Book Recommendations: The List of Lists

[Sean Lookielook]

I've made several listopias based on suggestion threads and the Vaginal Fantasy bookshelves, so I decided to post them all in one place to make them easier to find. These are a works-in-progress and will be updated as time allows. Please don't make book suggestions on this thread. The Vaginal Fantasy Book Club primarily focuses on female-centric genre fiction, usually with romantic, historical, science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, or supernatural elements.

Suggested Reads for Vaginal Fantasy listopia
Add any books you'd like to recommend for the group to read. Originally based on Suggested Reads for Vaginal Fantasy forum thread. You can also tweet suggestions to @vaginalfantasy.

*NEW* Books by the Members of Vaginal Fantasy
With so many creative members of our book club, they needed their own listopia to showcase their work. Compiled from the Writing and Self-Promotion section of our forums.

Nominations From Vaginal Fantasy's ALT Polls
There were so many great suggestions in the forums for the ALT polls, they needed to be put together in one place.

Vaginal Fantasy's Sword & Sorcery
This list is specifically for people looking for High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, and Portal Fantasy suggestions with strong supernatural elements, such as dragons, witches, elves, magic, etc. High Fantasy is primarily set in a world that is not Earth, although it may superficially resemble historical periods such as medieval Europe. Epic Fantasy stories generally deal with themes of grandeur and heroism, have extensive world-building, and encompass a long period of time. Portal Fantasy feature a magical doorway that allow contemporary characters to travel to another world.

Vaginal Fantasy's Historical Fiction
This list is specifically for people looking for suggestions in pre-twentieth century Historical Fiction/Romance genres, such as Regency, Tudor, Victorian, Industrial Revolution, Napoleonic, Romantic, Classical, Early Modern, American Old West, etc. with female leads but without strong supernatural elements such as magic or vampires. Taken from VF vaginal-historical-fiction bookshelf and Regency Suggestions for Sept?

Vaginal Fantasy's Historical Fantasy & Steampunk
Like Historical Fiction above but with strong supernatural elements such as magic or vampires. Steampunk is included here because it is often set in Victorian times.Taken from VF vaginal-historical-fiction bookshelf, VF vaginal-steampunk bookshelf, and Regency Suggestions for Sept?

Vaginal Fantasy in the Twentieth Century
This list is specifically for people looking for genre romance suggestions set in the Twentieth Century such as WWI, WWII, Roaring Twenties, Depression Era, the 50s, Cold War, etc. This does not include Urban Fantasy set after the year 2000 (i.e. almost all of it).

Vaginal Fantasy's Urban Fantasy & PNR
This list has fantasy in a modern setting including Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance sub-genres, but not Steampunk or Historical Fantasy. Here's where you'll find find shifters, vampires, witches, angels, demons, and fae, but hanging out at your local coffee shop or nightclub. Seeded from the vaginal-urban-fantasy bookshelf.

Vaginal Fantasy's Science Fiction
This list is specifically for people looking for suggestions in Science Fiction and Romance genres, such as space opera, superhero, alternate histories, cyberpunk, etc. with female leads but also with sci-fi elements such as robots or spaceships, but not urban fantasy or steampunk.

LGBT* Vaginal Fantasy listopia for non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered characters and storylines taken from the VF glbt-romance bookshelf and from the LGBT Inclusion Month and Seeking M/M romance recommendations forum threads

Vaginal Fantasy's Non-Fiction Supplementary Reading
This list is specifically for people looking for NON-FICTION suggestions to supplement their reading lists. Topics can be about history, interesting locations, biographies, writing, science, or anything else you think is relevant. Taken from the Vaginal Non-Fiction thread.

[Alicia]

Thank you! You are a mighty moderator.

[Queen]

I am glad you weathered the storm.
I would like to suggest a series of books set in modern day Louisiana. Bobbie Faye is a very strong character. Her boss practices Voo-Doo and her family have some seer powers. The first book has lots of adventure but NO sex in it but the second and third has LOTS of romance and sexy times. My question is, "Would this series be listed under Urban Fantasy or Twentieth Century?"

[Sean Lookielook]

Queen wrote: "My question is, "Would [Bobbie Faye] be listed under Urban Fantasy or Twentieth Century?"

It could be both, but since the first novel was published in 2007, that would technically make it twenty-first century. (I know it doesn't seen like it, but technically anything set before 1991 could be considered historical fiction.) The twentieth-century list is meant to separate Modern, WW1, WW2, Sixties, etc. from Regency, Victorian, etc. since they are different in character and because of concerns about the size of the lists.

[Bonnie]

These lists are awesome! Thanks for putting it all together! ;-)

[Lindsay]

Thank you! This is awesome!!!

[Luisa María Vázquez]

Sean wrote: "I've made several listopias based on suggestion threads and the Vaginal Fantasy bookshelves, so I decided to post them all in one place to make them easier to find. These are a works-in-progress an..."

Omg. Thank you. Amazing lists!

[Rebecca]

I appreciate this!

[Lex]

Awesome lists! I was wondering if there was a list of the books that have been read and their ratings from the group. I’m not always to read all the books, so I like to go with a tried and true.

[Sean Lookielook]

Lex wrote: "Awesome lists! I was wondering if there was a list of the books that have been read and their ratings from the group. I’m not always to read all the books, so I like to go with a tried and true."

There's no listopia for read books because there's no way to keep people from adding books we haven't read to the list. The group's "read" bookshelf is the official list of picks, and these polls rank the best, worst, and hottest ones of the first five years.

[Jessica]

As far as the list for suggested Vaginal Fantasy reads, would it be too big of pain to delete the ones that the group has since read?

[Jessica]

Also, I found it strange that when I checked that list it said I had voted for several books I don't remember ever voting for here. Like, they were all books I had read, but some were not at all what I would consider Vaginal Fantasy reads, so I took away my vote. They are books I think I voted for on OTHER Goodreads lists. Is it possible there was a snafu that added any book I ever voted for onto every list I ever voted on?

Also, does anyone know what the "score" each book on the list has refers to? Right before it says how many votes each book has, it has a score.

ETA: Yeeaaah, I think there might be something screwy going on with that list. Unless someone actually voted for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as a suggested read for the club? Or The Road by Cormac McCarthy?

[Sean Lookielook]

Jessica wrote: "As far as the list for suggested Vaginal Fantasy reads, would it be too big of pain to delete the ones that the group has since read?"

Deleting a book from a listopia requires Goodreads Librarian status, even if you are the creator of the list (I don't know why.) I applied but never heard back from them. There are definitely some inappropriate titles on there now. If you are or know of any Librarians, please ask them to prune the list.

The "score" is a combination of how many votes and the rank of that book in users lists. If you look at the right-hand column on the desktop version, you'll see the books you voted for in the order you entered them. You can change that order to give a particular book more priority in the overall score. Say you had three books; they show up 1 A ,2 B, 3 C. But say C is by far your favorite. If you select that 3 change it to a one, the entire rank will shift down and reorder with C as #1, A as #2, and B as #3. This will change the score and push book C higher up on the list. I suspect that most people do not realize this is how it works.

[Brooke]

Sean Lookielook wrote: "Jessica wrote: "As far as the list for suggested Vaginal Fantasy reads, would it be too big of pain to delete the ones that the group has since read?"

Deleting a book from a listopia requires Good..."

I'm a GR Librarian! If you send me a list of books you'd like removed, or the criteria you'd like me to use to determine which titles should be removed, I'll get started on cleaning the list up.

[Jessica]

Sean Lookielook wrote: "Jessica wrote: "As far as the list for suggested Vaginal Fantasy reads, would it be too big of pain to delete the ones that the group has since read?"

Deleting a book from a listopia requires Good..."

Thanks so much for the info!

[Sean Lookielook]

Brooke wrote: "If you send me a list of books you'd like removed, or the criteria you'd like me to use to determine which titles should be removed, I'll get started on cleaning the list up."

Thanks for your help. You can safely remove:

• anything on the group's read bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books... or their sequels. (Note: Some sequels are stand-alone stories. Check the descriptions to see if the character names are different. Otherwise you can leave them in.)

• books with fewer than 100 star ratings that have been published for more than a few weeks.

• books that are obviously not VF-related such as non-fiction, Harry Potter, foreign-language, etc.

You can search a list by trying to add a book to it.

[Brooke]

Sean Lookielook wrote: "Brooke wrote: "If you send me a list of books you'd like removed, or the criteria you'd like me to use to determine which titles should be removed, I'll get started on cleaning the list up."

Thank..."

Just to confirm: graphic novels/manga should be removed, correct? I've gone through and deleted books the group has already read (and some sequels - I left the romance sequels alone), books with fewer than 100 ratings, and a few non-VF type books (mostly non-fiction, also The Road).

I also added some language to the list description to clarify, in case there are any questions regarding why a particular title was removed; please edit as you see fit: "Please do not add to this list: books with fewer than 100 ratings, books already read by the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club (or their sequels), non-fiction, or children's books."

[Jessica]

Thank you for cleaning it up, Brooke!

[Sean Lookielook]

Thanks so much. And yes, the point is that it's supposed to be books to be read by the group, and the consensus of the hosts was they were not going to do graphic novels.

[James]

Sean Lookielook wrote: "I've made several listopias based on suggestion threads and the Vaginal Fantasy bookshelves, so I decided to post them all in one place to make them easier to find. These are a works-in-progress an..."

I have two books not sure which category they suit:

In a time and place far far away there existed a king and queen who had shared much heartfelt fondness until it was made plain the queen would never bear a child. Also a warrior of the far northern highlands finds that the love he shares with his wife will never result in a child. Witchcraft, murder, escapes across desolate wilderness result. If a child is cast into the light it must be born in darkness.
Such is my novel, Sword and the Thistle, Sword and the Thistle
Based on Queen Joan of Scotland married to King Alexander at ten.
It is the sequel to Celtic Blood Celtic Blood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggy-p... the story of the survival of clan MacKay when all in the kingdom would have the last holder of the name dead because of the blood he bears.

And when night falls and witches meet evil into men's hearts does creep.

The wind howls incessantly in the darkest of night and in the blackest shadows lurk the demons. Beware all who venture into the realm of, Celtic Blood …

[Sean Lookielook]

Historical Fiction.

[James]

Thanks Sean.
Do you want me to relocate it?

[Sean Lookielook]

Sure. Unless the "witchcraft" mentioned above is portrayed as actually working (e.g. someone casts a spell and something impossible like magical healing or levitation happens) then it would be Historical Fantasy.

[Kay Dee (what is your storygraph name?]

thank you for this!
book lists are the real reason i join groups on goodreads.