Literary Horror discussion
Monthly Reads
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Monthly Read Suggestions
The concept of "One Morning" sounds pretty intriguing, with 12 main characters/stories that intertwine. Gonna check out the preview that's available on Kindle
Russ wrote: "The concept of "One Morning" sounds pretty intriguing, with 12 main characters/stories that intertwine. Gonna check out the preview that's available on Kindle"Look forward to your impressions of the preview!
Reminder to everyone: our practice is the "official" monthly read has to go through a poll. But Marie-Therese and I have organized informal "buddy reads" in the past; just get together with a buddy and post an invitation announcement. Some of our most active group reads have been buddy reads. (I'm usually up for buddy reads of books I nominate, that weren't the top vote-getter in the monthly read poll.)
Our July poll closes tonight:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Remember, if you vote for a book and it wins, you're committing to participate in the discussions.
Nominations for our August monthly read?I'm tempted by a couple nominees for the Shirley Jackson awards:
Mike Allen, Aftermath of an Industrial Accident: Stories
J.D. Scott, Moonflower, Nightshade, All the Hours of the Day
Last call for August nominations. I'd like to get the poll up over the weekend.
The Searching Dead by Ramsey Campbell. This is the first book in a trilogy. The second (Born to the Dark) is due out in a new edition in two months (September 2021). We could read the first book in order to be ready for it.
Hello! I’m new, so I’m not sure there’s been discussion around Maggie Siebert’s Bonding which came out a couple of months ago. It’s from an indie publisher, been meaning to get my hands on it. So, yeah, I nominate Bonding!
Jackson wrote: "Hello! I’m new, so I’m not sure there’s been discussion around Maggie Siebert’s Bonding which came out a couple of months ago."Welcome to Literary Horror, Jackson. I don't believe we've discussed Bonding. My copy just arrived, so I agree that it will be an intriguing monthly book! (A note: it doesn't seem to be available as an e-book, but I'll include it in the poll.)
August poll is up:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Reminder: if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussion.
For those on the fence about "Bonding", I believe there is a free version of it online that the author posted.
Russ wrote: "For those on the fence about "Bonding", I believe there is a free version of it online that the author posted."Thanks Russ! That's super helpful. I'll make a note on the poll.
I've already read it, and thought it was pretty great. if it wins and generates discussion, maybe I'll re-read a few stories.
Russ wrote: "I've already read it, and thought it was pretty great. if it wins and generates discussion, maybe I'll re-read a few stories."It had endorsements from you, Tyler, Mike and Christian! I had to jump on it ASAP. And a No Trend quote, whoa. If it doesn't win, I'll most likely organize a buddy read anyway. Hope you feel like joining.
Please join us for the Literary Horror August 2021 monthly read: Maggie Siebert's Bonding!https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
For those of you here who were planning to read, or especially voted to read, Bonding, Maggie Siebert dropped in to the discussion. It's a little sparse over there now, so if you were intending to read this fantastic little book, come on by and you'll get a bonus opportunity to interact with the author.
Ok, it's time to organize for September's monthly read. My nomination (no surprise):Brian Evenson, The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell
Bill wrote: "Ok, it's time to organize for September's monthly read. My nomination (no surprise):Brian Evenson, The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell"
This.
I'd be interested in the new Evenson book. Haven't read a full book by him, but he seems to get near universal praise. Though I've been reading his collection "Windeye" here and there (read about half), and I haven't been real into it. There were some great stories, but I often find myself thinking that the author seems to be trying really hard to be clever. And it sometimes works, but even when it does, I find it a bit grating. It's been a while since I started reading, so it's tough to remember examples.I'm down to give another of his books a shot though (and will wrap up Windeye at some point.)
Russ, I'd love to read the new Evenson collection with you and the LH crew! I haven't read most of the new stories, but I have to say, Evenson's general approach hasn't changed significantly since Windeye. So if you have severe reservations with Windeye, the new collection might be a similar experience.I'm guessing there'll be more obsession and paranoia, and scrutiny of small mundane details that have horrific implications. I think it's all supposed to be grating (though I'm not sure what you mean by "clever"). But I'm looking forward to being grated, again.
Hey, I haven’t posted here in a while (sorry everyone, my life has been hectic) but I’m also interested in reading some more Evenson. I’ve only read his Last Days book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Didn't think of the idea that being grating could be intentional. I read a story today "Baby or Doll", there was stuff I enjoyed about it, but left me cold overall. I'm into the idea of reading with a group and discussing what people liked/disliked about the stories though.
Only joined last month, so I don't know if the group has done Eric LaRocca's Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. Been interested in checking it out, came out this year.
Also enjoyed Last Days, so I would be down for more Evenson, too
Jackson wrote: "Only joined last month, so I don't know if the group has done Eric LaRocca's Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke."I don't believe so. Here's the bookshelf for the group (there's also a link to it on the homepage for LH):
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
I've been wanting to read Things Have Gotten Worse... too.
While there's usually just one monthly book that we vote on as a group, we've had a number of less formal buddy reads. Just get together with a friend and start a forum thread! Some of our buddy reads have been very active and interesting. Here's the last one:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Jackson wrote: "Only joined last month, so I don't know if the group has done Eric LaRocca's Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. Been interested in checking it out, came out this year."I've already read that one and it is an excellent little book. Short though. Because of its format (emulating message board posts and chat transcripts) I think I finished it in around two hours. Well worth it though.
Good to see you again, Tim! Sorry to hear about the hecticness. Has your daughter been hiding your books again? Looking for missing books can be time-consuming. (Nobody hides my books, but I can't seem to find anything.)
Last call for nominations. I'd like to have the poll up by tomorrow (Sunday).I see one of the nominations has disappeared. Must be a case of something trumping something or other. I might throw in some of the August poll nominees if we don't have more than two.
Bill wrote: "Good to see you again, Tim! Sorry to hear about the hecticness. Has your daughter been hiding your books again? Looking for missing books can be time-consuming. (Nobody hides my books, but I can't ..."Good to be back!
Fortunately she hasn't been hiding any books. None of the covers have been bothering her seen Black Ambrosia... which is funny given that the above mentioned Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke has a much worse cover... but apparently that one was fine.
Poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Might be some mutual trumping going on there.
Please vote by Saturday 9/4. If you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussion.
Got the LaRocca and Evenson e-books checked out, so I'm ready for whichever wins.
Ok Jackson and other LaRocca supporters, Russ and I are planning a buddy read of the poll runner-up. Any preference for when we start? It's a short e-book, so we figure we could start ASAP, or wait a week or two with the Evenson coming in next weekend. Please speak up ASAP or we'll make a decision.
That would be great! All’s I gotta do is find the book which may take a little so maybe within a week or so?
Starting in a week or so sounds good to me, it can be an intermission of sorts from the Evenson book.
Since the Evenson read starts this coming weekend, let's plan on starting the LaRocca close to the weekend of the 17th.Do one of you want to create the buddy read thread? Or should I? Here's the last one:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
We might start organizing for October's monthly read.I'm not seeing a lot of appropriate nominees in my to-read pile. This might be on the literary side:
Susan Neville, The Town of Whispering Dolls: Stories
We could also pull runners-up from the last few polls. I could be talked into the Ramsey Campbell, or a few of the other items. Let me know what you think!
Weird Women: Volume 2: 1840-1925: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers is the book on my to read list that I'm the most enthusiastic about.
Last call for October nominations. I'd like to have the poll up by Sunday night.
October monthly read poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Please vote by Fri 10/1. If you vote for a book and it wins, you're committing to participate in the conversations.
From Whitney, on the new GR privacy settings:Goodreads has changed everyone's privacy settings so that they can only receive private messages from GR friends. What this means for members is that announcements from the moderators on things like upcoming reads will no longer go out to everyone in the group.
To continue receiving group emails, you need to change your email settings for "Who Can Send Me Private Messages?" from "Just Friends" to "Anyone". This can be found by clicking on your profile picture, then 'Account Settings' from the drop down menu, then 'Settings' on the top bar.
We have a rare tie in the monthly read poll for October. We'll be reading:1) Ramsey Campbell, The Searching Dead
Forum thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
2) Susan Neville, The Town of Whispering Dolls: Stories
Forum thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Literary Horror
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https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Remember, if you vote for a book and it wins, you're committing to participate in the discussions.