[2021] Poll 7 Voting

[Nancy]

The book doesn't have to be about the disaster, it just has to form part of the story. Like in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, the main character loses his father in 9/11, and it's the background for the plot. A book that takes place during or after Katrina, or something like Before the Fall, where the plane crash sets the story.

Another idea would be The Leftovers, the reckoning could be considered a disaster since half the population disappears. Or more recently, Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks, with a fictitious eruption of Mt. Rainier. World War Z, or really any zombie book, I'd consider a disaster/tragedy.

I don't necessarily go looking for books about disasters either but end up reading them anyway sometimes!

[Rachel]

I haven't voted yet because there are a few that I want to research, but the NATO alphabet, "the end" and potentially large-scale disasters are the ones that immediately jumped out to me. Keep in mind that large-scale disasters can also be fictional, so most dystopian or post-apocalyptic would likely work!

I didn't care for the lesser-known awards prompt last time either, and I'm still not such a fan. I'm not familiar with book awards in general, so I have no idea what's considered well-known aside from a few obvious ones. I'm also not such a fan of the book I started but never finished, because that really doesn't apply to me. I don't DNF books, and the only books from school that I never finished were history textbooks, which I don't want to read in full anyway.

It also took me a while to figure out what the bingo prompt meant when I first saw it. The only thing I knew about bingo was the person calling a letter and a number. I didn't know there were different names for things, so it took me a while to really get it. I don't think I'll vote for that one, but I'm definitely not downvoting it either.

[Conny]

I am super giddy for the unusual structure book because I love them. Hoping it will get in! Actually, the book I am currently reading would count ("The Creeper Man" by Dawn Kurtagich). Other suggestions I can think of that haven't been named yet are Jeffery Deaver's "October List" (told in reverse), Marisha Pessl's "Night Film" (has a companion app), Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief" (narrated by death), or Stephen King's "It" (has a dual timeline and sometimes jumps back and forth mid-sentence as the characters recover their memory). Also very excited for the NATO prompt, and I have the perfect book for the disaster prompt on my TBR ("The Three" by Sarah Lotz).
Curious to see how my Wikipedia prompt plays out, but it will probably be neither voted in nor out :D

I will be downvoting the DNF prompt because I never DNF as a rule and simply wouldn't know how to approach it. Read all book at school, always finished borrowed books before the deadline, don't start reading books at bookstores etc. I like the idea of the rhyme but will have to give it some thought, maybe use my middle names, see if I can find anything. Last name may work.

First I'll sleep on it though. It's well past midnight where I am :D

[Samantha]

I accidentally hit submit on my survey and I am pretty sure I am over on the number of prompts selected, hadn't edited. Sorry!

[Beth]

I really like this set of prompts, I would be happy if any of them make the list. I hesitated on 'a book you started but didn't finish' but then I actually realised I have a few that I started and for whatever reason didn't finish (not as an intentional DNF) and this would encourage me to go back and read them in full.

My favourite is probably the unusual structure - it seems like a lot of people agree on that so hopefully it ends up in the top.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Samantha wrote: "I accidentally hit submit on my survey and I am pretty sure I am over on the number of prompts selected, hadn't edited. Sorry!"

Found it! You did have one extra so I deleted that response. Go ahead and re-do.

[Jill]

I always finish a book, even if I hate it. For disaster I thought I would read a book about the Titanic as I seem to have a lot of those

[Sara]

We had some really good prompts in this list and several that I didn't love but wouldn't mind at all if they won. Only two that I'd be sorry to see make the list. I don't want the name rhyme. My name is a good rhyming candidate and I think there are probably others who would have an even harder time than I would. And, the gnooks. I went over and tried it out and after three tries I didn't get a single author that I thought I would be glad to discover.

[Edie]

Six upvotes for me this time. Downvoted the name rhyme and Wikipedia prompts. Really hope the poetry or short story prompt gets through. This is the kind of prompt that pushes me out of my normal reading pattern... with the result that I realize I should read more widely.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I downvoted the rhyme and the DNF. Personally I am at a stage of my reading life where I am not looking to challenge myself and I rarely read poetry, essays, or short stories. I am fine with that, in fact grateful because my TBR is already 300 or more. But I think it’s good for the group to have some different prompts so it’s fine with me if that gets in.

[Sara]

I love short stories and read them between my longer reads, so that prompt works for me. If I dnf'd something, I pretty much know I don't want to try it again, but I do have couple of books that I stopped because of circumstances and never picked back up, so I can make it work.

[Joan]

I had five down votes and 3 up votes. I really like the prompt - A book whose title refers to a person or persons, fictional or real, without naming them explicitly - I hope that one gets in.

[Jillian]

I split my votes 2/6. This group was really more in the middle for me so it was hard to pick up votes.

[Irene]

Joan wrote: "I had five down votes and 3 up votes. I really like the prompt - A book whose title refers to a person or persons, fictional or real, without naming them explicitly - I hope that one gets in."

Yay, that was my suggestion! ^^ Fingers crossed other people like it as well!

I love so many prompts this time around, so I'm going to be upvoting all except for one: The prompt about a book you started but never finished. I don't DNF books at all unless I find them problematic (racist/sexist/homophobic/offensive in some way). Sure, I could find a cook book or reference book that I never read completely, but those books aren't meant to be read cover-to-cover.

One of the mods mentioned that I could just pick up a book and read 5 pages, put it down for a week, and finish reading it but at that point it would be a complete freebie because I could do that with literally any book in the world, and it seems like it would be going against the spirit of the prompt to do that. I think it's a good prompt, but just wouldn't work for me personally since I'm a completionist!

Anyway, I absolutely love the variety this poll! I hope lots of them get through!

[Samantha]

Jackie wrote: "Samantha wrote: "I accidentally hit submit on my survey and I am pretty sure I am over on the number of prompts selected, hadn't edited. Sorry!"

Found it! You did have one extra so I deleted that ..."
Thank you, again sorry!

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

It's not a big deal as long as you tell us ;)

Really we're just trying to keep out glitches and cheats.

[Ooha]

I upvoted it because it sounded fun, but I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with my name. Then, the discussion thread here offered up - Oona out of order- ! Now I'm looking forward to that prompt making it through 😄

[Rachel]

I ended up voting for "the end," NATO and large-scale disaster.

I downvoted the communist state, lesser-known literary prize, poetry/essays/short stories, the book I started by never finished, and the rhyme in the title.

The only other one that I really strongly considered voting for was the title that refers to the person but not by name. I love that idea, but it feels very awkwardly worded. I'm not even sure why, since it does make sense to me. If it doesn't make it through this round, I think it would be a great one to workshop a bit.

[Clare]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

This is a great one for the book that is an unusual structure. You can either read the book in the order it’s written or follow the alternate reading structure that’s in the book. It was a great read!

[[deleted user]]

Avery wrote: "What are some books with unusual/counterintuitive structures?"

Illuminae - told completely through a 'found documents' docile
Before Now - told in reverse chronological order/'backwards'
Technically, You Started It - told completely through text messages
Daisy Jones & The Six - told through interviews
This Is How You Lose the Time War & We Are Still Tornadoes - told completely through letters

i think if you look up books with mixed media, you'll find lots of recommendations!

[[deleted user]]

i loved this set of prompts!

i upvoted:

- the NATO phonetic alphabet one
- Wikipedia prompt
- A title referring to a person without naming them
- the sports team one (everyone worked so hard on perfecting the wording!)
- unusual or counterintuitive structure
- "key to the door" bingo prompt
- related to "the end"

i only downvoted

- a book of poetry or short stories because i only have anthologies with multiple authors on my tbr

[Irene]

Rachel wrote: "I ended up voting for "the end," NATO and large-scale disaster.

I downvoted the communist state, lesser-known literary prize, poetry/essays/short stories, the book I started by never finished, and..."

I agree with you about the wording! It was my bad, as I reworded it a bunch of times trying to make it as clear as possible that it would also work for a group of people (like The Swans of Fifth Avenue), and for nonfiction as long as the person's given name isn't explicitly in the title (Like Pres. Obama's Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance). I'd totally love and be open to someone else making it sound better, assuming it doesn't get voted through.

[Ali]

annie wrote: "Avery wrote: "What are some books with unusual/counterintuitive structures?"

Illuminae - told completely through a 'found documents' docile
Before Now - told in rev..."

I think if you want to go a bit more KIS, there are options like How to Be Both by Ali Smith where the 2 parts of the books are randomly printed in a different order just depending on which copy of the book you happen to get hold of.

[dalex]

I think “verse novels” would work for the unusual structure prompt.

This website has an extensive list of verse novels - https://sarahtregay.com/novelsinverse...

[Khara]

Question for the communist state one... is the intention that we read a book that is taking place in a communist setting in the book itself, or is it just meant to take place in a country that at some point is communist? Would a book from ancient China fit for example?

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Khara, I would say that the intention is to be in a current communist state (as in, when the book is set, it is communist state), but a Keep It Simple option could be set in a country that was/is communist even if it isn't set during that communist time. I could be misinterpreting it, but that's the way I see it.

[Khara]

Ok, that makes sense! That was more how I was taking it but then I doubted myself lol.

[Rachel]

Irene wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I ended up voting for "the end," NATO and large-scale disaster.

I downvoted the communist state, lesser-known literary prize, poetry/essays/short stories, the book I started by neve..."

No worries! I love the idea and hope it does get through. It fits a ton of books on my TBR. I couldn't really think of how to word it more concisely either, and the current wording is pretty clear, so it's definitely a tough one to rephrase.

[Angie]

I wound up going 5/3

My upvotes:

* Lesser known literary prize: I found prizes I hadn't encountered before. If it goes through, I will likely do something from Reading the West.
* Poetry/short stories/essays: I'm trying to read more poetry, so this would be a good nudge.
* The indirect reference prompt: Sounds like a fun one to research. I've already found a bunch of options.
* Related to a professional sports team: Again, sounds fun to research. I've already stumbled onto some good fits.
* Unusual or counter-intuitive structure: I like to read this sort of thing. I've been wanting to finally read Daisy Jones & The Six, which is tailor-made for this category.

My downvotes:
*Large-scale disaster: After everything that has gone on this year, I'm not in the right headspace for a prompt like this.
* The rhyming prompt: My name doesn't lend itself to rhyming quite as well as other names.
* Gnooks: It took me several tries to find an author I was interested in.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Today is the last day to vote in Poll 7!

[Entropia]

I hope this time more than one prompt will get voted in :)

[Jill]

Entropia wrote: "I hope this time more than one prompt will get voted in :)"

Me too. I think we all do.

[Alicia]

I’m getting ready for bed like a child before Christmas morning. I really want there to be multiple winners. Please Santa bring multiple winners.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

But some of us liked a lot of them so maybe that means the vote will be split! If so, we should maybe use a whole week for resubmitting those that didn't make it but weren't eliminated.

[Irene]

Robin P wrote: "But some of us liked a lot of them so maybe that means the vote will be split! If so, we should maybe use a whole week for resubmitting those that didn't make it but weren't eliminated."

That sounds like a great idea to do towards the end of these polls! Choosing from the best of the ones that didn't make it in before, but didn't receive too many down votes and might have been overlooked because there were a lot of other great prompt suggestions the same week.

[Ellie]

I actually had a dream about the results! This is what happens when you never go anywhere. There were lots of prompts I didn't recognise, I wish I could remember what they were now.

[Anastasia]

Ellie, you know those dreams of not wearing pants in public? Mine have been about not wearing a mask in public.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Anastasia wrote: "Ellie, you know those dreams of not wearing pants in public? Mine have been about not wearing a mask in public."

I had a dream like that recently. I was out with my kids who were kid-age. (In real life, they are 37 and 40.) Suddenly I looked around and said, "you know who's not wearing a mask? Us! you know who else isn't wearing a mask? Everybody!" I wondered how we all could have forgotten.