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 Thursday, September 12 and results will be posted in the morning of Monday, September 16 (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 book relating to fire
2. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
3. A book related to butterflies or moths
4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
5. A book recommended to you on the website https://meetnewbooks.com/
6. A book published by an independent publisher
7. A book considered children's literature
8. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
9. A translated novel from Asia
10. A book with (at least) 25 chapters
11. A book with a character in disguise
12. A book with a theme of starting over
13. A children's book that is somehow related to a book you are reading this year
14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet
15. A book with a competent main character

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

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/FhuKMbXHvs5MohG7A

THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book relating to fire
Fiery energy, spirit or spark, hot temper, something smoldering or burning, inferno, fire-fighting, heat, sun, desert, campfires, ashes, volcanoes

Fire: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
Slow Burn Romance: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Books with dragons: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Explosions and eruptions:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
The desert: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

2. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
Fiction or nonfiction!
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

3. A book related to butterflies or moths
As well as some obvious books such as:
Whisper of the Moon Moth
The Butterfly Effect
Flight Behaviour
The Mothman Prophecies

many butterflies and moths have funky names. Here are some UK examples:

Butterflies
Purple Emperor
Red Admiral
Grizzled Skipper

Moths
Deaths Head Hawk Moth
Elephant Hawk Moth
Footman
Chimney Sweep
The Mouse
Old Mother Shipton (a witch)
Puss moth
The drinker
The conformist (and the nonconformist)
Beautiful Snout

Also trapped butterflies seem to be a current cover trend for books about women in difficult circumstances.

Butterflies: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
YA Butterflies: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Butterfly Covers: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
Trapped Butterfly Covers: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Moths: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
The Butterfly Effect: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
Doe! - a deer, a female deer
Ray! - a drop of golden sun
Me! - a name I call myself
Far! - a long long way to run
So! - a needle pulling thread
La! - a note to follow SO
Tea - a drink with jam and bread

Eg. Deer or sun on the cover, title containing a name, long distance running, about clothing or the textile industry, about music, a cozy mystery/fantasy with all the tea.

5. A book recommended to you on the website https://meetnewbooks.com/
This website is clean and functional, and it gives you a top 100 books related to a book or author that you search.

6. A book published by an independent publisher
A list can be found here: https://indiestoday.com/independent-p...

7. A book considered children's literature
From GR: Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age 12. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses that sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres. Books specifically for children existed at least several hundred years ago.
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/chil...

8. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view...

13. A children's book that is somehow related to a book you are reading this year
Examples: It shares one word in the title - "Good night, Moon", if you read some book with the word night or moon in the title. Written by the same author. Similar covers Etc..

14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet
It could be part of the plot, a discussion, or a concern of a key character. The planet earth or another planet in the story.
Challenges might include Climate change, pollution, extinction, deforestation, depletion of fossil fuels, nuclear war, meteorite, etc.

I don't know why but competent main character really made me chuckle.

14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet.

The threat could be part of the plot, or discussed in the book, or a concern of a key character. The threat could be to the health of the planet, or to health of the species on the planet. The planet could be earth or a planet in a fantasy world,

The challenges or threats could include climate change, pollution, extinction of species, garbage, deforestation, hydrocarbons, depletion of fossil fuels, loss of habitats, nuclear war or accidents, meteorites, aliens, or a tear in the space time continuum. Etc.

Links to genre pages and listopias:
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/envi...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/climate
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/clim...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/ecology

Kat wrote: "I don't know why but competent main character really made me chuckle."

Lol, me too. At first, I was like, 'well that shouldn't be a challenge to find' and then I thought for another second and was like, 'nope, most MCs are dolts'! lol

I think it's interesting that we have 3 list prompts this week.

Meet new books looks interesting, and has a wide variety of books
NPR used to get voted in every year, and has a wide variety of books

The independent publishers seems like too much work. You'd have to click on every link to se what books they might have.

I hope they don't all cancel each other out. I'd be happy with one or both of the first two.

Dubhease wrote: "The independent publishers seems like too much work. You'd have to click on every link to se what books they might have...."

I don't think it's meant to be a list prompt, more the idea is to read a book that isn't published by a big conglomerate.

NancyJ wrote: "14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet. "

So this is cli-fi, correct?

Ellie wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "The independent publishers seems like too much work. You'd have to click on every link to se what books they might have...."

I don't think it's meant to be a list prompt, more the..."

Is there already a listopia somewhere to give us an idea of our options.

Dubhease wrote: "The independent publishers seems like too much work. You'd have to click on every link to se what books they might have."

Check the publisher on some books on your TBR. If it's not one of the Big Five (Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan) then it might be an independent publisher.

ETA The Big Five also have "imprints" so it might be that rather than an independent publisher, which does complicate things a bit. I'm finding I have a ton of imprints on my TBR but very few independent publishers.

Lots of good ones on this list. I especially like the book in translation, that's one of my personal goals for next year anyway. And I never need to be prompted to read about food!

Kat wrote: "I don't know why but competent main character really made me chuckle."

For example, you would think that the character of Sherlock Holmes would be competent but he had a cocaine addiction.

I've played around a bit on the Meet New Books site and the recommendations don't make any sense. For example, a few searches for "books like ______" yielded dozens of books that are not at all like the book in question. A search for "Asian science fiction" gave me a lot of not Asian and not science fiction. So that prompt is a downvote for me.

I do not read childrens books and I read very little translated fiction so all three of those prompts are a no. We already have a translated prompt on the bonus anniversary list anyway. And before anyone argues that a challenge is supposed to be challenging, I do the challenge to help choose from my TBR, not to read books I have zero interest in.

Honestly, I'm not loving most of these choices.

NancyJ wrote: "Is there already a listopia somewhere to give us an idea of our options...."

Nothing that's easy to search for. I think some people in the wild discussion had lists for specific publishers?

Kat wrote: "I don't know why but competent main character really made me chuckle."


Me too! I thought "well SOMEONE is sick of TSTL characters!!"

dalex wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet. "

So this is cli-fi, correct?"

Or climate/planet (health)-related non-fiction.

I was iffy on the Do Rey Mi song at first, but looking at the lyrics again, I realized that as a distance runner myself, I just love reading books about running so that may be an upvote for me! There are some other fun associations on there. "Tea" could be a Victorian social commentary such as Cranford or The Warden, or even something more steampunky like Gail Carriger, or a microhistory . "Me" could be an autobiography, or to KIS include any first-person narration. "Doe" makes me immediately think of The Only Good Indians for...reasons.

dalex wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet. "

So this is cli-fi, correct?"

Theoretically, it could also be a war thing, if the weapons are powerful enough. My first thought was along the lines of an alien attack that threatened Earth. Don't know that I have a suggestion that fits exactly, but along the lines of the alien protomolecule from The Expanse series. Or Some Desperate Glory is set in the aftermath of wars that destroyed Earth. I feel like I recall that there were weapons referenced in that book that were called something like World Killers, but I might be misremembering.

Just a thought for anyone who wants to do a slightly different spin on it.

It is going to be mostly downvotes for me this round.
I don't read children's books. The lists don't interest me either. Food is a no.
I do read cli-fi or similar books, so that may be an up vote.

I was also iffy on the butterflies/moths prompt but I really like the idea of looking up different names of species as there are some creative ones! Of course "Monarch" could include any king/queen/ruler. In my area, some common butterfly species are the Tiger Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak (gothic anyone?), and Painted Lady (femme fatale?).

After a bit of poking around on the meet new books site, it seems to mostly want to recommend books I've already read! I guess maybe it works better if you use it to track your reading, but I don't want to import my books into yet another book site.

Does self published count as an independent publisher?

I don't usually pay any attention to who published the books that I read. Unless it's something like Wordsworth Classics where it's incredibly obvious on the cover.

Kat wrote: "Does self published count as an independent publisher? ..."

I think that could be a KIS option? In the UK, if you self-publish with your own ISBNs you have to register as a publisher with Nielsen... so technically I am a publisher now.

Wendy wrote: "I was also iffy on the butterflies/moths prompt but I really like the idea of looking up different names of species as there are some creative ones!."

Someone already wrote a sad little melodrama about the Underwing moths:
———————————-
Has anyone else noticed that moths in the Catocala genus 14 have interesting names? Scrolling through the species list its like they’re characters in an insect soap opera. I made a little story too, using all real names given to these moths.

Jessica Underwing is proposed to by her high school sweetheart, Lincoln Underwing. That was the day she joyously moved from being just his Girlfriend Underwing to a Betrothed Underwing. Jessica’s family was so proud that today she was a Bride Underwing, and soon to be a Married Underwing. Jessica’s Mother Underwing knew she had made the right choice, Lincoln was a Charming Underwing. They grew old together, Jessica has now become an Oldwife Underwing. But Lincoln wasn’t so happy. Over the years he had grown to become a Gloomy Underwing. Seeing how he had gone from being such a Youthful Underwing, to such a Sad Underwing, forced him to make the drastic decision of getting divorced. Jessica never knew anything was wrong, If only Lincoln opened up to her, maybe she wouldn’t have become a Once-married Underwing, a Tearful Underwing, some would say she had become an Inconsolable Underwing. Jessica had thought that they’d spend the rest of their insect lives together, and that she wouldn’t feel such pain until she perhaps one day became a Widow Underwing, Mourning (underwing) the death of her Sweetheart Underwing moth husband.

From: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/moths...

Found this listopia that can be added to for the INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER prompt:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

NancyJ wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "The independent publishers seems like too much work. You'd have to click on every link to se what books they might have...." I don't think it's meant to be a list pr..."

NancyJ, check message 24. It's a start at least. I read a lot of independent, so I"ll add as I can find them.

Joyce wrote: "Someone already wrote a sad little melodrama about the Underwing moths"

I love it! And of course I had to look them up, and discovered they are the drab-looking moths that have a surprising flash of color on their, you guessed it, underwings. I've also now learned that they are allegedly witch familiars, so that's another layer of complication.

I tossed out the New York Review Books (nyrb) in the wild thread and they are also an independent publisher that re-publishes out-of-print lost classics and english translations of international books. It's how I discovered The Door by Magda Szabó. I bring it up as an option for readers who don't read as many recent books and are looking for classics.

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

Now that gets me wondering...are international publishers (outside the US) considered independent?

NancyJ wrote: "14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet.

The threat could be part of the plot, or discussed in the book, or a concern of a key character. The threat could be to the healt..."

Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile would work too. the first part of the game is to blow up a reactor that is taking the lifestream (mana/spirit energy) from planet gaia. the shinra company is responsible and is one of the main bad guys.

Ellie wrote: "After a bit of poking around on the meet new books site, it seems to mostly want to recommend books I've already read! I guess maybe it works better if you use it to track your reading, but I don't..."

I ran into that on some books for the first page (first ten suggestions), but it gives a list of 100, so usually the second page had new to me book suggestions.

Wendy wrote: "Now that gets me wondering...are international publishers (outside the US) considered independent?."

Since a number of the big houses are British, they would not be. And Hachette is French.

Wendy wrote: "Now that gets me wondering...are international publishers (outside the US) considered independent..."

Boring publishing facts ahead!

One of the "Big 5" publishers is a French company, so they have their fingers in many places! 4 of those big publishers have 46% of the market share in the UK, so they're not quite as dominant here as in the US (where the Big 5 have an 80% market share).

So not all international publishers will be independent but I reckon we have a lot more doing well.

I've had a go at the meetnewbooks site, and it's not recommending anything that resembles the books that I'm putting in, so that one is not for me.

Otherwise, I like food and fire and independent publishers. Butterflies might be promising as is the translation prompt. I don't want to read a book based on the number of its chapters. Otherwise no strong feelings on this round.

First impressions:

1. A book relating to fire
This has possibilities.

2. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
Love this.

3. A book related to butterflies or moths
Sounds fun.

4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
I really love this one.

5. A book recommended to you on the website meetnewbooks
No. It requires me to go to a different website, and it's a list prompt. If this gets voted in, I will wild card it.

6. A book published by an independent publisher
Easy enough.

7. A book considered children's literature
Easy enough

8. A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists
I actually go to this site now and again even without a prompt, so I don't hate it.

9. A translated novel from Asia
This is my jam, but I don't know if I need a prompt for it.

10. A book with (at least) 25 chapters
Easy enough

11. A book with a character in disguise
I like it

12. A book with a theme of starting over
Meh.

13. A children's book that is somehow related to a book you are reading this year
Still too easy, even with limiting it to YA.

14. A book that includes a challenge to the health of the planet
Not my cup of tea.

15. A book with a competent main character
LOL.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a translated novel from Asia, unless you read it in the original Japanese.

Kendra wrote: "15. A book with a competent main character
LOL."

Could be hard to fill.

My thoughts so far -
2. A book with food as a major theme or plot device - I enjoy this theme. Even though I feel like we have a version of it a few times, I will upvote
4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song - The last few song prompts we had sounded fun during voting but have been some of my least favorites to fill. Even though I feel like a curmudgeon it's going to be a no on this one.
5. A book recommended to you on the website https://meetnewbooks.com/ - I just tried it and found some good options so this is an upvote.
10. A book with (at least) 25 chapters - Upvote, I don't know why but I like it even though it isn't terribly exciting.
11. A book with a character in disguise - this is my favorite of this round. It might be a little hard to figure out prior to reading a book but its still an upvote.

I am torn on the children's book prompts. My instinct is to downvote both but I think I will wait to see if any interesting conversations happen around them in the next day or so. One of them will be a downvote.

I don't get excited one way or another about the others but overall they are pretty good and I wouldn't be upset to see them on our final list.

Emily wrote: "THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
Doe! - a deer, a female deer
Ray! - a drop of golden sun
Me! - a name I call myself
Far! - a long long way to run
So! - a needle pulling thread
La! - a note to follow SO
Tea - a drink with jam and bread..."


In my culture, the musical notes are DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI. I have no idea where Tea came from. Can someone explain?
It would be easier for me to read something related to SI rather than TEA. Si means yes in Italian, so a book set in Italy would be much easier than trying to figure out if a book majorly involves tea as the main plot.

Another listopia for fire: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

If either of the children's books prompts makes it in, I'll use it as an opportunity to revisit my old friend Pippi Longstocking.

Kaltra wrote: "In my culture, the musical notes are DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI. I have no idea where Tea came from. Can someone explain?"

Solfa is a method of teaching music that assigns syllables to each note of the musical scale. Instead of calling the notes by their letter names (A, B, C, etc.) they are referred to by the more easily sung syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti.

Do-Re-Mi is a song from the musical The Sound of Music. It was used by the governess to teach the children the notes of the musical scale. So, for example, "tea: a drink with jam and bread," alludes to the seventh solfège syllable, ti.

Kaltra wrote: "Emily wrote: "THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
Doe! - a deer, a female deer
Ray! - a drop of golden sun
Me! - a name I c..."
This might help. English uses ti while many other languages use si.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do-Re-Mi

Kaltra wrote: "Emily wrote: "THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

4. A book connected to something mentioned in the Do Re Mi song
Doe! - a deer, a female deer
Ray! - a drop of golden sun
Me! - a name I c..."

I had to google the reason. According to Wikipedia:

In Anglophone countries, "si" was changed to "ti" by Sarah Glover in the nineteenth century so that every syllable might begin with a different letter.

Wendy wrote: "I was iffy on the Do Rey Mi song at first, but looking at the lyrics again, I realized that as a distance runner myself, I just love reading books about running so that may be an upvote for me! The..."

The "me" could also be a book that includes a character or author with your name.

Ellie wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Now that gets me wondering...are international publishers (outside the US) considered independent..."

Boring publishing facts ahead!

One of the "Big 5" publishers is a French compan..."

My gut feeling is that members who don't follow this thread in detail will think it's too much work to find a book that fits. They may have one right on their shelf but few of us think about the publisher when we choose a book.

Robin P wrote: "
My gut feeling is that members who don't follow this thread in detail will think it's too much work to find a book that fits. They may have one right on their shelf but few of us think about the publisher when we choose a book. "

Even with following this thread, it is more work than I’m interested in.

Sandra wrote: "If either of the children's books prompts makes it in, I'll use it as an opportunity to revisit my old friend Pippi Longstocking."

Good choice! I like how you think. While I'm not likely to upvote the children's prompts, any excuse to read Anne of Green Gables for the millionth time isn't a bad thing.

I like food, butterflies, translated Asian author, and 25 chapters. I don’t think I will be voting for children’s books or lists. I don’t understand the competent main character prompt. Isn’t that most books? 🤷‍♀️

Kat wrote: "I don't know why but competent main character really made me chuckle."

It got a giggle from me too

Pam wrote: "I like food, butterflies, translated Asian author, and 25 chapters. I don’t think I will be voting for children’s books or lists. I don’t understand the competent main character prompt. Isn’t that ..."

Depends on your favorite genres; I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers and there's a surprising number of main characters running around and getting themselves almost killed for making stupid decisions.