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[2020] Voting for 2nd Mini-Poll
Mod
I do want to add a bit about the retelling of a fairytale. I'm using Spinning Silver for the Something Borrowed prompt, and it's a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.
Here's a Goodreads list: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
And an extensive Book Riot list: https://bookriot.com/2018/05/01/must-...
Nice batch of suggestions! I saw there was a big discussion about "A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live", I really like the result and the idea, it's my fav suggestion this time :)
Mod
As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.
I agree! I think this is an excellent batch of suggestions, and there is a very real possibility that I may have 8 top votes this time.
Mod
I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage. Before I just decide to downvote it, does anyone have suggestions for a book where it's part of the plot but not the only thing going on? I'd be fine with historical fiction where just one of the character is involved in the movement, or a murder mystery story that revolves around a women's suffrage group, for example, I just have no idea how to go about looking for such a thing.
Well, I've only had three sips of coffee but so far it looks like I have 4 that I really want to get on the 2020 list and 3 that I feel strongly about NOT getting on the list. I know that I really love the ANTARCTICA prompt, the 1920's, the title with -ing and the math term in the title. Of the rest that I am more ambivalent about, there are 7 that I would be happy if they got through and 6 that I'd be less thrilled with.
So basically I am about 50/50 on this bunch lol. Now I need to decide if I am going to use just 7 votes or if I am going to pull up (or down) a prompt from my ambivalent-list. Hmmmm.
Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage. Before I just ..."
I'm not sure how accessible they are in other countries (I'm in Australia), but I've been reading the Dody McCleland series by Felicity Young. They are crime fiction set in the 1800s and in the first one, The Anatomy of Death, the main character has a sister involved with the Suffragettes...
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
There's also this list that has a couple fiction options:
https://bookriot.com/2015/10/05/best-...
A few fiction books that caught my eye are Falling Angels, Things a Bright Girl Can Do, The Hourglass Factory, and Impossible Saints.
I'll probably still be downvoting this one, just for being so limiting, but there are a couple options to choose from.
Kathryn wrote: "Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage. ..."
Looks like it's available through my library system! And interesting enough that I'd be willing to read if that prompt goes through, so I will refrain from down voting. Thank you!
Emily wrote: "Raquel, I kind of feel the same way... I found this Goodreads list that has 4 pages of books, and not one of them is already on my (rather extensive) TBR lolhttps://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39..."
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way, at least. :-)
I have a question about "a crime fiction book," either for the person that suggested the prompt or the group as a whole.Does that mean specifically the genre "crime fiction"? One definition I found for this genre...
"In this genre the focus is on the contest of wills between the lawman hero and the outlaw opponent, and their differing views of morality and the aspects of society they represent. The greatest crime stories deal with a moral accounting on the part of the hero for his entire life, or provide some new perspective on the tension between society and the individual." Source
Or does it just a mean a novel in which a crime occurs?
There are a few that I feel are pretty restrictive and will be down voting (I don't enjoy lots of researching for a prompt or having to pick from a short list). There are also a few that look really interesting but I have to make sure I actually have a book that might work.I look forward to the discussion because I think I just have 2 tops and 2 bottoms right now.
dalex wrote: "I have a question about "a crime fiction book," either for the person that suggested the prompt or the group as a whole.Does that mean specifically the genre "crime fiction"? One definition I fou..."
I had a similar question about the crime fiction prompt. I wasn't sure how it differs from a mystery (with a crime). From the same source Dalex quoted, here is more detail. It's clearer to me now but a list of books or authors might be helpful.
"Thematic emphasis: What is a just society? The story world of the novel is out of balance, somewhere between a state of nature (where chaos prevails and those with money and/or guns wield power) and a police state (where paranoia prevails and the state monopolizes power). The hero hopes in some way to rectify that imbalance.
Other moral themes can include the challenge of decency, honor and integrity in a corrupt world; individual freedom versus law and order; and the tension between ambition and obligations to others.
Structural distinctions: There is seldom any “mystery” as to who the criminal is. Typically the story starts with a brilliant or daring crime, and then a cat-and-mouse game of wits and will ensues, with the tension created by the increasing intensity of the battle between the opponents. The underlying question is: Will the cops prevail before the opponent stages his next crime?"
I took it to mean a book from the Crime Fiction genre. I don't read much in that genre, so I may be way off base, but I see the defining characteristic that sets it apart from mystery/thriller with a crime is that one of the main characters is in law enforcement, like cop or detective.
Raquel, another book to check out is Mercer Girls. The book starts off as a journey and one of the main characters ends up becoming part of the suffrage movement.I'm not sure how many people saw Chinook's suggestion shortly before the suggestion thread was closed to comments but she wrote: "It could also be expanded to look at any fight to get the vote perhaps? Indigineous groups, registering black voters, setting up the voting system in general in a country, etc. "
I'm not sure if it's too late too change the wording, but I'd be open to the prompt being about suffrage in general so it includes the groups mentioned, not just women if this draws more interest for the suggestion.
Overall. I'm excited about this batch. There are probably only 2 that I'll downvote and will have a difficult time narrowing down my tops.
I think that maybe when we reach a decision about the "crime fiction book" it should be re-worded for clarity, either...A book from the crime fiction genre that features both law enforcement and criminal(s)
OR
A novel in which a crime occurs
I completely missed the whole nomination process but I like the options! There are only 2 I might downvote. Picking 6 is hard. I'm leaning towards voting for ones that might be more of a challenge.
I quite like the openness of "A crime fiction book" - it could even be interpreted as a non-fiction book about a crime that didn't really happen, something like Shannon: Betrayed from Birth.
Marie wrote: "I quite like the openness of "A crime fiction book" - it could even be interpreted as a non-fiction book about a crime that didn't really happen, something like [book:Shannon: Betrayed from Birth|8..."I don't see how that fits. It's still non-fiction. I think we should stick with the crime fiction genre and not include non-fiction or mysteries (like cozy). I probably won't vote for it anyway but I agree with Dalex about having some clarification. I didn't even know that crime fiction was a genre.
Does the crime fiction genre not include cozy mysteries? They are fiction and there is a crime. If that's the case, then I guess I need clarification too. It seemed like a very straightforward one.
Laura, maybe you could add this link to the Goodreads page about Crime Fiction to message 1.https://www.goodreads.com/genres/crim...
Edited to add: Looking at it again, I see that this is just the Crime genre, so it includes fiction & nonfiction recommendations.
Here is the Popular Crime Books list:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
I didn't know crime fiction was a particular genre either, and the definitions don't really make me want to vote for it. I'd much prefer "a book in which a crime is committed", which could include both fiction and non-fiction.Although I'm a sucker for feminist books, I'm not sure I'm going to vote for the suffrage one, because I find it quite limiting. I'd much prefer a book about civil rights, for women and other minority groups.
I'm very excited about the Antarctica prompt and the same author who wrote one of your best reads.
Regarding the transgender author, I can also recommend Juno Dawson. I absolutely loved The Gender Games: The Problem with Men and Women, from Someone Who Has Been Both, but she also wrote several YA fiction.
Pam wrote: "I don't see how that fits."It was a fictional crime - someone pretended a child had been kidnapped, but the family were hiding her.
I agree with others, this is a really good batch. I've got 6 I really, really like and already have some exciting options!I like the crime fiction suggestion the way it's worded. As it is, people can choose to pick a book from the genre, or a book with a crime in it so it's open to individual interpretation. I don't really see a need for it to be any more specific as, to me, it seems fairly straight forward as it is; any clarification is just semantics. I enjoy seeing the differences in how people interpret prompts like this, so I would rather not restrict it to a specific interpretation.
I saw the “crime fiction” suggestion as “a novel in which a crime is a main plot point.” So that could be a cozy mystery, or it could be from an author like Raymond Chandler, Tana French, Jim Thompson, Sharon Bolton, Megan Abbott, Gillian Flynn, Peter Swanson, etc etc.
Mod
A novel in which a crime is a main plot point
May make it clearer and help people who may be confused. Plus, a BIO could be to read specifically from the "crime fiction genre".
I think I'm doing all upvotes this round! It was even hard deciding how to cut down my upvotes to just 8. I hope some of these prompts that don't make it through this round show up in future polls.
Kerry originally suggested the crime fiction book. Kerry, do you have any input about your intention for this topic based on the discussion we're having here?
A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live... I love how this prompt could be interpreted so many different ways. It could be geared toward historical fiction, futuristic fiction, dystopias, domestic thrillers, etc! Here's some of my options for that prompt:- Vox by Christina Dalcher
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- World War Z by Max Brooks
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz
- Room by Emma Donoghue
Ooooh! I didn’t think of taking the setting you wouldn’t want to live in as potentially being a setting in a dystopian book. My goal next year is to try to re-read some of my favorite series that made me fall in love with reading in the first place!I’m hoping a diverse book is voted well upon because I think it can encompass so many categories, including race, gender and sexual orientation. Someone could even take it to mean something different than they would normally read, genre/topic wise. Of course I can always just find diverse books to fit the prompts like I did this year :)
I also think #2 and #9 are similar to prompts we have this year. We had a book with a person’s name in the title (Trying to read Harley Merlin but can’t find it in stores) and a book by an author who has multiple books on your TBR or something like that (I read The Inexplicable Logic of My Life and HIGHLY RECOMMEND it).
I wouldn’t mind reading another book by a favorite author, though! Blake Crouch is coming out with another book and I plan to read it!
Mod
I do think I'm going to upvote the book by an author you read in 2018/2019. I'm reading a lot of great books this year, and I'd like a chance to look at these authors more closely.
Another question.For "A book with a verb ending in “ing” in the title"......does the word have to be used as a verb or does it just have to possibly be a verb?
For example Disappearing Earth is on the goodreads list. Disappearing can be a verb but in this instance it's an adjective. Or Homegoing. It could be a verb (the act of going home) or it could be a noun (a synonym for a funeral).
Mod
For "A book with a verb ending in “ing” in the title"......does the word have to be used as a verb or does it just have to possibly be a verb? "
The example list that the suggester posted has -ing words as nouns and adjectives on it, so my guess is that it's ok as long as the word was originally a verb, even if it's acting as a noun (The Shining) or an adjective (The Giving Tree).
I feel the same way about the -ing ending as I do about the 'the' in the 1st minipoll: it's unintentionally restrictive to non-English readers. If it's not too late maybe it could be rephrased something like this: '... or a similar conjugation of a verb in another language' (if conjugation is the right word here, I am not sure). Unless it's intentional that you have to read the book in English?
Johanne wrote: "I feel the same way about the -ing ending as I do about the 'the' in the 1st minipoll: it's unintentionally restrictive to non-English readers. If it's not too late maybe it could be rephrased some..."I would say it could just be re-worded as 'present tense verb', but maybe that's different from what was intended by the suggestion?
Ha yeah that's an easier way to put it Raquel :) If that was the intention that is.
But present tense verb is a different thing - we are looking at gerunds or present participles. So in Spanish, the equivalent would be “ando/iendo“ endings. But also, you could just read a book in your own language whose title in English fits?
Chrissy wrote: "But present tense verb is a different thing - we are looking at gerunds or present participles. So in Spanish, the equivalent would be “ando/iendo“ endings. But also, you could just read a book in ..."That's the question--as it's currently worded, it would include those options, but I'm not sure which way it was intended.
And there's always a work around, like you said, it's just hard for super-literalists sometimes when the original prompt is either unclear or not directly applicable.
As it is worded now I would feel like cheating if I read in another language than English - and I don't think that's the intention. I don't mind to work around prompts if I have to, but it bothers me if the problem is unintentional.
Out of curiosity... why are so many people suddenly so concerned about the "intention" behind the suggestion? Forget about the intention and do what works for you. This group has never been concerned with exact precision in what books people choose for the prompts and I think that is a good thing. I've been a part of groups that are extremely strict about how the topics are fulfilled and it's just not fun. It becomes tedious and people start calling other people's choices into question.I completely understand the benefits of discussing topics when there is confusion or ambiguity, but to me, things like "a crime fiction" are not not ambiguous enough to need clarification. If someone wants to read from that genre, it works, but if someone else wants to read something that has a crime in it but may not fall in the crime fiction genre, that works too. I think specifying and restricting it more than the original suggestion is unnecessary.
The ones based on the English language do present a problem to non-English speakers/readers. Those warrant discussion, but they also haven't been voted onto the list yet.
I think we're getting too technical in nailing down the nitty gritty details for every possible interpretation and I honestly think that will be detrimental to the end result.
I'm not meaning any offense, I'm genuinely interested in why people are concerned about "intention" because it's never really been an issue for any of the past lists.
I just meant that I think it is unintentionally strict to make everyone read the book in English and that was not the point of the prompt.
Peter wrote: "Out of curiosity... why are so many people suddenly so concerned about the "intention" behind the suggestion? Forget about the intention and do what works for you. This group has never been concern..."I kind of thought the whole point of this thread was to understand the prompts and what they were supposed to mean before we voted on them...
This won't keep people from interpreting the prompt how they want in the end, we're just trying to figure out the best wording that honors the intention of the person who suggested it (meaning, it seems rude to change the wording to something they never meant) and works the best for the most people (meaning, if it does fit their intentions, why not change it to be more clear and helpful while we still can).
Johanne wrote: "I just meant that I think it is unintentionally strict to make everyone read the book in English and that was not the point of the prompt."I completely agree with you about the ones based on English. Originally I liked a two word book title including "the", but after you pointed out the issues with non-English books, I'm rethinking that one.
But there are quite a few other people trying to determine the original "intention" behind a suggestion, and I think in general it's typically not really needed. I'd rather there be a little wiggle room for individual interpretation.
Mod
But I do agree with Peter a bit... the best part of this group is being able to interpret the prompts as you see fit. I don't think it's harmful to question what the original poster meant, but, at the end of the day, people will interpret the prompts as they like. For people who are super literal, it's important to them to know what the original intent was. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will have to follow that intent.
Now, from the English teacher, a verb ending with -ing is considered a gerund or present participle. Gerunds are verbs that act as a noun (like in The Shining). There are also occasions that the gerund acts as an adjective as well. Present participle is just the present tense of the verb (currently sitting, talking, thinking).
To make that prompt more inclusive, I think it would be acceptable to edit the prompt to say "A title that includes a gerund or present participle verb (verb ending in -ing) or a similar conjugation in another language" -- which is long and wordy, but is inclusive and allows for people of all languages to participate in the full prompt.
Johanne wrote: "I just meant that I think it is unintentionally strict to make everyone read the book in English and that was not the point of the prompt."If someone would rather be super strict or literal, then isn't that what the KIS/BIO list is for?
There's plenty of room for all interpretations of prompts, for example the audiobook prompt specifies a book in which the audiobook is read by the author themselves, but you can definitely read a hard-cover book instead of listening to it in order to fulfill the prompt. Also, there are several prompts related to covers, and so many books have multiple editions that have different covers! In the past I've seen mods say that they can read any edition as long as one of the covers fulfills the prompt.
Would it work if we added “or the equivalent in another language” to that prompt? That would allow people who read in another language the flexibility to read a book with the same verb form in the title, without making anyone feel they have to read in English to fulfil the prompt exactly.
I think if it’s an “ing” ending, it makes sense to translate that to a present tense verb in any language. I only know spanish, so if the title was “caminando” I think that would count! If it is a present tense verb at all, I would say it counts EVEN IF it’s being used as an adjective. All of this discussion has I think made the prompt more confusing and made me want to downvote it for the sake of it suddenly becoming so complicated, lol! To make it fit everyone’s needs best and keep it from being too limiting, what I wrote above is my suggestion.
Around the Year in 52 Books
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American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts (other topics)
I'm Afraid of Men. (other topics)
Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Juno Dawson (other topics)Felicity Young (other topics)
RoAnna Sylver (other topics)
Austin Chant (other topics)
Sacha Lamb (other topics)
More...
Voting will end at 7:00am EST June 19.
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 per poll to spread across your favourite and least favourite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes)
- The poll will be open for a week (until the 20th of June), so you don't have to rush and vote straightaway
- The prompts with the more "positive" votes (top minus bottom) will be announced shortly after the end of the poll and added to the final list (expect between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)
As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.
Poll Entries:
1. A book with neon lights on the cover
Examples:
Cover Trend: Neon Lights
2. A book with a main character's name in the title
3. In honor of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica:
A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live (dangerous, inhospitable, etc)
4. A book about a natural disaster or where a natural disaster (storm, earthquake, tsunami, etc.) is central to the plot [fiction or non-fiction]
5. In honor of the 100th anniversary in the US, a book about women's suffrage
This could be about women's suffrage world-wide (not just the US) and could be a memoir or autobiography or fictional account of the fight. I came across an eclectic mix while researching, including fiction. non-fic, YA, middle grade and children's books. Here are a few links:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
6. A book that has a road trip as part of the plot
Links:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthomp...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/ro...
https://lithub.com/10-essential-road-...
7. A book with the theme of power and/or corruption
8. A diverse book
Lists:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/di...
9. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
10. A book with a family name in the title (ie. father, mother, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, cousin, etc.)
Example:
Daughter: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
11. A book whose audiobook is read by the author [any format - print, audiobook, or digital copy]
Links:
https://www.bustle.com/p/15-audiobook...
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
12. A book by a transgender author or with a transgender main character (including nonbinary)
Example authors:
- RoAnna Sylver
- Austin Chant
- Sacha Lamb
- Bogi Takács
- Ana Mardoll
- Lee Blauersouth
- Hal Schrieve
- Mason Deaver
- Meredith Russo
- Specific Books
13. A book related to the 1920's
Written in the 1920's
Set in the 1920's
Written by an author born in the 1920's
Character born in the 1920's
OR a book related to one of the nicknames for the 1920's era, such as The Jazz Age, The Roaring 20's, The Age of Intolerance, The Age of Wonderful Nonsense, etc
14. A book found on a friend's TBR list
15. A crime fiction book
16. A debut novel published in 2020
17. A book with a verb ending in “ing” in the title
List:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
18. A book with a mathematical term in the title (i.e. add, subtract, multiply, divide, sum, product, quotient, greater than, less than, equals, infinity)
19. A book with a weather element in the title
20. A book that is a retelling of a fairy tale
Survey Link