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The Bram Stoker Book of the Year Challenge!
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message 51:
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Tiffany
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Mar 07, 2013 02:08PM
Sure thing, David :) I've never created a poll before, but I'll give it a shot June 1st. Should I just make a poll for the top 5 novel selections since that seems to be our focus?
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Tiffany wrote: "Sure thing, David :) I've never created a poll before, but I'll give it a shot June 1st. Should I just make a poll for the top 5 novel selections since that seems to be our focus?"I agree the top 5 should be the focus! thanks again! :)
I think I'll try and get through all of the Superior achievement in a novel. They all look interesting.
Anyone planning to read I'm Not Sam? Anyone already read it? I just finished it and... well I'm not sure what to say about it to be honest. Definitely disturbing. I feel a bit dirty actually... I did 'like' it though.
On a lighter note, I've read the young adult book The Raven's Boys too. One of my favorites so far this year. Not sure I'd call it horror - at least it is light on romance. I'd call it more of a fantasy. Good book either way.
On a lighter note, I've read the young adult book The Raven's Boys too. One of my favorites so far this year. Not sure I'd call it horror - at least it is light on romance. I'd call it more of a fantasy. Good book either way.
Traci I am almost finished with I'm Not Sam...different than what I was expecting, but really digging it.
How is everyone doing with this? Making progress? I've read The Drowning Girl and The Haunted, and I've started Inheritance.
I read Inheritance a week or two back (loved it!) and I'm set to read Bottled Abyss next week with my group.So that will be 2 down at least.
I already bought Kealan Patrick Burke's Thirty Miles South Of Dry County and Lost Girl of the Lake and that should complete my challenge, because I only went for 4.
Those are the three I've read so far. Bottled Abyss is up next and then probably I'm Not Sam. I might pass on the Everson novel. That one doesn't really appeal to me.Inheritance was awesome. Definitely my favorite so far.
11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Those are the three I've read so far. Bottled Abyss is up next and then probably I'm Not Sam. I might pass on the Everson novel. That one doesn't really appeal to me.Inheritance was awesome. ..."
I really liked Inheritance as well. Funny though, the rest of my group thought it was too police-y. :)
So far, I've only read Inheritance and I quite liked it. An easy read with good characters and a suspenseful plot. The police-y thing was actually the part I liked the best about it.I wasn't too crazy about the flashbacks in the last half of the book tho... Just too many of them in my opinion.
I'm planning to read The Drowning Girl next. Hope it's good!
So far I have read all the novel of the year nominees, working on some long fiction nominees now.
David wrote: "So far I have read all the novel of the year nominees, working on some long fiction nominees now."What's your pick for best novel?
11811 (Eleven) wrote: "David wrote: "So far I have read all the novel of the year nominees, working on some long fiction nominees now."What's your pick for best novel?"
wow...that is a tough question...I have debated this and my wife is reading all the nominees as well. Right now I would have to go with Inheritance, I felt it was the strongest entry. But to be honest I enjoyed 14 by Peter Clines (an early nominee but eliminated) the best.
I agree on both counts. I loved Inheritance but 14 would have been a worthy competitor.
Finished 'Inheritance'. Mostly brilliant, but I thought it fell down a bit towards the end.Anyway, set the bar pretty high, I thought.
'Bottled Abyss' is next for me,
I'm more interested in the First Novels than in new books from writers who've been nominated over and over again. Like Tressa, I'm lukewarm on Bentley Little. I've read a couple of Kiernan's books -- including Blood Oranges -- that I've liked, but not all appeal to me. If I read anything from the Best Novel list, it will probably be the Ethridge.I've downloaded Bad Glass and Wide Open from the Best First Novel category.
I've read three so far: NightWhere (very good)
The Haunted (not very good)
I'm Not Sam (excellent)
I've tried so hard to like Kiernan's books, but I just don't. There's something about her style/characters that don't appeal to me at all.
Hope you enjoy the ones you're going for, Reed!
I've only read Kiernan's Red Tree. I liked it enough to want to try another book from her. But to be honest I found her style to be arrogant. Or at least in that one book.
I love reading short work - I should probably aim for those rather than the novels.
I love reading short work - I should probably aim for those rather than the novels.
I have read with my group Bottled Abyss and Inheritance. Of the two, I liked Inheritance much more. I think Bottled Abyss went off the rails a bit at the end. I challenged myself to read 4 of these. My last two will be: Thirty Miles South Of Dry County and
Lost Girl of the Lake.
Traci, I can see why you used "arrogant" to describe Kiernan's style. For me her characters are so self-absorbed? Too self-aware? Too introspective? I don't know.
Yeah. Self-absorbed is a good description too. She reminded me quite a bit of Ayn Rand actually.
For superior achievement in a novel, I've still only read The Drowning Girl (of which I was not a fan) and The Haunted (which seemed fairly generic). I'm having difficulty getting into Inheritance. I think it's well-written, but I just don't enjoy police procedurals. I've read the short story collection Black Dahlia and White Rose by Joyce Carol Oates, and I really enjoyed it.
I am planning on reading the following still:
NightWhere (novel)
Bottled Abyss (novel)
Thirty Miles South of Dry County (long fiction)
I'm Not Sam (long fiction)
A Verse to Horrors (poetry)
Dark Duet (poetry)
Charlene wrote: "I have read with my group Bottled Abyss and Inheritance. Of the two, I liked Inheritance much more. I think Bottled Abyss went off the rails a bit at the end. I challenged myself to read 4 of thes..."
Downloaded "Thirty Miles..." sample. Was quite caught up in it, and will most likely be ordering the entire novella soon. One of the reviews on amazon was critical of the voice used by the principal narrator. I didn't have a problem with it, at least in the sample. May have to check out his other work, although Kin's storyline doesn't match up with my usual reading.
Kin is great! I didn't think I would like it either. I read the torture-terror type of books but they aren't really my thing. Kin isn't like that at all though. It is more subtle than that. With a few shocks of course. But the whole thing was - well almost poetic at times. It reminded me more of Steinbeck actually than Texas Chainsaw. Really good. I added Thirty Miles to my tbr list after reading Kin.
Mod
Jon Recluse wrote: "If you like Thirty Miles South of Dry County, be sure to check out Saturday Night at Eddie's, and Currency of Souls."Thanks for the titles, Jon. Downloaded a sample of Currency, couldn't find Saturday Night but will keep looking.
I downloaded The Turtle Boy quite a while ago because it was a freebie at that time. Haven't tried it yet, but probably should.
Mod
Thanks for the titles, Jon. Downloaded a sample of Currenc..."
Here's the Amazon link for Saturday Night, Reed.
http://www.amazon.com/Saturday-Night-...
The Turtle Boy is very good, as is the entire Timmy Quinn series.
Read Thirty Miles South of Dry Country. I thought it was really good. A bit familiar. A very subtle quiet horror.
Thirty Miles and I Am Not Sam are so completely different it's hard to compare the two really. I liked and enjoyed both in different ways.
Going to read I Hunt Killers now. One of the young adult books I picked up.
Thirty Miles and I Am Not Sam are so completely different it's hard to compare the two really. I liked and enjoyed both in different ways.
Going to read I Hunt Killers now. One of the young adult books I picked up.
Jon Recluse wrote: "If you like Thirty Miles South of Dry County, be sure to check out Saturday Night at Eddie's, and Currency of Souls."
Didn't know there were more... I will have to get those too. =)
Didn't know there were more... I will have to get those too. =)
Glad to hear that you liked 30 Miles South, Traci!I can't wait until I can work it into my reading schedule.
I've now finished the five nominees for Superior Achievement in a Novel. I'm not entirely sure which I would vote for if I was an active HWA member, but I'm leaning towards Inheritance.
Tiffany wrote: "I've now finished the five nominees for Superior Achievement in a Novel. I'm not entirely sure which I would vote for if I was an active HWA member, but I'm leaning towards Inheritance."I agree with you Tiffany, while I do not feel the nominees are really strong this year, Inheritance would get my vote. I actually liked 2 earlier nominees better that were thrown out, 14 & Cemetery Club.
Tiffany wrote: "I set up the poll!!!!! Everyone go vote...http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/84..."
Very cool!
Just finished 'Bottled Abyss'.I actually preferred it to 'Inheritance', which surprised me, cos I thought a lot of 'Inheritance'.
'NightWhere' next.
Getting close. I've read Nightwhere, The Haunted, and The Drowning Girl. So far, The Drowning Girl was my favorite of the three.I'm planning to finish the last two by the end of the week (gotta get reading).
Bottled Abyss is really great 1/4 of the way through.
Andrew that is my exact sentiments about Bottled Abyss. I enjoyed the beginning of the Drowning Girl but the novelty of the madness wore off to quickly for me. I did enjoy the characters though.
Yes it did. I'm pretty disappointed. I feel like her name and notoriety helped her win more than the quality of the book (which I still would never have categorized as horror).
I guess I'll read The Drowning Girl last, in that case.
I haven't read the book, so nothing against the writer, but I see that a lot with certain genre novels. There's a stigma attached to some genres (horror, science fiction, fantasy,...) and there are some who want to distance themselves from it.
I'll probably read it because it won though.
I'll probably read it because it won though.
Hmmm... I thought there were some real threads of genius in the book, but the memoir of a crazy person format was definitely a challenge. The few characters that were in the book were very strong.
Andrew wrote: "Drowning Girl wins best novel."I call bullshit.
I called it right..I figured it would win just because of the novelty of it. It was my least favorite and I read all the nominees, even the early nominees. Reminded me a lot of Chuck Palhaniuk's Pygmy.
Finished Nightwhere. I really enjoyed it.The character of Mark was really frustrating, but it was imaginatively depraved and, I thought, pretty compelling.
Bentley Little next for me.
I felt the sameway about Nightwhere, enjoyed the concept, but Mark's Character drove me insane. I wanted to bitch slap him into next week.
After eight chapters, I've given up on The Haunted. Life's too short.The Drowning Girl next.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Bottled Abyss (other topics)Inheritance (other topics)
Thirty Miles South of Dry County (other topics)
Lost Girl of the Lake (other topics)
Lost Girl of the Lake (other topics)
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