[2019] Voting for 8th Mini-Poll

[Nadine in NY]

I rarely like multigenerational sagas, and if that one wins, I'm going to be counting on some really good recommendations from those of you who are fans!!!

[Silvia]

When I read the suggestion of multi generational saga I was not interested at all, but then I checked the list and found many books that I read and loved. I have actually not read any of this kind for a long time, so I guess it's time to return to this once loved genre :)

[dalex]

I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of the portal prompt. In my mind it's a very specific subgenre of fantasy (and honestly not the type of fantasy I read very often). So I'm curious what types of books everyone is thinking about for the portal prompt because it seems that it's something different and/or broader than what I'm thinking.

[Peter]

dalex wrote: "I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of the portal prompt. In my mind it's a very specific subgenre of fantasy (and honestly not the type of fantasy I read very often). So I'm curious w..."

When I made the suggestion, it was entirely based on the Darker Shade of Magic series because I want to read book 3. But it's actually broader than I originally thought as well. While fantasy definitely lends itself to it easier than most genres, Sci-fi, historical fiction, horror, and classics all often have a "door" or some form of portal that is capable of transporting characters between locations/worlds/times/dimensions. Using some kind or portal that can transport characters is actually a really common trope within books.

Some books I can recommend that would fall outside of the strictly fantasy genre are:
The Shining (horror)
11/22/63 (historical fiction)
Night Watch and its sequels (supernatural/urban/modern fantasy)
Ready Player One (sci-fi)
Outlander series (historical fiction/romance, although I haven't read them)

[Nicole]

I don't think I like the idea of knowing the progress of the votes ahead of time. I mean, yes, I'm impatient and I would love to know which ones look like they're inching ahead as the votes come in. However, I do think it could end up changing the poll results in the end.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Oh I would definitely be that person who would wait until the end of the week to see where the votes stood before casting my vote haha. It might be ok if you could only see the results after you submit your own votes (and be able to watch it change as the week progresses), but then that would probably involve some type of logging in and the votes wouldn't be anonymous.

[Rachelnyc]

dalex wrote: "I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of the portal prompt. In my mind it's a very specific subgenre of fantasy (and honestly not the type of fantasy I read very often). So I'm curious w..."

I'm surprised at how much interest it's getting as well as I was considering downvoting it. I am trying to limit bottom votes to those I genuinely dislike or that I think will be very difficult to find something of interest though.

Of the books mentioned for this prompt here and in the suggestions thread, I've enjoyed a few but none of the others are of interest. Does anyone have a more comprehensive list?

ETA: Oh and I definitely think the voting should remain a secret. As much as I'd like to know how the voting is going, it will absolutely skew the results.

[Tracy]

Just surfing through my home page the past few days to see if theres anything I want to add to my TBR, and I found these thoughts for prompts that could possibly be voted in:

Suicide Club_ Immortality
There There- Multi- generational, Indigenous
Beneath the Mother Tree- Indigenous

What did I vote for? Portal fiction definitely , Ive seen some discussion as to why this has been so popular. For me It came down to the listopia ( quite a few on there that are on my TBR) and the fact that I LOVE time travel, also I've been meaning to read Every Heart a Doorway, so this is a fabulous excuse.

Multi-generational Saga- so many great books to choose from!! Initially I was going to pass it over, because I felt that the books would be too long, but again after checking out some lists there were so many already on my TBR that I wouldn't have realized would fit this category.

The Texas Library Lariat List, especially once it was opened up to include previous years. I know there are a lot of readers here who detest being forced to choose off a list, sometimes I'm one of them ( I had a hard time with the 1001 books, believe it or not , and also a list or 2 for this years challenge) , but there were a lot of contemporary novels on this particular list that I really want to read.

Cant remember the 4th vote I put in...maybe immortality?

Oh! Edit.... It was the psychological thriller because I have so many of them around and I enjoy them as a quick read in between the heavier stuff. I don't think I'm going to finish the challenge this year so I tried to mix up my votes with some heavier and lighter possibilities. A little brain food, and a little brain candy :-)

Now after reading the discussions, Im kinda hoping for Indigenous and Immortality, but I always make it work somehow.

For what my opinion is worth I think being able to see the voting process would definitely skew the results....

[Peter]

Rachelnyc wrote: "dalex wrote: "I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of the portal prompt. In my mind it's a very specific subgenre of fantasy (and honestly not the type of fantasy I read very often). So..."

I'll keep looking... I can only find small lists, nothing that has more than 10 titles at a time.

[Anastasia]

Portal can be any type of opening you would walk or enter through. With that in mind you can use a literary fiction where the character opens a door to a strange situation in the first chapter.

I can not think of specific examples right now, but that is what I thought of for that prompt.

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks all, this is why I love that there is discussion rather than just a simple vote! I was thinking the portal prompt would have to be fulfilled by sci-fi and since we already have spec fic, I wasn't too keen on that but now I realize there are some literary and historical fiction books on my TBR that should work well if this makes it in.

[Pam]

Peter wrote: "dalex wrote: "I'm surprised so many people seem to be in favor of the portal prompt. In my mind it's a very specific subgenre of fantasy (and honestly not the type of fantasy I read very often). So..."

I didn’t vote either way on the portal prompt. I know I could find something but seems a little restrictive for people who don’t read sci-fi and fantasy. To me, it’s sci-fi or fantasy but, within these genres, some of the books could be considered literary and/or Classics. The books that I immediately thought of, but have already read, that fit this category include: The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier, Weaveworld by Clive Barker, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Chronicles Of Narnia, and the The Fold by Peter Clines. Maybe Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court would work? The problem is you don’t always know that it fits until after you read it so you have to look for lists or suggestions. There are some good choices, though!

[Avery]

The portal theme off the top of my head could include:

-Harry Potter (Platform 9 3/4, secret tunnels to Hogsmeade, etc.)
-The Hunger Games (taking the elevator to the arena)
-Angels & Demons (taking the uber fast plane from the US to Geneva in an hour)
-The Night Circus (the different tents)
-Room (Jack's whole world is Room)

If I realllllllllly needed to stretch it, I would consider a book where someone's perfect life changes in an instant (kidnappinig, car accident...)

Side note: anyone else feel like Harry Potter can fit basically any and every prompt? Haha...

[Peter]

Avery wrote: "Side note: anyone else feel like Harry Potter can fit basically any and every prompt? Haha... "

LOL. But seriously...yes.

[Nicole]

Avery wrote: "Side note: anyone else feel like Harry Potter can fit basically any and every prompt? Haha..."

I totally agree! HP can fill just about anything on my list. I am re-reading the series right now with my son (his first time through), and I have used all of the books to fill prompts from either last year or this year. I know I could use them all for next year, too, but I probably won't read them again so soon. As for portals in HP, the first one I thought of was the bricks back behind the Leaky Cauldron that open up into Diagon Alley.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Avery wrote: "The portal theme off the top of my head could include:

-Harry Potter (Platform 9 3/4, secret tunnels to Hogsmeade, etc.)
-The Hunger Games (taking the elevator to the arena)
-Angels & Demons (taki..."

Avery, I may or may not have put Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for nearly every single prompt this year. I plan on rereading it next year, so... it fits, no matter where I end up reading it in order!

I would love some listopia lists about portals, if anyone comes across a good one. I had originally considered it in my top, but I couldn't find any that drew me in (or was already on my TBR). I appreciate everyone's suggestions, but I'd love a long list to look at!

[Tracy]

Outlander has to be my favorite portal fiction book ( the seven stones was the entry way), along with The Time Travelers Wife. Chronicles of Narnia is a great and quick read also. Or A Wrinkle in Time, although I really didn't care for the last half of that book :-(

There are a lot of time travel books that are also Historical Fiction for those that have an aversion to Sci Fi.

For lists, try searching dual timelines....many of those involved time travel when I looked, and lets face it, if you're time traveling, you are definitely going through a portal.

Or what about books where the characters get "sucked into" a book?? Last Year I read Between the Lines, which was a super cute fairy tale type book, and the characters were getting pulled in and out of an actual book.

[Sabrina]

I actually just started a really great portal fiction series Daughter of Smoke & Bone . I highly recommend it even if the portal fic prompt doesn't win.

[Nadine in NY]

Gahhhh! Daughter of Smoke & Bone is one of my ALL TIME favorite series!!! I second that recommendation!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Oh! I have Time Traveler's Wife and Daughter of Smoke and Bone on my TBR! Thanks guys!

[dalex]

Thanks for everyone's input on the portal prompt. It's interesting to read how people are interpreting the idea. I'm still not feeling real inspired about it, however. I've either read the books mentioned or they're not ones I'd like to read.

[Pam]

Here’s a non-fiction option for the portal prompt - Time Travel: A History. Very interesting!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I'm jealous that you haven't read The Time Traveler's Wife yet, Emily. It's one of my favorites and just one of those books that I wish I could read again for the first time.

The portal fiction was a prompt that I had a feeling I would be able to find good books for but I just didn't have any that jumped out at me immediately. So I didn't vote for or against it. But I also didn't even think about the Outlander series. I'm trying to slowly make my way through the audiobooks so I would be happy if it made it on the list.

[Jill]

I don't know if she is on a list but Jodi Taylor has a series The Chronicles of St Mary's, which has a time travel theme. Present time historians going back to situations in history

[Silvia]

Here is a couple of interesting options for the portal suggestion

https://theportalist.com/portal-ficti...

[Katie]

I may have missed it somewhere, but does time travel automatically qualify as portal because they enter a different world/time, or is it time travel that includes a physical location related to the travel?

[Tracy]

Katie wrote: "I may have missed it somewhere, but does time travel automatically qualify as portal because they enter a different world/time, or is it time travel that includes a physical location related to the..."

Good Question Katie..... For some the portal is obvious like the seven stones in Outlander or the Wardrobe in Narnia... But for others maybe not so obvious.

My thought is that any time travel involves some sort of opening or Portal in the time space continuum, if that makes sense.

[Peter]

I would say yes. Most time travel stories involve something to manifest the change in time/location which I would consider a portal.

[Jill]

I think so too, as there must be a crossing point between now and whenever the characters end up.

[Rachelnyc]

I think this is the longest I've waited to vote in any of the polls but I finally did it!

For top, I went with Multi-generational saga, Hero/heroine, Journey and Indigenous people. Immortality was close behind.

For bottom I chose serial (I've never read one and don't really have an interest), Spine (I read ebooks primarily and am not a big fan of arbitrary cover/spine/title prompts) and Disney character. I'm glad we had the conversation about portal since I almost downvoted it until it was pointed out that it isn't only sci-fi fits the prompt and I have Kindred as well as a couple of historical fiction novels that involve time travel on m list for next year.

[Martha]

I voted for 4 but only wrote down 3 that I marked: Multigenerational saga because I have a lot of those on my shelves and like them in general, A book of indigenous people because some of my favorite books have fit this category and because I can make it into a nonfiction prompt if I want to, and a book from the Texas Lariat list.

I voted against someone with your dream job because those days are over for me, a book featuring a Disney character (I never have been a Disney fan), a book with a beautiful spine because I don't like to choose books based on appearance, and a book with the theme of immortality.

[Sabrina]

Avery wrote: "The portal theme off the top of my head could include:

-Harry Potter (Platform 9 3/4, secret tunnels to Hogsmeade, etc.)
-The Hunger Games (taking the elevator to the arena)
-Angels & Demons (taki..."

I'm actually reading the whole series for the first time through this year's prompts! In order, I'm using the series for an author's debut novel, a book with a plot centered around a secret, a book with a location in the title, book linked by 4 elements: water (may have to double check this i just got it from listopia), suggestion from ATY polls that didn't win: hogwarts house, a ghost story, and a book related to one of the 7 deadly sins: greed.
So basically yea the harry potter series can fit a ton of prompts

[dalex]

Doesn't our discussion of our votes potentially have the same influence on other people's votes as would sharing the results before the poll officially ends?

[Pam]

I would say not Dalex because not everyone is sharing and you can’t see the numbers.

[Nadine in NY]

No, a discussion is one thing but the actual votes result is something else. The votes do not always reflect the discussion, there are often surprises. I for one am glad the votes are hidden, because I know it would affect my choices!

[Kathy]

I prefer votes to be hidden. I like the anticipation of getting the results.

[Bryony]

dalex wrote: "Doesn't our discussion of our votes potentially have the same influence on other people's votes as would sharing the results before the poll officially ends?"

I think the difference is that if you can see the latest results then you might, for example, see that the prompt you like the best has very few votes and so decide to vote instead for a prompt you don’t like as much but which has a better chance of winning. It allows people to vote strategically, rather than simply picking their top four and bottom four, whereas discussing the prompts just helps people to decide how they feel about different prompts before voting.

[Ellie]

Hiya, I'm new here after hearing so many Popsugar people talking about ATY, and I'm seriously considering signing up next year. I love the prompts so far.

I voted for portal because I know I will read the new Wayward Children book by Seanan McGuire next year - these are all novellas so are a really good choice if you're not sure about portal fantasy. I also have Exit West on my TBR which would also work.

I also voted for climate (which doesn't seem very popular), indigenous people and immortality.

[Tammy]

Welcome to the gang, Ellie! I hope you'll join in the fun next year. And hey...you never know how the vote is gonna go, so just keep your fingers crossed for your picks.

[Peter]

It's too bad the climate one doesn't seem to be liked. I'm interested in reading more cli-fi because it's different. I'm getting tired of the evil government/war trope for creating a dystopian world and I think natural causes outside human control is an interesting concept. I'm sure cli-fi will eventually become a worn out trope as well but right now it's still something different.

[Jenni]

If the hero prompt ends up on our list, I plan to read the memoir of Eva Mozes Kor, Surviving the Angel of Death. I've heard her speak twice in my life, first during my freshman year of college at Indiana State University, and then a few years ago with my daughters' Girl Scout troop at the museum Mrs. Kor founded in Terre Haute, IN, CANDLES. Both are experiences I will carry with me always, and I am thankful that my daughters have also had the opportunity to hear her story and her message of forgiveness...both are so very powerful. Mrs. Kor is a true living treasure and she is my hero.

[Nadine in NY]

I do not really have a hero, I don't know what I'll do if that wins. Probably read a firefighter romance or something!!

[Tracy]

Peter wrote: "It's too bad the climate one doesn't seem to be liked. I'm interested in reading more cli-fi because it's different. I'm getting tired of the evil government/war trope for creating a dystopian worl..."

I need to look up this genre, the more I think about it the more interested I am. I think I might already have a few on my shelf?

[Nadine in NY]

Tracy wrote: "Peter wrote: "It's too bad the climate one doesn't seem to be liked. I'm interested in reading more cli-fi because it's different. I'm getting tired of the evil government/war trope for creating a ...


I need to look up this genre, the more I think about it the more interested I am. I think I might already have a few on my shelf?"



I'm sure it's too late for the voting, but here are a few ideas in case someone is interested now in just finding a book:
A book about climate change (fiction or non-fiction)


Examples for fiction:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Examples for non-fiction:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Voting doesn’t end until the 19th!

[Tracy]

Thanks Nadine!! I do already have quite a few of those books (fiction and non- fiction ) on my kindle and actual bookshelves :-)

I already voted though Emily :/

Maybe if it doesn't go through someone will bring it back....

[Rachelnyc]

So excited to see the results tomorrow!

I was reading through this thread again and created a list of what I think the top and bottom will be based on discussion just to see how accurate it is compared to the total votes. It's been raining all weekend and I'm a little bored! ;)

[Nadine in NY]

Rachel that will be funny to see I bet!!

[Rachelnyc]

Nadine wrote: "Rachel that will be funny to see I bet!!"

I think so. Just a fun little experiment to see how in synch the portion of voters that post their results and discuss the prompts are with the group as a whole.