[2023] Wild Discussion Showing 1,801-1,850 of 4,060

[Jill]

I down-voted Tookie's List as I had no idea who it was. When I looked up Tookie, all I found was a gang-land murderer. If it was going to be books he read whilst waiting to be executed, I thought that was rather ghoulish. Maybe I got the wrong Tookie, so could someone put me right.

[Nancy]

Yeah, I think the reference to The Sentence should be included in the prompt suggestion. At least with the Rory Gilmore list, there aren't many people who don't know who that is or couldn't easily find out. Tookie is a lot newer and IMO more obscure.

[Alicia]

Haha that actually sounds fun!

Tookie (a woman) is the main character in The Sentence by Louise Eldrich. She works at a bookstore and recommends a lot of great books to customers.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Mandy wrote: "How about a book related to the elements -- earth, air, fire, water, akasha (space, emptiness, quintessence, ether, spirit), metal, wood"

I always love prompts like this, especially with an open ended definition of element.

Tracy wrote: "Another idea: "A book involving at least one of the 5 senses""

I like this one too.

Shannon wrote: "I've been thinking of possible theme prompts. Another I thought of - A book about power and corruption. What is the quote about power? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I thou..."

And I like this, but more if the prompt is just about power as you said in your follow up post.

[Jill]

Alicia wrote: "Haha that actually sounds fun!

Tookie (a woman) is the main character in The Sentence by Louise Eldrich. She works at a bookstore and recommends a lot of great books to customers."

Thank you. I wish it had been made clear to non-Americans. I would have looked into it further

[Michelle]

I think I am going to throw out my idea of a book about/including a Queen out again for feedback. I think it covers many genres - even nonfiction.

[Marta]

I would like a different take on the translation prompt. I have been reading in English almost exclusively now and what I want is to read more in my native Hungarian. So I kind of need the opposite of translated.

How about “a book originally written in another language than English”? The vast majority of our members are native English speakers and can read a translated book. The rest of us can choose to read in our native language!

[Marta]

Michelle wrote: "I think I am going to throw out my idea of a book about/including a Queen out again for feedback. I think it covers many genres - even nonfiction."

I would be fine with a Queen prompt, because I read much medieval history and queens are always involved. A lot of fantasy has queens as well. It would be a gimme category for me if it got in, and I would not vote for it for that reason, but would not vote against it, either.

Edit: yep, 8 books so far this year involving queens.

[Tracy]

That’s a brilliant work-around Marta! I hope you suggest it.

[Juliet]

I usually vite down the ‘read a banned book ‘ prompts but since Salman Rushdie was attacked today maybe we need to revisit that idea?

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Joy D wrote: "I think if you call it something other than "Tookie" it might have a better chance. A lot of people have no idea who that is."

The actual nomination has an explanation

[NancyJ]

Marta wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I think I am going to throw out my idea of a book about/including a Queen out again for feedback. I think it covers many genres - even nonfiction."

I would be fine with a Queen pr..."

For those who don't want to read about historical or fantasy queens, I would highly recommend the The Lager Queen of Minnesota. We had a similar prompt last year about playing cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks).

[Marie]

Tookie's List: I downvoted it because none of the books on it appealed to me, I don't see that changing even if it's reworded - it will still be the same list.

Translation: Always an upvote, I try to read a few every year anyway, so for me this is like "published this year" is for people who like to fit in new releases.

Banned books: I always downvoted this before, but so many books have been banned recently that I would upvote it now.

[Jillian]

If we go with banned books, I hope it is banned or challenged books. Most of the books are not actually banned rather challenged. It is a much shorter list to pick from if it is strictly banned.

[°~Amy~°]

Pamela wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I think if you call it something other than "Tookie" it might have a better chance. A lot of people have no idea who that is."

The actual nomination has an explanation"

Yes, but not everyone who votes reads the discussions or the nomination threads. And people who join months down the road don't go back and read those threads either. Prompts need to be pretty clear without any explanation in order to appeal to the masses.

[Louise]

Juliet Brown wrote: "I usually vite down the ‘read a banned book ‘ prompts but since Salman Rushdie was attacked today maybe we need to revisit that idea?"

Oh No :-( I really hope he makes it!

Yes Juliet, I'd second that.

[NancyJ]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Mandy wrote: "How about a book related to the elements -- earth, air, fire, water, akasha (space, emptiness, quintessence, ether, spirit), metal, wood"

?... the five senses"
I like both of these concepts a lot, but I probably won't upvote any more title prompts. They are easy, but they just aren't very satisfying to me.

I would prefer:
" A book about one of the five senses."
I love it when we have to dig a little, or help each other find interesting books that fit. There are a few disability books that could work for this.
EDIT- "Involving one of the five senses" works for me too. I would upvote that.

The Elements is a little harder, but "Akasha" sounds very cool. It would be more interesting to know what culture or philosophy they come from. That might be the thing that hooks some of us.

[NancyJ]

Marta wrote: "I would like a different take on the translation prompt. I have been reading in English almost exclusively now and what I want is to read more in my native Hungarian. So I kind of need the opposite..."

Marta,

I would interpret "Read a translated book" as allowing you to read either the original language or one of the translated languages.

[Joy D]

I think that might work better for those not reading the threads.

[Jill]

Pamela wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I think if you call it something other than "Tookie" it might have a better chance. A lot of people have no idea who that is."

The actual nomination has an explanation"

There are a lot of people who only get the voting form and have not read the discussions. I read the discussions and I still didn't know what it was

[Amy (Other Amy)]

NancyJ wrote: "I like both of these concepts a lot, but I probably won't upvote any more title prompts. They are easy, but they just aren't very satisfying to me.

I would prefer:
" A book ABOUT one of the five senses.""

I did not actually read those as title prompts at all. To me, 'A book involving at least one of the 5 senses' is a much broader prompt than 'a book about one of the five senses' -- it could mean a book where a song plays a major role in the plot (hearing), or a book about cooking (taste), or what have you. Same for elements - related to is a broad topic kind of word.

[NancyJ]

Jill wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I think if you call it something other than "Tookie" it might have a better chance. A lot of people have no idea who that is."

The actual nomination has an explanation..."

Re Tookie's List:
Based on the discussions, I suspect that the list was voted down because some found the books too literary, esoteric, or just unfamiliar. I am very interested in books about Native American and indigenous cultures, but I have to admit that many of the titles on that list were intimidating. I would like to see an indigenous cultures prompt that allows for a broader range of books. There are more like Firekeeper's Daughter which has broad appeal, fits multiple genres, and is easy and upbeat. If Tookies' List, The Sentence List, or an indigenous list gets it, I would highly recommend it.

If we were to resubmit the list from The Sentence, I would make it a "related to" prompt - books related to the core topics or books on the list - including other books about Native Americans, books by Erdrich herself, realistic ghost stories, other highly lauded "short perfect books," prison stories, etc.

[Tracy]

Yes, that was my intent about the 5 Senses Amy. That’s why I worded it “involving”, and not “in the title”. Thanks for helping to clarify that :)

[Dubhease]

Marie wrote: "Tookie's List: I downvoted it because none of the books on it appealed to me, I don't see that changing even if it's reworded - it will still be the same list.

Translation: Always an upvote, I try..."

I looked at the list of books for this prompt. The other list prompt had more options for me. I will still downvote it even if it gets renamed because it's still a narrow list of books.

[Jillian]

Dubhease wrote: "Marie wrote: "Tookie's List: I downvoted it because none of the books on it appealed to me, I don't see that changing even if it's reworded - it will still be the same list.

Translation: Always an..."

I agree, no matter how the prompt is phrased it is still the same list of books.

[NancyJ]

Jillian wrote: "If we go with banned books, I hope it is banned or challenged books. Most of the books are not actually banned rather challenged. It is a much shorter list to pick from if it is strictly banned."

Yes, when I hear "banned books" I think of books banned by conservative schools because of topics like sex, abortion, gay characters, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, or occult topics.

I recently read Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China - which I believe is still banned in China even though I think it was made into a play in London. It makes Mao look as bad as Hitler or Stalin. Even worse, because he incited so much violence against his own people. It wasn't about a race or sect of people - everyone was at risk.

I feel like we need a different term than banned.

[Juliet]

Maybe focus more on authors that haven’t been threatened or imprisoned than on ‘banned books’?

[Louise]

Imprisonment - a story where someone is captured, taken hostage or imprisoned?

[T.]

Louise wrote: "Imprisonment - a story where someone is captured, taken hostage or imprisoned?"

Ha! I was considering suggesting a book about escape!

[Marta]

NancyJ wrote: "I would interpret "Read a translated book" as allowing you to read either the original language or one of the translated languages."

That sounds like any book that has ever been translated to any language to me…. sounds rather broad?

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

The suggestions thread for Poll 8 is now open here!

[Jill]

The suggestions for Poll 8 are open now
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Please see Message 92 in the Poll 8 Suggestions thread for ideas on authors threatened for their work (in response to the attack on Salman Rushdie)

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

There was some interest but people wanted more examples at the time. This could be worked on for a future poll.

[Alicia]

I guess my issue with the language prompt is that it heavily favors non-fiction and I just don’t want to read another non-fiction about language.

Has anyone found a fiction list that isn’t sci-fi? I’ll look some more today

[Kat]

Language makes me think of books set during the war or about spies that require translating or decoding messages. The only example I can think of right now is The Rose Code but I'm sure there are plenty of others.

[Ellie]

You could read a book where the main character uses sign language or is a language teacher? Sorry I don't have any lists.

I personally consider all books involve language though, so if it gets in and I get stuck I'll use it as a freebie.

[Kelly Sj]

Language/Linguistics fiction ideas off the top of my head:

dictionaries - The Dictionary of Lost Words, Dictionary of the Khazars

ancient language (hieroglyphics, etc.) - such as some books of the Amelia Peabody series

encrypted or coded messages - The Rose Code, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

spells - witches & wizards

communication / language barrier (immigrants, autism spectrum, sign language, etc.)

[Harini]

Robin P wrote: "Please see Message 92 in the Poll 8 Suggestions thread for ideas on authors threatened for their work (in response to the attack on Salman Rushdie)

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

I missed the suggestions yesterday and by the time I woke up the list for the poll was done. Out of all the suggestions, this one is my favorite and I was sad to see that no one seconded it. Hopefully it can be worked on and resubmitted in the next poll.

[Tracy]

Also for Language/Linguistics, try searching “Babel” — I came up with a few options that way. Some fiction and some non-fiction… and also a few that didn’t appear to have anything to do with language.

[Juliet]

It was a last minute suggestion on my part, and the last few suggestion threads have been at an awkward time for me so I wasn’t able to follow up, I am all for someone suggesting it again although I may not be available to

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

It might do a lot better in a future poll, for this one we already had the imprisonment theme and prompts on language and translation, which might have worked against it. I think the main issue was that people could only think of 1 or 2 authors they knew of. There are of course historical authors like Oscar Wilde and Victor Hugo.

[Juliet]

One can also add a number of scientists from Darwin to Einstein to the ‘threatened ‘ list

[RachelG.]

Harini wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Please see Message 92 in the Poll 8 Suggestions thread for ideas on authors threatened for their work (in response to the attack on Salman Rushdie)

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

I also hope it gets resubmitted. I feel like finding examples will help it get seconded.

[Marta]

I still wish that the translation prompt was phrased as “originally written in another language than English”. As it was pointed out on the voting thread, simply “translated book” would allow just about any book, so “from another language” was added. But I think the real intent here is to read a book from a non-English speaking author. And I would love to be able to accomodate those here who are not native English speakers.

This wording might also lower the resistance of those who automatically vote down a prompt including the word “translated”.

[Mandy]

NancyJ wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Mandy wrote: "How about a book related to the elements -- earth, air, fire, water, akasha (space, emptiness, quintessence, ether, spirit), metal, wood"

?... the five senses..."

Akasha is from Hinduism. And has been adopted by the west.

The elements wasn’t meant as a title prompt. It was more for theme or character trait/job or whatever. We definitely have enough title prompts.

[T.]

I'm wondering if the "threatened author" prompt gets resubmitted - and I hope it does - maybe the language should be changed to "persecuted" rather than imprisoned? Especially if the imprisonment prompt gets voted in on this current poll. Just a thought.

[Tracy]

Yes, re: “threatened author” - the “imprisoned” search often leads to authors who were imprisoned for actual crimes, like theft, rather than because of their work. “Persecuted” might be a word that will result in following the intent more closely.

[T.]

Tracy wrote: "Yes, re: “threatened author” - the “imprisoned” search often leads to authors who were imprisoned for actual crimes, like theft, rather than because of their work. “Persecuted” might be a word that..."

Exactly. Also, makes it distinct from the imprisonment prompt should that get chosen. It's also a different take on the "banned books" idea.

[RachelG.]

I was thinking A book by an author facing persecution or in exile but was also trying to think of wording to include a way to make it an author who has in the past faced persecution or been in exile and include authors in the present.

[Tracy]

Would “has been” include past and present for these persecuted authors?