2015 MobileRead Book Club Category Selection Options Vote
We need to decide on the categories for 2015.
WT Sharpe has asked for someone else to lead this charge, so I thought I would at least get us started. First up, do we want to keep the same categories as 2013/2014 for 2015?
We had several suggestions in the
MR 2015 Categories Discussion thread which I have summarized for the poll, more details are in the spoilers and there are links to the most descriptive post for each as well.
This poll is
and open to anyone who wants to participate in the book clubs. This is a
visible poll; others can see how you voted. This poll will be open until
August 26th.
Everyone who wants to participate in the book club should feel free to vote.
Tie-breaker will the tied category with the most moderator votes. If there is still a tie
WT Sharpe, in his role as benevolent (and neutral) dictator will choose and we will move on from there.
Do we want to keep the same categories as 2013/2014 for 2015?- Yes, they are good as-is.
Here is the list:
- No, let's vote on the current categories to get rid of our least favorite ones. Posts 7, 8, 13.
Here is the description:
Spoiler:
As something to chew on in the mean time, I would like a poll with the
current categories listed and have everyone vote on their three favorite categories and replace the bottom 2-4 with new selections. That should help us keep the ones we like and reduce the number of new categories we need to come up with. Sort of a compromise between full category selections and status quo.
- No, let's get more non-fiction, posts 10, 11.
Here is the description:
- No, let's use JSWolf's list, post 46, 28, 37, 40, 41.
This is the order proposed, as updated by treadlightly:
- No, let's have a new vote (Dazrin's suggestion), posts 39, 25, 27.
Here is the description:
Spoiler:
Since nobody wants to redo the category nominations we did in 2012; let's have 3 simultaneous, multiple choice polls that cover most of the categories nominated in 2012. The three votes would be split into General, Non-Fiction Friendly and Fiction categories so that we will have a good variety throughout the year. Additional details in the spoiler.
Spoiler:
Preselected Category: No vote needed since everyone seems to like this category.
January: Second Chance (All the runners-up from last year) - Placed in January so that way we don't need nominations during the holidays and can just have the vote which can be extended since people may be busier than normal.
Vote 1 - General Categories: Top 4 will be selected.
- Award Winners (choose your own award)
- Banned/Challenged Books (someone had a problem with this book somewhere)
- Classics (choose your own definition of "classic")
- Contemporary Books ("newer" books, any source)
- Foreign (originally non-English)
- MR Author (especially if we can find an author who would provide a copy of their book for discussion and discuss it with us)
- Patricia Clark Memorial Library (celebrate our own wonderful resource!)
- Free-For-All
- Lottery (volunteer or winner provides a list for selection, see Literary club rotating nominations. If no one wants to provide a list, this becomes a free-for-all month.)
- Short Stories or Essays (specific short story or a collection which could be an anthology, a collection, or a web list of "best stories", etc.)
- Independently published books
- Personal Favorites (what is yours? Maybe limit nominations to 1 book, but don't require a second/third?)
Vote 2 - Non-Fiction Friendly Categories: Top 3 will be selected
- Non-Fiction (anything non-fiction)
- Science
- Philosophy
- Biography/Memoirs
- Travel/Adventure (could be fiction or non-Fiction)
- History
- Mythology (and folk tales, etc)
- Humor (could be fiction or non-fiction)
Vote 3 - Probably Going to be Fiction Categories: Top 4 will be selected, see note about SF/F.
- Romance
- Crime (fiction or non-fiction)
- Mystery (cozy mysteries, etc.)
- Thriller/Suspense (hard to be cozy with the action and/or tension in here)
- Historical Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- Young Adult
Note: Final selection will be limited to at most 2 of the following (to prevent saturation):
- Speculative Fiction (catch-all for fantasy, science fiction, horror, steampunk, etc.)
- Science Fiction (general sci-fi, Space opera, post-apocalyptic, etc.)
- Fantasy (magic is generally involved)
- Urban Fantasy (and paranormal or other contemporary magic.)
- Horror (Psychological, physical, supernatural, choose your own flavor.)
Final list would be arranged by a volunteer (I will do it if no one else wants to) in a way that makes "sense", similar to what was done for the 2012 categories.
- No, let's use sun surfer's list, post 54.
Here is the proposed list:
- No, let's have a new vote (sun surfer's suggestion), post 57
Here is the description:
Spoiler:
A single category poll run by Dazrin. Multiple choice, visible votes, all votes are final so consider everything carefully beforehand, you can vote for as many or as few as you like. Voting open say two weeks to give everyone a chance to pass by here and vote. The top twelve become our categories. Any relevant ties and we have a run-off, single choice. Everyone can vote but if there’s a tie again then whatever Dazrin (or Tom) voted for breaks the tie.
Polls only allow thirty options, so here is the list I propose using as they seem to be the thirty most popular options (most often used, repeated, talked about, nominated or supported) when looking back at previous years and previous category nominations and polls:
Adventure/Travel
Award Winners
Banned/Challenged Books
Classics
Contemporary
Fantasy*
First in a Series
Foreign (Originally Non-English)
Free-For-All
Historical Fiction
History (Non-Fiction)
Horror
Humour
Indie
Mystery*
Mystery/Thriller*
Non-Fiction
Not Classic or Contemporary (Around 1980-2000)
Patricia Clark Memorial Library
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Boats)
Philosophy
Pulp Adventure
Romance
Science (Non-Fiction)
Science-Fiction*
Science-Fiction/Fantasy*
Second Chance
Short Stories
Thriller*
Young Adult
The apostrophe indicates similar categories that can’t all be voted into the top twelve. If a combined category (Science-Fiction/Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller) has more votes than either of its two single categories, then its two single categories are disqualified. If either single category has more votes than its combined category, then its combined category is disqualified.
Once we have our twelve categories then Dazrin (or Tom) will sort them into appropriate months and that’s that.
- No, let's get rid of three low voter turnout categories, posts 67, 19, 20, 23.
Here is the description:
- No, let's do something else. Explain your response in the comments, be specific.
What's next you ask? We won't know for sure until the poll is over since several of the options require additional voting; but here is what should happen: I will take the lead if item B, E, or G is chosen; items A, D and F are pretty much decided so don't require additional follow-up; and someone else will be asked to take the lead if C, H or I is chosen.For item I specifically... the reason this poll is
visible is so that if the last item wins we can out whoever votes for it and one of them can take the lead.
Note for option D, the version with "historical fiction" in place of "not modern fiction (year 1999 and earlier)" had much more support and was intended to be the poll, I missed that when posting the poll originally. The spoiler shows the as-intended version now.