Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It's time for another round of results! And it's a good one!

Top:
A book by a Latin American author
A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander author
A book with a Jewish character or author
A book set on or near a body of water

Bottom:
A book related to the dystopian film classic "Soylent Green," which is set in 2022

Listopias:
A book by a Latin American author
A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander author
A book with a Jewish character or author
A book set on or near a body of water

Wow, 4 winners, that's the most I remember seeing. Lots of good choices this time.

It was such a strong round, I'm glad we got four prompts from it! I voted for all of these. I need to do a bit more research in Latin American and Jewish SFF. I can think of a few titles, but I like to have lots of options. I thought Valerie Valdes' Chilling Effect books were fun (for Latin American) though I don't know if she's continuing the series.

All good ones. Guess I will have to submit Wizard of Oz again later on!

I hope you do submit Wizard of Oz again.

I'm pleasantly surprised that all 3 diversity prompts got in, though I wonder if that will preclude an LGBT also getting in, unless it's character and not author. I would like to do a PI author for the API one, as I've read many Asian authors, so I hope we get some good suggestions on the Listopia; what I've found so far isn't available at my library.

I was neutral on the body of water but I know I'll find something.

I’m also happily shocked all 3 diversity prompts made it in. Maybe it helped that they were all in one poll, so people upvoted them all because they couldn’t pick one. Versus spread out and thinking we already have one on the list.

I didn’t vote either way on body of water, so I can work with that.

I do feel bad about Soylent Green and I may have upvoted it because I do love dystopian books. I have never seen it or heard of it before, but when I asked my mom about it she was “outraged” that I had never seen such a classic and has started trying to find where I can watch it. I believe in the US it may be a generational thing.

I'm glad to get some prompts that might be a bit more of a challenge.

I have so many books that I have read this year to add to the listopias.

Nancy wrote: "I'm pleasantly surprised that all 3 diversity prompts got in, though I wonder if that will preclude an LGBT also getting in, unless it's character and not author. I would like to do a PI author for..."

The list is turning out nicely balanced so I'm too worried about too many of one kind of prompt. I would probably prefer a character prompt though as there have been some uncomfortable cases of publishers pushing authors to be publicly out to help their books.

I think these are great. There are plenty of options for the diverse authors in all kinds of genres.

Well I think I know where my WC will go this time

Ooh great to see so many of the diversity prompts make it through. I didn't end up voting for the Jewish one but I'm glad to see it there. I also didn't vote for body of water but that one shouldn't be too difficult.

I like all the diverse prompts but am disappointed to see another setting prompt. Especially, since it is pretty restrictive.

I am so happy with the winners! I didn't vote for the water one because it seems sort of easy but kind of love it. I also kind of love the Soylent Green one but didn't have enough votes for it.

Two of my up votes made it and I down voted Soylent Green, as I had never heard of it. I would have liked the unusual narrator to have made it. Four winning is good though.

I am very happy with the results. I am surprised that water made it in. I suggested it, but I almost didn't vote for it. Maybe it's because water has a strong emotional pull on some of us.

I hope they all get resubmitted. I really want the unusual narrator, As the bird flies, and ... heck I like them all. I would also still like a dystopian prompt. There are many evocative and hopeful dystopian stories.

I might prefer a broader prompt for the Wizard of Oz, but that's just because I love 1939 movies (the best year in the golden era of Hollywood) and I love musicals. Wizard of Oz is probably more fun on its own though.

I will still vote for an LGBTQIA+ prompt, and I agree that it should be character. I would still vote for a black, indigenous or BIPOC prompt. I also like the minority/other country prompt (The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna fits). We might want to wait a couple weeks though.

°~Amy~° wrote: "All good ones. Guess I will have to submit Wizard of Oz again later on!"

Please Do! I think it has a lot of potential!

I also hope you submit Wizard of Oz again - I loved that idea!

Wow - wasn't expecting 4. It will challenge what I normally read which is a good thing.

I can

I have a lot of Asian books to add to the listopia, including quite a few in Malaysia. One of my favorites (Euphoria) isn't by an Asian author though. This might be harder than I expected.

I'm not sure which physical boundaries to use for Pacific islands, but I have some Maori authors on my list from New Zealand that should qualify. Is there anyone here who knows API author lists well?

For Latin American authors, I just read an Isabel Allende book. She is a very prolific author. I have a few others I read this year too.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia was born in Mexico and would qualify for Latin American author. I really enjoyed her books Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow. She also has a new book coming out this month that is on my to-read list, Velvet Was the Night.

NancyJ wrote: "I'm not sure which physical boundaries to use for Pacific islands, but I have some Maori authors on my list from New Zealand that should qualify. Is there anyone here who knows API author lists well?..."

Maori authors would count.

I voted for three of the four, so I like these results.

I would love to find a Maori author to read!

I’m very happy with the results especially the Jewish author/character! I have a YA book about a Jewish Confederate soldier I have been meaning to read for several years. The water prompt was a top for me too. I have all kinds of books that would work, several which are GR wins that I feel guilty about never reading!

Just realized Latin American is not exactly the same as Latino/Latina/Latinx. The way I think of it is an author who is from Mexico /Central America/South America/Spanish-speaking Caribbean island. Whereas Latino could be a person of that descent whose family has been in the US for generations. My son has a friend from Colorado with a Spanish name who says, "my family didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" because they lived in US territory before the boundaries were established. In any case, there's no shortage of writers who would qualify, whichever way you define it.

NancyJ wrote: "I might prefer a broader prompt for the Wizard of Oz, but that's just because I love 1939 movies (the best year in the golden era of Hollywood) and I love musicals. Wizard of Oz is probably more fun on its own though..."

A 1939 movie adaptation, a book made into a musical or any golden age Hollywood connection would all be related to Wizard of Oz :)

Robin P wrote: "Just realized Latin American is not exactly the same as Latino/Latina/Latinx. The way I think of it is an author who is from Mexico /Central America/South America/Spanish-speaking Caribbean island...."

The wording change confused me, and I asked during the voting process. I was told that Latino/Latina/Latinx authors would count, even if they weren't born in a Spanish-speaking country. I hope that's still true because I voted for it with that explanation in mind.

Listopias are posted!

Robin P wrote: "Just realized Latin American is not exactly the same as Latino/Latina/Latinx. The way I think of it is an author who is from Mexico /Central America/South America/Spanish-speaking Caribbean island...."

That's what I thought too, but assumed I was wrong. I hope people realise they can use authors with those origins (without being born there) as that was my intention with the prompt. I think I should have edited it to 'an author of Latin American descent' to make it clear but the voting had already begun by the time I thought to change it.

Robin P wrote: "Just realized Latin American is not exactly the same as Latino/Latina/Latinx. The way I think of it is an author who is from Mexico /Central America/South America/Spanish-speaking Caribbean island...."

I don't interpret it as that limiting. If you said Black author/character would you only consider people from/born in African countries or would you consider Blacks that live in the U.S., Europe, Asia, etc. U.S. blacks also didn't voluntarily cross any borders, but it would still count.

The origins of Latino (and therefore Latina/e/x) is someone whose descent is from Latin America. It doesn't only describes someone that lives in a Latin American country, although it can.

I think ethnicity is tough because there aren't great terms that everyone is comfortable with. In the US some people prefer to be called African Americans others Black. But you wouldn't be able to just say African, as some people from the Caribbean or Cuba may refer to themselves as Black but not African. Also, I know some people that are born and have only lived in the U.S., but their family comes from Nigeria so they consider themselves African, not African America. And that's just in the U.S. I'm not sure what correct terms are used elsewhere.

It's the beauty of the challenge. People can interpret it whichever way makes sense, but I think it's very valid to interpret it as still being a Latino/a/e/x prompt, only limited to those born in Latin America (Central and South America), those living in any North or South American continent, or living around the world.

After several weeks when I had voted for none of the winners, this week I voted for all of them. The comments reminded me that if I liked all of the author prompts, I could vote for them all, rather just picking one.

The way I interpret a book by a Latin American Author is the author is an American citizen. If this is correct then it doesn’t matter where they were born or live or what generation they are because we are looking at citizenship. To me & I may be wrong, once the word American was used we are talking nationality. Does this make sense ?

Sherri wrote: "The way I interpret a book by a Latin American Author is the author is an American citizen. If this is correct then it doesn’t matter where they were born or live or what generation they are becaus..."

Well Latin America is Central and South America. So if by an American citizen, you mean a citizen of North, Central or South America I'd say fine.

But if you mean American just the U.S.A., I think that would be a bit limiting, but also acceptable with the way the prompt is worded.

I think the use of "Latin American" could be seen as either an American citizen of Latin heritage, or someone from Latin America (which is traditionally considered Central and South America).

We are probably all overthinking this lol. I'm going to be aiming for a book by an author from Central America, but I think anyone who has heritage from these areas would work, no matter where they are living. (And I believe that was the spirit of the prompt when it was suggested?)

Emily wrote: "I think the use of "Latin American" could be seen as either an American citizen of Latin heritage, or someone from Latin America (which is traditionally considered Central and South America).
"

Emily, I absolutely agree with how you worded this! I would just add Mexico (which is part of North America) to Central & South America for the "from Latin America" part, and that they can be living anywhere in the world.

It is incredibly challenging to come up with a single inclusive term for a hugely diverse group of people, which is why I'm not always a fan of diversity prompts. I'm glad the Jewish one includes a character, because I don't particularly enjoy trying to find out an author's ethnicity/ancestry or religion. But for the Reading Women Challenge this year, I chose books from around the world and have several to recommend for the API and Latin American lists!

Emily wrote: "I think the use of "Latin American" could be seen as either an American citizen of Latin heritage, or someone from Latin America (which is traditionally considered Central and South America).

We a..."

The only other option would be to reword it again to "An Author of Latin American descent" or heritage, which clearly opens it up to authors who may live elsewhere in the world outside of LA and the US.

I'm pleased with the results. I voted for all 4. We have 26 prompts now which means we have 26 to go. It feels early to be at the halfway mark.

Martha wrote: "I'm pleased with the results. I voted for all 4. We have 26 prompts now which means we have 26 to go. It feels early to be at the halfway mark."

I was thinking that too. I'm not sure if it's a realistic feeling or if it's because we filled up 4 this week and 7 (?) with the multiweeks. We've only had one or two winners every other week so we must be on schedule though. 🤷‍♀️

We actually only get 50 from the polling, so we are over halfway. It does feel early, but I feel like the list is pretty balanced so I'm ok with where we are heading. If we only end up with 14-16 polls this year instead of 19, I think that will be fine!

Emily wrote: "We actually only get 50 from the polling, so we are over halfway. It does feel early, but I feel like the list is pretty balanced so I'm ok with where we are heading. If we only end up with 14-16 p..."

More planning time 😁

Emily wrote: "I think the use of "Latin American" could be seen as either an American citizen of Latin heritage, or someone from Latin America (which is traditionally considered Central and South America).

We a..."

I voted for it thinking it could apply to Americans of Latin or Spanish descent, and most people in South or Central America. It seems fine to me, unless it leaves out Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

I just noticed the Jewish prompt has both author and character. Is that how it was originally? There are a lot of books out there on the holocaust with non-Jewish main characters, written by non-Jewish authors. Some of them are already on our list.

I agree it feels a little faster than last year, but I think we're about on average compared to all the years I've been in the group. Maybe we're just more on the same page this year and more in agreement.

NancyJ, that was the way the Jewish prompt was submitted. The Latin American and AAPI prompts were submitted as author only, but the Jewish one was suggested as author or character. So those books with non-Jewish main characters/authors would technically work as long as one of the side characters are Jewish.

Latin America includes Mexico: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_A.... Basically, it's any country in the Americas below the US, or any country that was once part of the Spanish, French, or Portuguese empires.

I’d say a good chunk of the US qualifies, as it was settled by the Spanish!

Also, “America” is not the same as the US.

I had the exact same confusion. Latinx somehow seemed much more clear to me than Latin American. I don't want to use that term if it's somehow offensive, although I have seen it used pretty widely in bookstores, libraries and articles about books/authors in general. So I guess in a sense, it confuses me a bit that it's considered offensive when it's still used as the "acceptable" option in a lot of cases. I'll have to do a bit more research to find out more, I guess.

NancyJ wrote: "I just noticed the Jewish prompt has both author and character. Is that how it was originally? There are a lot of books out there on the holocaust with non-Jewish main characters, written by non-Jewish authors. Some of them are already on our list. ..."


It was submitted that way, I think there was a concern that outing an author as Jewish could be dangerous for the author.

Some authors who write books with Jewish characters, but have not self-identified as Jewish, include Mary Robinette Kowal & Elizabeth Wein.

If a book has neither a Jewish character nor a Jewish author, I don't think it belongs on the list.

The Jewish people are so much MORE than just the Holocaust.

If you like historical fiction, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is a must read! Diamant has written several other historical novels set in more modern time periods, also.

If you like mysteries, Harlan Coben is culturally Jewish, and of course Faye Kellerman's Decker/Lazarus series would be perfect, and Harry Kemelman's rabbi series.

If you like romances, start with this article: We're Obsessed with These Jewish Romance Novels

If you like SFF, check out Lavie Tidhar

I recently read Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, which features a family of characters who are Jewish, and it was so lighthearted and fun. Highly recommend if you're looking to avoid heavier books.

I wonder if some of the confusion comes from terms like Asian American, referring to people of Asian descent who live in the US.

Latin American is only not people of Latin American descent who live in the US, it's people who live in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America, who speak languages that are derived from Latin. Now this could also be people who live in the US now who are originally from, or descended from, people who are Latin American, but they could also live anywhere else in the world. Someone from Argentina who now lives in France is still Latin American.