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[2023] Poll 15 Voting
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RachelG.
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Sep 23, 2022 03:06PM
Thanks for the examples of books featuring a blog or podcast! I also remembered that I really enjoyed Journaled to Death where the main character has a vlog. It's a two book cozy mystery series.
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Jillian wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I can’t get that literature link to do anything. Keeps taking me to a list of what people I know on Goidreads are reading."The link does not work for me from the app. I had to us..."
When I'm on my phone I find that I have to tap around a lot on the links and eventually that they work (assuming it's a good link to begin with). Usually I get the best results on the far left end of the link.
Dubhease wrote: "Kenya:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
South Africa:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Scotland:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/..."
Good lists.
Homeland by George Obama looks interesting. It's set in Kenya, it's about the importance of friends, it has an innocent-man-freed-from-prison story, and it sounds like an upbeat story.
Long Walk to Freedom by Mandela is a positive story about South Africa. Born a Crime is about South Africa too.
Thanks for the lists of books featuring blogs or podcasts. I think I'm going to be out of luck since I don't read romances or thrillers. I know I can make it work, though, if it gets voted in, by reading non-fiction.
Mod
I actually got it from the Seasonal Reading Challenge group!
Does anyone have personal recommendations for Time Travel or other books that are set partly in the future from now? Sea of Tranquility - I loved this one
The Jane Austen Project -is perfect for Jane Austen fans, but some of the descriptions have spoilers.
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
I found this link earlier and it looks fascinating:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Futility or the Wreck of the Titan almost makes me believe that time travel exists. It was published in 1898.
Mod
Robin P wrote: "Last week I was so negative, but I like lots of these. I was also impressed with how eager the participants were to submit ideas, the whole 15 prompts were done in 1 hour."I know - it was amazing how fast it went.
Did you share the link with PBT members? When I tried the second time a whole bunch of our Tournament authors were on the page. Actually we do have quite a few people who are in both groups.
With all the ideas, there are a lot of popular topics that haven't been mentioned yet and we're almost done.
KP wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "Kenya:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
South Africa:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Scotland:
https://www.goodrea..."
I had no idea Obama's brother wrote a book. I'm intrigued. He has a "found family" too.
My favorite this week is the Literature Map. That one has been suggested in the past but I don’t remember if it ever made it to the list. A BIO would be to read an author new to you. There are quite a few I will definitely vote for.
Mod
The Spice Girls were after my age, but I think it's a fun idea for a prompts. You just need to pick a book that is scary, baby, posh, sporty, or ginger. The book isn't supposed to be about them
Sorry I’m confused I saw mention “ the honours system” I assumed that was an illusion to my earlier prompt idea about the honours system but then someone said the whole challenge is the honours system. I’m wondering if I’m not getting the reference
Thomas wrote: "Sorry I’m confused I saw mention “ the honours system” I assumed that was an illusion to my earlier prompt idea about the honours system but then someone said the whole challenge is the honours sys..."Thomas, it does not have to do with your previous suggestion. Someone was responding to dalex’s message 21.
Mod
In this case, "honor system" means there is nobody verifying if you read a book that you said you did, or that the book fits the prompt. You are declaring "on your honor" that you did what you said. One example is that the term is used in the US for students signing a pledge that they won't cheat on exams or plagiarize.
I just looked up and found out the the "honours system" refers to the various order and medals given by the Queen or others in Britain. I had no idea it was called that!
First impressions: - Literature Map is nice in theory, but after playing around with it a bit, I'm not that impressed. Inputting names of most of my favourite authors gives me back the names of other authors I already like and/or intend to read so it's not too hard, but seems a bit too much of a freebie
- I would love friends/family/found family if it was any of these individually, but not such a fan of all of them together. Almost every book I read involves at least one of these three aspects as a pretty big focus
- Kenya/South Africa/Scotland is likely an automatic downvote for me, just because I'm already very tired of geographic prompts
- The Spice Girls prompt sounds so fun! Their albums were some of the first CDs I ever bought
- Blog/podcast is an easy upvote for me. I'm a sucker for anything social media focused
- Route of travel was nearly an upvote for me last time, so it's a strong consideration for this time too
If the podcast/blog prompt here reversed - a book mentioned in a blog or a podcast - I'd upvote. But how many books are there that mention podcasts or blogs? Can we change the prompt?
There were some books mentioned already, maybe they're on the suggestion thread. Heidi's guide to 4 letter words
One to watch
Ask Rachel, she might know.
FYI the Audible summer sale is on through tonight (4 hours left) and everything is on sale. It's the best sale I've seen in a long time.New books on sale include:
The Winners - it's not even out yet!
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Other Birds.
I have a gift certificate to spend, and I'm looking for ideas.
Are there any other must-read books that you can recommend? I want to expand my sci-fi reading, which is why I want the future prompt. I also like literary fiction and apparently magical realism. Environmental/Climate fiction, mental health, some women's fiction. Can you think of great books that fit some of our 2023 prompts?
I loved the Maddaddam series, which is something I wouldn't have even considered 4 years ago.
NancyJ wrote: "FYI the Audible summer sale is on through tonight (4 hours left) and everything is on sale. It's the best sale I've seen in a long time.New books on sale include:
The Winners - it's not even out ..."
A couple of recently published books I enjoyed:
The Immortal King Rao (would fit the chess piece prompt) (it has environmental and speculative fiction elements & the protagonist is a young woman)
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies (would fit the geometric shape prompt - sphere)
NancyJ wrote: "FYI the Audible summer sale is on through tonight (4 hours left) and everything is on sale. It's the best sale I've seen in a long time.New books on sale include:
The Winners - it's not even out ..."
For magical realism, there is Midnight at the Blackbird Café. It would match the birds and the bees prompt.
For future scifi, look at Red Rising. It would match several: debut novel, murder, spy.
I have a couple questions about some of the prompts (this is definitely a week where the comments will help me decide how to vote):- involving friends/family/found family isn't that almost every book? I feel like one alone could be challenging, but I think almost every book I read involves one of the three. Unless you're reading a book like 127 Hours or Cast Away (are those books? or just movies?)
- book club read: I saw the suggested links (even though I can't access the Amazon link) and Lindsay's Message 4. But does anyone have another interpretation on how to take on this prompt if you don't have a book club or like those lists? Is ATY a book club (that's how I kind of think of us)? Would that make the Best of the Month thread a book club list? What about BOTM?
That said I know I'll upvote Asian diaspora and Spice Girls. I do want a Queen Elizabeth prompt, but I'm debating whether to upvote this one or not vote at all. I really liked the honors prompt and need to see how many setting prompts we have.
I'm pretty neutral on literature map, route of travel, genre and Goodreads friends - all seem pretty easy to me.
Michelle wrote: "If the podcast/blog prompt here reversed - a book mentioned in a blog or a podcast - I'd upvote. But how many books are there that mention podcasts or blogs? Can we change the prompt?"Off the top of my head, here are a few (I haven't read all of these yet, but they are books that I've either read or plan to):
- Sadie
- Radio Silence
- Things We Do in the Dark
- The Night Swim
- I Know You Know
- The Last Housewife
- I Killed Zoe Spanos
- The Ex Talk (maybe. It's a radio show, but not sure if it was also classified as a podcast)
It's been a pretty common trope in the past few years, especially in thrillers. There are many that mention true crime podcasts. I would imagine there are likely non-fiction crime books that also mention podcasts but I don't know for sure.
If I remember correctly, the prompt wording also mentioned blogging too so that opens things up even further. There are lots of books that mention mommy bloggers, food bloggers, etc. in a variety of genres. It's currently close to 1 am so I don't know any right now, but over the weekend I can look for some specific titles.
Alicia wrote: "I have a couple questions about some of the prompts (this is definitely a week where the comments will help me decide how to vote):- involving friends/family/found family isn't that almost every ..."
There weren't any prompts this year that specifically applied to family relationships or real adult friendships. This was a big hole in the list for me. I read a lot of different kinds of books this year, and I had some specific challenges. I spent more time finding books to fit prompts or challenges, rather than forcing my books on hand into a prompt. A focused prompt will encourage me to focus on finding a good book for that topic, not just any book in which a character happens to have a family or friend present.
Most of the year we focus on finding books for the prompts on the list. But right now, I want to make sure that there are prompts for books I really want to read. I want to challenge myself with difficult prompts, but I need some balance too. Friends and family can do that if I pick the right ones on purpose.
The most popular book club books are the ones that encourage deep discussion on topics that you might not have known or thought about before. Educated is that kind of book. This group doesn't have discussions around the favorite books of the month at all. So it's hard to gauge which ones would fit. There are a lot of lists to tell us which books have been popular with book clubs.
Rachel wrote: "Michelle wrote: "If the podcast/blog prompt here reversed - a book mentioned in a blog or a podcast - I'd upvote. But how many books are there that mention podcasts or blogs? Can we change the prom..."True crime pod cast- yes - I read one of those too. Wow, that's 3 books I thought of for a category that I didn't think I ever read. (I'm blanking on the title, but it will come to me.)
ETA
It was The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James - SCARY book
It includes tags for podcast
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/podcast
Sue wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "FYI the Audible summer sale is on through tonight (4 hours left) and everything is on sale. It's the best sale I've seen in a long time.New books on sale include:
The Winners - it'..."
Joy D wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "FYI the Audible summer sale is on through tonight (4 hours left) and everything is on sale. It's the best sale I've seen in a long time.
New books on sale include:
The Winners - it'..."
Thanks Joy and Sue. I'll check them out.
One way to interpret blog/podcast is a book that features the content of one, eg.The Anthropocene Reviewed
Welcome to Night Vale
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide
Didn't The Martian start off as blog posts?
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.bustle.com/p/12-books-ins...
I agree it's hard to just search for novels containing them. I do tend to read at least one a year, though I think most of them have been mentioned already.
If you're reading the Truly Devious books the fourth one has a podcast in.
It's a very limited list, so I will be downvoting
Demetra wrote: "I think the entire challenge is the honor system. I'm not interested in policing how people do the challenge. I just thought this would be a fun way to find a new book to read!"MJ wrote: "If the challenged was policed, it wouldn’t be fun. This is supposed to be enjoyable/interesting/challenging uniquely for the person doing it."
I get it. It's just too easy to say, "I want to read X" and then scroll down on the book info page to see if any of my gr friends have read it. Or to use the book anyway even if it doesn't fit because who will know? That's why I say it's taking the honor system to the extreme.
Alicia wrote: "- involving friends/family/found family isn't that almost every book? I feel like one alone could be challenging, but I think almost every book I read involves one of the three. Unless you're reading a book like 127 Hours or Cast Away (are those books? or just movies?)"This. 100%.
Pamela wrote: "The Spice Girls were after my age, but I think it's a fun idea for a prompts. You just need to pick a book that is scary, baby, posh, sporty, or ginger. The book isn't supposed to be about them."It is a doable prompt. I just don't have the personal connection to it that some of the "younger folks" seem to have.
I put five authors into the literature map and it didn't even know who three of them were! Wow. That makes me kind of not a fan of this prompt.
If anyone is looking for ideas for the "A book by an Asian diaspora author" in 2021 we had a BIPOC author prompt and I researched the heritage of 100 different authors that you can see on my listopia from that prompt.https://www.goodreads.com/list/user_v...
It's a mix of Asian, Latinx, Indigineous, and Black but there is an explanation included in the notes for each book. An author marked "Asian (Japanese)" would not work for the prompt but one marked "Asian (American/Chinese)" would.
I'm definitely using this Listopia to decide about this prompt and thought others might find it useful also.
dalex wrote: "Demetra wrote: "I think the entire challenge is the honor system. I'm not interested in policing how people do the challenge. I just thought this would be a fun way to find a new book to read!"MJ..."
But that's not what the prompt is. It isn't read a book a friend HAS read. You don't go to the book's page. You go to your Goodreads Friends page and click the link that shows what all your friends are CURRENTLY reading. When I click on the link at this moment, there are only a couple books from my "Want to Read" shelf that my GR friends are currently reading.
If this prompt isn't your cup of tea, no worries! I don't understand the concern about cheating on the prompt. I guess I just figure if someone is doing a reading challenge they are going to participate in the challenge. If someone needs to fit a book in, there is a wild card option. And if someone "cheats", oh well. That doesn't affect the spirit of the prompt and how I choose to run my challenge.
To follow up on a previous comment. When is the cutoff for changing a prompt? Not saying it should on this occasion I just would like to know when is acceptable
Demetra wrote: "dalex wrote: "Demetra wrote: "But that's not what the prompt is. It isn't read a book a friend HAS read. You don't go to the book's page. You go to your Goodreads Friends page and click the link that shows what all your friends are CURRENTLY reading...."I thought the IS was just a weird way to word the prompt. I’m a preplanner, both with prompts and books, so this prompt is never going to work for me.
NancyJ wrote: "Does anyone have personal recommendations for Time Travel or other books that are set partly in the future from now? ..."Almost any sci-fi book will work, of course, but it sounds like you are looking for "near future" books.
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Some I've really liked:
The Martian
Spin
Station Eleven
Sea of Tranquility (this one is mostly set in the past & present, but there are some scenes in the future)
Beggars in Spain
A Borrowed Man
Neuromancer
The Peripheral
Sleeping Giants
The Three-Body Problem (this one is mostly set in the past & present, but there are some scenes in the future - the next two books in the series are more set in the future)
Sanctuary
The Borrowed (most of this book is set in the past, but one chapter is in the future)
Zoo City
Moxyland
Golden State
We Could Be Heroes
The Gracekeepers
The Children of Men
Rook
Alif the Unseen
Warcross
Legend
The Power
The Salt Line
The Wolves of Winter
An Ocean of Minutes
The Marrow Thieves
This is How You Lose the Time War
Parable of the Sower
Can we not disparage people who read books and then see where they fit in the challenge? That's not cheating. If the book fits the prompt, it fits, whether it was chosen ahead of time or was determined after the fact.
Great bunch of suggestions this round :) Seems people are coming up with interesting stuff now that there are only a few prompts to go :)
dalex wrote: "Demetra wrote: "dalex wrote: "Demetra wrote: "But that's not what the prompt is. It isn't read a book a friend HAS read. You don't go to the book's page. You go to your Goodreads Friends page and c..."It is worded that way because that's what the link is called. I think it came up in the suggestions thread - if you are a preplanner I think it would be fair to use the link and choose a book a friend is currently reading at that time. I think that would still fit in the sprit of the prompt.
I'm not "into" the Spice Girls, but that's a fun prompt and lots of variety for books.
For a book that a friend is currently reading, planners could choose a book that someone is reading now, or whenever they do their planning, maybe just make a note of the date if they want.
Rae wrote: "Can we not disparage people who read books and then see where they fit in the challenge? That's not cheating. If the book fits the prompt, it fits, whether it was chosen ahead of time or was determ..."I agree!!! If I really want to read a certain book, it’s happy luck to find it fits a prompt, if not it is a side read!
Some more Asian diaspora authors (these are mostly - but not all - American, since I live in the US, so my choices tend to be US-centric):Mike Chen
Chang-rae Lee
Marie Lu
Julie Kagawa
Amy Tan
Sangu Mandanna
Zen Cho
Maurene Goo
Courtney Milan
Sherry Thomas
Cathy Park Hong
Ted Chiang
Maxine Hong Kingston
Chen Chen
Ocean Vuong
Thanhha Lai
Charles Yu
Jenny Zhang
Steph Cha
Ling Ma
Kevin Kwan
Thi Bui
Madeleine Thien
Gene Luen Yang
Lisa Ko
Ali Wong
Mohsin Hamid
Robin Ha
Alma Katsu
George Takei
Kelly Yang
Loan Le
Nayomi Munaweera
Mary H.K. Choi
Susie Yang
Kirstin Chen
Mia P. Manansala
I am intersted in these prompts. Involving friends, family or found family - We did a similar prompt about non traditional families before and it was fun. The found family part sounds affirming.
Set in Kenya, South Africa or Scotland - I am not sure why these specific countries were chosen out of all the Common Wealth but I am doing an Around the World challenge, so these will fit in.
Related to a Spice Girls personality - The names that the band went by will be fun to find books for.
A door on the cover - doors are always intriguing. The desire to find out what is behind it is a bug draw with this one.
The genre that starts with your name has been done before. It really sucked for me. My names have quite a few of the same letters, even my maiden name and middle name. This is a definite nope for me.
Most of the blog/podcast books are young romances. I am past the angst of young romance. They are just annoying now.
I am part of two book clubs so that is a down vote.
The others I either read that already or just are not interesting.
Nadine in NY wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Does anyone have personal recommendations for Time Travel or other books that are set partly in the future from now? ..."Almost any sci-fi book will work, of course, but it sounds..."
Thanks Nadine,
A few of these are favorites already or on my tbr, and some are new to me - perfect!
Anastasia wrote: "I am intersted in these prompts. Involving friends, family or found family - We did a similar prompt about non traditional families before and it was fun. The found family part sounds affirming.
..."
I was thinking this prompt was especially good for those of us in bookclubs. My local groups picked a few books this year that didn't fit into any of the prompts. This prompt would be a home for one of those books.
That's partly why I wanted a family or found family prompt - to have a place for those books.
I don't plan to read as many books next year, so I need to minimize orphans- the books without a good home on my list. I still want challenging prompts though!
I'm generally a planner and don't have issue with the what your friend is reading prompt (or the wording). I might not vote for it but I can work with it. I don't have many active GR friends so would probably just add to my potential options whenever I see someone reading something that has a match on my TBR and then save that prompt for later in the year when I have a few options to pick from. Not a big deal. But then again I'm not super literal when it comes to filling prompts and don't get upset if something I choose to read stretches the intended scope of a prompt.
Demetra wrote: ".You don't go to the book's page. You go to your Goodreads Friends page and click the link that shows what all your friends are CURRENTLY reading. "There is nothing about the way the prompt is worded that indicates that this is the procedure. In fact, I didn’t even know this was a thing.
dalex wrote: "Demetra wrote: ".You don't go to the book's page. You go to your Goodreads Friends page and click the link that shows what all your friends are CURRENTLY reading. "There is nothing about the way ..."
Emily included this information in the explanation of the prompt in the first comment:
"14. A book one of your Goodreads friends is reading
(Go to your friends list and select the tab that says “books my friends are reading.” Read a book on this list)
If anyone doesn't have GR friends, you can look up anyone in this group to see if they accept friends (most do) and you can compare books to see if you like the same authors, even get a percentage of how similar you are."
I can see it on my computer, but not on my phone app. Are you able to see that entire first comment?
It's a little hidden feature. That's kinda why I thought it would be something fun and different.
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