MobileRead June 2013 *Category* Poll

[WT Sharpe]

Here are your category nominations for June 2013. This visible poll is multiple choice and will be open for 4 days.

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The story thus far:

Spoiler:

The 2013 MobileRead Book Club Monthly Categories

• January: Second Chance No nominations this month. The polls will be comprised of selections that either came in second place or tied for second place during the previous 11 months.
• February Romance
• March Travel/Adventure
• April Classics
• May Mystery/Thriller

For reference and comparison purposes only, here are the 2012 Categories:

Spoiler:

January — RunnerUp (no nominations, a vote of all the runners-up nominations from the last 11 months)
February — Romance
March — Thriller/Suspense
May — Humour
May — Fantasy
June — Classic
July — Mystery/Crime
August — FreeForAll
September — NonFiction
October — Horror
November — Science Fiction
December — Classic

[sun surfer]

This month I'm rooting for Science Fiction, because it's the last chance for us to have Science Fiction and Fantasy six months apart. I'm not big on the idea of Science Fiction in December, but the possibility of Fantasy in December and Science Fiction in June sounds good.

If it doesn't win this month then I think we ought to start considering a combo month of Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

It's interesting to look at the options this month and realise that at least nine(!) of them won't become any month's category.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

This month I'm rooting for Science Fiction

I would never ever root for Sci-fi. That said, there are ways to make it appealing and interesting. Cloud Atlas was an inspired nomination. I ended up not liking it (which surprised me, as I had liked the other two Mitchell works I'd read), but I had always meant to read it.

[Bookpossum]

Nor me, apart from "classics" like John Wyndham. I'm surprised to see that Biography/Memoir has taken an early lead.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

I would never ever root for Sci-fi. That said, there are ways to make it appealing and interesting. Cloud Atlas was an inspired nomination. I ended up not liking it (which surprised me, as I had liked the other two Mitchell works I'd read), but I had always meant to read it.

But Cloud Atlas wasn't science fiction and it wasn't all that good. That was a month we got robbed. So if we don't get science fiction for 2013, we'll not have had a science fiction book in a month of science fiction since 2011.

[John F]

Can Biography/Memoir be a fictional Biography/Memoir (something like The Curious Case f Benjamin Button)? Or will the nominating/voting determine this.

I'm stretching here, I'm not a big fan of this category.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

I would never ever root for Sci-fi. That said, there are ways to make it appealing and interesting. Cloud Atlas was an inspired nomination. I ended up not liking it (which surprised me, as I had liked the other two Mitchell works I'd read), but I had always meant to read it.

I think you are missing out. Some of the best books I have read the last couple of years have been Science Fiction which was a genre I had ignored for a long time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

Can Biography/Memoir be a fictional Biography/Memoir (something like The Curious Case f Benjamin Button)? Or will the nominating/voting determine this.

I'm stretching here, I'm not a big fan of this category.

That's a good question that should have been answered before the vote. I guess we'll have to let fictional ones in too since it was not defined that they weren't allowed.

[JSWolf]

Come on people, science fiction needs a win. We've not read a good science fiction book since 2011. Don't let it pass you by. If you don't like science fiction, please vote for it so you only really have to deal with it officially once.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by John F

Can Biography/Memoir be a fictional Biography/Memoir (something like The Curious Case f Benjamin Button)? Or will the nominating/voting determine this.

I'm stretching here, I'm not a big fan of this category.

Seeing as nothing was specified at the time of nomination, I would say that any form of biography, autobiography or memoir qualifies.

[Billi]

I think that something like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button wouldn't fit in but I have no problem if the majority sees it otherwise. I would prefer to read a book about "real" people, not fictional.

[JSWolf]

One of the problems with biography/memoir is the size of the books. They can be very large. Now, the thing is, I've noticed a trend towards smaller books so people have the time to finish them. Now why is this winning when it goes against the evidence of smaller books being more likely to win?

[fantasyfan]

I wonder if accepting fictional biography/memoirs would make the category far too inclusive. For instance both Great Expectations and David Copperfield would qualify if that were the case. And there are a great many more--any fictional work based on real situations which give the impression of having a semi-auto biographical slant could be a possible choice. If that's what members wish--then of course they can so decide, but in normal literary terminology Biography, Autobiography, and Memoirs are usually considered to be non-fiction.

But of course it's entirely up to yourselves.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

I wonder if accepting fictional biography/memoirs would make the category far too inclusive. For instance both Great Expectations and David Copperfield would qualify if that were the case. And there are a great many more--any fictional work based on real situations which give the impression of having a semi-auto biographical slant could be a possible choice. If that's what members wish--then of course they can so decide, but in normal literary terminology Biography, Autobiography, and Memoirs are usually considered to be non-fiction.

But of course it's entirely up to yourselves.

Of course, there are fiction books (while not written as a biography) are biographical because they tell a part of the main character's life.

For example, the Dresden Files series. Each book tells of of the life of Harry Dresden. There aren't large bits that go off and tell some other part of the story. These books all fit the category. Because we did not get a proper definition, those books fit the bill.

This is why I defined Modern Literature. So there would be no arguments later as to what is meant. Because I did that, we had two other categories defined.

And we should have had a definition for Award Winners as we have awards such as..."The Worst National Book Award List since the Last National Book Award List", "The Worst Book Cover in Religious Publishing Awards 2012", "Worst Book of the Year Award", "Bad Sex Awards 2012: The Worst Sex Scenes Of The Year" and "Delete Key Awards for Bad Writing". These are all awards and the books that get the award are up for nomination should Award Winners win.

But to be serious, the best thing to do is let Award Winners and Biographies/Memoirs fall by the wayside for this vote so they can be nominated again but with a definition to go with them.

[issybird]

I can't decide if this is silliness for the sake of being silly, or contention for the sake of being contentious, but it doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Everyone (yes, everyone) knows that biography/autobiography/memoir is non-fiction.

Let the standard be what reasonable people understand a category to comprise and let it go.