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Archives > [2023] Poll 11 Voting

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message 1: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (last edited Aug 31, 2022 06:55AM) (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11194 comments Mod
It's now time to get ready to vote for our first set of prompts! The thread will be open for at least 24 hours before the poll gets posted. This is a good opportunity to ask any question you may have regarding the prompts, do some research, or ask for recommendations.

Voting will open in the morning of Wednesday, August 31 and results will be posted in the morning of Sunday, September 4 (CST time).

How it works:
- When the voting opens, follow the link to the mini-poll that will be added at the end of this post
- You have a total of 8 votes this poll to spread across your favorite and least favorite prompts (you can also use less than 8 votes)
- You can find examples of acceptable voting practices on the Introduction thread.
- The prompts with the more favorable votes (comparing top votes to bottom votes, and looking at the overall number of votes it received) will be added to the final list

We are asking people to include their Goodreads profile address when they vote. To find this, just go to your own profile and then copy the URL/web address. If for some reason you can't link to your Goodreads profile, please post your full Goodreads name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile. We’ve introduced this for two reasons:

1. On a few occasions in each poll, people have used more than the allotted number of votes, either because they aren’t familiar with the rules or just by mistake. When this happens our only option is to disregard the vote as we can’t identify the voter to ask them to resubmit. By asking for your profile address we’ll be able to message you and ask you to vote again if you’ve accidentally used more than the allotted number of votes.

2. Unfortunately a very small number of people have voted more than once per poll and so we are asking for this information to prevent duplicate votes.

As a reminder: You have a total of 8 votes to use among your top and bottom votes. The mods have access to each individual vote, so we can see if you use more than 8 votes. If you use more than 8 votes in the poll, your vote will have to be deleted, so please make sure to follow the directions so your voice can be heard.

Possible Prompts:
1. A book about a person/character with a disability
2. A book by an author with a 2 syllable first/given name and a 3 syllable last name/surname
3. A book from one of the Millions Most Anticipated lists
4. A winner or nominee of the Goodreads Choice Awards
5. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover
7. A book featuring The Widow, the Wallflower, or the Woman Scorned
8. A book published at least 23 years before you were born
9. A book mainly set underground or underwater
10. A book off the Totally Biased List of Tookie’s Favorite Books found in Louise Endrich's The Sentence
11. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
12. A book connected to (100 years of) Hollywood, Disney or the land of Oz
13. A book with 500+ pages
14. A wacky book
15. A book about healing

Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.

VOTE HERE: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SXBWXI/


message 2: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (last edited Aug 30, 2022 05:43PM) (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11194 comments Mod
THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FROM THE SUGGESTIONS THREAD

2. A book by an author with a 2 syllable first/given name and a 3 syllable last name/surname
Examples: Nicole Hannah-Jones, Larry McMurtry, Bryan Stevenson

NOTE: remember that names in China (anywhere else?) start with the surname and end with the given name, so for Chinese names it should be in the order of 3 syllable name, 2 syllable name. Not really sure if they have any 3 syllable surnames though...

3. A book from one of the Millions Most Anticipated lists
https://themillions.com/category/lists

2021:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


2022:
Jan - March https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Apr - June https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
July - Dec part 1 https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
July - Dec part 2 https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

5. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
Here is what I found on Wikipedia for the US:
Males: John. Robert. William. James. Charles. George. Joseph. Edward. Frank. Richard.
Females: Mary. Dorothy. Helen. Margaret. Betty. Ruth. Mildred. Virginia. Frances. Elizabeth.

This would vary by country, which is great! People could read in their own language with author names popular in their own country (if they wanted).

6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover
There are a few listopias for signs on covers if they're helpful:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

7. A book featuring The Widow, the Wallflower, or the Woman Scorned
Widow: the protagonist had a previous partner they were married to who died
Wallflower: the protagonist is an outsider or someone who would not normally be the center of attention
Woman Scorned: the protagonist that's been wronged and wants a bit of revenge

9. A book mainly set underground or underwater
Underground: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Underwater: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

10. A book off the Totally Biased List of Tookie’s Favorite Books found in Louise Endrich's The Sentence
Louise Erdrich's book The Sentence takes place in a bookstore. Throughout the book, the main character Tookie recommends and read a large variety of books which are combined into the 161+ book list Totally Biased List of Tookie’s Favorite Books (there are some series which count as one). We note that there are no Louise Erdrich books on the list because she was humble, but if you want to read one of her books, which should be on the list, that's cool too.

Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

11. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
Women’s Prize for Fiction, Wolfson History Prize, Wainwright Prize, Walter Scott Prize, Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, Waterstones Book of the Year, Windham–Campbell Literature Prizes, William C. Morris Award, Wales Book of the Year, World Fantasy Award, William Hill Sports Book of the Year, Western Australian Premier’s Australia-Asia Literary Award, Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Winterset Award, Wright Awards, Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards, White Pine Award, Wellcome Book Prize, Whitfield Prize, Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize, Woutertje Pieterse Prijs, Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, Writers Trust of Canada Awards.

Women's Prize https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Wolfson https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Wainwright https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Walter Scott https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Waterstones https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
William C Morris https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Wales Book of the Year https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
World Fantasy Award https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
William Hill Sports Book of the Year https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Will Eisner https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
White Pine https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

15. A book about healing
Ideas:
a character that heals such as a doctor, nurse or therapist
a book with a theme of healing - physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual
a book with healing in the title
a book with a character that has been healed - naturally or supernaturally
a book set in a place of healing - hospital, recovery center, retreat
a book with a relationship that has been healed


message 3: by Shelley (last edited Aug 30, 2022 10:18AM) (new)

Shelley | 425 comments The author name one is intended to not be US centric. The UK did a census in 1924 that can be used. Behind the Name has a list for a few different countries.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati...
Girls: MARGARET, MARY, JOAN, JOYCE, DOROTHY, KATHLEEN, DORIS, IRENE, ELIZABETH, EILEEN
Boys: JOHN, WILLIAM, GEORGE, JAMES, THOMAS, RONALD, KENNETH, ROBERT, ARTHUR, FREDERICK

New Zealand https://www.behindthename.com/top/lis...
Germany https://www.behindthename.com/top/lis...
France https://www.behindthename.com/top/lis...
Canada https://www.behindthename.com/top/lis...


message 4: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments Another lesser know "W" award is the Whitney Award.

https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...


message 5: by Deborah (new)

Deborah | 348 comments I like a lot of these! I don't think I have any downvotes at all this time. As of right now I am leaning towards:

1. A book about a person/character with a disability
2. A book by an author with a 2 syllable first/given name and a 3 syllable last name/surname
5. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
7. A book featuring The Widow, the Wallflower, or the Woman Scorned
9. A book mainly set underground or underwater
10. A book off the Totally Biased List of Tookie’s Favorite Books found in Louise Endrich's The Sentence
11. A book nominated for an award beginning with W
12. A book connected to (100 years of) Hollywood, Disney or the land of Oz


message 6: by RachelG. (new)

RachelG. Deborah wrote: "Another lesser know "W" award is the Whitney Award.

https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/..."


Thank you for sharing this one! There are many authors on this list I have either enjoyed or want to read.


message 7: by Beth (last edited Aug 30, 2022 11:13AM) (new)

Beth | 450 comments Another really good round of suggestions! I will probably end up voting for all of the awards/list prompts and I also love the popular name idea. The character trope prompt is a little different and could be a fun one to research.

I have a couple of downvotes too (a wacky book - sorry but I really dislike that word! and underground/underwater - could not find any options on my TBR) but overall I would be happy for the majority of these to be in the top.


message 8: by NancyJ (last edited Aug 30, 2022 11:53AM) (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Emily/ Ellie,

Goodreads has a (hard to find) section with all the award lists going back many years. They show all the winners, and sometimes short lists and nominees. Do you want to add some of them - or the main page - to the section above?

AWARDS PAGE
https://www.goodreads.com/award


Women's prize:
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Wolfson
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
World Fantasy
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Will Eisner
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Whitney
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Washington State
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Willa
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Whitbread
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Walter Scott
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Wishing Shelf
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...'
William C Morris YA debut
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Warwick prize for women in translation
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...
Warwick Prize for writing
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...

I don't know how to judge which are more important. There are many more. Unfortunately they aren't in alphabetical order, but you can search from the main awards page.


message 9: by Alicia (new)

Alicia | 1490 comments Hmm I think this is one that I'll be swayed by comments.

I'll definitely be upvoting popular first name, underground/underwater, and Tookie.

But no clue what I'll do with my other 5 votes.


message 10: by Pamela, Arciform Mod (new)

Pamela | 2420 comments Mod
Another great list of prompts, I hope some of the interesting ones get through!


message 11: by Ellie (new)

Ellie (patchworkbunny) | 2992 comments NancyJ wrote: "Emily/ Ellie,

Goodreads has a (hard to find) section with all the award lists going back many years. They show all the winners, and sometimes short lists and nominees. Can you add them to the sect..."


Is that the bit you go to when you click on an award listed on the book page? Those do rely on users adding the awards, so they won't always be complete but I'll see if I can find some more tomorrow. I know I have Wellcome and Wainwright books on my shelves, though maybe not the winners.


message 12: by Deborah (last edited Aug 30, 2022 11:40AM) (new)

Deborah | 348 comments NancyJ wrote: "Emily/ Ellie,

Goodreads has a (hard to find) section with all the award lists going back many years. They show all the winners, and sometimes short lists and nominees. Can you add them to the sect..."


Here is a link to the start of the W Awards lists on good reads (There are several pages).
https://www.goodreads.com/award?page=...


message 13: by Ellie (new)

Ellie (patchworkbunny) | 2992 comments Thanks Deborah, there's so many!


message 14: by NancyJ (last edited Aug 30, 2022 02:21PM) (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Hollywood/Disney/Oz

This could be a book:
*set in Hollywood, Oz, or a Disney location (fictional or real)
*based on a movie, or the making of a movie
*based on a character from Disney, Wizard of Oz, or a Hollywood movie.
*adapted into a movie. Book to screen
*about Hollywood - the stars, directors, people, history, movie making.
*about Disney or Wizard of Oz Characters, retellings, re-imaginations, spin-offs, history.
*The artistry, technology, cultural impact, business and leadership
*Memoirs

Hollywood:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

⭐Hollywood Historical Fiction⭐
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Disney
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Book to Screen Adaptations:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Books with new or upcoming movies 2019-2022 and pre-production
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls024497893/
https://www.vulture.com/2022/08/book-...


message 15: by Dubhease (new)

Dubhease | 1176 comments Oz connections

You've got lions, witches (good and wicked), men made of metal, teenage girls, little people, wizards (real and fake), flying monkeys

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


message 16: by Nadine in NY (new)

Nadine in NY Jones | 2286 comments I love so many of these ideas! I see it was another SUPER FAST round of suggestions, and I missed it all while I was at work! I'm thrilled to see The Millions Most Anticipated made it on our list for this poll. They post a "Most Anticipated" list twice each year, and Listopias have been created for each list -


EMILY: I don't know if you want to paste this into the top info or if it's too much. Here is a doc with the links if you want to cut & paste: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P...



2013:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

2014:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

2015:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

2016:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

2017:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

2018:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

2019:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

2020:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

2021:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


2022:
Jan - March https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Apr - June https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
July - Dec part 1 https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
July - Dec part 2 https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


message 17: by Martha (new)

Martha (marthag503) | 517 comments Thank you for those lists, Dubhease and NancyJ. Those helped me make a decision to vote for this prompt.


message 18: by Judy (new)

Judy | 273 comments For Hollywood, I would add the Historical fiction list for Hollywood. I found it through Mercury Pictures Presents which is also on the NPR list.


message 19: by Sydney (new)

Sydney  Paige (shpaige19) | 71 comments I'm loving the prompts for this round! I don't think there are any that I would down vote at the moment... the underwater/underground might be challenging, but I wouldn't mind the challenge.

As of now, my definite upvotes are:
- character/ person with a disability
- Widow, Wallflower, or Woman Scorned
- published 23+ years before you were born
- healing (I think this one could be a nice balance to the murder prompt from a few rounds ago!)

I'll probably take a day or two to decide if I want to do something with the other 4 votes, and check out the list prompts more closely in the meantime...


message 20: by NancyJ (last edited Aug 30, 2022 01:51PM) (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Judy wrote: "For Hollywood, I would add the Historical fiction list for Hollywood. I found it through Mercury Pictures Presents which is also on the NPR list."

Thanks Judy, I added the list. Mercury Pictures Presents looks really good. This is one of the authors I've been meaning to read for a long time. I added Siren Queen to my tbr also. I also might read Eve in Hollywood by Amor Towles.


Martha wrote: "Thank you for those lists, Dubhease and NancyJ. Those helped me make a decision to vote for this prompt."

Good to hear it! Check out the Hollywood historical fiction list too. There are a few new books that look really good.


message 21: by Mandy (new)

Mandy (djinnia) | 657 comments millions is very much looking like a down vote for me. it's 99.9% looks like literary fiction, which is not my genre.

I read to get away from real life issues since life is depressing enough.

I found three books out of the 20 odd links i went through. one i've read. two others are to fulfill prompts this year for aty and popsugar.


message 22: by Chrissy (new)

Chrissy | 1140 comments Just looking at the early list from this year, Millions definitely includes nonfiction, and some fantasy and sci fi. I agree that they weight toward literary though.


message 23: by Martha (new)

Martha (marthag503) | 517 comments NancyJ wrote: "Judy wrote: "For Hollywood, I would add the Historical fiction list for Hollywood. I found it through Mercury Pictures Presents which is also on the NPR list."

Thanks Judy, I added..."

Yes, those books (Mercury Pictures Presents and Siren Queen were the two books I was thinking of.

My rejects list is so long. This has been a great year for prompt suggestions!


message 24: by NancyJ (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Ellie wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Emily/ Ellie,

Goodreads has a (hard to find) section with all the award lists going back many years. They show all the winners, and sometimes short lists and nominees. Can you add t..."


No, it's not a user tag/shelf. They're official lists, though they might not have the newest results yet. (I noticed the William Morris one was missing the 2022 results.) Users can't influence them. It's an excellent resource even though it's not categorized in any way.

I love the Women's Prize, and I wanted to check out the World Fantasy awards which was recommended to me. The Warwick link would have helped us last year (or 2020?) when we had the Women in translation prompt.


message 25: by Mandy (new)

Mandy (djinnia) | 657 comments Chrissy wrote: "Just looking at the early list from this year, Millions definitely includes nonfiction, and some fantasy and sci fi. I agree that they weight toward literary though."

i must have missed the s/f stuff.


message 26: by NancyJ (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Dubhease wrote: "Oz connections

You've got lions, witches (good and wicked), men made of metal, teenage girls, little people, wizards (real and fake), flying monkeys

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"


Excellent! I saw that Hollywood is also working on a movie based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I also want to read Dorothy.

For Disney I know there are a lot of retellings.


message 27: by Jillian (new)

Jillian | 2902 comments 6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover

I might just be tired but what is a figurative sign on a cover? Does it mean something like someone holding up their middle and index fingers for peace, or a thumbs up for good?


message 28: by Mandy (new)

Mandy (djinnia) | 657 comments Jillian wrote: "6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover

I might just be tired but what is a figurative sign on a cover? Does it mean something like someone holding up their middle and index fin..."


when i look up figurative signs i get imagery, symbolism, and figurative language.

Auditory imagery appeals to the sense of hearing.
Gustatory imagery appeals to the sense of taste.
Kinetic imagery conveys a sense of motion.
Olfactory imagery appeals to the sense of smell.
Tactile imagery appeals to the sense of touch.
Visual imagery is created with pictures (many visual images are pictures of things representing well-known sayings or phrases).

sybolism -- a term, a name, or even a picture that may be familiar in daily life, yet that possesses specific connotations in addition to its conventional an obvious meaning

metaphor, simile, hyperbole, alliteration, personification.


message 29: by NancyJ (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Mandy wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "Just looking at the early list from this year, Millions definitely includes nonfiction, and some fantasy and sci fi. I agree that they weight toward literary though."

i must have m..."


I recognized only 1-2 SFF books on each list, but there might be many more. I liked - Sea of Tranquility, Exhalations (sci-fi), Lanny (fantasy), The Testaments (speculative), Migrations (near future), and Nothing to see here (magical realism). Overall this list seems to be more literary than NPR, which surprised me. One of the 2022 lists had True Biz (realistic) which I really liked, but not The Many Daughters of Afong Moy. Some of the more popular authors with 2022 books are missing (like Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sara Addison Allen, Fredrick Backman).


message 30: by Jillian (new)

Jillian | 2902 comments Mandy wrote: "Jillian wrote: "6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover

I might just be tired but what is a figurative sign on a cover? Does it mean something like someone holding up their midd..."


I’m still not getting what that would be on a cover.


message 31: by Mahi (last edited Aug 30, 2022 04:13PM) (new)

Mahi | 95 comments I don't like a lot of these but there are still some great ones!

Definite upvotes:
5. A book by an author with a first name popular in 1923
9. A book mainly set underground or underwater
11. A book nominated for an award beginning with W

Might upvote:
2. A book by an author with a 2 syllable first/given name and a 3 syllable last name/surname
7. A book featuring The Widow, the Wallflower, or the Woman Scorned
13. A book with 500+ pages
15. A book about healing

I think the sign on the cover one is way too broad, and I don't like any of the lists.


message 32: by NancyJ (last edited Aug 30, 2022 04:10PM) (new)

NancyJ (nancyjjj) | 3583 comments Mandy wrote: "Jillian wrote: "6. A book with a sign (literal or figurative) on the cover

I might just be tired but what is a figurative sign on a cover? Does it mean something like someone holding up their midd..."


That's deep Mandy. I was thinking figurative might mean that the cover makes us think of a sign, without looking like a photograph of an actual sign. So based on what you said, maybe the visual imagery might be neon lights, shapes or symbols that we associate with signs, and lettering we might see above an old movie theater. Most of the signs aren't very realistic, but many of them gave a sense of time and place (e.g. seedy run-down motels or strip joints from 40 years ago).

Jillian, it helped me to look at the examples. I think the figurative signs might be the ones that don't look totally realistic, yet you still get the idea that it's supposed to be a sign. Many are drawings or stylized images. It's like a drawing of a human figure. You wouldn't confuse it with a real person, but you know what it represents. I like your idea of the hand signals. I just read a book that showed a little sign language, but I didn't even think of that.


message 33: by Pam (new)

Pam (bluegrasspam) | 3843 comments My thought Jillian, WRT the use of a figurative sign, was to open the prompt up to things other than road and business signs. I was thinking of an object that might be a sign of a theme in the book or a clue for a mystery. I didn’t have anything specific in mind but I thought it would allow for some creativity. Stephen King’s book Hearts In Atlantis came to mind, when I suggested it, with the upside down posters for missing pets. I think there were other signs like hearts and peace signs.


message 34: by Edie (new)

Edie | 1147 comments Dubhease wrote: "Oz connections

You've got lions, witches (good and wicked), men made of metal, teenage girls, little people, wizards (real and fake), flying monkeys

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"


I loved the YA Dorothy Must Die series... an inventive riff on the standard Oz story. Not sure whether I will vote up on this, but if this get through these books are winners.


message 35: by Jillian (new)

Jillian | 2902 comments Thanks for the feedback.


message 36: by Robin P, Orbicular Mod (last edited Aug 30, 2022 05:32PM) (new)

Robin P | 4001 comments Mod
I'm not a fan of lists in general, but I like Tookie's list. Unsure enough people will know what it is but I'm glad it was resuggested. I also like wacky, author name from 100 years ago, and healing. Underground or underwater seems difficult to me. (I was going to say "confining", which would be appropriate.)


message 37: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11194 comments Mod
Thanks for those lists, Nadine. The Google doc helps tremendously!

I addd the 2021 and 2022 lists as those were the lists that were (attempting to be) posted in the suggestions thread.

As a reminder (mostly for my own sanity) the only thing that goes in the second post on this thread is the ideas and suggestions from the suggestions thread. I can't always keep up with the pace of the voting thread to amend the second post constantly, so that's where I draw my boundary lol. That's why I recommend gathering your thoughts before you suggest a prompt (though I know it can be hard when the suggestions thread goes so quickly!)


message 38: by Irene (last edited Aug 30, 2022 07:24PM) (new)

Irene (irene5) | 914 comments A note on the prompt about syllables in names - yes, many Asian countries including China do use the surname first, but Korean and Chinese surnames are almost exclusively monosyllabic so authors from those countries would essentially be ruled out anyway. Names that might appear multisyllabic to western readers (Liu, Vuong, Yuan, etc) are actually monosyllabic. The very common Vietnamese surname "Nguyen" is pronounced "Wen".

As an added complication, some countries like Japan use their surnames first in Japanese BUT reverse it when writing their names in English. Many other Asian authors published in English will do the same. So rather than assuming that Asian authors will always use their surnames first, I'd recommend researching which name is their given or surname.

Some examples:
- The author of Pachinko in Min Jin Lee. Lee is her surname, Min Jin is her given name. Jin is not a middle name.
- Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War, is a title. Sun is his surname but Tzu is not his given name (I think it means "Master" or something like that).

Disclaimer: I'm not fluent in any Asian language, but I worked/lived in Asia for a few years. Please correct me if anything I said is incorrect!


message 39: by Michelle (new)

Michelle (michellereading) | 102 comments I am not sure how to look for listopias and probably can’t on my phone, but if I can figure it out I would be happy to list some suggestions for the disability prompt. I started making my own shelf with related books - wonder if I can share that?


message 40: by Tracy (new)

Tracy | 3066 comments Michelle - finding Listopias on your phone is harder, but not impossible. You can’t use a menu on the GR app to donut though. You have to go to Goodreads.com in a browser to don’t the menu item for Listopia. It gets very small since those pages are not built specifically for phone. If you can manage that, great, but otherwise I’d suggesting using a computer for that if you have one available.


message 41: by Mandy (new)

Mandy (djinnia) | 657 comments Irene wrote: "A note on the prompt about syllables in names - yes, many Asian countries including China do use the surname first, but Korean and Chinese surnames are almost exclusively monosyllabic so authors fr..."

90% of all the light novels and manga I process have the name westernized so it’s reads first last. The Royal Tutor, Vol. 1 has the name higasa akai. It’s been flipped to westernize it. It should be Akai higasa for it to read properly.


message 42: by Tracy (new)

Tracy | 3066 comments @Irene - thank you for your knowledge about some Asian names. Even though I may have confused things by using my limited knowledge, at least it sparked this discussion so we could (or at least I could) learn more than I already knew.

I’m sorry that it seems that this prompt will eliminate the use of Chinese authors, and it sounds like at least some Vietnamese authors. That was not my intent — just a byproduct of using “23” as the starting point for this idea.


message 43: by Michelle (new)

Michelle (michellereading) | 102 comments Thanks Tracy. I have actually never searched for a listopia before, so it is all a learning experience for me.


Let’s see if this works.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


message 44: by Tracy (new)

Tracy | 3066 comments It worked Michelle!


message 45: by Michelle (new)

Michelle (michellereading) | 102 comments All I am doing now is finding books to add to my own list. 😂.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...


message 46: by Riley (last edited Aug 30, 2022 08:50PM) (new)

Riley | 7 comments I really like the idea of reading Louise Erdrich's The Sentence for one of the other prompts (maybe the one about a book where books are important?) and then reading one of the Tookie List books to go after it. That's definitely getting an upvote from me.

I also love the book about healing one. It just feels very positive and optimistic, and I think I could do with more of that in my reading.

The author name ones look pretty fun too.


message 47: by Bec (new)

Bec | 1337 comments Riley wrote: "I really like the idea of reading Louise Erdrich's The Sentence for one of the previous rounds' prompts (maybe the one about a book where books are important?) and then reading one of the Tookie Li..."

I've tried The Sentence twice already this year and it's just not doing it for me so I've had to abandon in twice. I'm therefore not interested in this anymore.

I really dislike the 23 years before you were born too - I don't particularly like old books and we already have the centruies one which will force me to read old books.


message 48: by Conny (new)

Conny | 647 comments Shelley wrote: "The author name one is intended to not be US centric. The UK did a census in 1924 that can be used. Behind the Name has a list for a few different countries.

Whoah, my favorite German-language author's first name is even top of the list for Germany in 1923! And seeing as she very reliably publishes two books a year, that would be a rock-solid prompt for me :D

I am liking this round of prompts, there are a few creative ones. Very curious to see which ones will make it in!


message 49: by Ellie (new)

Ellie (patchworkbunny) | 2992 comments Bec wrote: "I don't particularly like old books and we already have the centruies one which will force me to read old books...."

The multiweek prompt is a setting prompt so please don't force yourself to read books written in different centuries if you don't want to! I'm planning on reading new books for it.


message 50: by Ellie (new)

Ellie (patchworkbunny) | 2992 comments NancyJ wrote: "No, it's not a user tag/shelf. They're official lists, though they might not have the newest results yet....."

They can be edited by GR librarians which makes me think they are user generated. I doubt Goodreads HQ spends time adding in all those obscure prizes! I've had to add awards to books before when they've not been listed.


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