Ah, okay. Cool. I think we're all on the same page now. :)

I have changed the visible months as a result of discussion in other threads. he following is now set in stone for 2012:

Near the end of 2012, we can have another poll to determine whether we want hidden or visible voting.

What do you mean by "weak" months?

Umm isn't that the same list as what you said a little earlier in the thread, here??

I asked if that looked good, and some said yes, and others wanted a change. I think we're over-thinking this thing. Therefore, after making the changes suggested, I declared them set in stone so we can move on.

Oh, okay. I guess I had already made it set in stone in my mind. :)

:).....

:thanks: Hallelujah :thanks:

February: Romance
June: Classic
October: Horror
December*: Classic

We have four week months as you can see.

Romance is weak because It's the one category with the most split in terms of like/dislike. Classic doesn't count as it's not really a category.

Classic is weak because it's classic and that's always been weak since nobody can actually properly define what it is and it's not really a category.

Horror is weak because we usually don't actually get scary books as the winner.

On what do you base that? It's the one that dislikers are most vocal about, but I don't like, don't read, don't want to talk about horror. Not fond of most classics, either. The stigma against romance as being "chick lit" and therefore unworthy of serious discussion, has nothing to do with its actual popularity--which, according to book sales, is obviously very strong.

How is one of the bestselling genres of books a "weak" category? Certainly, there's a lot more people who enjoy romance books than science fiction.

It's a category; it's not a genre. And we have no active definition of the category--it could be defined by years-in-print, or popular influence, or some amalgam of the two, but we've left it to individual nominators and voters to decide what matters to them.

So: Classic is weak because you don't know what someone else means when they say a book is a classic?

We get books that voters agree are horror books. Whether they actually scare the readers has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of the category.

I still don't understand what you mean by "weak," other than "I don't like the way MR deals with these categories." What makes science fiction strong and romance weak?

Updated with link to discussion of A Christmas Carol.

Added discussion thread link for Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse. (Sorry about the delay; I forget to check when the thread's started, sometimes.)

Updated with link to Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

List updated with link to Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

Added April discussion link: The Princess Bride by William Goldman.