[2026] Poll 14 Voting

[Nike]

L Y N N wrote: "Judy wrote: "Nike wrote: "1. A book involving pirates, puppies, parrots, penguins, or pachyderms. Yes!!! (And I learned a new word in English - Pachyderms!)

My brother has a stuffed elephant name..."

Judy wrote: "Nike wrote: "1. A book involving pirates, puppies, parrots, penguins, or pachyderms. Yes!!! (And I learned a new word in English - Pachyderms!)
2. A book that takes place in a country/place along ..."

I got an adorable purple elephant from my man when we met ten years ago. I had fallen childishly in love with it when I saw it in a shop and a few days later when we were going to bed I noticed something under my pillow and there it was! She is called Ellie and she is permanently in my bed. I'm 55 years old. Lol!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Katie wrote: "Emily wrote: "Sorry y'all, I think Trish went to sleep before we got the link ready for her to post it (she's on UK time and the rest of us are US). Here's the voting link! The first post of the th..."

Katie, I've removed your previous ballot, so you can submit a fresh one.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Tracy wrote: "LOVE all the Richard Scarry comments!"

It would be a good prompt but I don't remember enough real details to vote for one. I just see a cat in a car in my mind.

This is like on Family Feud last night "why would you not want to date Mr Rogers" (US children's tv personality of the 70s). Youth sticks around!

[Tracy]

Big Mr Rogers fan (right time, right place — I was 4 when his show began). Just read an article (or saw a video?) that said Mr. Rogers wrote the theme song, but it was different for each of the 900 episodes. Turns out a well known jazz pianist was hired to play it and he improved the arrangement for every single show! That’s a lot of creativity :)

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Tracy wrote: "Big Mr Rogers fan (right time, right place — I was 4 when his show began). Just read an article (or saw a video?) that said Mr. Rogers wrote the theme song, but it was different for each of the 900..."

That's so Mr Rogers! And he was a vegetarian!

[Misty]

Pamela wrote: "That's so Mr Rogers! And he was a vegetarian!"

No way! That's so cool.

[Misty]

I ended up with 7 upvotes and 1 downvote. I voted down the NPR list. I have been doing this challenge since 2019, and every single year we have had a "list prompt," and multiple years we have had more than one. We've done NPR three times. I do not like these prompts, and I really dislike doing them over and over and over and over.......

[Chrissy]

The NPR list updates with a new set of books every year, and I find them a good way to identify new books I maybe haven’t heard of that will be worth my time.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Tracy wrote: "Big Mr Rogers fan (right time, right place — I was 4 when his show began). Just read an article (or saw a video?) that said Mr. Rogers wrote the theme song, but it was different for each of the 900..."

Mr. Rogers was such a cool person; the biography The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers was excellent. Highly recommend for anybody wanting to learn more about a man who was genuinely just so kind.

[D.L.]

Oh, this is a tough list for me. Much more downvotes than up TBH.

[Pearl]

NancyJ wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Martha wrote: "First Impressions:
1. Pirates, puppies, parrots, penguins, pachyderms: Neutral for now. If this gets in I'll likely read about puppy development because I'm a puppy fos..."

That sounds terrible. I’m so sorry. I sent you a message. Mederma is the cream I suggest for scars. I tried everything short of laser treatments.

[Ciara]

This was a tough batch for me. Six downvotes, only two upvotes. I liked the totality prompt because a) it has a 2026 connection, b) a great opportunity to read internationally &/or in translation, & c) the most important reason of all, the Arctic! I will read anything about goofballs going to inhospitable locales & dying gruesomely.

I also liked the iron prompt, not because I have any idea what I'd read for it, but because of the 2026 connection. & I honestly like a prompt that is a headscratcher. There are a lot of prompts this year that are total gimmes. The whole reason I do these reading challenges is to...you know...be challenged.

That said, there are plenty of prompts here I don't hate. I'm just lacking excitement.

On the Richard Scarry front, there actually are several novels out there where worms feature prominently! They tend to be in the horror genre & the worms are perhaps not as friendly as Lowly Worm, but hey! Plus there are bakers, groceries, thieves, police officers, construction workers, clockmakers, students, etc etc.

[MJ]

Ciara wrote: "…the most important reason of all, the Arctic! I will read anything about goofballs going to inhospitable locales & dying gruesomely ..."

You and me both. The Arctic and shipwrecks in the arctic are topics I try to fit in every year, so that’s why this prompt also got an upvote from me. Books about poorly outfitted explorers succumbing to the cold while experiencing mirages on an ice floe are always on my radar.

[Patricia]

Many hard choices.

+ The totality prompt is the most unique, and I like the areas it covers.
+ The character with power prompt is new and my favorite. I have a book about superheroes, and one about a superpowerful politician.
+ A science topic fits books that don’t fit in other prompts.

I also like the books about books, a book about teachers, parties and animals.

- I like national parks, but we already have an isolated location.
- I don’t have any books that fit Iron or fae, or the jobs prompt .

[Dixie]

MJ wrote: "Ciara wrote: "…the most important reason of all, the Arctic! I will read anything about goofballs going to inhospitable locales & dying gruesomely ..."

You and me both. The Arctic and shipwrecks i..."

LOL!

[Dixie]

Ciara wrote: "This was a tough batch for me. Six downvotes, only two upvotes. I liked the totality prompt because a) it has a 2026 connection, b) a great opportunity to read internationally &/or in translation, ..."

A Richard Scarry-inspired prompt would be so fun -- unless it's totally an American thing. Those of you in different countries, do you read Richard Scarry books with your children? Or did you read them, when you were a child?

[Karin]

Dixie wrote: "Ciara wrote: "This was a tough batch for me. Six downvotes, only two upvotes. I liked the totality prompt because a) it has a 2026 connection, b) a great opportunity to read internationally &/or in..."

Canadians read them.

[Kendra]

I'm Canadian, and I loved the Richard Scarry when I was little. My Mom, hated them though, so she told me that his books were special library books that couldn't be borrowed, only read in the library..... By the time I figured out she was lying, I was on to chapter books. But there was one book of his that my grandparents had that I loved. When we had to go through their stuff a few years ago, I found it and I was shocked with just how racist it was. It was Tinker and Tanker in Africa fyi.

[Wendy]

MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would also apply, though I much prefer the Terror.

I too am a big fan of the niche "Why did we launch this expedition just to get stuck/freeze?" genre myself...

[Dixie]

Kendra wrote: "I'm Canadian, and I loved the Richard Scarry when I was little. My Mom, hated them though, so she told me that his books were special library books that couldn't be borrowed, only read in the libra..."

Oh no! I've never seen or heard of that, nor have I seen anything even remotely racist in anything of his. I imagine books like that were discontinued long ago (I hope!).

[Dixie]

Wendy wrote: "MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would also apply, tho..."

Anything in this genre would work brilliantly for the prompt suggestion we had a couple of rounds ago that was something like "A book about a place that makes you think 'why did i go there?'

[NancyJ]

@Ciara @MJ @Wendy @Dixie

MJ wrote: "Ciara wrote: "…the most important reason of all, the Arctic! I will read anything about goofballs going to inhospitable locales & dying gruesomely ..."
You and me both. The Arctic and shipwrecks i..."
Wendy wrote: "MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would also apply, tho..."
Dixie wrote: "Wendy wrote: "MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would a..."

We also voted in
Survival
Isolated location
Travel

These would all work for books in the Arctic or Antarctica. If you want something less gruesome, or you also like to see people in unusual jobs, you might like The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica. It’s about a young woman who works with penguins and other animals. They slap her around a bit, and it’s awfully cold, but they have cabins to sleep in.

Look for posts by Joy - she’s read a lot of arctic and Antarctica books.

[Deborah]

Dixie wrote: "Wendy wrote: "MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would a..."

It was A book with a setting that provokes the question, "Why did you go there?"

But I don't think I'll resuggest it like I planned, because isolated location works for the books I planned to read. Someone else can suggest it if they want to.

[Nike]

Karin wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Ciara wrote: "This was a tough batch for me. Six downvotes, only two upvotes. I liked the totality prompt because a) it has a 2026 connection, b) a great opportunity to read internati..."

Yes, they are known and loved here in Sweden. Read them for my children born during the 90's.

[Nike]

Wendy wrote: "MJ and Ciara, if either of you haven't yet read The Terror (though you surely must have), better add that to the TBR! And I suppose The North Water would also apply, tho..."

That question fits the prompt "Why did you go there?" that unfortunately was downvoted.

[Wendy]

Yes, luckily there are plenty of ways to slot in The Terror :) I actually read it back in 2023 for the "related to a Spice Girl" prompt -- Scary Spice!

[Pam]

I hope that MC with power(s) gets in! That’s the only prompt I really liked this round. I like it especially for some fantasy and SF books I plan to read next year. I think I voted 3 up and 5 down.

[NancyJ]

Pam wrote: "I hope that MC with power(s) gets in! That’s the only prompt I really liked this round. I like it especially for some fantasy and SF books I plan to read next year. I think I voted 3 up and 5 down."

It’s a really good one. I intended to keep myself to 3 upvotes, but there are 2 others that are hard to resist. I’d better hurry up. There is a loud storm outside.

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Dixie wrote: "A Richard Scarry-inspired prompt would be so fun -- unless it's totally an American thing. Those of you in different countries, do you read Richard Scarry books with your children? Or did you read them, when you were a child?."

I would have been the right age when they were published, looking at the GR author list. Not sure if it was a UK thing, or my parents didn't choose to read him to me, or I plain don't remember, but I certainly hadn't consciously heard of him before he was mentioned here..