[2022] Poll 7 Voting

[Jillian]

Jill wrote: "I have voted. I just got annoyed with myself for keep changing my mind so went ahead and committed."

I kept changing my mind too. I went from 4/4 to 3/5 and finally voted 2/6. I thought I better vote while I still have a few up votes.

[Kendra]

I really like the idea of doing a side challenge around the Tarrot cards so I upvoted that and the non fiction prompt because I always vote for those. I down voted the Soylent Green prompt (I hate that movie) and the book published when I was a teen.

That left me 4 more votes to use. I had voted for the Bird's Eye View prompt before and I like reading books in translation so there were too more. I would also like to be able to support all 3 of the diversity prompts, but as I only had 2 votes, I went with the Asian/Pacific Islander one and then I really couldn't decide between the other 2, so I ending up voting for the unusual narrator just because.

[RachelG.]

Once I cast my vote I always have a tough time waiting for the results.

[Angie]

With all the changes the Latin American author prompt has gone through, I wanted to clarify before I vote: Does that include people of Latin American descent who are living elsewhere? Or would I be geographically restricted to those living in a Latin American country?

Thanks for all the suggestions for "A book about a minority group in a country that is not your own." I would have downvoted it without book ideas, and I was not coming up with any in my sleep-deprived state last night.

I still have a lot of thinking to do before I vote.

[Alicia]

Angie, I interpret it, and I think the spirit of the prompt, was a Latin American/Latine/Hispanic author living anywhere. It’s more about the ethnicity of the person than nationality.

[Alicia]

On my phone, so I can’t edit and I hit send too soon.

But it’s similar to Black or Asian prompts. They aren’t restricted to only those living in the US.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Alicia is correct. It's anyone of Latin American descent, no matter where they are living.

[Rachel]

I'm finding myself confused about the Latin American prompt now too. It was an upvote for me before with the previous wording, based on the fact that authors like Anna-Marie McLemore (who is Mexican) or Adam Silvera (Puerto Rican).

But in my mind, Latin American refers mostly to South America, so now I'm not sure if either of those would count. I don't see why they wouldn't, especially if they were both on the original listopia posted with the suggestion, but all the discussion has left me super confused.

[Kelly Sj]

Rachel wrote: "I'm finding myself confused about the Latin American prompt now too. It was an upvote for me before with the previous wording, based on the fact that authors like [author:Anna-Marie McLemore|643487..."

Latin America is all of the Americas where a language derived from Latin is spoken (Spanish, Portuguese, French), including Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Latin American people live in or are descended from those who lived in Latin American countries.

[Martha]

I loved this set of prompts. All my votes were up votes and I could have easily voted for more than 8. I'm usually against books set in childhood years, but investigating the books published during my adolescent years brought up a number I'd forgotten about so I up voted it. I love reading discussions and investigating possibilities before voting. I've changed my mind about a prompt a number of times based on the discussions held here.

[Anastasia]

The Wizard Of Oz was a commentary of the monetary system change in the US. It could open this prompt up to a few other possibilities.

[Juliet]

‘Friends of Dorothy’ was also a code by which gay men identified each other so one can easily cover LGBTA books under this prompt as well

[Rae]

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the classic non-fiction prompt. My intent was that it would be a non-fiction book that is reasonably well-known and has either stood the test of time or is so popular currently that one could call it a modern classic.

The idea was that people who don't usually ready nonfiction could pick from the best of the best in this category with books that have been well-liked by lots of people. You know, those books you learn the titles of even if you never read non-fiction. That's why I chose the best of lists to showcase non-fiction books that are well-liked.

e.g., older but still in public consciousness
Walden
The Souls of Black People
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Nickel and Dimed
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Or e.g., more modern books that have become very popular like
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Boys in the Boat
Becoming

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I always have an opinion about everything right away, so I usually vote immediately. (Also, I'm afraid that if I put it off, I'll forget to do it.)

I liked a lot of the options this time.

[Becky]

I really liked a lot of the options this time--they all seem both interesting and doable. I'm a sucker for connections to the year, so Tarot, Olympics and Soylent Green were all ups for me.

I'm in the group that doesn't love personal prompts, so teenage years was my one downvote. I like using and contributing to the listopias (and just generally feeling like we are reading from the same pool of books for a given prompt), and personal prompts aren't super compatible with that!

[Nadine in NY]

Rae wrote: "There seems to be a lot of confusion about the classic non-fiction prompt. My intent was that it would be a non-fiction book that is reasonably well-known and has either stood the test of time or i..."



Yes it made perfect sense to me, and the lists you shared in the voting post helped too. I've been meaning to read quite a few non-fiction books that are held up as "best of the best" books, like: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character, Silent Spring, and The Selfish Gene (obviously I tend to read science books!)

[Alicia]

Rachel wrote: "I'm finding myself confused about the Latin American prompt now too. It was an upvote for me before with the previous wording, based on the fact that authors like [author:Anna-Marie McLemore|643487..."

For anyone confused, Latino/a/e/x is a term for people with origins from Latin America, Mexico and below.

[Irene]

Rachel wrote: "But in my mind, Latin American refers mostly to South America, so now I'm not sure if either of those would count..."

Hi Rachel! Latin America includes countries in North America (Mexico), the Caribbean (Puerto Rico), Central America, and South America. Here's the image from the world atlas for Latin America: https://www.worldatlas.com/r/w1200/up...

Maybe the confusion is that you conflated South America with Latin America? (The continent vs the region of the Americas where mainly Romance languages are spoken)

[Angie]

Voted!

I upvoted the author prompts, the unusual narrator prompt, Wizard of Oz, and classic non-fiction.

[Alicia]

FYI, for those interested in The Virgin Suicides for unusual narrator, there is currently a Goodreads giveaway for the book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[NancyJ]

Thanks Alicia! This is a great month for giveaways.

[NancyJ]

Rae wrote: "There seems to be a lot of confusion about the classic non-fiction prompt. My intent was that it would be a non-fiction book that is reasonably well-known and has either stood the test of time or i..."

That makes sense. When I mentioned the topic to my husband, his first suggestion was Silent Spring too. There are a lot of great titles there. I'm looking forward to the discussion to hear what other people liked.

[NancyJ]

Anastasia wrote: "The Wizard Of Oz was a commentary of the monetary system change in the US. It could open this prompt up to a few other possibilities."

Wow I never heard that before. Thanks.

[NancyJ]

I'm considering an all Up-vote strategy too. I'm at the verge of not voting for the prompt I suggested, just to give another one a fighting chance.

[Beth]

If it's clearer, I would be fine with changing the wording to 'author of Latin American descent' - though I think it might be too late now the voting has opened!

I like all of the diversity prompts this round but I don't know if I have enough votes for all of them. Latin and Asian authors are my favourites out of the 4 so those will definitely be upvotes.

I also like the Tarot card prompt - it seems like there are a lot of routes to go down with that one which could be fun.

As for downvotes, I'm stuck on the Soylent Green one. I've never heard of the film and dystopian is not really my thing. Wizard of Oz may also be a downvote as I can't seem to make many connections with books on my TBR. I would probably cheat and read a book set in Australia lol.

[Ellie]

Maybe non-fiction is more popular among the average reader in the US, but the only books I can think of with the kind of fame that the average person would know of them, don't really interest me.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

We did Sense of Place in 2019 so could use that listopia- the same year as books that were on the NYPL librarians suggestions list. I remember cause I was looking at the list looking for a book for that prompt and one of the books said "has a strong sense of place" so I read that (I read The Witches of New York)

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

NancyJ wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "The Wizard Of Oz was a commentary of the monetary system change in the US. It could open this prompt up to a few other possibilities."

Wow I never heard that before. Thanks."

That is just a theory from the 60s people like and has no basis in fact- the version Baum did for Broadway is full of political jokes but nothing about the monetary system. His feelings on the issue are unknown.

[Pearl]

Can someone provide an example of a book that would match a tarot card?

[Alicia]

Pearl wrote: "Can someone provide an example of a book that would match a tarot card?"

I'm actually doing a Tarot card side challenge this year. I looked up what the cards generally stand for and use those definitions but also my standard definitions of those card names to pick books:

So for The Fool, vulnerable, naive and innocence made me think about youth and children. So I read Little Women

For the Empress, I haven't read it yet, but I was thinking Queenie because Queen and Empress or a book with a concerned mother like The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. However, I felt I could put any royalty book for Empress and Emperor, or do a feminist book for the Emperor (fight the patriarchy!)

For The Magician, I did The Once and Future Witches because magic. For the Heirophant, you could do any book about religion. For Lovers, I did a romance book, To Sir Phillip, With Love. Justice, Death and Judgment can be legal dramas, mysteries, true crime.

The Fool - vulnerable, naive, adventurous, open, purity, innocence, risk
The Magician - beginning, creation
The High Priestess - secret knowledge, immobility, trust, ability to see through deceit
The Empress - feminine power, fertility, abundance, nurterer, love of home and family
The Emperor - patriarchy, material power, protection
The Hierophant - the Pope, authority, convention, strict lifestyle
The Lovers - love, strong relationship, crossroads
The Chariot - victory, conquest and control
Justice - hardwork, sacrifices, balance, fairness, consequences
The Hermit - intelligence, education, quest for knowledge, enlightenment, self-reflection
Wheel of Fortune - luck, chance, change
Strength - courage, confidence, passion, good over evil
The Hanged Man - letting go of the past, sacrifice
Death - spiritual transformation, new beginnings, death
Temperance - time, patience, self-control
The Devil - temptation, indulgence in sensual pleasures
The Tower - unforeseen and traumatic events
The Star - creativity, hope, optimism, art, keep faith
The Moon - present, future, changes
The Sun - hope, energy, optimism, accomplishment
Judgment - trial, consequences, rebirth, self-reflection
The World - perfect, success, accomplishment

[Beth]

Pearl wrote: "Can someone provide an example of a book that would match a tarot card?"

I used tarot cards to interpret the deck of cards prompt this year. I read The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit for #9 - The Hermit.

The easiest way to go would probably be title/cover/character.

For example:
#6 - The Lovers - Romeo and Juliet (or virtually any romance book)
#8/11 - Justice - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
#12 - Death - Death on the Nile
#15 - The Devil - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
#21 - The World - The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

[Marie (UK)]

Alicia wrote: "I hope the LatinX, Jewish and AAPI prompts don’t cancel each other out. I’ll be voting for all three because they are right up my alley! Will also be upvoting a book in translation because my favor..."

I won't be voting for any of them I think they are too narrow - sense of place and tarot cards give more variety, every year we vote in a nationality or culture of author lets think wider and bigger

[Anna]

I liked a lot of prompts this time but will downvote A book in translation, mainly because I am from a small country with a language not spoken by many and therefore most of the books I read are translated. Every now and then I read a book in English to maintain the language. But then I would choose a book originally written in English.

[Rachel]

I upvoted Latin, Jewish and API, as well as Tarot card and Wizard of Oz.

I downvoted Soylent Green because I've never seen the movie (or even heard of it, really) so I have no connection to it whatsoever. I'd essentially have to rely on someone else to tell me if the book I pick really relates to it, and I'd rather not have that extra step. Even if I was choosing from the listopia, it would bug me to not really know myself why the book fits. I guess I could just watch the movie, but I'm not really interested.

I also downvoted classic non-fiction because I had so few of the books on the lists on my TBR and I also found it a bit confusing to know what would be a "classic," and book in translation because after doing challenges for so many years, that prompt has been done to death for me. It's doable for sure if it gets in, but I'm sick of it.

[Joanne]

First time I can remember up-voting eight prompts. Such good options this round!

[Pearl]

@Alicia @Beth Thank you both for two ways to do it.

City of Girls - Devil, because they give in to temptations.
Little Fires Everywhere - Judgment
A book about an artist - Star
A book about a hero - Strength
A book about a midwife - Empress.
The Sun is also a Star - Sun, Star or Fool

[Pearl]

Rachel wrote: "I upvoted Latin, Jewish and API, as well as Tarot card and Wizard of Oz.

I downvoted Soylent Green because I've never seen the movie (or even heard of it, really) so I have no connection to it wh..."

Don't watch the film, you can read about it in a minute on wikipedia.

I think I'm downvoting Soylent Green, and upvoting authors, tarot. translation, water (for Grand Canyon), birds eye view (for This is how you lose the time war).

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I think I upvoted 6, which is a lot for me.

[Conny]

I love the tarot prompt, even though we had a similar one this year (A book related to a character which can be found in a deck of cards).

I only downvoted two prompts, including the classic non-fiction – I'm just not big on reading non-fiction, so for me it is a hard-enough prompt to fill as it is, I don't need any additional restrictions on it. I'll find something if it does get through, of course, but I try to stick to my existing TBR as much as possible, and there are only three non-fiction books on it as it is^^

I suggested the Soylent Green one because it has a connection to 2022 but would like to remind everyone that if you hated the film or haven't watched it, there are loads of possible connections that don't require you to read something that is actually similar to the plot of the film. If you take Charlton Heston as your connecting element, you could even legitimately read Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ;)

[°~Amy~°]

I also up voted Latin AMerican author, Asian or Pacific Island author and Jewish character or author.

Wizard of Oz was my next choice, there are many different ways to go with it.

- a reread or further book in the series (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Oz: Ozma of Oz etc)

- read a retelling (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Dorothy Must Die),

- a book with a character trait similar to the book (wicked, heartless, scatter brained, a coward, etc).

- A book with a runaway character, or featuring a witch or wizard

- a book made into a play, movie or tv series

it's endless! :-)
- a book about Judy Garland, or any of the other actors in the film

- a book with a yellow cover (yellow brick road)

[Nancy]

I went 7 up and 1 down. I voted for all 3 author diversity, tarot, Olympics, unusual narrator, and Wizard of Oz. My downvote was the published when you're a teenager, I'm boycotting any prompt that makes me read a book from the 90s. I'd be ok with any of the others I was neutral on getting in, they just don't excite me.

[Harini]

This is probably the first time that I had 8 upvotes. I like every single prompt from this set and was wishing I had more votes to upvote prompts.

[Nancy]

How timely.

Best Books by Latinx Writers to Devour This Summer

[Pearl]

Conny wrote: "I love the tarot prompt, even though we had a similar one this year (A book related to a character which can be found in a deck of cards).

I only downvoted two prompts, including the classic non-f..."

I changed my mind about Soylent Green because the dystopian list has many books I like.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Rachel wrote: "I upvoted Latin, Jewish and API, as well as Tarot card and Wizard of Oz.

I downvoted Soylent Green because I've never seen the movie (or even heard of it, really) so I have no connection to it wh..."

I also downvoted Soylent Green cause all I know is "Soylent Green is people!" so could read about cannibals or vegetarianism....that's all I got as I voted it down.

[Conny]

Pamela wrote: "I also downvoted Soylent Green cause all I know is "Soylent Green is people!" so could read about cannibals or vegetarianism....that's all I got as I voted it down.

Fair enough, although I did point out you could go for a Charlton Heston connection instead in the prompt notes^^

I don't expect the prompt to make it, anyway, based on what I'm hearing. Maybe the film is actually more of a classic here in Germany, or at least more people have seen it/remember it.

(No, I'm not offended^^)

[NancyJ]

Conny wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I also downvoted Soylent Green cause all I know is "Soylent Green is people!" so could read about cannibals or vegetarianism....that's all I got as I voted it down.

Fair enough, alt..."

Don't feel bad, this was a particularly strong week. I will most likely read books in 2022 that could fit every suggestion this week, whether they make it on the list or not. I don't think my suggestion will make it either. That's OK, just keep trying different ideas to see what clicks.

I'm in the U.S. and I think the movie had a big impact on those who saw it when it first came out (my generation). I don't know if many younger people have even heard of it. Some people don't like dystopian books at all. Another relevant book might be a book about overpopulation and hunger. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity was sad but worthwhile and very memorable.

[Shannon SA]

Soylent Green was based on the novel Make Room! Make Room!

[Nadine in NY]

Nancy wrote: "How timely.

Best Books by Latinx Writers to Devour This Summer"


Haha! I wonder if this means Popsugar will have this category next year ...


After our discussion about what LatinX means, it's interesting that one of the nine authors on the list is Spanish (Lorca). I love Lorca's poetry, but I never considered him Latino.

[Ellie]

Nadine wrote: "Haha! I wonder if this means Popsugar will have this category next year ...

I can't be the only one the feeds their favourite rejects to Popsugar when they ask for suggestions.