Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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[2023] Wild Discussion
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Robin P, Orbicular Mod
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Jul 24, 2022 08:50PM
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Robin P wrote: "Shannon wrote: "What if the suggestion was "a book with a Goodreads main Page Genre of Speculative Fiction"? For example, Perdido Street Station has it as a MPG but Station Eleven does not.BTW I ..."
Aha! I always thought Goodreads' main page genre was an "official" classification! :)
I don't like the wording 'main page genre', I know these can change based on how people shelf the books. The example given of Period Street Station, the speculative fiction genre is the last one listed so it could easily drop off the list.
Joy D wrote: "I think some "literary" authors want their work to be considered separately from "genre" SciFi. As a reader, it helps me as well because I'm interested in books of ideas and characters rather than ..."Ah yes, all those books I read with no ideas or characters in them.
Mod
Which is funny- as an anti-sci-fi person, I would say they're all character and ideas with no plot- I feel they're so busy world building they forget to tell a story.
I think you're all reading the wrong sci-fi books ;)
Pamela wrote: "as an anti-sci-fi person, I would say they're all character and ideas with no plot- I feel they're so busy world building they forget to tell a story..."Oh goodness, definitely not! lol
So, American and British media companies were shot down in glorious fashion so how about this....A book related to Bollywood
This could include books specifically about Bollywood/Indian media or Indian actors/actresses, books about/set in India, books written by Indian authors, books involving dancing, etc
Books shelved as Bollywood on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Books related to India:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
75 Indian Authors published in English:
https://www.bookgeeks.in/best-indian-...
Books by Indian Authors:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Non-Fiction by Indian Authors:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
More info on Bollywood:
https://www.bollycurves.com/resources...
Thomas wrote: "Why not just related to India?"Because Bollywood makes the prompt sound more interesting
Is it possible to update the list of what we have voted through so far on the FAQs thread?
I'm not particularly interested in Bollywood but I'd vote for it and read an Indian setting or author.
°~Amy~° wrote: "So, American and British media companies were shot down in glorious fashion so how about this....A book related to Bollywood
This could include books specifically about Bollywood/Indian media or..."
I love it but can you rework the title to be more in line with the options? If the prompt says related to Bollywood, I would feel like I'm cheating if I read a book by an Indian author that wasn't related to movies, music or dance. It would be like saying Read a book related to Hollywood, and you can read any books about the United States.
How about "Read a book about India or Bollywood."
Would that fit your intention?
Shannon wrote: "I'm not particularly interested in Bollywood but I'd vote for it and read an Indian setting or author."I'm not someone who interprets prompts super literally, but a book that is written by an Indian author or merely set in India is not "related to Bollywood" enough to satisfy me. I mean, I personally wouldn't count a book set in the US as "related to Hollywood" just because the story takes place in the same country.
But I do have several books that are set in India on my TBR, so I would vote for it if it was "set in India" or "related to India." Those are the kind of prompts that almost always get my vote - it gives me a focus, but there are also tons of options so when the time comes, I have multiple choices based on how I'm feeling.
Mod
See the thread [2023] Reading Challenge Listopias (I think it's in the overall 2023 thread too)
Who was planning to suggest Hope and Hopepunk? Does anyone have lists or links to provide? What about the 5 W words - who what when where why? Is anyone planning to suggest that? Doe anyone have lists or links to go with it?
Mod
You must have been watching closely! I got sidetracked because someone I had been with got covid and I wanted to take a quick test (negative, thank goodness!)
°~Amy~° wrote: "So, American and British media companies were shot down in glorious fashion so how about this....A book related to Bollywood
This could include books specifically about Bollywood/Indian
For me, prompts related to MOVIES or TV are the issue. Over the years those prompts get in to one or more of the challenges I do.. and I end up feeling the books I read related to those are my least favorite books. I like movies. I like some TV shows. I love to read all sorts of books. It's just me but trying to connect visual media with a good book is a fools errand. So media related prompts will get a solid NO from me ( and I don't down vote often).
NancyJ wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "So, American and British media companies were shot down in glorious fashion so how about this....A book related to Bollywood
This could include books specifically about Bollywood..."
I personally do not like prompts with "or" in them so I would be very hesitant to suggest one. I do understand what you are saying though. My thought was that if someone used the prompt to learn more about a culture rather than just a specific topic within that culture, that is a positive as well.
Maybe I will scrap this idea as well. I have other ideas for non-US centric prompts that I can work on.
°~Amy~° wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Why not just related to India?"Because Bollywood makes the prompt sound more interesting"
Adding Bollywood makes it a NO for me, while a book related to India would be a strong YES.
Sheena wrote: "Is it possible to update the list of what we have voted through so far on the FAQs thread?"Sheena they will always be posted here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Mod
Because Bollywood makes the prompt sound more interesting"
I'm with you, the Bollywood makes it more fun- and would finally make me read the Bollywood series by Sonali Des. But a plain India prompt would work as well, just not as fun.
We need some fun prompts. And some search ones, like the Billy Joel Didn't Start the Fire one from a few years ago (which I hated but I like the idea of having to take multiple steps to get to a book)
Mod
(I just went to look and it's the book I'm going to use for the lost/found prompt!)
Edie wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Why not just related to India?"Because Bollywood makes the prompt sound more interesting"
Adding Bollywood makes it a NO for me, while a book related to India woul..."
Same with me. There are so many great authors and books in India. Someone could still read a Bollywood if they wanted to.
A book related to india could include the whole diaspora of Indian writers abroad.
Pamela wrote: "Someone proposed reading book 23 on your to read list and many of us pooh poohed it. What about making it a scavenger prompt? The same colour cover as the 23rd book, same first of last name as the ..."I actually really like this idea. I'm a sucker for the scavenger hunt prompts though
Mod
Mod
I would still cheat because I have various lists, not just one TBR. But I am not opposed to it, I would just look at different lists/shelves till I found one I felt in the mood for, or one that would work for the scavenger hunt aspect.
My problem with the 23rd book idea is that I don’t know how to pick the 23rd book. I have multiple TBR Lists. When I add a book it changes the numbering. IfI change the sorting (title, author, genre, pub date, etc) it changes the numbering. I just do not understand the point of prompts like this.
My TBR written down single figures. I really think we need to avoid prompts that assume
Mod
dalex wrote: "My problem with the 23rd book idea is that I don’t know how to pick the 23rd book. I have multiple TBR Lists. When I add a book it changes the numbering. IfI change the sorting (title, author, genr..."But isn't that a good thing? You would have several choices of books to fill the prompt instead of just one. I too have several different tbr's, I sort them each every way that I can to get a handful of options and choose from those.
Mod
dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boy..."I hardly ever make it into the Wild Discussion because it takes so long to get to the end of it on my phone. I like this. I was thinking about this topic this morning and so I just threw "Coretta Scott King" award winner into the discussion without having seen this.
Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with li..."Hi Michelle, I had the same problem until I realized that the arrow in the upper right corner will change the posts to reverse order. That way you can see the most recent post at the top of the thread, Cheers!
Mod
D'oh, I never realized this, even after being on GR for about 12 years. That will make it easier for me to catch new comments!
Robin P wrote: "Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls wil..."I'm going to have to try this on my phone - although killing time at work on here on my computer is fun too.
I have been toyingn with:
Coretta Scott King Award Winner
Newbery Award Winner
A book "related to" (or other wording) a holiday you don't celebrate
and I have been trying to figure out wording that will make everyone happy to fit in a disability related prompt. As a special education teacher, the best I have so far is, "a character with a learning disability" - Autism, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia, ADHD, Anxiety, OCD, Dyscalculia, selective mutism, speech disorders, a member of the deaf or blind community, etc. There are plenty more...just a few things off the top of my head. It is basically anything that makes accessing curriculum difficult without modifications.
Mod
I like the holiday you don't celebrate! I might even be creative and not pick Diwali!
for me, both the King and Newberry are childrens/ YA and that's a no vote. But the YA prompt got through this year, so clearly I'm not in the majority
Pamela wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there in Alabama litt..."I also really like the holiday idea and would vote for it if suggested. I unabashedly love YA as a grown woman in my 30s, so I would vote for either of those prompts as well. I believe the YA prompt this year got in as the suggestion by the winner of the summer reading challenge, so I'd be interested to see one actually put up for a vote.
ETA: Maybe a book centered around a holiday you don't celebrate? I think related to works fine, but I know some people don't love that wording.
For those who care about such things, here we are with categories so far:Author/Publishing: 1
Theme/Genre: 2
Cover: 2
Title: 2
Setting: 2
Other: 2
Multi-week prompts are only counted once here. So set in multiple centuries is 3, but I only counted it once.
Pamela wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there in Alabama litt..."I am going to have to go back and look at the prompts that got in - I don't remember a YA one. I have read so many great Middle Grade and YA stories and have decided to see how many Newbury Award Winners I can read, so that's my own thing - was trying to think of an Award I hadn't seen on one of these lists as I usually hate the read an Award prompts because they are always from lists I have never heard of and have books I am not interested in. So I know how you feel.
This year I read Once Upon An Eid (techincally YA) and learned a lot about Eid celebrations as I had a student who celebrated Eid and I didn't know anything about it. I have also been reading stories that involve Ramadan or other holidays that I am not as familiar with. Even learned through a Children's book with my class that the proper term for Chinese New Year is "Lunar New Year" this year. So I thought maybe that could be fun.
When you say holiday you don't celebrate, do you mean religious holiday? Or are you including statutory holidays, because then reading a book set in another country (on one of their national holidays) would count.I'm asking because I manage to read one book a year without trying set on American Independence Day.
Lindsey wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one day right there ..."I am noticing people don't like the "related to" wording. "centered around a holiday" might work. That popped in my head on my commute this morning. LOL
Mod
This year we have "A book from the TIME list of 100 Best YA Books of All Time." I've read about 40 of them and only 1 or 2 of the other 60 even vaguely interested me.
Pamela wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "dalex wrote: "Pamela wrote: "I've been thinking of the I Have a Dream Speech anniversary and the "one..."The YA was not a poll winner. It was a member selected prompt for either a Read-a-thon individual challenge or ATY summer challenge.
Dubhease wrote: "When you say holiday you don't celebrate, do you mean religious holiday? Or are you including statutory holidays, because then reading a book set in another country (on one of their national holida..."We don't even call religious festivals holidays here. I could basically read a book during the summer holidays (when kids are off school) because I'm now too old to get summer holidays. 🤣
i think we need a character prompt. we have covered most of the other categories. How about: A book where the character has a strange/weird/unusual/etc. occupation.
Off the top of my head, something like Dresden. He's a wizard for hire.
Storm Front.
or like the mc from A Dirty Job. he's a grim reaper.
Or like chicken sexer, paranormal tour guide. those were two i found just googling.
I would phrase it ‘unusual or unique ‘ occupation ´strange and weird ‘ sometimes are perceived as condescending or otherwise negative in this sort of context
Juliet Brown wrote: "I would phrase it ‘unusual or unique ‘ occupation ´strange and weird ‘ sometimes are perceived as condescending or otherwise negative in this sort of context"works for me. however it's worded is fine.
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