Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

We pride ourselves on a member-created list, but that inevitably means some of our favorite prompts get cut on the chopping board. This is your opportunity to choose of your favorite prompts that didn't make the final list and bring it back to life!

Prompts That Didn't Make It In: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading for this prompt, and what prompt does it fit?

At the moment Do No Harm for “ character who had a job Barbie did” but still looking at where everyone will be

I always read the Canada Reads shortlist, and that comes out fairly early in the year (long list usually January, shortlist February), so that will likely be the rejected prompt I use.

(With that, the mini-reject challenge and the Canadian/Australian/New Zealand author, that gets me to 3/5 being prompt fills. Depending on the list, hopefully I can find other prompts for the last two.)

I have used the Goodreads Choice Awards the last few years. As much as I'm itching to get planning my January books, I guess I'll wait until November for the longlist to be announced. I'm also using the Tournament of Books as my connection for prompt 2, so that's another one I'll be waiting on.

Does anyone have contact with Robin Holmes Richardson? I need her to clarify something related to this prompt

I'm doing this prompt twice since I'm also using it for "a second book that fits your favorite prompt."

Right now, the two books I have selected are:

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Rejected prompts that fit - A book with a body part in the title; A book related to "civil rights"; A book that has a character with a non-traditional name; A book related to X marks the Spot (set during era of Generation X); A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists; A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award; A book with a character who is marginalized; A book with a hot topic; A book featured on a list for a media or celebrity book club

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

Rejected prompts that fit - A book with twins; A book with a hand on the cover; A book that plays with perceptions of reality; A book related to fire; A book from the NPR “Books We Love” lists; A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award; A book another ATY group member gave 5 stars; A book that is between 400-600 pages; A book by a female author which won an award

I will be using the prompt "A book with twins in it" and I'll be reading The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

My favorites that didn't make it were neurodiverse character, fish out of water, and Eurovision country (but that one has some overlap with others). I like choosing the prompt first just because I like it, and then finding a book to fit - rather than deciding on what I want to read and then finding a prompt to fit it.

dalex, Take My Hand is phenomenal. Such an impactful and infuriating book.

I think I'll wait until December to decide what my favorite prompt was that I want to repeat, but I have a feeling it will be this one lol.

Emily wrote: "dalex, Take My Hand is phenomenal. Such an impactful and infuriating book."

I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews so I’m really looking forward to it.

It's way too early for me to accurately predict what I will select but my early planning is to use the musical instrument prompt and read either The Lost Pianos of Siberia, Accordion Crimes, The Blue Guitar, or The Hearing Trumpet.

I reverse engineer this prompt so I can fit books in either for a plan or because I want to read them, so it's a question of reading down the failed suggestions list to find one that covers a particular book.

I'm reading The Frangipani Tree Mystery because I wanted a book set in Singapore. The MC is a nanny, so that was covered by the 'MC in domestic service' suggestion.

For a second bite of the cherry, which is an attempt to clear a lot of my TBR list, I'm using the suggestion 'book with a girl, boy, man or woman in the title' to read The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear.

But I have used books for other prompts that could also cover failed suggestions that I'm disappointed about e.g. I'm reading Wednesday’s Child for the botanic cover prompt, but it would also work for the failed 'book related to the Addams Family' suggestion.

This is my favorite prompt so I will being using it also for "a second book that fits your favorite prompt."

I'm going to attempt my version of reading in order (I have to finish the books in order).

3. A book that fits a suggestion that didn’t make the final list (A book the that helps you reflect or recharge)-
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

I'm also planning on using related to mushrooms.

Since, we have had this prompt I feel like mushrooms are everywhere. On FB, I keep getting an ad for some mushroom game. My friend posted a picture of her daughter's birthday with a book about mushrooms to help her overcome her fear of mushrooms. I open up news app and there are article about the benefits of mushrooms. I type "music" into the search engine on Libby with in the first page of books I get Ghost Music by An Yu. So, I'm taking this as a sign to read a book related to mushrooms.

I'm taking Thomas' Anne of Green Gables prompt and doing "A book to honour the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lucy Maud Montgomery"

I'm either reading The Story Girl, Jane of Lantern Hill, or Further Chronicles of Avonlea.

And I'm finally going to have an Anne inspired tea party, like I've been meaning to do since someone bought me a book with recipes in it.

Jillian wrote: "Since, we have had this prompt I feel like mushrooms are everywhere...."

I would take that as a sign too! I'm considering mushrooms for this prompt, but I'll probably wait to see what other challenges are doing before committing.

I will also being using it also for "a second book that fits your favorite prompt."

I do like the Goodreads Choice Award idea, my initial thought was "A book with a word in the title related to reading." But on looking through my TBR that will be harder to fill than I thought. "A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian" is always a good one too.

I may also go the route of picking a book and then finding a prompt that fits, or seeing if a book club book during that time fits a prompt.

Thomas wrote: "Does anyone have contact with Robin Holmes Richardson? I need her to clarify something related to this prompt"

That would be me...

I found 3 prompts that interested me and have listed a book for each as an option for filling this prompt. I reserve the right to change my mind, however.

Literary Fiction - The Overstory
Banned Book - The Awakening
Set in BCE - The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt

As of right this moment, I'm thinking of going with 'a Goodreads Choice Award nominee' since I always add a bunch to my TBR. A few of the older possibilities for me:

A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman
Finding Me
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

This year I also voted for some of the prompts and was sad that some didn't make it.

Some that would be interesting for me to read for:
A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards
A book related to the year of the wood dragon
A book involving pirates, maps, or treasure
A book with a piece of fruit on the cover
2 Weeks: A book with "life" in the title, and a book with "death" in the title
4 Weeks: Four books where each cover is related to a different season (fall, winter, spring, summer)
A book with a person on the cover and you can’t see their whole face
A book related to fire
A book recommended for or related to your zodiac sign
A book with a character that could be described as one of the classes in Dungeons and Dragons
A book with a clock on the cover

Will see which one I go for. :)

Update: Initially I was excited for the D&D one, but I ended up with A book related to the year of the wood dragon, and I picked The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Kay O'Neill. I gave it a 4.5 rounded up and with this I finished the trilogy. <3
Totally recommend!

I like to use this prompt to get in something that I'd figured out a perfect fit for during the voting process. I knew straightaway that I'd be using Roses are Red from the multi-week, though I'm going for four books instead of the three proposed, because there are four lines and I have books for all four:

Roses are red
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
Violets are blue
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Sugar is sweet
The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West
And so are You
You by Caroline Kepnes

My plan is to use the "Banned Books" prompt for both this and the second Prompt for your favorite prompt. I have a list 1000 rows long, not including those from other countries to choose from.

One of them will definitely be Eleanor Roosevelt: Fighter for Justice by Ilene Cooper, which was banned in Oct 2022 in a Texas school district. Seriously, who bans Eleanor Roosevelt?

Some ideas I collected this afternoon:

Book with a known great last line -
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
A Tale of Two Cities
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
The Great Gatsby
The Return of the King
To the Lighthouse
Crime and Punishment
Don Quixote
1984

Audie Award nominees/winners -
The Alice Network
Neverwhere
Project Hail Mary
The Nickel Boys
The Jasmine Throne
The Republic of Thieves

Right now I'm planning on reading Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (what a fabulous name!)
which could also be used for A book with a botanical cover

I've been wanting to read this since at least last year, so when Nike suggested the surprising A book related to mushrooms I thought I had my chance! Well, I guess I still do. I hope it's as interesting as I think it will be. I also just found out that there is an illustrated edition, which I think would be really great. I hope I can find that!

If for some reason this doesn't pan out, I'm sure I have something else I can fit in here, and will report back if that's what happens.

I found this book would fit not only for "botanical cover" as mentioned above, but 10 other prompts, including A book that is not a novel, A science or science fiction book, and for me — A book connected to something you read in 2023, as I read Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard, which also includes a lot of discussion about fungi and how they help forests flourish.

That is a really interesting book.

Tracy wrote: "Right now I'm planning on reading Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (what a fabulous name!)
[bookcover:Entangled Li..."

I just finished this a few weeks ago. I thought it was fascinating! I've been regaling my adult kids with mycelial facts ever since.

I will also be using the goodreads choice awards long list to pick from for this one!

I don't really have a dog in this fight, as I missed out on all the voting. So I just went with ones that stood out to me, rather than ones I'd been rooting for to make it into the final challenge. My possibles are:

- A book that features a hobby - The Sewing Machine by Natalie Fergie
- A nonfiction book about a topic you have always wanted to learn about - Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn
- A book with a character dealing with mental health or cognitive challenges - The Asylum by Karen Coles
- A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian - Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
- A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

I chose "A book shelved as literary fiction" as my prompt that didn't make the list. I'm planning to read Lady Tan's Circle of Women for this prompt. This will be my third book by Lisa See. I'm looking forward to reading her latest book. I really enjoy her writing.

I will be reading Chain-Gang All-Stars it is on the listopia for this prompt I think it fits several of tasks that didnt win

more then one MC
MC - mad bad or dangerous
title refers to one or more characters in the book
A book with a character whose name that starts with a letter in the phrase LIBRARY CARD

dalex wrote: "I'm doing this prompt twice since I'm also using it for "a second book that fits your favorite prompt."

Right now, the two books I have selected are:

Take My Hand by [author:Dolen..."


Thank you for including the prompt that "Take My Hand" fit under. I had such a hard time finding the rejected prompts, when all along I could've just come to this discussion lol

This is what I have decided to read for this prompt :)

I'll be using the prompt "A Book You Meant to Read in 2023" because there is one book I meant to read for all of 2023. It came out last January, and I had it on hold at the library for months before finally starting it this fall. But I still didn't finish in time for it to count with my 2023 reads so I shall be continuing Spare by Prince Harry. Here's to finally finishing it in the new year!

I plan to read The Bell by Iris Murdoch using the prompt from Poll 8: "A book with a great first line.:

"Dora Greenfield left her husband because she was afraid of him."

I am currently reading Apeirogon by Colum McCann, which is between 400-600 pages AND literary fiction, which are 2 prompts I voted for.

I'm using the prompt:
A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards

and currently reading What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez, which will also help me by reading a book off of my BOTM backlog and physical shelf.

Take 2: Probably going to use the same prompt option, but maybe one of these books from the Tournament of Books Shortlist (which were all either winners or nominees from the choice awards)
Big Swiss
The Bee Sting
Wellness
Let Us Descend

From Poll 10 "Book shelved as literary fiction" I've read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan for this prompt

I chose the prompt: A book with twins in it

short and sweet review: 5.0
It's one of my favorite love stories this year. Ryan is the perfect book boyfriend. Indy seems to have been in the right place at the right time.

I read:
From Poll 7
---A book told from multiple character POVs
The Clockwork Scarab, Colleen Gleason

BIO: A 2nd suggestion that didn’t make the final list --- A book with more than one main character (From Poll 9)

Finished : 01/12/2024
4 stars

I did 'A winner or nominee from the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards'
I chose
I gave it a 2.5 stars ⭐️

I have read The Personal Librarian it fits the prompt fiction book with a real person as a character

Belle Da costa Greene was personal libratian to JP morgan - both real people.
Her role is little known and the book has a very interesting narrative line but I failed to be captured by the characters in a way that would make this book truly memorable

Completed Apeirogon by Colum McCann, 453 pages, literary fiction

The Jinn Daughter

Marie (UK) wrote: "I have read The Personal Librarian it fits the prompt fiction book with a real person as a character

Belle Da costa Greene was personal libratian to JP morgan - both real people.
H..."

Another book featuring Belle Da costa Greene is The Ghost of Madison Avenue by Nancy Bilyeau. It's a novella.

I’m pushing the envelope on this one and going with Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

I read The Heiress for a A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book. I was going to use A graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist but then decided to use the book I found for that for the Wonderful World prompt.

Its my first time doing ATY, and I am planning now. Where can I find the list of suggestions that didnt make it? thanks!

Roxanne wrote: "Its my first time doing ATY, and I am planning now. Where can I find the list of suggestions that didnt make it? thanks!"

There is a link in the 1st post that shows all the prompts that were suggested so anything that isn't on the main list would be a fit.

thanks Samantha. the link doesn't work for me unfortunately! I've tried it on the app and desktop and it activates both links when I try to click one and can't load

Roxanne, if you go to the ATY spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

at the bottom of the sheet are various tabs including one for 2024 rejects.

I read The Rose Code. 5 stars. A book longer than 500 pages.