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Which FAVORITES are you voting for? How?
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Linda
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Jul 01, 2018 10:06AM
So interesting that they're allowing voting online for the moment, and then, after a certain date in September, they will only accept votes by phone............what exactly is that saying.........?
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I don't know, what do you think that's saying? People have more online accounts than they do phones? Is either one harder to automate? I imagine a few publishing houses or movie studios might have a financial interest, but it would be awfully fishy if a book like Ready Player One came even close to winning.
I saw a lot of matching hashtags on Twitter that might cause confusion. #VoteCharlotte was also used for a girl in a beauty contest (or prom queen), #VoteSawyer was used for a politician.
I'm saying that I think a lot of people won't bother to pick up the phone and dial a bunch of numbers to vote for several books.......the tweeters might clinch it. I think if something "popular" of......say........less than enduring quality wins, I for one would be done with this project in the future.....I mean, I could have just participated in "Oprah's Book Club", if all I wanted was to read what everyone else is reading
Agreed -- actually I think the voting is silly at this point. They've got a good list of books that cover YA, classics and popular genres - why not just leave it at that? Or if they wanted voting, why not do it before creating this list.This is like those silly shows where only people who live on the east coast of the US get to vote b/c they give you 10 minutes to vote on "best dancer" or whatever and people in other parts of the world haven't even seen it yet. (I recently became a bit enamored with one of these shows whilst caring for a sick family member - I went nuts about the voting.)
I think picking one book from this list is just unreasonable and very American.
So far, I haven't been voting much. I have to purposely remind myself. I've voted for Tom Sawyer, LOTR, To Kill a Mockingbird, and a couple others I forget. There are so many I enjoyed. But I believe I'll pick 3-4 and vote for them repeatedly.I've been voting with hashtags on Twitter
Mod
From the perspective of the foundations who are funding the GAR initiative, the goal is NOT to pick a winning book. They (I hope) have no financial stake in which book wins. The real goal of the initiative is to get more people to read books.*
So why bother voting? One reason is that the voting process makes the show more interactive. It gives a sense that we have a stake in the process. It makes us pay more attention to the "contestants," - to read them, talk about them, and root for them. Interactivity and competition make things more fun.
Ella, if you didn't get to vote on the dancing show, would you have kept watching the whole season? Would you have paid as close attention to the dancers to figure out which ones you like best. Dance competition shows get better ratings than dance shows.
The PBS GAR show will get more viewers in October because of the voting. People will have a greater stake in the outcome.
Without the voting and quizzes, the PBS show is just a show about people talking about books. We (avid readers) might watch, and we might pick up a few more ideas for our to read lists, but but we might not retain much information from the show. (Non readers might not watch at all.) The lists and quizzes help trigger our personal motivation to achieve or complete something we value. Conscientious people will also strive to read more of the books before voting, out of a sense of fairness.
For less avid readers, the online voting makes strong use of social influence, peer influence, and FOMO to affect behavior. Social media invites social comparison and creates more conversations. Facebook and Twitter voting makes it easier to see that your friends are reading, voting, and posting about books. You might feel like you're missing out on something if you don't read etc too. Plus they may make it easier for you to choose WHAT to read.
If you want to change behavior, make it easier to do more of the desired behavior. By starting with a list, the project helped make it easier for people to decide what to read, and to feel confident that other people endorsed their choice. (Because when people have too many choices, they sometimes don't choose anything at all.) The project also included grants for libraries to ensure that they had more of the books on hand, to make it easier for people to read them. (My library system has displays in every branch with GAR books, though not enough large prints imo.)
Oops I accidentally erased a couple paragraphs about the foundation's goals, and more geeky ideas related to social change efforts and change theories.
Overall, I can recognize many change and influence tactics from textbooks and popular books. They used multiple sources of influence. Plus they included celebrities, and sought to appeal to niche groups. This might have been a good class exercise on how to design a social change initiative.
OK I don't know if that made any sense to anyone else, but I had fun geeking out on change management. I haven't taught this class in a year, so it gave my brain a little workout.
NancyJ wrote: "lots of good points."Ahah! I wondered how/why my library suddenly had copies of some books that I KNOW they didn't have a few months ago.
And also, at least some of the books seem to be "on sale" (I got the combo Owen Meany kindle/audible for under 7 dollars, and I didn't follow a deal email or whatever, I just went to price it & found it was very affordable.)
You're correct. I actually stopped watching the silly dance show but people do feel more invested, apparently even in silly dance shows, if we can vote or feel some sort of involvement.
I do wonder why it's going to phone voting. I haven't looked - is it an 800 or free number? Maybe it's to make sure that only people in the USA vote? I'd not actually thought about that before, but there's nothing to stop anyone in the world voting right now. If it's supposed to be the American read, maybe they don't want people outside the US voting?
I dunno. In any event, hopefully they'll talk about all the books before it gets too votey. I have to get back to work, but I'll be thinking about this.
I voted for Frankenstein today - love the background of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel with all the writers cooped up on a rainy day writing ghost stories. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre and was impressed by Charlotte Bronte's use of a pseudonym when it was first published so readers wouldn't know she was a woman. Then it immediately became a runaway hit! Learning about the authors can be as fascinating as reading the literature.
Mod
The person on the PBS show (I can't remember who it was ) spook very eloquently about Frankenstein's monster. I want to read it in October.
A friend of mine (in a real life book club) was raving about a book about Mary Shelley and her mother, who was a writer/feminist. Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley. It gets great ratings here too. As we get closer to the 100th anniversary of the right to vote in the US (the Brits should celebrate now), I'm going to want to read more book about feminists.
NancyJ wrote: "As we get closer to the 100th anniversary of the right to vote in the US (the Brits should celebrate now), I'm going to want to read more book about feminists. "Which books on the list can we consider feminist themed? Maybe we should try to fit one of those in as we move closer to the anniversary of women's suffrage/19th amendment.
Mod
I think I'm going to want non-fiction or narrative non-fiction to learn more about the suffragettes who worked so hard for us. I'm really interested in learning more about the social change tactics they used as well. I loved the movie Iron Jawed Angels.
Mod
Ahah! I wondered how/why my library suddenly had copies of some books that I KNOW they didn't have a few months ago.
And also, at least some of the books seem..."
BTW, when I read the voting rules, it says that they're ADDING phone voting, but it looks like they'll still keep all the online and social media methods. I think adding phone voting makes it more accessible to people who don't use social media. It could be more convenient to people who don't want to go online. (Though I think they might still need to go online to find the right phone numbers.)
I still haven't seen a schedule of the September and October PBS shows. The voting ends October 18, and I think the winner will be announced October 25.
Most of my voting is done on Twitter. The hashtags make it so easy.
NancyJ wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I voted for Frankenstein today - love the background of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel with all the writers cooped up on a rainy day writing ghost stories. I'm currently rea..."Just added Romantic Outlaws to my Want to Read shelf - thanks for including the link. Frankenstein remains so readable even after all this time. If you haven't yet read it, the novel is quite different from the pop culture monster movies (although I enjoy those too!)
Mod
I really want to read it now. I saw the movie as a kid, and I remember the humanity and hurt on the monster's face.
I didn’t realize one can vote on Twitter or that we can vote multiple books. Always voted on the website poll and for the same book “Pride and Prejudice”. I did enjoy multiple ones from the list but that one is truly my favorite.
Mod
Why not vote for ALL the books you like once in a while if you're on the site anyway.
If you have an active twitter account, there are a few Austen fans who will notice and follow you. They post some interesting things, so follow them too. (Send me a PM with your twitter and I'll follow you too if you don't have the required 10 followers.)
NancyJ wrote: "Zoe wrote: "I didn’t realize one can vote on Twitter or that we can vote multiple books. Always voted on the website poll and for the same book “Pride and Prejudice”. I did enjoy multiple ones from..."Will simply posting a hashtag for a Jane Austen book (Pride and Prejudice) attract these folks on Twitter? What other hashtags do they look for? #JaneAusten for instance?
Cathy wrote: "I voted for Frankenstein today - love the background of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel with all the writers cooped up on a rainy day writing ghost stories. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre..."PBS did a story on the Bronte sisters just a year or so ago.
Also, didn't Mary Shelly write that when she was 19!? I mean, heck, I thought I was more advanced when I was 19, but I sure wasn't writing novels.
@NancyJ: now that I know I can and votes don’t get discounted if you vote for me multiple books with the same email, I will definitely vote all my favorite ones when I go to the PBS website! Gave it a shot on Twitter with the hashtag PBS had on the website for Pride and Prejudice #VOTEPridePrej . A bit tougher to remember each and every hashtag they posted there. Maybe if I copy my favorite ones and paste them. I’ll see, I’m not that active on Twitter anymore.
Mod
Gave..."
I usually vote and tweet from the website. After you hit "confirm vote", the thank-you screen pops up with "Share your vote" above the twitter and facebook symbols. Just hit the little bird to tweet it. Your tweet will include the pbs graphic.
But yes, I think it would be faster to paste all the hashtags in a file and post them in one or more different tweets, and maybe add the link to post the pbs graphics.
I often post the link to our group instead of the pbs graphic, or I sometimes post a quote or picture from the book itself instead.
Zoe, send a tweet to me @nancyjreader and I'll follow you. Do you have 10 followers? If not, search for people who posted #VotePridePrej - "like" their posts, and follow them. DrunkAusten and a few others may follow you right away.
Mod
It's amazing, isn't it? I'm still surprised my son knew so much about the Bronte sisters. Maybe he saw that show.
Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I voted for Frankenstein today - love the background of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel with all the writers cooped up on a rainy day writing ghost stories. I'm currently rea..."Just finished Jane Eyre and would like to see the pbs show about the Bronte sisters. I have three novels in one book including Wuthering Heights by Emily and Agnes Grey by Anne and plan to read those as well eventually. I've read that Mary Shelley was 19 when she came up with the idea / wrote the story that would become Frankenstein. She was 21 when it was published and it became an instant success - wonder what she would think of all the monster movies?
Jane Eyre is definitely one of my favorites. I love that there's so many good elements including the romantic angle and then the kinda horror/ gothic angle. I just never got into Jack London stuff. Feel a little bad about it as I've lived in areas with all sorts of historical things related to him.
Bruyere wrote: "Jane Eyre is definitely one of my favorites. I love that there's so many good elements including the romantic angle and then the kinda horror/ gothic angle. I just never got into Jack London stuf..."
I was so young when I read London (my dad was a fan), that I barely remember. I don't remember hating them. Just don't remember great details. I do remember disliking "The Grapes of Wrath" intensely, when we had to read it in 10th grade. So much that I'm not sure I can force myself to re-read it as an adult.
I read Grapes of Wrath in college and really enjoyed it. I'm sure it's one of those that you have to be in the right state of mind. Not sure I could have been in 10th grade...
Mod
I just never got into Jack London stuf..."
I don't know if my warm memories of Jack London's books were because of my own enjoyment of them, or my boys.' I do fondly remember a scene with the dog at his master's feet, and I think of it sometimes when my dog sits at my feet.
Mod
I just never got into Grapes of Wrath..."
Bruyere wrote: "I read Grapes of Wrath in college and really enjoyed it. I'm sure it's one of those that you have to be in the right state of mind. Not sure I could have been in 10th grade..."
We read Of Mice and Men instead. I liked the movie Grapes of Wrath as an adult, but that could partly be because of Henry Fonda, and partly because I found the economics and company town topics really interesting. I don't know if I would have liked it as a teenager. I might have found it relentlessly depressing. I'll probably read East of Eden before I read Grapes of Wrath.
NancyJ wrote: "Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: I just never got into Grapes of Wrath..."
Bruyere wrote: "I read Grapes of Wrath in college and really enjoyed it. I'm sure it's one of those that you have to..."
That was exactly it. And my parents had been born at the beginning of the Depression, so I'd heard those stories ad nauseam.....
I took a "Good Books II" course in college, the prof was British. So we read Farley Mowat (sort of like Jack London, but Canadian), Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo", Hemingway's "Snows of Kilimanjaro". Can't remember what else atm.
I just wasn't aware of people going through what happened in Grapes of Wrath. I heard about what my family members endured in Wisconsin during The Depression, but I think they weren't nearly as affected as other parts of the country. I always think of Jack London as being for males and/or dog lovers, of which I am neither.
Mod
Bruyere
Yes I think Farley Mowat is sort of like Jack London. I bought a few of his books for my husband. My husband and boys are huge dog lovers, and it's rubbed off on me.
I agree that men probably like Jack London more than women do. Lord of the RIngs is another book that always seemed more popular with boys than girls.
My mom lived in Minnesota during the depression and they had no problem growing food, unlike in the dust bowl. Wisconsin was probably the same. She said she never knew they were poor until years later.
My parents grew up in MI. If my mom ever mentioned "deprivation", it seemed to be more an issue of family dynamics and favoring one child over the other, not true poverty. My dad was the 7th of 8 children on a small farm. My grandfather (whom I never met) had some sort of spinal issue and walked with a cane. My dad used to tell us the story about how he had no shoes (and that's COLD! in MI!), except for a pair of rubber gumboots (that's what he called them :)) And how he used to have to wear them to school, and his feet would be all shriveled up from sweating inside those boots. Unless he got to ride the family mule, haha
Mod
My mom talks about being deprived too - of siblings. Whenever we fought she'd get mad because she had it so much worse as an only child. My grandfather had a traveling carnival for awhile and they had a pony to give kids pony rides. I have a great picture of my mom on that horse. We said, how could you be poor if you had a pony? (Though it's clearly a depression era picture.) When she was a little older she ran the cotton candy machine.
Mod
I just never got into ..."
I distinctly remember not liking Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men when I read them in high school. So much so that I have yet to pick up any Steinbeck on my own.
As for London, I don't necessarily ascribe him towards masculinity, but outdoorsy-natue loving people, in general, of which I am not.
And with Lord of the Rings, my girlfriends and I read them in our early teen years together. And somehow they've always been relevant in a lot of my adult female friendships as well. It strikes me in a funny, but not bad way, that others (like you Nancy!) see it the opposite!
I read LOTR in my early teens, as well, primarily because my older brother passed his set down to me. He'd also loaned me "Watership Down"(I think pretty much my whole family went through that one, because I remember my mom reading it, too). I haven't yet picked up Steinbeck again, with the exception of "Travels with Charlie". Maybe some day I will try a different one. Someone once told me their favorite film was "Cannery Row". Maybe it's just gonna be more of the same, but I'm not against trying hijm again.
I saw London as outdoors-y, too.
Mod
My boyfriend in high school started with The Hobbit and loved it, but I just couldn't get interested in it. I don't recall ever talking with girls or women who were reading them when I was young. It was always guys. My boys got me to watch the LOTR movies, which I liked (except for the middle one) but they didn't stick with me as much as the sci-fi movies (Terminator, StarMan, Contact, Twelve Monkeys, Fifth Element, Gattaca). I don't know if I talked about a lot of these with women either.
Mod
Do you think we can handle one more group read? For August 1 or 15?
Mod
My boyfriend in high school started with The Hobbit and loved it, but I just couldn't get interested in it. I don't recall ever talking with girls or women who were reading them whe..."
It is fascinating to hear of other people's history with texts, especially if it's different than mine! I wonder how/if it effects the reading of it.
As for the group read, I can because I've already read Siddhartha and Sirens, so I'll defer to others in the group.
Still haven't narrowed my voting down much. Now I'm varying my votes more in groups. Childhood favorites one day, adult enjoyable one day, adult with an important theme/lesson the next.
I'm still voting for many each day, in an attempt to keep a certain one from winning.....:)I'm doing the short read, but with work reading (ILL deadlines coming up!) and a possible family visit pending, may not have time for much more that isn't "work reading"
Mod
https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/06...
I came across this article on twitter. It looks really interesting.
Mod
Will simply posting a hashtag for a Jane Austen book (Pride and Prejudice) attract these folks on Twitter? What other hashtags do they look for? #JaneAusten for instance? "
It might be even more effective to use the hashtags to find them rather than try to attract them. #JaneAusten #VotePridePrej #Austen etc.
Then read their posts and follow them. If you like a post or agree with it, hit "Like" and retweet it.
I vote by text and usually on whatever I’m listening to or reading atm if I like it.
I vote every day, but think I find myself taking this waaay too seriously. As in, "If they're going to narrow it down to 40, then should I vote for 40? Or just the ones I like?" In other words, if I don't vote for 40, maybe I'm making room for one of those books that I really dislike to make it to/stay on the list..........There are some that I don't vote for every day, because I'm pretty sure that P&P and Jane Eyre, along with Wuthering Heights and Gatsby, are almost guaranteed a place on the final 40.
Then again, does it matter if they're on that 40 list, or not? Should one just give up on the ones that didn't make the 40?
Mod
I suspect they'll identify the top 20 in the next couple weeks, and the top 10 in October.
I vote most heavily for the ones I really believe should be in the top 10, because there is no guarantee. I throw in other old favorites once in a while. I cut back on voting for the children's books because I think they're covered. A lot of people are voting for only the books they loved as a kid or read in school.
I really want to give all the votes I can to Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Americanah. They're great books and I know that many white readers won't naturally gravitate to books written by black authors. I'm also giving some advance votes to War and Peace and Color Purple (I loved the movie).
NancyJ wrote: "Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "I vote every day, but think I find myself taking this waaay too seriously. As in, "If they're going to narrow it down to 40, then should I vote for 40? Or jus..."I dunno, I could see a lot of people voting for "Color Purple", because the movie was so mainstream, and Whoopi's a favorite (and I know and you know that that's not the book, but we also know that people will vote on the basis of film or TV shows). Myself, I like Morrison (I looooved "Paradise"), and I"m always so surprised when people (some of them colleagues from the English dept., no less) tell me she's "too hard" to read.......something about the language that I totally don't get. Anyway, "Beloved" got some attention, and a film, but I don't think its run was quite as good as "Color Purple"'s
Mod
I think 38 or 39 of the top 40 had movies so I won't hold that against Color Purple. I think Walker might be the only black author to make the top 40 so she may be the only one with a chance to get in the top 20. I'm voting in advance of reading the book based on her reputation, and the fact that the movie was very powerful.
I read Beloved soon after I had a baby, so that was bad timing. I might need to give Morrison another try now, maybe with a different book.
NancyJ wrote: "Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "I vote every day, but think I find myself taking this waaay too seriously. As in, "If they're going to n..."Oh, nothing against "The Color Purple"....but I think the popularity of the movie will help nudge it a bit, that's all.
Read "Paradise"....that's one that I actually took the time to read more than once.
The Great American Read
Books mentioned in this topic
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley (other topics)Lonesome Dove (other topics)
Things Fall Apart (other topics)
The Sun Also Rises (other topics)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (other topics)
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