Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's now time to get ready to vote for our next 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 Saturday, August 19, and results will be posted in the morning of Wednesday, August 23 (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 favorite and least favorite 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

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.

Possible Prompts:

1. A book with a character who could appear on the X-Files
2. A book that plays with perceptions of reality
3. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream — current or retired
4. A book with rock, paper or scissors on the cover
5. A book with more than one main character
6. A book with a chair on the cover
7. A book where a dream plays a role
8. A book with fewer than 2024 ratings on Goodreads
9. A book on a summer reading list
10. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
11. A book connected to Anne of Green Gables
12. A book that has a character with a non-traditional name
13. A book featuring creatures of the night
14. A book related to a musical
15. A book over 500 pages

VOTE HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book with a character who could appear on the X-Files
(FBI Agent, government employee, police officer, conspiracy theorist, scientist, monster, alien, secretive families in small towns, etc)

3. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream — current or retired
Current flavors:
https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/thes... or
https://list.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_...

Retired flavors:
https://list.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_...
Examples:
(not all flavors will be inspiring — they do have just plain Strawberry — but the creatively named ones will be fun)

Americone Dream: a book involving an immigrant working toward the American Dream, or a book involving a comedian or TV personality (this flavor was created with Stephen Colbert)

Blondie Ambition: a book about someone climbing the corporate ladder or striving in some way, or a character known for being blond

Cherry Garcia: a book set in the 1960s, or with a character who is a musician

Chocolate Therapy: a book with a character who is a therapist or who is in therapy

Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz!: a book set in or involving a coffee shop (Legends and Lattes, Before the Coffee Gets Cold)

Dublin Mudslide: a book set in Ireland, or one involving a natural disaster

Fossil Fuel: a book with dinosaurs, or one involving oil companies or cars

Gimme S’more: a book involving summer camp, camping, backpacking

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Wizard of Oz, or Elton John Autobiography

Mission to Marzipan: The Martian, or any book with a space mission

New York Super Fudge Chunk: any book having anything to do with New York

Red Velvet Cake: a book set in the south, or a book involving Christmas (Santa’s red suit)

White Russian: a book set in Russia, especially in the winter

4. A book with rock, paper or scissors on the cover
Could be books, envelopes, origami, paper aeroplanes, newspaper, torn paper edges, a mountain, cliffs, rocky shoreline, stone wall, pebbles, gravestone, marble statue, scissors, etc
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Lots of books about books fit into this category:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

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

For those who actually like adaptation prompts and are sad the rest of us keep downvoting them, you could use the Ben & Jerry's one to read a book that has an adaptation on Netflix.
https://www.benjerry.co.uk/flavours/n...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

6. A book with a chair on the cover
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

7. A book where a dream plays a role
This can be literal or figurative, fiction or non-fiction, or can be a book inspired by a dream.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://shepherd.com/best-books/ficti...
https://www.hookedtobooks.com/books-a...
https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/1...
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Nove...
https://offtheshelf.com/2021/04/myste...
https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/...

9. A book on a summer reading list

You pick the year and list

Some ideas:
NY Times 2023: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

Goodreads 2022 https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...

Time Magazine 2020: https://time.com/5839429/best-books-s...

Harvard: https://www.harvard.edu/in-focus/summ...

Oprah:: https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainm...

Country Living: https://www.countryliving.com/life/en....

Today Show: https://www.today.com/popculture/best...

Or pick a random year and read a list from then:

Scope Volunteers Reading List:
https://www.today.com/popculture/best...

Or even a best of list like the Guardians:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...

10. A book set in a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
List of countries: https://www.thoughtco.com/countries-o...

11. A book related to Anne of Green Gables
Examples; examples
By L M Montgomery
Set in Canada
Main character an orphan or a redhead
Author or character called Anne

13. A book featuring creatures of the night
for example: cats, vampires, graveyard shift workers, Batman, etc

14. A book related to a musical
Examples:
Camelot - anything with King Arthur (highly recommend this series Legendborn
My Fair Lady - set in London
Rent - set in New York
Six - connected to Henry VIII
Hamilton - related to American revolution
Sound of Music - WWII or music
Mama Mia - a book with a mom character
Tina - domestic thriller
Sister Act or Book of Mormon - related to religion or nuns (for those of us that remember the nuns prompt)
Grease - set in the 50s
Disney - books related to disney song/musical

Also, here are some lists of popular musicals around the world
- Tony Best Musical Nominees and Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Aw...
- Brazil: https://www.hercampus.com/school/casp...
- Australia: https://beat.com.au/from-tim-michin-t...
- West End/London: https://www.westendtheatre.com/107492...

X-Files. I loved this show back in the day, but I can't remember -

Was there any space travel involved? I have a picture in my head of someone on a big dirty airship with people in pods of some sort. Maybe it was Mulder or I'm confusing it with a different show/movie.

Would "first contact" books fit?

This could be really fun. I'm looking forward to some example of books that would fit.

Rivers of London series - The MC investigates unusual cases that other cops can't handle. Usually paranormal.

Hmmm.... Loved the list for Poll 8 and sad we didn't have lots of prompts emerge. Not loving this list, at first glance I am thinking mostly downvotes.

NancyJ wrote: "X-Files. I loved this show back in the day, but I can't remember -

Was there any space travel involved? I have a picture in my head of someone on a big dirty airship with people in pods of some so..."


There are aliens, and so there are alien spaceships, but they are all "beached" somewhere on Earth, I do not remember any actual space travel in the show.

NancyJ wrote: "X-Files. I loved this show back in the day, but I can't remember -

Was there any space travel involved? I have a picture in my head of someone on a big dirty airship with people in pods of some so..."

This is a test of memory! I don't think Mulder and Scully go into space themselves but there were lots of spaceships and investigating things at NASA. So you could have an astronaut character.

Someone dealing with an alien first contact would certainly count as an X-File. Not sure on other types of first contact, would depend on the character.

Ellie wrote: "For those who actually like adaptation prompts and are sad the rest of us keep downvoting them, you could use the Ben & Jerry's one to read a book that has an adaptation on Netflix.
https://www.ben..."

Thanks Ellie.

@NancyJ I remember an episode that was about Roswell. That is AREA 51 in the US, which is rumored to have alien space craft and bodies.

More Musicals. Some of these are older, but in their day, they were huge hits. I noted the stars if they were also made into movies.

https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g...


https://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows...


South Pacific -

The Music Man - Ron Howard (Opie), Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett

Cabaret - Liza Minnelli and Joel Gray

Moulin Rouge! - Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor

9 To 5 - Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin,. and Jane Fonda

My Fair Lady - Audrey Hepburn

Godspell

Jesus Christ Superstar

Oklahoma! - Shirley Jones

There was an episode with the First Nation's Wendigo on X-Files. If it gets in, I may try to find a book about that is related.

Les Miserables -- France, orphans, robbers, workhouses.

NancyJ wrote: "X-Files. I loved this show back in the day, but I can't remember -

Was there any space travel involved? I have a picture in my head of someone on a big dirty airship with people in pods of some so..."

To get to earth, the aliens had to travel so that counts?

there's a spacewalk episode where an astronaut has "face of Mars" flashbacks and is possessed by and entity or somehting like that. so spaceships in space is a go.

Dreams- it turns out I have a lot of books with dream in the title, including Behold the Dreamers. Is that good enough? I have no idea about the content of the books. I think some might refer to general (awake) dreams about a better life, romance, etc. The first listopia is for books involving dreams, but only lists books with dream or dreaming in the title.

NancyJ wrote: "Dreams- it turns out I have a lot of books with dream in the title, including Behold the Dreamers. Is that good enough? I have no idea about the content of the books. I think some might refer to ge..."

Yes, that would be fine - and Behold the Dreamers is actually about "The American Dream".

NancyJ wrote: "Dreams- it turns out I have a lot of books with dream in the title, including Behold the Dreamers. Is that good enough? I have no idea about the content of the books. I think some might refer to ge..."

As the person who suggest it, I say YES! Good enough!

That book is on my TBR although I hadn't thought it for this prompt.

It's not an overly creative prompt, but you can go many directions with it.

Lots of great and creative prompts this round. I don't think any of them over restrictive, so it should be easy to find books for all of them. Hoping that more than one or two make it this round.

I'm gonna have to go watch some X-Files now. I just remembered Scully's dog, Queequeg (named after a Moby Dick character if anyone was looking for a reason to read that). I wonder if I can find our (dog) Scully a little Pomeranian toy. She already has a fox called Mulder.

Charlsa wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Dreams- it turns out I have a lot of books with dream in the title, including Behold the Dreamers. Is that good enough? I have no idea about the content of the books. I think some mi..."

I liked Behold the Dreamers, and I really liked The Lathe of Heaven, about a man whose dreams could come true. What Dreams May Come was surreal.

I am finding it so amusing that there is not only a listopia of books with a chair on the cover, there are actually people who made special shelves and SHELVING their books as "chair on the cover"!!! Why is this a thing??

I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for all of the books that are in any way related to every flavour?
Maybe I'm too detail-oriented for this one.

Isabel wrote: "I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for all of the boo..."

You could use it as a free square - I'm sure you could find some connection if there's a book that doesn't fit elsewhere. Or pick your favorite flavour first (either one you eat, if you have access to B&J) or just from the descriptions, then pick a book to match that!

Isabel wrote: "I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for all of the boo..."

When a prompt overwhelms me like that I usually wait for the listopia to fill out and look for something that's already on my TBR.

Here's the current B&J flavors (my current favorite Tonight Dough was missing from the current lists linked to above!)

https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/ice-...

For those who like horror novels there is the Horror Writers of America Summer Scares list, it’s short but the selections are usually good and it’s designed to be library user friendly ( meaning newer but not brand new releases and things in wide circulation) https://horror.org/2023-summer-scares...

Charlsa wrote: "More Musicals. Some of these are older, but in their day, they were huge hits. I noted the stars if they were also made into movies.

https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g...
htt..."

If this prompt makes it through, I am going to read Fifty Years on the Road: The Autobiography of a Traveling Salesman in honor of my favorite musical, The Music Man. :D

Isabel wrote: "I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for all of the boo..."

Before you do all that work, look to see what other people suggest in the next few days.

I love movies so Lights Caramel Action is a good choice for me. I could read Mercury Pictures Presents or a book that was made into a movie. I have a list of movie books from last week that would work.

Pamela wrote: "Here's the current B&J flavors (my current favorite Tonight Dough was missing from the current lists linked to above!)

I used to know a guy who insisted on calling that flavor The Tonight Show Dough. It still bugs me.

Anastasia wrote: "@NancyJ I remember an episode that was about Roswell. That is AREA 51 in the US, which is rumored to have alien space craft and bodies."

Roswell is in New Mexico. Area 51 is in Nevada. Neither actually contains alien bodies. Those rumors have been debunked, but of course conspiracy theorists never let the facts get in the way.

Pearl wrote: "Isabel wrote: "I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for..."

The first idea that jumped into my head for this prompt is based on the flavor Cherry Garcia. Authors with " Garcia" in their names. Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Gabriel García Márquez

There seems to be an obsession with prompts connected to pop culture this year. We already have some on the list (Snow White and Wonderful World) but it seems like every voting round there is a minimum of two more suggested. I would really like to see more prompts that are actually about books and reading.

(And it seems like "rock paper scissors" has been suggested over and over every year for years. Why? What is so interesting about that as a prompt? I don't get it.)

@Joy D, that show s how good my vague memory is. lol

Sandra wrote: "The first idea that jumped into my head for this prompt is based on the flavor Cherry Garcia. Authors with " Garcia" in their names. Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Gabriel García Márquez"

Yeah, I see that there are a lot of ideas and I'll be able to find a book that fits. It just seems like a collection of prompts instead of a single prompt.

Juliet Brown wrote: "For those who like horror novels there is the Horror Writers of America Summer Scares list, it’s short but the selections are usually good and it’s designed to be library user friendly ( meaning ne..."

Thank you so much for posting this, and immediately making me go "oooh" and remove this prompt from my downvotes. An all upvote week is ahead! :D

Joy D wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "@NancyJ I remember an episode that was about Roswell. That is AREA 51 in the US, which is rumored to have alien space craft and bodies."

Roswell is in New Mexico. Area 51 is in N..."

Mulder had a quote like "I believe" or "I want to believe."

I could have fun with this prompt. I think there are a lot of mysteries, crime fiction or urban fantasy involving detectives and unexplained or paranormal events.

I also want to read something about "first contact" experiences, involving alien and human interactions and different cultures. That's a bit of a stretch though for this prompt.

There were a couple X Files episodes involving strange repeated (copycat) behaviors by a lot of people - maybe due to mind control or ideas in the zeitgeist. They stayed in my head all these years, because weird stuff like this happens in real life. There was a situation involving strange symptoms among teenagers in Rochester. One year there was a huge increase in the number of people accidentally running their cars into buildings. It was heavily publicized at the time. I'd love to read more about these Zeitgeist cases (for lack of a better label for subconscious impulses and copy cat behaviors.)

Joy, have you encountered anything weird while reading about neuroscience? I'm wondering if there is a newer book similar to the Man who Mistook his wife for a Hat.

dalex wrote: "There seems to be an obsession with prompts connected to pop culture this year. We already have some on the list (Snow White and Wonderful World) but it seems like every voting round there is a min..."

I know. I like the opportunity to be creative but i don't like the kitchen sink prompts that could fit anything. I didn't usually vote for the Rock paper scissors prompt in previous years, but I like this specific version as a cover prompt.

I have some books set in the mountains that are really appealing - especially after driving through mountainous areas recently. Many of them have pictures of mountains on the cover.

dalex wrote: "And it seems like "rock paper scissors" has been suggested over and over every year for years..."

It was only last year and I asked in advance if people were still interested. I had a positive response, if it was negative I wouldn't have suggested it again. You're welcome to downvote it if you think it's dreadful.

What a great list this week. I have way more upvotes than downvotes.

1. A book with a character who could appear on the X-Files - This one seems like it's covered by SF earlier this week. I have no idea what to read.

2. A book that plays with perceptions of reality - This seems vaguely spoilerish, although loads better than the suggestion prompt of last year about an unreliable narrator. I like to discover on my own, it plays with reality.

3. A book connected in some way to any of the flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream — current or retired - definite upvote! So many options

4. A book with rock, paper or scissors on the cover - I like this one. if this gets in, I'm cheating and reading Rock Paper Scissors

5. A book with more than one main character - possible upvote. This seems easy to fulfill

6. A book with a chair on the cover - possible upvote. Push me into finally reading An Audience of Chairs in honour of Joan Clark

7. A book where a dream plays a role - Possible upvote - This seems creative, yet not hard to fulfill

9. A book on a summer reading list - possible upvote. So many lists, there has to be something for everyone.

11. A book connected to Anne of Green Gables - definite upvote! I love Anne, although I'd probably read one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's other books.

13. A book featuring creatures of the night - we have a night prompt and I was going to read a vampire book there.

Jaime wrote: "Isabel wrote: "I love the vibe of the Ben & Jerry's prompt, but it is so broad that I'm dreading it a bit. Now I have to look up all of the available flavours, past and present, and then search for..."
That is my approach too. It's rare that 1-10 of the 670 books on my TBR list doesn't show up on a listopia.

The X Files tagline was "The Truth is Out There" so a book with truth. Could be a Non Fiction book.

Ellie wrote: "You're welcome to downvote it if you think it's dreadful."

I did not say it was dreadful. I said I do not know why it's so interesting that it's been suggested over and over and over again.

NancyJ wrote: "Mulder had a quote like "I believe" or "I want to believe."..."


Yes, his line was "I want to believe." He also often said "Trust No One" - I think that line was on a poster, too. And of course, "The Truth is Out There."

A lot of books that fit the "A book where a dream plays a role" prompt could be used for the seven dwarves prompt (Sleepy). And books "featuring creatures of the night" could be used for the related to night prompt.

I've looked through about 500 books on my TBR list and still haven't found one with a chair on it. Such an oddly specific cover prompt. Haha.

NancyJ wrote: "Joy, have you encountered anything weird while reading about neuroscience? I'm wondering if there is a newer book similar to the Man who Mistook his wife for a Hat...."
Yes, I've recently been reading about what modern technology is doing to our brains. I've never seen X-Files so I have no idea if these are related in any way.

Examples:
The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked
Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise

Also a few others in a different vein:
Stumbling on Happiness (how the workings of our brains can sabotage our attempts to achieve happiness)
Soldiers Don't Go Mad: A True Story of Friendship, Poetry, and Mental Illness During the First World War (a history of PTSD that began during WWI)
My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind (author's memoir about his life-long battle with anxiety and depression)

And an older book about a genius with schizophrenia:
A Beautiful Mind

Oh, it's all upvotes for me again. Maybe I'm just too easy - I haven't downvoted yet. Personally, I find pop culture reference prompts a little more fun than "read a science fiction book" - obviously it's good to have a mix of both creative/straightforward prompts, but in a challenge setting I think prompts that ask you to be a little more active in searching for a book are more fun. (No shade on either side - straightforward prompts are great too. It's just my preference.)

I get how open-ended the B&J prompt is, but that's what I like about it - there's a decent list of options and it forces you to think creatively about how to match a prompt. It's a lot of fun to think of how each flavor could correspond to a book! You could take Chocolatey Love-a-Fair to mean a romance novel (or, to match it even more, a romance novel with a BIPOC protagonist!), Lights! Caramel! Action could be a book-to-screen adaption, Dublin Mudslide could be set in Ireland, Half Baked could be a YA novel (since the protagonists are "half baked" e.g. not fully grown up yet), Pumpkin Cheesecake could be set during October, etc, etc. There's a lot to offer and it's easy to tailor it to books you want to read or what you've already got on your TBR.

Honestly, I like all of these prompts. Here's to hoping more of them make it through this time around!

Towards the end Mulder was abducted and experimented on. So that would qualify as space travel to me!

Sandra wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Here's the current B&J flavors (my current favorite Tonight Dough was missing from the current lists linked to above!)

I used to know a guy who insisted on calling that flavor The T..."

I had to google the name... I know it as "the one with Jimmy Fallon on it"