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[2020] Voting for 4th Mini Poll
I'm on my phone and have quite a headache, so post 1 is lacking some detail, but I'll add in links and examples tomorrow when I have computer access.
I have 4 favorites so far: leading news story, foreign prize, beautiful writing, and Southern Hemisphere. I really like the leading news story because there are so many possibilities including politics, crime, climate, immigration, race relations, weather disasters, sports, etc. It’s perfect for non-fiction but can easily be tailored to fiction. I’ll also vote for the one from the ‘reject (not-selected) list’. There are so many interesting prompts that are not going through.
"A winner of a foreign literary prize" is odd in that it is both super restrictive (winners not nominees, literary not genre) and also very open (foreign can include any of the hundreds of British prizes if you're American or American prizes if you're British). I'm not sure how I feel about that."A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y" is not as easy as I thought it might be, especially if you include articles like "a, an, the."
Overall, I feel mostly indifferent about this list of prompts. I have one or two that are obvious topvotes and two or three that are definitely downvotes but I'm mostly undecided about how I'll end up casting all of my 8 votes.
Initially I like:A book inspired by a leading news story
A debut novel by a person of color
A book about a weird or unusual subject
I like the southern hemisphere one but since we just had 2 settings based prompts in, I'm not sure this will do well. I might have voted for the rejects one if we had a more restrictive list so far.
I'll be using several downvotes this time. I like the spirit of the ATY one but it's too hard to find titles without those letters in. I'd rather have the previously rejected Olympic prompt than the one involving a sport, I just don't get excited about sports books even though I managed last time it was in a challenge.
I'm not reading loads of books that I dislike so I'm not even sure what choices I'd have for that, maybe some series that have gone downhill, but that seems like such a chore, so a nope from me.
If foreign literary prize gets in I'd probably interpret it as neither UK or US. I need to have a better look at the ALA lists, but on first glance the fiction wasn't that inspiring. I think the non-fiction might be better so I probably won't downvote.
OK the archived ALA years are much better:http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/notabl...
I think I'm just fed up of seeing the same books on all the lists I look at.
2017-2019 are here:
https://rusaupdate.org/awards/notable...
Over on the suggestions thread there was a request to change the wording of number 20 since reject is a little negative. The suggestion I think was a prompt that was suggested but not selected.
Do people have any ideas about books related to a famous or popular game?
Katie wrote: "Do people have any ideas about books related to a famous or popular game?"The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is Ready Player One.
A Game of Thrones maybe?
Katie wrote: "Do people have any ideas about books related to a famous or popular game?"I would probably connect the book via a playing piece on the cover or a term in the title for games like Monopoly, chess, Cluedo, poker, etc.
EDIT: Forgot video games which are obviously hugely popular eg. Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, The Sims, etc.
Serendipity wrote: "Over on the suggestions thread there was a request to change the wording of number 20 since reject is a little negative. The suggestion I think was a prompt that was suggested but not selected."I don't find "the reject list" to be overtly negative. We've also been using that term for years so everyone in the group knows what we are talking about when we mention "the reject list". If we start calling "the list of prompts that weren't chosen", it's unnecessarily wordy. As it is now, it's concise and I think it should remain as is. :-)
Mod
Chess: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
This came up with poker: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
A bit of a stretch, but for monopoly: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
The Handmaid's Tale came to mind for Scrabble but I don't remember if they also played in the book.
Also a stretch but The Game of Life: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
I am currently looking at a list of 2 that I want to upvote and 8 to downvote. I have some trimming to do! I love Laura's News Story idea and I like weird/unusual subject. (Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers are both on my tbr.
My downvotes are mostly because we already have 2 out of 8 prompts being title-based. We also have 3 of the 8 being location based. I'd just like things to be more balanced before bringing more of those in.
We don't have any list-based prompts yet so I may upvote the foreign lit prize (Australia/NZ being my target).
Laura wrote: "It seems like it would be easiest to research based on a specific game. For instance: Chess: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
This came up with poker: https://www.goo..."
I'm pretty sure they did play scrabble in The Handmaid's Tale
Mod
I don't have a problem with the wording of the rejects prompt, but if the group did want to change it when we had it in 2017 it was worded "A past suggestion that didn't win", which is pretty short and neutral.
I’m not feeling inspired by the book inspired by a leading news story, but maybe I’m just thinking about it wrong. Right now all I can think of are memoirs by current politicians. Can someone suggest some specific books (or a list of books)? That would help me think about how I might tackle that.
Mod
So maybe you reading a nonfiction book about some famous event (Seabiscuit: An American Legend comes to mind).
Maybe it's a historical fiction novel about a major world event (like The Glass Ocean about the sinking of the Lusitania, which would have certainly made papers)
It could be a fiction book about a current news story (Reese Witherspoon is picking Whisper Network for her pick this month, and it's related to the #MeToo movement)
The "inspired by" part means that it doesn't have to directly be about the story in a nonfiction, straightforward sort of way.
Ahhh - I had interpreted “leading news” to mean “making headlines right now.” If it’s open to historical items, that’s broader. I could read one of Amy Stewart’s books based in NJ.
Mod
That's my interpretation... "a leading news story" to me means that it was a news story at some point. I'll probably go historical with it (I get enough news stories day to day, and I read for an escape from the news), but I'll try to make sure it's focused on one specific event that would have made headlines rather than a broad historical novel.
I'm not sure that's how the suggester intended the prompt to go, but I don't think that interpreting it that way is completely off mark.
Yes, they play Scrabble in The Handmaid's Tale. And this edition has "Atwood" spelled out with Scrabble tiles.Monopoly is super simple, in my opinion. It was a prompt suggestion last year and I was surprised it didn't make it on the list. You could do a book set in the Mediterranean (Mediterranean Ave) or Asia (Oriental Ave) or any of a number of states (Tennessee, New York, Virginia). You could do a book with a house or hotel in the title or on the cover or you could do a book in which someone is in prison (Go Directly to Jail) or you could do a book with water in the title or on the cover (Water Works).
My problem with the prompt is - how do we define "famous"? I mean, when you're talking about movie stars or musicians there are plenty that are considered famous that I've never even heard of.
During my college years I cannot even tell you how many hours of my life I spent playing Solarquest (it's like Monopoly set in space but lots more fun). Among my friends at that time, it was definitely famous. But would it be considered famous by the general populace? Probably not. But it would be a great way to use the prompt for just about any set-in-space book!
Nadine wrote: "I’m not feeling inspired by the book inspired by a leading news story, but maybe I’m just thinking about it wrong. Right now all I can think of are memoirs by current politicians. Can someone suggest some specific books (or a list of books)? "I'm thinking about using a fiction book that covers a topic that is frequently in the news such as immigration, race relations, gun control, school shootings, feminism, women's rights, environment, glbtq+ issues.
18. A book related to a famous/popular gameFrom video games, Metro franchise is reasonably popular and the first book Metro 2033 is quite good (even though it's not literary masterpiece). Second is absolutely terrible, I haven't tried 3rd one yet. There is also huge series of books set in Metro Universe, but most of them don't have English translations: https://metrovideogame.fandom.com/wik....
Bioshock has BioShock: Rapture which is prequel to the first game, I had a lot of fun, but I wouldn't recommend it if you weren't playing the game.
Obviously, Witcher books would fit.
Shadowrun books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
Anything related to Batman, would work as the games are quite popular.
For Fallout here might be some interesting suggestions: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comm...
Leaving video games alone, not that much comes to my mind apart from some mangas:
Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku: The Legend of Koizumi - mahjong
Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master - shogi
I like that the leading news story one is a variation on a novel based on a true story, which comes up a lot but excludes non-fiction. Now I think about it more, I have the perfect book, The Skripal Files: The Life and Near Death of a Russian Spy. Salisbury isn't that far from me and the novichok poisoning dominated the news for ages in the UK. I think I even have a copy on my kindle already.
If the game category wins, I am super excited to read:In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery #1) by Diana Peterfreund
I don't think I've ever seen an American Monopoly board, I guess it made sense you didn't have London streets on yours, but I suppose I assumed it'd be based on big city too. It's a bit harder to use the UK property names for the challenge unless you are reading a book set in specific parts of London.
My first reaction to the 'leading news story' was negative, but now that I've seen other's suggestions on how to handle it, I think I'd just listen to the 'flash news briefings' I have set up on the Amazon Echo and pick something from there. I specifically set it up so it' doesn't give me political news, but does tell me about any top science/tech or 'off beat' stories, and I figure anything that makes it onto the briefing should count as a leading story, even if it's in a niche subject. I'll probably vote for the ALA list, just because I like that it goes back so far, which improves the variety of the list, rather than just essentially having modern, popular books.
A couple other interesting ideas here, but not much I love.
Mod
Anyone have a good list for this prompt?
Ellie - that’s fascinating!!! Growing up in the US, I only knew the original Monopoly, with Atlantic City names. And since I was in NJ, I never really thought about how the rest of the world would deal with the place names!
Nadine wrote: "I’m not feeling inspired by the book inspired by a leading news story, but maybe I’m just thinking about it wrong. Right now all I can think of are memoirs by current politicians. Can someone sugge..."I just finished and emjoyed The Helicopter Heist a Swedish novel based on an actual event that presumably was in the news when it occurred.
We had the UK version of Monopoly in Australia (when I was growing up, at least) - any Dickens or Sherlock Holmes book I’ve read is like a trip around the board. 😊 I never knew until just recently that it was originally American.
1. A book from an American Library Association’s Notable Books List3. A book inspired by a leading news story
4. A debut novel by a person of color
6. A book involving an Olympic sport
8. A book set in the Southern Hemisphere
10. A book about a weird or unusual subject
12. A collection of essays
15. A winner of a foreign literary prize
19. A dark humored novel or satire
20. A book that fits a prompt from the rejected list
That’s my potential upvotes.
I also preferred the previous Olympics prompt - I like the idea of focusing on the Olympics, but I like keeping it open to a book set in Japan or an Olympic sport. That said, though my initial reaction to see a sports book on a challenge list is always negative, I’ve really enjoyed the books I’ve read for those past prompts, so...
The only one I’m considering downvoting is the author you disliked prompt. If it were disappointed in rather than disliked, I’d be okay with it but I seldom dislike books and while, yes, I’ve definitely revisited one author later and really liked her books as an older reader, I think that might be hard to fill for me. I’m not sure downvoting it will be enough to get me to only use 7 upvotes though.
Emily wrote: "I've been thinking about the Olympic sport one, and I agree with Ellie... I'd much prefer the previous prompt of being related to the 2020 Olympics than being forced to read about an Olympic sport...."I don’t have a list, but I can highly recommend The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It’s as much about the Great Depression as it is about rowing and I found it fascinating.
I think that I’d likely look for something along those lines again - centred around both a sport and an issue/historical period.
Like, perhaps something about Hitler’s Olympics or abou ttje Munich Olympic tragedy etc.
Mod
Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption would meet your criteria!
If the Olympic sport wins, that’ll be my impetus to finally read Megan Abbott’s You Will Know Me.
If “A book related to a famous/popular game” is chosen, I think I’ll include sports/games, like tennis, darts or soccer f.ex., in my interpretation 😉
Nadine wrote: "If the game category wins, I am super excited to read:In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery #1) by Diana Peterfreund"
Are the weapons different in the US version? It was definitely called a dagger not a knife in my game. (It's also called Cluedo not Clue over here)
For the popular game prompt, I would think any LitRPG or book that centers on characters playing an online game would work, as most are modeled after MMORPGs. This would include Warcross, Wildcard, Otherworld, Ready Player One, The Land series, etc.
Nadine wrote: "If the Olympic sport wins, that’ll be my impetus to finally read Megan Abbott’s You Will Know Me."I really liked that book. Read it anyway.
This poll is very meh for me. There aren't many I love or hate. But here are some of my thoughts!The only one I really love is "A dark humored novel or satire." I do love satirical fiction, but I can't help but think this prompt won't get many up-votes. But I'll be up-voting it regardless!
For a title with two names, one interpretation could be a character's full name in the title, as in its still two names, just one is a first name and one is a last name. For example:
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
- Searching for Sylvie Lee
Could also stretch this prompt to include names of places, buildings, businesses, etc.
Regarding the Olympic Sport prompt, I agree with Ellie, Emily, and Chinook that I also preferred the previous 2020 Olympics in Japan prompt just because it is unique to the year/event, but still very open if you don't want to read about sports, you can do something related to Japan. I think that maybe we should re-submit this prompt in the coming weeks since it was a close call!
I actually don't mind the "A book by an author whose previous book you disliked" prompt. I try to stay active in several different in-person book clubs, as well as celebrity book clubs, so this prompt could help me cross off book-club books that I don't have much motivation to read otherwise.
Thanks Anastasia! I'm feeling much better today.I updated Post 1 with some additional information about the prompts. I changed the "reject list" to the "list of suggestions that didn't win" since that is what it's called on the list topic.
Mod
Mod
Alice in Wonderland has croquet and cards
Lots of books have cards or chess
Mod
Scrabble tiles are also pretty important in NOS4A2
In the Popsugar challenge this year there was a book based on a puzzle or game and a LitRPG book which were two of my least favorite prompts. I had trouble finding books I thought I would enjoy for them so I am all gamed out and will be downvoting the game prompt.
For the famous or popular game prompt, you could use children's games like :Red Rover
Kick the Can
War (cards)
Old Maid
Agatha Christie wrote Cards on the Table
A classic by Bret Harte The Outcasts of Poker Flat
The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker by Louis Sachar is a good YA book
Here's a list of book by authors who are in the card game, AUTHORS:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
So many great options this round. So far the ones I'm considering upvoting are:1. A book from an American Library Association’s Notable Books List
3. A book inspired by a leading news story
4. A debut novel by a person of color
10. A book about a weird or unusual subject
12. A collection of essays
but I would be ok with most of the other options if they were voted in.
10. A book about a weird or unusual subjectThis would be a great excuse to read a microhistory.
List: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
The two I'm most excited about this time around are A book related to a sea creature and A book by an author whose previous book you disliked (reading a second book after I disliked the first is how I got into Murakami). But I feel like both animal prompts and second chance prompts in general tend not to do well, so this might not be a great round for me. I'm conflicted about Olympic sport -- I really like the prompts that relate to something going on during the year, but I also think popular game could include sports.
I'm potentially excited about foreign literary prize. I'm American, so I'd make it a little harder on myself by restricting it to prizes based in countries that don't have English as an official language. Or is that too hard?
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Commonwealth (other topics)Breath, Eyes, Memory (other topics)
The Mothers (other topics)
Purple Hibiscus (other topics)
Things Fall Apart (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ann Patchett (other topics)Anne Bogel (other topics)
Diana Peterfreund (other topics)
Diana Peterfreund (other topics)
Voting will open on 7/1 and results will be posted on 7/6.
How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes per poll to spread across your favourite and least favourite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes)
- The poll will be open for a week (until the 20th of June), so you don't have to rush and vote straightaway
- The prompts with the more "positive" votes (top minus bottom) will be announced shortly after the end of the poll and added to the final list (expect between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)
As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.
Poll Entries:
1. A book from an American Library Association’s Notable Books List
https://rusaupdate.org/awards/notable...
2. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T and Y
3. A book inspired by a leading news story
(i.e. front page of the paper, cover page of news website, trending on social media) [fiction or non-fiction]
4. A debut novel by a person of color
5. A book involving a betrayal
(love, family, friendship, country/government)
6. A book involving an Olympic sport
7. A book with water on the cover
8. A book set in the southern hemisphere
9. A book with a character that is a caregiver
(mother/father/grandparent, doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, babysitter, social worker, etc)
10. A book about a weird or unusual subject
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
https://bookriot.com/2016/04/11/i-got...
11. A book by an author whose previous book you disliked
12. A collection of essays
13. A book related to a sea creature
(could be in the title, on the cover, in the story etc.)
14. A book with beautiful writing
https://bookriot.com/2018/05/29/books...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
15. A winner of a foreign literary prize
https://www.goodreads.com/award
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
16. A book with a title of 5 or more words
17. A book with 2 or more names in the title
18. A book related to a famous/popular game
19. A dark humored novel or satire
20. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Vote Here:
https://www.surveymoz.com/s/15Q25/