[2023] Wild Discussion Showing 2,601-2,650 of 4,060

[Nadine in NY]

I'm a big fan of the Millions Most Anticipated!!! I will always vote for that one!!

And someone batted around the idea of the NYPL Books We Love list (there are lists for adults, teens, and kids) https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recom... but I guess it was never suggested

[Siobhan]

I definitely hope somebody nominates the A nominee or winner of an Australian book award again. That had a lot of interesting ones on it!

I also really liked the A book from the “100 Years of Popular Books on Goodreads” list.

[Thomas]

I’m not keen on any award limiting itself to one nation. The same reason I would never vote for the Pulitzer

[Tracy]

To all our UK friends, I’m so sorry to hear of Queen Elizabeth’s passing.

[Tracy]

And to our Commonwealth friends as well (I had to look up the correct term).

[Thomas]

Thanks Tracy. I am thinking of offering a prompt in her memory. Would love any suggestions

[Tracy]

I was thinking the same Thomas, but it should definitely come from someone in the UK or Commonwealth (in my opinion). There is a Genre Shelf using her name, but some of them seem to possibly only mention her in a much wider topic, rather than focusing on her.

If someone doesn’t want to read a biography type book, maybe something that focuses on the things she was known for: corgis, horses, colorful clothes, big (marvelous) hats, dedication to her duty, an unexpected sense of humor, a long life.

I’m sure you have more information to pull from.

[Lindsay]

What about ‘Read a book in honour of the Queen’

This could be a biography, a book about one of her interests (such as corgis) or a book with an elderly protagonist

[Tracy]

Or someone who’s life took an unexpected turn?

I think it would be a clearer nod to her memory if these ideas were just suggestions for how to fill a prompt with her name in it rather than using them for the prompt name itself.

[Juliet]

I think the concept of ‘Queens’ rolls too easily into ‘Chess’ which we already have. So I would either tie it to something she is famous for, such as her leadership in WWII, or go in a direction like book by a British/commonwealth author written during her reign or an author she knighted

[NancyJ]

I love the NPR list, especially if we can use the older lists. I kept finding more books on the Millions list that I could read.

I definitely want to read a couple Australian or Oceania books next year. I might like a broader Australia prompt than the awards though, since that limits a market that might already feel narrow to us. Or maybe it's just a matter of familiarity. Was there a listopia for the Australian Awards?

I'd like to hear what our Australian members (and Aust. book readers) think about the awards. Do they represent the books that you would recommend to us? If not, are there other lists, blogs, articles, etc. we might consider?

I'm also interested in New Zealand and indigenous populations.

Australia is half in the Tropics, and I'm wondering which Australian books might also fit for that.

[Tracy]

Best I could come up with so far re: authors honored by the Queen

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-noti...

[dalex]

Juliet Brown wrote: "...book by a British/commonwealth author written during her reign."

I really like this idea, a subtle tribute but a tribute nonetheless. Their writing was surely influenced by their culture, which was essentially something The Queen curated.

[Leah]

To me in the UK, that's basically 'read a book'. Commonwealth authors outside UK would be better as the Commonwealth was something QE11 strongly supported.

[Nancy]

I like that idea too but see Leah's point for our UK readers.

So how about "book by a non-UK Commonwealth author written during her reign?" Or just "by a Commonwealth author outside the UK?" Edited thanks to Ellie's comment, my bad

Though I wouldn't mind "a book connected to Queen Elizabeth II." I do realize there may be some chess overlap which I would normally object to but in this case I would vote for it.

[Ellie]

Technically the UK is included in the commonwealth.

[Thomas]

You see I’m a UK reader and I actually find I’m increasingly reading very few British authors. Increasingly my reading is American author. I personally think Commonwealth author is great and any Brit who wishes can choose to pick a different country as indeed can any Canadian or Australian participant

[Tracy]

Thanks Ellie, that has always been a little fuzzy for me. I was recently educated on the difference between the UK and Great Britain.

[Leah]

The Commonwealth was established in its current form in 1949 and Elizabeth became queen in 1952, so the great majority of books by Commonwealth authors would have been written during her reign.
I wouldn't vote for a prompt specifically about the Queen herself, just because people can use the chess prompt for that if they wish to do so.

[Tracy]

Does the point of being honored by the Queen (Knight, Dame, and all the alphabet soup honors that I’m less familiar with) make it less “read a book” for those in the Commonwealth?

[Nancy]

I can never remember the difference between UK, Great Britain, and England. I know the UK is Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Great Britain, right? Other than that I get lost lol.

[Jill]

This year Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, so how about a book related to one of the precious metals or stones?

[Ellie]

Nancy wrote: "I can never remember the difference between UK, Great Britain, and England. I know the UK is Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Great Britain, right? Other than that I get lost lol."

The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which includes Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. If you say Ireland by itself that tends to mean the Republic of Ireland which is not in the UK. Great Britain is not just England.

[Leah]

Nancy wrote: "I can never remember the difference between UK, Great Britain, and England. I know the UK is Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Great Britain, right? Other than that I get lost lol."

Don't worry, we get confused too! Great Britain is normally thought of as comprising England, Scotland and Wales. The UK is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[Ellie]

I just did a quick count and only about a quarter of my books read this year are by UK authors, so it doesn't feel like any commonwealth author is that much of a freebie anyway.

[Nancy]

So I had that backwards, sort of? Or just wrong. I'm not surprised lol

[Chrissy]

Great Britain is the island that England, Scotland and Wales are on - it's a geographic term. (right?)

[Ellie]

Chrissy wrote: "Great Britain is the island that England, Scotland and Wales are on - it's a geographic term. (right?)"

I'm just realising how confusing this country is! Yes Great Britain is the big Island, but a lot of Brits use GB interchangeably with UK.

[Tracy]

There’s a great scene in Ted Lasso about this, probably S1E1.

[T.]

Tracy wrote: "I have two ideas for the next suggestion round that I'm trying to decide between. They both involve cover design. Any preference?

1) "A book where the cover contains non-horizontal text” (this was..."

I really like the first idea. I liked it when it first came up in this discussion. And now I'm looking at book covers and noticing if the font is non-horizontal!

The second one is prejudicial to well known authors, so I'm not so sure I'd vote for that one.

Great ideas!

[Tracy]

T. wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I have two ideas for the next suggestion round that I'm trying to decide between. They both involve cover design. Any preference?

1) "A book where the cover contains non-horizontal t..."

Thanks. And yes, the prominent names ARE usually more well known authors. I wonder how well known authors with very long names feel about that? A little harder to have your name be prominent then, unless you do something artsy and break it up like:
MAC
MIL
LAN

or use a very narrow font for the author name.

[RachelG.]

@Tracy- I also prefer the cover contains non-horizontal text. I think it is a very clever idea.

[Tracy]

RachelG. wrote: "@Tracy- I also prefer the cover contains non-horizontal text. I think it is a very clever idea."

Thanks Rachel. And as T. pointed out, probably more options because it is more likely to include lesser known authors.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I also second what T. said. Nonhorizontal text is fun. Huge author names are not really fun.

[Tracy]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I also second what T. said. Nonhorizontal text is fun. Huge author names are not really fun."

I’m seeing a pattern here…

[NancyJ]

I really like the list of authors that she honored.

I saw many authors I like and many that I would like to read.
In addition to well-known British authors, I noticed Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie.

[Tracy]

NancyJ wrote: "I really like the list of authors that she honored.

I saw many authors I like and many that I would like to read.
In addition to well-known British authors, I noticed Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishi..."

The list includes Commonwealth authors: Atwood is Canadian, Rushdie was born in India but became a UK citizen in 1964 when he was 17. And Ishiguro was born in Japan but moved to England as a child and has been a British citizen since 1980.

[Thomas]

India is in the Commonwealth anyway.

[Tracy]

True

[Juliet]

The ‘knighthood or honors ‘ one would also get us a prompt in the ´lists and awards category if it got voted in

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I like the theme of the idea. I would vote for the list.

[Dubhease]

The Queen started The Order of Canada for our centennial. Although the Crown and the Governor General are the heads, they don't do most of the appointing. So, I'm not sure if writers in the Order of Canada would count.

[dalex]

Tracy wrote: "1) "A book where the cover contains non-horizontal text” (this was..."

I thought this was a nifty idea but then I checked my books and I have almost nothing that would work, like about 1% of my Owned and Unread List.

[Thomas]

Dubhease. It’s the same with the honours system in Britain. Most of the appointments aren’t really her ( now his) choice they are “recommended” but in fact required. So I actually think anyone honoured in the order of Canada would be just as valid as anyone from the British system and would make any prompt related broader in scope

[Dubhease]

dalex wrote: "Tracy wrote: "1) "A book where the cover contains non-horizontal text” (this was..."

I thought this was a nifty idea but then I checked my books and I have almost nothing that would work, like abo..."

I looked at my list. I think this prompt would drive me crazy. I have a few books where the title is mostly straight, but the first and last letter are curved downwards. Is this non-horizontal enough if it's two letters in a word?

[Dubhease]

Thomas wrote: "Dubhease. It’s the same with the honours system in Britain. Most of the appointments aren’t really her ( now his) choice they are “recommended” but in fact required. So I actually think anyone hono..."

Then, just listing the highest level of the Order of Canada (and because the lower two levels have way more people on them)

Hugh MacLennan
Gabrielle Roy
Robertson Davies
Anne Hébert
P. K. Page
Pierre Berton
Margaret Laurence
Mordecai Richler
Leonard Cohen
Carol Shields
Margaret Atwood
Michael Ondaatje
John Ralston Saul
Yann Martel

[Alicia]

I’m the same as Dubhease, I have titles slightly off-kilter. But predominantly horizontal. I’d be nitpicking myself all year.

I like the authors honored by the Queen. I do want a prompt in remembrance of her next year, even as a US citizen. But something related to queen is too similar to the chess piece. I think this list is a nice in between and satisfies a list prompt, which I like because it hopefully means fewer other lists get voted in.

[Tracy]

Dubhease wrote: "dalex wrote: "Tracy wrote: "1) "A book where the cover contains non-horizontal text” (this was..."

I thought this was a nifty idea but then I checked my books and I have almost nothing that would ..."

I tried to word it so that it isn’t required that ALL text be non-horizontal, just some is acceptable. Do you have a recommendation how to make that more clear without getting too wordy?

And for anyone who likes the idea but only has a couple of options in their Owned TBR, do you have a library nearby ( I know not everyone does), or a friend you could borrow from?

[NancyJ]

I love the idea of reading books by authors honored by the queen, and I think Canadian authors deserve more attention. I would rather err on the side of giving us too many choices than not enough, but it's useful to see the tiers as well.

I have books on my TBR by Salman Rushdie, Jean Rhys, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, AS Byatt, Pat Barker, and probably more. I saw Leonard Cohen on Dubhease's list in message 2646. He is my first choice so far. I will definitely vote for this idea based on these lists.

[Tracy]

Is anyone in the UK or Commonwealth countries able to suggest this prompt (time-wise, I know our schedule doesn’t always work out for Europe or Oceania)? Of course members in Canada can, but I’m not really certain if we have any Canadians in the group. Totally not needed, but I thought it would be symbolic.