MobileRead Book Club 2016 Categories Runoff Vote

[Dazrin]

Overall, I think it is good, but maybe we could switch June and August?

Right now both mystery and Thriller/Suspense/Crime are in the first half of the year and both of the non-fiction categories are in the second half. This would give a little more separation between them. That puts Science Fiction adjacent to Science but they are only similar in that they both have the word "science" in them not actual content for the most part, although a themed pair could be interesting too. Something sci-fi then something non-fiction in a field that was seen in the fiction book. Genetics or evolution or astrophysics and many other fields could be interesting to look at in that way especially if the first selection is a "hard" sci-fi book.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Overall, I think it is good, but maybe we could switch June and August?...

I had considered that before posting, and could be persuaded to do so if folks have no objection to "Science Fiction" and "Science" being adjacent. They are, as you said, very different categories, having in common only the word "science" in their titles. In fact, I am more disturbed by the fact that the mystery and thriller categories are too close together and unless I hear a convincing argument as to why such a change should not be made, I will make it. I think you're right. The two could complement each other.

[WT Sharpe]

And so...

January: Second Chance
February: Mystery
March: Patricia Clarke Memorial Library
April: Award Winners (fiction)
May: Science Fiction
June: Science
July: Free-For-All
August: Thriller, Suspense & Crime
September: Classics
October: Humor
November: History
December: Fantasy

[HomeInMyShoes]

Science. Bah...

:P

It made my day when my five year old said he wanted to be a scientist.

[WT Sharpe]

I can't believe Science won. I said it had no chance and I believed it. I am so happy to have been proven wrong. I love science books. The first book I ever read on a Kindle was Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson. There are so very many important and interesting science books on the market that I have high hopes for that month.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

How does this arrangement look? I've tried to space things apart to provide for maximum variety among the winners.

January: Second Chance
February: Mystery
March: Patricia Clarke Memorial Library
April: Award Winners (fiction)
May: Science Fiction
June: Thriller, Suspense & Crime Science
July: Free-For-All
August: Science Thriller, Suspense & Crime
September: Classics
October: Humor
November: History
December: Fantasy

Not good at all. Science Fiction NEEDS to be the category for September for any list to work.

This is what I think works. One month I will not give it to being changed in that list is September.

January: Second Chance
February: Patricia Clarke Memorial Library
March: Award Winners
April: Humor
May: Fantasy
June: Thriller, Suspense & Crime
July: Science
August: History
September: Science Fiction
October: Mystery
November: Classic
December: Free-for-All

However, I have one interesting idea that can work and is a bit different. If we take my list and swap December and January, we can have second chance be for January-November of 2016. That would work very well.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I can't believe Science won. I said it had no chance and I believed it. I am so happy to have been proven wrong. I love science books. The first book I ever read on a Kindle was Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson. There are so very many important and interesting science books on the market that I have high hopes for that month.

I've got a good book already picked out for science and it's from an author who is very good and we've already read one book from this author and it was a very good book.

[John F]

Whatever the list, I like the idea of July and/or August being "summer/beach reads". This may not work for all member locations.

[John F]

I like WTSharpe's latest list.

[Dazrin]

I prefer Tom's list. This one has the two non-fiction categories grouped together rather than spreading them out and it tries to move the predefined categories around. Tom's is better distributed through the year.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Not good at all. Science Fiction NEEDS to be the category for September for any list to work.

Why?

July was set as Free-For-All prior to voting so that shouldn't be moved.

However, I have one interesting idea that can work and is a bit different. If we take my list and swap December and January, we can have second chance be for January-November of 2016. That would work very well.

Non-starter, first because it was set as January prior to voting so shouldn't be moved. Second because having January as second chance makes the voting / nomination period for January (which happens in December) much easier during the holidays. Tom can just grab the list and start a vote; he doesn't need to spend time with the nomination process which is the time consuming portion.

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I prefer Tom's list.

Why?

Yeah good question. It "NEEDS to be"? Why?

Originally Posted by Dazrin

July was set as Free-For-All prior to voting so that shouldn't be moved.

Non-starter, first because it was set as January prior to voting so shouldn't be moved. Second because having January as second chance makes the voting / nomination period for January (which happens in December) much easier during the holidays. Tom can just grab the list and start a vote; he doesn't need to spend time with the nomination process which is the time consuming portion.

Yes parameters there were set up before voting should remain in place.

Originally Posted by John F

I like WTSharpe's latest list.

Me too.

Originally Posted by issybird

I truly think it's great that so many people will be getting the more mainstream book club they wanted and I hope it leads to a lot more participation for a really vibrant club. Just a cursory glance shows that some got six or even eight of their choices.

It's with reluctance that I have to admit that this is probably the wake-up call I needed. I think this has the makings of a great book group, but sadly not one that fits my reading parameters. I hope this doesn't sound like sour grapes, because it isn't. I think the process worked well, that the outcome is good and if I hoped for a final slate with a little more minority appeal, well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. No reason I can't drop by if a selection looks good to me.

I hope that you mean it about dropping in. I am in general not interested in genre fiction so that will limit my participation to a few months each year. But other than that . . .

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I hope that you mean it about dropping in. I am in general not interested in genre fiction so that will limit my participation to a few months each year. But other than that . . .

Oh, absolutely! I'm not a cut off my nose to spite my face type and reading and discussing a good book is about as fun as it gets. It's really just that the new slate offers little enough to appeal to me that I thought I should absent myself from the process. Hence, as a salesman would say, "No obligation on your part, Madam."

This seems like a good place to say, lest I seemed churlish, that I've enjoyed participating in the club. I've read six of the selections from this year (I was willing to give Dahlgren a try, too, until I saw how long it is ), and two, Our Man in Havana and The Age of Innocence, were among my favorite reads this year. I started participating in January 2011 and I've read 35 of the choices since. I have particularly fond memories of the discussion of Tender is the Night.

I'm looking forward to the Science nominations in particular. It's a category about which I know nothing and I'm willing to be educated.

[sun surfer]

Congrats to the Humour supporters. It can't get any closer than that. I think the last time we had a tie followed by a run-off tie in any vote in this club was way back in November 2011 for the monthly selection so it's a rare thing to be this evenly split.

The list looks good. I do notice that most of the new or resurrected categories (3/4 of Science, Humour, History, Fantasy) are at the end of the year so we won't get to them for a long while. We may even be voting on 2017 categories before we try out some of those first. However that's not a big deal and I'm just as good with keeping the list as is as with changing it, so whatever you prefer Tom.

Originally Posted by issybird

...I started participating in January 2011 and I've read 35 of the choices since...

This made me interested in my own stats. I joined this club in February 2011 and have read 42 of the selections since. This club has expanded my reading horizons over the last many years and I've really enjoyed it. There've been a few duds I've read such as Neverwhere, Shutter Island, Black Rain (and those three all within one six month period! ) or Doomsday Book but there've been many more good books including gems such as The Name of the Wind, Anna Karenina, Cloud Atlas or The Age of Innocence.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Congrats to the Humour supporters. It can't get any closer than that.

Of course the losers can always nominate humorous memoirs.