New Leaf Theme Suggestion Thread

[Alohamora]

Fiction is stranger than truth.

Eh, that's not as cleverly phrased as many of the existing suggestions, but what I'm thinking of are fictional books based on true historical events.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Fiction is stranger than truth.

Eh, that's not as cleverly phrased as many of the existing suggestions, but what I'm thinking of are fictional books based on true historical events.

What about novelized versions of real life events? Not necessarily fiction but ...

[CRussel]

Feels too narrow. It doesn't pass my twisty test.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Fiction is stranger than truth.

Eh, that's not as cleverly phrased as many of the existing suggestions, but what I'm thinking of are fictional books based on true historical events.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Feels too narrow. It doesn't pass my twisty test.

How about: The Truth is Out There!

Twisty enough? Maybe too twisty?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gmw

How about: The Truth is Out There!

Twisty enough? Maybe too twisty?

Nope, that's not going to work. You see, I could easily include an X-Files book and in that case, non-fiction is not all we could have. We need a theme where it's just non-fiction.

The problem with themes is they can be too broad. What about Real not fake as a theme?

[Bookpossum]

Truthful Fiction?

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Truthful Fiction?

Much better!

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Nope, that's not going to work. You see, I could easily include an X-Files book and in that case, non-fiction is not all we could have. We need a theme where it's just non-fiction.

The problem with themes is they can be too broad. What about Real not fake as a theme?

When I look at that theme title I think that's a feature, not a bug, and I like that category name. Why do we need an exclusive non-fiction theme? This was intentionally a fiction theme as started by Alohamora: "...fictional books based on true historical events."

As described in that first post, not going just from the proposed title, I think we could get lots of historical fiction, we could get alternative histories, we could get time-travel science fiction mainly set in the past (Connie Willis or Eric Flint come to mind), we could even get paranormal books like "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" which interweaves a paranormal story around real-life things that happened in and prior to the US Civil War.

My original thought for a "history" category title was "Doomed to repeat it, books where we can learn something from history." You could end up with both fiction or non-fiction and basically all the types of books above plus a variety of non-fiction options.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

When I look at that theme title I think that's a feature, not a bug, and I like that category name. Why do we need an exclusive non-fiction theme? This was intentionally a fiction theme as started by Alohamora: "...fictional books based on true historical events."

As described in that first post, not going just from the proposed title, I think we could get lots of historical fiction, we could get alternative histories, we could get time-travel science fiction mainly set in the past (Connie Willis or Eric Flint come to mind), we could even get paranormal books like "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" which interweaves a paranormal story around real-life things that happened in and prior to the US Civil War.

I suggest simply Based on a True Story. I don't like the use of the word historical, because it seems to limit the category to rather grand events or persons.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

As described in that first post, not going just from the proposed title, I think we could get lots of historical fiction, we could get alternative histories, we could get time-travel science fiction mainly set in the past (Connie Willis or Eric Flint come to mind), we could even get paranormal books like "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" which interweaves a paranormal story around real-life things that happened in and prior to the US Civil War.

Now see, that I like. Passes the Twisty Test. What we do NOT want is narrow genres or categories, but broad, twisty, ambiguous themes.

[June]

I like the themes back to school and courtly behaviour and the truth is out there

those are all themes I could find suggestions for, and would be fun to see what others come up with - the themes could go any which way for suggestions and voting results will be interesting to see too. I could see almost any theme fitting both fact and fiction as well - how fun!

All the while I would hope the art-one wouldn't be too not-my-style...
...that being said, I am already pleasantly surprised with our first book, I would never have come across the Passing were it not for the New Leaf book club and the colours-theme.

Edited to add (almost forgot the main point of my post!):
My suggestion for a theme is spring forward... I'm thinking of the memory rule for Daylight Savings Time (northern hemisphere only?) and the season Spring, and the physical item...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Now see, that I like. Passes the Twisty Test. What we do NOT want is narrow genres or categories, but broad, twisty, ambiguous themes.

And who is this WE? Personally, I do sometimes like a more narrow theme (depending on the theme). I like the idea of non-fiction. I also like the idea of fiction. The thing is, if the idea is to go as wide as possible, then why have themes and why not just go for any book? See, too wide and we could get too many different types of books. I think it should sometimes be narrowed more than you want.

[Dazrin]

I didn't say why I like the The Truth is Out There title; I like it because it sends me down a conspiracy theory path (ala X-Files) and there are a lot of books out there in both fiction and non-fiction. It could also be interpreted as a science based theme exploring new things we have learned, or history that we have uncovered, or basically anything where we had to work to figure out the truth.

It could also be interpreted as a religion based theme and we could nominate books that present the truth as viewed from one or more religious perspectives. (I doubt we will choose to go that direction but I think that could be fun even if it might be hard to keep on track and out of the P&R forum. In my understanding of the guidelines and Mr. Turcic's statements when that was implemented, we are allowed to discuss P&R as it relates to a specific book, just as long as we don't make it personal or go off the rails.)

For the summer/spring themes, maybe a combined Seasonally Appropriate theme to cover books that relate to different times of year?

[Bookpossum]

WE is the Club Jon. We very specifically decided that we do not want narrow genres, but themes which can be interpreted in a variety of ways, incorporating both fiction and non-fiction. Then from a broad group of books one will be selected by a majority of members and we shall all read it.

I do like Dazrin’s suggestion of Doomed to repeat it.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's brilliant. I'm all for it.

Alright, you have broken my head with this comment. You do know that this was intended essentially as a "books you didn't enjoy in school but might now" theme, right?

Your "I'm all for it" comment doesn't jive with this:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If it has to do with books read in school, then no way will I be pleasantly surprised. Going there is a rather bad idea.

or this:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I hated most books I read in school. That's why going there is going to be a sore spot.

Which way would you go with the theme of Wasted on the Young? What type of books would you nominate?