[2023] Wild Discussion Showing 1,901-1,950 of 4,060

[Marta]

I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still plenty to choose from!

[Tracy]

Marta wrote: "I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still pl..."

Personally I think that's a great idea. I know I have at least a few "should have read by nows" on my list. I think part of it is being attracted to new books (someone else mentioned that this afternoon) and there being times in my life where I didn't have much time to read for pleasure (college, early parenthood), so I missed some author's primes.

[Nadine in NY]

Marta wrote: "I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still pl..."



For me, that's Hemingway. I would vote for that, I need the push.

[Jill]

Robin P wrote: "T. wrote: "What about a book with a mode of transportation on the cover? Ship, train, car, horse and buggy, and so on?"

I believe we had that in 2021, but maybe it was longer ago, and it would sti..."

We had mode of transport on cover in 2020 so will be 3 years ago . I think that is plenty of time

[Alicia]

@Marta, I had originally been thinking all the colors of the rainbow but then couldn’t find any on my TBR. That’s harder than I thought. 4 colors still poses a challenge yet still provides a good amount of options. But I’d be open to increasing it if I’m the one with the limited color TBR

[°~Amy~°]

I really like more than 4 colors or colors of the rainbow on the cover.

Transportation is too easy for me as I read sci fi. It's unusual for a sci fi book to NOT have a spaceship on the cover! lol

On the flip side, writing utensil and furniture would be incredibly difficult. Not a downvote, I'd just have to scan my tbr before voting. I must have nonfiction that fit both of those, probably several.

[Michelle]

Pamela - was the Clue weapon prompt done in the past? That sounds awesome!

[Michelle]

Just saw 2023 is the 60th anniversary of the death of JFK. Maybe there is a prompt idea in there somewhere.

- about something related to a president
-about conspiracy theories
- about people known by initials or something
- a book about an assassination or about an assassin

Just letting my mind wander.

[Tracy]

Michelle, those sounds like some good variations to honor JFK.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

T. wrote: "What about a book with a mode of transportation on the cover? Ship, train, car, horse and buggy, and so on?"

We did that pretty recently. However, since I read a number of books with airplanes on their covers each year, I will always vote for it!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Michelle wrote: "Pamela - was the Clue weapon prompt done in the past? That sounds awesome!"

LOL- 2018 apparently! Feels like yesterday....

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Marta wrote: "I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still pl..."

There are lots of old prompts. I know people are all "we did that" but a) membership changes and b) for pretty much every week in the years I've been doing this since 2017, I've had multiple book ideas for each week,
And as I tell my book club when people say "we read that before" is this is a democracy. Maybe enough people haven't read it or want to read it again that they'll vote for it. I feel the same way here- if it's a good prompt, why not repeat it? And if you are the only person who thinks that, then it won't be voted on.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Typewriters on cover: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

Quills and pens:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

[RachelG.]

Tracy wrote: " "A book where the cover includes text that is NOT horizontal"

..."

I really like this idea and this wording. The books I have been looking at might have a title that is not horizontal but the author's name is. I am not finding tons where this is the case either which makes it a nice challenge.

What I really like about this idea is that I don't have to squint at my screen to find a small item on the cover. The title or wording is usually easy to spot.

[Alicia]

Separate from the challenge, or a brainstorming session for future suggestions, does anyone have any good genre recommendations?

I'm trying to expand my reading. I'm not a big fan of stories that occur in space, but other than that I'm open to just about anything

[Tracy]

Alicia - I guess first to know is what genres you HAVE been reading.

If you are open to science fiction, as long as it doesn’t take place in space necessarily, there are a lot of sub genres of sci-fi. What I like to read is sci-fi that isn’t always dark or dystopian (although occasionally I like dystopia like The Handmaids Tale), more on the Utopian side. Hopepunk (like we tried to get in a few weeks ago), Solarpunk (just finished the Monk & Robot duology, which I read afterward was Solarpunk).

I also like memoirs, but not especially biographies or autobiographies, at least the ones I’ve read. I think memoirs tend to be more focused in a certain portion/occurrence in someone’s life rather than the entire thing — interesting or not.

I know nonfiction gets a bad rap, but not all of it is dry. You have to find the right author, one who writes in a more narrative way. I’ve liked Mary Roach (light hearted science), Russell Shorto (histories of place, like Amsterdam), and Malcolm Gladwell (from Wikipedia, he writes about the “unexpected implications of research in the social sciences”.

Maybe more suggestions after I know what you already read?

[Alicia]

Do you have any hopepunk recommendations.

I’ve read an obscene amount of fantasy - so def need a break from that. I also read a good amount of literary fiction, mystery (not really thriller though), YA, dystopia, nonfiction on random topics/history, and historical fiction. I’ve read some dark academia and really want to like it, but haven’t found one I like.

[Jillian]

Alicia wrote: "Separate from the challenge, or a brainstorming session for future suggestions, does anyone have any good genre recommendations?

I'm trying to expand my reading. I'm not a big fan of stories that..."

I glanced at your recent reads, perhaps try cozy mysteries . I like to mix them in with my fantasy and heavier reads.

[Tracy]

Hmm, let me think on that. Whoever suggested Hopepunk as a prompt might know something right away. Maybe search in the genre browser for that?

[Jillian]

I know awhile back we were discussing reality tv in books. I just randomly started a book, The Cinderella Murder, that fits this theme ( I needed an audio book that was currently available that the title, author’s first or last name, main character’s name or series title started with an U).

[chysodema]

Alicia wrote: "Do you have any hopepunk recommendations.

I’ve read an obscene amount of fantasy - so def need a break from that. I also read a good amount of literary fiction, mystery (not really thriller thoug..."

Becky Chambers is the grand dame of Hopepunk. Start with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit (second book in the series but absolutely stand on its own and is more intimate than the space opera of the first book so I often recommend people start there) or the novella To Be Taught If Fortunate if you don't mind a LOT of worldbuilding :)

The Murderbot Diaries are also wonderful, they start with the novella All Systems Red.

The Goblin Emperor is fantasy and hopepunk if you feel like circling back to your tried and true genre.

Those are some of the mainstays, I would say. Interested to hear if others have good recommendations, as I love the genre (maybe "mood" or "outlook" is more accurate since it crosses literary genres) and always want to read more.

[chysodema]

Question for folks who have been doing ATY for a while. This is my first year doing ATY as a challenge, as well as participating in the discussion here and voting for prompts. Looking over the prompts that have been chosen so far and thinking back to all the suggestions, it seems like some of the more basic ones were voted in and most of the ones I found really interesting as we discussed them were not.

Is this a common way to feel during this process? I am wondering if there are prompts that appeal strongly to say 30% of the community in terms of our interests and TBRs, and that's just not enough to get voted in versus a more simple and open prompt which a lot of people say "Oh yeah, I could find something to read there." Or maybe I just have fringe tastes? I'm not particularly bothered by it, just curious what the flow of this part of the process is usually like.

[Shannon SA]

Alicia wrote: "I second the symmetry prompt. I was sad that didn't make it in"

I like the symmetry prompt too - those covers are usually beautiful too :)

[Shannon SA]

Tracy wrote: "For a Cover Prompt, how about something like "a book where at least some of the text is NOT horizontal"?

Examples:

On an angle:

In the round: [bookcover:Tre..."

Yep, that's a good one!

[Shannon SA]

Marta wrote: "I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still pl..."

Yes! For me that would be a classic.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Lailah wrote: "Question for folks who have been doing ATY for a while. This is my first year doing ATY as a challenge, as well as participating in the discussion here and voting for prompts. Looking over the prom..."

I think you are right Lailah, some of the prompts that individuals find the most interesting don't get voted in. We give a lot of info and ideas in the Suggestions thread and Voting thread, but some people don't read those. For instance, there were multiple ideas given for the "soul" prompt, but someone who didn't read them will just go by whatever they think it means. But I've been surprised by some that I thought were more unusual that got in.

For those who find the categories relatively easy or general, feel free to suggest and use BIO options. Some people decide that all their books for the year will be by women, or with LGBTQ characters, or some other factor. Or for any specific prompt, there will be suggestions to make it more (or less) challenging.

Personally, at this stage I don't even try to find books for most of the prompts, except maybe list prompts. I just think it sounds interesting to find a book with a source of light on the cover or some other category. Sometimes I have found that a prompt I suggested that got voted in turns out to be one of the harder ones for me to fill!

[Louise]

Marta wrote: "I am also thinking of bringing back an old prompt, “a book by an author you think you should have read by now”. Made me read Dickens and Stephen King back then. A bit less shameful now but still pl..."

Yes great idea Marta :-)

[Louise]

Alicia wrote: "@Marta, I had originally been thinking all the colors of the rainbow but then couldn’t find any on my TBR. That’s harder than I thought. 4 colors still poses a challenge yet still provides a good a..."

Ok that is truly a wonderfully bookish geeky comment - limited colour TBR :-D

[Joyce]

The last two books I read had unreliable narrators. Is that a prompt that is overdone in book challenges?

[Shannon SA]

I don't really know what that is - do you have some popular/well-known books as examples?

[Louise]

It's when the narrator (as a plot device) lies / purposefully misleads the reader and you realize it eventually. Like Sometimes I Lie

[Shannon SA]

Louise wrote: "It's when the narrator (as a plot device) lies / purposefully misleads the reader and you realize it eventually. Like Sometimes I Lie"

Thanks Louise, I also found a Listopia. Does the book description usually say that it's an unreliable narrator (for planning ahead)?
I've read some on the list but not realised that it was an unreliable narrator!

[Jill]

Lailah wrote: "Question for folks who have been doing ATY for a while. This is my first year doing ATY as a challenge, as well as participating in the discussion here and voting for prompts. Looking over the prom..."

There are 3,000 members in this group, but only something like 40 members take part in the discussions. I don’t know how many vote, but that is why what gets voted in or out is often a surprise to the people here.

[Shannon SA]

More on the unreliable narrator - there are a couple on the list that I would like to read, so although I'm not sure if I would upvote it, I wouldn't downvote it. Interested to read what other members think :)

[Nadine in NY]

Lailah wrote: "Question for folks who have been doing ATY for a while. This is my first year doing ATY as a challenge, as well as participating in the discussion here and voting for prompts. Looking over the prom..."




Yes! EVERY YEAR there are amazingly creative ideas, and they don't get voted in, and people here in the discussion groups bemoan that fact. Recently, a member or two who won the summer challenge or similar gets to choose a category, no votes, and that has gotten in some more unusual ideas, so I am happy with that change and hopeful it continues.

Also, it's completely normal to feel disappointed and disgruntled when prompts you love do not get voted in, and prompts you didn't love DO win. I think most members have that "I'm just not in synch with the group" feeling. But by the time January rolls around, that feeling will have faded.

[Jillian]

Lailah wrote: "Question for folks who have been doing ATY for a while. This is my first year doing ATY as a challenge, as well as participating in the discussion here and voting for prompts. Looking over the prom..."

Yes, the more basic prompts do better. I think, the group overall keeps shifting more each year. Part of the reason is more members have done several years of challenges. I know personally, there are some prompts I never want to do again. I was fine doing them once but really did not like them. I do think, PopSugar and Read Harder have been shifting the opposite direction with more specific prompts. There just ended up being too many of them that I stopped doing those challenges. Even though some really interesting prompts don’t make the list I still like our groups list better.

[Jillian]

Louise wrote: "It's when the narrator (as a plot device) lies / purposefully misleads the reader and you realize it eventually. Like Sometimes I Lie"

I don’t think it is over done but it is not one I’d up vote. A few years back, PopSugar had it and I ended up reading a book from a listopia. Going into the book knowing it had an unreliable narrator was a huge spoiler. It ruined the book for me.

[Jill]

I do think the prompts here are very open to interpretation, making it more doable

[Ellie]

Jillian wrote: "Going into the book knowing it had an unreliable narrator was a huge spoiler. It ruined the book for me..."

Yeah I don't really like knowing there's an unreliable narrator or a surprising twist going into a book. I'd probably just hope to stumble across one.

[Marie]

I started this in 2016, so the first list I took part in creating was 2017. I think, if anything, we've gotten more inventive as time's gone on - partly because at the beginning it was all new so there was no "this has been done before". Those early lists don't look to have anything especially unique on them when I look at them now.

I don't know when PopSugar did their first challenge, but I think (if I have my history right!) this group started as an offshoot of that, after doing their challenge in 2015. So coming up with so many new prompts every year is amazing. My brain seems to have run dry of ideas, so I appreciate everyone's creativity.

The suggestion and voting process has changed gradually as well. For a few years there was no seconding needed, so whatever you wanted to suggest would go to the vote, as long as you were quick enough to get it in (it was regularly done in under an hour), and voting opened almost immediately, so no time for the discussion to change the minds of the early voters.

I think the changes have made it better, but possibly also make us overthink things and hold back because there's a view something is unpopular or overdone.

[Jillian]

Marie wrote: "I started this in 2016, so the first list I took part in creating was 2017. I think, if anything, we've gotten more inventive as time's gone on - partly because at the beginning it was all new so t..."

I remember the first year of voting that I always voted before reading anything in the thread because I thought it would be cheating to be swayed from others ideas. I also use to vote more for what was good for a group as a whole (I got criticized for this and it still bothers me) now I tend to vote more individualistic but at times for the group. I'm not a huge list fan but I up voted the past two since there were enough books that I'd be interested in reading and we don't have any so far.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Alicia wrote: "Do you have any hopepunk recommendations.

I’ve read an obscene amount of fantasy - so def need a break from that. I also read a good amount of literary fiction, mystery (not really thriller thoug..."

What about magical realism?

[°~Amy~°]

I also started in 2016, just after the first vote I think. I honestly don't remember a lot about the early votes other than these conversations about "negativity" and "the prompts are all boring!" type of comments happen about this time EVERY single year. It's like half way through creating the list we get tired and maybe a little discouraged that our favorites haven't gotten through (yet!) and we turn on each other. The mood always picks up as we near the end. By January we've had a couple of quiet months in the group and we pick up and start the next years challenge like none of this um, crankiness (for lack of a better word) ever happened. And then August rolls around and we get to do it all over again! lol

[°~Amy~°]

Hm. I just had a thought. What IF, the voting wasn't one long process like it is now? What IF we started earlier in the year, had a shorter period of voting, took a break, had another burst of voting, took a break, and so on until the list was complete? Would it help prevent the burnout we always get about now? Would it be easier on the mods to not have a crush of voting in the three months or so we have it now? Would it keep people more engaged in the group throughout the year instead of having a large drop off in conversation during non-voting periods? Hm.

A couple ideas would be monthly or quarterly voting where we had a set number of prompts to choose during each time frame.

Monthly - 4-5 prompts each session
Jan, Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul, Sept, Oct, Dec - 4 prompts
Feb, May, Aug, Nov - 5 prompts

OR

Quarterly - 13 Prompts each round
Option 1 - Jan, Apr, July, Oct voting
Option 2 - Mar, Jun, Sept, Dec voting

OR bimonthly? - 8 or 9 prompts per round
Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sept, Nov
Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec

Please don't take this as complaining or being negative, it's literally just an idea! :)

[Joyce]

I do take everyone’s point about not wanting to know about unreliable narrators in advance. I didn’t with the two, now necessarily nameless, books I just read and appreciated the “hang on a minute” moments.

[Joyce]

I seem to suggest song lyrics every year. This may be bad idea since “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” was deemed too depressing but I wondered about the nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin?” Rather than teasing out the possible prompts I’ve pasted the lyrics below:

Who killed Cock Robin?
I, said the Sparrow,
with my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.
Who saw him die?
I, said the Fly,
with my little eye,
I saw him die.
Who caught his blood?
I, said the Fish,
with my little dish,
I caught his blood.
Who’ll make the shroud?
I, said the Beetle,
with my thread and needle,
I’ll make the shroud.
Who’ll dig his grave?
I, said the Owl,
with my little trowel,
I’ll dig his grave.
Who’ll be the parson?
I, said the Rook,
with my little book,
I’ll be the parson.
Who’ll be the clerk?
I, said the Lark,
if it’s not in the dark,
I’ll be the clerk.
Who’ll carry the link?
I, said the Linnet,
I’ll fetch it in a minute,
I’ll carry the link.
Who’ll be chief mourner?
I, said the Dove,
I mourn for my love,
I’ll be chief mourner.
Who’ll carry the coffin?
I, said the Kite,
if it’s not through the night,
I’ll carry the coffin.
Who’ll bear the pall?
We, said the Wren,
both the cock and the hen,
We’ll bear the pall.
Who’ll sing a psalm?
I, said the Thrush,
as she sat on a bush,
I’ll sing a psalm.
Who’ll toll the bell?
I said the Bull,
because I can pull,
I’ll toll the bell.
All the birds of the air
fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,
when they heard the bell toll
for poor Cock Robin

[°~Amy~°]

Joyce wrote: "I seem to suggest song lyrics every year. This may be bad idea since “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” was deemed too depressing but I wondered about the nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robi..."

I have come to like lyric prompts but I'm not sure this is the one for this year, just because so many or the items overlap with "Birds, Bees and Bunnies" that we already have. (Robin, Sparrow, Owl, Rook, Lark, Linnet, Dove, Kite, Wren, Thrush). Others, like Coffin and bow and arrow are both related to "Murder" which is another we already have. Even FLY, fly on the wall, spy...."tinker tailor soldier spy".....

Just too much overlap for me but I'd love to discuss other options!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Joyce wrote: "I do take everyone’s point about not wanting to know about unreliable narrators in advance. I didn’t with the two, now necessarily nameless, books I just read and appreciated the “hang on a minute”..."

I agree. I love unreliable narrator stories but the whole point is that you don't know for a long time that is the case. If you know going in, it's a huge spoiler. Also, you would be dependent on a list because it's pretty much impossible to know if a certain book in your TBR has this feature.

[Ellie]

I was looking at list songs and all the ones I liked had too much cross over so I didn't suggest them. List songs often have birds in!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_song

[L Y N N]

How about...
"Read a book written by or about a Nobel prize winner"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_P...

This could include not only all those who have won for Literature (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...), but also anyone who has won for science (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Economics) or the Peace Prize (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...)

OR IT COULD BE LIMITED TO EITHER LITERATURE OR PEACE PRIZE SINCE WE ALREADY HAVE A SCIENCE PROMPT…
"Read a book written by or about a Nobel prize winner for Literature or the Peace Prize"

This could qualify as from a list, I think