Play Book Tag discussion

So the votes are in, and of course, the results are interesting! There will be a stage 2 poll soon, but in the meantime, here's some food for thought.

We voted off 47 books in total! That's a lot. So half the list could potentially be revised.

There was only one book that had NO votes for removal. Can you guess what it is?

(view spoiler)[ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (hide spoiler)]

How about the book with the most votes for removal?

(view spoiler)[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (hide spoiler)] which I actually think I mistitled in the survey, oops. (view spoiler)[Guide to the Universe anyone? (hide spoiler)]

UPDATE: The new poll is ready. You will have until September 30 to cast your votes at the link below:.

https://forms.gle/jWRJKP6ACmmcm597A

The books that will REMAIN on our Top 100 include:

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegnar
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Beloved by Toni Morrison
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
Maus I by Art Spiegelman
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Someone Knows My Name by Laurence Hill
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkein
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Investigation by Jung-Myung Lee
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Sparrow by Maria Russell Doria
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Windup Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Thurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper
Watership Down by Richard Adams

The books that may (or may not) end up being replaced are:

1984 by George Orwell
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Birds Without Wings by Louis DeBernieres
Blindness by Jose Saragamo
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis DeBernieres
Dune by Frank Hebert
Far from the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Hawaii by James Michener
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Room by Emma McDonoghue
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
The Stand by Stephen King
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I'll leave the potential new books as a surprise for the survey itself! Stay tuned!!

Really interesting!

I'm surprised at some of the books that might get cut. Interesting to see how it will turn out!

I was too. Shows you how different and diverse we all are in our tastes. You could have knocked me over with what stays and what could potentially go.

annapi wrote: "I'm surprised at some of the books that might get cut. Interesting to see how it will turn out!"

Agreed! A few of those surprise me, too!

Anita, remind me - books needed at least 2 votes to be considered to be removed, is that what it was? (I don't know where the original thread is to check myself!)

Thanks!

I thought it had to have 6 votes to be potentially removed?? Which would make 47 books quite surprising!

So many good books on the cut list! I could easily find 10 books to save, let alone vote for new books! This is going to be a hard one!

Thank you for doing all the work. We just voted and then you had to colate and add and check and whatever. Thank you. peace, janz

If every book but one got a vote for deletion, how many votes were needed to get on the list of 47? And how many of us voted?

I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so I’m glad it’s safe. I was going to guess To Kill a Mockingbird was the safest one.

I’m pleased that I wasn’t alone in downvoting Hitchhiker’s Guide

I hope we get a LOT of votes just to get some of the 47 back on the list.

I am surprised that nearly half the list received 6 or more votes to be removed. I'm excited to see what the new choices are though some on the possible removal list I definitely hope get to stay.

I don't hear anyone wondering at some that are to REMAIN. I certainly am surprised by quite a few. I in fact am far more surprised at many that remain. Of those listed to go, other than maybe 2, I am pretty indifferent about those on the remove list.

Fascinating! I was not expecting anywhere near this many to be on the potential removal list.

Theresa wrote: "I don't hear anyone wondering at some that are to REMAIN. I certainly am surprised by quite a few. I in fact am far more surprised at many that remain. Of those listed to go, other than maybe 2, I ..."

I DNF'd If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, but that was after it was too late to delete it. The remaining list might include some that few us have read, but weren't willing to vote down.

It’s hard to say, I’ve only read 23 of the books that are to remain and I can see merit in keeping 20 of them. I can’t speak to the remaining 30. I do see a number of classics and highly regarded books on the list that I haven’t made it to yet, but I wonder how many remain simply because not enough people have read them to vote against them?

Nothing to do about that now though, they’re staying and we have 47 slots to fill. I know I have 8 books that are up for removal that I strongly feel belong on that list - I guess it’ll depend on what books pop up in nominations! Very excited to see what everyone picked out!

I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these eight?

A Canticle for Leibowitz
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Anathem
Corelli's Mandolin
Far From the Madding Crowd
The Dog Stars
The Giver
The Princess Bride

(I originally had The Hitchhiker's Guide on here, but that seems like a waste of time for this particular list!)

I'm very surprised with a few of the books that will remain for sure and some of the ones that might be cut. Not about every book I love that might be cut, but one of them is the one of the best novels of the century so far, IMO, for many reasons.

Then there are some I loathe that are going to remain for sure, but that's how things go!

@Pamironically, and I'm not necessarily a typical reader, the only one I love from your list is the one that didn't make it, The Hitchhiker's Guide (the first and third are so very funny.)

I’m so glad to see at least one other person who loves The Hitchhiker’s Guide! It’s not for everyone, but it’s so much fun - a childhood favorite for sure.

Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these eight?

[book:..."
Out of these, my favorites are:

1. A Canticle for Leibowitz - this is an outstanding SciFi that has stood the test of time - it was written in the 1960s and not sure how many here have read it - I gave it 5 stars

2. Anathem - 4.5 stars - another great SciFi about non-religious monks (they are scientists and philosophers) in space on an earth-like planet - it is one of those rare books that blends big ideas and philosophical dialogues with action, humor, and adventure

3. Corelli's Mandolin - 4+ stars - probably suffers from the fact that it is about WWII but a really tender and beautifully written love story (and I don't tend to care much for romantic plots)

4. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - 4+ stars - Powerful narrative about the horrors of the wars in Chechnya, focusing on five days in the Second Chechan War in 2004

The Giver was a little too YA for me, but a solid story.

I read The Princess Bride and Far from the Madding Crowd long ago. I gave both 4 stars, but I don't remember them very well.

I did not care for The Dog Stars - 2 stars.

I adore Hitchhikers! I’ve loved it ever since the radio show in my teens - then he wrote it up in the book and I snorted through it all over again. It’s still a source of many of our family quotes.

Once when I was still teaching at law school I set a torts exam featuring Arthur and Ford encountering the Vogons. Assault and battery, false imprisonment, defamation … it had the lot. Some of my students were a *little* mystified by the premise but others were actually laughing during the exam. Always a sign of success …

@KateNZ- love the story. I would have been one of those mystefied ... but then I first read Hitchhiker a couple of years ago and thought it crap. I did vote to remove it. Even had I read and liked it as a kid, I probably would have voted to remove it.

I also disliked The Princess Bride when I read it years and years ago - it annoyed me. I also disliked Far From The Madding Crowd - and all Hardy - which I read in my late teens.

I also have no hesitation about voting off 'old classics' even if I hadve nor read them, primarily because I am particularly deeply read in US, British, and French classics, and if I can't remember it or have never managed fully read it after all these decades, it was up to go.

More contemporary books I have not read I leave alone simply because it takes me time to get to newer books,

Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these eight?

[book:..."

I disliked a few on your list Pam-for now I will remain silent-LoL

@Kate- you are for sure my favorite type of professor

I thought a constellation of vital phenomenon was amazing! That is one that I would vote to keep, or to read.

The Princess Bride was much weaker than the movie.

Rachel N. wrote: "I am surprised that nearly half the list received 6 or more votes to be removed. I'm excited to see what the new choices are though some on the possible removal list I definitely hope get to stay."

But was it 6? That seems really high for the number that made it onto the list.

@Pam:

A Canticle for Leibowitz-- A classic post apocalyptic story, plenty to think about, philosophical.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena-- I might call this a modern classic, war torn Chechnya, beautifully written

Corelli's Mandolin-- WWII, historical fiction, I loved it.

The Princess Bride-- i loved this one, but save time, watch the movie

Cindy: I went searching and the original thread is now under 2023 Activities and Challenges. I was also was surprised at the number of books on the bump list, so I double checked - it took 6 votes to make the list. Crazy.

Robin P wrote: "The Princess Bride was much weaker than the movie."

I think that’s why they created an audiobook “with all the good parts“. It’s about 3 hours long I think.

Anita wrote: "So the votes are in, and of course, the results are interesting! There will be a stage 2 poll soon, but in the meantime, here's some food for thought.

We voted off 47 books in total! That's a lot...."

Anita, when will be voting on the list? This summer or at the end of the year? Just in case we want to read a few more before we vote.

Thank you, everyone! That is very helpful. The Princess Bride has definitely fallen off the priority list. The movie was a favorite when I was younger, but I've always thought it was the type of thing I would like better on screen than reading.

Nicole wrote: "Cindy: I went searching and the original thread is now under 2023 Activities and Challenges. I was also was surprised at the number of books on the bump list, so I double checked - it took 6 votes ..."

Wow, that is crazy! (That so many of those titles got 6 votes!). Thanks for double checking.

Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these eight?

[book:..."
Pam, I have a similar list. I am most interested in reading Constellation of ,,,, or Corelli’s Mandolin. They also sound like they might have some moral dilemmas. I have Princess Bride on my current Subdue list, but it won’t be on the next one. (I’d read the short version.)

I also want to read Middlesex , God of small things, and maybe the Tsar of love and techno.

NancyJ wrote: "Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these ei..."

I'm going to try for Corelli's Mandolin, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and Anathem -- in addition to The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin, which I'm reading now, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, who was my favorite author in my twenties.

I think A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is more of a heart-wrencher than I can handle right now! The Tsar of Love and Techno sounds great, too, but I'm not great with story collections. I much prefer novels.

I tried to read Middlesex ages ago, but I couldn't get past the (view spoiler)[incest. (hide spoiler)] (I'm not sure that's actually a spoiler. It's revealed very early on.)

If anyone else, like me, has a Favourites shelf on LibraryThing, you can sort "twice". (Or you could do this on your "Read" shelf.)

Go to your Favourites shelf (or your Read shelf), then sort by rating. Then sort by date.

It listed my 5 star books in publishing order, then my 4.5 star books in publishing order (LT allows half stars), etc.

I haven't yet added this year's favourites to my favourites shelf, so I'll look under my Read shelf for those and sort by rating, then date, as well, to catch any I missed. Or maybe I should have just started that way.

ETA: Since I'm a tough rater, I don't likely have nearly as many 5 stars as almost everyone else, so just looking at those, I have 11 of my 15 nonfiction already for when we move on. :-) I do have to whittle down my fiction by a couple (though I still have to check what I've read this year).

I am a tough rater too, that’s why it wasn’t hard for me to narrow down to 15, many years when I was reading about 100 books a year, I only gave 1 or 2 books 5 stars.

The Tsar of Love and Techno is definitely worth the read. I’m not generally a fan of short stories either, but this really does read like a cohesive book. All the stories were tied to the next in one way or another and they all had a lot of emotion depth, I don’t remember disliking any of them.

Its not a book I would say NEEDS to be on the list, but I would highly recommend it regardless.

I'm hoping we have a month with a bonus challenge to read the books that are getting kicked off the top 100 list!

LibraryCin wrote: "Anita, remind me - books needed at least 2 votes to be considered to be removed, is that what it was? (I don't know where the original thread is to check myself!)

Thanks!"

It was 6 votes to be considered for removal. I was floored how many received that.

NancyJ wrote: "If every book but one got a vote for deletion, how many votes were needed to get on the list of 47? And how many of us voted?

I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so I’m glad it’s safe. I was going to..."

I think 78 people cast votes. Some people didn't follow the instructions, and those votes were eliminated (none of the regulars fell into that camp and/or I notified them)

NancyJ wrote: ".Anita, when will be voting on the list? This summer or at the end of the year? Just in case we want to read a few more before we vote..."

As soon as I can get the survey set up. Unfortunately, I accepted a new job (second job), and it's kicking my butt right now as I'm not accustomed to working this many hours. So not exactly sure when I will have it done. It won't be this weekend, but maybe the one afterward.

Anita wrote: "NancyJ wrote: ".Anita, when will be voting on the list? This summer or at the end of the year? Just in case we want to read a few more before we vote..."

As soon as I can get the survey set up. Un..."

Congrats on the new job! No hurry Anita.

If it was up to me I could wait till the end of the year to vote for the new list! I know we only needed to read one for the candle, but I’d like to read a lot more, especially with so many at risk of deletion. I’m eager to see the new nominees too of course, but I could wait for the ballot.

I really like Shelly’s idea of a bonus read devoted to the list one month. Maybe in September since we have flurries the rest of the year?

NancyJ wrote: "Anita wrote: "NancyJ wrote: ".Anita, when will be voting on the list? This summer or at the end of the year? Just in case we want to read a few more before we vote..."

As soon as I can get the sur..."

You know, there is nothing stopping you from setting up such a challenge in Footnotes and those interested joining in. Amy did it with Unofficial Trim. I did it with Christmas in July. BooknBlues started us on Edgar Readings before she was an admin.

Or just start a Buddy Read thread for it.

Sounds like you would have a few interested in doing it with you.

Theresa wrote: "I don't hear anyone wondering at some that are to REMAIN. I certainly am surprised by quite a few. I in fact am far more surprised at many that remain. Of those listed to go, other than maybe 2, I ..."

Me too (very surprised at the remain list)! All but 1 I voted to go are safe, I only voted out 1 or 0 star ratings from me as in really, really couldn't find anything to like. Guess I am a total weirdo and should butt out of polls.

Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these eight?

[book:..."
I think the Giver is fabulous but that probably means don't bother because all but 1 I voted out is safe. However it is a quick read so at least you can easily decide for yourself.

Shelly wrote: "I'm hoping we have a month with a bonus challenge to read the books that are getting kicked off the top 100 list!"

NancyJ wrote: "Pam wrote: "I have 10 books on my TBR from the up for removal list and I'm hoping to get to a few of them before voting. I know what my top two priorities are, but any recommendations from these ei..."

Just have it as a tag option?

Nicole wrote: "The Tsar of Love and Techno is definitely worth the read. I’m not generally a fan of short stories either, but this really does read like a cohesive book. All the stories were tied to the next in o..."

Oh that's good to know, Nicole, thank you

Nicole wrote: "Its not a book I would say NEEDS to be on the list, but I would highly recommend it regardless."

And so is that ;)

Anita wrote: "NancyJ wrote: ".Anita, when will be voting on the list? This summer or at the end of the year? Just in case we want to read a few more before we vote..."

As soon as I can get the survey set up. Un..."

Definitely no rush, Anita! We've got plenty to read from the current list :) And I'm with the others hoping we have a long voting period. I'm sure the new nominees will have a bunch I'd like to read before voting as well.