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Bill
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Jan 20, 2021 01:09PM
After an eventful first half of January, we're close to the end of the month. I anticipate some intriguing nominations for our February monthly read!
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Hmm, I don't see any nominations. We could just revisit the other nominees from last month.Here's an idea:
The Collected Connoisseur
How about The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher? The other book I read by her (The Hollow Places) was one of the more enjoyable horror novels I’ve read in some time. I would be interested personally in seeing more of her work if anyone would like to check it out.
I’ll refrain from nominating because The Collected Connoisseur looks appealing to me. Mark Valentine is a Tartarus Press writer i haven’t read yet.
Ronald wrote: "I’ll refrain from nominating because The Collected Connoisseur looks appealing to me. Mark Valentine is a Tartarus Press writer i haven’t read yet."It's co-authored with John Howard, who is also a fantastic writer. I recently read Valentine's The Nightfarers, which is outstanding. If The Collected Connoisseur is chosen, I will be happy to read it along with everyone.
The Elementals was already a group readhttps://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
But I have no problem if members here comment on the book
Ah, thanks for the pointer. I will read it soon anyway and then the thread.
I have a copy of The Collected Connoisseur and would be happy to read it this month. I've also started The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories Volume 1 (a perennial nominee in our recent monthly polls), which has been added to this year's Stoker awards longlist. If anyone wants to join me in a buddy read, just let me know and I'll put up a thread.
Thanks for the intriguing nominees, everyone! Last call; I'd like to have the poll up tonight.
Poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Please vote by this coming Sunday. Remember, if you vote for a book and it wins, you're committing to participate in the discussions.
What are your LH-themed favorites of 2020? Please share here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I know we've been preoccupied with a monthly book plus two buddy reads this month. But it's time to nominate March's monthly read. (It's of course fine to take a break if February has been packed with too much excitement.)
Because we have read a short story collection in February, I will nominate 3 novels:- The Ghost Wall, by Sarah Moss (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Revenants, by Daniel Mills (Chomu Press)
- Legionnaire, by C. E. Ward (Sarob Press)
Bill wrote: "Hell Hound was read here last August.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."
Oops.
I nominate Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall, Jessica Hamilton (Pseudonym)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Ronald wrote: "I nominate Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall, Jessica Hamilton (Pseudonym)"I read this late last year, around the time everyone else was reading Hell Hound. It was a 3.5 star book for me: some interesting conceits and an unusual main character but an execution that left me surprisingly unmoved. My words at the time:
"3.5 stars. A most curious book.
Greenhall narrates a remarkably over the top, Gothic sort of story complete with murder, adultery, incest, "witchcraft", and pretty much every other sin you can imagine, but all in the most composed, rather dry tone, voiced by a clearly sociopathic teenage girl. Is our narrator a witch or just delusional? Does it matter? This is a compelling read by a writer clearly in perfect control of his material but, all that being said, I'm not sure I found the book as convincing as I expected. A very cool, very sedate, very well-organized but not especially visceral horror tale."
I've read Elizabeth as well, and I enjoyed it very much!
Adriane wrote: "Because we have read a short story collection in February, I will nominate 3 novels:- The Ghost Wall, by Sarah Moss (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Revenants, by Daniel Mills (Chomu Press)
- Legionnai..."
Thanks for the nominations, Adriane!
I see C.E. Ward's Legionnaire is only available as a limited edition hardcover. Are there other editions? If it's hard to find, LH members may be less likely to vote for it.
I’ve been looking for Legionnaire for a while, I don’t believe there are any in print copies available anymore, so I’d maybe suggest against that one. The other two both look interesting though.
I’m for putting all the nominations in the poll.
I'm fine with having all nominations in the poll, as long as we don't have too many. (And it doesn't look like we do this time, unless there's a late rush.)I almost never nominate more than one or two books at a time though. I would like my nominations to do well; with too many nominations, they're competing against each other for votes.
I own a copy of 'The Ghost Wall' and have been planning to buy 'The Cuckoo Girls', so both those are of interest to me and I would be happy to see either book win.
That is true about C. E. Ward's Legionnaire. It is only available as a limited edition hardcover. I will consider that in my future nominations.
Last call for nominations. I'd like to get the poll up over the weekend. Thanks to everyone who've already shared nominees!
Poll is up:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Please vote by Friday 3/5. Reminder: if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participating in the discussion.
I know March has been busy here, with a Monthly Read, a Buddy Read, and a Rogue Read. But it's time to think about a book for April, the cruelest month.Perhaps Adriane's nominations for March for another run?
I'm not seeing a lot of nominations for April. We did have very promising books in the March poll; happy to push them into April's as well, along with new nominations. Please let me know soon.
For the April group read I nominate A Season of Loathsome Miracles
I haven't read the book but the premise of the short stories seem interesting.
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.
Please vote by Friday 4/2!
Update: for our April 2021 monthly read poll, Jen points out that the Patrick Beltran anthology is actually not available as an ebook:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
(The Patricia Tillie is available in the Kindle store.)
Reminder: please vote by Friday 4/2. If you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussion.
Nominations for May's monthly read? I'm keen to read some of April's books that didn't win, for starters.
Last call for nominations for May. I'd like to get the poll up soon.
I saw a nomination for an Arthur Machen book that looks like it was removed. So with that in mind, I'd like to nominate his The Hill of Dreams
May 2021 poll is up!https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Remember: if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussions.
What might be ideas for our June monthly read? Perhaps:Susan Neville, The Town of Whispering Dolls: Stories
Tim Jeffreys, Dark Lane Anthology: Volume 10
For some reason I can't add a cover to the Jeffreys anthology. But here it is:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Lane-An...
Nominations please!
I would be up for a read of The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. I somehow feel we did not do Machen justice by selecting the book we did this month. I mean, the selection covered the literary aspect of our group, but failed (imo) in the horror. Wikipedia says that Stephen King has described The Great God Pan as "maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." Seems worth a read to me. It's only a novella and from an author we just read, so maybe it's best not to propose we use two whole months for Machen. This nomination might better serve as a buddy read for those who similarly feel we owe Machen some justice.
The in-between period before the next book starts, say the ten days May 27 - June 5, might serve as a good time for the buddy read. I'd just like to invite others to participate. I plan to read the novella during that span of time regardless, and am willing to share impressions if anyone else is interested. Otherwise, my impressions will be in my end of book review.
The Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem Machen's novella is based on? Really cool! Especially given our observations on how lonely is this month's protagonist, Lucian Taylor, our writer/artist and therefore cut reed. I missed the poem previously, and now it's a favorite. Here's a link to the poem if you're interested: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...
I usually try not to nominate too many books in a month, but this is awfully tempting:Rosalie Parker (ed.), Strange Tales: Tartarus Press at 30
Last call for June nominations! I'd like to have the poll up ASAP.
Poll is up:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
Please vote by Saturday evening. Remember, if you vote for a book and it wins, you are committing to participate in the discussions.
Now that the Merl and Bill show has taken a break, it's time to plan our July monthly read. Some ideas:Mike Ashley (ed.), Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird
Jessica Hagy, One Morning
Tim Jeffreys (ed.), Dark Lane 10
Bill wrote: "Now that the Merl and Bill show has taken a break, it's time to plan our July monthly read. Some ideas:Mike Ashley (ed.), [book:Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird|50815..."
The Dark Lane book looks interesting.
I'd like to nominate House on Fire by Arch Oboler. It's yet another Valancourt Books rescue from obscurity. It's $2 less expensive to buy the ebook through Valancourt's website (than Amazon): https://www.valancourtbooks.com/house...
I just added that to my to-buy list last night! A good reason to buy it if it wins.
Bill wrote: "Now that the Merl and Bill show has taken a break, it's time to plan our July monthly read. Some ideas: Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird is a good one. There are a number of writers represented there who, according to editor Mike Ashley, "dared enter the male stronghold of the pulp magazine and established their own reputation for the modern weird tale. " I particularly enjoyed Margaret St. Clair's "Island of the Hands" (1952), and "White Lady," by Sophie Wenzel Ellis (1933).
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