Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
2025 Reading List Creation
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[2025] Poll 5 Voting
Mod
1. A party book
It can be a book about a festive or celebratory event that takes place or how to throw one. About political parties, the Donner Party, Party of Five. search party, a party in a lawsuit, A Tupperware party. A historical party like Truman Capote's Black and White Ball, the Met Gala, the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, the Field of Gold, or all the balls in Jane Austen and Bridgerton. It can just have the word "party" in the title.
2. A book with waves on the cover
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
The Wedding People
The Soulmate
Float Plan
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
5. A book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is “the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace.” Although some of the books awarded may involve war, these books have “led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view”.
More on the criteria for the awards: https://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize....
This Literary Award organization grants awards to both Fiction and Non-Fiction, and they also have two Achievement Awards: the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. Awardees are chosen from authors of all nations.
Award site: https://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize....
Wikipedia (easier to go through the lists): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayto...
6. A book related to motels
2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Motel, the Motel Inn. Some options might be a book set at a motel, a road trip book, a book revolving around cars or even simpler just around travel. A really easy way to approach it could be to just use an author or title whose letters can be found in the word Motel
7. A book with skull or bone imagery (or in the title)
Imagery:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://tacoma.bibliocommons.com/list...
In the title:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.ranker.com/list/books-wit...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
8. A haunting book
ne definition of haunting is “beautiful, but in a sad way and often in a way that cannot be forgotten.” You could also read about ghosts or a haunted house.
10. A book that contains another book
Examples: American Mermaid by Julia Langbein, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, & I'm sure we could have fun brainstorming a lot more. This was originally suggested a while ago in the Wild Discussions thread; I don't remember who first proposed it!
11. A book involving one or more animals
This could be a tame, wild, or fantasy animal, but not merely a human animal. (Fiction, nonfiction, realistic or fantastical.)
Note: fish, birds and bugs are classified as animals.
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/animals
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/an...
13. A book club recommendation
This can be from any book club you may be a member of, or any book club you’re not a member of, including celebrity book clubs (Oprah, Reese, Jenna, etc.)
15. A book whose cover looks like a collage
https://www.pinterest.com/sgilbar/col...
https://99designs.com/inspiration/boo...
Mod
Mod
You are a goddess!
Does the book within a book have a list? (asking the world, not you! You deserve to have a drink and relax!)
Mod
Pamela wrote: "Emily wrote: "Thank you all for your patience and grace today! I'll work on getting the info transferred over tonight."You are a goddess!
Does the book within a book have a list? (asking the wo..."
I found this one https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
There are quite a few books that feature motels; I think this is a really interesting topic. A lot of road trip books would work as well. I loved all of these:All Fours
Lolita
What You See in the Dark
Motel of the Mysteries
Interested in:
The Motel Life
Motel Chronicles
there are some nonfiction options too:
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Life Behind the Lobby: Indian American Motel Owners and the American Dream
Pamela wrote:Does the book within a book have a list? (asking the wo..."
Here are two I would recommend.
Erasure by Percival Everett - I’m reading it now, it’s excellent.
Trust by Hernan Diaz
——-
I love the cleverness of “A Haunting book.” It could be a book that involves a haunting, or a book that I can’t get out of my mind. I’ll look for books that were described in reviews as haunting or hauntingly beautiful.
This list seems to have books that fit both interpretations of a haunting book
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Emily wrote: "None that was posted in the suggestions thread!"A few examples:
Erasure
Trust
Trust Exercise
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
I've read two books this year where the character ends up in their favourite book series; A Novel Love Story and Long Live Evil. The Ashley Poston didn't quite work for me but Long Live Evil had a lot of fun with it, and I think it's going to be a series.Seanan McGuire actually went and wrote the novels that feature in Middlegame.
Genuinely curious, do motels exist outside of North America? I've never seen one in real life. Wondering if they caught on elsewhere.
We don't have them... Germany. Not that I know of.Edit: Just googled. There are some hotels that call themselves motels. It's not something common like in the US, though.
A mixed bag this week. 4 up, and 4 down.Upvote:
1. A party book - I’m so glad this has been suggested! Just a really fun prompt, with a lot of flexibility to it.
4. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 - Always an automatic upvote for me. Some of my favourite books have come from this thread!
7. A book with skull or bone imagery (or in the title) - Voting for this to honour my inner teenage goth. XD
8. A haunting book - A fun excuse to read some horror, personally. But again I like the flexibility of this.
Downvote:
3. A book with “yesterday,” “today” or “tomorrow” in the title
6. A book related to motels
13. A book club recommendation
15. A book whose cover looks like a collage
Mod
Canada!
I stayed in one in Scotland but it was kinda a kitschy retro thing not organic. You don't need them as much in European countries cause the long car trips of North America aren't as common a thing, They are scary... although I've always wanted to take a rundown one and redo it to be a boutique motel. Lean into the retro.
For book within a book, I seconded because it seemed fun and a little challenging, without thinking about the options. But looking at the list Jillian posted, there are some great options there!I'd also mention the Thursday Next series. She travels in and out of various books, so that would probably count?
And I'm also currently reading Love, Clancy: Diary of a Good Dog for the summer challenge (dog on the cover) and while the whole story is told from Clancy's perspective, it alternates between him observing scenes and pages from his diary. So I would count that as well.
I voted three up and three down. I didn't use all of my votes since I could work with many of them.I voted the following prompts "up":
-A haunting book since I loved how it could be interpreted as being paranormal or a book that is like a fine wine that lingers on your taste buds.
-A book club recommendation. I interpret it as any book that one of my book discussion communities or celebrity book clubs recommend.
-A book about a books. I'm always a sucker for this prompt as I am about books about libraries and bookstores.
I vote the following three "down":
-A book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards. I reviewed the list and couldn't find any that wanted to read.
-A book that contains another book. I might be been defining this one too narrowly but thought the options were be too limited.
-A book that takes place during a holiday
For book within a book, I recommend Magpie Murders. The one I am reading currently, Same Bed Different Dreams, also has a book within a book. Too early to tell if I would recommend it.
Pamela wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Genuinely curious, do motels exist outside of North America? I've never seen one in real life. Wondering if they caught on elsewhere."Canada!
I stayed in one in Scotland but it was..."
Yes! If anyone has watched Schitt's Creek, motels are a thing in Canada.
Here's a not-exhaustive Listopia of books-within-books. Lots of really fun choices for all kinds of readers, & I know we can think of more.https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
& another: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
Here's a Listopia for books wherein the writing of a book is very prominent, if you want to interpret it that way: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
& here's one for books in which characters find themselves inside fictional book worlds (a la A Novel Love Story): https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
I rather like the book about motels prompt too, just because it's kinda weird. Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky is a dual timelines book, & the present-day timeline is set pretty much entirely at a motel. If you really want to KIS, there are tons of books where a character stays at a motel for a night or two, even if it's not a big part of the story arc.
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I love that comment so much!
Mod
It's a thin line between the two prompts-- I would put Thursday Next as a book about books. For me other book has to be quoted and in the book, not just mentioned. Like Trust has a whole section which is the other book. It's a challenge because the author is writing two different books at the same time. A lot of the books on Ciara's list are more books that feature books.
Pamela wrote: "Joanna wrote: "I'd also mention the Thursday Next series. She travels in and out of various books, so that would probably count?"It's a thin line between the two prompts-- I would put Thursday Ne..."
It's been awhile since I've read, but don't the Thursday Next books include some text that really isn't the original when she goes in an alters the book by her presence? Like I have a memory of her going into Jane Eyre and having convos with Rochester that certainly aren't the original.
But I see your point - maybe a KIS option where the "inside book" is a previously existing text rather than another invention of the author.
I will say I decided to track my upvotes to do a rejects challenge next year, and it's going to be a loooong list. I have so many upvotes every week! I tried to cut it down on the last two, in thoughts of how long the list will get, but it was still 4 and 5 - and last week my upvotes totaled to another 9 books.People who do the rejects challenge, do you just pick some or do you do everything you voted for that didn't make it?
Joanna wrote: "For book within a book, I seconded because it seemed fun and a little challenging, without thinking about the options. But looking at the list Jillian posted, there are some great options there!I..."
The Thursday next series is great for the book in a book. In the Eyre Affair, there is a book within a book, plus Thursday actually finds herself in the book Jane Eyre. I plan to read more if this series next year,
Joanna wrote: "I will say I decided to track my upvotes to do a rejects challenge next year, and it's going to be a loooong list. I have so many upvotes every week! I tried to cut it down on the last two, in thou..."The way I'm doing it is that I'm slotting everything I read into a reject prompt. There are a little under 200 reject prompts (once you factor in multi-weeks & take out duplicates) & I'll probably end up reading more than that this year. It remains to be seen if I will actually try to read TO a reject prompt--it hasn't come to that yet. So far I've found a spot for everything. I do read to the main challenge if I have to (ie, cozy mystery). It is kind of fun to see if I can match a prompt that seems unbearable to a book that is actually to my taste. But I know it's kind of a privilege to be able to read this fast--if you're reading 200+ books a year, there's less anxiety about squandering time on a book you might hate.
Joanna wrote: "People who do the rejects challenge, do you just pick some or do you do everything you voted for that didn't make it?..."I can only comment as someone who makes a rejects list every year and never completes it! I never track what I vote for, so I just pick a selection once the main list is finished.
I track what I vote for, but I also make a rejects list and never complete it. I do another challenge besides this one (Pop Sugar up until this year, but I have quit them and now do the 52 Book Club challenge) so add on NetGalley books and my 3 book clubs and I'm full up!
Joanna wrote: "People who do the rejects challenge, do you just pick some or do you do everything you voted for that didn't make it? I do a rejects challenge but select a limited number of prompts, usually going with the year it is -- this year 24 prompts, 2025 - 25 prompts. I choose them as the Polls go along. I'm already up to 9 prompts after only 4 polls so some will get bumped out along the way and hopefully I'll end up with 25 good prompts.
My favorites so far from this list are Book Club recommendation, collage, and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. I found 21 books on the Dayton list that I want to read. Also, they award a lifetime achievement award every year. I’m assuming that any book from the recipient’s works would work for the prompt (maybe a KIS option). Collage on the cover might be difficult but I have a few options. I just like that it’s something different and I like unusual covers.
First impression. 1. A party book - maybe yes. I think this will be easier than you think. Many books have parties of some type. The book I just finished did. We’ll have to help each by putting them on the listopia.
🔅2. A book with waves on the cover - maybe yes- I don’t vote for many cover prompts but I like this idea a lot.
3. A book with “yesterday,” “today” or “tomorrow” in the title - maybe yes
✴️4. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 - definite upvote. I love reading these reviews even though I’m terrible about writing them.
🔅5. A book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist, of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards - I’ll take a look or just take a leap of faith that I will find something surprising and meaningful.
6. A book related to motels - maybe yes. I liked Front Desk by Kelly Yang, and I could read more in the series.
7. A book with skull or bone imagery (or in the title) - probably not for me.
✴️✴️8. A haunting book - Yes. I love the dual concept. I always wish there was a prompt like this for those books that get under your skin or stay with you for a long time. Sing, Unburied, Sing fits both interpretations. I can think of many that aren’t horror.
🔅9. A book that takes place during a holiday - yes I always have a few of these.
🔅10. A book that contains another book.
✴️✴️11. A book involving one or more animals - the wild animal prompt was one of my favorites this year. I also like books with special pets.
12. A book that is number 2, 5, or 25 in a series - Neutral - I don’t read many series but #2 would be very doable.
✴️13. A book club recommendation
✴️14. A book about books - Yes Always.
15. A book whose cover looks like a collage
Party and holiday might be competing with one another. I’ll vote for the one that seems to be the most popular of the two.
10 and 14 are competing too. I like them both.
Pam wrote: "My favorites so far from this list are Book Club recommendation, collage, and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. I found 21 books on the Dayton list that I want to read. Also, they award a lifetime achie..."Re: the Dayton Literary Peace Prize — yes, the intent that ANY book by the authors listed would count, similar to this year's Edgar Awards based prompt.
For my rejects challenge this year I kept track of everything I upvoted that didn’t get in, and removed any duplicates/ close matches. I ended up with 58 on my list and I think I’ve read about 30 of them so far just with the books I’ve ‘wanted’ to read. I may need to read more ‘intentionally’ to complete my rejects challenge by the end of the year but should be able to complete it. The thought of doing a rejects challenge definitely makes me more thoughtful about what prompts I’m upvoting!!!
I’m probably 4 up and 4 down. Definitely down for ‘today’ ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’ as surprisingly I had none on my TBR list.
I didn't even think about how U.S. centric motels are. The NYT had an article the other day that made me go down a google rabbit hole on them. The 100 year anniversary of the 1st one made me thing it could be a fun prompt. For some reason I have always be intrigued by them and love how they can be funky and cool or creepy and rundown. But I can see how the vastness of the U.S. (and Canadian) highway system led them to be popular in North America and maybe not so much everywhere else.
Thanks Tracey for the clarification! Somehow, I missed that it could be any book by the authors. I would probably read one of the nominated books but that does open it up. I also like the haunting prompt and will upvote that one!
@Joanna, when I do a rejects challenge, I sometimes combine like prompts. Prompts get reworked and resubmitted through the process, so I pick my favourite of those reworked prompts. HTH
EMILY - Sorry to interrupt your vacation!(Anyone who hasn't voted yet please read this too!!!)
I just noticed that the prompt I suggested:
Any book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards.
has a typo in it from the time it was copied to the "Available to Second" point in time. The typo can change the meaning in such a way that it appears to be more limited than it was intended.
The prompt SHOULD be "Any book by any author..."
but instead says "A book by any author..."
My suggestion had it correct, so I'm not sure how when you copied it a couple of letters were lost that weren't at the beginning or ending of the prompt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Can you please fix it in the opening comment of this thread (the list of prompts) as well as in the voting form? Please 🙏🏼
Tracy wrote: "Pam wrote: "My favorites so far from this list are Book Club recommendation, collage, and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. I found 21 books on the Dayton list that I want to read. Also, they award a li..."Pam - I just figured out what the confusion was on the Dayton Literary Peace Prize prompt. Some letters went missing when it was copied after being seconded, so right now it says "A book by any author..." instead of "Any book by any author..."
Thanks for asking the question or I never would have noticed. :)
Tracy wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Pam wrote: "My favorites so far from this list are Book Club recommendation, collage, and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. I found 21 books on the Dayton list that I want to read. Also, t..."I think “a book” and “any book” mean the same thing.
I understand that it wasn’t limited to just the winning book.
Comments about some of my votes:Some of my UPs:
A party book - Fun idea that can go so many ways. Not sure yet if I'll read about politics or a festive gathering as I have good choices for both.
A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025 - This is always one I'll vote for, I always find books I want to read here (or books I want to read anyway that need a prompt home).
Any book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards - I have read many of the books that actually won or were finalists/runners-up and loved them, so I look forward to reading either more by those authors, or other winners that look intriguing. I also love the idea of books that promote peace somehow.
One of my DOWNs:
A book that is number 2, 5, or 25 in a series - Although this is a clever way to use our challenge year, I don't read a lot of series (or not often beyond book #1) so the chances of me being able or ready to read book #2, 5, or 25 (especially the latter) is slim.
One of my (regretfully) NEUTRAL prompts:
A book related to motels - I really love this prompt, but almost all of the books I found that actually involve motels (as opposed to hotels, inns, etc.) were involving kind of the dark underbelly parts of society or a lot of violence or horror - which is not something I enjoy. I was hoping to find something more on the quirky side. I found one possibility that I could get by with, but nothing I'm excited about. I know if I opened it up to hotels or inns, etc., there would be more choices I'm excited about, just because the reasons you stay in those places are different than why you stay in motels, so the stories are different. But since the idea behind this prompt was to specifically to recognize the 100th Anniversary of the First Motel (in America?) I wanted to honor that. If this does become a prompt I may have to go the KIS way (for me anyway) and choose any of those other options of places to stay when you aren't at home.
Tracy wrote: "Comments about some of my votes:Some of my UPs:
A party book - Fun idea that can go so many ways. Not sure yet if I'll read about politics or a festive gathering as I have good choices for both.
..."
For MOTEL -
Tracy, Front Desk is a very upbeat book about a Chinese family who is managing a motel in the US. It’s written for a young audience but I found it very worthwhile. I also read a road trip book about a musician who stays in motels, and I’m pretty sure there are summer vacation books too.
Jillian wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Pam wrote: "My favorites so far from this list are Book Club recommendation, collage, and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. I found 21 books on the Dayton list that I want to..."I'm glad you understood the intent Jillian :)
Maybe because Pam wasn't sure, I could see how it might be taken as just the books on the Prize website:
NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Comments about some of my votes:Some of my UPs:
A party book - Fun idea that can go so many ways. Not sure yet if I'll read about politics or a festive gathering as I have good choic..."
Thanks NancyJ! I did see that book (maybe because your review showed up on my feed when I was looking at lists?). I flagged it as a possibility. I have read middle grade and YA books that I've really liked, but you never can tell it the tone will suit an adult. I wanted to be sure to have a book intended for adults, just in case. Appreciate you making sure I know about it!
Jillian wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Emily wrote: "Thank you all for your patience and grace today! I'll work on getting the info transferred over tonight."You are a goddess!
Does the book within a book have a list?..."
Thanks for posting this list! I really liked Book of Goose, and Ladder to the sky. I will probably read The Blind Assassin.
Mod
I think “a book” and “any book” in this scenario mean the same thing. “A book with blue on the cover” and “Any book with blue on the cover” have the same meaning there, and it does the same in your prompt, so I won’t be editing it unless other members express confusion. But I think the meaning is clear because then you go on to say “by any author…”
Sorry! That’s just the formatting tweaks we make as mods to keep our list clean.
I agree that the wording doesn’t need to be changed. My original comment, which started this discussion, was specifically about the lifetime achievement award, that you could read any of their books also.
Ciara wrote: "Joanna wrote: "I will say I decided to track my upvotes to do a rejects challenge next year, and it's going to be a loooong list. I have so many upvotes every week! I tried to cut it down on the la..."Ciara wrote: "Here's a not-exhaustive Listopia of books-within-books. Lots of really fun choices for all kinds of readers, & I know we can think of more.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5......"
Thanks Ciara I missed the books within books links before. I love this idea. The Jane Austen Project is another one that works. Ladders to the sky is a great book too. All of these ideas fit the books about books prompt too, so it probably won’t win this week, but I want both.
I think that rather than wait for next year to start my rejects challenge, I might start some early while I’m excited about a prompt. If it gets in for 2025 later, I’ll read another.
The books within books idea is great for a fiction read, but I don't think it works if you want to read non-fiction.
Non-fiction is supposed to have citations which could link to others books.
Erica wrote: "Non-fiction is supposed to have citations which could link to others books." that would be a different prompt 10. A book that contains another book examples would be like:
The Princess Bride where one story line is the grandfather/grandson and the other story is Princess Buttercup/Wesley.
Or The Neverending Story with Bastian in the real world then Fantastica being the other storyline
I can’t think of any non-fiction book that would work and when I googled the idea nothing came up.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Between the Lines (other topics)The Book Thief (other topics)
The Thirteenth Tale (other topics)
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds (other topics)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Carol Goodman (other topics)Percival Everett (other topics)
Hernan Diaz (other topics)
Voting will open in the morning of Friday, July 26 and results will be posted in the morning of Tuesday, July 30 (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.
Poll Prompts:
1. A party book
2. A book with waves on the cover
3. A book with “yesterday,” “today” or “tomorrow” in the title
4. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2024 or 2025
5. A book by any author who was a winner, runner-up, or finalist of any of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards
6. A book related to motels
7. A book with skull or bone imagery (or in the title)
8. A haunting book
9. A book that takes place during a holiday
10. A book that contains another book
11. A book involving one or more animals
12. A book that is number 2, 5, or 25 in a series
13. A book club recommendation
14. A book about books
15. A book whose cover looks like a collage
Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.
VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/ybAmTsX1d2hox5KF8