[2022] Wild Discussion Showing 2,301-2,340 of 2,340

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

The planning spreadsheet tab gets hidden in December after everyone has enough time to transfer their plans to the GR threads. With so much traffic to the spreadsheet, we have to keep the actual open tabs to a minimum, so we can't leave the planning tab open all year. I'd recommend using your planning thread and/or the Listopias to keep track of your plans for the prompts.

The 2022 challenge will be added to the same spreadsheet we are using now.

[Irene]

Thanks Emily, that makes sense!!

[Pam]

Since I’ve now decided to at least attempt a Tarot challenge, I’m going to try an approach of pulling a card and choosing a book to read based on that card. I’m not reading in order and am focusing on books I own so this could be an interesting way to choose my books!

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Pam wrote: "Since I’ve now decided to at least attempt a Tarot challenge, I’m going to try an approach of pulling a card and choosing a book to read based on that card. I’m not reading in order and am focusing..."

That's super fun!

[Angie]

Do we have some kind of "what prompt would ________ book fit" thread? I feel like that would be useful. Every. Single. Time. I go to the bookstore, I find something new or unexpected.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Angie wrote: "Do we have some kind of "what prompt would ________ book fit" thread? I feel like that would be useful. Every. Single. Time. I go to the bookstore, I find something new or unexpected."

Ooh, brilliant idea! I can start one.

[Alicia]

That’s my favorite thread in Popsugar!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I've added one here

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

Oops, I first put "what topic" but I have changed it to "what prompt"

[Jillian]

Alicia wrote: "That’s my favorite thread in Popsugar!"

I left the PopSugar group because of that thread. It drove me crazy that people had just read a book and then were asking what prompt to use it for. I can understand asking about a book that you have not read.

[Alicia]

Jillian wrote: "Alicia wrote: "That’s my favorite thread in Popsugar!"

I left the PopSugar group because of that thread. It drove me crazy that people had just read a book and then were asking what prompt to use ..."

I don't mind that, I like the idea of helping others and getting help back when I'm stuck. Nut sometimes I do think it's weird when there is something so obvious and it seems like they didn't even try to look at the list. Like I read Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold where does it fit?? and there is a mythology prompt....

[Angie]

Thanks, Robin!

[Irene]

Jillian wrote: "Alicia wrote: "That’s my favorite thread in Popsugar!"

I left the PopSugar group because of that thread. It drove me crazy that people had just read a book and then were asking what prompt to use ..."

I completely agree, I understand if it's a book you haven't read yet, but it's so weird to me when someone who has already read the book asks where it would fit! I just think, Shouldn't YOU be telling US which prompts it fits?? Haha

[Nancy]

There are two things about the Pop Sugar people that drive me crazy. The first is the daily posts asking when the new challenge will come out. The mods really need to pin something announcing a date, and then delete those posts.

The second is "I just read this book, where does it fit?" How lazy can you get? I definitely don't mind if you plan to read a book and need suggestions from those who've read it.

[NancyJ]

It might not be laziness as much as a lack of experience and understanding of the prompts. I still marvel at the connections many people here can make based on your understanding of how far you can extend an idea. I understand the 2022 prompts much better than many of the 2021 prompts, because I participated in this discussion thread this summer. Chances are good that I will ask a similar dumb question anyway.

There must be a huge number of new and casual Pop Sugar participants each year, and it takes some time to memorize and understand all 52 prompts.

[Nancy]

You don't have to memorize the prompts, but it isn't hard to look through them and figure out where a book fits. Pop Sugar's tend to be even easier to understand than ATY's, which sometimes go a little deeper.

It's also one thing to say, ok I read this book, and I looked through the prompts, and it doesn't appear to fit any of them, am I missing something? But if you just say "what prompt does it fit?" without even trying to figure it out, then yes, I'm going to side-eye you.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Where I've seen it is that one of us reads a book thinking it would fit under a certain prompt and it turns out that it's not what we thought. Or we interpreted the prompt a certain way and read a book, then we aren't sure, so we ask people on that thread and they say it doesn't really fit. Of course ATY is much more flexible than other challenges, if you say it fits, it fits. But it can be helpful when someone says, "I don't think it really fits here but you could use it for these 2 other prompts."

For most of us a big part of the fun is choosing and matching up books, so we mostly don't outsource that to other people!

[Irene]

I agree with Robin that a lot of us don't outsource the matching to other people! My favorite part of the challenge is actually putting together my list of books to read the following year!

I don't mind at all when someone asks about a book/prompt if it seems like they put some minimal amount of effort or thought into it, like "Does anyone know if this book fits any prompts? I've scanned all of them and it doesn't seem to fit anywhere."
The ones that bother me are usually worded like, "Hey everyone, I just read these 10 books and wanted to know if they fit any prompts." I agree with Nancy that it's more annoying with Popsugar since their prompts are a bit more straightforward (albeit more difficult) without as many "related to" prompts.

[Ellie]

I am in such a minority here, I like helping people come up with ideas where their book fits. Popsugar probably has a lot more casual readers attempting it because it's for a lifestyle magazine, so they might not have the same challenge-skills as us.

It's just been hard to help this year because so many of the prompts had personal aspects to them, there's not much point in the repeat "Is it your dream job? Do you want to visit there?" suggestions!

[Aimee]

I only did PS once and didn't like it as much as AtY, but I think the "does this book fit" thing is useful if you haven't started a book yet and want to know whether it works for the challenge or not.

For instance, I have a friend who likes to lend me sci-fi books and they're usually ones I've never heard of before. It can be hard to work out if they fit a prompt unless it's an obvious one like a cover challenge, and sometimes it might be useful to ask someone who's already read it. Personally, I just read it anyway and work it out after, but some people only read 52 books a year or want to do the challenge in order so I guess it's helpful for them.

[°~Amy~°]

Ellie wrote: "I am in such a minority here, I like helping people come up with ideas where their book fits. Popsugar probably has a lot more casual readers attempting it because it's for a lifestyle magazine, so..."

I also like helping people match their books to the prompts. Maybe that's why I started the KIS/BIO list a couple years ago, to give people a little helping hand. I worked with people who have various levels of special needs and know that what seems glaringly obvious to me might not be even remotely within their grasp at all. They still might enjoy participating in a challenge like ours or PS though and that should be encouraged.

Some other issues (that have effected me personally):

On migraine-y days when I have listened to a book, I might not have the brain power left over when I finish to comprehend or remember the list prompts. I've learned to ask for help on those days to keep my frustration levels low.

I've also been a very busy mother with kids, a full time job, activities etc and if I found 15 minutes to read, I just might need to rush to slap the book into the reading challenge somewhere, and sometimes that means asking for help.

And sometimes depression, anxiety, pain, illness or just feeling blah gets in the way of being a fully functioning human being so again, I ask for help.

One other reason someone might ask for help with a prompt (or a book) is it's a good way to reach out to connect with other humans. Not everyone has a lot of friends and family to talk to so any excuse to connect online is a good excuse. I think we have all heard the stories of one tiny "insignificant" little connection made on a particularly bad day saving a life.

Just some thoughts to consider before lashing out at someone online or assuming someone is just being lazy. You don't know their story. Choose kindness and empathy.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I'm just going to pipe up here for a minute: be nice about the Popsugar group. They are much larger than us, have fewer mods, and are dependent on the whims of a magazine for their list. Their mods do not know when the list will be out and Popsugar very pointedly has distanced themselves from the GR group in favor of their own facebook group. Be nice.

[Nancy]

Jackie, I understand that, I really do. Also when I'm talking about them, I'm talking about the FB group specifically as I don't really go into the GR group much. The mods on FB are PopSugar employees, so while they may not know when the list will be out, they can at least say that! Surely their social media manager can handle the small volume of posts on there per day.

I guess I agree with those who said part of the fun is matching prompts with books. I understand asking for help when needed, but I also am of the "teach a person to fish rather than give them a fish" opinion. When someone posts a picture of a pile of books they just bought and want to know what prompts they fit, all I can think is, "really?!" In those cases I leave it to others who want to help and just scroll on.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Ellie wrote: "I am in such a minority here, I like helping people come up with ideas where their book fits. Popsugar probably has a lot more casual readers attempting it because it's for a lifestyl..."

Thank you for bringing up these points, Amy! Sometimes all of us would like a little help or connection. During the pandemic, when so many things were canceled, I got much more involved on GR. It has led to me finding friends (a couple of whom I have now met in person!) who know more about me than some of those in my physical surroundings.

Maybe only a few people will use the thread asking where to put a book but that's fine. Of the hundreds of people who do the ATY challenge, not that many post on any of our threads, including the discussions on what we are reading for each prompt, and even the whole voting process. That is all fine. Some people take on the challenge as a personal project and work through it on their own and others like the discussion aspect.

Personally, I have opinions on everything and love to give advice to people, especially on books! Apparently, that is one reason I was asked to become a mod - because I was active here and sometimes took it on myself to answer questions.

[Irene]

I’ve never participated in their GR group so I have no idea what goes on there, I was thinking of the Facebook group. I also love giving recommendations and sharing my opinion, but I’ve never lashed out at anyone for asking a redundant questions. Just doesn’t feel great when someone asks what prompts their book that they’ve already read fits and then respond “none of your suggestions work” and delete the thread. Thankfully I’ve never seen stuff like that in this group!! Always grateful to have a great group of people to discuss bookish things with here.

[Jill]

Not being a member of PS, I was wondering if they make their own listopias as we do here?

[Deborah]

Jill wrote: "Not being a member of PS, I was wondering if they make their own listopias as we do here?"

I don't know about the facebook group. But the Popsugar goodreads group has listopias for each prompt.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Jill]

Deborah wrote: "Jill wrote: "Not being a member of PS, I was wondering if they make their own listopias as we do here?"

I don't know about the facebook group. But the Popsugar goodreads group has listopias for ea..."

Thanks.

[Ellie]

I mostly avoid Facebook these days, the Goodreads group for Popsugar is really supportive.

[Alicia]

I don’t have Facebook so no clue there, but I like the popsugar GR group. It sounds very different than the Facebook. People should check it out if they also do that challenge

[NancyJ]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Ellie wrote: "I am in such a minority here, I like helping people come up with ideas where their book fits. Popsugar probably has a lot more casual readers attempting it because it's for a lifestyl..."

Thanks Amy and Ellie! I agree. Many of us find it fun to answer questions like that. If it's not fun for you, just skip over those questions.

Amy, your examples are so familiar to me that I had to laugh. All those things - plus more - can cause brain fog, which makes it more difficult to think clearly. If people are working on multiple challenges, it’s easy to get confused. I ask my share of stupid questions, so I feel happy when I'm able to answer other people's questions.

Most importantly (especially in the last 2 years), many of us participate in groups to interact with other people who have a common interest. Asking a question about a book you just read might be a quick way to start a conversation with someone who also read that book.

Regardless of whether people are asking questions because they want a second opinion, a quick answer, or a conversation, it’s our choice whether to answer a question or ignore it. They might be new, busy, confused, tired, unsure, or even lazy – we can’t know that, so why judge?

I agree that we don’t know what someone else is going through, and a little empathy and kindness can go a long way.

[Nancy]

To be clear, and this is the last time I'm going to comment on this topic. I am not complaining in the group, or giving people a hard time for asking a question. However, I am allowed to in my own head get annoyed at people asking for help without trying in any shape or form to figure it out on their own. Especially when, as Irene said, they ask for help and then get snotty when they don't like the answer.

And yes, PS has Listopias for their prompts, and the FB group also has individual posts for each one.

[Alicia]

I don’t think you’re complaining about Popsugar! I also sometimes think those things in my head, so I think it’s totally normal. But we’re still part of that group, so we like it enough.

I just wanted to highlight that the Goodreads group may be a bit different. I know I got off Facebook because of the negativity and I don’t really see that on the Popsugar GR group.

[Nancy]

So my issue with the GR group is there's SO much in there and I don't know where to go. At least with FB it's all in one place, I can read a post as it comes up in my timeline, or go to the group directly if I feel like it. GR has so many threads and I can't keep up with it all.

For those of you who like the GR group, what threads do you tend to read?

[Ellie]

Popsugar's weekly check-in threads are its main draw for me, it's a chance to say what you've read but also a place to share non-book things going on and there is a question of the week to help with discussion. It also helps keep me on track as sometimes I have that extra push to finish something so I can report on it on a Thursday!

I do pay more attention to the individual threads for each prompt towards the start of the year.

[Kendra]

Nancy wrote: "So my issue with the GR group is there's SO much in there and I don't know where to go. At least with FB it's all in one place, I can read a post as it comes up in my timeline, or go to the group d..."

I read through the weekly check-in posts, the completion post thread and the book of the month discussion thread (If I'm reading it) And then occasionally I will look at the threads for the various prompts, but usually only if I'm struggling to find a book for that prompt.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Nancy wrote: "Jackie, I understand that, I really do. Also when I'm talking about them, I'm talking about the FB group specifically as I don't really go into the GR group much. The mods on FB are PopSugar employ..."

Not a specific reprimand to any one person, just a warning to the conversational direction. I also have my complaints about how some people choose to use goodreads groups. I could probably fill several posts with my pet peeves lol

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I went ahead and posted a thread for the Tarot Major Arcana challenge if anyone wants a spot for that.

Major Arcana Challenge

[RachelG.]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I went ahead and posted a thread for the Tarot Major Arcana challenge if anyone wants a spot for that.

Major Arcana Challenge"

Thanks Amy! Maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need to plan on doing the challenge.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

That was my thought as well!

[Pam]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I went ahead and posted a thread for the Tarot Major Arcana challenge if anyone wants a spot for that.

Major Arcana Challenge"

Thanks Amy! I added my plan to the thread. However, I am going to track it in my 2022 plan thread but can copy it over every few months. I think I will be more likely to do it if I have everything in one place. I hope other members will add plans so that we can get more ideas! I'm only planning one month at a time. I feel like I spend too much time planning and not enough time reading. Plus, what I think I want to read today is never what I want to read in several months to a year later!