[2020] Keep it Simple (KIS) or Bring it on (BIO) Group Collab List

[dalex]

Avery wrote: "Another BIO option for the southern hemisphere could be to do a book set in a country that intersects the 20th parallel south (20 for year 2020)!"

That is super creative! I love it. :)

[dalex]

Emily wrote:
"BIO for -ing: Use only words ending in -ing
KIS: Allow for -ing to appear anywhere in the word."

Weirdly, I would've switched those. I think it's more difficult to see an ING in the middle of a word. (Not that I'm saying you're wrong....just making an observation.)

[°~Amy~°]

WOW!

I typed in the capital city in my state (Augusta, Maine) and found out that the antipode is AUGUSTA Australia! That is very interesting!

https://www.geodatos.net/en/antipodes...

[°~Amy~°]

OK, the KIS/BIO list should be caught up as of July 17th at 2:16 pm EST

Keep the great ideas coming. I'm like how it's all turning out so far!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

dalex wrote: "Emily wrote:
"BIO for -ing: Use only words ending in -ing
KIS: Allow for -ing to appear anywhere in the word."

Weirdly, I would've switched those. I think it's more difficult to see an ING in th..."

I can see that, and I guess if you were limiting it to only words that had -ing in the middle, then it would be BIO. But, for me, "-ing" implies that there's nothing after the g (otherwise it would look like "-ing-"), so allowing things to come after the g would open it up a bit more, therefore making it KIS.

[°~Amy~°]

Emily wrote: "dalex wrote: "Emily wrote:
"BIO for -ing: Use only words ending in -ing
KIS: Allow for -ing to appear anywhere in the word."

Weirdly, I would've switched those. I think it's more difficult to se..."
I did add -ing anywere in the word/title as a KIS, along with the option to use -ing in subtitles. I personally felt it was easier but it's always interesting to see how others view it. :-)

[dalex]

Emily wrote: "But, for me, "-ing" implies that there's nothing after the g (otherwise it would look like "-ing-"), so allowing things to come after the g would open it up a bit more, therefore making it KIS. "

Makes sense. Thanks for explaining that.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

I'm so much better at coming up with BIO options that KIS options for some reason... :-)

Author with one syllable last name:
BiO: restrict yourself to last names with one syllable AND three or fewer letters
BIO: restrict yourself to last names with one syllable AND five or more letters

Neurodiverse:
KIS: use any book where even a minor character is neurodiverse
BIO: use only own voices books
BIO: use only books where the main or viewpoint character is neurodiverse

[dalex]

Four horsemen...

war
KIS: a war that is covered in a lot of books (WW2, WW1, Civil War, Vietnam War); a not-real war (like in sci-fi and fantasy)
BIO: a real war/conflict that you know very little about

death
KIS: characters dealing with grief after the death of someone
BIO: death as a character

plague
KIS: bubonic plague, AIDS, end-of-the-world caused by plague
BIO: a plague that isn't often featured in books (Spanish Flu, cholera outbreak, leper colony)

famine
KIS: character with an eating disorder
BIO:

other
an apocalyptic book (not just one that is caused by or results in the horsemen)
a book about horses

[Sarah]

BIO for one syllable last name: Must have one syllable first name also

BIO for 4 horseman: Book that actually has the four horsemen in it as characters

[°~Amy~°]

All updated as of 7/22/19 at 2:40pm edt

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

°~Amy~° wrote: "All updated as of 7/22/19 at 2:40pm edt"

You switched the more letters and fewer letters on my suggestions. No problem if that was intentional and you thought mine were too restrictive, just wanted to make sure that was how you meant to put it up. :-)

[°~Amy~°]

Raquel wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "All updated as of 7/22/19 at 2:40pm edt"

You switched the more letters and fewer letters on my suggestions. No problem if that was intentional and you thought mine were too restric..."

Nope, that was an error. I wanted the five or more above the three or fewer so instead of cutting and pasting the entire thing, I only changed the number but not what came after. That'll teach me to be a lazy editor! lol

[Avery]

I just received Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies and I thought it’d be an interesting twist for the prompt about a place you wouldn’t want to live. It discusses places that don’t exist, hidden societies, and abandoned villages. Just having the phrase “unruly places” in the title would fulfill the prompt. In terms of adding to the list, perhaps one of the BIO options could be “a place that you physically cannot live because it doesn’t exist anymore.” Just wanted somewhere to share this book mainly :)

[dalex]

A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan

KIS options

a book that has an Olympic sport word in the title, such as Swimming Lessons for swimming, All the Pretty Horses for equestrian, Bird Box for boxing, Sailing to Sarantium for sailing, The Dive From Clausen's Pier for diving

a book that has something related to an Olympic sport in the cover art, like a horse or a swimming pool

a book related to Japanese culture, like The Last Samurai or a book with a teacup on the cover

a book set in Washington state (because the capital is Olympia)

a book about Greek mythology (because Mount Olympus was home to the Greek gods)

a Star Trek tie-in novel (because Star Trek has an Olympic class of starships)

a book set in any country that has hosted the Olympics

a book in which a character travels (because people travel to participate in the Olympics)

a book that takes place in several different locations (because it is a global event)

an author named Olympia, like Olympia Vernon

a book with a character named Olympia

[Avery]

A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan

BIO: A book related to one of the new sports added to the 2020 Olympic programme (baseball, softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing)

BIO: A book related to Miraitowa and Someity, the official mascots of the 2020 Summer Olympics (teleportation, future, eternity, cherry blossoms)

BIO: A book related to both Japan and an Olympic sport

KIS: A book related to the 2020 Paralympics or the Special Olympics

KIS: A book related to a winter Olympic sport

KIS: A book with a Japanese character

[Chinook]

For my personal BIO, I’m reading each prompt plus requiring that each book have a transgender author and/or character, with a preference for own voices generally.

I was inspired by people saying they didn’t think finding books for the transgender character/author prompt flexible enough. I would like to show that there’s actually a huge number of choices out there in a wide variety of genres. And so far the only prompt suggestion that has stumped me was the laureate one.

I can’t wait to queer up my reading in 2020.

[Pam]

BIO for NYT 100 Notable list: choose a genre that you rarely read (like the prompt of “filling a hole in your reading”). For me, that would be non-fiction. Another idea is to choose a book that is not already on your TBR or is unknown to you.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

BIO for the series: Read a series that is outside of your comfort zone (YA or fantasy, for example).

KIS for the series: Read any book in a series (not just the first)

BIO for the NYT list: Read a book not already on your TBR or that you discovered because of the list

[°~Amy~°]

Chinook wrote: "For my personal BIO, I’m reading each prompt plus requiring that each book have a transgender author and/or character, with a preference for own voices generally.

I was inspired by people saying ..."

That sounds like a great project. I look forward to following your 2020 reading plan. :-)

[°~Amy~°]

Great suggestions everyone! The list is updated as of July 31st at 10:40 am EDT

[°~Amy~°]

Updated with our latest winner and a couple of KIS/BIO ideas 8/11/19 @ 9:18 EDT

[Pam]

KIS for the first in series: Read the first in a series, including a series you’ve already started. (Not all of us read in order!)

[Pam]

BIO for arts related: Non-fiction about a specific artist/performer or genre/style.

[Ellie]

We Didn't Start the Fire:
BIO: One of the books mentioned
BIO: Non-fiction about one of the events referenced
KIS: Any book set between 1949 and 1989

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

BIO for Abe list -- Use one of the specific books posted with the author (instead of just any book by the author).

[°~Amy~°]

KIS/BIO list is updated!

I added a bio to non-traditional family. Please let me know if "trope" is the wrong word.

1. Use less commonly used tropes such as LGBTQ+, child kidnapped by non-parent and raised as family, in-vitro family, polygamist family, friends co-habitating to raise child, child raised by wild animals, child raised by Artificial Intelligence, AI child raised by human parent(s) etc.)

I know that being a single parent, I am not a trope and my situation is not a trope, but if a story was written about me raising my child, it would be a single-parent trope, right? Let me know if the wording should be changed and I will gladly do that.

[Shelley]

°~Amy~° wrote: "KIS/BIO list is updated!

I added a bio to non-traditional family. Please let me know if "trope" is the wrong word.

1. Use less commonly used tropes such as LGBTQ+, child kidnapped by non-parent..."

I'm not sure about others, but you definitely captured what I was thinking. I have one book about a sister raising her teenage sister and it feels over-done even if non-traditional. Trope fits why I'm going to pencil in the book and look for something else in the meantime.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

The word trope implies that it is over-used or cliche, so I don't think you can have a not-overused trope, if that makes sense?

I think you're looking for maybe storyline or theme?

[°~Amy~°]

Emily wrote: "The word trope implies that it is over-used or cliche, so I don't think you can have a not-overused trope, if that makes sense?

I think you're looking for maybe storyline or theme?"

That actually does make sense. Thank you!

[Chrissy]

BIO for the Canadian/Australian/New Zealander author: choose an indigenous author

[Avery]

Transportation Cover

KIS: a book with a path for transportation on it, such as a road or train tracks
KIS: a book with a mode of transportation in the title
KIS: a book with a horse, paper airplane, roller coaster, or shoes on it

[Avery]

Survival Prompt

KIS: a thriller or crime fiction
BIO: a book about overcoming adversity, such as illness, trauma, disasters, bullying, etc.
BIO: a book about survivalism or survival of the fittest

[°~Amy~°]

Updated as of August 31st at 9:21am EDT

[Pam]

BIO for prime number year: Before 2000 or before you were born or at least 50 years ago.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Ideas for this new round:

2020 Release

BIO:
An author you've never read before
A debut book
A book on a "most anticipated" list

KIS:
A new edition of an older book
A recent translation of a book

Classic

BIO:
Older than x year (published before 1900, or 1800, or 1700)

KIS:
A contemporary classic from the 2000s or 1990s
A retelling of a classic

Genre Based on your Name

BIO:
Use only your first name
Pick one category for each letter and don't deviate

KIS:
Allow for broad categories like YA, Nonfiction, and Fiction
Use your full name for options
Use a significant other's name for more options (spouse, child, parent, friend, etc.)

[Pam]

BIO for the genre in name prompt: Title of the book also starts with a letter from your name (same letter used for genre, for added difficulty).

[Avery]

Published in 2020
KIS - a book published in a new format in 2020 (i.e. the hardcover came out in 2019, but the paperback came out in 2020)

Genre based on Name
KIS - pick a genre that starts with the letters A, T, or Y

[Marin]

BIO for genre based on name:
Randomly select a letter from your name and just use that letter

[dalex]

A lesser known book
BIO: a book with less than 1,000 ratings on goodreads
BIO: a book that was nominated for a major award such as the Booker, the Edgar, or the Hugo
BIO: an older publication (2015 or earlier)
KIS: a newer publication (2019 or 2020)
KIS: a children's book, a poetry collection, a play, and other not-a-novel types of books
KIS: a translated novel
BIO: a book published by one of the "Big Five" publishing houses - Random House, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan
KIS: a book that is published by a vanity press or a boutique press or other form of small publication


A mystery
BIO: a book in the mystery genre (not just any book with a mystery central to the plot)
BIO: a book in a mystery subgenre that is not one you usually read, such as noir, nordic, urban fantasy, cozy, espionage, etc.
BIO: a mystery novel by a person of color
BIO: a mystery novel by an author not from the anglosphere (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
BIO: a classic mystery

An historical fiction
BIO: an historical fiction novel set during a time period you don't normally read about
BIO: an historical fiction novel about a subject, time period, or location that you know little or nothing about
KIS: an historical fiction novel set in your favorite historical period or a time period that you often read about

[°~Amy~°]

I have added the prompt from Sara, the winner of the Summer Reading Challenge:

A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720

Thoughts?

[ladymurmur]

dalex wrote: "A lesser known book
BIO: a book with less than 1,000 ratings on goodreads
BIO: a book that was nominated for a major award such as the Booker, the Edgar, or the Hugo
BIO: an older publication (2015..."

I'm looking to understand the second BIO option here. Why would a nomination for a major award = a lesser known book? I'd think that would have the opposite effect... or is that intended to make it REALLY INCREDIBLY CHALLENGING to find?

[dalex]

ladymurmur wrote: "I'm looking to understand the second BIO option here. Why would a nomination for a major award = a lesser known book? I'd think that would have the opposite effect... or is that intended to make it REALLY INCREDIBLY CHALLENGING to find?"

I would not say that it would be incredibly challenging to find a lesser known book on an awards list but I think it would be at least somewhat difficult. There are actually a surprising number of books that have received award noms but have low ratings, but it would require a bit of research to find a book that fits the parameters.

Here are just a few from the Booker Prize list:

Everything Under by Daisy Johnson (6,593)
Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (2,837)
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (8,754)
History of the Rain by Niall Williams (4,014)
Elmet by Fiona Mozley (1,438)

[Chinook]

°~Amy~° wrote: "I have added the prompt from Sara, the winner of the Summer Reading Challenge:

A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720

Thoughts?"

I will likely use a book with Hell in the title. Which I would say is a KIS option.

[Ellie]

Some ideas for Maximilian Hell:

BIO: a book with Maximilian Hell as a character
BIO: historical fiction about astronomers
BIO: a book featuring both religion and space exploration
BIO: a book involving the planet Venus
BIO: a book about Jesuits
KIS: a book with the moon on the cover
KIS: a book with a Catholic character
KIS: a book set between 1720 and 1792

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

KIS: A book with either Max, Maximilian, or Hell in the title

[°~Amy~°]

KIS/BIO list is updated as of Sept 17 at 8:15 am edt :-)

[dalex]

Maximilian Hell

KIS
a book with a character who is a mathematician
a book with a character who is an astronomer
a book with a character who is a physicist
a book with a character who is employed in a technology related field
a book with a character who is a member of a religious order

"After joining the Jesuits Maximilian taught mathematics, astronomy, physics and technology..." (SOURCE)

[Marin]

BIO for Maximilian Hell:

a book about or set on Venus
a book set in Hungary in the 1700s
a book about someone who was exonerated after their death

[Anabell]

For the prompt ''To celebrate the Leap Year, a book that can be read in a day''. I have no idea if it will be considered a BIO or not. But read it on the 29th of February ;-)