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 Tuesday, September 24 and results will be posted in the morning of Saturday, September 28 (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 that breaks the fourth wall
2. A book with an indefinite article in the title
3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld
4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal
5. A book that features a moral dilemma
6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
7. A book related to theft or stealing
8. A book about libraries or library workers
9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings
10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
11. A biography or memoir
12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published
13. A book related to wheels
14. A book involving science
15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES

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

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/pDa3r42W3RQhb2iq6

THOUGHTS & IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall
This could be interpreted as a book that addresses the reader directly via second-person narration, or a book that is written in epistolary form via letters, a diary, or similar.

I've started a Listopia full of examples, & meant to fill it out more before suggestions started, but Emily opened early & I have an appointment to get to! I will add more later! There are way more examples beyond this, but I kept this list focused on more contemporary titles specifically for adult readers. If you want to get into some more classic titles & don't mind reading books for a more YA audience, there are even more options (The Hobbit, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Princess Bride, Catcher in the Rye, etc).

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title
This year's challenge had a prompt for ""The ...."" titles, so how about some love for the indefinite article in 2025?
Here are some listopias for books that start with the indefinite article ""A"", but you could also have a title with it in the middle (like ""Anatomy of a Murder"" or ""The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet"").
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld
Underground: Could be nature, caving, and other exploration, books set on underground transport systems, resistance groups, underground railroad
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Undersea: Climate emergency, wrecks, fantasy worlds, submarines.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Underworld: Myth and legend, fairy worlds, or completely different, the criminal underworld, or the underworld of poverty
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://crimereads.com/new-york-under...
https://explorethearchive.com/organiz...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal
This prompt is inspired by the movie The Breakfast Club (1985), which turns 40 in 2025! Here are some ideas:

Brain: a character who is smart, nerdy, or a high-achiever
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Athlete: a character who practices a sport, a jock
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Basket Case: a character who has a hard time functioning in society, maybe they're a nervous wreck, or overwhelmed or struggling with their mental health. Can also be a socially withdrawn or alienated character
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

Princess: can be a literal princess in a fantasy or memoir or a character who is popular, spoiled, or from a privileged background
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

Criminal: a rebellious character or one who engages in criminal activity
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

5. A book that features a moral dilemma
Moral Dilemmas: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

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

Fiction and nonfiction dealing with trolley problems (broadly understood as moral dilemmas in which the only way to prevent some horrible event involves causing another).

6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
This is my favorite prompt to fill each year since we always have some great prompt suggestions that don't make it onto the final list.

This year's, so far: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

7. A book related to theft or stealing
Bank heists, fraud, identity theft, impersonation, kidnapping, kleptomania, stolen heart, cultural appropriation

Heists and robberies :
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
Stolen Identity :
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Counterfeiting and Fraud
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Kidnapping:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Kleptomania:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Stolen heart/memories:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

8. A book about libraries or library workers
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2024/04/08/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

10. 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...

12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published
I went to Amazon and search in Books, Kindle Store, and Audibles and Originals for "tenth anniversary edition" and "10th anniversary edition". The links are below.

You could KISS it with any anniversary edition rather than a 10th anniversary edition..
Books:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%2210th+an...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%22tenth+a...
Kindle Store:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%2210th+an...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%22tenth+a...
Audibles & Originals:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%2210th+an...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%22tenth+a...

13. A book related to wheels
(in the title, content, cover or author's name). E.g. (and not limited to): cars, toys, wheelchair, wheel of Fortune, bicycle, golf carts, etc.!

15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES
Bread: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Sourdough Creek by Caroline Fyffe
Meat: The Death of Francis Bacon by Max Porter, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Cheese: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss
Vegetables: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café by Fannie Flagg
Condiments: Peanut Butter Fudge & Murder by Lori Woods, Knife Edge by Simon Mayo, A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Sandwiches: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton, Pastrami Murder by Patti Benning, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (submarine), The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, A Beautiful Cage by Alyson Reuben

Emily I added a bit more…. I’ll delete the duplication later and substitute any additional links

14. A book involving science

This could include:
A book that touches on any field of physical, natural, medical or social sciences.
A book about a person who works in a scientific field -
a biologist, physician, nurse, lab tech, psychologist, naturalist, technologist, physicist, environmentalist, sociologist, veterinarian, chemist, researcher, or other STEM fields. Grad students or researchers in a science field.
A book about nature, plants, trees, mushrooms, ecosystems, ecology
A book about human biology, or medical science
A book about the environment, climate change, geology
A book about neuroscience, psychology, neurology, sociology,
Science fiction that touches on real science
Fiction or non fiction
STEM, STEM romance, STEM thrillers

Science
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/science
Scientist
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/scie...
Climate science
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/clim...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/climate
STEM
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Thanks, NancyJ. I had missed that.

I wish I had 15 votes for this poll, but I think I have narrowed down my votes to 5/3.

First impressions:

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall - I like this in theory but have no idea of any books that fit. I could be persuaded if I had enough options to pull from

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title - Not my favourite, but I do like it.

3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld - Love this! Definite upvote

4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal - Another one that I could see myself treating as a multi-week. Most likely an upvote

5. A book that features a moral dilemma - Likely upvote

6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list - I'm indifferent to this. It inevitably seems to make the list every year so I'm not strongly compelled to "waste" a vote on it, but I also personally don't really need the prompt since I do a rejects challenge of my votes that didn't make it anyway

7. A book related to theft or stealing - A very strong maybe. I'm sure I have a lot of thrillers that fit.

8. A book about libraries or library workers - Definite upvote. I know it's similar to prompts we've seen before, but I always like this one

9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings - Meh, not really my thing so probably a downvote. I might just leave it neutral since I have several YA anthologies on my shelf though.

10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device - I'm a little prompt fatigued on this one.

11. A biography or memoir - Downvote. I can find something if it does get in, but it's not something I'm actively interested in reading

12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published - I'm pretty indifferent to this one. I can imagine it's a lot of classics and extremely popular books that I've likely already read

13. A book related to wheels - I have no idea what I'd read for this so I'd have to think about it

14. A book involving science - A strong maybe.

15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES - Not my favourite and some of the examples above don't make sense to me (ie. Thursday Murder Club), but I do like the creativity. I'd probably leave it neutral

Rachel wrote: "First impressions:

A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES - Not my favourite and some of the examples above don't make sense to me (ie. Thursday Murder Club), but I do like the creativity. I'd probably leave it neutral"

A club sandwich is usually cooked poultry—like turkey or chicken—bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and bread.

Hmmm I would like to downvote 8, upvote 4 and I'm completely neutral on 3. So I'm a little stuck.

I love #2 but it's a b--- to search your TBR for! GR skips it for alphabetizing too!

I will probably upvote 3, 4, 14, and 15 and downvote 1, 9, and 11. I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around the first prompt and finding books that would satisfy this prompt. The other two I don't really have an interest in. I'm neutral on the others.

Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet.

Tracy wrote: "Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet."

Nope. Quotes also don't work, This might be a prompt one stumbles upon the answer for... I still might vote yes or not at all. I have till tomorrow to decide!

First impressions

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall
I like it.

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title
I like the connection to this years "The ----------" prompt.

3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld
I like it.

4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal
Meh

5. A book that features a moral dilemma
Maybe

6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
I seconded this, so of course I'm voting for it.

7. A book related to theft or stealing
I like it.

8. A book about libraries or library workers
I like it.

9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings
Love it.

10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
Love it.

11. A biography or memoir
I read a lot of memoirs, so it feels like too easy a prompt for me.

12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published
Meh

13. A book related to wheels
I love the randomness of this.

14. A book involving science
It has possibilities.

15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES
Love it.

So looks like no downvotes for me this time.

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall I like this prompt; it sounds fun. Then, I looked at the list and realized that I've read a lot of books that do this -> and loved them all.

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title THE >> A/AN

3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld This has me interested, I can think of some good examples that I could read.

4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal So, you're saying I can ready any book. Got it.

5. A book that features a moral dilemma Torn on this one. It sounds hard to know if a book qualifies, going in. But I should check out the list.

6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list This one is always one of my favorites, of every year. Because I like the more challenging prompts and they usually don't get in. There are always prompts that I wanted that didn't get in. But it is also an any book prompt.

7. A book related to theft or stealing What if the book is stolen. If I return it after I've read it, I might be okay with that.

8. A book about libraries or library workers I love library workers. This appeals to me.

9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings I seconded this one. A lot of the prompts ask for a novel, I like that this one gives me a chance to read some of the short story collections that are on my TBR.

10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device I warned you that I would vote for this if it got suggested. But you wouldn't listen.

11. A biography or memoir I should read more of these. I love them, when I read them, and yet, I rarely do.

12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published I always see 10th, 25th, 40th, etc anniversary editions of LPs and films. I don't know that I've ever noticed it in a book. Wait, its going to have one of those terrible forwards where some asshole spoils the plot of the book, isn't it...

13. A book related to wheels I love wheels. Don't think I've ever considered reading a book because of wheels, but this intrigues me.

14. A book involving science Can't go wrong with science. But I feel like I've been upvoting a lot of books about science. I should check the list to see how many we have (who am I kidding, all the books that I read are about science).

15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES mmmmm sandwiches....

J wrote: "15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES mmmmm sandwiches...."

I know, I was too distracted for lunch today so had some candy when I got hungry.... and a sandwich sounds super good right now! It's a prompt I'll have to fill quickly or else each time I'm filling prompts (I do like 10 at a time), I'll be hungry.

And an excuse to read Sandwich even though I really like the more creative interpretations

Pamela wrote: "I love #2 but it's a b--- to search your TBR for! GR skips it for alphabetizing too!"

If you download your list as a CSV export, excel puts all A/An at the top of the filter.

One of my GR complaints is that they have a column for Author first/last and for Author last/first, but only one Title column that includes subtitles and series name. How is that not three different columns?

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)

Shelley wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I love #2 but it's a b--- to search your TBR for! GR skips it for alphabetizing too!"

If you download your list as a CSV export, excel puts all A/An at the top of the filter.

One o..."

That works! I have some good options with just beginning with the A/AN-- thank you!

Pamela wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet."

Nope. Quotes also don't work, This might be a prompt one stumbles upon t..."

Sorry, I didn't mean to use quotes — I was trying to say to use a space then an A or AN and then another space. But I've tried that and it didn't work.

BUT, what I did just try that seems to work (although one result so far didn't seem to belong) is to use an HTML entity called:

& n b s p ;

which stands for a space (to help you remember, NBSP means NonBreaking SPace)
I had to type this with spaces in between each letter/symbol of this entity or it will just show up as a space in this comment, so when you use it, type all the symbols and letters (from & through semicolon) without spaces in between.

I had to do this on my computer (or I supposed on your phone using the browser based website and not the app), go into My Books, and I'm assuming then Want to Read. In the search bar type: "& n b s p ;a" (Quotes are only for you to see the entire search term as a group) for searching for A as a word or "& n b s p ;an (again, quotes are only for you to see the entire search term as a group) for searching for An as a word and you should get at least a pretty good sort. The one outlier I got was: The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0) by J.R.R. Tolkien, which doesn't even have an "a" in it, but everything else on the first page of results had "a" as a word in the title, or subtitle.

Tracy wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet."
.."

When you all find good titles for A/A titles, could you add some to the listopia the suggester provided? (Sorry, I didn’t check for your name!)

Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one.

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall
I don’t really understand it and the listopia isn’t helping.

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title
Meh.

3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld
Interesting but I’m not sure what I have on my TBR that would work.

4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal
I’m kind of over the cultural association prompts.

5. A book that features a moral dilemma
Isn’t this most books?

6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list
LOVE!

7. A book related to theft or stealing
Meh.

8. A book about libraries or library workers
Prompt. Fatigue.

9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings
I like short stories.

10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device
Prompt. Fatigue.

11. A biography or memoir
No.

12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published
Doable, possibly, but I don’t love it.

13. A book related to wheels
Interesting. Would be a fun scavenger hunt.

14. A book involving science
Sci-fi is a favorite genre.

15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES
Same thought when this prompt has come up before … why?

Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

surprisingly, there's a shelf for this: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet."
.."

When you all find good titles for A/A t..."

I'll try Nancy, but that could be a LOT of books...
EDIT: actually I shouldn't add to that one. Those listopias are only for A and not AN, and only titles that START with A, not even titles that have A somewhere else in the title besides the very beginning.

It's so frustrating - to do the targeted search I suggest you have to be in the browser, but the browser version doesn't seem to allow you to do a search within your MyBooks. You CAN search within your MyBooks in the app, but the search term I suggest to weed out titles with A or AN does not work in the app...

@Isabel, any idea why the listopias you supplied were broken down into 2 lists (the second one says "Part 2"). Based on other long lists I've seen, it is no where close to reaching the limit, if there even is one.

For some reason, I thought this week's votes were on the close calls. I didn't realize there would be normal suggestions! Rats!

Tracy wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Does it help to search “space” A “space” or “space” AN “space” instead of just A or AN? I haven’t tried yet."
.."

When you all find good t..."

I suspect that the person who created the list didn’t think to recruit someone to help add titles. Each person can only add 100 titles, but if you ask someone to help, they can click on the ones you added, so you can delete them, and add new ones. A lot of people help Jackie and Emily this way when they’re creating lists.

This going to be a tedious one unless you have a small tbr.

Tracy wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

surprisingly, there's a shelf for this: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/..."

Lesson for today: You can find a tag list for almost anything!

Michelle wrote: "Hmmm I would like to downvote 8, upvote 4 and I'm completely neutral on 3. So I'm a little stuck."

Right there with you! 🫤

J wrote: "1. A book that breaks the fourth wall I like this prompt; it sounds fun. Then, I looked at the list and realized that I've read a lot of books that do this -> and loved them all.

2. A book with a..."

We don’t have a real science prompt voted in yet.
We have prompts for science fiction, “set” in nature, and related to animals, but there are none that will prompt me to look for new books about ecosystems, evolution, genetics, neuroscience, climate change, or something I didn’t even know about before. It’s fairly easy to fit a science fiction book into a science prompt, but it’s harder to do the reverse.

I tried to wrote this so it could work for those who love science, and those who don’t. Do you think it works?

Tracy wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

surprisingly, there's a shelf for this: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/..."



the books that have been shelved are very confusing though. Does "turnips" have some other meaning??

Nadine in NY wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

surprisingly, there's a shelf for this: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/sho..."

I assume this is for sandwich since Sandra says she makes a sandwich with them. I have NEVER heard of turnips in a sandwich but if you google it you will find some.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

surprisingly, there's a shelf for this: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/sho..."

My best guess is turnip = something bad, sorta like a lemon is a car/machine that breaks down right away.

Upvotes: moral dilemma, suggestion that didn’t make it, a collection (I just bought Cixin Liu’s Wandering Earth short stories), food, bio/memoir, and science. No to wheels and sandwiches. Im really leaning towards prompts that work for non-fiction.

I think the Turnip shelf I was trying to share got messed up in translation. I think this link should give you a page with 3 lists that should make more sense. Hope it works better this time.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag?ut...

Not 100% decided yet, but looking like this;
1 = 🤔
2 = 🤔
3 = 🤔
4 = 🤔
5 = 🤔
6 = 👍
7 = 🤔
8 = 🤔
9 = 👍
10 = 👍
11 = 👍
12 = 👎
13 = 👎
14 = 👎
15 = 👎

First impressions

1. A book that breaks the fourth wall - probable upvote. it’s challenging in a good way. I like the list.
2. A book with an indefinite article in the title - no, this isn’t fun for me
3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld - maybe, Ghost Bride
4. A book with a main character who is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal - yes, probable upvote
5. A book that features a moral dilemma - this is a stand out. I like the list.
6. A prompt suggestion for this year that did not make the list -upvote or neutral
7. A book related to theft or stealing - neutral
8. A book about libraries or library workers - probable upvote
9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings - probable upvote
10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device - maybe
11. A biography or memoir - probable upvote
12. A book that had a 10th anniversary edition published - no
13. A book related to wheels - no
14. A book involving science - yes, probable upvote
15. A book whose cover, title, or author’s name relates to SANDWICHES - maybe

#1 and #5 stand out from the rest . They’re challenging in a different way than searching for letters or words.

I’m confused with the moral dilemma prompt. It seems like most books feature a moral dilemma. It is kinda how tension/ conflict is created in the storyline.

Based on the GR list, I might vote for the 4th wall. I have quite a few of the books on my TBR, one of which I bought recently. Even though I’ve read several of the books on the list, the only one I remember fitting this category is Vanity Fair. That was the only book I could even think of when I saw the suggestion.

Jillian, yes, all/most books have a dilemma, but a moral dilemma is more like “the only way to prevent some horrible event involves causing another.” Something like a pilot has to crash land, but if they crash land in one spot the passengers are more likely to survive, but at the same time there will be more ground causialties.

“Sophie’s Choice” is another kind of issue that would be another moral dilemma.

Tracy wrote: "Jillian, yes, all/most books have a dilemma, but a moral dilemma is more like “the only way to prevent some horrible event involves causing another.” Something like a pilot has to crash land, but i..."

Maybe it is just the books I read, but most seem to have a moral dilemma.

Well Jillian, then you will be a great resource for our Listopia if Moral Dilemma gets in 😉

Tracy wrote: "I think the Turnip shelf I was trying to share got messed up in translation. I think this link should give you a page with 3 lists that should make more sense. Hope it works better this time.

http..."



yeah I think someone is using the word "turnips" to mean "idiots" or "bad" and shelving books accordingly. I have some goofy shelf names that maybe only make sense to me, so I get it.

Voting is open!

https://forms.gle/pDa3r42W3RQhb2iq6

Sandra wrote: "Anyone know a book about turnips? I make a delicious turnip sandwich. Now I'm craving one."

Doesn't Scarlett O'Hara find a turnip to eat when she returns to Tara in Gone with the Wind ?

I did 3 up (indefinite article, short stories, sandwich), and 5 down. I didn’t like the sandwich prompt at first but then this morning I found a book I would want to read called Sandwich so I decided to vote for it lol

8 up! I would have gone 9, but ultimately had to neglect one.

I would use Wheels as a travel prompt. It made me think of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles. Buses, motocycles, carts, tractors, rickshaws, bicycles, chariots, covered wagons, baby carriages, limousines…

Tentative votes

2. A book with an indefinite article in the title - Down or neutral
3. A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld -Upvote
5. A book that features a moral dilemma - not sure
7. A book related to theft or stealing - Upvote
9. A collection of short stories or novellas, essays, poetry, or a mix of various brief writings - Upvote
10. A book with food as a major theme or plot device - not sure
11. A biography or memoir - not sure
13. A book related to wheels -Upvote or neutral
14. A book involving science. - Upvote

3 up and 5 down. I upvoted the brain, athlete, etc. prompt because it gives me a slot for the Bromance Book club series which always amuses me and provides relief for those serious, heavy prompts. I also upvoted Sandwiches for the quirk factor. A Book that Didn't Make the List is always a plus for me.

@ Book Concierge, I was thinking it was a turnip and if I remember correctly, it didn't turn out well for her.

3 up

underworld, sandwich, and breakfast club

5 down.

re: a book that breaks the fourth wall.

For people having trouble understanding this one, breaking the fourth wall is when the narration addresses the reader/viewer directly. For example, on "Saved By the Bell" when Zack snaps his fingers & everybody freezes & he looks right into the camera & makes a little joke. One could argue that the off-stage narration by Ron Howard on "Arrested Development" is an example of breaking the fourth wall.

In books, it happens the same way. The character addresses the reader. Perhaps the most famous example is in "Jane Eyre": "Reader, I married him." But it's far from the only example. Throught A Series of Unfortunate Events, the narrator argues for the reader to put the book down & read something more pleasant. The mystery series by Benjamin Stevenson (Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone) is written directly to the reader, as if the narrator is instructing the reader on how to write a believable mystery series, while also expunging himself of culpability for all the murders going on.

I made a Listopia for this prompt (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...) with a ton of examples--I tried to include mainly contemporary books from a wide variety of genres, because while this is clearly not a "read anything" prompt, there is something for every reader available. It covers the gamut from mysteries to sci fi to classics to thrillers to YA. & it's not something I've ever seen on a challenge before. For a KIS approach, you could seek out an epistolary book (written in diary or letter form, often to another character who may be off-stage or notional--& could include non-fiction as well), but "breakingn the fourth wall" in general opens it up to those books that play with the form by addressing the reader directly. (& thank you to all the other folks who have been contributing to it! Keep it up! I want to get it up to at least 100 books, but we're at over 60 already!)

PS--This week is strong. A lot of good suggestions...