Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

One of my favorite things about this group is getting introduced to books I might never have come across on my own. This week we're focusing on all the hidden gems out there.

There's a series of goodreads listopias for books under x ratings. This one
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
is closest to our chosen range but BIO readers looking for really really obscure books can find links in the description of that list leading to other more restrictive lists.

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

What are the least rated books on your Goodreads shelves? What will you be picking up for this week?

As much as I would like to say that I'll use an obscure book for this prompt, I'll probably end up going with a Book of the Month new release that hasn't gotten enough reviews yet lol. Their books are often early release so they haven't hit the store shelves yet and don't have reviews except from ARC readers.

I really don't read much popular fiction so I have oodles of choices for this prompt! I've got some options pencilled in but I'll most likely use it a freebie prompt for a book I want to read that doesn't fit elsewhere.

dalex wrote: "I really don't read much popular fiction so I have oodles of choices for this prompt! I've got some options pencilled in but I'll most likely use it a freebie prompt for a book I want to read that ..."

I was really surprised by how many I have on my list, too. About 175 of my 350-ish TBR list on here meet this criteria!

Out of interest I sorted by TBR by number of ratings and around half of mine (out of 660 😵) fit this prompt too. I'll be pairing this with a reject prompt for sure.

I debated doing a new release or NetGalley ARC but I'm going to go with one of the Kindle First Reads that's been on my Kindle for a while.

A lot of my list would fill this, to be honest. I have a lot of plays, poetry, academic writing (like The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard), and the like.

I might read a fluffy cozy mystery called Horse of a Different Killer by Laura Morrigan. It is the next in an in-progress series. My other option is The Convert, a play by Danai Gurira. A lot of you might know her from the Marvel Universe or The Walking Dead, but she's supposed to be a kick-ass playwright.

I started with more than 1000 options in my TBR, so I will definitely pair it with one or more rejected prompts.

These were among the highest rated books and sound really different from other books on my lists.

The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen - translated, autobiography/memoir, independence theme, mental health. Best-of lists.

The Boy Who Saw In Colours - Independent publisher (Self published?), community plays a role (forced conformity), literary fiction. Also fits academic setting.

⭐️Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis- Community plays a role, Also fits Continents - South America. Uruguay isn't on my reading map yet.

Abigail - translated book, Eastern European country. Also fits Continents -Europe. Hungary isn't on my reading map yet.

Added:
Today I received a non-fiction ARC that seems highly readable. It already led to some interesting dinner conversation. The Creeks Will Rise: People Coexisting with Floods by William S. Becker

I have so many books that fit this prompt, so I picked books I actually own.

Jenny Wren - E.H. Young
On Forsyte 'Change - John Galsworthy
Pierrette - Honore de Balzac

Apparently this prompt makes up the majority of my TBR - I just counted 17 books that fit and haven’t even made it halfway through my list.

This is a prompt that I am not going to plan ahead for. I will just see what I feel like reading when it comes up (I plan to do the challenge in order) and see what fits.

Ellie wrote: "Out of interest I sorted by TBR by number of ratings and around half of mine (out of 660 😵) fit this prompt too. I'll be pairing this with a reject prompt for sure."

How do you sort by rating? Mine only shows me my ratings, not anyone else's - which I don't have any on my TBR, unless I want to reread them.

I read quite a few "odd" books for my talks on women's history or just because I found something at a thrift store or library sale, so I'm sure I won't have any trouble with this.

Robin P wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Out of interest I sorted by TBR by number of ratings and around half of mine (out of 660 😵) fit this prompt too. I'll be pairing this with a reject prompt for sure."

How do you sort ..."

When your in your books, click on the settings button at the top and it will bring up a menu of what info you want displayed. Check off 'num ratings' and then you can set it to sort by whichever column you want.

NancyJ wrote: "I started with more than 1000 options in my TBR, so I will definitely pair it with one or more rejected prompts.
."

Whoa 😮

I have sooo many books on my TBR and many are "unknowns" or obscure so this is a very easy/doable task. I am just going to use the random feature to choose one when the time comes.

Here is this book, so far, I am the only person to review it. It is self-published and I could only get it on Kindle.
The Chaos Gambit

XOXY, A Memoir: Intersex Woman, Mother, Activist has been on my e-reader for awhile, and I'm shocked it doesn't have more reviews yet. memoir about the author finding out she's intersex when she's in her 40s, and what it means to be intersex in this era.

I've picked Ask The Parrot by Richard Stark

There's many I have and I will definitely see when we start the new year.

But there are a few I wil name now:
Woman 99 by Greer Macallister
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Many of the books I read and have read will fit this prompt. Here are a few I especially enjoyed:

Fiction:
The Young Lions
The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton
The Clearing
The Time of Our Singing
The Memory of Love
Remember Ben Clayton
The Translator
Desperation Road
So Much Blue
The Ice House
Seasons of the Moon
My Real Name Is Hanna (YA)
A Man
The Eternal Audience of One

Non-Fiction:
Nelson's Purse
Walking the Nile
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism
Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane, and an Epic Battle for Survival

PM me if you want a specific recommendation on a particular topic of interest. I read mostly literary and historical fiction, and non-fiction.

Thanks, Kendra, for the info above, I never realized all the ways I could sort books!

Some I recommend that are under 5000 ratings

Driftless
Trustee from the Toolroom
Too Deep for Tears
These Granite Islands
Father Melancholy's Daughter
Solar Storms
Spring Moon: A Novel of China
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Blind Justice

So Goodreads has me totally confused for this prompt. I’ve just finished The Blue Skinned Gods by SJ Sindhu. At the top of it’s GR page , right by the star rating, it says 471 ratings. Perfect for this prompt then. However, I scrolled down to the community ratings and review section and below the first three reviews it says 12,854 other community ratings and reviews. Anyone have any idea which figure counts for this prompt?

Serendipity wrote: "So Goodreads has me totally confused for this prompt. I’ve just finished The Blue Skinned Gods by SJ Sindhu. At the top of it’s GR page , right by the star rating, it says 471 ratings. Perfect for ..."

Your book works, I’m seeing 480 for the rating (481 when I look at it under the Beta GR version). I’m not sure why it showed 12,854 further down. I don’t see see that anywhere.

I was on the app yesterday when I saw it. Today I’m on the desktop (so no app) and don’t see. Weird. Anyway thanks Jillian. I’ll count it and put the discrepancy down to a GR glitch or something.

I just looked at it on the app. I see that 12,000 number. I think, it must be sometimes the app that does not really work or make sense.

Oh the app is well known for being glitchy and terrible. When in doubt, check the desktop version. It always annoys me when they try to make changes to the website when the app is in such desperate need of an overhaul.

Michaela Coel – Misfits https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read Strange Beasts of China for this prompt, and I highly recommend it! A quick read and delightfully weird.

Nicole wrote: "I read Strange Beasts of China for this prompt, and I highly recommend it! A quick read and delightfully weird."

Wow that looks wonderful, Nicole. Thanks for pointing it out.

I read City of the Dead for this one. I hadn't really planned anything for this prompt but this book was next in the series that I'm reading and luckily it fit. :)

I had an easy option for this one - I'd bought myself Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook: From Aphrodite to Zeus, a Profile of Who's Who in Greek Mythology at the end of last year, and hadn't read it yet.

Yesterday I finished Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell.

I read What Abigail Did That Summer, it had 4,235 ratings when I chose it (although it had just nudged over to 5,036 when I finished it today).

I'm surprised at how few ratings some of the books I've enjoyed have, The Unlikely Heroics of Sam Holloway, The Mirror World of Melody Black and The Eagle Tree should all have been read by a lot more people.

I had a bit of a serendipitous pick for this one and ended up reading Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross. It was the Owlcrate pick for November so I was surprised when I noticed that it had so few ratings! This was a prompt that I was nervous about fulfilling because I tend to gravitate towards popular fiction, so I'm glad I was able to get it out of the way.

I read:
Learwife: A Novel by J.R. Thorpe - 4* - My Review

My pick for this was Duke I'd Like to F.... Just over 300 ratings as of my last check!

What are the least rated books on your Goodreads shelves? I acutally have a lot under 5,000

What will you be picking up for this week? I read The Fox and The Hound and it has just over 1100 ratings.

I'd recommend The Fox and the Hound and We Are Unprepared, A Permanent Member of the Family, and The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency.

I read The Governess by Mary Kingswood, which has 1,709 ratings on Goodreads. It was a charming Regency romance with a dash of mystery.

I have a lot of books with less than 5000 ratings on Goodreads. The lowest is Psychonautica, with 2. I haven't read it yet.

My favorite author without a lot of ratings is M. Louisa Locke, a writer of historical mysteries set in 1880s San Francisco. The first book in the series is the only one with over 5000 ratings. They feature strong, realistic female characters and the author does a lot of research into the stories to make the plot and characters fit the time and place they are set.

Well, I don't know how to sort by ratings (there is likely a widget or something), but a book I just finished, by virtue of it being quite new (2021) fits the category - so I will take advantage and use that one.

The book, which is quite wonderful (if sad), is The High House by Jessie Greengrass. An apocalyptic tale told on a small, local scale with a ton of emotion and a nostalgic feel. The writing is lovely, the characters well-crafted, and the subject matter could not be more timely. A great read.

Matthias wrote: "Well, I don't know how to sort by ratings (there is likely a widget or something), but a book I just finished, by virtue of it being quite new (2021) fits the category - so I will take advantage an..."

Matthias just in case you wanted to use that feature:

On the web browser, if you go to My Books, each column header for title, author, date published, etc can be clicked on and that will sort that list of books alphabetically in the case of title or author and numerically for the others. The specific columns you have displayed can be changed by clicking on settings and checking or unchecking as you will.

If you're on the app, you're on your own, unfortunately.

I read Wahalafor this prompt it is a new release so not sure how long it will be under 5000 but for the time being it works. I was going to go with something that had been on my TBR longer but I am also trying to read more black authors this month so decided to go with this instead.

I read Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride, with 1,04 ratings at the time of reading.

Strange hotel - strange book, just a stream of consciousness. It is very short )149 pages, but took me a while to get into. Once I got the meaning of the thoughts, it was actually a moving and intense book.

Thanks to the Madeline author prompt (read-a-thon) I read my book for this category.Thicker Than Blood- less than 500 ratings, with good reason LOL. I thought I might enjoy it because ZOMBIE APOCOLYPSE, but I have never met a cast of characters that I disliked more. ✔. Done.

I struggled with my plans for this and will probably still read my original choice This Will All Be Over Soon: A Memoir or I realized I can read a kindle first selection. I have quite a few ready to go.

Ugh.... I picked a book in Nov with just under 4000 ratings. Then the author died in Jan and it now has 5200. Can I still count it?

Emily answered a similar question before the year started, and said, that yes if you planned a book for this prompt when it was under 5000, it would be OK to use it even if it gained more ratings. I guess it's up to you to know whether it was a firm plan or not. (Mine are rarely firm choices.)

NancyJ wrote: "Emily answered a similar question before the year started, and said, that yes if you planned a book for this prompt when it was under 5000, it would be OK to use it even if it gained more ratings. ..."

I have nowhere else to put it!

It sounds like it works then.

I read Portrait of a Thief for this prompt. It has about 400 ratings at the moment, as it isn't out until next month. I'm glad I was offered an ARC of it, as it's definitely one of my favorite books so far this year. Highly recommend - it's a gorgeously written character study and exploration of diaspora, history, and identity, as well as an exciting heist story.

I had picked up Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen last year, and was reminded of it yesterday when the author did an AMA on Reddit on r/books. It only has slightly fewer than 2k ratings currently.

I used Peach Blossom Spring. It has 1,838 ratings. 5 stars. I enjoyed it.