[2020] Voting for 18th Mini-Poll

[Pam]

Entropic and Liz- I agree. If it’s a larger more-well known city, then use it. But, otherwise use the closest city or the country itself, where you can find a book. I would have a hard time with even some of the countries! Trinidad & Tobago is one example.

[Diana]

Personally, I really like the Star Wars idea! I think it has a lot of variations you can choose from and find books for. But then again, I’m a huge fan, so I admit I’m probably more than a little bit biased.

[Pam]

I’m on the fence (but leaning towards it) with the Star Wars prompt. I like the originality of the prompt so may vote for it for that reason! I plan on reading some books about the Russian Revolution, which could work for The Force Awakens. A New Hope could work for lots of titles including non-fiction (memoirs, biographies, history) and upbeat fiction.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Here's the link for voting: https://www.surveymoz.com/s/CRI8Z/

It's also been posted in the opening post on this thread.

[Jill]

5 Up votes 3 Down votes for me
Found this a very difficult choice this time . The 3 I definitely didn't want were easy, but the rest I thought were pretty good suggestions.

[Avery]

I did the opposite, 3 up and 5 down. I up-voted the three that I thought were most flexible and the most books could fit in, since I have a few books that I like to read first and then find a slot for it in the challenge.

[Chrissy]

I went 5 up, 3 down this time. I hope this gets us to the finish line!

[Peter]

Chrissy wrote: "I went 5 up, 3 down this time. I hope this gets us to the finish line!"

I was the complete opposite - 3 up and 5 down, which is very contrary to my normal votes which has typically been 5-7 up for the last few polls.

[°~Amy~°]

Entropia wrote: "I think sister city prompt should be broadened to countries of sister cities/twin towns. I knew it might be too hard in case of small towns, but I proposed it on a whim and didn't really think it t..."

I think using different spellings of names would be fine. Some countries on the list do mention other spellings, but not all of them do. Here in the US it seems to be some sort of game or challenge to find 100 different ways to spell the most common and otherwise simple names lol

[Shelley]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Entropia wrote: "I think sister city prompt should be broadened to countries of sister cities/twin towns. I knew it might be too hard in case of small towns, but I proposed it on a whim and didn't ..."

Megan, Meagan, Meaghan, Megann...

[Serendipity]

Avery wrote: "I suppose the prompt about a story you're familiar with in a different format just won't work for me. I really have no interest in reading a book I've already seen the movie/show/play of, and I hav..."

A possible solution for those with this dilemma is to consider hearing about a book etc as an oral format. So you are familiar with the story via the oral format and then read it in whatever format you like - graphic novel, audiobook, regular book etc.

[Serendipity]

Ellie wrote: "I've never lived in a big city so my twin towns might be tricky to match with settings. I did live in Christchurch (UK) which is imaginatively twinned with Christchurch in New Zealand so that one m..."
I'm from Christchurch, New Zealand so if this gets in and you need help with books set here I should be able to help.!

[Bec]

Serendipity wrote: I'm from Christchurch, New Zealand so if this gets in and you need help with books set here I should be able to help.!"
Oh Christchurch is a sister city to Adelaide, Australia, where I live. So yep, I could definitely use your help if it gets in.

[Nadine in NY]

I ended up with 5 down and 3 up this round. There are a lot of prompts that I think will either drive me nuts because they are so broad/vague, or too difficult to fulfill (eg: sister city - I looked up my sister cities, I've never heard of most of them, so I think it would be extremely difficult to find a book set in those particular cities. If it wins, I'll be looking for help!!)

[Chinook]

Pam wrote: "I'm glad someone resubmitted tarot card. I really like that one! There's so much you can do with it plus I have a few tarot books that I never completely read. I also really like the book you are a..."

Please Look After Mom is excellent and covers South Korea.

[Angie]

I went with 5 upvotes and 3 downvotes this time around. I went with:

Non-human character
Story I know from another format
True story
Tarot card
10 top names

My downvotes were things I just wasn't interested in or were difficult for me to plan ahead.

[Jillian]

I ended up voting 3/5. I found most of the prompts either very narrow or very broad. The only one that I down voted that would be too hard is the sister city one. Only one city in my state has sister cities another state I have lived in has no sister cities.

[Sesia]

Let's get to that final list. Woohoo!

[Rachel]

It took me a long time to decide, but I ended up going 4 and 4.

I voted for the domestic fiction since that was the one prompt that really jumped out at me immediately. I also picked the flowers/greenery on the cover since many of the books I want to read seem to have plants on the cover. I also voted for the topic we've been told to avoid, and the top 10 names in my region since those seemed to have a lot of interesting options.

I downvoted the book that inspires/motivates me since I think that would be hard to know before reading the book, and I'm a planner. I also downvoted the book related to 20/20 because try as I might, I just can't wrap my head around how to approach it. I know there were a bunch of suggestions (mostly vision-related) but I find in general I struggle with the "related to" phrasing in prompts unless I can find a very clear and direct connection to make it obvious to myself that it fits.

I also downvoted sister city because I think we have enough setting prompts, and I also wasn't thrilled with my options. I'm also not that interested in picking books geographically. I struggled for a while with my last downvote between Star Wars and the familiar story in a different format, and ultimately decided to downvote the familiar story.

As a side note, I for some reason am now completely second-guessing myself about whether I linked to my profile, and if I accidentally submitted too many votes since I'd had several checked off at first and un-checked them as I decided. Could one of the mods please check and make sure I voted properly?

[Sarah]

Mods, what time is the vote closing on Tuesday? I'm on holiday without my laptop so can't get my url until Tuesday afternoon

[Alexx]

I love so many of the prompts this time round that it makes me sad we've only got 2 spaces left to fill. In particular, I love a book from your TBR that you don't recognise, a book you're already familiar with but in a different format, and a book on a topic that we've been told to avoid. I may end up using one of these prompts for "A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win".

In the end, I upvoted 7 prompts and downvoted 1.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Sarah, just go ahead and put your name in that blank and I'll make a note that you don't have your URL!

[Rachel]

Emily, could you please double check that my votes are there? I kept going back and forth about what to pick, and I may have left an extra box checked by mistake. I meant to have 4 up and 4 down.

[Jette]

Most of the prompts this time, with a couple of exceptions, seemed to be rehashes of topics that didn't get in earlier or prompts we did this year. (Although I may be confusing ATY with PopSugar since I'm doing both). I only had 2 upvotes this round instead of my usual 4 or 5. The Star Wars prompt was super unique, but I'm not sure what I would do with it.

All in all, I think I'm burned out with the process. I hope we do get our final prompts this time.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Rachel, your votes are correct!

[Pam]

I’m burned out too and ready to have the list finalized! Based on the comments, it seems like people are all over the place on this vote. Not much consensus.

[Jill]

Have all members been notified? As that seems to make a difference to the results

[Marin]

I liked more but only voted for two (previous ATY prompt and non-human main character) because I wanted to stick with the number of spaces left on the list. I will seriously be kicking myself if we get only one winner and another one I like ends up being a close call.

[Bryony]

Jill wrote: "Have all members been notified? As that seems to make a difference to the results"

A link to this thread has been posted in the announcements thread so anyone subscribed to that thread will have been notified.

Our number of votes has been pretty consistent throughout the process this year so hopefully the couple of occasions when a link hasn’t been posted in the announcements thread haven’t affected the results too much. :-)

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I've got my fingers crossed for the tarot card. Like many others, I'm itching to start planning, so I'm hoping we manage to fill in the list this time.

[Marie]

Jackie wrote: "I've got my fingers crossed for the tarot card. Like many others, I'm itching to start planning, so I'm hoping we manage to fill in the list this time."

I already started planning! I expected to be finished soon after the close calls vote, so (before the results of that were in with just one winner) I pulled all the books off my shelves and started putting them in piles for the different prompts. There are post-its everywhere. I need us to finish the list this week so I won't look like a crazy person if anyone visits unexpectedly!

I love non-human character, topic we're told to avoid and familiar story in a different format, but I keep changing my mind on the others.

[Jill]

Bryony wrote: "Jill wrote: "Have all members been notified? As that seems to make a difference to the results"

A link to this thread has been posted in the announcements thread so anyone subscribed to that threa..."

Ooops , Wasn't there when I looked. Thanks.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I'm such a planner as well, and I always have multiple lists going (on the community spreadsheet and on my personal one). I do find that some weeks, I'm quick to make a list for all of the prompts, and other weeks, I don't plan anything at all... I'm kind of glad, though, because it will give me something to do once the list-making process is over with (which should, hopefully, be this week!)

[Nadine in NY]

Oh the fun is definitely in the planning. I’ve got my list of possibilities and a chosen “most likely contender” book laid out for all the prompts so far (except for a few, like GR Choice since we don’t know that yet). I do it every week!

[Johanne]

Well I love to plan, and then I forget about my plan... So I am not a planner in the traditional sense. That said I have already bought and reveived a book for next year's challenge :) I lived in Zimbabwe in my teens, so I wanted to read 'Hairdresser of Harare' for my southern hemisphere book.

[Pam]

I’ve got every prompt “planned” with at least 1 or 2 options. I’ve already had to delete a few because I started reading them this year! I want to add an additional level of difficulty to my challenge by reading a certain # of non-fiction (maybe 20?) I’ll decide after I see how many I read this year.

[Jill]

I choose lots of possibles as the results come in and then narrow them down when the plan has been constructed. Even so, I still change my plan as the year goes on.

[Angie]

I'm definitely a planner. I have 5 probable choices for each prompt, and I'll narrow it down further to a top 2 before I post the list. I'll still keep a list of my other options, and I try to be flexible because of mood reads or new releases.

I probably won't have a final list until I check availability and see the Goodreads Choice nominees at the end of the month.

That said, I'm excited for a complete list, as I have several books that are on multiple lists, and once the list is finished, I can start shuffling things into their "final" slots.

I'm really curious to see what we wind up with this time around.

[Rachel]

Emily wrote: "Rachel, your votes are correct!"

Thank you!

I'm a planner too, but I like to wait until at least PopSugar has released their list too since it is the other "main" challenge that I usually do. I also find it helps me to push off the planning until later in the year a bit (as difficult as that is!) because otherwise I get too focused on planning for next year and don't end up reading toward the current year. On the other hand, I already have several tentative ideas in mind for most of the prompts as we go. I just haven't written any of them down yet, so I don't count that as a "plan."

[Edie]

Pam wrote: "I’m burned out too and ready to have the list finalized! Based on the comments, it seems like people are all over the place on this vote. Not much consensus."

I'm with you, Pam. This has gone on entirely too long. I love being able to help select prompts, but 18 rounds plus a couple extras is too much, IMO.

[Ellie]

Whilst I know I'll barely stick to my plan, I'm eager to see the final order so I can try and slot in some of next year's releases I'm looking forward to.

[dalex]

Before the ATY voting starts I make a list of books I want to read. As prompts are added to the list I choose a book to fit the prompt. So, when the ATY list is done my reading plan is also finished. (I also create a month-by-month reading plan with my list of books for the year.) Yeah I’m a bit of an overplanner! :lol:

[Entropia]

For next ATY I decided to overplan the prompts (I'm terribly sorry for anyone who's triggered by huge cells in 2020 plans spreadsheet). This year I didn't give myself too much of wiggle-room in planning and ended up reading books that were meh/I didn't like them, but I was too stubborn to drop them (I only ended up dropping one) and in some cases to lazy to find replacement. So for 2020 I want to go in opposite direction, which influenced the way I was voting - usually I was preferring prompts that I had a lot of options on my tbr for. For each prompt I plan to get a hold of as many books as I can and read a bit of each before I decide which I will follow through with.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

dalex, I'm amazed that you can make that strict of a plan and stick to it. You are superwoman lol

Entropia, my plan by the end of the year usually has 10-15 books listed per prompt. I love researching and adding books to my list, even though I know I won't read all of them lol. My books that I own take priority, but I like to have a lot of options if I'm not interested in reading those books when the prompt comes around.

Katie, this year, I read all of the books I already owned (some owned since 2013!). I didn't love all of them, but I'm glad I read them and am now able to donate the ones I don't like to make room for more books on my shelf lol.

[Chinook]

So far, I’ve been a sort of planner. I enjoy the making of a plan and then I totally ignore it! Usually what happens is I’ll look at a few prompts at a time and then I’ll look on Overdrive and take out or put on hold 2-3 books per prompt. Then whatever I end up reading is what fills the prompt.

Since next year I’m adding an extra level to each prompt to have a transgender character or author, I’ve been doing far more planning in advance. I’ve got 1-20 options for each prompt, depending on what’s out there, plus a running list of books that really interest me as I’m researching but don’t yet fill in prompts.

Once January arrives, I intend to prioritize five book on Hoopla each month, since those borrows are time sensitive/limited. And then I’ll have my Overdrive options. Plus, maybe a few paper book options but I try not to have too many of those because I find it harder to make reading time for those. I read a lot in bed with the lights off.

It’ll be interesting to see how it goes because I’m not usually good at following plans, even though I love making them.

[Chinook]

I’m also contemplating semi reading in order. Last year when I tried reading in order, I got stuck waiting for a book on hold, got behind and never regained speed and abandoned it.

This year, I think I’d like to try and read the prompts in month order, but not necessarily week order.

[Liz]

I like the idea of reading in month order!

[Entropia]

Oh, I've been thinking about reading in order, but I'm not sure I can stick to it, maybe reading in month order would be good for me too :)

[Shelley]

Rachel wrote: "Emily wrote: "Rachel, your votes are correct!"

Thank you!

I'm a planner too, but I like to wait until at least PopSugar has released their list too since it is the other "main" challenge that I u..."

Popsugar and Bookriot are so much narrow in their prompts that it's really hard to have a plan until they're released. That said, I have my list of all the potentials so that as I plan for the ones that only have one option, I know what other choices I have.

I've been reading by month this year, and it's worked really well! At the beginning of the month I'll pull from the library or put holds on what I need and just read those four as I feel like it.

[Joanne]

This was my first year participating and I felt like I needed some structure, but reading in order seemed like a little too much, so I read month by month. It was great! I will do it again next year.