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Anna wrote: "Allison wrote: "I would like to suggest "feel good [genre]" as a theme. Books that are upbeat or otherwise hopeful/humorous/whimsical."

Yes please! My current read is making me wan..."

What is the word for laughter and symathy? Right now I'm making a sound like "Ha!aaw..." but I don't think you can just add punctutation to things willy nilly like that, unless you're e.e. cummings.

Chris wrote: "Head to Head (both sf and fantasy) - a vote between two well-matched books (e.g., by the same author, or award winners in the same year, or very similar content)"

I'm not quite following this. Are you thinking something like each person would nominate two books with the same author/theme and only one could make the poll?

Allison wrote: "Do I still get to make suggestions? In light of some depressing rereads in 2018, I would like to suggest "feel good [genre]" as a theme. Books that are upbeat or otherwise hopeful/humorous/whimsical."

Of course :) I'm not sure how we could track "feel good" but "humour" is an option.

Sci-Fi
Afro-centrism - Kaion
AIs as people - Giulia
Alien Artifacts - Ramon
Alien MC - Ramon
Clones & Artificial Wombs - Glynis
Colonization - Marc Andre
Comic - Roland
Ecology - Kaion
First Contact - Glynis
Generation Ships - Glynis, Travis
Interplanetary/extrasolar economics - Marc Andre
Masterworks - Richard
Military - Roland
Mind uploading - Glen
No enemy - Cheryl
Parallel Worlds - Glynis
Post-Apocalypse - C Patrick
Reptiles, including aliens - Elinor
Simulated Reality - Glynis
Space Ark - Glen
Strange physical phenomena: black holes, wormholes, dark matter - Ramon
Technology gone wrong - Alice
The Singularity - Marc Andre
Time Paradox - Glen


Fantasy
Artisans - Kaion
Coming of Age - Grady
Kung Fu - Kieran
Mythical creatures/cryptozoology - Kaion
Necromancy - Kaion
Non-European setting - Michael
Non-human protagonists - Michael
Post-colonial - Kaion
Steampunk - J.w.
Voodoo - Kaion


Both
Anthology - Kaion
Alternate History - Michele
Branching out of popular books - Allison
Close Seconds, Underdogs - Chris, Allison
Coming of Age - Grady
Disabled protagonists - Elinor
Elderly or "Golden Age" Protagonists, excluding ones that get a new body - Marti
Feel Good - Allison
Graphic Novels - Norman
Hugo nominees that didn't win - Norman
Last place in polls - Allison
LGBT Protagonist - Introvert
No romance - Silvana
Non-Human Protagonist
Non-White MCs - Allison
Original Anthologies - Norman
SFWA Grand Masters - Norman

I definitely support a feel good theme - not only humor, but the kind of the book that manages to infuse you with optimism about life and humankind :-) .... kind of the opposite of grim/dark fantasy or sci-fi. But it needs to be realistic/ believable :-P

Can I also suggest a few other themes?
- Hard Fantasy or Science Fantasy
They are not exactly the same thing, however both require a plausible, internally consistent (and relatively well explained) world. Wikipedia describes them as:



- Hard Sci-Fi
- Unique/fresh worlds and (science or fantasy) systems. Basically books that minimize the copy paste of common tropes.
- Impressive world building (both S-F and fantasy). Books that cover multiple cultures, complex societies (explaining cultural, social, political and economic systems), multiple points of view for the story.
- 2017 award winning debut authors (both S-F and fantasy). This also to help us look for fresh ideas and writing styles.

Happy reading

Feel good book lists:


/shelf/show/...

scifi

Leq wrote: "2017 award winning debut authors (both S-F and fantasy). This also to help us look for fresh ideas and writing styles."

That's a great theme.

I like paladins as character archetype, maybe that could be a theme?

We have several series that we've read 2 out of 3 of the books or 1 of 2 books etc. How about a finish the series theme?

Monica wrote: "How about a finish the series theme?"

That would be great! All Clear

Sarah Anne wrote: "Chris wrote: "Head to Head...."

I'm not quite following this."

A mod would pick two closely matched books for the poll. No wasted votes on books that are way behind in a five-way race. The books would have to be well screened because you would be bypassing the nominations and have only two options. But it should be OK for a one-time or rare occasion.

That's a really interesting idea. There are some books that don't fit a theme but I don't want to put them in a random poll because they would crush everything else. An example would have been Artemis vs Ann Leckie's Provenance.

Ooh, what if both mods pick one, then you put those two against each other?

Nah, I want you guys to pick the books most of the time :)

I really like that idea though, Chris.

How about new looks at classic tropes, like mermaids, werewolves, or zombies. I can think of a couple recent examples for each. Most would be fantasy, though Mira Grant's Newsflesh series is sort of sci-fi (in that there is science in it),

The old Mack Reynolds series about doctors wasn't bad at the time it was written

Random idea I came up with: novella double feature. Instead of one longer novel, nominate two novellas, and then the top two voted works get read.

One idea: Genre crossing books, sci-fi/fantasy or mystery/sci-fi or YA/space opera (like Diabolic for example).

Lowell wrote: "Random idea I came up with: novella double feature. Instead of one longer novel, nominate two novellas, and then the top two voted works get read."

I was wondering about this as well! Another option is to find two novellas in a sequence and read them together. I'm thinking specifically of All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, or Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones (although the latter two are probably ruled out because Seanan McGuire = Mira Grant).

After seeing that a few books keep coming back in polls but never winning, I would like to suggest a multiple poll loser theme. So a book would qualify if it has been in and lost at least two polls for the group read. That way we could get to a book that has seen enough interest to be nominated and seconded, but hasn't ultimately made it to the group shelf.

Thanks Bobby! That could be a good one :)

Keep 'em coming!

Bobby wrote: "After seeing that a few books keep coming back in polls but never winning, I would like to suggest a multiple poll loser theme. So a book would qualify if it has been in and lost at least two polls..."

Good idea. I'd be up for a bridesmaids poll.

Bobby wrote: "After seeing that a few books keep coming back in polls but never winning, I would like to suggest a multiple poll loser theme. So a book would qualify if it has been in and lost at least two polls..."

Maybe implemented as a "Runner up" Theme, with all the books coming up second on the poll? It does not take into consideration others left 3rd, 4th and so on, but is a start...

Victoria wrote: "Bobby wrote: "After seeing that a few books keep coming back in polls but never winning, I would like to suggest a multiple poll loser theme. So a book would qualify if it has been in and lost at l..."

We have a runner up poll most years! It's a good second chance. We intend to have one this year as well.

It's a good thought on books with multiple successful nominations, too.

Keep the ideas coming guys, Anna and I refer to this thread constantly!

Victoria wrote: "Maybe implemented as a "Runner up" Theme, with all the books coming up second on the poll?"

This already happens every year! Next one is coming in December.

edit: lol, our timing is great, as always

Have you had themes around non-Hugo or Nebula award nominees? The Arthur C. Clarke, World Fantasy, John W. Campbell, other awards? Just to look at other kinds of lists?

The most recent (award related) one was World Fantasy, you can see all the past themes if you look at the polls. Often award nominees/winners find their way into polls fairly easily.

Anna wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Maybe implemented as a "Runner up" Theme, with all the books coming up second on the poll?"

This already happens every year! Next one is coming in December.

edit: lol, our timing..."

I like to think we're choreographed. :)

Allison wrote: "I like to think we're choreographed."

Yes, it's all planned!

Anna wrote: "The most recent (award related) one was World Fantasy, you can see all the past themes if you look at the polls. Often award nominees/winners find their way into polls fairly easily."

I also think we had an idea of "nominated for awards but didn't win" that we were considering (hopefully with a pithier name!) Same goal as yours, Anthony, I think! More great fiction that might not get as much love as winners of the big awards.

Yeah I was probably not clear in that I was suggesting books that had made shortlists but had not won.

Anthony wrote: "Yeah I was probably not clear in that I was suggesting books that had made shortlists but had not won."

Great minds! :)

For both fantasy and sf:

Five Years Ago: Books published five years ago. For example, if a poll is done in 2018, books published in 2013 would be eligible. Five years should be long enough to get some perspective, and also prices should be lower.

How about dead authors?

That one's been done, but of course we do recycle.

I would like to suggest a Decades theme. This would work for both SF and Fantasy. Any book published within a certain decade would be eligible for nomination. The mods would pick the decade. Lots of decades to choose from so this could possibly be a recurring theme every 12-18 months.

Short stories anthology

Karin wrote: "I would like to suggest a Decades theme. This would work for both SF and Fantasy. Any book published within a certain decade would be eligible for nomination. The mods would pick the decade. Lots o..."

Oh I like this one

I really want to talk about the decades thing. But I can't yet, so stay tuned!

Anna wrote: "That one's been done, but of course we do recycle."

What do you recycle the dead authors as? Compost? :P

Donald wrote: "Anna wrote: "That one's been done, but of course we do recycle."

What do you recycle the dead authors as? Compost? :P"

lolol

I have some really nice decoupage art that I've made, personally. *


*I just had a small panic attack thinking about cutting up a book, so let me come clean, I wouldn't do that. I'd send it off like a viking warrior.

How about debut novel?

We’ve done debut before. I remember because it was the only time a book I nominated won.

Have you considered doing a non-theme month? May sound chaotic, but I see several books get nominated stretching the themes, because people really want to read them. Or books that get nominated in several themes for the same reason. Maybe all of those could come together.
Unless there was an easy way to extract info from past polls to know books nominated more than, say, 3 times but never won.

Victoria wrote: "Have you considered doing a non-theme month? May sound chaotic, but I see several books get nominated stretching the themes, because people really want to read them. Or books that get nominated in ..."

Every year we have "runner up" polls where books that did not win can get a second go. We've also considered a "Always the Bridesmaid" poll with books that have been nominated often but never made it to the shelf.

Allison wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Have you considered doing a non-theme month? May sound chaotic, but I see several books get nominated stretching the themes, because people really want to read them. Or books that ..."

Oh, I like that group they did a great cover of Going to California.
No wait, that was something else. I like the concept for a voting section though. Books that get nominated a great deal but never quite make the grade should be placed in a separate category so that they are more likely go be chosen.

Nominated but not put to poll is harder as most of those have been deleted, so if that's what you mean, not much I can help with there, methinks. But yeah, we can definitely add this to the official list for ones that have been in polls often!

What about SFF short story collections as a theme?

So this one might not really be workable in terms of what would qualify or what wouldn't:

Authors that *should* be on our shelves but aren't

For example: Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant hadn't been on the shelves until a couple months ago even though she's been quite prolific.

I guess the issue would be how to set limits on what's acceptable without deferring to classics only. It could be similar to the runner up polls- using them to see who has been nominated multiple times without ever winning.

Sarah, I see what you're going for, and we've talked a little about some authors who really should be on the shelf. So far we've looked at including at them in the random polls, but I can't see why we couldn't make a theme of it.