2020 Theme Reads Planning

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2020 Theme Reads Planning

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1thorold
Nov 27, 2019, 5:21 am

Sorry, folks, but it's that time of year again!

If we stick to what we've done in previous years, we need to pick four quarterly theme reads, and/or possibly a looser topic for the whole year. If we feel that that wasn't working optimally for us, then we need concrete suggestions for other structures. Everything should be open for discussion, but it's most productive if we think in terms of "could we try...?" rather than "I don't like ..."

As in other years, topic suggestions are needed for both themes and geographic regions. Sometimes it's difficult to keep them manageable in scope, so an idea may need edited down somewhat. As an example, instead of a topic like "Revolution" it could be "Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century" or some such focus.

Obviously not all suggestions will be of interest to all readers, but by selecting both regions and themes, it is more likely that at least one topic will get you reading during the year.

Here is a list of previous topics: http://www.librarything.com/groups/readinggloballyficti

Readers wander in and out of this group. If you're fairly new to the group, perhaps there are topics from previous years you may have missed and would like to see revisited. If so, I would suggest going back five years or more, but a revisit is always worthwhile.

Start posting your ideas below, and we will vote on them

---
I was just thinking that it must be about time to kick this off and checked back to see what we did last year — it turns out that the 2019 thread was kicked off by SassyLassy exactly a year ago. I've adapted her post above. So we're still on schedule for the moment...

2thorold
Modificato: Nov 27, 2019, 7:24 am

If we're thinking anniversaries, then the most obvious concentration of things to remember is 1945, which will have been 75 years ago. But it's also going to be a Beethoven year (born 1770).

1920 might give us some votes-for-women anniversaries?

1870 is mostly Franco-Prussian war and Paris Commune and the unification of Italy. Also birth of Maria Montessori — an education theme??

1820 would give us the birth of Engels and the first landings on Antarctica...

3thorold
Modificato: Nov 27, 2019, 7:42 am

Topics proposed but not adopted for 2019 (see https://www.librarything.com/topic/301039):
- Italy
- 1989 and All That: Europe after the Iron Curtain
- Women from around the World
- Regions in Conflict
- Writing from the Diaspora
- Dead, Dying and Indigenous Languages

Topics proposed but not adopted for 2018 (see https://www.librarything.com/topic/276799):
- Deserts, Mountains, Rivers, and Waterways
- Inspired by the Muse: Artists, Musicians, Poets and Others
- Sexuality and Desire
- Books Inspired by Another Medium: Songs, Sagas, Legends, Etc

Topics proposed but not adopted for 2017 (see https://www.librarything.com/topic/242376):
- North American writers in languages other than English
- Sea/Waterways/Mountains/Deserts
- oppressed peoples, loosely defined as foreign workers, servants and slaves
- explorers and people participating in scientific expeditions
- diaries and collected letters from travellers or people in a country other than their own for purposes other than travel
- coming of age outside North America
- populist movements and leaders around the world

These were all voted down, some narrowly, some decisively — if someone thinks one or more should get another chance, feel free to say why.

4SassyLassy
Dic 2, 2019, 10:18 am

I was just thinking about this the other day too!

>2 thorold: In the anniversary realm, I found this link:https: https://www.maryevans.com/annivs.php?year=2020

Not all subjects for themes necessarily, but with a list of various anniversaries for the likes of Lenin, Trotsky, Charles Edward Stuart, and John Tenniel, not forgetting Bob Marley and Isaac Asimov, there should be lots to contemplate.

5LolaWalser
Modificato: Dic 2, 2019, 2:31 pm

What do people think about a "fascism is back" theme? Not that it ever went completely away--but it's back in the "mainstream" and globally, normalised by the likes of (enter-your-choice-of-villain-here) Trump, Bolsonaro, the right wing in the UK and all over Europe (increasingly in government), Putin, the coup leaders in Bolivia etc.

Obviously not an escapist theme, but for anyone with any stake in the future, I'm afraid it's bound to become ever more of a burning issue in the years to come.

I would even suggest that the theme may deserve a longer period than one quarter, or even permanency (unless that's superfluous to specify, if people generally feel they may keep contributing past the allotted period).

Some strains within it to focus on: local conditions and developments anywhere, current affairs; historical views (is history ever "past"?); impact on society--environment, immigration, women's rights, minorities etc.; strategies of antifascist combat; the question of engagement; the appeal of fascist ideologies, and on and on...

6lriley
Dic 2, 2019, 2:33 pm

#5--I kind of like this idea.

7LolaWalser
Dic 2, 2019, 3:10 pm

>6 lriley:

Hey, cool.

Worth mentioning, perhaps, is that it's something appearing with ever greater frequency in current fiction, by no means limiting one to old literature (if that's a concern).

8thorold
Modificato: Dic 2, 2019, 4:10 pm

As far as the geographically-based themes go, we seem to have covered the whole world since 2012, with the possible exception of Antarctica and Papua New Guinea (or maybe I've missed them somewhere...). This is my rough overview of when we last covered each country:


Sorry, the key was far too small: here it is bigger

9thorold
Dic 2, 2019, 4:10 pm

>5 LolaWalser:->7 LolaWalser: Yes, I would support that!

10LolaWalser
Dic 2, 2019, 4:50 pm

Three (so far) for the Bleak Table, bartend. :)

11SassyLassy
Dic 3, 2019, 10:39 am

>5 LolaWalser: >10 LolaWalser: Pour another one - I like this idea for a theme.

Also, how about a theme along the lines of "Russians Write Revolutions", basically novels covering the time from the lead up to the 1905 revolution and continuing to the end of the Civil War, so roughly from the assassination of Alexander II in 1881 to 1922. Having the books be those covering the period, means readers aren't restricted to books written within this period. However, that means there may be some overlap with the Soviet and Post Soviet Writers theme, though checking through that thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/226285, not much in terms of this topic.

12thorold
Dic 3, 2019, 12:32 pm

>11 SassyLassy: Karamazov to Red Cavalry! - sounds interesting, that would almost all be new to me except those endpoints...

How about a Southern Africa theme? — in practice there wouldn’t be very much overlap with what people actually read for the 2014 African theme, which was mostly Nigeria and West Africa. Lots of good topics to explore, and it needn’t all be Doris Lessing and J M Coetzee.

13LolaWalser
Dic 4, 2019, 11:12 am

>11 SassyLassy:

Great! *pulling up more chairs*

how about a theme along the lines of "Russians Write Revolutions"

I'm for it. Endlessly fascinating topic.

>12 thorold:

How about a Southern Africa theme?

I'd like this too, yes please.

14SassyLassy
Dic 7, 2019, 9:59 am

>13 LolaWalser: Good to hear.

>12 thorold: "...it needn’t all be Doris Lessing and J M Coetzee."

Right, there's Nadine Gordimer too! Seriously, I think this is a good idea for a theme too.

15thorold
Dic 7, 2019, 10:18 am

Great, we've got three sensible suggestions! We could do with at least one more...

16thorold
Dic 16, 2019, 5:04 am

Bump...

Does anyone want to suggest another theme, or preferably more than one so that we have a contested ballot?

If nothing else is proposed, then I suggest we default to “Traveling the TBR 2.0” for the missing quarter. Always a popular one...

17thorold
Dic 22, 2019, 10:12 am

...OK, I think we can consider the nominations closed! Thanks to all for your suggestions.

18cindydavid4
Modificato: Dic 22, 2019, 11:34 pm

Books Inspired by Another Medium: Songs, Sagas, Legends, Etc

this really sounds fascinating to me!

edit- oh, never mind then, no worries. I'll think about it next year