Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Another very clear week of winners! No polarizing or close calls AGAIN this week!

Top:
A book with a title containing 6+ words
A book that is not a novel

Bottom:
A book on a banned books list
A book related to a sensory disability

Listopias:
A book with a title containing 6+ words
A book that is not a novel

The next round of suggestions will open around noon CST on Wednesday, July 19. This will be a multi-week poll.

So bo banned bokks, thats a relief and great results

I'm very happy with these two prompts as well as the two bottom results. I wonder how the mountain prompt fared? I would love to see it suggested again if there is enough interest. (I'm back to work so will not be able to chase the suggestions thread.)

Mountain was actually next highest after the two winners (but still a great enough distance away to not be a close call).

I will say that all of the prompts from the last two polls should be resubmitted if you liked them. They will have a better shot when they aren't going against powerhouse prompts like the ones that have won! I would recommend waiting until later polls to resubmit though... maybe wait until poll 6 or 7 when other ideas start dwindling.

I feel horrible! I didn't vote for the hands cause so many people loved it, I thought it was a slamdunk so didn't want to spend a vote! Please resubmit it (and the mountain one!).

I didn't vote for either of the winners! And now the psychological game begins. Every year a time comes when I feel the prompts I vote for never win, so I start thinking that I should vote for the ones I don't want....

I am happy with the bottom two- they both feel overdone.

Oh gosh, I threw in the hemispheres idea (so happy to find it well-received, thanks gang!) and then disappeared. My bad! I'll toss it back in for the next round and make sure I remember to come back and vote this time :D

I must say I'm pleased with the top two results here, the 6+ words title feels like a good challenge and the Not a Novel option will remind me to get out of fiction.

For a book that is not a novel, would novellas work or would that be considered a KIS option?

Two excellent prompts as winners. I've been delighted with all the winners so far.

I swear we just did the 6+ words prompt in a past challenge.

Sheena wrote: "I swear we just did the 6+ words prompt in a past challenge."

We did - it was on 2021's list.

°~Amy~° wrote: "For a book that is not a novel, would novellas work or would that be considered a KIS option?"
As the person who proposed it i wasn't thinking of novellas at the time but its still true that they are NOT a novel so as we always say you say it fits it fits

°~Amy~° wrote: "For a book that is not a novel, would novellas work or would that be considered a KIS option?"

I'd say (personally) that novellas and graphic novels would be a KIS option, but then again, there's not much difference between a novella and a short story, and I would say a short story would definitely be not a novel so... my boundaries are arbitrary lol.

I am disappointed that banned books didn't make it. The more these books are read, the more intelligent conversations can take place to offset the minority of people who get these books banned in the first place. People, especially kids, are being prevented from reading certain books just because one person complained. There's always the next polls!

Gail W wrote: "I am disappointed that banned books didn't make it. The more these books are read, the more intelligent conversations can take place to offset the minority of people who get these books banned in t..."

Thanks for your passion, Gail. I'm sure we all agree as readers that this is an incredibly important issue. Some of us have been deliberately reading banned books the last few years (if not before) and I think that's why people voted it down, they feel they are already doing it. You always have the option of using that for the prompt that is "a suggestion that didn't get voted in".

Just to clarify, a prompt that ends up in the bottom can't be suggested again this year.

Also as you mentioned, this issue really affects young people the most, rather than us adult readers. If anyone knows of good groups to support that are working on this issue, please let us know. Some libraries, such as Brooklyn, are making free digital accounts open to students in states with restrictive book policies. (And one state is now trying to ban minors getting digital accounts!) There are many things wrong with trying to restrict young people from books, but it's especially ridiculous when every teenager is carrying around a phone that allows them to see every kind of adult website.

I think every school has always allowed exceptions if a parent or student wasn't comfortable with one specific book or project assigned. But you are right, one person shouldn't be able to dictate to the entire population.

Sheena wrote: "I swear we just did the 6+ words prompt in a past challenge."

Apparently people liked it!

Ah back to the age old disappointment of fun prompts not getting in. It's not that there's anything wrong with the winners, they just seem like common challenge prompts and I really wanted some of the others. I guess I'm not very in tune with the group this year.

I'm with you Ellie, but that's kind of how I felt about all the prompts this week. They were fine, I don't dislike any of them. But nothing that really excited me or new.

I went into voting not having a lot of strong opinions about this set of prompts and my response to the outcome is about the same. I would have felt the same if the bottoms were the tops and the tops bottoms.

I love a cover prompt and hope to see a book with a divided, or split, cover again.

Alicia wrote: "I'm with you Ellie, but that's kind of how I felt about all the prompts this week. They were fine, I don't dislike any of them. But nothing that really excited me or new."

Ah Alicia, my book twin. I felt exactly the same. None of these excited me very much, in fact my first reaction was "meh."

I'm happy with the two that made it in, and it's very rare that a prompt I voted for is a bottom, which happened this round. Not sure why disability prompts are so hard to get in.

Ellie wrote: "Ah back to the age old disappointment of fun prompts not getting in. It's not that there's anything wrong with the winners, they just seem like common challenge prompts and I really wanted some of ..."

I love a fun prompt- the little sense of humor is fun. And for me, always results in a creative read.
Although the other thing is the prompts I love during voting are different from the ones I love while reading. If you have told me the con/fake was the one I was going to double up on? I was so annoyed when it won!

Yay, I voted for both of the top 2! Always good when that happens. :D

I’m glad the “not a novel” prompt made it! I have several short story collections to read. Many of them include “and Other Stories” in the title and also work for 6+ words. I’m disappointed that one of the settings or cover prompts didn’t make it.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Oh gosh, I threw in the hemispheres idea (so happy to find it well-received, thanks gang!) and then disappeared. My bad! I'll toss it back in for the next round and make sure I remember to come bac..."

I voted for mountain, and I hope you resubmit it, but I would wait several weeks as Emily suggested.
———
Marie wrote: "Sheena wrote: "I swear we just did the 6+ words prompt in a past challenge."
We did - it was on 2021's list."

We also have a similar prompt in the summer challenge this year, but I think it’s 5 words.
——

"Not a novel" can also mean "literally anything nonfiction", right? So that one's actually extraordinarily broad. (Also poetry, short stories, plays, etc. etc.)

Cory wrote: ""Not a novel" can also mean "literally anything nonfiction", right? So that one's actually extraordinarily broad. (Also poetry, short stories, plays, etc. etc.)"

Correct!

Nancy wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I'm with you Ellie, but that's kind of how I felt about all the prompts this week. They were fine, I don't dislike any of them. But nothing that really excited me or new."

Ah Alicia..."

I think it is hard to get in for the same reason it is hard to get a religious prompt in, specifically one related to a holiday or Christianity. People are comfortable in their bubbles or may have had a bad experience that colors their views. If its a topic that interests me, I read it. For example, a conference speaker had a daughter that had a stroke at a young age and her recovery inspired the young lady to write a book and appear on stage with her mother and that intrigued me. Without context, it just isn't a prompt that appeals to me just as religion doesn't appeal to others.

In the end, the reasons we read and what appeals to us are as varied as we have members. Some read for education and to broaden their world view...some read for escape. Neither is wrong.

These two are pretty much 'read a book' prompts for me. I was hoping for some of the fun prompts to get in so hopefully they get resubmitted! My down votes got bottomed, so I'm happy about that (sorry to everyone that was hoping for those though!)

Emily wrote: "Mountain was actually next highest after the two winners (but still a great enough distance away to not be a close call).
I will say that all of the prompts from the last two polls should be resub..."

I think several of the prompts this week were similar to others, so that might have hurt them. For instance hemisphere and new to you location might have done better if the other one wasn’t in the same poll.

While these are all distinct, these 3 might overlap, especially if someone wants to read about artificial intelligence—- sci-fi fantasy, STEM and inventions/ discoveries.

So maybe we should all try not to resubmit a prompt in the same week as a similar one. I know that’s hard to do when the pace of suggestions is so fast.

On the other hand, I thought the two that got in were similar as they are both good for nonfiction books, and I’m happy they both got in.

I voted for both of the winners but I also voted for both the bottom prompts. I think my “reject challenge” may end up being more than my usual 25 prompts.

I felt like a jerk for not voting in the disability prompt, I just couldn't think of books that I wanted to read for it.

I'm really surprised Friends didn't get in, I was making a list for some options for that.

Gail W wrote: "I am disappointed that banned books didn't make it. The more these books are read, the more intelligent conversations can take place to offset the minority of people who get these books banned in t..."

Gail, since banned books cannot be resubmitted, we could submit prompts targeting the kinds of books that are usually attacked by banners. This includes books about successful African Americans, books about transgender or lgbtq characters (the word “queer” in the title will get more attention from banners), and other books About or By black, indigenous or people of color.

Other topics might include Immigration, magic, climate change, gay marriage, gay parents and of course sex.

Ellie wrote: "Ah back to the age old disappointment of fun prompts not getting in. It's not that there's anything wrong with the winners, they just seem like common challenge prompts and I really wanted some of ..."

I was really surprised your Friends prompt didn't make it in Emily. I really like those kind of prompts, like the two we have this year using The Spice Girls, and Chess. They are not TOO broad, and can lead to some creative choices.

Maybe it was just a bad week because with several interesting options the votes just got split up? I hope you try again later.

@Jill

I’ve never thought about a reject challenge. Sounds fun! Is this something you do on your own or is it an unofficial challenge here in a folder somewhere? There are several rejected prompts on this weeks poll that I would love to still do if the don’t end up on the final list.

Brittany wrote: "@Jill

I’ve never thought about a reject challenge. Sounds fun! Is this something you do on your own or is it an unofficial challenge here in a folder somewhere? There are several rejected prompts ..."

Yes, there is a separate spreadsheet for suggestions that didn’t make it in. You can post them with your plan, and in a folder for side challenges. I love it! I sometimes suggest topics that I don’t really think will make it, just to have it for my rejects challenge. One of those suggestions actually made it in on the last poll of the year. You never know, other people might be hoping for the same supposedly unpopular topic.

Tracy wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Ah back to the age old disappointment of fun prompts not getting in. It's not that there's anything wrong with the winners, they just seem like common challenge prompts and I really w..."

I think friends might have been overshadowed by all of the examples just for the TV show. Pop culture can be very difficult in prompts. It can make it more fun for many, while turning off some others.

I think both the bottoms this week suffered from prompt-fatigue rather than a dislike of the topics. Especially for the banned books, many of us have done that as a challenge prompt enough that we're ready for other prompts to inspire us. I for one will still be keeping a close eye on the banned books lists (tragically growing longer); I just need my reading challenges to guide me in other ways.

Brittany wrote: "@Jill

I’ve never thought about a reject challenge. Sounds fun! Is this something you do on your own or is it an unofficial challenge here in a folder somewhere? There are several rejected prompts ..."

I find it fun to create my reject challenge. On a draft list, I put any prompt that ended up on the bottom and that I voted for, since they can’t be resubmitted. When the main list is complete, I go through and add other prompts I voted for that didn’t make the list. Then I go through and weed out prompts that I may no longer be excited about. I try to keep the list to 25 prompts since I do several other reading challenges besides ATY and I don’t want things to get too out of hand (but it may be too late for that). LOL

Is the 6+ word title prompt meant to be at least six words long without including a subtitle? Or is this a KIS/BIO issue?

Cory wrote: ""Not a novel" can also mean "literally anything nonfiction", right? So that one's actually extraordinarily broad. (Also poetry, short stories, plays, etc. etc.)"

This is true. However, those prompts all historically have had a hard time getting in, so this is a great way for people to read those types of books. I know I would like to read more non-fiction/memoirs, but am not a fan of poetry. Someone else may be trying to get in more poetry. So this prompt is perfect for each person to individualize.

Dixie wrote: "Is the 6+ word title prompt meant to be at least six words long without including a subtitle? Or is this a KIS/BIO issue?"

Subtitles are a part of the title, so all those words count. That’s how we did it a few years ago if I remember correctly. I was in another group that is very fussy about subtitles, but this group isn’t. If you want to make it more challenging for yourself, it would be a great BIO option to not include subtitles.

Tbh once a prompt is on the list, it's entirely up to you how you interpret it. No one is checking up on you here. I personally don't consider the subtitles for any title prompt but that's just how I do my challenges. I don't like the inconsistency of subtitles so removing them from the equation helps me out.

I leave out subtitles just to help me whittle down my options, but that's a personal preference and not a rule. We're pretty mellow around here!

I love all the prompts that have won so far. I'm glad the banned books prompt didn't make it for a couple of reasons. First, it's been on the list for several years, so it's time to give it a break. It can come back in a couple of years. Second, it's easy to select a banned book any time and can always read in banned books month. No need to waste a prompt on it. Third, I've read most of the banned books that interest me.

Dixie wrote: "Is the 6+ word title prompt meant to be at least six words long without including a subtitle? Or is this a KIS/BIO issue?"

either. there are plenty on the listopia that are non-sub. but its up to you.

Robin P wrote: "Gail W wrote: "I am disappointed that banned books didn't make it. ..."

Thanks, Robin. I forgot about the bottom rule.

NancyJ wrote: "Gail W wrote: "

Thanks, NancyJ. Great idea. I didn't think outside the box on that one!

Jackie wrote: "I think both the bottoms this week suffered from prompt-fatigue rather than a dislike of the topics. Especially for the banned books, many of us have done that as a challenge prompt enough that we'..."

I agree with the prompt-fatigue observation. They aren't disliked or bad, just worn out for now.

°~Amy~° wrote: "For a book that is not a novel, would novellas work or would that be considered a KIS option?"

I think it counts especially if you don't read many novellas as would short stories, or essays. A book written in verse would be a good option for this prompt as well. An example is The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

I'm happy. I can't remember if I just ignored sensory disability but have read many of those already, it seems.

Love the long titles and not a novel, but then I upvoted at least one of those.

We have a disability prompt this year so I am not that surprised to see it didn't win in this poll.

I'm not unhappy about the prompts that got in. And I'm glad about the two that are in the bottom because I feel like I've done a version of both of them this year.