[2023] Poll 1 Voting

[Bec]

Ellie wrote: "Conny wrote: "Listopia would be tricky, as you can only add books, not authors...."

I think it's a list of books people would like though. We could make a list just for us to put books by our one ..."
And you could then pick other books by the authors in the list if you wanted. I think a listopia is a good idea.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

If the prompt makes it in, we will create a listopia for the prompt like we do all of the prompts. It would link to the thread, for sure, but the listopia would be there as well.

[Irene]

I read through the suggestions thread and my favorites are:
- a book with red, white, and yellow on the cover (I love cover prompts, and this one is both connected to 2023 and not too hard or easy)
- faceless person on cover
- a book that involves art, music, dancing, or acting

I'm upvoting the two degrees of separation prompt as well.

I'm on the fence about downvoting the following:
- non-cis white male author (because I read almost all female authors so this is too easy for me. I'm hoping it will be reworded and re-suggested to be just a little bit harder)
- book connected to Ireland (it seems a bit random. If we have to read a book related to a specific country, I'd rather do one that is not as well-known or popular, like a country in South America, Africa, the Middle East that might need more representation)
- animal on the cover (because I love the cat prompt mentioned in the Wild Discussion and would rather not have both an animal and cat prompt)

That said, I'd be absolutely fine if any of those 3 got it, I just think it might be redundant if the animal or non-cis white male prompts get in and then the cat and non-binary prompts also get in (or it could hurt the chances of those latter two being voted in).

[Thomas]

I actually think Ireland is under represented.

[Irene]

I respect your opinion Thomas! Personally I can only name a handful of countries I think are more represented than Ireland but many that are less. Off the top of my head I can name more Irish authors (maybe a dozen including Sally Rooney, Tana French, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Cecelia Ahern, and Emma Donaghue) than I can for the Middle East, Africa, and Australia/Oceania combined. But perhaps that's a personal problem and means I just need to branch out more! And I can see why something like "a book connected to the Middle East" might be more polarizing and difficult.

In general I don't dislike the Ireland prompt, I'm just more drawn to some of the others in this poll.

[Thomas]

Irene wrote: "I respect your opinion Thomas! Personally I can only name a handful of countries I think are more represented than Ireland but many that are less. Off the top of my head I can name more Irish autho..."

Maybe I'm just ignorant of how many irish writers there are. I ahve not read a single book set in Ireland this year or last year But I have read books by irish. I guess my defintion of connected to ireland was a little narrow.

[Irene]

I think I read two books set in Ireland last year, but none this year so I agree that it's not super common. If it gets in I'll have fun looking for something that fits!

[Alicia]

When I saw Ireland my mind immediately went to fairies and folklore, I actually forgot about Irish authors. 🤦🏽‍♀️

[Nancy]

I didn't think about Irish authors either, I am of Irish heritage so tend to gravitate to books set there, but I definitely upvoted it for that reason. I highly, highly recommend What the Wind Knows if this prompt gets in. I may read a non-fiction about the Troubles.

[Barbara]

I completely agree with having other countries that are under represented. I have read two books only this year so far that were set in Ireland: What the Wind Knows and Normal People and honestly, I would like to read books set in different countries, or maybe countries under the rule of anything but Democracy? That would narrow things down and it would be quite a challenge!!

[Irene]

@Alicia I actually didn't consider Irish folklore! That's a great idea.

@Nancy and Barbara, What the Wind Knows is actually one of those two books set in Ireland that I read!

I like the non-democratic countries idea a lot, I would definitely vote for it!
I would also like something like "a book set in South America" or Africa or the Middle East because as broad as they sound, I think they could still be a little challenging (it would probably be too difficult to name a single country in those regions).

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Just a reminder that when there are lots of good suggestions, like this time, and we upvote a lot of them, like I did, it can split the vote. So some good suggestions may not get in, even though nobody was opposed to them. If that happens, you can resubmit a favorite prompt in a later poll.

[Thomas]

Robin P wrote: "Just a reminder that when there are lots of good suggestions, like this time, and we upvote a lot of them, like I did, it can split the vote. So some good suggestions may not get in, even though no..."

Is it only prommpts labelled as Bottom that can't be resubmitted?

[Jillian]

Thomas, bottom prompts cannot be resubmitted.

I cannot remember if a prompt can only be resubmitted so many times possible 4 times. A mod will have to clarify that.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Typically, we say that if it has been in a poll 3 times and has not made it to the top of the pile, it should not be resubmitted without some serious revision/re-working. The only ones that are specifically excluded from being suggested again are bottom votes.

I'm reading Float Plan right now, and the main character's love interest is from Ireland. Even connections like that would work for this prompt, which I think is cool, but maybe for a later round of voting. I didn't vote either way for Ireland.

[NancyJ]

Conny wrote:.. "

Wow, the Two-Degrees discussion post lists many MANY authors that are already on my TBR. So, as long as one person in this group met the author, it counts for me.

We always do listopias, but I agree that it would be handy to have a clean document listing all the authors (in alphabetical order).* Otherwise we would use the discussion thread. I would expect that the people who met the author could add at least one book to the listopia. The rest of us can add the books we already read.

*Or you could get fancier with a spreadsheet that people could continue to add to.

For anyone who hasn't voted yet, take a look:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

I forgot how long the waiting was!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Ellie wrote: "Conny wrote: "Listopia would be tricky, as you can only add books, not authors...."

I think it's a list of books people would like though. We could make a list just for us to put books by our one ..."

I love listopias! I never read them, I just look for the ones I've marked Want to Read. But this might be tough- I know one author I know has about 30 books (and you can ask me if I've read one? No.... I really need to before I see her again!)

[NancyJ]

Pamela wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Conny wrote: "Listopia would be tricky, as you can only add books, not authors...."

I think it's a list of books people would like though. We could make a list just for us to put boo..."

If they have 30 books, maybe a few other members have read some of them. I read a relative's books YEARS after she wrote them. One made me cry because I recognized who she based one of the characters on (who has since passed away.)

[NancyJ]

Nancy wrote: "I didn't think about Irish authors either, I am of Irish heritage so tend to gravitate to books set there, but I definitely upvoted it for that reason. I highly, highly recommend What the Wind Knows..."

Me too Nancy, I was born with a little Irish, but now I'm Irish by marriage. Ireland has always had a great deal of literary talent. If this gets in, I might finally read James Joyce.

I love What the Wind Knows! I also recommend When All Is Said by Anne Griffin, and The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. When I was young I read a lot of Maeve Binchy.

[Conny]

Ellie wrote: "I think it's a list of books people would like though. We could make a list just for us to put books by our one degree connections on and that would be a handy resource for people just wanting to pick a book off a list rather than making the connections themselves."

True that :) I don't know how to start a listopia, though, but you are right, we could do that, and people can add their recommended book by their respective authors.

Let's just hope the suggestion doesn't end up in the bottom again. I still believe in the idea because I feel it's a bit different from the usual prompts, plus, it directly honors our ATY community.

[Conny]

Conny wrote: "True that :) I don't know how to start a listopia, though, but you are right, we could do that, and people can add their recommended book by their respective authors.

Let's just hope the suggestion doesn't end up in the bottom again. I still believe in the idea because I feel it's a bit different from the usual prompts, plus, it directly honors our ATY community"

Whoah, sorry, I skipped an entire next page of posts when I wrote this! I see now that this has already been discussed and resolved, and I agree :)