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[2020] Voting for the 9th Mini Poll
A book that is a retelling of another work (classic lit, ancient lit, mythology, fairy tales, etc.)8 Retellings Of Classic Books Out In 2018 That Are Just Too Good To Miss
16 Retellings of Your Favorite Classic Novels
11 Modern Retellings of Classic Novels
16 New and Upcoming Retellings of Classic Plays, Novels, and Tales
Six Diverse Jane Austen Retellings
Seven Favorite Jane Austen Retellings
100 Must-Read Fairytale Retellings for Adults and YA Readers
25 New Fairy Tale Retellings For Adults
10 Books Inspired By Norse Mythology That Make For Perfect Winter Reading
20 Great Retellings of Greek Mythology
9 Modern Greek Mythology Retellings That Will Change The Way You Think About The Classic Tales
Listopia - Classical Fiction
dalex wrote: "A book that is a retelling of another work (classic lit, ancient lit, mythology, fairy tales, etc.)8 Retellings Of Classic Books Out In 2018 That Are Just Too Good To Miss
16 Retellings of Your F..."
Did we have this prompt last year? Or did we at least consider it? I remember it for some reason... I hope this one makes it!
I absolutely love the Billy Joel prompt, what a good idea!
Steve wrote: "Did we have this prompt last year? Or did we at least consider it? I remember it for some reason... I hope this one makes it!.."It's in this year's Popsugar list, maybe that's it? I thought it was an ATY one too, but I'd be happy to do it again.
Here's a Wikipedia page that has links to the "We didn't Start the Fire" events. I normally really don't like pop-culture/song lyric prompts, but I am surprised how many different things are on this list, so it may bump it to neutral for me, instead of a down-vote.
Steve wrote: "dalex wrote: "A book that is a retelling of another work (classic lit, ancient lit, mythology, fairy tales, etc.)8 Retellings Of Classic Books Out In 2018 That Are Just Too Good To Miss
16 Retell..."
It is similar to this year’s prompt, a retelling of or book inspired by Shakespeare.
I’m sure there are lots more out there but here are some more authors I’ve found that have died in the last 5 years. Judith Krantz, Jack Ketchum, Elie Wiesel, Colleen McCullough, Terry Pratchett, Ann Rule, Jackie Collins, Maya Angelou, and Sue Grafton.
Steve wrote: "Did we have this prompt last year? Or did we at least consider it? I remember it for some reason... I hope this one makes it!"A "fairytale retelling" gets suggested a lot and is frequently on reading challenge lists BUT this is much much broader (which I did intentionally precisely because "fairytale retelling" is so overdone).
I hope people keep that in mind when voting. This prompt includes mythology - Greek, Norse, etc. - and classic lit - like all the Jane Austen spin-offs - and ancient lit - such as all the variations on The Odyssey.
I totally love the Billy Joel prompt! It's so creative and unexpected. And it's broad enough that a huge lot of books would fit the prompt yet at the same time it's challenging because you have to actually hunt for a book that would work. (Plus, it's just a great song.)Oh, and thanks to whoever got it edited to include both fiction and non-fiction! I loathe "non-fiction only" prompts.
An Explanation Of All 117 Things Mentioned In "We Didn't Start The Fire"Chinook shared a link to this very useful article over in the suggestion thread,
Other (perhaps more correct) terms for "genre mashup" - slipstream, sui generis, interstitial, genre bender. Slipstream is a kind of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries
A book, movie, television series, or other artistic creation is called sui generis when it does not fit into standard genre boundaries.
Interstitial art is any work of art whose basic nature falls between, rather than within, the familiar boundaries of accepted genres
Genre bending mean it has elements of two or more genres
You might have more luck finding lists and examples using these terms.
I love the We Didn't Start the Fire prompt so much. Definitely my favorite of the bunch. I love that song, and a few years ago, my sister & I spent a three day road trip memorizing the lyrics & listening to it over and over again, so now it's my go to karaoke song.
I'm a geographer, so I want to make a plug for the Earth Day prompt. First it has the 2020 connection since 2020 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, for those of us that like that theme! There are so many angles you can take in terms of content: global warming, climate change, weather, natural disasters, recycling, biodiversity, nature/environment, outer space, aliens, geography, maps, archaeology, dinosaurs, fossils, agriculture
You could do a mostly green/blue cover, a title that has the letters E-A-R-T-H in it, or even a book that you recycled via the library, yard sale, swap group, or borrowed from a friend. What about a book made out of recycled paper/materials?
I don't really like the recently deceased authors prompt but I'd read a Paddington Bear story for it if it got in. Michael Bond died in 2017.
Ellie wrote: "I absolutely love the Billy Joel prompt, what a good idea!"Me too! I will definitely be up-voting that prompt!
I also really love the We Didn't Start the Fire prompt. In middle school, I had to do a school project on a subject picked from that song. I chose Disneyland of course. If the prompt gets in, I feel like I'll either go opposite and pick a darker subject or stay with the theme and pick Peter Pan.
Meet Me in Monaco is a new historical fiction book that just came out out that I'm looking forward to. It's about Grace Kelly's wedding, so it would be a great book for the Billy Joel prompt.
Katie wrote: "Meet Me in Monaco is a new historical fiction book that just came out out that I'm looking forward to. It's about Grace Kelly's wedding, so it would be a great book for the Billy Jo..."Hey! Coincidentally, that book would also work for more than one author prompt!
I'm a Beatles nut so I just want to make sure I understand the prompt correctly. When it says inspired the Beatles, does that mean their songs can work as the inspiration? I want to know how much wiggle room we have.For Example:
Yellow Submarine - Read a book about submarines
HELP! - Read a self help book
Revolution - Read a book that takes place during a revolution
OR
Does it mean we have to find a book like Yesterday (the movie) where the Beatles are incorporated into the story?
Tammy wrote: "I'm a Beatles nut so I just want to make sure I understand the prompt correctly. When it says inspired the Beatles, does that mean their songs can work as the inspiration? I want to know how much w..."Yes, any song would work for inspiration. Here is a link to the suggestion thread for that prompt.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thanks so much, Jillian. I didn't follow the nomination thread this week, so I needed some clarification!
I tend to be very literal in interpreting prompt wording, so I think that maybe something like "a book about or linked to the Beatles" is in line with the intention of the prompt, based on the suggestions that were given. It's more like, you were inspired by the Beatles when picking the book, and not that the author was inspired by them when writing the book.
Author deaths: https://lithub.com/notable-literary-d...
https://lithub.com/notable-literary-d...
https://blog.bookbaby.com/2018/01/12-...
https://www.inquisitr.com/3836003/fam...
I've probably read more about The Beatles than any other topic (seriously) so I would not have any trouble reading another. Just saw an interesting book titled: Once There Was a Way: What if The Beatles Stayed Together? That will go on my reading list whether the prompt wins or not!
For the first time this year, I had more than eight that I wanted to up-vote! There were so many great choices in this round of suggestions.There is only one suggestion that I really don't want, so I'm going to down-vote it, but I am having a hard time narrowing down my up-votes, because I like so many of them!
Xenofiction - a book with an animal/non-human POV characterThere are, of course, a large number of children's books that would cover this and one can search xenofiction, animal POV, or alien POV to find more grown up options.
Off the top of my head:
- Warhorses of Letters -- touching and hilarious epistolary historicalesque fiction from the point of view of two gay warhorses. The noble mounts of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, Marengo & Copenhagen. (Also and excellent audiobook/BBC Radio 4 series)
- I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats a short and amusing book of poems for cat lovers (or not). I believe there's a dog one, as well.
- Firmin - Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife the quirky and intelligent tale of a literate and lonely rat.
- Fluke About a dog who remembers being a man. Written by James Herbert but not a horror, though it might be considered somewhat dark.
- Good Omens which has had a lot of press lately because of the release of the excellent mini series of the same name. POV characters include an Angel, a Demon, and an Anti-Christ.
- Temeraire or one of the other books in the series. Alternate history. Dragon POV's.
- The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett and part of the Discworld series. An inventive retelling of The Pied Piper. Maurice is a cat his rodents are rats. (Of course, there are many beings populating the Discword and many of the other books also have non-human POVs.)
- The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian J. Walker. The world ends and Lineker sets out to prove just what a Good (if foul mouthed) Boy he is. (There are a few books with the same or similar title, but I've no idea if they also have canine POVs.)
And some classics:
- Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
- Watership Down and also The Plague of Dogs by Richard Adams (and other stories by him).
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
A book related to Earth Day (for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day)See message 15 from Avery for great ideas for this prompt.
Some booklists copied from the Suggestions thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Mod
I like a lot of the prompts, but I dislike a lot of these prompts too!! I think I’ve narrowed it down to 8 I either really love or really dislike. I’ve never liked The Beatles or Billy Joel, and both prompts are just too broad and not inspiring me. I will interpret them very loosely if they win. I’m excited about the Earth Day and glasses ideas, they feel very timely. And the “top shelf” idea sounds super fun for discovering a new author I should love.
Sorry I'm being dim, but why are glasses timely?
Ellie wrote: "Sorry I'm being dim, but why are glasses timely?"I assume it's related to 20/20 vision.
I'm not sure how I'm going to vote this time. When I initially went through the list I had 3 top and 4 bottom votes. After, looking up some of my bottom votes I moved one to the top and one to the middle.
I think The Bees would work for xenofiction.
Going through the list, there are 15 of these that I'd like to upvote, so it's all upvotes for me this time. I just have to narrow it down to 8. Is anyone else trying to decide between the two favorite genre prompts?
Clare wrote: "I think The Bees would work for xenofiction."I was just looking at that one! And also Barsk - The Elephants Graveyard one or both of which might make it one to my 2020 reading list regardless of prompts.
Books by Australian authors:https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.betterreading.com.au/book...
https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/au...
https://www.abebooks.com/docs/Communi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_F...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_...
Mod
The four I'm downvoting are four I definitely don't want, but most of the rest of the prompts I could go either way on... which I guess is good in terms of voting. I can't really be disappointed if I don't strongly want any of them lol.
My upvotes are going to author who passed away (there were quite a few on the lists provided that I would like a push to read), the Abe list (I just love lists, and this one is a good mix between contemporary and classic), published in 2020 (for our first newly published prompt), and "We Didn't Start the Fire" (because I love historical fiction and this song is super nostalgic for me).
Books that I really liked or have on my TBR to read that would work for the Earth Day prompt:The Overstory - Richard Powers (Pulitzer Prize)
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Barkskins - Annie Proulx
Autumn - Ali Smith
The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver
On my TBR:
Florida - Lauren Groff
Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward
Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World - Peter Wohlleben
Mod
I see both of the prompts as a bit too broad for me. I'm not down or upvoting either.
For the shelves prompt, there is usually "fiction", "nonfiction" or "young adult" on the main page, which means you can have wide open choice on those. I would probably BIO with a more focused genre if the prompt wins, but the ones that make it on the main page are pretty broad overall.
I like the "different from what you normally read" prompt a bit better. I would probably use it to read about a different area of historical fiction, if that made it in (especially if the Billy Joel song doesn't make it). It could also be a good way for other people to add diversity to the list, but I already a lot of that in a variety of genres, so it wouldn't be different enough for me to count it on my list.
At first look, I see only two prompts that I very strongly want, and quite a few that I definitely don't want.
Australian book prizes (for the Australian author prompt):Literary fiction
Miles Franklin Award
Stella Prize
NSW Premier
Speculative fiction (sci-fi and fantasy)
Aurealis Award
Mystery
Ned Kelly Award
Oddly, I have exactly 6 upvotes and 2 downvotes just based on first reactions. There are really only a couple here that I really love (even of my upvotes), but then, even my downvotes I wouldn't mind terribly if they got in, so for me it's mostly just a lot of filler prompts I don't have strong feelings about. I do really like the Billy Joel prompt for some reason, maybe just because of the sheer number and variety of really specific references. Also hoping the Abe List gets in!
I'm crossing my fingers for the Abe list as well, and I like the passed authors. I only hate two of them and I'm indifferent about most, so this is probably not going to be a hard vote or one I am likely to be severely disappointed by.
There are 3 that I really like: the Abe list, Canadian author, and We Can’t Start The Fire. The last one is the most interesting prompt I’ve seen in years. It would give me a reason to finally read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Lots of other options, too!
I definitely like the Billy Joel prompt for its uniqueness. I’ll probably vote for Xenofiction as well since it’s a bit different. And since two of my kids are Canadian born and we lived there for six years the Canadian author prompt will probably get an up vote too. Having a hard job finding the top shelf on my mobile but want to check it out before I vote since it’s caught my attention. No strong negative reactions so far.
I'm glad I started to research the Canadian prompt, because there are so many authors that I didn't realize were Canadian! I am Canadian myself, and I had no idea how many authors on my TBR were. I wasn't too interested in this prompt at first, but now that I've found more options (Shari Lapena, Chevy Stevens, Courtney Summers, E.K. Johnston, just to name a few).I guess I'm in the minority because I don't particularly care for the We Didn't Start the Fire prompt. I'm glad it was opened to include fiction as well, since non-fiction only prompts are usually a downvote for me, but I have zero connection to that song and don't think I'd even really listened to it properly before it came up here. I'm also not as enthusiastic about the Abe list as everyone else seems to be. It's fine and I could find something for sure if it was chosen, but I preferred the previous list of books by female authors.
I will have 5 up and 3 down this time. I just spent half an hour playing with the new-to-you book found on a "top shelf" prompt and added at least three new-to-me books. I could do this until the voting period ends just to pass the time.
My only problem wit the "top shelf" prompt is that I keep finding books I want to read now, lol.I will probably have a 5-3 or 6-2 split. There is one hard no for me, and two meh prompts. I have to decide whether I could tolerate the meh prompts.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (other topics)Dark Star (other topics)
Girl at War (other topics)
Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (other topics)
An Eloquence of Time and Space: An Unauthorized Doctor Who Poem Book (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Agatha Christie (other topics)Shari Lapena (other topics)
Dave Duncan (other topics)
Shari Lapena (other topics)
Chevy Stevens (other topics)
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Voting will open on 8/9 and results will be posted on 8/14.
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 this poll to spread across your favourite and least favourite prompts (you can also use less than 6 votes)
- The poll will be open for five days, 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)
- We are asking people to include their Goodreads profile address when they vote. To find this, just go to your own profile and then copy the URL/web address. If for some reason you can't link to your Goodreads profile, please post your full Goodreads name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile. We’ve introduced this for two reasons:
1. On a few occasions in each poll, people have used more than the allotted number of votes, either because they aren’t familiar with the rules or just by mistake. When this happens our only option is to disregard the vote as we can’t identify the voter to ask them to resubmit. By asking for your profile address we’ll be able to message you and ask you to vote again if you’ve accidentally used more than the allotted number of votes.
2. Unfortunately a very small number of people have voted more than once per poll and so we are asking for this information to prevent duplicate votes.
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:
A book written by an author who passed away in the last five years
(eg. Toni Morrison, Anita Shreve, Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe, Harper Lee, Umberto Eco, Pat Conroy)
https://lithub.com/notable-literary-d...
A book that is a retelling of another work (classic lit, ancient lit, mythology, fairy tales, etc.)
https://www.bustle.com/p/8-retellings...
https://www.bookbub.com/blog/retellin...
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57225/...
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/t...
https://bookriot.com/2019/03/30/diver...
https://bookriot.com/2018/05/01/must-...
https://www.bookbub.com/blog/fairy-ta...
https://www.bustle.com/p/10-books-ins...
https://www.bookbub.com/blog/retellin...
https://www.bustle.com/p/9-modern-gre...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
A short story collection or book of essays
A book by a Canadian author
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/...
https://www.cbc.ca/books/100-novels-t...
https://www.cbc.ca/books/100-true-sto...
https://www.cbc.ca/books/100-young-ad...
https://www.cbc.ca/books/readinglists
A book with man, woman, boy or girl in the title
(eg. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Woman in White, Lilac Girls, Invisible Man)
A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We didn't Start the Fire"
https://guff.com/an-explanation-of-al...
Within one of your favorite genres, read a book that is somehow different from what you usually read
(This could be a different time period, race, culture, religion, sexual identity, perspective, etc. It could also be something like short stories instead of novel or a different subtype of the genre than your usual.)
A book about or inspired by The Beatles
Book titles:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
http://thewhynot100.blogspot.com/2014...
Books that mention the Beatles: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/thread...
List of Beatles songs: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/05/beat...
Books about/written by Beatles or band members:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.amazon.com/John-Lennon-Bo...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=paul+mccar...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ringo+star...
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=george+har...
A book set in a nation or empire that no longer exists
(e.g. West/East Germany, Prussia, Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies)
A book with glasses or sunglasses on the cover
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
A book that takes place somewhere you would like to live
A new-to-you book found on a ‘top shelf’ for one of your favorite books
Top shelves - Book’s GR page > ‘See top shelves’ on the right [under GENRE]
Xenofiction - a book with an animal/non-human POV character
A book by an author on the Abe List (list of 100 women authors)
https://www.abebooks.com/books/best-f...
A book related to Earth Day
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
A book with more than one author
A mashup genre book
(eg. slipstream, sui generis, interstitial, genre bender)
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.flavorwire.com/512998/50-...
https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/five-b...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
A book published in 2020
A book by an Australian author
A book about friendship
Vote Here:
https://www.surveymoz.com/s/5EF0B/