "ism"

"Ism" = a practice/system/doctrine/theory, regarding social, political, economic, philosophy, religion, etc.

Some examples: ableism, sexism, feminism, racism..."

Seconding

Emily wrote: "I would love some examples of the nonfiction nature book!"

I'm currently reading The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod for the Earth Week prompt. One of the first great nature books.

Jayce wrote: "A science fiction/fantasy novel written by a woman.

There is a lot of discrimination against female authors in these genres in particular, as it has been historically considered a genre written b..."

Do you have any examples?

I wanted to propose a books about pets, but I see cats is already there.

An author with three names printed on the cover (open to rewording)

ie: Edgar Allen Poe, Christina Baker Kline, Mary Pope Osborne

KIS option to use initials: F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling

Female Sci-fi authors

Listopia (this needs updating)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

https://mashable.com/article/female-s...

https://ew.com/books/27-female-author...

KP wrote: "Jayce wrote: "A science fiction/fantasy novel written by a woman.

There is a lot of discrimination against female authors in these genres in particular, as it has been historically considered a g..."

I don't know if you mean an example of discrimination, or an example of authors! A few years back I decided to try to read all the major women writing in SFF, and I put together a list. I'm sure I got this from on-line somewhere, but tor dot com is not currently loading for me and that's probably my source, so I can't link to it. But here are the names, alphabetically:

Lynn Abbey
Ann Aguirre
Mildred Ames
Athena Andreadis
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Eleanor Arnason
Margaret Atwood
Victoria Aveyard
Kage Baker
Leigh Bardugo
Elizabeth Bear
Marcia J. Bennett
Lauren Beukes
Laura Bickle
Anne Bishop
Holly Black
Aliette de Bodard
Leigh Brackett
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Kristen Britain
Jessica Brody
Mary Brown
Lois McMaster Bujold
Emma Bull
Octavia Butler
Pat Cadigan
Moyra Caldecott
Sharon Cameron
Isobelle Carmody
Jaygee Carr
Gail Carriger
Rae Carson
Aimee Carter
Kristin Cashore
Margaret Cavendish
Joy Chant
Suzy McKee Charnas
C. J. Cherryh
Zen Cho
Casssandra Clare
Jo Clayton
Brenda W. Clough
Suzanne Collins
Julie Czerneda
Kara Dalkey
Pamela Dean
Susan Dennard
Susan Dexter
Candas Jane Dorsey
Carole Nelson Douglas
Debra Doyle
Diane Duane
Claudia J. Edwards
Doris Egan
Phyllis Eisenstein
Ru Emerson
Ruthanna Emrys
Cynthia Felice
Sheila Finch
Lynn Flewelling
Karen Joy Fowler
Bethany Frenette
C.S. Friedman
Anne Gay
Sally Gearhart
Mary Gentle
Jessica Day George
Kerstin Gier
Sheila Gilluly
Laura Anne Gilman
Carolyn Ives Gilman
Dian Girard
Lisa Goldstein
Sara Grant
Bethany Griffin
Nicola Griffith
Eileen Gunn
Karen Haber
Barbara Hambly
Cynthia Hand
Charlaine Harris
Rachel Hartman
Rachel Hawkins
K. M. Herkes
Dorothy Heydt (AKA Katherine Blake)
Leanna Renee Hieber
Amanda Hocking
P.C. Hodgell
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Nalo Hopkinson
Tanya Huff
Monica Hughes
Kij Johnson
Diana Wynne Jones
Gwyneth Jones
Janet Kagan
Julie Kagawa
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison
Leigh Kennedy
Katharine Kerr
Peg Kerr
Jessica Khoury
Lee Killough
Katharine Eliska Kimbriel
S.J. Kincaid
Rosemary Kirstein
Nancy Kress
Katherine Kurtz
Ellen Kushner
Mercedes Lackey
Robin LaFevers (R.L. LaFevers)
Ann Leckie
Sharon Lee
Tanith Lee
Ursula K. LeGuin
Megan Lindholm
M.J. Locke
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Kirsty Logan
Marie Lu
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Sarah J Maas
R.A. MacAvoy
Phillipa Maddern
Tahereh Mafi
Sangu Mandanna
Juliet Marillier
Laurie J. Marks
Melissa Marr
Ardath Mayhar
Lish McBride
Anne McCaffrey
Seanan McGuire / Mira Grant
Maureen McHugh
Vonda McIntyre
Patricia A. McKillip
Robin McKinley
Richelle Mead
Dee Morrison Meaney
Marissa Meyer
Lauren Mill
Elizabeth Moon
C.L. Moore
Janet Morris
Pat Murphy
Paula Helm Murray
Linda Nagata
Sam Nicholson (AKA Shirley Nikolaisen)
Andre Norton
Naomi Novik
Jody Lynn Nye
Caragh M. O'Brien
Nnedi Okorafor
Rebecca Ore
Diana Peterfreund
Susan Beth Pfeffer
Tamora Pierce
Doris Piserchia
Rachel Pollack
Cherie Priest
Sara Raasch
Marta Randall
Alis Rasmussen (AKA Kate Elliott)
Melanie Rawn
Mickey Zucker Reichert
Anne Rice
Elizabeth Richards
Kat Richardson
Mary Rickert
Jennifer Roberson
Michaela Roessner
Veronica Roth
J.K. Rowling
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Joanna Russ
Marie Rutkoski
Carrie Ryan
Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Pamela Sargent
Veronica Schanoes
Melissa Scott
Sydney J. Van Scyoc
Eluki Bes Shahar (AKA Rosemary Edghill)
Samantha Shannon
Priya Sharma
Nisi Shawl
Delia Sherman
Josepha Sherman
Susan Shwartz
Kristen Simmons
Angela Slatter
Sherwood Smith
Melinda Snodgrass
Maria V. Snyder
Midori Snyder
Martha Soukup
Nancy Springer
Sara Stamey
Caroline Stevermer
Maggie Stiefvater
Sabaa Tahir
Judith Tarr
Laini Taylor
Sheri S. Tepper
Amy Tintera
James Tiptree, Jr.
E. Catherine Tobler
Megan Whalen Turner
Prof. Mary Turzillo
Lisa Tuttle
Catherynne M. Valente
Genevieve Valentine
Ursula Vernon
Joan Vinge
Paula Volsky
Élisabeth Vonarburg
Freda Warrington
K.D. Wentworth
Deborah Wheeler (Deborah J. Ross)
Kiersten White
Cherry Wilder
Connie Willis
G. Willow Wilson
Patricia Wrede
Janny Wurts
Moira Young

4 spots left!

Nadine in NY wrote: "KP wrote: "Jayce wrote: "A science fiction/fantasy novel written by a woman.
con..."

Awesome list.
I'm still new to sci-fi, and I really like Octavia Butler, Ursula K leGuin, Becky Chambers, Nnedi Okorafor, Margaret Atwood, Amal El-Mohtar


https://ew.com/books/27-female-author...
Most of these aren't on Nadine's List

Charlie Jane Anders
-Victoria Aveyard
Mishell Baker
Kelly Barnhill
-Lauren Beukes
Amanda Bouchet
Rachel Caine
Becky Chambers*
-Cassandra Clare
Ariel Djanikian
Frances Hardinge
Deborah Harkness
Kameron Hurley
N.K. Jemison
Erika Johansen
Aditi Khorana
-Ann Leckie
Kelly Link
Malinda Lo
-Marie Lu
Malka Older
Lindsay Ribar
Rainbow Rowell
-Joanna Russ
Sofia Samatar
V E Schwab
-Nisi Shawl
Helene Wecker*

Please also add:
Tamsym Muir
Linden A Lewis
Mary Doria Russell
Amal El-Mohtar
Martha Wells
Mary Shelley

I’ll second the author with three names!!

"An author with three names printed on the cover (open to rewording)"

I can second this one.

Also to add to SFF list Tamsyn Muir and Linden A. Lewis.

and Mary Doria Russell

Jen K, it looks like Joan was able to second that one before you got to it, so feel free to suggest or second something else.

A book with a title beginning with W (23rd letter of the alphabet)

Jen K wrote: "and Mary Doria Russell"
Of course!

also:
Amar El-Mohtar - This Is How You Lose the Time War (She has a male co-author but he's listed second.Should this count?)
Martha Wells - Murderbot books
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

Can everyone with an interest, contribute to the Listopia above?

August 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

My idea was a book related to dreams or dreaming.

Could be a nonfiction book about interpreting dreams or a fictional story of someone living or reaching for their dreams, for example.

This is my first time ever suggesting a prompt, so if someone has a better interpretation/way to phrase the prompt I would be open to help fleshing it out. 😀

An Isekai novel (crossing over to another world)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely would be an example

Both relate to the Year of the Water Rabbit:
a book with/related a goddess
a book related to the moon

I second the Beginning with W prompt.