2019 SeriesCAT Planning Thread

Please stop by here to help plan the SeriesCAT for 2019.

Let's discuss ideas and find people to host months and pick a theme for each month.

January: pamelad - Series in translation
February: LibraryCin - YA/Children's
March: DeltaQueen50 - Series by a favorite author
April: clue - Series You've Been Meaning to Get Back To
May: sallylou61 - Newest book in a favorite series
June: MissWatson - Series that are definitely complete
July: LisaMorr - Genre: fantasy
August: EBT1002 - Series set in a country/region where you do not live
September: cyderry - Genre: Mystery (incl. culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea)
October: LittleTaiko - Historical Series
November: majkia - Series with a female protagonist
December: The_Hibernator - Series that's new to you

Top 12, and our themes for SeriesCAT for next year:

- a series you've been meaning to get back to
- a series that's new to you'
- A series set in a country/region where you do not live
- a series by a favorite author
- A series in translation
- Historical series
- genre: mystery (incl. culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea)
- a series with a female protagonist
- the newest book in a favorite series
- genre: fantasy
- series that are definitely complete
- YA/children's

_______________________________________________________

Additional ideas:

- More than Words (graphic novels, full-cast audiobooks)
- A series written before you were born
- series written by more than one author
- trilogies
- series with a film/TV adaptation
- book from a series that you don't need to read in order (or could be read as a one-off)
- genre: mash-up genre
- classics written originally as serial publications
- series not planned as series, i.e., series where we know or suspect the author didn't really plan the books to be a series

Ok, some theme ideas (thoughts I had, + I'm going through the original CAT planning thread to see what others have suggested):

- genres (i.e. mystery, fantasy, )
- YA/children's
- graphic novels (Is this too specific?)
- a series that's new to you',
- 'a series you've been meaning to get back to'
- 'a series by a favorite author'
- 'a series with a female protagonist'
- 'the newest book in a favorite series'

Other ideas for themes?

Thinking of other suggestions:

- trilogies
- book from a series that you don't need to read in order (or could be read as a one-off)

- series not planned as series, i.e., series where we know or suspect the author didn't really plan the books to be a series. For example, Isaac Asimov didn't think of the first Foundation book as starting off a series. Similarly, Agatha Christie didn't plan Poirot to be a series detective (she said later that if she had she would have made him younger).

- series written by more than one author

A series set in a country/region where you do not live

culinary cozies with recipes
cozies by the sea - great for summer!

Thanks for more suggestions! I guess we also want to decide how to pick themes.

I think, in the past, we've done a couple of different things - either vote on the themes, or just whoever wants to host a month gets to pick their theme.

Thoughts on how we want to do that? I'm not sure if we know yet how the other CATs will choose.

I thought it would be easier if I gather all the suggestions into the first post, as well.

>6 cyderry: I added yours into the genres in parentheses. I do wonder, if those could also be grouped in with "mystery series" as a whole?

Maybe I should separate out the genre suggestions into separate bullet points, though again, I wonder if the cozy series suggestions could fall under mystery to keep it broader?

Or, if we focus on cozy mysteries for one month, then that would cover mysteries, as a whole (what I mean by that is that we may not need 2 mystery months - one cozies, and one other)? Probably we'll want more opinions on that, anyway.

>9 LibraryCin: Mysteries and cozy mysteries are so different I think they deserve to be separate. Not everyone who reads cozy mysteries reads all the others, and vice versa.

What about 'series that are definitely complete'. Perhaps the author has died, or has made it clear the last book has been written.

A series in translation.
A series written before you were born.

Graphic novels and children's/ ya could both be a bit too specific. As could sub-groups of mysteries.

>12 pamelad:, I like the suggestion of series in translation. I was also thinking of classics written originally as serial publications but didn’t know if that really fit here.

Here are a couple more suggestions:
- series with a film/TV adaptation
- series with contributions from more than one author

How much of the series are we supposed to read in the month?

I'd go on the record as saying that two mystery months (one for a subgenre and one not) would feel like a bit much when there are so many varied ideas, and a lot of the ideas will be conducive to mystery readers who want more mystery in their challenge. If all of the months were going to be based off of genre, that would be one thing, but it sounds like most of the ideas veer away from genre (which I'm more than fine with). If I were going to propose another genre theme, it would be a 'mash-up genre' month to contain genre misfits--speculative mysteries, romantic suspense thrillers, etc.

In any case, I like a lot of the ideas here. The only other theme that I think would lead to me (and presumably some others?) feeling a little bit lost would be the suggestion of a series that was meant to be a stand-alone. I don't read many interviews with authors or articles about books, so unless we had a host that month who was going to do a fair bit of research and offer lots of suggestions, I wouldn't know where to start there, in figuring out what was on my shelf that would fit.

>15 The_Hibernator: Oh! I was only planning to read one book in a series! Just that the book is part of a series was my thinking for this CAT.

>14 mathgirl40: - series with contributions from more than one author

Can I clarify? Is this different from: - series written by more than one author?

Thanks!

How about "Start a new series"?

>18 LibraryCin: I was thinking that "series with contributions from more than one author" could encompass any series that has one or more books written by multiple authors. Some examples that came to mind are:

- Detective Kubu series by Michael Stanley, which is a pseudonym for two authors writing as a team
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which was started by Douglas Adams and finished posthumously by Eoin Colfer
- Nancy Drew series, with books by multiple authors all using the Carolyn Keene pseudonym
- Ring of Fire series, started by Eric Flint but with lots of books co-written or solely written by other authors
- Hogarth Shakespeare series, which features different authors doing retellings of Shakespeare's works

>20 mathgirl40: Oh! I see! Ok, I'll add it in above.

>19 RidgewayGirl: I think we have that one... let me scroll up and double check...
Yes: "- a series that's new to you',"

>21 LibraryCin: Oops, I missed seeing >4 Robertgreaves:'s post. Perhaps we had the same idea in mind.

Just a quick question: What is meant by being "too specific" in regards to graphic novels?

>21 LibraryCin: Oops. I should have read more carefully.

>22 mathgirl40: Yes, your no. >20 mathgirl40: was the sort of thing I had in mind. Having just Flatlander, I was thinking of all the other authors writing in Larry Niven's Known Space series, and also the Death in Byzantium series, written by a husband and wife team.

>12 pamelad: What ideas are there for series in translation? I am not sure about that one.

>26 LadyoftheLodge:, one option that comes to mind is Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. It is the Wallander series written in Swedish and translated by Steven T Murray. Most of the ones I can think of are mysteries and thrillers. But there is Kristin Lavransdatter which I think is three books. And there is Memory of Fire by Galeano.

Historical series - could be historical mysteries, Regency romance, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy.

I'm with >16 whitewavedarling: on research. So that might bring 'series not planned as series', trilogies, 'a series that you don't need to read in order' into question.

>26 LadyoftheLodge: Georges Simenon's Maigret series, Cora Sandel's Alberta trilogy, Josef Skvorecky's books featuring Danny Smiricky, Naguib Mahfouz's Palace Walk trilogy.

Adding: My Struggle series by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Grijpstra and de Gier series by Janwillem van de Wetering, Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri, Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, Erast Fandorin series by Boris Akunin.

>23 Tanya-dogearedcopy: A graphic novel is a very specific format. There's no leeway. From my perspective, it's like making Harry Potter a category, but others may well think differently.

I am happy to host a series in translation month. January? I'm flexible.

>23 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I just wondered if it might be one that's tricky for some. That is, there are some people who won't want to read a graphic novel. Maybe "too limiting" is better wording?

>22 mathgirl40: Oh, I took the meaning of his >4 Robertgreaves: as different books in the series are written by different authors!

Maybe we should get clarification on that?

>25 Robertgreaves: Sorry, should have kept reading. I was misunderstanding then? You both meant individual books in the series were written by multiple authors? Ok, let me change the post that summarizes. If they mean the same thing, they don't need to both be listed!

>29 pamelad: I can put you in for January.

But first, I wanted to confirm how we are choosing themes.

Did we want to vote on which themes to include or are we just having whoever wants to host a month choose the theme they want to host?

>26 LadyoftheLodge: The only one I can think of is the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, but I don't usually follow translations.

Personally, I kind of like this one:
- A series set in a country/region where you do not live

better than the translation one, as it's broader. Most of the translations could fit into it, but it would be less limiting (in my opinion).

>35 LibraryCin: Actually I meant both different books having different authors and books with multiple authors but hadn't really distinguished between the two in my own mind

>26 LadyoftheLodge: >34 LibraryCin: There are English translations of crime fiction from many languages: I read Fred Vargas's series translated from French, I know there is a Chinese series I have on my wishlist, and I have seen translations from a Russian series.

If a trilogy counts as a series there is the 3-Body Problem trilogy, an SF trilogy also translated from Chinese.

Depending on whether we are counting graphic novels, there is the Asterix series translated from French.

I haven't read them but do Helena Ferrante's novels translated from Italian constitute a series?

>37 Robertgreaves:, I would think the Ferrante Neapolitan 4 book series would count as a series.

>32 LibraryCin: >36 Robertgreaves: I too meant to encompass both cases. Basically, if more than one author is associated with a series in any kind of way, then the book would count.

>35 LibraryCin: Sorry to pre-empt you. I'll wait to see what the categories are.

Graphic novels. I wanted to add my thought. I think it is an appropriate category to vote on at least. I thought about Persepolis and Maus as to graphic novel series that are considered books everyone should read, at least in some lists, so there is a lot to choose from in this category which is fairly new but expanding by leaps and bounds.

>41 Kristelh: I agree with what you said about graphic novels. There is a lot to choose from these days, so I don't think the category would be limiting. There are also "classic" series like Tintin and Asterix that might not immediately come to mind when one thinks of graphic novels.

The only thing I'll say about graphic novels... on one hand, I think they're great, and I used to love reading them when I was younger. On the other hand, they now really hurt my eyes, so I almost never pick them up, and I've got a good friend who's in the same position. We wear glasses for reading, but examining the pictures with our glasses on causes headaches, so... yeah. When I read a graphic novel, I have to make sure I've got a light reading/work schedule because I'm likely to have a lot of extra eye fatigue. So, for instance, though I've meant to get back to Neil Gaiman's Sandman series for ages, I haven't because of the extra energy/fatigue it will entail.

I'm not saying that my particular issue should necessarily affect the group's choice, but I bring it up because I suspect I may not be the only one who has some extra difficulty with them, whether because of eye issues or them translating well into e-reader territory. For me, a category like that isn't limiting because of the choices, but because of the medium. Kind of like an audiobook category for folks who don't normally read audiobooks for whatever reason.

>36 Robertgreaves: ok, so it could work either way. That give more options, so that sounds good to me!

>37 Robertgreaves: If a trilogy counts as a series

I count trilogies as a series. I even count two books that go "together" as a series.

>39 mathgirl40: Ok, I'll change the wording so it works both ways!

>40 pamelad: No worries! I just wasn't sure how we wanted to choose. We've done both ways in the past, so I wanted to figure that out first.

>41 Kristelh: Graphic novels are way more than equating it to one series. As you've mentioned, Kristel, there are graphic novel series that are even nonfiction, as well as fiction, plus there are lots more series than those two.

Thank you all for the discussions and feedback!

Should I set up a vote for each of the topics we have listed at this point? I'm thinking I can set it up today and we can vote up to next Sunday, so one week for voting.

We could then take the top 12 and people could then choose which topic(s) they want to host and in which months?

OR, do we just want to let people volunteer and pick the theme they want?

If it's not too much trouble, and since there's plenty of time, I'd vote for voting :) Especially since so many folks have had multiple ideas, and there are so many good ones floating around...?

(That said, I don't know how much trouble it is to set up voting, so if you don't have the time or don't want to bother, I'd certainly understand--I'm so non-tech-savvy that I'm sure it would take me hours upon hours!)

>43 whitewavedarling: I totally understand your concerns, as my own sight has been worsening over the years. I tend to read graphic novels on my tablet computer, as I can easily zoom in and out to read the text, but I know that's not helpful or feasible for everyone.

>51 mathgirl40:, I wish zooming in would help me! I don't even watch movies with subtitles anymore, they give me such headaches :( I can read for 8 hours straight with no problem, but throw in pictures or video, and I'm done for!

Anyhow, just my two cents :)

Just thought I'd add that I thought of another series in translation, though I'd have to see if more than the one I've read has been translated into English! Not sure the series title, but Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus was really good, and I'm sure it's part of a series.

>50 whitewavedarling: Thank you for your thoughts! I am fine with setting it up if that's what we want to do.

I'd probably give all day Sunday to vote and tally the votes on Monday next week.

Anyone else want to chime in on whether or not we want to vote on topics?

Since there are concerns about the graphic novel format not working for everyone, how about a "More Than Words" category?

This could encompass graphic novels as well as full-cast audiobooks (which have multiple narrators and often sound effects). I recently listened to a full-cast production of The Golden Compass, from the His Dark Materials series, that I thought was especially good. We could have an interesting discussion about what kinds of series benefit the most from these additional audio and visual enhancements.

>55 mathgirl40: Good idea. I'll change what it's called and add those in parentheses for clarification.

>54 LibraryCin: voting sounds good to me.

>55 mathgirl40: I like that idea. I love full cast audios.

>35 LibraryCin: I'd like to see both of them get up. A series set in a country you don't live in is really, really easy, particularly when you live in Australia!

I like the idea of voting! Thanks to everyone for lots of suggestions.

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

:-D

Looks like we're voting.

>58 pamelad: I will leave them separate!

That's all of them! Let's vote!

I will leave the voting open until next Sunday evening. I am in Alberta, Canada, so there aren't too many time zones later than me. I could come back around 9pm-ish Mountain time on Sunday to tally, OR I could wait till I'm home from work on Monday. I suspect most people will be finished by Sunday, anyway, but let me know if anyone has a preference.

Maybe I should post updates, like was done in the original CAT voting?

>59 LadyoftheLodge: And yes, I will echo the thank you for all the suggestions!

When I started suggesting this CAT a few years ago (can't recall exactly), I was fuzzy about exactly what it might look like, but I knew it would be a nice incentive for me to continue on with many of the series I've started! :-)

>83 LibraryCin: Whichever is easier for you

Thanks for setting this up. Whatever comes top, it will be a good chance to make a dent in TBR piles.

Thanks for setting up the voting! I've cast my votes but I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever we get in the end.

Thanks for taking the time to set all this up :)

No problem at all! I counted how many theme suggestions we had and it's 21, so we'll be cutting out almost half of them. I'm impressed we had so many themes suggested!

Thought I'd do an early lead update:

Top 12, so far:
- 'a series you've been meaning to get back to' - 32
- a series that's new to you' - 29
- A series set in a country/region where you do not live - 29
- A series in translation. - 28
- 'a series by a favorite author' - 27
- Historical series - 24
- genre: mystery (culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea) - 23
- 'a series with a female protagonist' - 22
- genre: fantasy - 21
- 'the newest book in a favorite series' - 20
- series that are definitely complete - 20
- More than Words (graphic novels, full-cast audiobooks) - 16

- YA/children's - 14
- A series written before you were born. - 13
- series written by more than one author - 11
- trilogies - 9
- series with a film/TV adaptation - 8
- book from a series that you don't need to read in order (or could be read as a one-off) - 7
- genre: mash-up genre - 5
- classics written originally as serial publications - 4
- series not planned as series, i.e., series where we know or suspect the author didn't really plan the books to be a series - 2

I love that (at least so far) almost all of our top 12 have at least 20 yeses!

And I love that so many people are weighing in!

Thought I'd do one more update. A couple in the top 12 changed order, but nothing major. No big moves from the ones that weren't in the top, though #s 12 and 13 are now only one vote apart.

I think I will tally the final votes on Sunday evening, so probably 9:00pm Mountain time.

Top 12, so far:
- 'a series you've been meaning to get back to' - 34
- a series that's new to you' - 31
- A series set in a country/region where you do not live - 31
- 'a series by a favorite author' - 29
- A series in translation. - 28
- Historical series - 26
- genre: mystery (culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea) - 24
- 'a series with a female protagonist' - 24
- 'the newest book in a favorite series' - 22
- genre: fantasy - 21
- series that are definitely complete - 21
- More than Words (graphic novels, full-cast audiobooks) - 17

- YA/children's - 16
- A series written before you were born. - 13
- series written by more than one author - 11
- trilogies - 9
- series with a film/TV adaptation - 8
- book from a series that you don't need to read in order (or could be read as a one-off) - 7
- genre: mash-up genre - 5
- classics written originally as serial publications - 4
- series not planned as series, i.e., series where we know or suspect the author didn't really plan the books to be a series - 2

Drum roll, please....

Top 12, and our themes for SeriesCAT for next year:

- 'a series you've been meaning to get back to' - 34
- a series that's new to you' - 31
- A series set in a country/region where you do not live - 31
- 'a series by a favorite author' - 29
- A series in translation. - 28
- Historical series - 26
- genre: mystery (culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea) - 24
- 'a series with a female protagonist' - 24
- 'the newest book in a favorite series' - 22
- genre: fantasy - 21
- series that are definitely complete - 21
- YA/children's - 18

There was movement amongst 12/13, so that YA/Children's has made it into the top 12, pushing out More than Words.

- More than Words (graphic novels, full-cast audiobooks) - 17
- A series written before you were born. - 13
- series written by more than one author - 10
- trilogies - 9
- series with a film/TV adaptation - 8
- book from a series that you don't need to read in order (or could be read as a one-off) - 7
- genre: mash-up genre - 5
- classics written originally as serial publications - 4
- series not planned as series, i.e., series where we know or suspect the author didn't really plan the books to be a series - 2

I'm going to copy/paste these, in this order, in the first post, so it should be easy to find our top 12. (I also want to keep the list of ones that didn't make the top, in case we do another SeriesCAT in the future and want to go with some different ideas.)

So, now if we could have some volunteers, please let me know which month and which theme you would like and I'll fill it in to the first post.

>29 pamelad: Would you still like the "series in translation" month for January?

This is the one I'd like to do:
- 'a series you've been meaning to get back to'

I'm not picky about month, so I'll hold off on that and fill myself into a month that others don't choose.

>95 LibraryCin: Yes, please.

Done! I've also put me in February, but if someone else wants Feb, I can switch.

Could I have Historical series for October?

I would like to do "A series by a favorite author" in March if no one else has claimed that.

I'd like to do "newest book in a favorite series" in May if that is not too close in time to series by a favorite author in March. If it is too close in time, I would still like to do May, but do "series set in a country/region where you do not live.

Thanks

>99 LittleTaiko: and >100 DeltaQueen50: Done! and done!

>101 sallylou61: I am ok with it. I'll put you in there for now, but if others would prefer the two themes are more spread out, I'll switch it.

I seem to be terribly indecisive! I think I'm going to switch mine to the YA/Children's one. So, "Series you've been meaning to get back to" is, again, up for grabs!

Sorry....

Thought it might also be easier to see what's still available if I strike out the ones that people have already chosen.

Please double check what I've done and let me know if I've gotten something wrong!

I'll take April with A Series You've Been Planning to Get Back To.

>105 clue: You're in!

I could take June and series that are definitely complete.

I'll do November - female protagonist if that's still open.

If July and genre: fantasy are still available, that would be great for me.

Ok, >107 MissWatson:, >108 majkia:, >109 LisaMorr: Done!

There are two months left:
September
December

And three topics:
- Series that's new to you
- Genre: Mystery

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up!

I'm willing to take August with series set in a country/region where you do not live.

>111 EBT1002: Yay! Thank you. Only two more to go... I've updated >110 LibraryCin:

I'll take September and the mystery genre: (incl. culinary cozies with recipes, cozies by the sea)

>113 cyderry: Thank you!

We just have December and "Series that's new to you" left. Is there someone who would like to host that one for us?

I can take it

>115 The_Hibernator: Thank you so much!

We're set for 2019!

Who usually sets up the wikis? I wonder if someone would be willing to do that for the SeriesCAT?

Or, if someone points me in the direction of some instructions, I could probably learn to do it myself.

Thanks!

I can do it if you like. Or I'll help you.

>118 majkia: I'd love to learn, but I've got a cold.

So, sitting in front of the computer (though I do it at work!) is not super-fun for me right now. Unfortunately, my colds tend to last ridiculous amounts of time (2-3 months, the past few years, and yes, I've seen a doctor, at least a couple of those times).

If we can hold off a bit, I wouldn't mind trying/learning, but that may depend how long we want to wait! If we want it done sooner, then feel free to go ahead. Thank you!!!

So, the wiki is now set up here:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2019_SeriesCAT

Thank you to majkia for giving me instructions on how to set it up!

Does anyone know who is able to edit the main page for the group in order to add the link to the wiki? RandomCAT wiki is also set up and I'm not sure if the others are yet or not. Thanks!

ETA: I think CalendarCAT wiki is set up, as well.

Ok, looks like it's rabbitprincess, so I've given her the link to add (in addition to links for RandomCAT and CalendarCAT wikis).

>120 LibraryCin: Done!

>120 LibraryCin: Good job!

>122 rabbitprincess: Thank you! and >123 majkia: Thank you!

The January SeriesCAT is up.

I'm planning out February's thread.

Does anyone know if there is a way to make a touchstone go directly to the series page instead of using the touchstones go to one of the book or author pages?

Or, maybe I'll just post it this way?

- Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling http://www.librarything.com/series/Harry+Potter

Thanks!

>126 LibraryCin: You could use an HTML link Harry Potter series

less than a href="http://www.librarything.com/series/Harry+Potter" greater than Harry Potter series less than forward slash a greater than

The http bit is the address of the series page.

Here is a set of instructions.

>127 pamelad: Thank you so much!

A general question: If a book is advertised as first in series, but so far is the only one, does it count?

>129 Robertgreaves: - I hope so, as I have some books I am thinking about reading for the SeriesCAT this year and there are currently only 1 or 2 books published at the moment in those series.

Sure, why not?

>129 Robertgreaves: I don't see why not!

This has been up for a few days now, but I guess I forgot to advertise it!! (Sorry about that!)

Feb SeriesCAT: http://www.librarything.com/topic/302430

March Series Cat is Up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/303826#

April SeriesCAT is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/304814

May SeriesCAT is up at: https://www.librarything.com/topic/305934

June thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/306991#6819610

Letting people know that FictFact.com has closed its site. You can download your series files for the next few weeks.

I never realized how useful it was until I started the SeriesCat challenge.

^ I am so bummed about this. It appears they had a quibble with Amazon. Sigh.

That IS disappointing. I only just discovered it.

I will get the July thread up by tomorrow - been traveling all weekend!

July thread is posted: https://www.librarything.com/topic/308140

August thread coming by this weekend, I promise!

In fact, here's the link to that promised August Thread!!

Yay!

September's thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/310235#

October's thread is up!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/311194#

November thread is up:November thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/312071

The 2020 Planning Thread for CATs next year has started here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/312074#6945930

The 2020 CATs Voting thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/312553

I know we're all eagerly planning for 2020. Still, have I missed the December thread?

>151 MissWatson: I did not see it yet.

>151 MissWatson: & >152 LadyoftheLodge: The planned host, The_Hibernator, hasn't been on LT much lately, perhaps we will need an alternative host?

>153 DeltaQueen50: I had to fill in for her for the ScaredyKIT a couple of months ago. I suspect someone will have to fill in here, as well.

I can do this. Nothing much to say in the intro, but not to worry.

December thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/313219

>155 pamelad: Thank you!

>155 pamelad: Thank you! That was quick!

I completed The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, the first in the Inspector Montalbano series.

>159 clue: I'm going to read that also!