[2020] Voting for 2nd Mini-Poll

[Nadine in NY]

There are a lot of books with “divide” and “plane” in the title.

And yes I’ll definitely read TKQ with it without this, but with so many books on my TBR, it’s nice to have that extra push.

[Pam]

For the math term, I found a website with every imaginable math term. There are all kinds of terms I never thought of! I didn’t vote for this one but I do like it.

[Edie]

Jill wrote: "Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage.
..."

Personally, I am interested in reading about women's suffrage. Our library has suggested reading The Women's Hour: the Great Fight to Win the Vote which I plan to read. However, I agree, the prompt is limiting. I do hope that EVERYONE will take advantage of their right to vote in the coming election. Every vote does count.

[Lizzy]

Thanks for the recommendation Edie. I put it on my TBR.

[Pam]

Thanks Edie! I added it, too!

[Peter]

Good batch this round. 7 tops and only 1 bottom for me.

[Joan]

There were some I was indifferent about and then some I couldn't find any books that interested me. I haven't been following the comments today. Work was too busy so it will be interesting to see how the vote comes out.

[Chinook]

Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage.

Before I just ..."

Mary Poppins? I assume the mom is involved in the books as well as the movie.

[Chinook]

The language discussion fascinates me. I taught some fairly high level grammar classes in Korea and I find both the discussion of what -ing does to a verb (often makes it not a verb) and the discussion around what we take to be universal - like articles (a/an/the) - don’t even exist in some other languages.

I don’t intend to try reading in another language for this or any other challenge, though I am trying to relearn my old school French as I will likely put my daughters into French immersion classes - they start in grade 1 here, so Kait has another year of just English first, hopefully time for me to do some studying myself. So who knows. Maybe I will start reading in French. We do read board books and simple picture books together at bedtime in French now in addition to English, but sometimes even that is a challenge since it’s been a good 20 years since I last used French, barring one week in Togo about 10 years ago.

I would tend to say that we keep the prompt wording simple, add an asterisk to any language related prompt and add that readers in other languages could consider using an equivalent verb tense or the English title but read in their own language or any other preferred method of making the prompt work for them.

[Chinook]

I’d also suggest that if these sorts of prompts make it in, adding a quick comment on the thread for that particular prompt to further suggest some common ways to deal with a language mismatch with a prompt and the reminder that we aren’t a group looking to strictly police book choices.

[Kerry]

I apologize. I've been working and not had a chance to get on to see the questions regarding the crime fiction prompt that I suggested. When I suggested it, I just meant the genre. Here are a couple links.

https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/cr...

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

From Wikipedia: Crime fiction is a literary genre that fictionalises crimes, their detection, criminals, and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct. Crime fiction has multiple subgenres,[1] including detective fiction (such as the whodunit), courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction and legal thrillers. Most crime drama focuses on crime investigation and does not feature the court room. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.

I was thinking any of the subgenres which would also include Sherlock Holmes.

Of course this is always up to the interpretation of each reader.

[dalex]

Kerry wrote: "I apologize. I've been working and not had a chance to get on to see the questions regarding the crime fiction prompt that I suggested. When I suggested it, I just meant the genre."

I think most people thought it meant "a novel in which a crime occurs" so I guess if it makes it onto the list it will be interpreted that way. Big difference, in my opinion, but I guess it ultimately doesn't matter.

[Kerry]

dalex wrote: "Kerry wrote: "I apologize. I've been working and not had a chance to get on to see the questions regarding the crime fiction prompt that I suggested. When I suggested it, I just meant the genre."

..."

Sorry if I misunderstood but isn't that the same thing, a crime is occurring only it's fictionalized. I'm really confused.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I think the difference that dalex is seeing is that a crime can occur in any book -- psychological thrillers, historical fiction, YA.... while the crime genre focuses on the crime itself, many people were looking at the prompt as any book that has a crime in it, even if the focus isn't on the crime and investigation.

[Kerry]

Emily wrote: "I think the difference that dalex is seeing is that a crime can occur in any book -- psychological thrillers, historical fiction, YA.... while the crime genre focuses on the crime itself, many peop..."

Oh, thank you Emily for explaining. No, I meant the actual genre focusing on a crime. I'm sorry, that was not my intention to confuse people.

[dalex]

Kerry wrote: "Oh, thank you Emily for explaining. No, I meant the actual genre focusing on a crime. I'm sorry, that was not my intention to confuse people."

No worries, Kerry. I overanalyze everything. :)

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

Chinook wrote: "Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage.
..."

I had the impression that was something they added in the movie, but I can't remember for sure why I thought that, so maybe it would work!

[Chinook]

I’ve been meaning to read the books since I loved that movie as a child, so perhaps it’s time to find out! I’ve had the votes for women, step in time! lyrics running through my head all day today!

[Nicole]

Can’t wait to find out the results! :) I love that we get to be a part of the process. It’s made the whole thing even more special for me!

I upvoted 5 and downvoted 3.

Upvotes:
1. In honor of the 200th anniversary ... place and time you wouldn’t want to live (I’m definitely wanting to reread some of my favorite YA dystopian novels)

2. A diverse book

3. A book by the same author who wrote one of your favorite reads in 2019/2020

4. A debut novel in 2020

5. A retelling is a fairy tale (LOVED the Cinder series and Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I read Alice by Christina Henry and plan to read her book Mermaid. I think I can find some more I’ll love! Or reread something! Btw I did not like A Tale Dark and Grimm but others love it. *shrug*)


Downvoted:

1. A book related to the 1920s (not a fan of this time period)

2. A book found on a friend’s TBR (that is so much work for me. I love almost every book I see and I have a lot of friends! Haha I don’t know how I’d possibly be able to narrow it down to one. Also why I don’t go to buffets)

3. A book with a mathematical term (I read The Kiss Quotient And hated it and that’s all I think of with the topic lol. Maybe that’s not a good enough reason.)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I liked the friend's TBR prompt, but I think I would work it backwards. I would probably look at all of the books I intended on reading (or was interested in reading) and then look on the book's page to see if any friends had marked it on the TBR. It should list it all out for you on the book's main page.

That being said, I rarely find a book that isn't on someone else's TBR, but I would probably BIO and restrict it to only people I know in person (coworkers, book club friends, etc.) That does narrow the field a bit.

[Pam]

Emily - That is exactly what I would do so I didn’t vote for it! I prefer to find books that NONE of my friends have on their shelves. It’s so rare that it happens but it makes me happy when it does!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about women's suffrage.

Before I just ..."

Mary Poppins!
Although I do agree, I thought it was a very restrictive topic. I currently have a pile of suffragette books on my desk to read for work but it does back into too tight a corner.

[Jen]

This should be interesting. Of course there are some I'd love to read and others not so much, but part of the point of reading challenges was to read outside my comfort zone so I'll have a craic at whatever. The language discussion is fascinating as I hadn't thought about it. I have no excuse since I know what it is like to have to read in another language because that is all that is available. It is a good challenge but it is more time consuming.

I also feel exactly the same way as Raquel about women's suffrage. I would read one to finish the challenge but I'd find the shortest one possible and just get it done. Not sure they are that easy to find in Humpty Doo either and wouldn't want to buy one.

[Denise]

My first time voting - really enjoyed this! Of course, now that I am writing them up, I'm not 100% sure where my last vote went!

I upvoted

3. In honor of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica:
A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live (dangerous, inhospitable, etc)
- sounds great, especially including the dystopian aspect!

(Didn't vote for the suffrage option - I'm reading a lot of fiction ones of those these days e.g. Handmaid's tale.)

9. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
- as let's be honest, we all want to do this anyway!

12. A book by a transgender author or with a transgender main character (including nonbinary)
- I want to read outside my normal area and this is a good prompt for me to be more inclusive.

13. A book related to the 1920's
- sounds like fun!

18. A book with a mathematical term in the title (i.e. add, subtract, multiply, divide, sum, product, quotient, greater than, less than, equals, infinity)
- this one will be fun!

I downvoted
1. A book with neon lights on the cover
- I don't want to spend my time looking at covers in different countries and languages to see if something counts - I know I'd end up spending ages on that and it's very artificial.

17. A book with a verb ending in “ing” in the title
- it was just too restrictive.

[Ellie]

I only downvoted one again, I love this way of voting. There are lots I'm not fussed about and I think I downvoted things in the past just to get the most out of my votes!

My downvote was for family in the title, just because I dislike that title trend. I suppose I could try and find something with a more original title but I'm not a fan of "the so-and-so's whatever" wording.

Voted for inhospitable place, transgender, natural disaster, road trip, weather, maths and best reads.

Like others have said the friend's TBR one just isn't restrictive for me but I'll take it as a freebie read if it makes it in.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

12. A book by a transgender author or with a transgender main character (including nonbinary)."

The fact that only about a dozen authors are listed, its just way too restrictive a topic. I think an ideal topic should have at least a few hundred options. This'll be a good topic in 20 years or so when transgender has been accepted for long enough to build up a longer list of books.

Can I just say the 200th anniversary of Antarctica shocks me! I just did a day trip and ended up at Palmer's house in Stonington, CT. I always assumed that all those boats going around the world exploring would have see it centuries before. I find it funny that twice in one week I hear this fact I had never heard of!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Bryony wrote: "Would it work if we added “or the equivalent in another language” to that prompt? That would allow people who read in another language the flexibility to read a book with the same verb form in the ..."

It seems we should. But if I were doing this in a different language, I would be doing "equivalent" as needed anyways.

[Nicole]

Just an idea - a transgender author would count as a diverse book. More bang with your buck if you vote for diverse books.

[Sara]

Finally made a decision and voted 5-up 3-down. I'm feeling good about the list so far!

[Chinook]

If the transgender author gets in, I’d recommend Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary and I'm Afraid of Men. I haven’t read either myself yet but I went in April to the FOLD (Festival of Literary Diversity) in Brampton, ON and both were there as guests. Both were fascinating and I am looking forward to their books. Also recently Jonny Appleseed and Little Fish have been winning awards and getting a lot of chatter here in Canada.

[Serendipity]

I ended up voting for six prompts Antartica, road trip, 1920s, suffrage (though I’m not expecting it to win), diverse and math term. I didn’t downvote anything since I could happily work with any of these suggestions.

[Rachel]

I hope the inhospitable place prompt makes it. I realized that I'd forgotten to vote for it, but if it makes it, it ends up working to my advantage since anything I vote for that doesn't make the final list probably makes me rejects challenge anyway. I have no idea how I managed to miss it!

[Ellie]

Pamela wrote: "12. A book by a transgender author or with a transgender main character (including nonbinary)."

The fact that only about a dozen authors are listed, its just way too restrictive a topic. I think a..."

That list isn't exhaustive, it's missing Juno Dawson for starters, who has written loads, both YA and non-fiction. And the prompt says it can be about a trans character too.

[Sophie]

For the first time ever, I didn't down-vote any prompt! I can work with all of them, but I up-voted my 6 favourites: Antarctica, road trip, diverse, best reads, audiobook and transgender.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Ugh the spam.

[Bryony]

Emily wrote: "Ugh the spam."

Ugh indeed! I’ve deleted his 30+ spam posts and he’s now been banned from our group so hopefully that takes care of it.

[Edie]

Raquel wrote: "Chinook wrote: "Raquel wrote: "I feel like someone might get mad at me for this reaction, so I'm just going to say it straight out: I really don't have any interest in reading a book just about wom..."

My Mom read the Mary Poppins books to us as children well before there was a movie. When the movie came out, I remember it feeling true to the books (not the carousel scene perhaps) including Mom being involved in the suffragette movement. They needed a nanny because the parents were busy with their pursuits.

[Edie]

Used all my votes as up-votes this time. There were some prompts I was so-so about, but none worth investing a down-vote on.

Is there a limit to how many prompts can win during a mini-poll. This is such a diverse and interesting group of prompts that I hope quite a few can be part of next year's challenge.

[Sophie]

There's no set limit, although I don't think we've ever seen more than 5 prompts really standing out.

Don't hesitate to resubmit any prompt you like that didn't get into the bottom! I would however suggest to resubmit it a bit later to avoid fatigue and people not voting for it because they feel they've seen it too much 😉

[Rachelnyc]

I agree this was a great set of prompts and I upvoted 6 including:

Antarctica (will probably go with a dystopian here but who knows since there are lots of interesting options), women's suffrage (though I'm not holding my breath that will be chosen), Power/corruption, diverse book, same author who wrote a best recent read and related to 1920s.

[Nadine in NY]

Bryony wrote: "Emily wrote: "Ugh the spam."

Ugh indeed! I’ve deleted his 30+ spam posts and he’s now been banned from our group so hopefully that takes care of it."


thank you! I flagged his profile to GR when he first started spamming us, too.

[Katie]

I just finished American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts & the whole time I was reading it, I thought, this would be a perfect book for the power/corruption prompt.

[Jenny]

Katie wrote: "I just finished American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts & the whole time I was reading it, I thought, this would be a perfect book for the power/corruption prompt."

I will definitely read that one!!
I'm toxicologist and work with addicts, believe me, opioids and alcohol are the worst addictions ever, a whole-life patient.... too sad and difficult to treat.

[Jen]

Jenny wrote: "Katie wrote: "I just finished American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts & the whole time I was reading it, I thought, this would be a perfect book for the power/corruption..."

Added to my TBR too. Too many lives with so much potential destroyed. Not sure if I lived under a rock in my teens/twenties but it seems so much worse 20 years on.

[Nadine in NY]

The last day before poll results always seems to take forever ...

[dalex]

Nadine wrote: "The last day before poll results always seems to take forever ..."

Results aren’t until Wednesday (the 19th). It’s three whole days yet.

[Nadine in NY]

dalex wrote: "Nadine wrote: "The last day before poll results always seems to take forever ..."

Results aren’t until Wednesday (the 19th). It’s three whole days yet."

Ugh. I thought it was Monday!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Sophie wrote: "There's no set limit, although I don't think we've ever seen more than 5 prompts really standing out.

Don't hesitate to resubmit any prompt you like that didn't get into the bottom! I would howev..."

I'm going to mess this up- but in previous years wasn't the last round of voting for second tries for suggestions that didn't try or something like this?

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Pamela wrote: "Sophie wrote: "There's no set limit, although I don't think we've ever seen more than 5 prompts really standing out.

Don't hesitate to resubmit any prompt you like that didn't get into the bottom..."

Close. Last year we had a rule that any prompt that was suggested more than 3 times without winning could not be resubmitted, even if it wasn't in the bottom. Then towards the end of the year we opened it up and let people resubmit those if they wanted to. It wasn't a rule that came into play often (if ever) and I don't think it mattered at all in the end. So I'm pretty sure we just did away with that rule for this year. Prompts that get resubmitted too frequently usually end up getting down voted by the group anyway, so it's usually just a non-issue.

Mods feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Jackie, I think you're close, but it was that if it was suggested two times and not voted in, you had to wait until the 10th poll to suggest it again. I don't remember if there was a max amount of times you could suggest after that, though.