The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

I realize that you are just now formalizing the wording for the new 50-point task. But I thought this might be good before that's done.
Please clarify for options 2 and 3 what "contemporary means? For instance:
a) does that mean it has to have an MPG of "Contemporary"? Many books like Mystery or Thrillers are set in contemporary times OR non-fiction books deal with contemporary issues but may not have an MPG.
b) Contemporary in what sense? Just the 2020s? Which makes option 3 almost mirror option 2. Or contemporary to the period in which it was written? (e.g., A book written in the 1970s which takes place in the 1970s?)

Option 2 is pretty clear that it must be a newer book that is set in current times. But, option 3 is confusing. Some authors that have written across genres wrote science fiction/fantasy AND other books contemporary to their time (whether romances, mysteries, general fiction, etc.) Can we use them or are we limited to only authors currently still writing (which is more like option 2).

Just food for thought. I am planning my reading for the task and keep bumping up against this on my TBR, so more clear definitions would certainly help. I read across genres and publishing dates, so I'm not always reading the "new" stuff.

Sorry - I was trying to be clear and it looks like I've ended up not being.

Would wording it as "Read a book by an author that wrote both fiction or non-fiction contemporary to its publishing date (a book written in 1989 that was set in or around 1989, or a book written in 1920 that was set in or around 1920, for example), and also wrote in the science fiction and/or fantasy genres" be clearer?

Which would actually widen the scope for possible authors, as you could include some classic authors, like George Orwell (1984) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and I think, H.G. Wells or Jules Verne (I'd need to check bibliographies for those two).

It would exclude, say, Sue Grafton's later books, as she stuck with setting her series in the 1980s, even though she was writing into the 2010s.

I was wondering whether the author in Option 3 needs to have written more than one "contemporary" book.

I had been thinking about Isaac Asimov since Murder at the Aba was set at the time he wrote it but I don't know of any other "contemporary" books that he wrote.

In your post above, you say Sue Grafton's later books would be excluded. But since the first ones were contemporary, would she be allowed or not? (leaving aside that I don't think she wrote sf/f.)

you could make it easy and just say it has to have an MPG of contemporary

delete

Katrisa wrote: "you could make it easy and just say it has to have an MPG of contemporary"

I was trying to avoid that to make it too similar to Option 2.

Also, taking Sue Grafton as an example (even though she didn't write SF/Fantasy) A Is for Alibi was published in 1982 and set in 1982, and thus was contemporary for when it was written. But it doesn't have the Contemporary MPG, as that refers to much more recent books. The first five books would work, but for the ones after E is for Evidence, the setting in the GR data changes to specify 1983, which suggests that from that point they're no longer considered contemporary to the publishing date.

Julia wrote: "I was wondering whether the author in Option 3 needs to have written more than one "contemporary" book.

No, the author wouldn't need to have written more than one contemporary book, as long as they'd written one.

maybe to clarify

option 2: a book set within 3yrs of the publishing date - so if the publishing date has to be after 2020 - then you could use 2017>2024

Option 3: a author who writes both contemporary (use the definition above - within 3yrs of the publishing date), as well as one shelved as sci-fi/fantasy...

Trish wrote: "Sorry - I was trying to be clear and it looks like I've ended up not being.

Would wording it as "Read a book by an author that wrote both fiction or non-fiction contemporary to its publishing dat..."

Trish, your suggested wording does help me. However, for simplicity, I believe Dee's ideas are clear and pretty consistent (although I'd probably say option 2 would allow 2018-2024, since you specified 2021 as the earlier end.

I actually was more concerned with option 3 and this change would help me. Some of the authors on my TBR that I think would fit (because of their various pseudonyms, etc.) would be Ed McBain, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, or Dana Stabenow,

In all of this, it seems like my mistake was using the word "contemporary".

Dee wrote: "maybe to clarify. option 2: a book set within 3yrs of the publishing date - so if the publishing date has to be after 2020 - then you could use 2017>2024"

That stretches Option 2 back too far and complicates it

Simplest seems to be "Read a book written in 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024 and set in the present day or (for non-fiction) discussing current affairs."

Kathy KS wrote: "Some of the authors on my TBR that I think would fit (because of their various pseudonyms, etc.) would be Ed McBain, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, or Dana Stabenow,."

I should have thought of Dana Stabenow as an example, as I've read almost all her books. The Star Svensdotter trilogy is definitely SF, so yes, she'd work for Option 3 as I envisaged it. I'll add her to the list.

Is this clearer? "Read a novel by an author who has published one or more novels with a "present day" setting relative to its publishing date, defined as within the same decade (for example, one published in 1985 that was set in the 1980s, or one published in 1928 that was set in the 1920s), and also one or more novels in the science fiction and/or fantasy genres. "

Closing this thread to further comments while the mods and Trish work on task wording.

While we appreciate your enthusiasm, in future we would ask that a) clarifications and comments on tasks are posted in the appropriate help thread once it's available and b) that moderators and task creators are given a chance to review and discuss the wording directly first. It's great to see how invested people are in the SRC tasks, but please understand that when people rush to chime in on how a task 'should' be written, it can be quite disheartening for task creators and we'd really rather not discourage people from submitting tasks in future!

Thanks for your understanding.