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 Sunday, September 24 and results will be posted in the morning of Thursday, September 29 (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 sound-related word in the title
2. A book that incorporates the theme of a Las Vegas hotel
3. A main character that is mad, bad, or dangerous
4. A book related to Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking-glass
5. A book with a leap
6. A middle grade book that was nominated for or won an award such as the Newbery, Caldecott, or Carnegie
7. A book that includes a love story
8. A character that is a fish out of water
9. A book with a 2 word title in the format: The ______
10. A book related to the Addams Family
11. A book related to one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse
12. A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges
13. A book connected to a board game Ludo (another name for the game is Man, Don't Get Angry)
14. A book with a child character
15. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024

Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/iTz6aF7Yqr6SiJrU7

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book with a sound-related word in the title
Examples: quiet, silent, thunder, hear, screaming, whisper, music, piano (which means quiet in the context of music), symphony, any instrument or object with a sound-related purpose (like radio, metronome, speaker), also onomatopoeia (e.g. tick tock)

2. A book related to the theme of a Las Vegas hotel
Here's a few:
Luxor - Egyptian theme, pyramids (also has a Titanic exhibit)
Flamingo - Florida, tropical, birds
Excalibur - Medieval theme, castles, jousting
New York, New York - Anything New York
Venetian - Venice, Italy, Italian theme
Treasure Island - Pirates, Caribbean
Circus Circus - Circus Theme
Caesar's Palace - Roman theme
MGM Grand or Planet Hollywood - Art Deco, Hollywood

This Wikipedia link gives the ""theme"" of each of the hotels on the Las Vegas strip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

3. A main character that is mad, bad, or dangerous

4. A book related to Alice in Wonderland/through the Looking-glass
That could include Mushrooms 🍄, rabbits, falling down, underground, transforming, watches, afternoon tea, twins, crocket (croquet ?), royalty, death sentences, card games like poker, larvae, opium, clams, walruses and a lot more.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/tr...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Afternoon Tea: Downton Abbey Style Afternoon Tea: Inspiration and How to Host the Perfect Afternoon Tea Party at Your Home by Tadio Diller
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Confessions of an English Opium Eater: Being an Extract from the Life of a Scholar by Thomas de Quincey
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

5. A book with a leap
* A leap in the title
Examples:
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith
The Final Leap
Hop On Pop
By Leaps and Bounds
From the Jump
Skydive

* A leap on the cover
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate
The Girl from Jakarta by Hester Keegan
Gap Life by John Coy Voices in the Ocean
A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins by Susan Casey
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 1
The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford by Philip K. Dick
The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed
Born Under a Lucky Moon by Dana Precious Sky
Adventures Legends And Stories About The Early Days Of Hang Gliding And Paragliding by Mike Vorhis
Understanding the Skydive by Erik Johnson
Counter Canter (Show Jumping Dreams, #40) by Claire Svendsen
Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry
Off the Cliff How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge by Becky Aikman
The Last Shot City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey

* A leap in the subject or plot (a book about skydiving; a character that hops over a fence)

* A leap in time (time travel, non-linear timelines, multi-generational timelines, or other calendrical shenanigans)
Best Time Travel Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Books with Non-Linear Time: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Multigenerational Novels: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Missing Time: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Time Slip: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

6. A middle grade book that was nominated for or won an award such as the Newbery, Caldecott, or Carnegie
https://guides.lib.campbell.edu/child...

7. A book that includes a love story
It could be romance, a family relationship or another loving relationship

8. A character that is a fish out of water
A book about someone in a new environment or culture. A book about someone who feels like an alien in their new surroundings.

This could be someone:
-who is seen as an alien, feels like an alien, or IS an alien in a new place (or planet)
-who moved to a place with a very different culture or lifestyle.
-who is living, working, or going to school in a new country or region.
-who escaped from a war-torn area and is now living in a detention camp or shelter
-who married into, or whose parent married into a family from a new culture/group/sub-culture
-working on an international assignment,
- traveling, spying or lost in another country.
-who is a mermaid trying to survive on land.
-who is suddenly around people of a different race, religion, life-style, economic status, sexual identity, political views, ethnicity, etc.
-who is working with a visitor from another world/culture
-a liberal working in a conservative company, or vice versa
-A rich person suddenly poor or vice versa.
-A person who feels that their environment is unreal
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

9. A book with a 2 word title in the format: The ______
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
Eg The Measure or The Program

10. A book related to the Addams Family
Some ideas of how to tackle it:
- A book with a Gothic setting or set in an old mansion
- A book with a wealthy and/or eccentric family
- A book involving a close-knit family or extended family (The Addams Family has a huge extended family, with many cousins and relatives visiting often)
- A book with a grand romance (because of Gomez and Morticia)
- A book with a disembodied hand on the cover (because of the character Thing)
- A book involving a domestic servant (because of the character Lurch, their butler)
- A book involving Frankenstein or a Frankenstein-like creature (also because of Lurch)
- A book involving a long-lost relative (relates to several episodes and the 1991 movie)
- A book involving a ""black widow"" character (relates to the 1993 movie the Addams Family Values)
- A book involving Halloween (the Addams Family loves celebrating Halloween, and their entire aesthetic is pretty Halloween-ish)

11. A book related to one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse
e.g. War, conquest, famine, plague, wild beasts

12. A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges
This could involve depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, grief, brain fog, adjustment, hormonal disruptions, dementia, trauma, or other situations that affect the mind.

13. A book connected to a board game Ludo (another name for the game is Man, Don't Get Angry)

14. A book with a child character
Not necessarily a child protagonist. This is to contrast to a book with a senior citizen character

15. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024

I’m going to try to avoid downvotes so I’m only going to downvote book of the month because I always struggle with that one. Will definitely vote for Alice, two word the and child character. Otherwise still deciding

I edited my suggestion to include a number of links and examples, you can use that please, Emily if it's of any use.

Nike wrote: "I edited my suggestion to include a number of links and examples, you can use that please, Emily if it's of any use."

Sorry I didn’t get to second yours

Here’s a quick reference to middle grade awards:

https://guides.lib.campbell.edu/child...

Which one was yours, Nike?

Emily wrote: "Which one was yours, Nike?"

Alice in Wonderland I believe

Emily wrote: "Which one was yours, Nike?"

Alice in Wonderland.

Thomas wrote: "Nike wrote: "I edited my suggestion to include a number of links and examples, you can use that please, Emily if it's of any use."

Sorry I didn’t get to second yours"

No problem, Mandy was quick!

For books with a child character:

Teaching (not every book on this list may involve people <18)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Main character protects child:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

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

And in searching for teacher books I came across a ton of lists of books about student teacher relationships. So, if that's your jam to read, there are lots.

Sorry for the extensive lists with no formatting forward, Emily. My cell connection couldn't handle Goodreads and I had to relocate to the public library.

Here is the info with the covers showing for the convenience of the rest of the thread:

A book with a leap
This can be any leap, jump, or similar in the book:

* A leap in the title
Examples:
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith
The Final Leap
Hop On Pop
By Leaps and Bounds
From the Jump
Skydive

* A leap on the cover


* A leap in the subject or plot (a book about skydiving; a character that hops over a fence)

* A leap in time (time travel, non-linear timelines, multi-generational timelines, or other calendrical shenanigans)
Best Time Travel Fiction Listopia
Books with Non-Linear Time Listopia
Multigenerational Novels Listopia
Missing Time shelf
Time Slip shelf

Updated Alice

Emily wrote: "Updated Alice"

Thank you 🙂

A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges

https://www.goodreads.com/genres/ment...

This could involve depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, grief, brain fog, adjustment, hormonal disruptions, dementia, trauma, or other situations that affect the mind.

Related topics:
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/alzh...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/grief
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/depr...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/anxiety
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/ment...

ATY Book of the month is a downvote for me but everything else I’m open to.

For the Ludo game, based on what Wiki states about it, some ideas are a cross on the cover (or if you turn the board sideways, you have an X so lots of possibilities for that, red/green/blue/yellow on the cover, book with locations in different countries (since there are versions of the game in different countries), book about winning or being strategic or expressing sorrow (game board looks like Sorry!).

Pam wrote: "ATY Book of the month is a downvote for me but everything else I’m open to.

For the Ludo game, based on what Wiki states about it, some ideas are a cross on the cover (or if you turn the board si..."

Thanks for the Ludo ideas Pam. For some reason I was only thinking of book content, not cover, or variations on the name.

My first impression:

1. A book with a sound-related word in the title
Meh. It's doable.

2. A book related to the theme of a Las Vegas hotel
No. There are too many hotels to choose from, and we have so many 'related to' prompts.

3. A main character that is mad, bad, or dangerous
Yes. I want more character prompts, and I vote for this prompt every time it's suggested.

4. A book related to Alice in Wonderland/through the Looking-glass
I like it.

5. A book with a leap
Meh.

6. A middle grade book that was nominated for or won an award such as the Newbery, Caldecott, or Carnegie
Yes. I like the fact that it's open to any award.

7. A book that includes a love story
Very easy to do, but not worth using a vote on.

8. A character that is a fish out of water
I want more character prompts, but this is one of the prompts I did for my rejects challenge this year.

9. A book with a 2 word title in the format: The ______
No. This was on the list the first year I did ATY and it was the one I struggled with the most.

10. A book related to the Addams Family
I have loved the Addams family since I was a kid and the reruns of the old show would air after school every day.

11. A book related to one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse
I love this one.

12. A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges
Maybe.

13. A book connected to a board game Ludo (another name for the game is Man, Don't Get Angry)
No.

14. A book with a child character
I really hope this one makes it in this time.

15. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
I like this one.

So 3 I really don't want and 8 I do. Decisions, decisions.

Here’s a list with international children awards.

https://libguides.rutgers.edu/c.php?g...

Mandy wrote: "Here’s a list with international children awards.

https://libguides.rutgers.edu/c.php?g..."

Thanks Mandy - VERY helpful!

I hope.

Thoughts:

1. Sound in title: I like the idea of this

2. Las Vegas hotel. Neutral on this

3. Mad, bad or dangerous character. Doable, not sure at the moment.

4. Alice in Wonderland. Yes.

5. Book with a leap. I like this one.

6. Middle grade book. Another upvote.

7. Love story. No.

8. Fish out of water. This came up in an earlier challenge or reject challenge and I found it quite hard to plan.

9. Addams Family I like.

10. Horsemen. I suggested so had better upvote!

11. Two word title starting 'The ..'. Neutral on this

12. Character with mental health issues. Possible

13. Ludo - this doesn't appeal-and the game involves 'leaps' around the board.

14. Book with child character. OK.

15. ATY: Had this one this year, so not an upvote.

Usually I know right away which ones I want and which I dont, but I have a lot I could be convinced on this round

1. A book with a sound-related word in the title
Neutral, doesnt seem hard but no books jump out

2. A book related to the theme of a Las Vegas hotel
yes, I like this one

3. A main character that is mad, bad, or dangerous
Likely downvote. Nothing wrong with the prompt per se but looking at the incomplete quote grates in my brain so I dont want to spend a year looking at it

4. A book related to Alice in Wonderland/through the Looking-glass
Neutral, seems too broad

5. A book with a leap
Neutral, fine but not feeling it

6. A middle grade book that was nominated for or won an award such as the Newbery, Caldecott, or Carnegie
Likely upvote although I generally dont like awards

7. A book that includes a love story
Neutral, I read a few romances a year, this is doable

8. A character that is a fish out of water
leaning negative, not my favorite trope

9. A book with a 2 word title in the format: The ______
Neutral, usually a few things on my TBR that covers this

10. A book related to the Addams Family
neutral, like Alice seems king of broad and unfocused

11. A book related to one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse
leaning positive, but not sold

12. A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges
leaning negative, it seems like these will skew darker than I prefer

13. A book connected to a board game Ludo (another name for the game is Man, Don't Get Angry)
possibly no, no idea what this board game is

14. A book with a child character
Neutral, doesnt seems hard to fill

15. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024
Downvote, these are always a pain for me to fill

On first glance, I have 10 down votes .. YIKES!

I feel like this is full of prompts I had previously downvoted before... not great.

Sorry but what would work for connected to ludo? I’m seeing no suggestions

Dalex, based on how you worded the prompt do you mean only middle-grade awards? Or can it be awards across genres/age groups and includes some middle age books?

I'm going to be doing mostly no votes--- there's too much "related to" this year! Thank you to the people who go the title prompts in! I have no clue what to read for #1 but will have fun looking, The library keeps trying to give me The Wild Silence- this would be a reason to keep holding it off!

Alicia wrote: "Dalex, based on how you worded the prompt do you mean only middle-grade awards? Or can it be awards across genres/age groups and includes some middle age books?"

In retrospect I probably should’ve worded it differently, like maybe children’s literature.

I kind of rushed to post it because the person who suggested it in the Wild Discussion changed their mind about it and I wanted to make sure to get it in while the suggestion thread was still open. (Plus I was in the middle of cooking and was distracted. Haha.)

Alicia, I think the intent was a middle grade book that won an award... the awards listed are specific to middle grade and children's books.

Thomas wrote: "Sorry but what would work for connected to ludo? I’m seeing no suggestions"

See Message #16

dalex wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Sorry but what would work for connected to ludo? I’m seeing no suggestions"

See Message #16"

Thanks

Book Concierge wrote: "On first glance, I have 10 down votes .. YIKES!"

I also have more downvotes as opposed to last week when I had all up. But I would be ok with anything really at this point!

The game Ludo in the US is known as Parcheesi, Pachisi, etc. Under the American name it was actually one of the categories for the recent Read-a-thon. The game Sorry is similar in concept.

I'm quite sure we had title as The ____ within the last couple years.

I'd like some good examples of books suitable for the Ludo-game. My mind's blank.

Nike wrote: "I'd like some good examples of books suitable for the Ludo-game. My mind's blank."

Me too, since I didn't even know the name. There are some in Message 16. And since it comes from India, it could be a book set in India or by an author of Indian descent. Something to do with a race, since it is a racing game. Sometimes it is called "The Royal Game of India" so a royal character.

Robin P wrote: "The game Ludo in the US is known as Parcheesi, Pachisi, etc. Under the American name it was actually one of the categories for the recent Read-a-thon. The game Sorry is similar in concept.

I'm qui..."

I've never heard of it called Ludo, but I love Parcheesi! I'm not sure I could turn it into a reading prompt...

I haven't read a Newbery winner in a long time, but I've loved every one of them that I've read, even as an adult. Most Newbury winners tackle important topics: racism, bullying, immigration, poverty, etc.

Listopia with over 800 books that are The ______
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

Pam wrote: "ATY Book of the month is a downvote for me but everything else I’m open to.

For the Ludo game, based on what Wiki states about it, some ideas are a cross on the cover (or if you turn the board si..."

So Lessons in Chemistry would be perfect for this prompt.

I find this so hard. I've got seven upvotes now and then I have to choose the eighth among five others that are equally interesting or neutral and I don't know how to choose. Maybe I'll have to roll the dices to make up my mind. 🤔🙃🥴

Here is another source for middle grade award winners and nominees, The California Young Reader Medal. The school kids are the ones who vote in the winners! There are five categories based on age of reader, so just look for the range that is considered Middle Grade.

http://www.californiayoungreadermedal...

Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle grade fiction, it's so juvenile. I want to read adult fiction

Michelle wrote: "Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle grade fiction, it's so juvenile. ..."

I'm 50 years old, and I adore middle grade books!

Michelle wrote: "Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle grade fiction, it's so juvenile. ..."

There are books that are ageless and can be read by children, teenagers and adults alike, like Huckleberry Finn, Coraline and The Wind on the Moon.

I had to Google "Ludo" - that looks like Parcheesi or Sorry? And that's a NO from me. Many years ago (21 years ago) when I was pregnant with my first, and feeling ALL the pregnancy hormones, I played Parcheesi w/ my husband. I got SO UPSET that to this day I cannot bear the thought of Parcheesi. Now, I know the reason for my extreme emotion was my hormones, but at the same time, the emotions were real emotions.

Nike wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle grade fiction, i..."

I guess I'm an outlier, I have no interest in reading middle grade books in my 30s. Yes I enjoyed them, when I was also middle grade

Michelle wrote: "Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle grade fiction, it's so juvenile. ..."

Honestly I used to think exactly this way. But it’s been a prompt in a few challenges I’ve done over the last years so I tried a few and was very surprised. A lot of middle grade books - especially ones nominated for prizes - tackle some very difficult issues, and they have exceptional writing quality and superb character development.

Michelle wrote: "Nike wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Just to add, I'll never understand why adults want to read middle grade fiction. I already had to do this once for a challenge and yeah, as an adult reading middle gra..."

To be fair, I don't think I had any interest in reading children's books when I was in my 30s either. Perhaps I am simply regressing as I age.

NancyJ- Thank you for the suggestion re: mental health. I’m afraid it may not be that popular BUT there are some good options that people may not think about. “Challenger Deep” is the first book that comes to mind. It was so good that I feel like I should read it again! I just finished “All Russians Love Birch Trees” that deals w grief and related mental health issues, along w immigration issues and actually has some humor in it, too. There’s a NZ author Janet Fame who has a few novels that deal w mental health. Also, I think addiction could fall under this umbrella. I like this prompt also for non-fiction, including medical research and memoirs/biographies. There are also some sci-fi books, like The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, that would work.

First impressions (before reading anything in this thread):

1. A book with a sound-related word in the title - I like this a lot! Possible upvote

2. A book related to the theme of a Las Vegas hotel - Pretty sure I voted for this last time. I might vote for it again if I have a spare vote available.

3. A main character that is mad, bad, or dangerous - Another one that I've voted for previously and would consider voting for again

4. A book related to Alice in Wonderland/through the Looking-glass - Love this one! I'm not really sure what I'd pick for it, but there's lots of interesting directions it could take

5. A book with a leap - I haven't been a fan of any of the Leap Year/Leap Day iterations so far, and although this one seems a little more open, I'm still not that into it

6. A middle grade book that was nominated for or won an award such as the Newbery, Caldecott, or Carnegie - I'd be okay if this got in, but I don't want it strongly enough to vote for it

7. A book that includes a love story - Most likely an upvote for me! It's easy enough to fulfill for me and I like that it's not limited to just romance (although I probably would pick a romance)

8. A character that is a fish out of water - I have this prompt on a challenge this year and I'm finding it shockingly hard to fulfill somehow. I love the concept of it, but not sure I'd vote for it.

9. A book with a 2 word title in the format: The ______ - A strong maybe, but doubt I'll have enough votes available to include it

10. A book related to the Addams Family - Definite upvote! I did think of some more possible interpretations that I've been hesitant to add because I don't want it to cross the line into a "freebie" for people

11. A book related to one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse - I'd need to look at options, but I like this one in theory. I think I had it on one of my rejects challenges in a previous year

12. A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges - I like this one, but not sure I want to vote for it just because it's a prompt I've done many times already

13. A book connected to a board game Ludo (another name for the game is Man, Don't Get Angry) - Most likely a downvote for me, just on the ground that I have no idea what this is, which would make it hard for me to decide if a book fits on my own

14. A book with a child character - I'd be fine if this gets in, but probably not voting for it

15. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2023 or 2024 - I was convinced this was already on the list! I guess it was nominated before and didn't make it. I like it, but not sure if I want to vote for it again

Rachel wrote: "First impressions (before reading anything in this thread):

1. A book with a sound-related word in the title - I like this a lot! Possible upvote

2. A book related to the theme of a Las Vegas ho..."
Feel free to dm me your other interpretations for Addams family it might sway my vote