[2020] Voting for 12th Mini Poll

[dalex]

My thought about “a book with a musical instrument in the title or on the cover”.....anything that would fit this prompt would also work for “a book about the arts” that we already have so it’s really a sort of a duplicate.

[Jill]

4 Up votes and 4 down Pleased to get it done as I have kept changing my mind, and now I won't have to think about it for a while.

[Avery]

I feel the same way about the musical instrument prompt, dalex. That it is duplicate of the arts prompt we already have.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

I wonder, if the instrument idea fails, if it can be resurrected with a prompt resembling the food on this year- A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.). That flexibility would be neat (I was looking at my TBR and could find nothing for that prompt but lots of music memoirs)

[Rachel]

5 up and 3 down again for me. I also strongly considered downvoting the musical instrument prompt, but ran out of votes to use.

I voted for the two-word genre and the genre with a letter in your name. I don't really see them as freebies, but you definitely have a lot of flexibility to make them as easy or hard as you want, and it seems easy for everyone to find something they would like. I also voted for the 2020 release, revenge, and sad/depressing/dark. The last two are similar to prompts that were on my rejects list already for 2019 and I really enjoyed both, and the 2020 release is a great push for me to remember to include some newer releases.

I downvoted the classic, after much consideration. Although I do like reading classics, I haven't been in the mood for them in quite a while and would rather have the option to pick one up if I choose, instead of feeling forced by a prompt to pick one. I also downvoted the page count prompt because it seemed super limiting, and Earth Day because although there are tons of options, I didn't really find anything that strongly interested me.

[Pam]

I disagree that the instrument prompt is a duplicate of the arts theme. In some cases it could be used for both but just because an instrument is in the title or on the cover doesn’t mean it has a music/arts theme. For example, here are some books with the word drum in it that are not about the arts (e.g. The Little Drummer Girl, The Walking Drum, The Tin Drum, etc.)

[dalex]

Pam wrote: "I disagree that the instrument prompt is a duplicate of the arts theme."

I guess it depends on how you interpret the prompt (or maybe how strictly you interpret the prompt).

The prompt is "a book related to the arts." It is not "a book about the arts" or "a book with an arts theme."

So, in my opinion, you can say a book is related to the arts if it has an instrument on the cover or in the title regardless of whether or not the story is about music.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

I was feeling like the 'book related to school subject' was more or less a duplicate since we had the STEM book this year and the arts prompt for next year, but now that I think about it, I think I like it anyway. I'm always happy to read more math/science related books, and if I wanted to I could branch out to a completely different subject like geography, or read one of those food memoirs I have around and say it's related to home economics (or whatever they call that now...life skills?).

[Pam]

Raquel- Good point! If the school subject wins, I may go with band or orchestra since those are school subjects also.

Dalex- Yes, it is a matter of interpretation. I read the arts prompt to be a theme so that’s what I’m going with. I do tend to be fairly literal in my interpretation.

[Liz]

Raquel, I agree. I really like the school prompt after thinking about it more.

English - a book about writing, poetry, a book that is oftentimes read as part of the curriculum.

History - featuring a specific historical event or person from history

Science, Home Ec, PE, . . . there are lots of options, but sticking to more core subjects would narrow it down more.

[Chinook]

I discovered a textbook that seems fascinating on amazon while researching the Egypt prompt that didn’t make it, so I’d love the school subject one to make it in.

[Jody]

Katie wrote: "Like I think books like You would definitely work for dark if you're less into depressing (like Jody and I are 🤣). "

Sing it, sister! 🤣

[Sophie]

I wasn't sold on the school subject prompt, but thanks to the discussion, I might vote for it! It's so broad and when thinking about it there are a lot of subjects I found interesting but not the way it was taught... 🤔

[Eujean2]

Pamela wrote: "I wonder, if the instrument idea fails, if it can be resurrected with a prompt resembling the food on this year- A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.). That flexibility would be neat (I was looking at my TBR and could find nothing for that prompt but lots of music memoirs)"

I like this idea. I have almost no books in my TBR that have instruments on the cover. (I can find one if I search for alternate covers.) I do have quite a few books about music. They have covers with headphones and records, not actual instruments.

[Avery]

I feel like I just threw 2 votes away, but I voted for Earth Day and published in 2020. If they don't make it this round, I think they probably are destined for the 2020 prompt graveyard! I have zero books that fit the page count prompt, so that ended up in my bottom.

[Karissa]

I also downvoted the page count prompt because I've already decided to do my entire next year ATY with audiobooks. I know I could just look up page counts for books on Goodreads, but it would just be arbitrary.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I've just caught up on all the chatter after being out of town all weekend.

I ended up voting 4 up and 4 down. To my surprise, 3 of my upvotes went to genre prompts (genre using a letter in your name, history or historical fiction, and two-word genre). The other vote was for the 2020 published book.

Maybe it's because I'm behind on ATY or maybe it's because I'm dreading the next couple of books I have planned for the challenge, but I was definitely craving some easy prompts this week, and I think those genre prompts would fit in really nicely with my plans for next year and all for enough genre flexibility without being too broad for my tastes.

The four I downvoted were mostly just prompts I'd rather not research for or read... if they get in, I'll certainly be able to fill them, but I'd just rather not.

[Bec]

I found this one tough. I was away the whole (long) weekend so missed the whole suggestions and discussion, so am just catching up. I had 4 that I wanted to downvote very quickly, but couldn't decide what to do with my other votes.

Ended up voting for 4 - genre/sub genre with letter in your name, 2 word genre, published 2020 and average rating of 4.4. Although I don't have a lot with an average rating of 4.4 or above, and the one which would be great as it has heaps of reviews (The Nightingale) I'm planning on reading for this year. But I have a couple from my TBR to read so decided to vote for it.

[Perri]

I appreciate the flexibility of splitting my votes, but seems like I always vote 4 up 4 down

[Nicole]

Well, I got my vote in. Seven up and one down. I waited until I got back to work, which is where I keep my list, so that I could update it and make sure I marked down what I voted for. It still seems like forever until the results get posted. Oh, well... If I haven't learned patience by now, it's about time I try.

[Marin]

I think this is the first time I've gone 4-4 since the new voting system was started. The last few rounds were 8-0 or 7-1 for me. I wonder if getting 4 winners last week makes us more likely to use downvotes this time around.

[Rachel]

Marin wrote: "I think this is the first time I've gone 4-4 since the new voting system was started. The last few rounds were 8-0 or 7-1 for me. I wonder if getting 4 winners last week makes us more likely to use..."

I'm curious about that too, and just generally how people tend to use their votes. I know some people won't downvote anything if they manage to find even one or two options, and others will downvote even if they have options but really don't want to do it anyway. I know for me, I tend to downvote if I can't find any options that I'd strongly want to read, or sometimes if there are only very few options available because I don't like to feel constrained to one or two choices. I wonder if the proportion of upvotes vs. downvotes affects the results somehow.

[Chinook]

I definitely downvote seldom. Since my object is for every prompt to also have either a transgender author or character, there are some prompts where I will have only one option - particularly lists. So far, I only downvote where there is no option (only the Nobel one so far) or I have only one or two options and they are not available at my library or at a reasonable price and/or they don’t much interest me. So for the Egypt prompt, all I could easily find was a textbook that amazon will let you rent for $20 or so and I was super pumped about it and totally would have spent the money.

Last year, I downvoted more often I think because I was focused on the idea of the prompt, rather than my enthusiasm for the books. This year I’m mostly finding exciting options and all I need is one after all.

[Lizzy]

And then there are the strange folks like me out there -- I think I had 2 up and 3 down this time. If I'm not enthusiastic in either direction, I just let it be.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I don't vote based on how many options I think I would have, unless I truly fear there would be zero. I mostly vote on which prompts capture my interest the most. Like, I am excited to go look through my tbr to see what might fit? Upvote. Does it look like it would be annoying to figure out which books would fit? Downvote. I also downvote clunky prompts and prompts with too many 'or's in them.

[Ira]

I voted for the school subject prompt. I really enjoyed the book I read for the periodic table prompt this year, and I have a feeling I will enjoy my STEM prompt. For some reason I went for non I also really liked A book rated 5 stars by someone in the ATY group because it connects to this group. Ithink it would make an interesting list since all of us have such differnd reading tastes. It would give lots of good choices.fiction books and I did not expect that.

I had a very tough time narrowing down. I liked most prompts
I downvoted A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name (first, middle or last) because from past experiences I know that my initials I,L, leave me with vere few choices.
Most of the other prompts I will find something to read for, so I don't mind if they win. I also really liked A book rated 5 stars by someone in the ATY group because it connects to this group. Ithink it would make an interesting list since all of us have such differnd reading tastes. It would give lots of good choices.

[Serendipity]

I didn’t use all my votes again this week. If I remember correctly I upvoted genre that starts with a letter in your name, sad depressing or dark elements and related to Earth Day. My downvotes( I thin) went to musical instruments (overlap with Arts prompt, genre you didn’t read in 2019 (I read pretty widely and am worried I’d be forced into something I don’t like) and page count with only 2s or 0s (felt very specific and restrictive). I tend to vote depending on how I feel,about the prompt and worry about filling it later. Sometimes finding a book or more on my TBR list that will work for a prompt may encourage me to upvote it - or at least not downvote. Most often I have no idea what book I’ll choose when I vote for a prompt.

[Fourevver]

Jackie wrote: "I don't vote based on how many options I think I would have, unless I truly fear there would be zero. I mostly vote on which prompts capture my interest the most. Like, I am excited to go look thro..."

I'm totally with you there, Jackie!

[dalex]

Rachel wrote: "I'm curious about that too, and just generally how people tend to use their votes."

There have been four times that I have used most or all of my votes to downvote.

I downvote:

~prompts that I have few, if any, options for (based on my TBR and interests)
~prompts that seem so broad that it is basically "read a book"
~prompts that I find confusing or poorly worded
~prompts based on goodreads features
~prompts that are, exactly or nearly, repeats of other prompts we already have
~prompts that appear frequently in reading challenges (unless I really super love them)
~prompts that are "recommended by [insert person]"
~prompts based on personal information
~prompts that are non-fiction only

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

My voting goes a little bit by my gut, but roughly speaking:

I up vote prompts that are either somewhat interesting and I have several owned TBR options I really want to read that fit it, or prompts that I love the idea of and have at least one or two owned TBR options to fit.

I down vote prompts that are so narrow I can't find any books I really think I'd enjoy reading for them, or that I just hate the idea of, e.g., recommended by a celebrity. Yes, I'm sure somewhere on a celebrity recommended list I could find a book I'd enjoy reading, but I don't care what any of them recommend which makes the process of looking sound extremely tedious.

I've decided it's not fair to down vote a prompt just because I don't own a book that would fit it, but also I rarely up vote prompts that won't help me clear out my owned TBR list unless I just *really* love the idea of them.

Sometimes I'll up vote a prompt that I only mildly like, for instance, if it's up against a lot of prompts I like less, but for the most part I just don't vote either way if I feel meh about it.

[Johanne]

I vote for what appeals to me. I like prompts that set off some sort of associative thinking and creative ways to fill a prompt. I dislike lists, especially if they are biased towards only US literature fx. I use all my votes and mostly upvote. This week I upvoted 7 and downvoted 1, last week I think it was 6 up 2 down.

[Marie]

I love the researching side of the challenge, so I go through my TBR for every prompt before voting to see what I have that fits.

Downvotes go to anything that I have nothing for or anything that's so broad that I get bored of making a list of books that qualify.

My upvotes go to the middle ground - anything from just one up to ten or 15 books.

I do take into account what we have already on the list, but I don't care if it's a repeat from previous years, and what's been on other challenges doesn't matter to me at all, since this is the only one I do.

Every now and then there's a prompt that I love or hate on sight and it gets an up or down vote without me even researching it! I'm 95% considered, logical planner, 5% gut instinct, no idea why but I'm doing it anyway :)

[Jillian]

I generally downvote prompts: that are similiar to ones I have done in the past and have disliked, ones that make me analyze what I read, prompts that are confusing, very narrow or I'm just not interested in researching. I generally up vote more than I down vote. I don't plan out my books for the year/list so I like for most prompts to be open enough that I will likely read a book that will work. (It often feels like creating a list of books to read is the surest way to guarantee I won't read those books).

[Perri]

It's so interesting to see how and why different people make their choices. It also helps explain how some that seem popular to me, don't make it in!

[Nadine in NY]

I will upvote if:
* a category perfectly describes a book I'm excited to read next year
* a category feels fresh and exciting and/or fun to search for
* a category that describes one of my favorite kind of books (eg: I'm going to upvote science fiction every time - yes I am boring and predictable)

I will downvote if:
* a category has been done before (exception: a book published this year, since that group of books changes every year)
* a category requires me to interact with other people (eg: a book recommended by a stranger)
* a category sounds like it will be really difficult to search for
* I have no interest in the topic and I've already given it a try in the past (eg: book written by a musician)
* the category is too broad
* the category seems guaranteed to result in a book I'll hate (eg: a book with bad reviews - why would I want to read a book if everyone else is already hating it? )
* a category can't be filled until after reading the book (eg: a book that will make you laugh - well, how am I supposed to know before I read it???)

[dalex]

Prompts I love and will almost always upvote:

My favorite prompts are, as Johanne said, those "that set off some sort of associative thinking and creative ways to fill a prompt." It makes me ridiculously happy to see how far out-of-the-box I can go with a prompt or when a prompt has a good bit of stretch without being overly broad (like the We Didn't Start the Fire prompt).

Conversely, I also like lists and prizes, because even though they are somewhat limited in choices, I just really like looking through lists of books.

Diversity prompts about authors (nationality, ethnicity, gender, orientation, etc.)

Title and cover prompts, if they aren't too obscure or difficult or narrow. I prefer these types of prompts if they're open to some creativity, like using The Joy Luck Club for "a weapon on the cover or in the title." The club isn't a weapon......but it could be.

[Eujean2]

I like the research & the list making (or list updating, as the year goes along). I also have a long TBR that I would like to tame. So I research all the possible prompts before voting. I like to know I have several options, even on a relatively quick search. (I will do a more major search once something is an official choice.) Ideally things will come from my TBR, but that is not a deal breaker. I love when the nominated prompts have some suggestions or direct me to a list. That way I can get a feel for options and see if things look interesting.

Initially I was not sure about the earth day prompt as it felt like it needed to be about climate change and the options seemed to be books I already read or ones that didn't spark any interest. The reminder that options were more open than that and a little more research I found there were not only books on my TBR, but some interesting things I hadn't heard of before.

I do my own kind of BIO and try to make sure my overall reading for the year contains a lot of marginalized voices. So broad prompts don't bother me. Diversity + prompts are great. (ie: a genre book by a person of color or an LBGTQIA+ book with a certain color)

Up votes go to fun prompt with at least several plausible options for me, something that might stretch my reading in new and exciting ways, and diversity of voices. Down votes go to prompts that are too restrictive or things I have tried and really didn't enjoy (like sports & westerns).

[Anastasia]

Johanne wrote: "I vote for what appeals to me. I like prompts that set off some sort of associative thinking and creative ways to fill a prompt. I dislike lists, especially if they are biased towards only US liter..."

I agree about the US centric lists. There are great authors from around the world. Most lists seem to miss this.

[Rachel]

I feel like I should clarify that a lack of options is not the only reason why I would downvote something, but it honestly is a strong reason for me.

I upvote prompts that immediately catch my attention as something that might be fun or interesting, something that fits very well with something I already know that I want to read, or something that's a bit different than prompts that have been done before assuming it is something that interests me.

I think my reasons for downvoting tend to be similar to many of dalex's, but some of them are:
- If it is difficult to research
- If there are very few options available (ie. some list prompts) or the available options are books that I've already read or don't care to read
- If it's a genre/topic/etc. that I've already tried before and disliked
- If there is a requirement to involve other people in choosing my books for me, since most of the people I know are not interested in doing so
- If I don't understand what the prompt is asking for or if I find it too vague
- If it's a prompt that I feel has been done to death already in challenges -- I do multiple challenges each year, and there are some prompts that are extremely common and I feel a bit bored of those (books in translation, book-to-movie, etc.)
- If it requires me to read non-fiction -- I generally haven't enjoyed the majority of non-fiction I read, and I'm much more open to reading one if it's a choice with the option to read fiction if I want

[Chrissy]

They can be blue , green or purple or have aliens as their partners

Just so you are aware, this kind of phrasing is really alienating and insensitive to the very people you are saying you think we shouldn't promote prejudice towards. When society isn't equitable to start with (and it's not, that is a fact), we can't expect equal treatment to have any positive impact.

[Marin]

I'm definitely more of an upvoter than a downvoter. It's interesting to see everyone's thought processes here! I don't do much research on options before I vote.

I'll usually upvote:
- Prompts that link to the year they're in (Olympics, Earth Day, 20/20 vision)
- Geography and translation prompts
- Year prompts
- Creative/random seeming prompts
- Anything that'll push me out of my regular habits, especially nonfiction or genres I don't know much about
- Prompt types that we seem to be short on (so last time I upvoted more cover prompts)

I'll usually downvote:
- Prompts that are too easy
- List prompts that use a paywall or aren't accessible internationally
- Audiobook prompts (I love audiobooks, but there are a lot of people who they just don't work for)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Now you all have me thinking about my trends.

And I'm realizing I don't have many.

I'll definitely downvote anything genres that I've read and know I don't like (Southern lit, metafiction, westerns). I also don't like prompts that rely on TBR or other personal stuff (because I usually end up using it as a free choice). Otherwise, my downvotes are left to my whims -- if I recently read a bad sports book, I'm definitely downvoting a book about sports lol.

My upvotes are even more based on my whims. I love a good genre prompt that will allow me to squeeze in genres I love (because I always need those easy prompts in the middle of the list). I also really like lists and title prompts (in moderation, of course).

Looking back on my votes from this year, I realized I downvoted a prompt that I ended up upvoting in a later poll without even realizing so... yea. whims.

[Marin]

Emily wrote: "Otherwise, my downvotes are left to my whims -- if I recently read a bad sports book, I'm definitely downvoting a book about sports lol."

This is so funny -- in the same situation I would upvote it because my thought process is more like "well the last one I read was bad, so by the law of averages the next one will be good!" It...doesn't always work out for me.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Marin wrote: "It...doesn't always work out for me."

Bahahahaha. I am VERY quick to give up on books, and very hesitant to pick up books that aren't well-known or recommended to me. So... when I hate a book about a subject, that subject is often blacklisted for life (or until someone very convincing convinces me to read a different book).

This is exactly why I still haven't read Where the Crawdads Sing. I hate southern lit (that one is tried and tested), and no one has managed to convince me it's worth putting that hatred aside to read this book lol.

[Rebecca]

Chrissy wrote: "They can be blue , green or purple or have aliens as their partners

Just so you are aware, this kind of phrasing is really alienating and insensitive to the very people you are saying you think we..."

Thank you, Chrissy. That line immediately jumped out at me as really hurtful. I appreciate you speaking up.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Unfortunately, the publishing industry, or society even, isn’t to the point that we can be blind to authors without contributing to marginalization. I think that also devalues the special contributions of “own voices” since a book written by a non-matching identity (not sure if there’s a better term) just can’t capture full understanding.

Regardless of the beliefs expressed, however, I think your post was worded a bit poorly, specifically the line that Chrissy pointed out.

It’s a bit troubling to automatically downvote a prompt based on a specific identity. I’m sure you can imagine how saying this would alienate those who identify with the target group.

I also think that it’s typically not the same thing to say, “Sorry if I upset you,” as saying something more like, “I’m sorry I said that”. The former puts the responsibility on the person for being upset rather than speaker. But maybe my social worker is showing a bit there ;)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Thank you for saying this, Laura.

[Jill]

I have deleted it and I am sorry I upset people. That was not my intention. I just believe in equality.

[Martha]

No pressure intended, but will the results of this vote be delayed until later this weekend? I noticed there are quite a few things going on for this group this weekend and just wondered if the Readathon and Fall Challenge would delay the results.