MobileRead For the 2016 categories, as a 1st step, can we....

[sun surfer]

If we do use Tom's idea of each of us nominating a list to vote on, I've come up with a preliminary list thinking about what everyone wants:

January - Second Chance
February - Romance
March - Modern Science Fiction
April - Mystery
May - Modern Nonfiction
June - Adventure Fiction
July - Free For All
August - Modern Young Adult
September - Fantasy
October - Modern Thriller
November - Classic
December - Short

Any category with "modern" would be limited to a certain time period - I'm thinking maybe 35 years which would basically give us from the '80s on, but I'd like to hear what others think on that length of time. I chose categories to add modern to that would seem to most lend themselves to newer books, and if anyone wants to nominate an older book in any of those categories, they'd be free to in July's Free For All month. This would ensure we have at least a third of the year without any older, classic or public domain nominations for the most part.

[treadlightly]

So the "Modern" in the post above only relates to when the book is written and not when it is set?
Many of these proposed lists don't have Historical Fiction as a category, and that is my only complaint with them.
What is an example of Adventure Fiction?

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

So the "Modern" in the post above only relates to when the book is written and not when it is set?
Many of these proposed lists don't have Historical Fiction as a category, and that is my only complaint with them.
What is an example of Adventure Fiction?

Yes, "Modern" is just when it was published, since people are complaining about older/public domain nominations happening every month. It could be set in any time period.

I like Historical Fiction, but it was never voted in as a category so I'm not sure how popular it would be. You could however nominate historical fiction books in Free For All.

Adventure Fiction is taking our Adventure/Travel category and restricting it to fiction. You could have westerns, Quartermain-type books, Verne-type books, international spy books, certain historical fiction or really just any book where there's a real adventure going on.

[Nyssa]

I like the mega poll idea.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

...I have changed a bit since I posted that too, mostly from reading the 2009 discussion on choosing categories for 2010 and having a sense of deja vu. They seemed to be having some of the same issues we are having now. I wasn't involved then (hadn't even heard of MR then), but it is eery how similar some of the complaints were. As I said in #44 above, the process then was similar to what has been going on here but with no vote at the end; pilotbob posted his proposed list after seeing a bunch of others, got some comments back, updated it a couple times and then said "This is it." I wonder if voting on this is actually hurting us rather than helping us. There are times when the democratic process just causes more hassle than necessary...

I couldn't agree more. I'd be completely fine if Tom just came up with a list and that was that, but I'm fine with whatever he wants to do. I've mellowed a lot when it comes to my opinions on the general club. I might still give them but they're not so adamant.

[caleb72]

One of the ways in which I was utilising the book club was to experience books I would not necessarily know about or experience if left to my own devices. It's not the only reason, but one of them. So previously I've been in favour of themes like "Classics", "Banned Books", "Award Winners" etc... as they encouraged me to move out of the genres I read most often.

When I look at the books I read over the course of a year, they are predominantly Science Fiction with all its sub-genres: cyberpunk, space opera, post-apocalyptic, dystopian etc... The book club offerings create an interesting punctuation mark in the reading. Suddenly you'll come across authors like Naguib Mahfouz, whom I'd never heard of before I started participating in the book clubs here.

But regardless of the value I've received, I'm starting to change my mind about how I perceive the value of the main book club. We now have the literary club which is pushing the boundaries of my reading experience almost every month. Maybe it would be fun for the main book club to focus on satisfying other reading experiences - where genres like science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, historical, romance etc.. are genres that are celebrated boldly and even possibly to the detriment of more literary or classical offerings. There's nothing inherently wrong with that kind of decision, and it doesn't prevent a classic being nominated for a theme in which it would fit. And we still have the literary club that focuses a bit more on these works for those that would like to dive in.

I'm very much a "go with the flow" kind of guy when it comes to this site, so I'll just keep on keeping on regardless of what is decided. So my rambling thoughts are just that...for what they're worth.

[Dazrin]

Here are my thoughts on categories if we do go with the "bunch of lists" approach:

January: Second Chance - Make it easy on WT Sharpe in December
February: Published Last Year - Wonderful new category suggestion
March: Classics - Opposite of February
April: Action/Adventure - Need some action after the classics
May: Science Fiction - Just like some people's term papers
June: Non-Fiction - Getting out of school, need to keep up our education
July: Free-For-All - Middle of the summer let's make it easy on ourselves
August: Mystery/Crime - It's a crime to have to go inside with weather like this.
September: Fantasy - Start of school we need some escapism
October: Thriller/Suspense - Horror should be thrilling
November: Napoleonic Era Naval Fiction - Let's see if you are paying attention, leaving this open for now
December: Short Stories - December is a busy month so let's keep it short

Reasoning:

• I know romance is the most popular genre overall, but I haven't seen evidence that romance is actually a favorite of anyone here, so it is out in favor of JSWolf's suggestion of something published in the last year. Moving it to February makes sure everything from December can be included. If it is in January that causes problems for WT Sharpe in December and also doesn't allow us to nominate books that get published right at the end of December.
• Horror is a very specific sub-set of either Fantasy/Science Fiction/Thriller/Suspense depending on what type of horror you read, so I substituted the general "Thriller/Suspense" in its place.
• Humor is also a difficult one to define - there is humor in all types of books. Even text books. I just don't care for the category that much.
• I have left November open but was thinking either YA or Historical Fiction unless one of the three above needs to be put back in.
• December is very busy so short stories seems like a good fit, but it is hard to justify SS given the recent participation. I am very ok with it going away.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

November - Classic

What is your definition of classic? There was one quoted in this thread that (IMHO) doesn't work.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What is your definition of classic? There was one quoted in this thread that (IMHO) doesn't work.

My definition is you know it when you see it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

My definition is you know it when you see it.

That definition works very well.

[WT Sharpe]

Perhaps we should post a poll on what selection process we should use.

* Vote on individual lists.
* Vote on 30 categories and keep the 11 most popular.
* A hybrid approach: Vote on 30 categories, keep the 6 most popular, then have members draw up lists of the 5 remaining categories and vote on them.
* Let me dictate the categories (Dazrin and sun surfer suggested this).
* Other....

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

* Let me dictate the categories (Dazrin and sun surfer suggested this).

I actually don't mind this approach. Although, I might not so eagerly support the philosopher-king notion when it comes to running many societies, I don't mind it so much in this microcosm. It could turn out to be quite elegant and efficient. And we still have all the democracy of nominations and voting to cling to.

[CRussel]

Well, if I have to choose a method for this category churn, I think I favour letting our fearless leader do it. I have several reasons for this. First, it avoids the endless campaigning for the preferred method. Thus letting us all save up our energy for complaining about the actual categories chosen. It also lets us focus this discussion around the actual categories, rather than the way we choose them. And, frankly, I care about that much more than about pointless discussions about the method we us to get to them.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Perhaps we should post a poll on what selection process we should use.

* Vote on individual lists.
* Vote on 30 categories and keep the 11 most popular.
* A hybrid approach: Vote on 30 categories, keep the 6 most popular, then have members draw up lists of the 5 remaining categories and vote on them.
* Let me dictate the categories (Dazrin and sun surfer suggested this).
* Other....

I really like keeping the 11 most popular genres, after a vote. Somehow I doubt if my favorite authors will ever get nominated for the reads. At least I'll be pleased that the genres that I don't ever read are not on the agenda. This way there'll be more chance that I'll be participating a few times per year. Some part of me really wants to participate. Let's see how the next voting goes.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Perhaps we should post a poll on what selection process we should use.

* Vote on individual lists.
* Vote on 30 categories and keep the 11 most popular.
* A hybrid approach: Vote on 30 categories, keep the 6 most popular, then have members draw up lists of the 5 remaining categories and vote on them.
* Let me dictate the categories (Dazrin and sun surfer suggested this).
* Other....

First Choice, Second Choice