[2022] Wild Discussion Showing 51-100 of 2,340

[Jillian]

I like the prompt for a choice that did not make it but I think it really is one that should be in a regular poll. Then we can add qualifiers such as polarizing, close call, bottom, or somewhere in the middle vote rather than it being open to all suggestions. This way it can be a little different each year.

[Kelly]

Hello I am new to the group so giving this a try for the first time. I am enjoying reading all of your suggestions and look forward to new books to read!

I was thinking of a "year of the tiger " Chinese zodiac prompt.

One could read a book by an author born in a year of the tiger: 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 (not so likely to read a book by someone in the last few years).

One could read a book that has a tiger in it.

One could read a book set in China.

One could read a book by a Chinese author.

[Thomas]

Kelly wrote: "Hello I am new to the group so giving this a try for the first time. I am enjoying reading all of your suggestions and look forward to new books to read!

I was thinking of a "year of the tiger " C..."

Yes to this. Unlike some symbols tiger has great possibilities. But maybe also include book published in any of those years.

[Kelly]

Great idea, Thomas, to add books published in a year of the tiger!

[Thomas]

Kelly wrote: "Great idea, Thomas, to add books published in a year of the tiger!"

thanks.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Ellie wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Another challenge group recently used American Pie. It has tons of lyrics! ..."

Just a reminder we rejected that one last year due to Don McLean's domestic abuse charges and people..."

Oh, thanks, I forgot that! Good catch.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Emily wrote: "Robin, I tend to agree with you about the prompt that didn't make it in, but that is a suggestion that keeps making it on the list every year so I'll leave it in the pre-poll for now."

I don't think it's a problem, I just meant it gives an option for those who wished we had a free choice option.

[Thomas]

Robin P wrote: "Emily wrote: "Robin, I tend to agree with you about the prompt that didn't make it in, but that is a suggestion that keeps making it on the list every year so I'll leave it in the pre-poll for now...."
Fair point.

[Thomas]

How will the pre poll work

[Jill]

On Ellie's list I thought the anniversary of Charles Babbage was a good one, as there are so many books involving computers, and could encompass any number of appliances which run off computers, Robots, Space, Hacking etc.

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

[RachelG.]

I am also new to the group this year and was wondering if the different polls have a different topic each time, for example, ideas where covers are important take place on one poll and setting of a book is a different poll?

[Thomas]

No it’s all topics against each other. But as the year goes on the mods will encourages under represented prompt time

[Jillian]

Rachel, the multi prompt poll is a specific poll and then it seems like the past two years we have had a poll with 15 of the top close calls. All other polls are open to anything though as Thomas indicated the mods make encourage underrepresented topics.

[Bec]

Kendra wrote: But I was thinking, would "Read a classic (modern or traditional)" work for a common prompt?"
Please no....I really dislike classics, historically I've struggled through them, but in the last few years (since being diagnosed with a rare non-curable cancer) I've decided life is too short to read books I dont enjoy so use a wild card for the classics if they are chosen.

[Bec]

Robin P wrote: "
For 22, I thought of "a book whose title is 2 words of..."

I really like this idea!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Thomas, the pre-poll is a poll of commonly suggested prompts that we vote on before the suggestion process starts, kind of to get them out of the way. This year, the only one that made it in the pre-poll was "a book published in 2021", but "a prompt suggestion that didn't make it" and "a goodreads choice nominee" were both in the pre-poll but were suggested and voted on later in the process.

Rachel, we don't have themes for the polls. We want a well-balanced list, of course, but we let the group decide what that looks like. Thomas is correct in saying that we will occasionally say "oh we would like to have more genre prompts" or "it looks like we only have 1 or 2 character-driven prompts" and encourage people to suggest those, but we don't usually dedicate polls to specific types of prompts. (I say usually because it has been done once or twice in the past, but it's the exception.)

Like Jillian mentioned, we usually have one multi-week poll (this year's winner of that poll was the past, present, and future prompt). We don't allow multi-week prompts to be submitted in a normal suggestion round, but we do have one dedicated poll for them. We have also had "Close Calls" polls the last two years with prompts that made the close calls list (meaning they were almost voted in but didn't quite have the upvotes for it). That's something we decided to do after looking at the list and seeing how the votes were distributed, but it's not guaranteed to happen every year.

Hope this helps!

[Kendra]

Bec wrote: "Kendra wrote: But I was thinking, would "Read a classic (modern or traditional)" work for a common prompt?"
Please no....I really dislike classics, historically I've struggled through them, but in ..."

That was why I had put the word modern in - there are plenty of 'modern classics' - new books that become instant hits , not just old classics.

[RachelG.]

Thanks all that responded to my question. It helps!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Kendra wrote: "Bec wrote: "Kendra wrote: But I was thinking, would "Read a classic (modern or traditional)" work for a common prompt?"
Please no....I really dislike classics, historically I've struggled through t..."

Harry Potter is certainly a classic! As are many other children's books. This is what I mean by being "creative" with prompts you don't like, there is usually a way to interpret them that can work for you. You could say The Martian is now a classic, or even something like Gone Girl.

[Entropia]

I made a spreadsheet this year to check what prompts each book fulfills (I decided to read whatever I want this year and then see how much of ATY I managed to do without looking). And basically every book I read so far fits at least one of prompts suggested that didn't make it.

[Ellie]

At least if suggestions get through to the polls people can use them for a rejects challenge or the suggestion that didn't make it prompt (if that gets in). I don't think people should not submit an idea because someone here says they don't like it. The silent majority often have very different ideas to us chatterboxes!

[Thomas]

Agreed Ellie. If the classic suggestion comes I won’t be voting for it but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be there

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

It's actually really interesting to see how spot on or way off the discussion is... around 50-60% of the votes we get on the polls are from people who don't participate in the discussion (can't say if they read the discussions, but they don't contribute) so it's always worthwhile to suggest a prompt if you like it, because there's chances other people do as well!

[Kat]

So many good ideas already. I'm so excited to get going.

I've been keeping a list of ideas as I think of them so here are a few.

A book about independence- I saw there are a few anniversaries this could be linked to but takes a more broad approach so you could include a person going out on their own etc.

A book set in a place mentioned in I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash- it might be a bit US centric but some of the places have the same name as places in other countries.

A book related to the 22nd chemical element Titanium- this might be a bit easier than my suggestion of Scandium last year as more people have heard of it.

A book with a dwelling on the cover or in the title (flat, house, cottage, cabin etc.)

I really loved my bingo suggestion from last year but not sure it works for 22. Not sure what you could read for two little ducks.

[Kat]

Of the prompts so far I love the here be dragons and zodiac. I feel like I've done Taurus so many times in other challenges it would be nice to explore some others for a change.

[Joyce]

Wow Kat, that’s two ideas I had that you’ve also come up with. Must be some kind of psychic twinning.

“I’ve Been Everywhere” has its own Wikipedia entry saying it was originally an Australian song and that there are a multitude of others including England, Czechoslovakia, Catalunya and even a lockdown version called “I Ain’t Been Nowhere”. So, even though I can only only think of Johnny Cash it doesn’t have to be US-centric.

I used to call bingo once upon a time and was thinking two little ducks could be expanded into ‘associated with water birds’ which goes beyond Ducks, Newburyport into herons and pelicans and Jonathan Livingstone Seagull via The Ancient Mariner. Also books about wetlands, bird reserves etc.

[Thomas]

Joyce wrote: "Wow Kat, that’s two ideas I had that you’ve also come up with. Must be some kind of psychic twinning.

“I’ve Been Everywhere” has it’s own Wikipedia entry saying it was originally an Australian son..."
Just asking how would you make a prompt out of I've been Everywhere?

[Kat]

How strange is that Joyce? Hopefully one of them ends up on the list.

I didn't realise there were so many versions of I've been Everywhere. Time to do a bit more research but that definitely makes me feel better about it.

Associated with water birds is a great idea. I'm sure I've seen plenty of books with seagulls on the cover and there are other ways to interpret it as well.

Thomas, my original idea was to read a book set in a place mentioned in the song but it could end up evolving into something else.

[[deleted user]]

Thomas wrote: "Just asking how would you make a prompt out of I've been Everywhere?."

The prompt Kat suggested:

A book set in a place mentioned in I've Been Everywhere

[Lizzy]

To get waaaay less specific... sort of as a companion to the title with a building in it, how about a title with a body of water in it?

[Traci]

Lizzy wrote: "To get waaaay less specific... sort of as a companion to the title with a building in it, how about a title with a body of water in it?"

This is one I've been thinking about, I like it.

[RachelG.]

Lizzy wrote: "To get waaaay less specific... sort of as a companion to the title with a building in it, how about a title with a body of water in it?"

I also like the idea of a title with a body of water in it. It is the type of prompt that would make me do some research to find a book I may normally not read.

[Anastasia]

Kat I like the Song idea. We have had a song the last two years, so it is a neat thread to continue. That there are so many versions that cover many places around the world is interesting too.

[Angie]

I'm loving a lot of the ideas so far. I really like a prompt set in a place mentioned in "I've Been Everywhere," Great idea, Kat.

I've been playing with an idea for a prompt. Since Nosferatu came out in 1922, I was thinking of suggesting a prompt related to that film (set in Germany, written by German author, featuring a vampire character, etc.).

I had a few other ideas that I didn't write down because I was like, "I'll remember them!" Yeah, right, lol.

[Irene]

It's actually really interesting to note that even though only 1 multi-week prompt officially got voted through, I consider the prompts, "A book related to the beginning" and "A book related to the end" to be a related pair. I think the person who suggested it even said something like it being a counterpart to the other prompt.

Is it at all possible to allow multi-week prompts to be suggested in other weeks? Or at least 1 other week? Because it's not always easy to think of a good one in the span of 1 poll, and some people aren't able to suggest theirs in time (because of time zone problems, or even just forgetting about the poll).

[Irene]

Kelly wrote: "Hello I am new to the group so giving this a try for the first time. I am enjoying reading all of your suggestions and look forward to new books to read!

I was thinking of a "year of the tiger " C..."

Every year is a year in the Chinese Zodiac, so I don't think it makes sense to say read a book set in China because it's the year of the tiger, specifically. This year is the Chinese year of the ox, and 2023 will be another animal of the Chinese zodiac. That said, I suggested this prompt last year and it didn't get voted through so hopefully you have better luck trying this year!! I do still really like Robin's suggestion of a book related to a zodiac sign, whether its a Western or Asian zodiac sign. You can still read a book related to tigers for that one to make it more relevant to 2022!

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Irene wrote: "Is it at all possible to allow multi-week prompts to be suggested in other weeks? Or at least 1 other week?."

In the past people complained about the multi-weeks being included in other polls, largely because it felt difficult to compare say a 3-week prompt to any 1-week prompts. There's also just a lot of people who do not like multi-week prompts at all. Last year we had a poll and the most popular option was to have one poll for multi-weeks, allowing the possibility of multiple winners, but not allow them in any other polls. We could do another poll again this year to see if people would want to explore other options.

[Irene]

Jackie wrote: "Irene wrote: "Is it at all possible to allow multi-week prompts to be suggested in other weeks? Or at least 1 other week?."

In the past people complained about the multi-weeks being included in ot..."

Thanks Jackie, I do remember that poll from last year. I didn't realize people didn't like them being included in regular polls; I guess I just thought if people didn't want them, they just wouldn't second or vote for them. But I get why the single poll is probably a lot more organized and easier to follow!!

[Ellie]

The Wikipedia page for I've Been Everywhere lists out the places for various versions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_...

And the German version:
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/jackie...

Since the song also mentions desert and mountain, those could be used as settings too. I would vote for it.

[Thomas]

I would only vote it if any version was acceptable. If I was asked to vote for a prompt which sepcfied Johnny Cash I would vote no.

[Jill]

Thomas wrote: "I would only vote it if any version was acceptable. If I was asked to vote for a prompt which sepcfied Johnny Cash I would vote no."

Me too

[Jillian]

I’m hoping there is a song that is not just a list of locations. I really don’t care location based prompts. I have done too many in the past.

[Thomas]

Jillian wrote: "I’m hoping there is a song that is not just a list of locations. I really don’t care location based prompts. I have done too many in the past."
I'd be very surprised if there aren't some. Like cover and genre ones they tend to find a market.

[Thomas]

Just a thoguth as the World Cup is (hopefully) happenign next year maybe a pormpt related to the world cup

[Irene]

The main problem I have with the song is that I would have to look up the setting of my books ahead of time, especially since it's specific cities and not regions or states. And it might be hard for people who read a lot of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or books set in vague/unspecified places. I really loved "My Favorite Things" because it's not location-based.

I would probably vote no on the dwelling prompt because it's very similar to the building-in-a-title prompt from this year!

That said, I like the prompts related to titanium and the ducks! A little challenging to find, but they sound super fun, like a scavenger hunt.

[Thomas]

Irene wrote: "The main problem I have with the song is that I would have to look up the setting of my books ahead of time, especially since it's specific cities and not regions or states. And it might be hard fo..."

but isn't the point of challenges to go outside your normal read. If anyone thinks they can fill a challenge with just sci-fi they will probably be disappointed.

[Irene]

Thomas wrote: "Irene wrote: "The main problem I have with the song is that I would have to look up the setting of my books ahead of time, especially since it's specific cities and not regions or states. And it mi..."

Definitely. But I just added in that part about it being difficult to find in certain genres as a side note. It's not the reason I wouldn't vote for it. I 100% support going outside of your comfort zone by reading more diverse authors, books about social issues, reading other genres, etc. That's not the same as me disliking prompts that require researching books ahead of time. As a planner, I plan out my entire challenge ahead of time so just as a personal preference, I don't like prompts where I have to look things up, like an author's birthday, the date of publication, where a book is set, etc. I know not everyone is like that!!

[Jillian]

I have no desire to do reading challenges to go outside of what I want to read. If there is one or two prompts that is fine but if there are a ton I pass on that challenge. That is why I no longer do the PopSugar or the BookRiot’s Read Harder Challenge. If it feels like an assignment I’m out.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Just a reminder that everyone does challenges for different reasons, and that’s ok! It’s great if you read to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and it’s great if you don’t. We don’t want to be dismissive of anyone’s reasonings here.

[Thomas]

I suppose it depends how wide what you want to read is. I usually start by assigning catergories to books I want to read but there are always some that take me outside the box