Nominations for the December/January group read are now open. READ CAREFULLY.

[Thomas]

I second Craig Johnson I also nominated him.

[Kim]

I second Susan Hill.

[Tad]

I'll second Pierre Lemaitre.

[Joni]

I will second J A Jance

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Removing moderator hat, showing up in my reader hat, I'll second Joe Lansdale.

[Bill]

I'll second Fred Vargas

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

So at this point we have for seconds

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill

for a total of seven. That's whittling down quite nicely.

[Jan C]

I second Nevada Barr

[Aaron]

I like Linda's idea:

Linda wrote: "Maybe go with author last names beginning with A thru H then next month I thru P, etc."

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

AJ wrote: "Linda wrote: "Maybe go with author last names beginning with A thru H then next month I thru P, etc."

I like Linda's idea!"

It is a very good idea, and we're considering that option for another time in the future, but for right now, we can't be all over the map with how to narrow down the choices.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Jan C wrote: "I second Nevada Barr"

thank you, Jan.

[Kim]

Just as an observation, one way I've seen this done is as soon as the reasonable # of nominations is reached, be it 5 or seven, the moderator closes the process & posts the poll. One group posts about 10, has a round of voting, then posts the 5 most popular & has voting for a set period of time. Another group just shuts things down at five, has the vote, & zippity-do-dah, we have the read for the month. Moderators have lives outside of Goodreads, and it is reasonable to have a process that makes everything work smoothly for the moderator while letting us participate in the choice. Thanks for doing all of this.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Kim wrote: "Just as an observation, one way I've seen this done is as soon as the reasonable # of nominations is reached, be it 5 or seven, the moderator closes the process & posts the poll. One group posts ab..."

Normally it works well the way we've been doing it in the past, but this time it's just gone a little crazy. So I think the idea of gathering names via the seconds is a good one -- and you have until tomorrow to make a selection. It's not about lives outside of goodreads, but rather, how to be the most fair when things have gone completely nuts. We are trying to come up with different alternatives going into January. But I appreciate your thoughts, Kim. Thank you.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Bill wrote: "I'll second Fred Vargas"

Sorry Bill, we must have cross-posted.

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill
Fred Vargas
Nevada Barr

[Aaron]

I'll second Joseph Finder.

[Bill]

Nancy - To be fair, when I went through all of the nominations last night, Jonathan Kellerman had been seconded in the intial round of nominations. You may want to add him as well. And thanks for catching my second.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Bill wrote: "Nancy - To be fair, when I went through all of the nominations last night, Jonathan Kellerman had been seconded in the intial round of nominations. You may want to add him as well. And thanks for c..."

My error -- I didn't see your post until after mine.

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill
Fred Vargas
Nevada Barr
Joseph Finder
Jonathan Kellerman

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Carol wrote: "I'd like to recommend William E. Johnson"

Apologies, Carol...he's not on the list Bill came up with and we are not taking new author nominations right now. If you could please go through the list (repeated below), second a nomination for your choice (just one pick, please), then I will add the name to my list for consideration for the poll.


- John Connolly
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Craig Johnson
- William Kent Krueger
- Gilly Macmillan
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Michael Robotham
- M.J. Carter
- John Lescroart
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Andrew E. Kaufman
- Jordan Dane
- Sandra Parshall
- Pierre Lemaitre
- Susan Hill
- Nevada Barr
- J.A. Jance
- Fred Vargas
- Friedrich Durrenmatt
- Elizabeth George
- Joseph Finder
- Sarah Waters
- Deon Meyer
- Tom Vater
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Tim Johnston
- Daniel Pennac
- Rex Stout
- Joseph Kanon, and
- Hanne Wilhelmsen (couldn't find her code)

[Soman]

why isn't Michael Connelly on the list?
multiple people have nominated him

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I would like to second Elizabeth George.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Soman wrote: "why isn't Michael Connelly on the list?
multiple people have nominated him"

As Bill noted when he put together the list, "these are the authors we've never read before."

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "I would like to second Elizabeth George."

Thank you, Susanna. She's on the list.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill
Fred Vargas
Nevada Barr
Joseph Finder
Jonathan Kellerman
Elizabeth George

[Tom]

Nancy wrote: "- Hanne Wilhelmsen (couldn't find her code)"

Hanna Williamsson perhaps?

[Ryan]

I'd like to nominate Lawrence Block.

[Tyrone]

I'd like to nominate Richard Stark.

[Carol]

Nancy wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'd like to recommend William E. Johnson"

Apologies, Carol...he's not on the list Bill came up with and we are not taking new author nominations right now. If you co..."

Thanks - I will recommend Andrew E. Kaufman instead.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Carol wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'd like to recommend William E. Johnson"

Apologies, Carol...he's not on the list Bill came up with and we are not taking new author nominations right ..."

Awesome. Thanks!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill
Fred Vargas
Nevada Barr
Joseph Finder
Jonathan Kellerman
Elizabeth George
Andrew E. Kaufman

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Ryan wrote: "I'd like to nominate Lawrence Block."

Here's the list that needs whittling, so please pick one of these names:

- John Connolly
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Craig Johnson
- William Kent Krueger
- Gilly Macmillan
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Michael Robotham
- M.J. Carter
- John Lescroart
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Andrew E. Kaufman
- Jordan Dane
- Sandra Parshall
- Pierre Lemaitre
- Susan Hill
- Nevada Barr
- J.A. Jance
- Fred Vargas
- Friedrich Durrenmatt
- Elizabeth George
- Joseph Finder
- Sarah Waters
- Deon Meyer
- Tom Vater
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Tim Johnston
- Daniel Pennac
- Rex Stout
- Joseph Kanon, and
- Hanne Wilhelmsen (couldn't find her code)

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Tyrone wrote: "I'd like to nominate Richard Stark."

Hey, Tyrone ... if you could please choose a name from this list, I'd appreciate it. Richard Stark isn't on there and we're not taking new nominations right now:

- John Connolly
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Craig Johnson
- William Kent Krueger
- Gilly Macmillan
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Michael Robotham
- M.J. Carter
- John Lescroart
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Andrew E. Kaufman
- Jordan Dane
- Sandra Parshall
- Pierre Lemaitre
- Susan Hill
- Nevada Barr
- J.A. Jance
- Fred Vargas
- Friedrich Durrenmatt
- Elizabeth George
- Joseph Finder
- Sarah Waters
- Deon Meyer
- Tom Vater
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Tim Johnston
- Daniel Pennac
- Rex Stout
- Joseph Kanon, and
- Hanne Wilhelmsen

[Annie]

Kim wrote: "Patricia Highsmith & Stephen King both on the read in recent past list provided by the moderators, thus not eligible. & the whole Edgar Allan Poe discussion reminds me of the scene in Sophie's Choi..."

Kim wrote: "Patricia Highsmith & Stephen King both on the read in recent past list provided by the moderators, thus not eligible. & the whole Edgar Allan Poe discussion reminds me of the scene in Sophie's Choi..."

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Annie wrote: "Kim wrote: "Patricia Highsmith & Stephen King both on the read in recent past list provided by the moderators, thus not eligible. & the whole Edgar Allan Poe discussion reminds me of the scene in S..."

????

[Annie]

Hello Kim.
I totally agree with you as English is my third language, and mistakes may also be due to the predictive typing of our laptops. In French, there are no mistakes in names, but of course it's better to write it the correct way! What about the names and surnames of Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, .... names? Even foreign cities....

[Suzy]

I second Sarah Waters. So many good authors, I'll be happy with whomever is picked.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Suzy wrote: "I second Sarah Waters. So many good authors, I'll be happy with whomever is picked."

Thanks, Suzy.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

All right my friends, here's what's going on the poll unless I get more seconds in the next hour (and the clock is ticking):

John Connolly,
Rex Stout
Craig Johnson
JA Jance
Joe Lansdale
Pierre Le Maitre
Susan Hill
Fred Vargas
Nevada Barr
Joseph Finder
Jonathan Kellerman
Elizabeth George
Andrew E. Kaufman
Sarah Waters

[Harriet]

I would like to nominate Stuart MacBride.

I have read most of the authors nominated, some the entire series, and have only read one of MacBride's, his first award winner COLD GRANITE (2005). He has a long list to select from and after checking Amazon, he has 4 and 5 starred reviews plus some awards.

In that series his protag is D.S. Logan McRae and it's set in Aberdeen, Scotland. I always write a summary of books read and I stated: "The characters are well-defined, leading and supporting. The progression of the story never lagged nor felt contrived for filler. I'll look for more in this series." I haven't done that so it's the reason I'm nominating him.

[Amy]

Jonathan Kellerman

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

thanks, Amy. He's already on the list.

[Amy]

Oh! I'm sorry, Nancy...I thought we were supposed to choose someone from that list. My mistake.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Amy wrote: "Oh! I'm sorry, Nancy...I thought we were supposed to choose someone from that list. My mistake."

No sorry needed at all. I just want to make sure that anyone who hasn't already seconded for the poll has a chance to do so. No worries!!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Okay, folks. Poll will go up tomorrow. Thanks, everyone! Sorry about the chaos.

[Amy]

:)

[Cordelia]

Julia Keller

[Yasmin]

I'd like to nominate Joyce Carol Oates, as I've started reading her not long ago and would like to read more of her work. :)

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Just so we're all very clear on this:

a) Nominations are closed.
b) The list of names that I have been posting with all of the names that were seconded is what will be on the poll. The last and final list can be seen at post #149 of this thread.
c) I apologize that we had to do some whittling down, but we never at all expected the huge amount of names that were nominated, so we had to pare down the list to a workable size, and the seconding of names was the most fair and streamlined way to handle it.
d) Not everyone's nominations will appear on the poll for reason c) above
e) I want to thank each and every one of you for your understanding. This was a highly unusual situation, and hopefully one that will not be be repeated.

I am locking the thread now; a message will go out when the poll is available