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 Friday, August 1 and results will be posted in the morning of Tuesday, August 5 (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 with a horse as a character
2. A book where the main character has an occupation that didn't exist before 1900
3. A book where one of the characters is a ghost, a spirit, an angel, or an imaginary being
4. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author
5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues
6. A book by the author who shows up most on your TBR but is so far unread by you
7. A book related to a national park
8. A book related to a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe
9. A book with an adult main character who is NOT in paid employment
10. A book which features royalty as main characters
11. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a courthouse, or another public building
12. A book related to “soul”
13. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list
14. A book whose title and author's first or last name start with the same letter
15. A book relating to television

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

Vote here: https://forms.gle/EVXEQ12FmS9BAx7c7

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

1. A book with a horse as a character
2026 is the year of the horse in Chinese Zodiac
Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

2. A book where the main character has an occupation that didn't exist before 1900
Eg. Anything digital, customer service (call centres), influencer, podcaster, astronaut, geneticist, Paralympian, commercial airline pilot, flight attendant, anything television based, PhD student, book publicist, marketing, climate scientist, etc.

3. A book where one of the characters is a ghost, a spirit, an angel, or an imaginary being
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://crimereads.com/ghosts-in-fict...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
https://bookriot.com/books-about-angels/

4. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author
We’ve had multiple prompts in this group about books set in Japan or by a Japanese author (as well as other specific countries like Ireland but I think only Japan for Asia?). In light of Korean author Han Kang winning the most recent Nobel Prize for Literature for “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life” (only Korea’s second-ever Nobel Prize win after a Peace Prize in 2000), I think it would be awesome to have a prompt that explores the numerous Korean and Korean-diaspora authors out there. And it would give us a break from only highlighting Japan as the representative East Asian country in literature, especially given its history of occupation of other Asian countries in the 20th century.

I’ve listed examples of books by Korean authors but these are just the books on my TBR or that I’ve read/seen so I’m sure there are a bunch more!

Listed in alphabetical order by last name
- The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
- Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
- Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
- Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
- Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
- Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines
- The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
- The Vegetarian by Han Kang
- Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
- The Girl with Seven Names: Escape from North Korea by Hyeonseo Lee
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
- The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
- The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues
There are many awards that focus on peace and important social issues throughout the world. My favorite is the Dayton Peace Prize. You may choose one that is most relevant to you, or your region. Some examples are listed below. Please add any others you find this week during the voting period.

Examples:
*The Dayton Literary Peace Prize recognizes the power of the written word to promote peace by honoring adult fiction and non-fiction books that foster understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political viewpoints.
Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Awards page: https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

*Aspen Words Literary Prize: This prize goes to an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

*Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards: Established in 1935, these awards honor books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity.
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

*Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer 2025 finalists
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Pulitzer full list of awards and nominees
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

*The Nobel Prizes - books written by or about a Nobel Prize winner (many categories)

Others
* The Creators of Justice Literary Award
* The Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing
* The Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature
* The International Literacy Association's (ILA) Social Justice Literature Award

7. A book related to a national park
This could be set in a park you love, a setting you enjoy like the mountains or even a reef (Great Barrier Reef) or about a park ranger or hiker.

With over 6000 national parks worldwide in a variety of ecosystems you could make it easy or as hard as you like.

8. A book related to a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

9. A book with an adult main character who is NOT in paid employment
Listopias/Shelves: some of these characters might be in paid employment, but this is a start
Unemployment in general: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Non-Fiction Poverty: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Ill or hospitalized: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Mental Hospital Novels: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
Wealthy: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Retirees: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Senior citizen: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Old People: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Elderly Villains: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Prison: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Women in Prison Memoirs:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Lost My Job Romance: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Other categories of possibly unpaid employment or lack of employment:
Stay-at-home parents
Adult caring for an elderly or ill family member
People not working due to: being fired, begin laid off, company closing, war, national financial depression (e.g., The Great Depression), pandemic, etc.

11. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a courthouse, or another public building
Public buildings:
City Halls/Town Halls
Courthouses
Police Stations
Fire Stations
Post Offices
Government Agencies: Buildings housing various government departments (e.g., DMV, social security offices).
Embassies/Consulates
Prisons/Correctional Facilities
Military Bases

Schools and universities
Libraries
Museums
Art Galleries
Theaters/Auditoriums
Community Centers 

Public Works & Utilities
Water Treatment Plants
Sewage Treatment Plants
Power Plants
Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
Public Parks and Recreation Centers
Hospitals and other public healthcare facilities

12. A book related to “soul”
This could be a book related to “the soul”, “a soul”, with the word soul in the title, books good for the soul, about our souls, soul music, soul food, or even Soul Train!

Soul in the Title:

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness
Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf
Soulless (Parasol Protecorate, #1) by GailCariger (Steampunk)
A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende

Good for the soul:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

About our soul:

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (Hardcover) by Miguel Ruiz
Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife by Stephen Goldberg


Soul Music:

Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul by Craig Werner
Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life by Jonathan Gould
The Influential Legends of Soul Music: The Lives of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder by Charles River Editors
Soul Train - The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation by Ahmir Questlove Thompson

Soul food:

The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time by Adrian Miller
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

13. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list
https://1001bookreviews.com/the-1001-...
A listopia of the books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

Dayton Peace Prize prompt

🎈 NEW - Gail started a listopia for the Orwell Prizes which is a good fit.
Orwell Foundation Prizes
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

🎈Nobel Prize for Literature authors can be found here:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lis...
ALL of their books count.

Other examples
PEN awards - several have a reputation for promoting empathy
* PEN/Faulkner- https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
* PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction - https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
*PEN/Open Book Award- https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
*PEN/Heany Prize-
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
* PEN/Jean Stein - https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

*Stowe Prize for Literary Activism -
https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter...
*Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards: Administered by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
*Robert F. Kennedy Book Award

NancyJ wrote: "Dayton Peace Prize prompt. Other examples"

Nancy J for the Nobel prize in literature, which is awarded to an author's whole body of work, I'm going to use the following site to get the names, and then pick one of their books from Goodreads.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lis...

Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Vicki, check here. It's in the Poll 6 suggestions topic and has a great amount of detail/suggestions:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Message 15 from the suggestion thread might help. The links are not working which is probably why Emily hasn’t been able to add them to post 2.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Yes, I would like to see Charlsa's "thoughts and ideas" for this prompt copied over onto this page please? I had to flip back to recall what she had to say about it.

I copied over what I could, but had to remove all links because they were all broken. I will add them back in when they update the links!

Dixie wrote: "The Listopia for "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" doesn't necessarily reflect the actual list. It allows for "adding books to this list", and from the comments under it, many people have just ad..."

That Listopia is maintained by several members of the 1001 group (myself included) and it is currently accurate at 1318 books across all editions of Boxall's book. Fake entries tend to get removed fairly quickly; I did have to remove one today.

It’s possible that the Listopia is correct (this is without looking at the actual books on the Listopia, and just noticing that there are more than 1001 books there). I just went to the 1001 book website list, and although the numbering ends at 1001, there are MANY books that are numbered 17a, 17b, 321a, etc. So the title of the list is misleading. I guess they wanted that number, and the way books were favored meant that there were often ties or even 3-way ties, so in reality they ended up with more than 1001 actual books.

This is the first time in a while that there are more prompts I want to upvote than I have votes for. I hope we get more than one of these voted in!

Tracy wrote: "It’s possible that the Listopia is correct (this is without looking at the actual books on the Listopia, and just noticing that there are more than 1001 books there). I just went to the 1001 book w..."

There are 1318 books on the Boxall 1001 books list because there are five editions of the book it's based on, and the list was updated for each edition (adding new books and removing others). Some people who have taken this on as a general challenge just read the 1001 books from one edition, but a lot of us are aiming for all 1318 books across all editions of the list.

MJ wrote: "This is the first time in a while that there are more prompts I want to upvote than I have votes for. I hope we get more than one of these voted in!"

Agreed! And there are quite a few of the character, setting, and list/award prompts people have been asking for,

This is going to be HARD, I love almost every one!

Emily, please add the following listopia to the list "5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues". Martha recommended, NancyJ has agreed, I set it up.

Orwell Foundation Prizes https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Dixie wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Dixie wrote: "The Listopia for "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" doesn't necessarily reflect the actual list. It allows for "adding books to this list", and from the comments under..."

Dixie you can go back and delete the post so that others don’t get confused. I deleted my post about it too.

Amy (Other Amy) wrote:

There are 1318 books on the Boxall 1001 books list because there are five editions of the book it's based on, and the list was updated for each edition (adding new books and removing others). Some people who have taken this on as a general challenge just read the 1001 books from one edition, but a lot of us are aiming for all 1318 books across all editions of the list.
."

Thanks for the explanation Amy. I always wondered about this. Is there a short list somewhere of the books that were deleted from the original lists? I’d be curious to see that.

You know I thought the group dedicated to the list had an easy list of the deleted books, but I'm not seeing it. I will do a little digging and see if I can find where it was. I also think it's interesting what they took off to make room.

It's a great list of prompts and I think it would be easy to find books for 13 of them.

The national park prompt ought to be easy. But Canada only has 37 national parks. I don't think I've been to any of them. Most parks people camp at and write books about people camping at are provincial parks. And Stanley Park (in Vancouver) is municipal. I guess most countries haven't left the operation of parks to non-federal levels of government.

The Strong Sense of Place podcast recently had an episode on US National Parks and recommended 5 books. I like the idea of this prompt but want to do a little research first.

I vote for the Soul prompt every year. I hope it finally gets in!

GailW wrote: "Emily, please add the following listopia to the list "5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues". Martha recommended, NancyJ has agreed.

Orwell Foundation Prizes
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2......"

Gail, I really like the books on the Orwell listopia. Thank you for creating it! Emily doesn’t usually add stuff after the voting thread is posted, but I added it to my list above.

I planned to read Summer by Ali Smith for our summer challenge. What a nice surprise to see it on the list. I also want to read My Friends by Hisham Matar. Too bad I don’t have a challenge this year to read two books with the same title, since I already read Backman’s new book.

Are there more books to add? The journalism awards will be of interest to a few of our members too.

NancyJ wrote: "...Are there more books to add? The journalism awards will be of interest to a few of our members too..."

I was able to add all the winners from it's inception for books, but only the 2025 finalists. (If we even want them on there?) The prior years aren't listed on the website, so I need to do some research. I was shocked at how many of them I already had!

Emily wrote: "I copied over what I could, but had to remove all links because they were all broken. I will add them back in when they update the links!"

ah okay. Also voting opens August 1, not July 1. The year is flying past!

GailW wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "...Are there more books to add? The journalism awards will be of interest to a few of our members too..."

I was able to add all the winners from it's inception for books, but only t..."

I really like the 2025 finalists. Thanks for adding them.

The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain sounds fascinating. I was so busy with school and babies back then, I missed it all.

GailW wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Vicki, check here. It's in the Poll 6 suggestions..."

Thanks!

Sorry about this, but the grammar in the 14th prompt bothers me. "That's" is "that is" and it doesn't work in this sentence.
Could we change it to "A book whose title and author's first or last name start with the same letter" or "A book in which the title and author's first or last name start with the same letter"?

I'm sorry for being pedantic!

Also, is there an easy way to find out which author appears on my TBR list the most? If not, I wouldn't vote for this prompt, because I can't think of any authors who appear more than once or twice on my TBR list.

Maggie wrote: "Sorry about this, but the grammar in the 14th prompt bothers me. "That's" is "that is" and it doesn't work in this sentence.
Could we change it to "A book whose title and author's first or last nam..."

You can sort your TBR by author. Just click on Author at the top of the column.

NancyJ wrote: "I vote for the Soul prompt every year. I hope it finally gets in!"

Thank you, Nancy! Me, too!!!

Maggie wrote: "Sorry about this, but the grammar in the 14th prompt bothers me. "That's" is "that is" and it doesn't work in this sentence.
Could we change it to "A book whose title and author's first or last nam..."

Maggie, the mods don’t usually edit suggestions after they were seconded, because a small change might inadvertently change our interpretations. You can send Emily a direct message to ask her. She might not catch all the comments here.

We could really benefit from your editing skills in the wild discussion, and during the suggestion rounds. The suggestions are often changed at the last minute in response to new ideas or feedback, and the results are sometimes awkward. (I usually cringe at mine later.) Feedback on grammar and clarity could be very helpful. Most prompts don’t get in the first time, so there could be a chance to improve the grammar of a prompt before resubmitting it.

GailW wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Vicki, check here. It's in the Poll 6 suggestions..."

Vicki,

The links to the Gr lists worked, so I don't know why they weren't copied her, but I'll put them in a separate post. If anyone has other ideas for the soul prompt, I am happy to add them to the list.

A book related to “soul”. This could be a book related to “the soul”, “a soul”, with the word soul in the title, books good for the soul, about our souls, soul music, soul food, or even Soul Train!.


Soul in the Title:

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Soul in the title:

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

Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf –
Our Souls at Night

Soulless (Parasol Protecorate, #1) by GailCariger (Steampunk) -
Soulless

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness - A Discovery of Witcheshttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...


The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende - https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=in...

Good for the soul:

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


About our soul:

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (Hardcover) by Miguel Ruiz - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife by Stephen Goldberg - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...


Soul Music:

Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul by Craig Werner - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life by Jonathan Gould - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The Influential Legends of Soul Music: The Lives of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder by Charles River Editors - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Soul Train - The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation by Ahmir Questlove Thompson - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Soul food:

https://www.delish.com/kitchen-tools/...

https://blacksouthernbelle.com/soul-f...

The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time by Adrian Miller - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Charlsa wrote: "A book related to “soul”. This could be a book related to “the soul”, “a soul”, with the word soul in the title, books good for the soul, about our souls, soul music, soul food, or even Soul Train!..."

Most of your links just go to Harry Potter books.

Jillian wrote: "Most of your links just go to Harry Potter books."

For me, as well. I thought I was losing my mind.

Jillian wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I looked back through some of the discussion pages but couldn't find anything on the "soul" prompt suggestion. What does that mean?"

Message 15 from the suggestion thread might help...."

I'll put the links, etc. for the soul prompt in a separate post.

A book related to “soul”. This could be a book related to “the soul”, “a soul”, with the word soul in the title, books good for the soul, about our souls, soul music, soul food, or even Soul Train!.


Soul in the Title:

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

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

Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf – Our Souls at Night

Soulless (Parasol Protecorate, #1) by GailCariger (Steampunk) - Soulless

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness - A Discovery of Witches
Note: There are several other books in this series. She wrote beyond the original trilogy.

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois - The Souls of Black Folk

Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende - Inés of My Soul


Good for the soul:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

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

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

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - The Midnight Library

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott - Bird by Bird


About our soul:

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

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom - The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff -
The Tao of PoohThe Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown - The Gifts of Imperfection

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (Hardcover) by Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife by Stephen Goldberg - Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife


Soul Music:

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

Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul by Craig Werner - Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul

Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life by Jonathan Gould - Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life

The Influential Legends of Soul Music: The Lives of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder by Charles River Editors - The Influential Legends of Soul Music: The Lives of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder

Soul Train:

The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation by Ahmir Questlove Thompson - Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation


Soul food:

https://www.delish.com/kitchen-tools/...

https://www.blacksouthernbelle.com/wh...

The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time by Adrian Miller - Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time

The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis - The Taste of Country Cooking

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty - The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

Here's a spreadsheet of all the books featured in every edition of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

The Wikipedia for the Orwell Prizes seems fairly complete if you want to see the shortlisted books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell_...

I like a lot of these prompts. It's going to be hard to decide what to upvote because I want a fair few of them.

A bunch of interesting ones this time :) Initial thoughts:

1. A book with a horse as a character
I have The Horse Dancer unread on my Kindle, so that would work.

2. A book where the main character has an occupation that didn't exist before 1900
Love it, will definitely upvote.

3. A book where one of the characters is a ghost, a spirit, an angel, or an imaginary being
Sounds fun enough, might upvote.

4. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author
I have two more Lily Chu audiobooks ready to go, this would be perfect.

5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues
Need to do some more research if I have any relevant books, but I like the idea.

6. A book by the author who shows up most on your TBR but is so far unread by you
Haha, that would finally push me to tackle that Josephine Tey Complete Works omnibus that I got on a whim :D

7. A book related to a national park
Huh. Don't think I have anything that fits.

8. A book related to a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe
Like the idea, and Witch would definitely be possible for me without much further ado.

9. A book with an adult main character who is NOT in paid employment
Probably upvote, lots of options.

10. A book which features royalty as main characters
Meh, not my thing :/

11. A book where all or part of the action takes place in a library, a courthouse, or another public building
Sounds interesting, might upvote.

12. A book related to “soul”
I'll need to think some more about that one.

13. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list
This always gets suggested and never gets in :D

14. A book that's title and author's first or last name start with the same letter
I like scavenger hunts, so I'll probably upvote.

15. A book relating to television
Probably upvote.

For the National Park prompt, I've been wanting to read Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail.

As a reminder, for the US at least, the National Park Service is the agency overlooking a lot of American historical buildings. A book on the American Revolution would fit this easily. Heck the first Percy Jackson book would work since the St Louis Arch is a big plot point.

Maggie wrote: "Sorry about this, but the grammar in the 14th prompt bothers me. "That's" is "that is" and it doesn't work in this sentence.
Could we change it to "A book whose title and author's first or last nam..."

Maggie, you're right, that's what I get for working on this list while at work. I've updated it to say "whose" instead of "that's".

Voting is open!

Overall, most of these prompts either elicit a "meh" or an absolute no from me. I voted three up and five down.

Those voted down included the following:

1. A book with a horse as a character. I have such difficulty finding a book I wanted to read the last time that I quickly voted this down.

4. A book by a Korean or Korean-diaspora author. Too narrow for me to vote for.

5. A book nominated for an award that values peace, cultural understanding, and related social issues. No interest for only this reason.

10. A book which features royalty as main characters. Not interested at all. However, if selected, it might be an opportunity to dust off A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur's Court or The Prince and the Pauper.

12. A book related to “soul”. Interesting but can't identify any books I'm interested in that I have not already read.

I had a lot of upvotes this week; lots of imaginative prompts and things I think would be fun to look for.

I added What Feasts at Night and A Sorceress Comes to Call to the horse as a character list and I'm sure some other T. Kingfisher books would work. There's more options than you'd think but I'd prefer a slightly wider horse related prompt.

I'm going to upvote the horse one and if it comes in I'll read Horse

I voted 6 up, 0 down

1. Horse as a character
4. Korean author
5. For the Dayton prize
8. Lion, witch, wardrobe for the witch
13. 1001 list
14. Title & author name same letter

The list for Horse as Character includes a lot of books where people just ride horses, to me that’s not a character!

Charlsa wrote: "A book related to “soul”. This could be a book related to “the soul”, “a soul”, with the word soul in the title, books good for the soul, about our souls, soul music, soul food, or even Soul Train!..."

FYI Audible has 1000 “soul” books available free to members in their PLUS catalog.
-Including The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, which I loved.
-There are a great number of fantasy novels, second only to books on spirituality and happiness.
-Also many mysteries, romance, crime, general fiction, a few classics, sci-fi, manga, and erotica.
-Nonfiction books on all sorts of subjects managed to fit the word “soul” in the title (…soul of a city, soul of the nation, soul of a dog, soul of a chef, soul of a company, soulmates, etc.)
-Covering history, baseball, art, food, religion, health, family, leadership, music, animals, and more.

Libraries also have a wide selection of, through Libby and Hoopla. I got hundreds of hits for ebooks and audios.

Robin P wrote: "The list for Horse as Character includes a lot of books where people just ride horses, to me that’s not a character!"

I had the same thought. If this gets in, I'll probably read a childhood favorite by Marguerite Henry or Walter R. Brooks -- his "Freddy" books are a clever, funny series where a farmyard full of animals helps the pig, Freddy, solve mysteries and crimes. Two of the main characters are the laid-back plow horse, Hank, and the cowpony, Cy.