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Fiction Book Poll

Assist us in selecting our upcoming FICTION book for group discussion in this forum. A minimum of 5 posts is required to participate here!

Select as many FICTION books as you would read and discuss with us as a group

Book 1 - Cain by Jose Saramago
5

10%
Book 2 - 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King
3

6%
Book 2 - People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks
4

8%
Book 4 - The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman
3

6%
Book 5 - Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock
2

4%
Book 6 - The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
4

8%
Book 7 - Lonesome Dove: A Novel by Larry McMurtry
1

2%
Book 8 - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
2

4%
Book 9 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2

4%
Book 10 - Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
2

4%
Book 11 - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4

8%
Book 12 - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
6

12%
Book 13 - (WINNER 1 of 2) Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
7

13%
Book 14 - The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
3

6%
Book 15 - State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
4

8%
 
Total votes: 52
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Chris OConnor

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Fiction Book Poll

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FICTION BOOK POLL
BRAND NEW POLLING METHOD
We're going to try a brand new way of selecting our books for group discussion. Please forget all past book selection rules and procedures for this particular book selection. If this new method works well we may start using it regularly.

ONLY VOTE IF YOU PLAN TO PARTICIPATE
It is common sense that we only want people voting that are going to participate in the book discussion in the event one of their selected books wins. We're not doing a poll of which books you like or want to read one day. This poll is to select a book we can all read and discuss as a group so you have no business voting if you have no intention of actively discussing the book with us.

EVERYONE CAN VOTE NO MATTER HOW MANY FORUM POSTS
Everyone can vote no matter how many posts they have on the forums or how long they have been a member of BookTalk.org. If you're brand new with only 1 or 2 posts you are still welcome to vote but ONLY VOTE IF YOU PLAN TO PARTICIPATE.

VOTE FOR AS MANY BOOKS AS YOU LIKE
Each person can vote for as many books as they like. If you like every single book on the poll then select every book and cast your vote. We're trying to find the book (or books) that interest the most people. Those winning books will be announced as group discussion books. So you may vote for as many as you feel you would actually read and discuss with us as a group.

CHANGE OR UPDATE YOUR VOTE AT ANY TIME DURING POLLING PERIOD
While the poll is up you are free to change your votes however you like. There are a lot of books on this poll and to make an educated decision you will need to read the book descriptions of each book. This takes time so read a few now and cast your vote for them if you think you would enjoy discussing them. Then, a few days later, come back and research some more books. You can change your vote as much as you like up till the end of the polling period.

NO SCHEDULED END DATE TO THIS POLL
This poll doesn't have a scheduled end date. As votes come in we'll easily see which books have captured the most interest. As members you can see how many people have voted for each poll. As the administrator I can see this plus the names of each person that voted for each book. I'll make a judgment call on when to announce a winner (or winners) based on the volume of votes for the most popular books AND the activity level of the people that voted. All you need to do is research the books and select the ones you would like to talk about. I'll handle the rest.
POLL CHOICES:
BOOK 1 - Cain by Jose Saramago

BOOK 2 - 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King

BOOK 3 - People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks

BOOK 4 - The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

BOOK 5 - Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock

BOOK 6 - The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

BOOK 7 - Lonesome Dove: A Novel by Larry McMurtry

BOOK 8 - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

BOOK 9 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

BOOK 10 - Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

BOOK 11 - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

BOOK 12 - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

BOOK 13 - Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks

BOOK 14 - The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz

BOOK 15 - State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
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wilde
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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First votes! Buahahaha! (I actually just happened to log in 5 minutes after this was posted. Spooky.)

I was indecisive to I picked 7. There are some that I'd like to read more than others, but I selected the ones that I've either read & liked, or that would be interesting.
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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What do you think of this voting method, Wilde?
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Damifino
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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Why so many books? Great choices by the way. But why so many?

Pretty sure I got more then 25 posts. I shouldn't get slammed too bad by the owner.
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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Damifino, the first post said:
"Please forget all past book selection rules and procedures for this particular book selection."

"Everyone can vote no matter how many posts they have on the forums or how long they have been a member of BookTalk.org."
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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I didn't know who Saramago was -- shows you how much I know about fiction. But I'd be interested in reading Cain.

Hunger Games sounds like an interesting plot, but I'm a little wary as it is apparently "young adult" fiction despite the violent premise
Why so many books? Great choices by the way. But why so many?
It's a lot of books to look at, but I think it's good to have more choices. A better chance of bringing in more people, who can maybe try to persuade others of their choice. In the past, you might have 3 choices and then people immediately rule out participating in that selection.

I wonder if it might be useful to have a second round with fewer choices, depending on how the voting plays out (keeping the original votes for those choices). Even though with multiple votes per person it shouldn't strictly be necessary, people might change their minds once it's narrowed down.
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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It does seem like a lot of books, but it is the first poll, so it's a bit experimental.. I also like the second poll suggestion Dexter made, but that might make the process take longer.


Dexter: There are plenty of "young adult" books that are really great reads, even for adults. Granted, there are some (coughTwilightcough) that are just bad in general, but there are plenty that have depth and that could start good discussions. "The Hunger Games" is definitely one of my favorite YA books. :) Now, could you get as much out of it as something like 1984? Maybe not. :wink:
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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I am feeling very confident of this new polling method for a variety of reasons.

The plea for "feedback" is no longer a part of this process. Feedback isn't necessary at all. Yes, it is nice and it stands to influence other members, but it isn't a vital component of the book selection process anymore.

Let's image Book 7 has the most votes. The next step would be for me to look through the names of the people that voted for Book 7 and make a judgment call. Is there apparent cheating where people have created second or third accounts to influence the poll? I have ways to test this. Are the people that voted likely to actually participate or do they have a low number of forums posts spread out over a long period of time?

I'll send an email and a PM and a telepathic message to everyone who voted for a winning book and conform their book and intention to get a copy of the book, read it and actively discuss it on the forum with us as a group. If after a few days I'm not getting responses or the responses are that the people have changed their minds then we'll adjust the votes for that book.

The again if the people that voted for Book 7 (the hypothetical winner) are regulars, active and have a decent amount of posts on the forums, this extra step of emailing won't be necessary. There are certain people we have all learned to take very seriously I won't be bugging them with emails. But the new person with 3 posts on the forums...they'll need to tell me that they are serious and plan to participate UNLESS our hypothetical winning book has enough votes from active members to not necessitate verifying the intentions of the newer and less active voters.
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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The reason all those books are on the poll is because they were suggested by members. I'm no longer forced to weed through the suggestions and evaluate the merit of each. When I did this there was always a person who felt slighted and hurt that I skipped their book suggestions. Now their book can go on the poll and we'll let everyone decide.

Of course I will not put every single book on the poll. I will apply some level of judgment. It is just far more relaxed now.

And if you notice I didn't just pull books from the most recent book suggestion tread. I went back though the forum for months and selected the books with the most apparent interest. If a book was suggested two polls ago and several people seemed excited by it, yet the book was never selected for a poll, well now you'll see it back on the new poll.
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Re: Fiction Book Poll

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Well I voted. I am running out of time to re-read books so I picked new ones. One of the books I voted for I would not read on my own.
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