Inserting unwanted novels purely to fit some arbitrary definition of politically correct brings nothing to this community. In fact, forcing community members to read a book they didn't nominate...
I think this tends to ignore the reality of community participation—only two of the books listed above were nominated by more than one person, and yet most of the books have received more than one vote. Only two people nominated Good Omens and yet many people are interested in reading that book. Likewise, Lolita received just one nomination, but its giving Good Omens a run for its money. Moreover, many people who have voted in this poll didn't nominate a book at all. There are almost 400 members in this community—I sincerely doubt that the suggestion list incorporated all of their interests. Working off of the suggestion list is beneficial because its representative of what people want to read—that doesn't make it an exhaustive list. I, myself, didn't add any books to the suggestion list because I honestly didn't have time to independently think of ideas. Some of the books suggested above were already on my reading list. Some of the books suggested above have been added to my reading list regardless of what the community vote turns out to be.
For this reason, I think its useful to add books to the list before voting on the read-of-the-month. And, I also think its important to offer a diverse selection of reading material written by a diverse set of authors. I think the use of themes/genres will help to keep the book club from reading "the same" book month after month.
We chose our beloved books, untainted by politics. The fact that we chose predominantly male authors isn't a vast conspiracy on our part - it just worked out that way.
Perhaps, not. But, its pretty much an undisputed fact that female authors are less likely to be employed at the publication level than male authors. And, its generally important for the nomination list to reflect diversity of thought and selection—we don't have to wage political campaigns in this community to be cognizant of how the publishing world operates in a discriminatory manner against female authors.
The original commenter intentionally and purposefully attacked me. She was rude. She also raised a very good point, which is why I chose to ignore her rudeness and address the point in the comment I made above.
The book-of-the-month for the book club will be selected on a majority-wins basis. But, I think its important for everyone to realize that the books on the list aren't an exhaustive representation of what people in this community want to read or would even be interested in reading as a part of the book club. And, while we might choose our books untainted by political bias (an assertion that I find difficult to believe—we don't live in a vacuum), we are, ultimately, influenced by the availability of books per the influence of the publishers. There's nothing wrong with making sure that future voting-lists reflect a diversity that the publishers (and we as society) should strive to achieve.
no subject
I think this tends to ignore the reality of community participation—only two of the books listed above were nominated by more than one person, and yet most of the books have received more than one vote. Only two people nominated Good Omens and yet many people are interested in reading that book. Likewise, Lolita received just one nomination, but its giving Good Omens a run for its money. Moreover, many people who have voted in this poll didn't nominate a book at all. There are almost 400 members in this community—I sincerely doubt that the suggestion list incorporated all of their interests. Working off of the suggestion list is beneficial because its representative of what people want to read—that doesn't make it an exhaustive list. I, myself, didn't add any books to the suggestion list because I honestly didn't have time to independently think of ideas. Some of the books suggested above were already on my reading list. Some of the books suggested above have been added to my reading list regardless of what the community vote turns out to be.
For this reason, I think its useful to add books to the list before voting on the read-of-the-month. And, I also think its important to offer a diverse selection of reading material written by a diverse set of authors. I think the use of themes/genres will help to keep the book club from reading "the same" book month after month.
We chose our beloved books, untainted by politics. The fact that we chose predominantly male authors isn't a vast conspiracy on our part - it just worked out that way.
Perhaps, not. But, its pretty much an undisputed fact that female authors are less likely to be employed at the publication level than male authors. And, its generally important for the nomination list to reflect diversity of thought and selection—we don't have to wage political campaigns in this community to be cognizant of how the publishing world operates in a discriminatory manner against female authors.
The original commenter intentionally and purposefully attacked me. She was rude. She also raised a very good point, which is why I chose to ignore her rudeness and address the point in the comment I made above.
The book-of-the-month for the book club will be selected on a majority-wins basis. But, I think its important for everyone to realize that the books on the list aren't an exhaustive representation of what people in this community want to read or would even be interested in reading as a part of the book club. And, while we might choose our books untainted by political bias (an assertion that I find difficult to believe—we don't live in a vacuum), we are, ultimately, influenced by the availability of books per the influence of the publishers. There's nothing wrong with making sure that future voting-lists reflect a diversity that the publishers (and we as society) should strive to achieve.