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[2022] Poll 3 Voting
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1. A book with a character who has a disability
This can mean physical or mental disabilities, and it can be a main character or a side character.
Some of my favorites: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, When We Were Vikings, Me Before You, and One Two Three (one of my favorite books this year)
YA: https://bookriot.com/ya-books-with-di...
Lead Characters: https://disabilityhorizons.com/2019/0...
Authors with Disabilities: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life...
Good Fiction: https://thenerddaily.com/16-fiction-b...
GR Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
2. A book with a child protagonist
This could be an adult book written from a child's perspective, e.g., To Kill a Mockingbird or My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry or could be a book written for children.
For people who might be on the fence because of that, I found this listopia with some ideas for adult books with child protagonists. This is not an exhaustive list, obviously, but it’s a start. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
4. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
(sun, stars, lamp, lantern, lightbulb, flashlight, streetlight, torch, fire, lightning, fireflies, etc.)
7. A book with a history
By this I mean that it's not simply a book you bough or borrowed, but for example: a book from your childhood you rediscovered; a book that went on an adventure on its own (I recently had a book returned to me which a friend borrowed more than ten years ago and then lent it to someone else), a book that helped you through a difficult time in your life, a book from which you draw/drew inspiration, a book you frequently quote in everyday life...
8. A book connected to a book you read in 2021
For example:
written by the same author
published in the same year
similar plot
similar location
9. A book connected to the World Cup
Set in Qatar
Football/soccer theme
A competition occurs
Author from the Middle East
10. A book you might take on a long journey
I think this will mean different things to different people. Maybe you know where you would go if you could and would take a travelogue or guide book. Maybe a fantasy book that lets you escape in your head from the tedium of journeying. Or maybe just a really long book for a really long trip.
11. A book with an element of symmetry used in the cover design
12. A book you discovered when searching for another book
It seems like I often type a book title into a library search box, or Amazon, or Book Depository, or Goodreads, and some of the options that come up are not the one I’m looking for, but they look really good! Or you go looking for a particular book at a bookstore and in the process see other books nearby that take your fancy! This would give you a chance to read one of those sort of books.
13. A book that honors Betty White, who will turn 100 in January 2022
This could be a book about active or funny old people, or any very old person. (There are a lot of books like this.)
A book by or about Betty White, The Golden Girls, or other people like her (funny women, character actresses, ageless celebrities, George Burns, etc.)
A book about aging, or how to live longer - through healthy living, humor, medical science, science fiction, magic, or immortality.
A book with Golden Girl or Betty in the title
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/aging
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
14. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer
The first female special agent was appointed to the FBI in 1922
15. A book related to politics
This could be one of the many books about current or past administrations, a novel where politics plays a role (e.g. Red, White and Royal Blue), a novel or non-fiction book about politics in some African or Caribbean or European or Asian country.
Another great group of prompts, I’m planning on having 7 up and 1 down vote. I like to use all my votes there are a few prompts tied for my last up votes.I have never liked having to pick from a list of authors under 25 or 30 list. I currently have more options for an author younger than me but I find that one to be very limiting to younger members.
For the 'author younger than you' does this also include authors who were younger than you when they wrote the book?I'm 27 (which doesn't feel THAT young!) and can barely find any current authors who are younger than me. If we include authors who were published at your age or younger it would be more doable but I'm not sure if that's the intention of the prompt.
I have 8 upvotes right now! And others I'd vote for if we had more than 8. I don't think I'll downvote any, except maybe the author younger than you for reasons mentioned, it would be really hard for our younger members. Pop Sugar did an author in their 20s last year and that was hard enough, to find an author that may be in their 20s now is limiting. And we do have some teenaged members, if I'm not mistaken.
I had to look Betty White up. The only thing I recognised her from is as a wee-drinking, violent, anthropology teacher in an episode of Community... So that would certainly be an interesting way to interpret the prompt.I like the cover ones this time round, and I might vote for the Disney one since so many people like it and it's not up against so many prompts I really want. Not sure about the rest. I don't know the group demographics but finding authors younger than you is a lot harder if you are early twenties.
The world cup just makes me think of Richard Osman's world cup of biscuits. You can tell I'm not into sports.
Four definite upvotes for me, and first time since the prepoll I’ll use a downvote. ( Politics... bleah. If it gets in I’ll probably reread a classic that deals with politics, like North and South.)I really like the disability, light, Disney, and connected ones. I still have to decide if any of the others are worth using an up or down vote on—I do like quite a few of the other prompts, just less strongly.
I think the description for prompt #5 is really the description for prompt #7. 😊
Mod
Whoops that's what I get for going too fast.
Mod
Upvotes will be person with a disability (trying to diversify my reading and I really loved One Two Three this year), element of symmetry (because my brain likes those covers), connected to a book you read in 2021 (I liked the similar one in the pre-poll so I figured I'd vote for it again), and Disney/Pixar song (because it should be easy enough and a fun scavenger hunt).
Downvotes are all personal preferences of things I don't particularly enjoy reading about.
Mod
When the Disney/Pixar prompt was first presented in the Wild Discussion I took the "what Disney song am I" quiz and got The Circle of Life. Since The Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet, I would probably read one of the many retellings in novel form, front runners being The Dead Fathers Club or Ophelia. Apparently Gillian Flynn was supposed to be working on a retelling of Hamlet for the Hogarth series, but I can't find any recent mention of that on her site or Goodreads, and the Hogarth Wikipedia page seems to think it's not happening, which is a bummer. I could also read another in that series but that may be straying too far from a connection to a Disney movie.
I also have books already on the hopper for child protagonist (next in the Flavia de Luce series), image of a light source (several on my TBR), author with 3 names (my suggestion), Betty White (her memoir), and female detective (next in the In Death series). I also like the World Cup one but would have to do some research for that, or the disability one, as that's always an area I can broaden my horizon. I also have several on my TBR that work for symmetry.
The political prompt works for Shakespeare and retellings, fairytales, satire, space operas, books with an immigrant\biopic MC, takes place during the world wars, or is a dystopia as all of those are usually a political commentary.
I have a lot of books on my TBR about old people or magically immortal people (#13), female detectives (#14), and at least a few about people with disabilities (#1). So these are my most obvious up votes. I'm trying to read more international books, and it won't be hard to find one with a child protagonist (#2), or political issues (#15). I wouldn't read about sports, but I did vote for the Arab World. #3, #6, #7 and #10 would probably be matched to a book after I read it. #8 and #12 happen so often they're like freebies. #4, #5, and #11 would make for fun diversions, as I have more than 2000 books on my TBR. So, I have no down votes.
Jillian wrote: "Another great group of prompts, I’m planning on having 7 up and 1 down vote. I like to use all my votes there are a few prompts tied for my last up votes.I have never liked having to pick from a ..."
And pretty much of a gimme for us retired folk.
I was thinking I had mixed feelings about the 'book with a history' since I have limited access to my physical books right now, but now that I look again, most of the examples are more about personal history with the story than with the physical copy of the book. I'm leaning toward liking this one since I've been trying to re-read a lot of my childhood favorites the last couple of years, and have been loving that experience.
This is an interesting list, I am happy to see A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney or Pixar movie is getting another chance. I also really like the two cover prompts A book with an image of a source of light on the cover and A book with an element of symmetry used in the cover design. I like diversity prompts that aren't too limiting and A book with a character who has a disability seems like it would be easy and fun to find books for. I am always finding books when looking for other books so will probably vote for that as well. I am little torn by the Book With a History, Related To Politics and the World Cup ones, part of me thinks they could lead to interesting searches but could also end up being frustrating.
Will be checking the chats to see what others are saying and how that might sway my votes.
I'm definitely voting for Disney, and character who has a disability. I'm about 90% sure I'll be voting for Betty White too, although (and this is a total nit-pick) I'm not keen on the wording since to me, it makes it seem like the book itself should be honouring her, which automatically makes my brain think that the book needs to be about her. I also really like the female detective prompt!I'm not a fan of book with a history, because I just don't think I have anything that would fit. I also don't really like the book connected to another book I read in 2021 since that seems like a complete freebie to me, since there are no limitations at all on what kind of connection it needs. It helps in a way since it gives max flexibility, but on the other hand, it seems very easy to just fit in anything. I'm also not too keen on a book I'd take on a long journey, because I don't think I have a specific kind of book that I would bring, so another freebie for me.
Another week with tons of prompts that I love!!My definite upvotes are:
character who has a disability
child protagonist - an excuse to knock out a prompt with a children's book!
author with 3 names - a fun, yet easy, scavenger hunt through my TBR
Disney or Pixar movie - I'm Disney obsessed, so this is an obvious choice for me
Betty White - love Betty White, and think I would try to find something related specifically to Golden Girls. It was my favorite show when I was little
female detective/private eye/police officer - If this got in, I think I would try to go the special agent/spy route as this was to honor the 1st female FBI agent.
I also like to use all my votes, so that gives me 2 others to play with. I'm usually swayed by the discussions so I like having a couple others to use later on in the week.
Overall I don't love this group of suggestions. Nothing jumps out at me as being an immediate upvote but there a few that had the opposite reaction.I need to look at my options a little more but I'm thinking my upvotes will be:
- author with 3 names (I have a handful of options, and most of them are authors I'm eager to get to)
- symmetry on the cover (similar to above)
- child protagonist (I wasn't keen on this as child narrators usually annoy me but the list that was posted actually has some good options)
Downvotes are looking like:
- Disney / Betty White (I don't have an interest or connection to either of these and I tend to dislike 'related to' prompts)
- book with a history (nothing really fits for me)
- World Cup (not interested in football and I don't have any books set in Qatar)
I’m not going to vote either way on the Betty White prompt. I do feel kinda uncomfortable about it since there is a chance that she will pass away before 2022. Maybe I’m just weird.
Mod
I was excited to see book with a history! I've got a couple of books (not the same physical books) that I want to reread: Black Beauty (a favorite when I was a girl) and A Woman of Independent Means (I loved it as a young adult). Maybe a different take on "history" but that's how it hit me. Think it's ok?For the Betty White prompt I wonder if we could also read a book published the year she was born (1922) or the year Golden Girls debuted (1985) or set in the Golden Girls location (Miami or Florida)... stuff like that... ?
Mod
Oh I think the joy of this challenge is the opportunity for creative interpretations. I love seeing people come at things with different perspectives if for no other reason than it gives me new ideas for how to do a prompt.
I wasn't so sure about the World Cup category until I started researching books. There are several interesting books that are set in (at least partially set in) Qatar, or by an author from Qatar (or both!)Infomocracy
The Girl Who Fell to Earth
If the Sun Doesn't Kill You, the Washing Machine Will
Love From A to Z
American War
Turbulence
Child protagonist is a good one for character prompts. Lots of potential books to choose from.Source of light on the cover intrigues me, as does author with three names.
I like book discovered while searching for another book because that happens to me all the time. One reason my TBR list keeps growing and growing.
I like book with a history. I'm sentimental at heart, and there are a lot of ways I could work with that.
I like the idea of a female detective. I read a lot of amateur sleuths, but I don't think I've read a lot of books featuring a female detective. I like it.
Not connecting with World Cup or author younger than you.
I'll have to think on it.
Linda wrote: "I was excited to see book with a history! I've got a couple of books (not the same physical books) that I want to reread: Black Beauty (a favorite when I was a girl) and A Woman of Independent Mean..."I thought of Betty White because of her birth date, so I think a book published or set in 1922 would fit well. One of the books on the immortality or reverse aging list is Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald, which was published in 1922.
I thought about "what if," and I would feel good about celebrating her life at 100 years in January, or at 99.5 (during our planning phase). The press already has clips and specials ready, so we'll be seeing some of them in the next 6 months no matter what. She had a show highlighting amazing active old people just 2 years ago, and she inspired me to be more active when I was in a lot of physical pain. I figured if they could all do that at 80, 90 or 100, I shouldn't give up at 62. I'm inspired by a lot of books I read about old people these days, and I still enjoy all the fantasy books about people who find ways to live forever (such as Addie LaRue).
Anastasia wrote: "The political prompt works for Shakespeare and retellings, fairytales, satire, space operas, books with an immigrant\biopic MC, takes place during the world wars, or is a dystopia as all of those a..."Now that you mention it, I'll bet a writer could illustrate a lot of political plots in a fantasy setting, that they couldn't do in a realistic setting without angering a large chunk of their audience. Royal politics in fairytales can be brutal.
There was even a corporate politics plot in a summer romance book I just read, but it wasn't marketed that way. I read The Sympathizer this year (about a spy in Vietnam), and I could handle more like that.
Nancy wrote: "I have 8 upvotes right now! And others I'd vote for if we had more than 8. I don't think I'll downvote any, except maybe the author younger than you for reasons mentioned, it would be really hard f..."I'm the same way this time. No down votes. For the younger writer prompts, I think it would only be fair to allow them to go by the author's age when they wrote the book (even if it was 40 years ago), to give them more choices. Otherwise, there is always I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. I think she wrote the book when she was only 15 or 16.
At the other end of the age spectrum, an 80 year old could read Where the Crawdads Sing if they needed an author older than themselves. I think Delia Owens was 90 when she wrote or published that book.
I like this list and will probably upvote 8. Good job everyone w the suggestions! I love the Betty White prompt! My first thought was her character Sue Ann Nivens (with her Happy Homemaker show) on the Mary Tyler Moore show. The perfect tie-in would be a cookbook or book on home decorating or food, in general or characters that work in the TV/news industry. She was also terrific on Hot in Cleveland. Book tie-ins could include: a Polish character, escape from Nazis, mob-related (since her ex was mobbed up), set in Ohio, or a book with multigenerational female characters. A book with a history- I really like this idea! Could be a personal history or a history related to the book or author.
Pam wrote: "I like this list and will probably upvote 8. Good job everyone w the suggestions! I love the Betty White prompt! My first thought was her character Suzanne Nivens (with her Happy Homemaker show) on..."I didn't know half of all that about her! There was a great book about a disabled woman helping pilots escape from the Nazi's over the mountains. I like the multigenerational books, and stories about substitute families. There is a funny mystery series with mobsters and a great grandma character (Stephanie Plum).
I hope the fact that people are planning to upvote so many prompts doesn't dilute things too much! From an outside perspective, it seems like that really spreads out the votes a lot, and makes it harder for things to get in. It's a tough choice though, since this list has some great options.
Mod
For me, this would be too easy since I am in my 60's. But in general I don't favor prompts that require a 2-step process. That is, when I search my list of TBR books, I don't like to have to do further work to check the author's birthdate (or the number of pages, month of publication, etc.) But that's just me.
Another concern - as I mentioned in the Wild Discussion thread, some of our members don't want anything personal in the prompts. Maybe they don't want their age to be obvious, for instance, even an approximation of their age.
I hope this doesn't sound critical of the person who suggested this prompt. It is original and maybe some tweaking could get around these concerns.
A suggestion for the World Cup one. It doesn’t necessarily have to be set in the host country Qatar, but in one of the 36 countries taking part. That’s a good old list to choose from
Robin P wrote: "I feel like the "younger than you" will be hard for some people. We do have group members in their 20's and maybe younger. I agree that there are a few authors who wrote books when they were very y..."Omg how dare you pick apart my prompt suggestion like that!!! ;)
It’s all good. I just try to suggest things different from time to time and if they don’t connect, so be it!
As I like the World Cup prompt I have had a look for some other ideas that might appeal to those that don't like football. It is the 22nd World Cup so it really appeals to my love of prompts connected to the specific year. It is the first World Cup held in an Arab country so you could read a book set in an Arab country or by an Arab author.
It is the second World Cup held in Asia so you could widen the location out.
The current holder is France so again could be location based.
The tournament is usually held in the summer but because of the high temperature it has been moved to November/December. You could read a book set at this time of year, related to high temperatures or about something that is rearranged.
The official emblem and logo are red and white so you could do a cover challenge.
There have been allegations of corruption and cheating so you could read a book where deception is important to the plot.
Since I am not into football the wording of the world cup prompt doesn't seem to be connected to the 2022 football tournament anyway, so you could read about skiing or archery or whatever other sports have world cups. Or the world cup of everything.A book related to politics could be about nearly anything. Currently our politicians are obsessed with hiding the fact that the British Empire did terrible things, so you could read a book about colonial history or its impacts for example.
four to four for me: up:
Connected to 2021 read
Related to Disney song title
Child protagonist
connected to world cup
down:
Betty White ( really nothing that grabs me)
Younger than you ( very hard on younger people doing the challenge)
has a history and long journey ( just so out there)
Gem ~Zero Shelf Control~ wrote: "A suggestion for the World Cup one. It doesn’t necessarily have to be set in the host country Qatar, but in one of the 36 countries taking part. That’s a good old list to choose from"That is true but for a chunk of the eyar we won't know who the other 31 countries will be.
Emily, the cover of Pachinko for no.11 is the wrong edition (the cover shown isn't symmetrical).It should be:
It's probably because I'm more familiar with the UK edition but it's not the default edition on GR, sorry.
Just didn't want people to get confused about the prompt!
Mod
I’m in trouble if the symmetrical cover gets in. The cover of Pachinko that Emily posted looked symmetrical to me.
Sherri wrote: "I’m in trouble if the symmetrical cover gets in. The cover of Pachinko that Emily posted looked symmetrical to me."
If that's the cover that you're talking about (which is in Emily's post as far as I can see) I would definitely say that has "an element of symmetry." While the painted images/shadows aren't symmetrical, the rest of it certainly is, so that's "an element" in my mind!
Mod
The previous one
doesn't have any symmetry.
Sherri wrote: "I’m in trouble if the symmetrical cover gets in. The cover of Pachinko that Emily posted looked symmetrical to me."Emily updated the post from
to
.
Rachel wrote: "I hope the fact that people are planning to upvote so many prompts doesn't dilute things too much! From an outside perspective, it seems like that really spreads out the votes a lot, and makes it h..."You make a good point. I'm going to have to think about that.
Jillian wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I hope the fact that people are planning to upvote so many prompts doesn't dilute things too much! From an outside perspective, it seems like that really spreads out the votes a lot,..."Yeah but evenw ith plenty of downs only a few will get through
Rachel had a good point about too many upvotes diluting the top. I only cut one of my top votes and changed one of my neutral votes to a bottom.Top:
1. A book with a character who has a disability
2. A book with a child protagonist
14. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer
(All of these are good character prompts and would be happy if all or some made it).
4. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
11. A book with an element of symmetry used in the cover design
(I like both of these cover prompts equally and was not able to pick one over the other).
6. A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney or Pixar movie
(I still like this song one).
Bottom:
3. A book whose author is younger than you
(It is too hard for younger members and I don't like looking up an author's birthday).
13. A book that honors Betty White, who will turn 100 in January 2022
(I'm hoping that down voting this one gives my tops a better chance. I think this one won't end up in the bottom and I might change my mind in a later poll or with it being reworded).
Around the Year in 52 Books
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Voting will open in the morning of Wednesday, July 14 and results will be posted in the morning of Sunday, July 18.
How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favorite and least favorite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes) - You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list (usually between 2 and 5 depending on how the votes are spread)
As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.
Possible Prompts:
1. A book with a character who has a disability
2. A book with a child protagonist
3. A book whose author is younger than you
4. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
5. A book by an author with 3 names
6. A book related to the title of a song from an animated Disney or Pixar movie
7. A book with a history
8. A book connected to a book you read in 2021
9. A book connected to the World Cup
10. A book you might take on a long journey
11. A book with an element of symmetry used in the cover design
12. A book you discovered when searching for another book
13. A book that honors Betty White, who will turn 100 in January 2022
14. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer
15. A book related to politics
Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.
VOTE HERE: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/QCX3F7/