[2022] Poll 9 Voting

[RachelG.]

A listopia for Great War Veterans as Detectives which I have used to find books before: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

[Angie]

This list has a variety of genres featuring veterans:

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/11/10/...

I've never read it, but isn't The Lucky One about a veteran? Also, I'd imagine a number of post-WWII historical fiction books will feature veterans.

Also a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and graphic novel characters are veterans.

[Martha]

Lists with books about veterans:

https://www.ccpl.org/news/thank-you-y...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/ve...

[Nancy]

The military veteran prompt is one where I know I've read books that fit, but I can't think of any, and scrolling through my read list doesn't have anything jumping out at me.

[Kendra]

Irene wrote: "What would be a KIS or alternative option for the Princess Bride prompt if it gets it? I absolutely loathed the book and have never seen the movie, so I'm wondering what other way I could interpret..."

A book featuring pirates.
A book on linguistics ("I do not think that word means what you think it means")
A book of poetry. (The one character loves to rhyme)
A book with a character who pretends to be someone else. (The Dread Pirate Roberts)
A book with a character who is believed to be dead returning.
A book that has a story with in a story.
William Goldman also wrote the screenplays for several Stephen King movies as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I read Riders last year for the four horsemen prompt and the main character is ex-military (so, I guess a veteran? he was injured during training).

Now that I typed it out, I'm not sure it would count?

[Dubhease]

If the veteran prompt gets in, I'm either reading a Thursday Next book (she is a veteran of the over 100 year Crimean war) or Sherlock Holmes (Watson is a veteran).

[Chrissy]

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand would be a great one for a veteran protagonist (and also an older character, and probably up-lit as well!)

[Alicia]

Thanks for all the links everyone! I think veteran will be one of my upvotes now! I don't think I've read a lot in the past, minus Sherlock or current military.

[Roxana]

A few of my favorites that would work for military veteran protagonists in fantasy novels:

- Witchmark
- King of Scars
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (not from the start, but (view spoiler)[he serves in the army for a while, then the war ends, so he's a veteran for about half the book (hide spoiler)])
- Down Comes the Night (view spoiler)[If I'm remembering correctly, the protagonist is in the military at the beginning, but leaves the army at one point. I might be remembering this wrong, though, and she might be military throughout, not a veteran. (hide spoiler)]

I can't think of more off the top of my head (might come back and edit this comment if I do remember some more titles!), but they're all marvelous books, and not the kind of book I, at least, first think of when I hear "military veteran protagonist".

[Jillian]

This is not really my favorite group of prompts but I have narrowed down my downvotes to 5 and I have 3 up votes.

The reading women and NPR require far too many page clicks for me. I’m maxed out with setting. I don’t really enjoy Up Lit and so many books don’t give the age of a character that I don’t like prompts based on a character’s age.

I’ll up vote Princess Bride, Food/Drink (though this feels like a wasted up vote) & veteran.

[NancyJ]

Chrissy wrote: "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand would be a great one for a veteran protagonist (and also an older character, and probably up-lit as well!)"

Thanks Chrissy, that sounds good. I meant to read this when it first came out, and it looks like I'll finally read it in 2022.

[NancyJ]

Jillian wrote: "This is not really my favorite group of prompts but I have narrowed down my downvotes to 5 and I have 3 up votes.

The reading women and NPR require far too many page clicks for me. I’m maxed out ..."

I put together some lists with older characters, so you don't have to guess too much.

[Sue]

Ellie wrote: "Marin wrote: "NPR Book Concierge - I LOVE this tool & look forward to it every year, but last I heard it is not available outside the US ..."

They've sorted that out, please don't downvote it just..."
I can view it in Australia too

[Nadine in NY]

For those who like romance, a lot of historical romances set in Britain feature heroes who are veterans, of the Napoleonic war in particular (it's a popular period for historical romance).

Mary Balogh has a series, "The Survivors Club," featuring protagonists who were injured in the war and are healing and recovering (and learning to loooove again, naturally). Injuries include blindness, limited mobility, and PTSD. This would work for veteran AND healing. First book in the series is The Proposal

[Nancy]

Just realized both Flavia's father and Dogger are veterans in the Flavia de Luce books.

Any book that takes place in the 1920s, 30s, or 50s would most likely have a veteran.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Ellie wrote: "I loved the NPR lists last time they were a prompt, lots of variation so that will be an upvote. Maybe also Reading Women though it's a bit of a pain to click through on each episode, what I've see..."

Lots of books from the 50s and 60s have characters who served. I'm reading a cozy mystery right now The Right Sort of Man which features vets as well as a woman who served. Phryne Fisher with her cozy mysteries also served in WWI. And there's Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

There's all sorts of types and books and lists: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

LOL- Im not even planning on voting for this prompt!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I forgot about women in WWI - Maisie Dobbs fits there.

[Jillian]

NancyJ wrote: "Jillian wrote: "This is not really my favorite group of prompts but I have narrowed down my downvotes to 5 and I have 3 up votes.

The reading women and NPR require far too many page clicks for me..."

We had a similar prompt in 2019 and I found it too challenging. It didn’t help that the book I end up reading wasn’t very good. There is nothing wrong with the prompt it is just not the type of prompt I like.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I was really excited to see the NPR list back on suggestions. I had thought about suggesting it a couple polls ago but I worried it was too soon since we had it in 2019. I will happily vote for it though!

[Jill]

Forbidden can also be a banned book. Plenty of books have been banned over the years by different countries

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

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Voting is open!

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PHT2WG/

[Jill]

4 up and 4 down for me

[Nadine in NY]

Pamela wrote: "LOL- Im not even planning on voting for this prompt!..."



Hahah! I didn't vote for "veteran" either, I just ran out of votes, but I'd be very happy to see it win after all this discussion.

[°~Amy~°]

Voting is a roller coaster ride for me this year; 8 Upvotes last week and 8 downvotes this week 😥

[RachelG.]

I also had 8 downvotes this week

[Sherri]

This is my third week in a row of 8 down votes. The prompts I don't feel strongly about I go neutral & let nature take its course. If they get in fine, if they don't get in fine.

[Ellie]

Roxana wrote: "A few of my favorites that would work for military veteran protagonists in fantasy novels:

- Witchmark
- King of Scars
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell..."

Thanks, I actually hadn't cottoned on that some of the Grisha are veterans, though I'm up to date with the main books now, and with all her TV writing going on I doubt we'll see another next year.

[Edie]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Voting is a roller coaster ride for me this year; 8 Upvotes last week and 8 downvotes this week 😥"

I agree about the roller coaster. 7 upvotes last week. This week will be predominately downvotes. Princess Bride is one of my all time favorite movies, but I really don't like prompts tied to movies. Before voting I want to hear a bit more from others. Perhaps the commentary will inspire me to vote for a prompt.

[Aimee]

Nancy wrote: "First glance is 7 up and 1 down. We have more than enough location setting prompts."

Yes I agree Nancy, I downvoted the "more than one country" one because we already have a lot of country-specific prompts. Otherwise that prompt would have been right up my street.

[Shannon SA]

I almost had 8 up this week but went 6 up and 2 down LOL

[Nancy]

So I ended up going 6 up, 2 down.

As much as I love The Princess Bride there really isn't anything related to it that I want to read. If I hadn't already read both the book and As You Wish I would totally have voted for it. I didn't downvote it though, because I save those for prompts I really don't want (like multiple countries), and I'm sure I could find something if it got in.

[Beth]

I'm travelling this week so haven't had a chance to trawl through my options for these prompts. I just went with my gut and ended up 4 up, 4 down.

I actually had the opposite reaction in that I like these prompts a lot more than the previous ones. Really there are only 3 that I dislike, my 4th downvote is the setting one for the reasons mentioned above. I would be happy if any of my upvotes or the ones I left neutral made it in.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I think I did 6 and 2. It is typical of me to vote immediately, then not even remember what I voted for or against. I know I voted for food, because I was going to propose that one myself, and the older character and UpLit. I voted for the military veteran because the discussion reminded me how wide-ranging that really is, and I liked that it is original. There weren't any I really disliked but I thought a couple were too easy for me to fill.

[Irene]

Haven't voted yet, but my likely downvotes:

- Princess Bride movie
Lots of great suggestions on how to fill this prompt, but to me, they seem mostly related to the book and not specifically to the movie. I think I would have preferred for the prompt to be "Read a book related to The Princess Bride" to open it up to people who have read the book but not seen the movie - I don't really understand the emphasis on the film adaptation.

- Reading Women podcast
It was a bit tedious to look up episodes of a podcast I've never heard of to see what books were mentioned. The Listopia is very short/limited, and the one book I have shelved from it is one I plan to read this year. I would have preferred a different women-focused prompt.

- Up Lit
I think I'm confused by this. I looked at the Listopias and I guess I don't get why books like The Martian, Pride and Prejudice, A Wrinkle in Time, Harry Potter 7, The Alchemist, etc are considered Up Lit. I also see some books with sad endings (don't want to name them in case they're spoilers). Does Up Lit just refer to any book with some uplifting moments? If so, then it seems really broad and would include most books I've read this year.

- The thematic prompts: Redemption/Healing/Forbidden
Redemption seems like something more easily found in a sequel, because it's not as clear-cut as revenge and could also be a bit of a spoiler. Forbidden seems difficult aside from a forbidden romance, because I often can't tell from the blurb if the politics or place are going to be forbidden. Of the 3, I probably prefer healing the most, but am wary of overlap with Up Lit.

- Book set in more than one country
This is a Popsugar prompt for this year ("multiple countries") and I'm really struggling with it because you usually can't tell if someone is going to go to another country from the blurb of the book, unless the book has an obvious travel theme. There have been some books I thought would involve 2 countries, but ended up starting with the MC arriving in the second country and just thinking about where they're from. So I like the idea, but in practice, it's been quite difficult for me.

I'm neutral on most of the other prompt suggestions - they seem doable, but don't excite me.

I hate to say this... but there's definitely a possibility that my only upvote for this poll will be mythology :(

I'll hold off on voting until I read through more of the comments here since I always feel bad about down-voting anything. I'd love to see more suggestions for the forbidden prompt (aside from forbidden romances) and clarification on Up Lit.

[Nancy]

Irene wrote: "Haven't voted yet, but my likely downvotes:

- Princess Bride movie
Lots of great suggestions on how to fill this prompt, but to me, they seem mostly related to the book and not specifically to th..."

It's the movie because next year is the 35th anniversary. But really, the book and the movie are so closely aligned that there are many ways you could go with it that would work for both.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Up lit are books that have a hopeful or uplifting tone at the end of them, even if they are sad. I consider A Man Called Ove to be the perfect example of up lit, because even though there are sad moments (moments that made me sob), the overall books is uplifting, and hopeful, and bright, and makes the world seem like a better place. It's not about toxic positivity, but rather, about finding the silver linings.

I'm not sure that I would classify The Martian or Pride and Prejudice on there... you're probably better off using articles instead of listopias for this one.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
https://arapahoelibraries.org/blogs/p...

[Kat]

I think my main problem with Up-lit is every list I see has Eleanor Oliphant on and I really didn't like it.

[Lizzy]

Noticing that a lot of the books on the list for UpLit also have a golden ager MC....

[Milena]

So the idea that Home Fire is Up Lit came from that Guardian article. I remember when Up Lit was suggested last time, a bunch of us were surprised that Home Fire was on the list. I still strongly disagree.

[Jill]

If Up Lit gets in I think I will just read something that makes me happy. Earlier this year when I was feeling really down, I read a book that made me feel better about things.

[Martha]

8 up votes for me. I almost voted 9 up but I caught the extra vote before I submitted my final list.

[Alicia]

I ended up doing 3 upvotes and 5 downvotes.

I love mythology and actually would recommend people look into mythology outside of Greek. Norse mythology has a ton of fun stories, as well as a lot of Irish, Indian and Egyptian mythology. I also upvoted the veteran character because it's not something I've seen before and I'm excited to expand my reading. And then golden age character.

I ended up downvoting Up Lit, forbidden, redemption, Reading Women and food/drink. For all the exact reasons that Irene pointed out above.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Emily wrote: "Up lit are books that have a hopeful or uplifting tone at the end of them, even if they are sad. I consider A Man Called Ove to be the perfect example of up lit, because even though..."

I actually used The Martian as an example of an uplifting book in a talk I gave, because it is about the indomitability of the human spirit and also the way the whole world pulls together. When Mark Watney first communicates with Earth, his message is something like "tell the team it's not their fault", and when the crew finds out there's a chance to save him, even though it's a long shot and will keep them away from home much longer, they don't hesitate for an instant - "of course, we will get our boy." I would also like to think all countries would work together for something like this, even in real life it doesn't seem likely.

The other books I put in this vein for my talk were
Trustee from the Toolroom, or almost anything by Nevil Shute (except for On the Beach!)
Station Eleven (the rare post-apocalyptic where people try to help each other, even though there are some nasty folks),
Driftless, a book where people keep showing up for each other, even if in quirky ways
Agent to the Stars - a farce that like most of Scalzi has a message of acceptance for all

**As far as any list on GR, they are only as good as the random items people have stuck on them. Sometimes books are ridiculously out of place.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Kat wrote: "I think my main problem with Up-lit is every list I see has Eleanor Oliphant on and I really didn't like it."

I disliked that one also. The tone is very uneven - the early scene at the waxing parlor seems like it's supposed to be funny (it also seemed totally out of character to me), but there is also a tragic back story. And as in many books, the upswing of the main character seems too easy.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Jill wrote: "If Up Lit gets in I think I will just read something that makes me happy. Earlier this year when I was feeling really down, I read a book that made me feel better about things."

I'm curious which book that is, if you don't mind sharing it?

[Ellie]

I feel like uplit is a certain type of commercial contemporary fiction so I wouldn't count sci-fi. I don't think the uplit I have read has been very uplifting however this definition seems to fit:

A trend for books with an emphasis on empathy, books that are uplifting and life-affirming, and which explore themes of family bonds and the human spirit. These types of novels focus on kinder, gentler human connections, but have an element that preserves realism.

[Kendra]

Well my votes were as follows:

Upvotes:

Princess Bride - I love that movie, I love how many different ways I can interpret the prompt, I love this and have already got my heart set on it, so of course it's not going to make it onto the final list.

Mythology - I have had a deep love for mythology since I was a kid.

Redemption - I love a good theme prompt, and redemption stories are sometimes my favorite.

Food/Drink - Some of my best reads of the past few years have ended up having this as a theme so it just leaves me looking for more.

Forbidden - Plenty of ways to interpret this, so I'm in.

Downvotes:

NPR - I don't like most list prompts and downvote them on principle.

Reading Women - Ditto.

Literary fiction - I just don't like the snobbery implied by this genre title. The books themselves are fine, but I would rather just have them referred to as contemporary fiction.

[Jill]

Robin P wrote: "Jill wrote: "If Up Lit gets in I think I will just read something that makes me happy. Earlier this year when I was feeling really down, I read a book that made me feel better about things."

I'm c..."

It was The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates At the time because of the pandemic I missed my family, and this was about a big happy family enjoying life

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Jill wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Jill wrote: "If Up Lit gets in I think I will just read something that makes me happy. Earlier this year when I was feeling really down, I read a book that made me feel better about..."

I have this one my Want to Read list, will move it up! There are a whole group of old-timey books like that. There's a publishing house called Persephone that reprints books by women from the early-mid 20th century that fall into this category, for instance, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. They are generally about the quiet lives of women and many are positive and even humorous.There is even a group on GR that reads them. I joined it for a while but some of the books are hard to find without paying full price or ordering from England.

https://persephonebooks.co.uk