Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

It's now time to get ready to vote for our next 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 evening of Thursday August 31 and results will be posted on Monday September 4.

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 Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 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 Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ profile, please post your full Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ name with enough identifiable information that we'll be able to access your profile.

Possible Prompts:
1. A book that’s a collection of short stories or essays
2. A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian
3. A graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist
4. A book with a character who works in an eating establishment
5. A book by an author from a country bordering the Indian Ocean
6. A book with a common household object on the cover
7. A book with a character reminiscent of a Nightmare Before Christmas character
8. A book with a real person as a character
9. A book where a character is a musician
10. A book with a senior citizen character
11. A book involving a crime other than a murder
12. A book that is on a Five Books list (readers choice of which list)
13. A book with character who is a fish-out-of-water
14. A book with an ex
15. A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book

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

VOTE HERE:

Ideas, Lists, and Links from the Suggestion Thread

1. A book that’s a collection of short stories or essays

/list/show/6...


2. A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian
journalist /list/show/1...
librarians and book sellers
/list/show/4...
writers
/list/show/6...

3. A graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist

4. A book with a character who works in an eating establishment
Does not have to be the main character or the main focus of the book.

Characters could be chefs, sous chefs, pastry chefs, chocolatiers, bakers, bartenders, servers, busboys (busmen/women?), dishwashers, managers, hosts/hostesses, sommeliers, cafeteria ladies, buffet attendant, catering manager, fry cook, line cooks, short order cooks, sushi chefs, ice cream scooper, sandwich maker, etc.

Eating Establishments would cover restaurants, bars, bakeries, cafes, food trucks, cafeterias, banquet lines/halls, coffee shops, diners, fast food/take aways, food cart, ice cream shop, candy store (like See’s, or fancier), deli, inns, pubs, etc.

Genre-wise I can see this one being filled by (but not limited to):
� cozy mysteries
� romance
� fantasy (Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes)
� memoir (Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly)
� contemporary or historical fiction (Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow)
� and even science/speculative fiction (Becky Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built, which involves a traveling tea cart - the food truck of the future!).

Related Listopias:
Restaurant Reads: /list/show/1...
Book Set in a Restaurant: /list/show/1...
Waitress Heroine in Romance: /list/show/4...
Cafes, Inns, Pubs, and Restaurants in the Title: /list/show/1...
Cozy Mysteries: Seafood & Marine Themes: /list/show/1...
Restaurant Counters (diner/soda shoppe counters on cover): /list/show/7...
Restaurant Management (non-fiction): /list/show/1...
Food Truck Fiction: /list/show/1...
Coffee and Love: Coffeehouses and Baristas in Romance: /list/show/8...
Set in a Coffee Shop: /list/show/1...
Just Desserts Romances - Hero or Heroine is Chocolatier, Baker, Pastry Chef or Has Dessert Related Career: /list/show/4...
Bakeries and Bakers: /list/show/1...
Candy Store: /list/show/6...
Behind the Bar (non-fiction: recipes, memoirs, histories): /list/show/1...

5. A book by an author from a country bordering the Indian Ocean
includes: Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Seychelles, Maldives, and Australia

6. A book with a common household object on the cover
Chairs /list/show/3...
Clocks /list/show/8...
Umbrellas /list/show/3...
Dishes /list/show/6...
Lock and Key (mostly covers, a few titles) /list/show/7...
Framed wall art /list/show/7...
Candles and lamps /list/show/3...
Cutlery /list/show/1...
Teapots /list/show/1...
Tea cups /list/show/7...
Coffee cups /list/show/7...

7. A book with a character reminiscent of a Nightmare Before Christmas character
"Oogie Boogie and his crumbling sack of insects represent the hollowness of all evil people in the world. Sally represents the innocence and hopeful love-struck quality, while Jack represents identity and demand for adventure. "
Helpful link about the characters:

8. A book with a real person as a character

9. A book where a character is a musician

10. A book with a senior citizen character
/list/show/2...

11. A book involving a crime other than a murder

12. A book that is on a Five Books list (readers choice of which list)


13. A book with character who is a fish-out-of-water
/list/show/1...
A character trying to make sense of a new environment or culture
First contact with another planet or culture
A person with a sense of being "other"
An immigrant, the new kid, an undercover agent, a space traveler
Someone who feels like they don't fit in
A person starting over in a completely new kind of job
A character thrown into a new culture, religious setting, age group, life style, landscape
/list/show/3...

14. A book with an ex
It can be a character prompt with an ex-lover/partner, ex-friend, ex-enemy.
Can deal with ex-situations (even if the character isn’t present) like past divorce, job, life.
Or could just have -ex in the title or author name

15. A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book
Examples -no spoilers just information about characters taken from the book summary.
The Only Girl in Town - sounds like the main character ends up literally being the only girl in town.
The Golem of Brooklyn - the golem
The Burnout - referring to main character
The Heiress - sounds like this would be the main character
Jane Eyre - name of main character
Mister Magic - Who is the former TV Host
I'm Not Done with You YetI'm Not Done with You Yet - probably referring to main characters and her former friend.

Good list! I see 8 that I really like.

Good job. We have many lists to shop through this week.

Senior Citizen Characters
/list/show/2...
/list/show/1...


A real person as a character - could that include a memoir or a biography, or would that be cheating? Or a KIS option.

The Thursday Murder Club fans will like #10

For my suggestion of graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist

/list/show/2...


KIS - writer and artist are one in the same
BIO - all authors, editors, artists, letterers, colourists are female

KP wrote: "Good job. We have many lists to shop through this week.

A real person as a character - could that include a memoir or a biography, or would that be cheating? Or a KIS option.

[book:The Thursday ..."


Found a listopia

/shelf/show/...

KP wrote: "Good job. We have many lists to shop through this week.

A real person as a character - could that include a memoir or a biography, or would that be cheating? Or a KIS option.



I love #10 and have The Last Devil to Die already on hold at the library just waiting for release day!

Mandy wrote: "KP wrote: "Good job. We have many lists to shop through this week.

A real person as a character - could that include a memoir or a biography, or would that be cheating?

Mandy, you might also finds listopias called biographical fiction (or bio fic). A lot of historical fiction also has real life characters, though they might be heavily fictionalized.

I really enjoyed The Midwife's Revolt. Abigail Adams was a significant character and it was loosely based on something that really happened during the revolutionary war.

Graphic novel females

Hiromu Arakawa

CLAMP

Rumiko Takahashi

Aya Kanno

NancyJ wrote: "Mandy wrote: "KP wrote: "Good job. We have many lists to shop through this week.

A real person as a character - could that include a memoir or a biography, or would that be cheating?

Mandy, you..."

I loved The Light in Hidden Places.

It is going to be interesting to see the results with so many character prompts. I wonder though with having so many in the same poll that the votes will be spread out. My initial thoughts are upvoting 3 and down voting 1.

First impressions (great list overall in general):

1. A book that’s a collection of short stories or essays - Prompt fatigue. I won't downvote, but don't really care for it enough to vote it in either.

2. A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian - By all logic this should be prompt fatigue for me too, but I still love it. Definite upvote.

3. A graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist - Very strong maybe. I would need to look at some options.

4. A book with a character who works in an eating establishment - I seem to have quite a few of these on my TBR. I find the term "eating establishment" a bit awkward for some reason though.

5. A book by an author from a country bordering the Indian Ocean - Not interested. I'm very likely to just default to choosing a book from Australia unless I have something else that fits already on my TBR, and I've often had similar prompts.

6. A book with a common household object on the cover - A very strong maybe. I'd have to look at my options a bit, but it's interesting.

7. A book with a character reminiscent of a Nightmare Before Christmas character - I've actually never seen this movie all the way through, so I'm not familiar enough with the characters to want this.

8. A book with a real person as a character - Meh, I'd be fine if this got in but wouldn't vote for it.

9. A book where a character is a musician - Not particularly interested.

10. A book with a senior citizen character - Possibly. I'm a little prompt fatigued, but I always tend to find interesting options for this kind of prompt so it's definitely not a downvote.

11. A book involving a crime other than a murder - I like this a lot! I read a lot of thrillers, but most of them tend to involve murder so this might be an interesting challenge.

12. A book that is on a Five Books list (readers choice of which list) - Maybe. I need to play around with the site a bit.

13. A book with character who is a fish-out-of-water - Very strong maybe, depending on options. I love this trope in general.

14. A book with an ex - Love this! Definite upvote

15. A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book - Interesting and not too hard to fulfill.

I'm excited about the graphic novel by women, because women are FINALLY becoming more visible in the comics world!!!

Here are some external links to lists of books written by and/or drawn by women (note the prompt is for a book that is both written by AND drawn by women, and not all of the books in these lists will meet that criterion, but it gives agood idea of the names to look for):






and a very comprehensive list of women working in comics today - this lists writers, inkers, colorers, and more:

So I was awake for the nominations but was deep in a CT and MRI scanner so missed it all. My first thoughts are as follows:

1. A book that’s a collection of short stories or essays - nope, definite downvote. I really do not like reading short stories or essays and we have done it so often (feels like it - but probably just feels that way as I really dislike it)

2. A book with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian - yep love this. Definite upvote

3. A graphic novel/comic with a female main writer and female main artist - downvote. I dislike graphic novels, much to my son's horror - he is forever trying to get me to read his. And this one then adds in it needs to be a femal main writer and female main artist so I probably can't even read something my son has (he has been trying to get me to read his). And graphic novels aren't great on kindle or audio my preferred reading ways, so nope from me.

4. A book with a character who works in an eating establishment - I like this. May upvote.

5. A book by an author from a country bordering the Indian Ocean - as an Australian I'm always happy to have an excuse to read a book by an Australian author - it was my aim this year to read more and i've done great. so upvote for me.

6. A book with a common household object on the cover - I like this. May upvote. I'm sure I will be able to find something on my TBR.

7. A book with a character reminiscent of a Nightmare Before Christmas character - don't know the story, probably neutral for me.

8. A book with a real person as a character - don't really like this but not sure if I dislike it enough to downvote or will leave it neutral. I haven't minded books I've read with real people like Half Life but I've just happened to fall into books like this (e.g ARCs), so would have to find something off my TBR which isn't really what I want to be doing at the moment.

9. A book where a character is a musician - I like this - may upvote.

10. A book with a senior citizen character- I like this - may upvote. We have done this may times before though.

11. A book involving a crime other than a murder - will have to think about this - probably an upvote - but I'll need to check my TBR and see what types of crime I have. I'm currently listening to one about a kidnapping - so definitely enjoy these types of stories.

12. A book that is on a Five Books list (readers choice of which list) - neutral for me

13. A book with character who is a fish-out-of-water - don't really like this , but probaby don't dislike it enough to downvote

14. A book with an ex - no real feelings on this one either.

15. A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book - so would this work for a book with someones name in the title like we had this year? I could definitely go with it if that works.

Jillian wrote: "It is going to be interesting to see the results with so many character prompts. I wonder though with having so many in the same poll that the votes will be spread out. My initial thoughts are upvo..."

Hopefully the best character prompts will get voted in. I don't think they hurt each other being in the same poll. We need more. The Eating establishment should be a setting not a character prompt.

There is a problem with the set of listopias for #2.

I agree that books about journalists are "the best books ever" but alas, the list doesn't have the right books. My first clue was Harry Potter. The only journalist is Rita Skeeter.

Journalists
/list/show/1...
/list/show/1...

Musician characters. Does anyone have recommendations or a good list?

I saved this link from another challenge.
/genres/music

@Bec - I don’t have strong feelings one way or another about graphic novels, but let me tell you about my recent experience with a graphic novel on a Kindle. I know Kindles are not great for graphics. I was surprised to find that (at least with this graphic novel) the software was set up to make graphic novels easier to read. You start seeing each full page, and then as you tap it zoomed into each individual frame of the story, so you could see each part of the story better.

I’d never heard that Kindles would do this, and it made reading the graphic novel much easier!

@Judy - re: the character who works at an eating establishment �

This was my suggestion. I can see why you might think this should be a setting prompt, but it is not. Because there are so many jobs in the food industry, this seemed like a more succinct way to word having a character who does any of these various jobs. Maybe if I had said Food Industry and not Eating Establishment? But I didn’t want a grocery worker, or a cookbook author, or a factory worker in a poultry plant�

If it was a setting prompt then it could be about the patrons, but my ideas was to be about the workers who provide the meals for the patrons.

Judy wrote: "Musician characters. Does anyone have recommendations or a good list?

I saved this link from another challenge.
/genres/music"

Actually the genre page you have is probably quite useful. Many of the books about music are also about musicians. Or replace "music" with "musicians" in your link. There are a lot of listopias about romance with rock stars, which might or might not interest you.

I really enjoyed these:
Briefly, A Delicious Life - Chopin is one of the characters. It's also a ghost story.
Light from Uncommon Stars - it's a crazy genre mash, and the music parts are wonderful
The Violin Conspiracy
Daisy Jones & The Six
The People We Keep
If I Stay (I don't usually like YA romance, but I loved this book)
All My Puny Sorrows
The Songbook of Benny Lament
Sins in Blue - under 100 ratings. Another ATY member recommended it.

Judy wrote: "Musician characters. Does anyone have recommendations or a good list?

There is an author, although he hasn't written anything recently, that I really enjoyed: Gerald Elias. The first book in the series is Devil's Trill. That one and Danse Macabre were my favorites. The main character is a cranky old man, who was a brilliant violinist and is now going blind. He becomes a rather reluctant teacher but only for the best of the best. And he solves mysteries.

Tracy wrote: "@Bec - I don’t have strong feelings one way or another about graphic novels, but let me tell you about my recent experience with a graphic novel on a Kindle. I know Kindles are not great for graphi..."
Thanks, good to know.

I was asleep for the suggestions, I like the list. My only downvote is the graphic novel, too expensive in my part of the world, and I've never found one in a charity shop/used book shop. But I may leave it as neutral and Wildcard it if it gets in.
I like all the character suggestions, I'll have a closer look at the Nightmare characters as I don't know the film.
I like the Five Book list and Household Item.
I don't usually read short story collections, but I own two that I haven't read, will probably leave that one neutral.

I also found a lot of options on the suggested list for books with a senior citizen character.

I'm going to have 6 upvotes and 2 downvotes. I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion but I hate books about booksellers/writers etc....if it gets in I expect I'll have lots of good options and probably love what I read, but this prompt always makes me groan!!!! I know lots of other people love it though...so...let the voting decide.

Shannon SA wrote: "I was asleep for the suggestions, I like the list. My only downvote is the graphic novel, too expensive in my part of the world, and I've never found one in a charity shop/used book shop. But I may..."

Some graphic novels are available through Prime Reading or Kindle Unlimited. I was surprised how well they read on my laptop/phone.

Lindsay wrote: "Shannon SA wrote: "I was asleep for the suggestions, I like the list. My only downvote is the graphic novel, too expensive in my part of the world, and I've never found one in a charity shop/used b..."

The first time I tried a graphic novel on kindle I couldn’t enlarge it and the contrast wasn’t nearly sharp enough for me. But it sounds like they might have improved them since then. My library might carry some on kindle. I didn’t know if that would help Shannon if she doesn’t have good library. access.

Kindle unlimited offers a free trial period. Also they keep throwing 3 free months at me to get me to rejoin.

My least favorite is the household items cover prompt. They can be too tiny. I won’t even attempt to look at the covers for fear of triggering another week long migraine.

I won’t ask anyone to look for me, but if anyone happens to notice some qualifying books you think I might love, I would sure consider the list of books before I vote.

And if it gets in, I’ll rely on the listopia.

*A book that’s a collection of short stories or essays
**5. A book by an author from a country bordering the Indian Ocean
**9. A book where a character is a musician
**10. A book with a senior citizen character
*11. A book involving a crime other than a murder
**13. A book with character who is a fish-out-of-water

I have enough books on my tbr for the prompts above, but I’ll need more examples on the others. When the links gets fixed tomorrow, that might help.

Will downvote five books because it seems to be all new releases and not keen on that. Downvote graphic novel cos I find them expensive and overrated. As I ended up having a hand in creating two prompts this week they will be upvotes

Thomas - I’ve been following Five Books on Facebook for awhile but have never been on their webpage. I didn’t even know there was one. I can assure you that their books aren’t all new releases. The last post I saw was The Best Speculative Fiction About Gods and Godlike Beings. The five authors represented were C. S. Lewis, Edwin A. Abbott, Madeline L’Engle, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett. I really like this prompt because I’m already reading the FB posts and would like to choose something I find. Usually I just add them to my TBR and there’s no urgency to reading them.

The manga I read on my kindle iPad app is crystal clear and sharp.

I turn the iPad so only one page is visible because it’s easier for me to read because it enlarges the page. I need to get new glasses but it’s hard to get to a place with an eyeball doc.

I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?

Both short stories and graphic novels are covered under the not a novel prompt so they kind of feel like duplicate prompts.

A book that fits "fish out of water" could be used for the Ben & Jerry's prompt (Phish Food).

I'm happy to see the keys, clocks, chairs, etc. covered with the broader prompt "household object."

I would like the Indian Ocean prompt more if it mirrored the Mediterranean prompt, being about setting rather than author nationality.

I'm really enjoying exploring the Five Books website!

Bec wrote: "And graphic novels aren't great on kindle or audio my preferred reading ways, so nope from me...."


I used to think comics couldn't be good as e-books, too, but they've really improved the reading format for them, and I almost prefer it now! My eyesight is going and sometimes it's hard for me to decipher the chicken scratch text if the letterer got too "artsy," but if it's an e-book I can just ... zoom in! voila! easy to read! you can tap to read one panel at a time, double tap to go back to full page. You can zoom in or not.

I don't know if you have hoopla there? My library seems to be going toward using that format instead of hard copies for comics, so I borrow a lot of comics through hoopla.

Lindsay wrote: "I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion but I hate books about booksellers/writers etc..."


LOL same here! I don't understand why it's so popular! And like you, I'm not downvoting it, either, I'm leaving it to chance.

Thomas wrote: "Will downvote five books because it seems to be all new releases and not keen on that."

It's definitely not all new releases. There's actually a whole category devoted to Classic English Literature. And a quick scroll through the contemporary fiction category reveals a list of the best debut novels of 2010.

Judy wrote: "Musician characters. Does anyone have recommendations or a good list?

I saved this link from another challenge.
/genres/music"







/list/show/8...

dalex wrote: "I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?

Both short stories and graphic novels are covered under the not a novel pro..."

This isn't my prompt so I can't be certain but I interpreted "real person as a character" like this:



I found this Listopia: /list/show/3...

The comments really helped me. At first glance through the list I didn't think I liked anything. Now I think my upvotes will be:

1. A book that's a collection of short stories or essays - I think it does feel like a repeated prompt this year but I love short stories.

2. A books with a main character who is a bookseller, writer, journalist or librarian - I wasn't a fan until I read the comments and looked at what books that would include.

3. A graphic novel - I've been trying to read more - haven't read many this year though. This prompt will direct me to some I might not have read on my own.

6. A book with a common household object on the cover - I like cover prompts

8. A book with a real person as a character - I have several of these I want to read

12. A book that is on a Five Books list - I like book lists

Since I have six listed I probably won't vote for the short story/essay one but I won't downvote it either.

Most of the links in the first post are not taking me to a relevant page. Is it just me or others having this problem?

So sorry about the links everyone! They should be fixed now! Goes to show haste makes waste...

Tracy wrote: "@Bec - I don’t have strong feelings one way or another about graphic novels, but let me tell you about my recent experience with a graphic novel on a Kindle. I know Kindles are not great for graphi..."

I do this for graphic novels using the kindle app on my phone! My kindle is black and white so having the kindle app is a nice option for digital borrowing. The zoom in makes it possible to read it even on a fairly small screen.

@Dixie, thank you for the links. I was waffling about this one, and it is now an upvote.

I like the senior character prompt as well. The musician and bookseller/ libraian, and eating establishment ones or very narrow. If I have a book on my TBR, there are very few. I was hoping for something a little more general.

dalex wrote: "I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?"

I suggested this one. It could be either fiction with a real person as a character, or nonfiction about a real person.

Sandra wrote: "dalex wrote: "I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?"

I suggested this one. It could be either fiction with a real..."

Aside from fiction and nonfiction specifically about a famous figure, many historical fiction and some contemporary fiction books include real people as characters, though they are often short appearances.

dalex wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Will downvote five books because it seems to be all new releases and not keen on that."

It's definitely not all new releases. There's actually a whole category devoted to Classic En..."
Dalex- in my first public U- turn since I joined I am voting for five books

Thomas wrote: "dalex wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Will downvote five books because it seems to be all new releases and not keen on that."

It's definitely not all new releases. There's actually a whole category devoted..."

Great to see how we can help each other see something new in a prompt and be open to changing our minds!

Thomas wrote: "dalex wrote: "It's definitely not all new releases. There's actually a whole category devoted to Classic En..."
Dalex- in my first public U- turn since I joined I am voting for five books"

I was thinking the Five Books one looked intriguing. I've not come across the site before.

Thomas wrote: "dalex wrote: "Thomas wrote: "Will downvote five books because it seems to be all new releases and not keen on that."

It's definitely not all new releases. There's actually a whole category devoted..."

I'm super glad to hear this Thomas! What I like about Five Books is that you choose the topic and, if you are interested, can read the interview of why these books were chosen. I like that much better than a list of books organized by genre.

dalex wrote: "I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?
.."

Not my prompt... but sometimes in fiction books they go to see a famous person perform or the soldier goes to war and Eisenhower walks through the infirmary handing out purple hearts. That's kinda my interpretation of the prompt, a book where suddenly, there's someone you know!

Ooo- a great read for this would be Arthur & George! Although Arthur Conan Doyle is a bigger character than a cameo

dalex wrote: "I assume "A book with a real person as a character" means biographical fiction? Is there some other way to interpret it?"

I'm guessing famous people count as real?! Neil Gaiman is a character in The Severed Streets, which I'm fairly certain isn't biographical fiction :) I'd also say Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Rodham and The Christie Affair would work for this. I think there are some cosy mysteries that have famous people as the main characters, I have a vague memory of one with Joe Biden, and a Queen Elizabeth series where she goes a bit Miss Marple.