[2021] Poll 12 Results

[Rachel]

I find it kind of funny that the Goodreads Choice Awards prompt never makes it in as a "default" in the prepoll, but always (or almost always? But I'm pretty sure always) makes it in when it comes up.

Either way, I'm very happy with the two winners. I voted for the Choice Awards, and the made-up place only narrowly missed out on my top votes. I strongly considered voting for it, but decided there was something else I wanted to downvote more.

[Nadine in NY]

Jackie wrote: "Jillian wrote: "Jackie, we don't have a listopia yet for the Goodreads Award. Emily is waiting for the first round of nominees."

Which makes sense. Ann, what list are you talking about for the gr ..."




She probably looked at this list, which is not the nominees, but the eligible books
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


(and it's not ALL the eligible books - it's just thrown together by excited readers)

[Chelsey]

My problem with the close call prompt is that I have done that prompt in so many challenges and I just want new stuff. I already read diverse books, I don't need a challenge to force me to do so. If people want to read diverse books they will and the people who don't want to are not going to even if its a prompt. I want new fun prompts that I haven't seen before.

[Jillian]

Thanks, Nadine for the list.

[°~Amy~°]

For those who aren't familiar with the awards, there are 20 different categories of books covered in the Goodreads awards. They are:

Fiction
Mystery & Thriller
Historical Fiction
Fantasy
Romance
Science Fiction
Horror
Humor
Nonfiction
Memoir & Autobiography
History & Biography
Science & Technology
Food & Cookbooks
Graphic Novels & Comics
Poetry
Debut Novel
Young Adult Fiction
Young Adult Fantasy
Middle Grade & Children's
Picture Books

In each of the 20 categories, there are 20 nominees. That is 400 books to choose from. To see the 2019 winners and nominees you can visit the main page here.

[Bree]

Aww, no nuns :(

Could say people just thought that prompt was nunsense...oh well!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I had nothing against nuns but if people thought rabbits was too specific, I'm not surprised nuns didn't make it.

I rarely remember afterwards which prompts I voted for or against, except the 2 I suggested (which both got in!) Mostly I don't have really strong feelings about them. I joined this group in January and just took on all the prompts that had been chosen last year and that is fine. I have a theory that with some creativity I could make the same books work for the prompts of almost any year.

[Ann]

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

[Nancy]

That is far from a comprehensive list of the books that will be in the GR Choice Awards! It's only for the write-ins. I always find that list of books that are nominated and ultimately win always have books I wanted to read anyway.

[Harini]

I voted for both the winners so I am happy. But I was wishing to see A book with a non-binary/trans/+ author or character in top two.

[Entropia]

If I remember right I voted against both winners - I'm rarely excied about Goodreads Choice Awards nominees and made-up place felt like too much of a freebie (I like to have a lot of options, but I feel that there are enough easy prompts by now).

[dalex]

Excited that we got the Summer Challenge prompt today. It kind of makes up for the GR Award prompt that we can't do anything with until at least November!

[Alicia]

But aren’t there going to be a fair amount of prompts we can’t do anything with till November, at least at this rate. We still have 23 prompts (I think that’s right) to fill.

[dalex]

Alicia wrote: "But aren’t there going to be a fair amount of prompts we can’t do anything with till November, at least at this rate. We still have 23 prompts (I think that’s right) to fill."

Yes, we will most likely still be creating the list into the November. But I'm a super planner and it irks me that there's just this prompt, sitting there, that I can't do anything with. :).

[Alicia]

That makes sense! I've already started planning but know I'm going to need to readjust when Popsugar comes out. Maybe I like planning so much I like to do it multiple times lol

[Katie]

Beth wrote: "- If the town/location is a major focus of the book (and is not an obviously real place), particularly in the title, it may be fictional (e.g. Miracle Creek)"

Thanks for suggesting Miracle Creek! That one has been on my radar for a little while. And next year, I'm thinking about reading all books by WOC for the challenge, so this would be a perfect choice.

[Kim]

dalex wrote: "Excited that we got the Summer Challenge prompt today. It kind of makes up for the GR Award prompt that we can't do anything with until at least November!"
I am also excited, it will be a good excuse to finally read either A Night to Remember, A Game of Thrones, or The Orphan's Tale!

[Jette]

Sophie wrote: "If we are to be a group that embraces diversity, then it is very important to remember that people have diverse motives for participating in this challenge, preferring certain prompts over others, ..."

Thank you, Sophie, for this thoughtful post. I quickly find myself being judged and lumped in with the 'close minded' as days go by. I respect those who have a different world view and don't understand why mine is not respected as well. I look at issues of sexuality/gender identity as a personal matter. Just as I don't seek to read only cisgendered authors or topics, I don't enjoy being classified as a bigot because I don't *actively* seek to read non-cisgendered authors in the name of diversity. The personal choices/views of authors is irrelevant to whether I want to read their material. I had thought about suggesting a diversity mini-challenge for those who enjoy and/or champion that type of prompt.

Again, I'm not trying to be a troll, attack, or offend. I am just expressing my opinion representing what is quickly becoming a minority group itself.

[Wendy]

One other awkward thing about gender and sexual identities is that for many people, it's a very personal private thing. Many people/authors would prefer not to publicize these things about themselves, but it's become a strange pressure in publishing, where authors are encouraged to "out" themselves for the sake of "proving" some kind of authenticity. A transgender man may prefer to be "just" a man in public for the sake of normalcy. Similar with asexuality--this is something that's really only the business of the person, and it's not something obvious about a person unless they claim the label publicly. But because readers want the authenticity of Own Voices, these authors feel pressure to bring it up even if they aren't comfortable doing so. I don't know, it's one of those things that I feel pulled both way on--I want to support these people but I also don't like the way it overemphasizes pressure to "come out" especially for authors.

[Nadine in NY]

Wendy wrote: "One other awkward thing about gender and sexual identities is that for many people, it's a very personal private thing. Many people/authors would prefer not to publicize these things about themselv..."



I have not seen any authors saying they were pressured to come out. (Other than Becky Albertalli - and she's not transgender, so perhaps not related to this discussion.) I do prefer to read ownvoices, but of course I do not want authors to be pressured. If you know of publishers who are doing this, can you say who it is?

[Wendy]

Nadine, it's a general theme I've noticed in certain writing circles, especially on twitter. It's not really about specific publishers so much as marketing/publishing trends in general--if an author has a book featuring a marginalized character, agents and publishers want to know for marketing reasons if that author shares that marginalization, because then it can be offered as "own voices". For example, one of the publishing podcasts i listen to (Print Run) recently answered an anonymous question from an author asking what to do about pressure from an agent to claim the own voices label they weren't comfortable revealing publicly. A writer I follow on Twitter ran a thread yesterday about "the pressure to be openly queer to write about queerness". As a final example, the Atlantic ran an article earlier this year called "The Talented Victim is not the Point" about a writer forced to out their trans identity after the fallout from a controversial story published in a major SFF zine. Basically, if an author isn't openly queer yet writes about it, they may essentially be opening their writing up to labels of "inauthenticity".

I offer these things up as observations and data points, not because I know what the "right" answer is. I personally did vote for the recent prompt in question because I also like to support own voices, but I can also see how fraught with discomfort this topic can be for many.

[Pam]

Thanks Wendy for your comments!

[Alicia]

Dang I really really want the Goodreads Choice Awards posted already. 🥴

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

SAME! Last year, the prelim rounds opened on November 5th, so hopefully we don't have to wait much longer than that.

[Nancy]

I kind of already picked my book for that, I want to read Anxious People and I guarantee that will be in the awards.

[Angie]

I made some educated guesses about what I think will be on the Goodreads Choice Awards this year, so I have a tentative list. Still, I can't wait til they post it!

[dalex]

If Piranesi by Susanna Clarke isn’t on the goodreads awards list I will be dumbfounded. I’ve already penciled it on my challenge for that prompt.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I have Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom on my bookshelf and I have a feeling that will be nominated at least. Now to see if I can wait until 2021 to read it.

[[deleted user]]

here's a list of probable nominations if anyone wants to try & plan ahead: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...