[2021] Poll 12 Voting

[Nadine in NY]

Angie wrote: "Does anyone know any positive depictions of men dealing with mental illness? My friend and I were discussing this today, and neither he nor I were able to find much. I'd be interested in locating s..."


The Silver Linings Playbook ? maybe? I didn't like that book - too much football, I got bored - so I kind of erased it from my memory, but I seem to remember it had a happy ending and the protagonist had a mental health issue (bipolar maybe?)

[Stacey]

Regarding the tropes prompt, can anyone offer up additional ideas w/examples of books, if possible? The examples given were kind of limited. Thanks.

[Pam]

What ideas do people have for the local industry/ small business prompt? My first thought was businesses relating to sports in NM like hiking, camping, skiing, golfing, hot air ballooning. My other thoughts are art museums and the filming industry, either a show that’s filmed here, like Longmire, or a more general interpretation. I’m trying to think of businesses other than restaurants and bookstores. I’m just curious what others are thinking!

[dalex]

Pam wrote: "What ideas do people have for the local industry/ small business prompt?”

Farming of all sorts (dairy farms, crop farms, horse ranches, orchards, etc.) is a huge thing where I live. We actually live on the property of an elk farm and one nearby town was once famous for its cheese production. So all that gives a plethora of options.

And I work at a well known liberal arts college and a local medical facility has a nationwide reputation so anything related to academia or medicine could work. Dan Chaon was a professor at the college where I work and Tracy Chevalier, James McBride, Alison Bechdel, and Edan Lepucki all attended the college so books by those authors are options.

[Nicole]

Some commonly used tropes are love triangles, the average person turns out to be super special in some way (think Harry Potter or The Princess Diaries), the woman who “escaped” her small town has to return to deal with a parent’s health crisis or death & ends up falling in love and deciding the small town is really home after all, people who pretend to be in a relationship for some benefit and then fall in love for real, someone with amnesia, etc.

Since the prompt is open to story elements, as well as tropes, these could involve things like haunted houses, dysfunctional families, women as spies in WWII, apocalypse stories, and the list goes on and on.

Just something that you notice you tend to enjoy and/or seek out when you read. Or maybe one you don’t seek out, but have always wanted to read about because it interests you.

[Hannah]

Stacey wrote: "Regarding the tropes prompt, can anyone offer up additional ideas w/examples of books, if possible? The examples given were kind of limited. Thanks."

My thinking about the prompt was basically, what's something that if you hear a book has it immediately piques your interest? The idea is that you look for patterns in your reading that are more specific than just genres - like, I really like a good unreliable narrator, or a science fiction book that plays with time loops. Or I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and LOVING the warm, cozy, "found family" trope and it's reminding me I want to read more like it. If you check out the Wild Discussion thread, a bunch of people listed some of the story elements that they especially love.

My hope is that everyone can come up with some story elements they love and then we can all help each other find books that include them, since it can sometimes be hard to search for books by plot elements.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Poll is open: https://www.surveymoz.com/s/CPWIF4/

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

On the "who, what, where, when, why, how" prompt, every title in the detective series about Sebastian St. Cyr, regency nobleman and amateur detective, starts with one of those words - What Angels Fear is the first one, for instance andWho Speaks for the Damned is the latest.

[Jillian]

Thank you for the suggestions!

[Kelly Sj]

Pam wrote: "What ideas do people have for the local industry/ small business prompt? My first thought was businesses relating to sports in NM like hiking, camping, skiing, golfing, hot air ballooning. My other..."

Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains is my choice (and I'll read it even if this prompt isn't selected).

And I agree with dalex that agriculture and medicine would be good options.

Here are some fiction options:

The Jungle
North and South
Some Carl Hiaasen books involve the Florida tourism industry and wily plots to stop it

For fun, some Terry Pratchett:
Going Postal
Making Money

Here's a list of cozy mysteries with a retail setting:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Books set in bookstores are apparently very popular:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

I'm sure there are many others but it's hard to do a search and not get a bunch of non-fiction even if you use the word novel in your search. There must be lots of books with characters that are entrepreneurs or have settings in a small business (other than a bookstore!).

[Stacey]

Thanks for your help and good suggestions, Nicole and Hannah.

[dalex]

I only downvoted one - Goodreads Choice Awards. I don't like the award for multiple reasons and I don't like voting for a list that is unknown until the reveal in a few months.

I easily used my other seven votes for upvotes. There are several unique and/or intriguing prompt ideas in this poll.

[Pam]

Thank you Kelly and Dalex for your ideas around the local industry prompt! I’m thinking also that books with connections to the Catholic Church and southwest Native American culture might work.

[Angie]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

[Chrissy]

Hannah wrote: "I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and LOVING the warm, cozy, "found family" trope and it's reminding me I want to read more like it."

Hannah, have you read The House in the Cerulean Sea yet? If not, check it out!

[Jillian]

I struggle with the GR awards prompt. The GR award often feels like a popularity contest, big name authors always win in their category. Since, the prompt is open to nominees there are a lot of choices and it is good for me to read at least one book that is popular. I was not planning on voting either way on it. I changed my mind during voting. It would be weird not to have it on the list since it is always on the list so I up voted it.

[Hannah]

Chrissy wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and LOVING the warm, cozy, "found family" trope and it's reminding me I want to read more like it."

Hannah, have you read..."

Oh, it's on my list but I didn't realize it was a found family book! Thanks so much, that definitely bumps it up.

[Nancy]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is totally a found family book, in fact I read it for a book about a non-traditional family this year!

I was actually going to suggest it for the the rainbow prompt (love this term, btw), there are inter-species relationships, and in one of them both characters are female. There's not much of a plot but the characters and the world are both wonderful.

Am I the only one getting sick of title prompts? There are a lot in this poll and while I wouldn't mind a couple I'm leaning toward not voting for any of them.

Another trope I see a lot is siblings (usually sisters) coming together after an estrangement because a family member has died or some other event is occurring, and they must heal their relationship. I also tend to read books where the main character is hiding something in their past from their loved ones.

I don't love the local one, though I could come up with something related to hiking/climbing, skiing, or the local professor known for her autism and animal husbandry books. Agriculture. Or, when I asked my husband what he'd consider a local business or industry his first response was, "you mean besides pot?" So there's that too.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Jill wrote: "I do believe that doing this year after year we will have to have repeats, as there is only a finite number of prompts that can be chosen."

I also tell a book group I mod that people come and go so even though something from years ago is a repeat, the same people might not be here still so might as well nominate it.
Bot I did downvote the who why etc prompt cause I had the hardest time filling that week last year!

[Ellie]

I like the GR awards prompt because it seems to be the only list prompt that covers all genres. I find that if you include all the rounds it's not always limited to big name authors as some word of mouth favourites get write in votes, especially in genres with active fan communities.

[Hannah]

Nancy wrote: "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is totally a found family book, in fact I read it for a book about a non-traditional family this year!

I was actually going to suggest it for ..."

I'm absolutely loving it, its exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. I'm using it for the LGBTQIA+ prompt for this year, but you're right, it would totally work for the unconventional family prompt, or the "emotion in the title" prompt!

[dalex]

Nancy wrote: "Am I the only one getting sick of title prompts? There are a lot in this poll and while I wouldn't mind a couple I'm leaning toward not voting for any of them."

Only 3 of the 24 prompts we have so far are title prompts. That's just 12%, so definitely not an overwhelming majority.

- A book whose title contains a negative
- A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u"
- A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name

Maybe a lot have been suggested but not made the list so it seems like more than that?

And I think sometimes people fill a prompt as a title prompt even though it's not a title prompt. Like thinking you have to use a book with the word "hotel" in the title for the related to NATO alphabet prompt (for example) or a book with "end" in the title for the related to the end prompt. If you do that, it could seem like a lot of title prompts.

[Nancy]

You're right, and looking through the suggested ones this time there are only 3. I guess because there are 2 cover prompts too. I don't know, maybe I'm just being cranky.

[Jillian]

I don’t think we actually have too many title prompts but it feels like we do. I would not mind one more but I want to save an up vote for one I really like. The who, where etc one has been on the list twice and it was really hard for me last time. It was a down vote this time.

[Joan]

Once I voted I ended up picking 6 for an upvote and 2 for a downvote.

[Jill]

I don't mind title prompts, as it means I can choose something and then if I read a book that fits I can change my plan, but I can see that people who don't change their plans would not like it.

[Beth]

I usually like title and cover prompts as they give me a lot of options and I use the challenge to get through my TBR, not add to it. However I agree that the ones we've had recently haven't been that exciting. I also downvoted the 'who, what, why' prompt as we had that one recently

[Pam]

Avery wrote: "The profession in title is pretty similar to the prompt we already have about referencing people without saying their name... "

I agree with your point that the prompts are similar but one difference is that the profession prompt opens up more non-fiction choices because the word is not referring to a character but an actual profession (e.g. The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within), The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life).

[Edie]

I up voted 4 of these, although I can't say I like any of them more than some of the great prompts that didn't get through last round.

Personally, I am fine with some prompts repeating from previous years, not the scavenger hunt type prompts (a title with the word "x" in it), but genre prompts (not that we seem to get many of those) or prompts that encourage diverse reading are great.

[Joyce]

For a book related to a local industry or small business I was thinking of the numerous small food businesses in my home town. So Bogotá coffee shop opens up Colombia, The Biergarten craft beer shop gives me Germany but I’ll probably be inspired by Bar Bar community cafe and read Black Sheep Cottage.

[Avery]

Pam wrote: "Avery wrote: "The profession in title is pretty similar to the prompt we already have about referencing people without saying their name... "

I agree with your point that the prompts are similar b..."

Hmm I think all of those could still work for the prompt we already have, as artist, chef, etc. are all people whether a specific person or not. I like the prompt, and would vote it next year, but for now too similar for me.

I don’t mind repeat prompts if they’re genre like Edie mentioned, but I agree that repeat scavenger hunt prompts are not as exciting the second time around.

I just prefer the GR choice because it just makes sense as this is a GR group and it's a list I get to vote on! With 15 GR picked books, plus 5 write-in votes, for each category, hopefully there’s something for everyone. Also there may be a debut author category so at least those are less popular authors! Although sometimes I really don’t agree with the genre category GR slots them in!

[Alicia]

I agree that I like the Goodreads option because we're such an awesome Goodreads group and all Goodreads members choose the prompts. It just feels like a perfect full circle, and there are a lot of options.

I'm curious to see how this round goes. It seems like there isn't one prompt that is exciting the group (although I know now everyone that votes posts).

In past years, has there ever been a round where no prompt made the top?

[Rachel]

I had about 8 prompts that I really wanted, and only 3 that I didn't want so it took some narrowing down. I don't really mind repeat prompts since I tend to have multiple options for each one anyway.

I ended up voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards (I wouldn't mind if that was default every year), mental health, non-binary/trans, trope or story element I love, and outer space. The other strong contenders were the occupation in the title, one of the 5 W's in the title, and a book set in a made-up place.

I downvoted the local small business prompt. I can't think of very many local small businesses in general, and even fewer that I'd easily be able to find a related book. I also downvoted the nun, and the National Book Critics Award. There are a handful of books that were nominated that I could read if needed, but nothing that I was strongly excited about.

[Angie]

I wound up voting 4/4 this time around.

I upvoted the trope/story element prompt because I love that sort of thing and enjoy researching different story elements to find new books. I also upvoted the non-binary/trans/+ prompt, the made up place, and the GR Choice Award. I'll probably always vote for that one, as I like having a GR-related prompt on the board, and it makes me more invested in the results of the award.

I downvoted "book related to an industry or small business" because all I can come up with for it are books set in some kind of business, and that doesn't spark much interest with me. I downvoted the National Critics Circle Awards (not a lot of books that excited me), the one involving a nun (only found one book I really wanted to read), and the music/dance one.

The music/dance one is just too similar to the "book related to the arts" prompt we have this year. I'm still in the process of trying to fill that one.

I realize that we will have repeats from time to time. As others have said, I don't mind repeating genre prompts. But the scavenger hunt ones are not as much fun the second time around, especially when it's so soon. I wound up leaving the "who, what, where, when, why, and how" prompt alone because the presence of how gives me more options than the 2019 "five Ws" prompt.

[Melanie]

Mostly downvotes for me this round, oh well. I upvoted trans/nb author/characters and the outer space setting, and downvoted quite a lot. Goodreads Choice (always tough for me to find something I'm interested in) and National Book Critics Circle Award (ditto), the nun prompt, the mental health prompt (I'm anxious/depressed already, I don't need to read about it), the related to a dream prompt, trope prompt, music prompt and local industry prompt all got downvotes.

[Melanie]

dalex wrote: "Nadine wrote: "what kind of book is related to a dream?"

Dreamworlds and dreams are often a plot device in fantasy and sci-fi - The Lathe of Heaven by [author:Ursula K. Le Guin|87460..."

Hey dalex, your links to "this list" and "this article" don't link to anything.

[Joanne]

Angie wrote: "I wound up voting 4/4 this time around.

I upvoted the trope/story element prompt because I love that sort of thing and enjoy researching different story elements to find new books. I also upvoted..."

I had the same 4 upvotes as you and 3/4 of the same downvotes. :)

[Angie]

Joanne wrote: "I had the same 4 upvotes as you and 3/4 of the same downvotes. :)"

Great minds. :)

[[deleted user]]

Emily wrote: "No problem! And I'd love to see links to other books on the "+" spectrum. I included Ace and Aro and Intersex, but if anyone has any other links to drop, I'd like to see them. My TBR is exploding a..."

just wanted to clarify because i'm confused, is the spirit of the prompt not to read a book with a mc or author who has a marginalised gender identity? i thought the '+' covered other gender identities like intersex, genderqueer & genderfluid. asexuality & aromanticism are sexualities, which isn't the same at all.

[[deleted user]]

Stacey wrote: "Regarding the tropes prompt, can anyone offer up additional ideas w/examples of books, if possible? The examples given were kind of limited. Thanks."

you know when you're reading a synopsis and you read a certain phrase or line and go 'that's enough for me to read this book, i don't need to hear anything more'? that's kind of the gist of it, just to read a book which has a plot point ('trope') you know you're going to love because you find yourself reaching for it over & over again. you could take it as broadly as you like or really hone in on a particular niche favourite!

but some other tropes & story elements that haven't been said are x-men-like ensemble casts where everyone has powers, 'i see dead people' ghost stories, assassin falls for the person they're meant to kill, revenge stories, marriage of convenience romance, prince/ss returns to reclaim their throne, time travel, fairytale retelling (or specific retelling of your favourite folktale/classic), virtual reality, book within a book, enemies/rivals-in-real-life falling for each other anonymously online/in letters, grumpy-and-sunshine pairings, magical boarding school, magical animal companions, survival stories, gladitors, books told in dual timelines or povs, heist stories, cli-fi, mysteries set on trains or coming-of-age ya set during senior year

[Irene]

Downvoted the Goodreads choice prompt because I'm always trying to get through the books I own first and that would require me to buy/download a new book (I think I've read less than 5 books so far this year that were published in 2019, and 0 from 2020).

I also downvoted the profession in the title prompt because it overlaps very much with the title referring to someone without giving their name prompt, as least with regards to my TBR.

I generally liked the rest of the prompts, although I didn't strongly love any of them aside from the trope prompt.

[[deleted user]]

Irene wrote: "Downvoted the Goodreads choice prompt because I'm always trying to get through the books I own first and that would require me to buy/download a new book (I think I've read less than 5 books so far this year that were published in 2019, and 0 from 2020)."

0 2020 releases? wow, i read 95% new releases so i usually hate list prompts because they push me to read backlist titles.

"I also downvoted the profession in the title prompt because it overlaps very much with the title referring to someone without giving their name prompt, as least with regards to my TBR."

downvoted it for the same reason. it felt a little repetitive and i didn't have anything on my tbr.

[Ellie]

annie wrote: "0 2020 releases? wow, i read 95% new releases so i usually hate list prompts because they push me to read backlist titles..."

Apart from catching up with series, the books I've read this year not published 2019/2020 are ones for list prompts. But I get where people are coming from if they rely on the library for their books.

I don't mind lists that make me read something older that I already own, I am more annoyed by having to buy something I'm not that excited about just to fill a prompt.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

annie wrote: "Emily wrote: "No problem! And I'd love to see links to other books on the "+" spectrum. I included Ace and Aro and Intersex, but if anyone has any other links to drop, I'd like to see them. My TBR ..."

In this case, the spirit of the prompt was to read something on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum that was not gay, lesbian, or bisexual. So... anything TQIA+. But because wording is hard, we just shortened it to trans/nb/+, with the + signifying the other genders and sexualities that may often go unrepresented on lists like this (or have less representation in the publishing world). I know it's not perfect, and I hope the way it's worded conveys what we want to mean without offending anyone.

When this prompt was previously nominated, someone mentioned wanting to read books about asexual or aromantic characters, which is why I included those lists this time around. If you want to take the prompt at face value, focusing on just genders and not sexualities, you can ignore those lists.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Irene wrote: "Downvoted the Goodreads choice prompt because I'm always trying to get through the books I own first and that would require me to buy/download a new book (I think I've read less than 5 books so far..."

Holy cow, Irene. My average year of publication is 2015, but 66% of my reading was published in 2019-2020 and another 21% was published in 2010-2018.

[dalex]

Melanie wrote: "Hey dalex, your links to "this list" and "this article" don't link to anything.”

I edited the post.
.

[dalex]

I’m really shocked at how many people think the occupation prompt and the prompt about referring to a person by name are the same. All you have to do is look at the listopia to realize how different they are. I think like one percent of the books on the listopia have an occupation!

And I think people are really misunderstanding the business/industry one. You don’t have to read a book about a barista or a salesman or a book set in a bookstore or a bar! The prompt is “related to...” so (for example) if there is one scene in a book where the characters meet at a coffee shop or stop at a bar for a drink after work....that counts! Why do people think “related to” prompts are so hard?

Ugh. I need coffee.

[Avery]

dalex wrote: "I’m really shocked at how many people think the occupation prompt and the prompt about referring to a person by name are the same. All you have to do is look at the listopia to realize how differen..."

Regarding your statement on the occupation prompt, for me it’s more like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. Books like The Flight Attendant, Lies My Teacher Told Me, The Nanny Diaries, etc. all are squares. They all are a profession and reference someone without using their name. But of course not every book that references someone without using their name has a profession in it (i.e. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Jetsetters, The Time Traveler's Wife, etc.). These are rectangles. I just find since we already have the all-encompassing rectangle prompt, I don’t need a specific subset from it as well. I’m sure there are exceptions to this rule, but for now, this is how I would choose to interpret it. This is of course just my reasoning, I’m sure other people may have downvoted or upvoted it for other reasons.

[Nadine in NY]

dalex wrote: "Why do people think “related to” prompts are so hard?..."



I can only speak for myself, obviously. I don't think "related to" prompts are hard, I think they are too broad. I don't like broad prompts, because they are not a challenge. I don't want to be creative with a prompt, I want it to point me directly at a book without having to squish it or stretch it.

Related to a local industry could be any book set in a cafe or involving beer or a pub. That's too easy. I didn't downvote it, since I can easily fill it, but I'm not enthused either.

[Ellie]

Nadine wrote: "I don't want to be creative with a prompt, I want it to point me directly at a book without having to squish it or stretch it...."

I get this, I like the challenge to help me decide what to read next, not add to my indecision. I didn't vote either way for the local business prompt, but there are so many ways to interpret it and I don't even live somewhere big and exciting.