Poll

I don't understand why The Golden Compass/Northern Lights wasn't voted in. It had more seconds (6) than Snow Falling on Cedars (4) and The Remains of the Day (5).

Maybe the person counting didn't see that some people called it by the original name (Northern Lights)? I am quite upset it doesn't appear in the poll :( Can it still be added?


Also, I must have misunderstood the rules. I thought all books that were seconded would appear in the poll. And am I right in thinking we do not receive a notification that the polls are up?

lethe wrote: "I don't understand why The Golden ..."

Hi lethe,

To clarify the process, every month I try to narrow the list of nominated books to 4-5 books max so that there is not a ton of dispersion in voting. Every book that is "seconded" by another member of the group is eligible for polls, but not necessarily chosen for polls.
I counted 6 votes for Remains of the Day, 6 votes for Golden Compass/Northern Lights, and 5 votes for Snow Falling on Cedars but it's been in polls before so I count that as 6 votes. We had three clear outliers - Game of Thrones, Dark Matter, and Astrophysics For People in a Hurry - and unfortunately a 3-way tie for slots 4 and 5.
Ultimately, chose 1) Remains of the Day given the discussion and group desire to read something by Kazuo Ishiguro as well as previous mentions in BOTM suggestion threads [FYI I've tracked these since day 1 of the group, may or may not be the best process], and 2) Snow Falling on Cedars given it's made polls before. Golden Compass was number 6, but had to make a decision.

I am sorry you are upset, trust me I feel for you! Books I nominate/vote for rarely win these days. But The Golden Compass is up for nomination again for January '18 and if it gets enough support, can make polls!

As for notification, you will receive it either tonight or tomorrow when I send out a bulletin/message to the broader group. Unfortunately, takes a lot of time to re-organize discussions and get everything up and running at the turn of every month so I do it in chunks. If you're online at the same time as me, you'll see a bunch of doubled up discussions/incorrect dates etc. while I'm updating everything. Because of this, these polls went live before I sent out the monthly message to the group. My bad, just a timing issue! Once the message goes out to the broader group, it will also be posted here.

Hope that helps, again I'm sorry it didn't make polls this time. I've attempted to outline the poll selection methodology here and would love your feedback on what is and is not clear.

Thanks,
Kasey

Hi, lethe!

Kasey has explained it, but just in support of her, let me add some discussion history.

We've previously discussed ways of book selection and after a while came down to the process like described. One of the discussed topics was exactly to take into account in some way the book having been nominated or voted before.

In my experience, it has been working quite well and producing good choices. Whenever a book is well seconded or voted, but not chosen, it has frequently returned and sometimes won. "One Hundred Years of Solitude", for instance, our November read, had to be nominated and voted three times before it won! :-)

Thanks for the explanation. First off, let me say that "upset" was the wrong word to use. I didn't cry myself to sleep last night :) "Disappointed" would have been more appropriate.

I think I've got the system here confused with another group I am also a member of. I believe they add every book that was seconded to the poll. Sorry about that :)

The fact remains though that it was not a 3-way tie. I just counted the seconds again, and Golden Compass/Northern Lights had 6 seconds, Remains of the Day 5 and Snow Falling on Cedars 4, just as I said in my first comment.

Maybe you overlooked this one (msg #46)? https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

well... shoot. Just recounted and getting 7 total votes as well, that's my fault.

Since these polls already started, suggested remedy is adding to January polls automatically. Sorry about that.

I fart in your general direction!

Thanks, will wait until January :)

Excellent gif!

Please, consider NOT voting for Dark Matter. It was a great let down. A made-for-movie book. Just my two cents.

Christine wrote: "Excellent gif!

Please, consider NOT voting for Dark Matter. It was a great let down. A made-for-movie book. Just my two cents."
Too bad! Seems no one listened to you. I voted Game of Thrones, but am glad it didn't win this time since I'll be reading the other two books as well. I need some reading room for my other club, after all.