A vote will settle it one way or the other, but I would prefer to keep two classics.
I remember last year we had a similar discussion and it seemed the majority of posts were in favour of getting rid of a classic month, and then the vote came and a solid majority wanted to keep two classic months.
I would also like to add that despite the complaints, the two classic months are two of our most popular months with some of the most nominations and most votes.
If we want to get rid of a category to add a new one, I suggest combining Mystery/Crime and Thriller/Suspense, which are very similar, and calling the new category "Mystery/Thriller". If you look at both category's nominations, almost every single nomination could be equally well nominated in either category.
I also wonder if a Humour category is necessary. Humour is so subjective, and a smaller genre.
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Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes
...every month has Classic selections within the nominations. We aren't forgetting about the Classics at any point in the year...
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One reason classics do so well is because they're often free. And every category shows up in other categories, not just classics. Just look at this month - in the "Horror" category we have selections that could also be considered "Thriller/Suspense", "Humour", "Mystery/Crime", "Fantasy" and even "Romance". And we get "Science Fiction" nominations in many categories throughout the year as well.
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Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes
...I think December as a Classics month is a good option. So I am lobbying the book club members to think about changing the genre/category for June...
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If a vote did away with a classics month, I'd prefer the opposite, Classics in June. I think Classics only being in December could lead to a too large concentration of holiday classics; for example the last December the selection was A Christmas Carol.
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Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes
...My suggestions for a category:
Prize Winners...Decade...FreeForAll(2)...
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I am ambivalent about Prize Winners. I like the idea of award-winning books, but despite the large amount of awards, I think it could lead to similar nominations every year. And if we include genre awards, then the category could easily turn into just another genre (probably sci-fi/fantasy) month.
Decade is interesting and I like it but I'm not big on it being decided just by the first vote, and this category would require more work for Tom which he probably doesn't need anymore.
I like a second FreeForAll. Why not? Two per year seems appropriate, and then people can nominate whatever they like, whether it be Classic, Mystery/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Prize Winner or whatever.
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Originally Posted by Billi
...If we have a month free now...then I would propose to give it to non-fiction. I would either like to see it as a second non-fiction month or dedicated/restricted to biographies.
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I like both those ideas.
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Originally Posted by Hamlet53
Just my point about opening it up to any sort of award, even well known ones. Including say the Hugo Award is just adding an additional Science Fiction month, and for my reading tastes the one we have is already one more than I would prefer.
I would like to have an additional non-fiction month, but the trouble is so much of what I prefer in non-fiction would be books that would take any but superficial discussion into the area of the P&R forum. So I think that just naturally tends to make the non-fiction category more of a biography/history month.
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All good points that I agree with.
Other category possibilities I would be interested in:
-Drama (not plays) - We could really use a category for "normal" plots, no wizards, no aliens, no serial killers, etc. We currently have no category that could fit in many good books because the plots don't fall into some special genre, so this category could fill that hole.
-Young Adult - I've always liked YA, it would be a fun, easy category, and it's a very distinct category that would fit in well.
-Adventure - As in, travelling, exploring, etc. It could include books from say, Crocodile on the Sandbank, to The Princess Bride, to Indiana Jones type stories, to spy thrillers such as James Bond, to westerns, to even The Odyssey. I think it could be a great category.