[2021] Poll 10 Voting

[Chelsey]

My upvotes this week are clue weapon on the cover and featuring a ghost. The rest will be downvotes, i also hate related to prompts or prompts that are too broad.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Avery wrote: "I wish the Royalty prompt was non-British, as I think non-European is really too narrow. I would have voted for it otherwise. My first thought went to Cleopatra also, but that's something I'd have ..."

I assumed the prompt also meant non-British (even though Brits may say they aren’t part of Europe). I thought the intent was to avoid the obvious royalty. I suppose it could be a BIO/KIS option to include Britain or not.

[Jen K]

Nicole wrote: "Alicia wrote: "For colonies, are we talking about past or current colonies? Also, I think most are islands. Is this a little too similar to the set on an island prompt?"

Countries that have been c..."

All of Africa except Ethiopia who maintains that they were only occupied.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

dalex wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "It is that "related to" that turns me off the prompt."

And this is why there is such diversity in the voting. :)

"Related to" prompts are my absolute favorite. I love to see how c..."

We are so funny! Some, like dalex and myself, are the non-literalists. We will make the prompt mean whatever we want and enjoy explaining it to you. When there are discussions on the difference between "about" and "related to", I just think "Whatever, I will make my choice work no matter what." I have to remember that for some people, the exact wording is important. I think the best prompts make everyone happy, and the BIO/KIS options also help.

[Irene]

I apologize in advance for being "that" person!! But...

I don't think enough people are aware that Cleopatra was of pure Macedonian Greek descent, as the Ptolemy dynasty in general was started by Alexander the Great putting his general "in charge" of Egypt. She had zero Egyptian blood, despite being born there, so it's almost like colonization, in my opinion. There's a reason she was viewed nearly as an equal to so many powerful Roman rulers, Caesar included.

So if the non-European royalty prompt is voted through, I'd recommend people to try to not choose someone (Cleopatra specifically) who is literally as close as you can get to European royalty (being of full European ancestry and a part of European dynasty) without "officially" being so. If you're interested in Egypt, there are many other Egyptian pharaohs like Nefertiti that are just as fascinating to read about! Not to mention the number of non-European royals that actually have no European blood, like Sara and Shelley's great suggestions: The Incans, Mayans, Aztecs, Chinese, Hawaiians, etc.

[Avery]

I mean I’d love to read about Monaco or British royalty but that prompt prohibits me from doing so.

I’ll also be downvoting Google Doodle for the same reasons Amy mentioned - way too broad. I like “related to” prompts also but this is just too many options and not appealing to me. The wiki page prompt I also dislike for the same reason mentioned that everything is terror/disaster/death related for me and that Listopia wouldn’t work for that one.

I like the clue weapon prompt, but it’s a very unique prompt that we’ve already had before, so I’d rather save that space for some other unique prompt.

I think I’ll upvote the genre you don’t read often and non-target audience as both of those have the opportunity to challenge everyone who reads them. I also will upvote the chapter headings since that’s a fun scavenger hunt!

[Irene]

But on a positive note - I'm absolutely in love with this week's prompts!! I think I might be doing all upvotes for the first time! ^__^

The ones I'm 90% sure I'll be upvoting:
1. A book set in a former colony other than the United States and Canada
A good opportunity to read #ownvoices in the countries that were colonized, I think.
2. A book for which you are (or were) not the intended demographic/audience
(This was the one I suggested)
3. A book from a genre or sub-genre you don't read often
Love that this is a genre-type prompt that doesn't force a very specific subgenre but still encourages people to diversify their reading
4. A book with a Clue/Cluedo weapon on the cover
Cover prompts are my favorite and this one is so creative and fun! I've never even played Clue before but love it anyway hahaha
9. A book featuring a ghost, vengeful spirit, or lost soul
Love a good ghost story!!
10. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
I was planning on suggesting a novella prompt so this one is right up my alley! Love the new-to-you author part as well.
15. A book involving non-European royalty
So excited to either go for a fantasy read or #ownvoices!

I was going to also vote for the 2 initials one, but after seeing Nicole's comment, I realized just how Anglo-centric that prompt is. I didn't think about how middle names don't exist in a lot of cultures so I searched through all my books on my TBR that are in a foreign language and none of them have even one initial in their published name. I know a few people who do this challenge every year, mostly in their native languages that aren't English, so I'm trying to consider that.

[Irene]

Avery wrote: "I mean I’d love to read about Monaco or British royalty but that prompt prohibits me from doing so.

I’ll also be downvoting Google Doodle for the same reasons Amy mentioned - way too broad. I lik..."

My birthday wikipedia page is also full of terrorist/death/natural disaster-type events so that one will be a little tough for me haha, and I didn't know the Clue prompt was done before! What year was that from? It sounds like a lot of fun but I might not upvote it if a lot of members here have already done it.

[Hilde]

Irene, the cluedo prompt was on the list in 2018.

[Jillian]

I want to like the google doodle but it is just to broad for me. It seems like any book would fit. This is where my confusion comes from. If it makes it, I will need the BIO to help me.

I voted for the Clue cover in a previous year's challenge and then did not like it during the actual challenge. It is one of my favorite games so I feel bad down voting it.

I hate my birthday. It is my least favorite day of the year everything goes wrong. If it makes it, I guess I will be reading a tragedy. (wikipedia confirmed it is an awful day)

Now, I just need to narrow down my up votes. There are quite a few that I'm interested in.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I struggled so much with the Clue weapon on the cover in 2018 lol. I think it was my last prompt of the year. I apparently don't read books with weapons on the cover very frequently.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Emily wrote: "I struggled so much with the Clue weapon on the cover in 2018 lol. I think it was my last prompt of the year. I apparently don't read books with weapons on the cover very frequently."

Yes, I'm afraid that prompt is too specific, especially if you don't read mysteries which are more likely to show a rope, gun, etc. on the cover.

[Rachel]

I definitely need to do some research on several of these before deciding, but there were several that jumped out at me immediately. I love the ghost/spirit one, heroic character, non-European royalty (I'm probably going the fantasy route), and power struggle. I also really like non-human character, as long as the character does not necessary need to be the main one.

I find the Wikipedia prompt completely overwhelming. I've been trying to look up what has happened on my birthday, and aside from it also being a ton of terrorism, death, etc. there are just so many options. Even if I can find something, I don't think I could easily find a book that connects strongly enough to it to make it make sense to me.

I like the Clue prompt, but was a bit surprised to see it again after we'd had it on the list once before. I know not everyone checks though. I remember really liking it last time, but also struggling to find a book that fits, so I'd have to see what's on my TBR before deciding about that one.

[Sophie]

Robin P wrote: "Avery wrote: "I wish the Royalty prompt was non-British, as I think non-European is really too narrow. I would have voted for it otherwise. My first thought went to Cleopatra also, but that's somet..."

Back in the early 2000s, I went to France to attend the wedding of a close couple friend of mine. The groom happened to be a prince from Laos. In all the time that I had known him, he, of course, never told me that he was a prince, and I only found out at the wedding itself that it was in fact a royal wedding! Imagine my surprise....

His family had fled Laos in the 70s during an upheaval and went to France. He and his girlfriend at the time then moved to Montreal for work, where I also started work at the same time. He has since written a science book. So if the royal prompt makes it, I’m reading his book, and I’ll definitely tell him that I did and why.

[Alicia]

If you know any other princes... there are some nice single ladies in this group.

[Sophie]

Alicia wrote: "If you know any other princes... there are some nice single ladies in this group."

haha, although I don’t think he is the rich and famous kind....

[Alicia]

That’s all overrated. I just want to rub it in some peoples faces that I’m a princess lol.

[Bec]

I like the idea of a book that uses something other than consecutive numbers to designate chapters - but my question is how would I know this without actually having the book to look? I read kindle books so would need to know in advance what the chapter headings were.

[Bec]

And silly question.....but how do we find the the wikipedia page of our birthday?

[Juliet]

Bec wrote: "And silly question.....but how do we find the the wikipedia page of our birthday?"

Google the day of your Birthday like 'May 5th' and the first result should be the Wiki link

[Wendy]

My birthday happens to fall on "Bloomsday", aka the day that Ulysses by James Joyce takes place on. So if that prompt wins, I think it's fate telling me to finally read it....

[Angie]

Bec wrote: "I like the idea of a book that uses something other than consecutive numbers to designate chapters - but my question is how would I know this without actually having the book to look? I read kindle..."

Here are a couple of links:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... (scroll to the bottom and select Literature)

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Avery]

Book with chapters not numbered .... this is a perfect opportunity for a book of poems, essays, and short stories!!!

Here’s a few more links to sift through!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

https://www.reddit.com/r/books/commen...

[Alicia]

This is why I love the discussion period. I was planning on downvoting uncommon chapter titles, because I had the same fear about not knowing till I read. But Avery’s post re: poems and short stories reminds me that I was trying to fit in Sylvia Plath’s journals into my challenge next year, as well as some other poetry books if I’m not jazzed about her journals next year.

This is now a definite upvote for me.

[Sue]

Alicia wrote: "This is why I love the discussion period. I was planning on downvoting uncommon chapter titles, because I had the same fear about not knowing till I read. But Avery’s post re: poems and short stori..."
Hmmm, but then they're not actually chapters are they?

[Alicia]

Isn’t a chapter just a division throughout a book? I would think dates that designate different entries would be a chapter, right?

At least I hope so, or I’m going to really struggle finding where to put that lol.

[Jillian]

Alicia, you’d be fine. I looked up the definition of chapter just to make sure. A chapter’s definition is “a main division of a book.”

[Pam]

I’m on the fence this week. There are 3 I plan to downvote but I don’t know what I will vote for! I thought I liked the Wiki birthday prompt at first but only have a few ideas, a Lauren Groff book being the first one and David Copperfield (Daniel Radcliffe’s acting debut) being the 2nd one. This is the first week that I may do some research before voting! I’m leaning towards the non-European royalty. I share a birthday with the last Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. A biography about him could be interesting for one of the 2 prompts (Wiki or Royalty).

[Serendipity]

I love how we are all so different in our reactions to the prompts. I’m not seeing a lot jump out at me - although quite a few would easily slot into my typical reading ie book you are not the intended demographic for. Former colony is pretty wide but I’ll probably end up voting for it (reading my way around the world and lots of Africa still unread).

I have settled (pretty much) on a few downvotes. Wikipedia (spent some time scrolling through my birthday and any links I could make between what was there and anything I might want to read were pretty tenuous), Cluedo weapon (did recently and wasn’t a fan), short book by a new to you author (this feels a bit like a Read Harder prompt although I’m sure I could find something), non-European royalty (this feels pretty limiting especially for someone who isn’t a big fantasy reader). Also not a fan of ghosts etc.

But I will keep checking in with the discussion and rethinking how I could make prompts work. I’d rather upvote or at least leave neutral than downvote. Feels like raining on someone’s parade.

[Bec]

Thanks for the links to non numbered chapters and the info on wikipedia...that's helpful!

[Ellie]

Robin P wrote: "I assumed the prompt also meant non-British (even though Brits may say they aren’t part of Europe). ..."

Last time I looked at a map, we were still in Europe :)

[Aimee]

Loads of non-European countries had monarchs in the past, even if they don't now.
Here are a few royals you might want to look up, as I'm sure there will be loads of books about them:

- Mansa Musa, Emperor of Mali and possibly the richest man who ever lived
- Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (modern-day Angola), who fought the Portuguese who were trying to enslave her people
- Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal

[Sarah]

Apparently I share a birthday with Mozart and Lewis Carroll so I'll probably read an Alice retelling if the birthday prompt gets through.

Other possibilities are the discovery of Antarctica or Guy Fawkes' trial. Everything else is war, tragedy or disaster!

[Nicole]

For the Wiki Birthday prompt change the language, if you can speak more than one. I found the German page vastly different from the English one. And not only in country specific matters. It more than doubled my options.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Ellie wrote: "Robin P wrote: "I assumed the prompt also meant non-British (even though Brits may say they aren’t part of Europe). ..."

Last time I looked at a map, we were still in Europe :)"

I was jokingly thinking of Brexit. But if this prompt wins it should be mentioned that Britain is included, as that wasn't obvious to everyone.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

VOTING IS NOW OPEN

https://www.surveymoz.com/s/MEWRKV/

This was a great discussion period!

[eleen ✨]

I feel like the discussion and prompts in this round round in particular are really good for tackling diversity.

Although I like the first prompt, A book set in a former colony other than the United States and Canada, I don't like the wording of this. To me, it’s a territory or state that was occupied by outsiders; a place that was colonised. I know it seems a bit nitpicky but I grew up as a WoC with one foot in a different colonised country, so I feel like my perspective is an outlier in this group and I understand if it doesn't jive well.

__

Avery wrote: "I wish the Royalty prompt was non-British, as I think non-European is really too narrow. I would have voted for it otherwise. My first thought went to Cleopatra also, but that's something I'd have ..."

I don't think this prompt is too narrow — Europe makes up only 22% of the world’s countries. A lot of non-European countries have royalty: China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Bhutan, Brunei… from Asia. The Polynesian islands have royalty, though they might not call it such, and I can only think of Tonga off the top of my head. Hawaii had a queen. The Native Americans had “royalty”; same with the First Nations of Canada. From Africa there was Nefertiti of Egypt, Ranavalona the First of Madagascar (Return to the Enchanted Island touches on Madagascan royalty briefly), Queen Nzinga (modern day Angola), Queen Amina (Hausa warrior queen).

——

My upvotes will be for the two prompts above + the birthday one.

[dalex]

For the royalty prompt, several people have listed royal figures from various countries but not books about them. I've been trying to research this prompt and have come up with pretty much nothing. Any suggestions (fiction preferably)?

[Nadine in NY]

dalex wrote: "For the royalty prompt, several people have listed royal figures from various countries but not books about them. I've been trying to research this prompt and have come up with pretty much nothing...."


you missed my post :-)



Last year I read The Moon in the Palace, and next year I could finally read the sequel for this category: The Empress of Bright Moon

[Jillian]

I'm not seeing much in the way of list with fiction books about real non-European royalty. If this prompt ends up in the top, I will be going the way of fantasy and there is a list for that.

fantasy royalty

[Pam]

Dalex- I recommend Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. There are a couple of scenes in Ethiopia where the emperor Haile Selassie is involved. The prompt doesn’t state the book has to be about the royalty, just involved, so I would include this book. It’s long but really good!

[dalex]

Thanks Nadine and Pam for the book suggestions. Unfortunately I've already read Cutting for Stone (and definitely didn't like it well enough to read it again).

If this prompt does make it onto the final list, I will probably do Russian royalty (with the justification that part of Russia is in Asia) or fantasy/sci-fi.

[Jkmays]

Aimee wrote: "Loads of non-European countries had monarchs in the past, even if they don't now.
Here are a few royals you might want to look up, as I'm sure there will be loads of books about them:

- Mansa Musa..."

Would Russia be included in "not in Europe"?. The capitals were in Europe, but the majority of the country is not.

[Kat]

If the Google Doodle is off putting because of how many options there are you could narrow it down by only using ones that appear later this year or even the next one you see.

Today in the UK the doodle is for Barbara Hepworth a local (to me) artist and sculptor.

I could read a book about an artist, a book set in West Yorkshire, a book about a museum, a book set/written in 1903 or 1975, a book about a mother and child or wings as these are the names of some of her artwork. There are so many options and I don't need to go back and get put off by the long list.

[Sara]

That was my feeling, Kat. If you wanted to narrow it down, just pick a day at random that you are going to use and require yourself to choose something related to that day. That is what I would plan to do if it makes the cut. I will probably choose the day by having my husband choose a number between 1 and 12 and then another number between 1 and 30/31...and voila a random date.

[Kat]

Russian royalty is a difficult one. Technically 77% of Russia is in Asia but the royalty lived in the European part and intermarried with other European royal families.

[Alicia]

If the royalty prompt makes it in, maybe Russia could be a KIS option.

If people do choose to go the Russia route, I highly highly recommend Robert K. Massie's books on the Nicholas and Alexandra (the Romanovs/Anastasia's parents), Catherine the Great and Peter the Great. They are non-fiction BUT they read like fiction. He is an amazing writer and you will be sucked in like you are reading a drama.

[Nancy]

I'm curious why the royalty prompted was restricted to non-European, I could see non-British as that's featured in so much fiction but I feel like the rest of Europe is a lot less represented. And would also solve problems like Russia!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

eleen, what about this wording?

A book set in a place that was once colonized, other than the United States and Canada

[Aimee]

dalex wrote: "For the royalty prompt, several people have listed royal figures from various countries but not books about them. I've been trying to research this prompt and have come up with pretty much nothing...."

I don't know of any fiction books, sorry, but there are lots of non-fiction books about the more famous non-European royals. If the prompt makes it in, I'll probably head down to the library and see what they have in stock.
I did read The Warrior Queens last year, which features Queen Nzinga (Angola) and Rani Lakshmi Bai (India) but overall I was a bit underwhelmed by the book as the writing style is very dense.