BOTM Nominations - February 2015

[K.C., Eager Reader]

I know I am the moderator but I will kick off February's BOTM Nominations off with a few suggestions of my own:

Ghost Story - Straub
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Bradbury
Rosemary's Baby - Levin
Anything by King

[K.C., Eager Reader]

My king selection I will throw out is Pet Sematary, I am ashamed to admit it is one of the few early King novels I somehow missed in my younger days (probably due to the movie).

[Stephanie]

I'll make a few nominations:

, , ,

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Thanks for the nominations Stephanie and welcome. I actually was looking at Winter People as a possible read last weekend, it looked interesting.

McMahon is a NYT Bestselling author also so it would align with the group focus more towards the seminal or bestselling authors and books from the genre.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Ok I have updated my nominations (each week I want to read something different, is anyone else like that?):

Pet Sematary - Stephen King
Rising - Brian Keene (not a huge zombie fan but have always heard good things about this one)
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin

Want to make a selection by Jan 15th.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Another classic I missed due to seeing the film first.

[Maggie]

I am up for anything. Just have to check out from library.

[Stephanie]

Adrian wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "I'll make a few nominations:

,,,[bo..."

Just downloaded the sample!

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Ok got a suggestion; the main focus of this group is horror “hits” and “hall-of-famers” (big name authors or best sellers - King, Straub, Barker, Campbell, McCammon, Rice etc.), BUT because this group will be awarding a “New Classic of Horror” title at the end of each calendar year, perhaps we should select a separate monthly group read from newer works that could qualify for this award consideration at the end of the year?

What do you think?

I want to keep a focus on key works or authors for the main monthly read, but I love the suggestions on new works you guys are throwing out, they sound interesting.

[Stephanie]

K.C. wrote: "Ok got a suggestion; the main focus of this group is horror “hits” and “hall-of-famers” (big name authors or best sellers - King, Straub, Barker, Campbell, McCammon, Rice etc.), BUT because this g..."

I think that sounds like a great idea!

[Brian]

1. Bird Box, am I the only one who hasn't read it?
2. The Talisman, best of both worlds
3. The Silence Of The Lambs, classics never get old

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Three great selections. I must be the other person who hasn't read Bird Box. Was at B&N about a week ago and looked for it but they don't carry it at the stores around here. PB looks like it comes out Feb 10.

I am still old school and like the paper, haven't made the transition to electronic yet (just a few short stories).

[Brian]

I was paper all the way until about 6 months ago... a lot easier flipping the tablet open and not turning the light on and bothering my sleeping wife. The only thing I don't like is the price of kindle or nook books. As soon as a book is popular it seems like the price rises. If paper and ink are taken out of the equation shouldn't it be cheaper?

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Have the same thing with my wife (she always yells over to me, "you gonna turn out that spotlight?"), been looking at the Kindle Paperwhite with its backlit functions. I have been reading short stories on my iPad (kindle software) but it is a little bulky.

[Stephanie]

K.C. wrote: "Have the same thing with my wife (she always yells over to me, "you gonna turn out that spotlight?"), been looking at the Kindle Paperwhite with its backlit functions. I have been reading short sto..."

I love my Kindle Paperwhite! It is the best thing that has ever happened to my love affair with reading.

[Brian]

I've got kindle/nook apps on my phone and tablet as well as the old school no backlight kindle. Can't beat the sepia tone backlight at 1 am when sleep is nowhere in sight.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Thanks all, great feedback to have as I am going to finally take the plunge soon. Someone also mentioned somewhere online (perhaps Goodreads) that they found they actually read at a much faster rate using the Kindle, do you notice this? This would be a great side effect for me as I always feel I am reading at a snail’s pace (my comprehension is great, just seem to turn the pages slowly).

[Stephanie]

K.C. wrote: "Thanks all, great feedback to have as I am going to finally take the plunge soon. Someone also mentioned somewhere online (perhaps Goodreads) that they found they actually read at a much faster rat..."

I definitely read A LOT faster with my kindle.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Thanks Adrian and Stephanie for the feedback, it certainly would be nice to get through more books this year.

[Ren]

Mr. Peanut by Ross Adam
The Ruins by Scott Smith

[Susan]

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Some great recommendations coming in. Be interesting what ends up the big winner. I am looking forward to all of these.

[Stephanie]

I've already Red Dragon recently but would vote for Silence of the Lambs (book #2)

[K.C., Eager Reader]

I read the first 3 (never the 4th), but it has been SOOO long I couldn't tell you how they differed from the movies. Of course I have seen Manhunter (I prefer it over Red Dragon) and Silence of the Lambs at least 10-15 times each, so won't be much hiding around the corner (or perhaps there will).

[Kelly]

I'll definitely throw "The Association" by Bentley Little out there.

I've never read "Something Wicked This Way Comes" but if I'm not mistaken it's been sitting up on my book shelf for years.

I have never really been able to get into Stephen King, honestly...but I haven't tried to read anything by him in years, so I'm willing to give him another go. I did read the Shining, and I won't lie, it freaked me out in the worst way, haha.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Kelly wrote: "I'll definitely throw "The Association" by Bentley Little out there.

I've never read "Something Wicked This Way Comes" but if I'm not mistaken it's been sitting up on my book shelf for years.

I..."

Love Bentley Little so it definitely will be included along with Something Wicked This Way Comes. Read Something Wicked MANY years ago and honestly it would almost be like a new read for me at this point. Both great suggestions. Thanks

[Paul]

[Susan]

Stephanie wrote: "I've already Red Dragon recently but would vote for Silence of the Lambs (book #2)"

I haven't read any of them as of yet, I have Red Dragon but haven't read it. I'm working on reading things that I own right now but can't quit buying books especially when I get some awesome deals. LOL

[Stephanie]

Susan wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "I've already Red Dragon recently but would vote for Silence of the Lambs (book #2)"

I haven't read any of them as of yet, I have Red Dragon but haven't read it. I'm working on re..."

I suffer from that same problem! So many books I own to read but I can't pass up on new ones whenever I see a great deal! GAH!

[Paul]

Just out of curiosity what price ranges do you guys consider to be good deals or not. Max price you would buy? etc

[Stephanie]

Depending on the book: $3.99 and lower

But it really depends on the book I think. I've spent $8.99 on a book that I wanted to read so bad and felt that was a really great deal compared to it's normal list price. And of course if I want a book bad enough, I will pay what it's listed for within reason.

[Paul]

Great. Thanks for the info. Appreciate it. Mine were listed at 4.99 but I repriced them at 2.99. Now they fall within a more affordable and attractive range according to your feedback.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Haha, so far what has happened is what I thought might happen since we are still a growing group, a 6-way tie for first place. We have some time so hopefully we will see a tie-breaker vote come in at some point.

And yes, nobody should feel like they need to buy a book if your shelves are overflowing like mine and just can't justify it.

Has anyone been part of a group here where they had a trade program within it (of course postage is almost as costly as the actual book these days)? would be cool if members could trade titles.

Thanks again everyone for the nominations, we got some awesome titles to consider this month.

As always, feel free to make suggestions on how to make the group better.

K.C.

[Stephanie]

K.C. wrote: "Haha, so far what has happened is what I thought might happen since we are still a growing group, a 6-way tie for first place. We have some time so hopefully we will see a tie-breaker vote come in ..."

KC could you tell us what the top titles are? Maybe we can vote again and break the tie :)

[Stephanie]

Paul wrote: "Great. Thanks for the info. Appreciate it. Mine were listed at 4.99 but I repriced them at 2.99. Now they fall within a more affordable and attractive range according to your feedback."

Sure thing, you're welcome.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Good idea Stephanie, if we have a vote that is this close a few days out of the end of the poll , perhaps we do a quick round of top 3 and I tabulate which book gets most top 3 votes. Love it, thanks.

[Vanessa]

All suggestions here sound great to me. I've never ready any Bentley Little, so I feel like I need to get with the program. One new suggestion I'd like to throw into the hat is Laura Kasischke's "Mind of Winter." More psychological horror than thing lurching in the dark horror, but it stays with you.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Haha, still close folks. we still have a few days to go and if we are still tied, we will go to a quick 24 hour run-off.

We currently have 2 votes for:
Wolf Gift
Pet Sematary
The Winter People

and 1 vote each for:
Somthething Wicked This Way Comes
The Talisman
The Silence of the Lambs
The Association
The Ruins

I can't wait to read ANY of these so thanks all for voting.

[Stephanie]

Beautiful chaos indeed. The top three are all good picks.

I'm going to make a second vote and stick with my first vote: The Winter People

:)

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Looks like we could be headed for a 3 book showdown (all look like great reads to me). Perhaps we will see a tie-breaking vote come in but voting hasn’t changed in a few days so it’s possible this is where we end up. If we end up with a tie, I would suggest for a 24-hour period we each simply list our top 2 picks in the thread here and then I will tabulate. If anyone has another suggestion that might have been used on another board, please feel free to throw it out.

I will announce an official tie-breaking solution if needed when the poll ends (Jan 15th).

Thanks all.

K.C.

[Susan]

that works for me

[K.C., Eager Reader]

The Winter People just took the lead.

[Paul]

Uh oh. My bad I think I tied it up lol. Oops

[K.C., Eager Reader]

No, that's what we want some great drama. If we have a tie we will go to a 24-hour tie breaker. I think it's fun.

Thanks Paul.

K.C.

[K.C., Eager Reader]

I love it, the race is back to a 3-way tie with Pet Sematary, The Winter People and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Awesome!

[Susan]

Don't worry Paul, it helps to have some suspense. LOL

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Robert wrote: "The only thing I will not read is THE RUINS. I read it a few years ago and I still feel the razor blades it left in my brain. It is a horrific novel but the trauma I experienced... Just can't do it..."

Haha. Read it when it came out (was and still am a HUGE fan of Scott Smith’s A Simple Plan) but for some reason I can't remember much about The Ruins. I will chalk it up to getting older. I might have to revisit it since Mr. Smith has once again decided to wait a decade between works. However I will consider your warning. ;)

[K.C., Eager Reader]

Ok folks it looks like a 3-way tie with Pet Sematary, The Winter People and Something Wicked This Way Comes, how fun!

If we did a run-off poll we might get the same exact results so I think the best way to break the tie will be as follows:

List your selections in order of preference top to bottom. The top choice will get 3 points, the next choice will get 2 points and the bottom choice will get 1 point. Tomorrow morning I will calculate all the points and hopefully this will give us our February read.

NOTE: Don’t feel bad about the ranking of your list, this is not to slight the selections as we all have reasons why we are ranking them in the order we have them (perhaps you just read one of them or perhaps the other two just excite you more to read etc.). I am going to have trouble ranking them because I actually would love to read all 3.

So to start it off here is my ranking –

1) Pet Sematary
2) Something Wicked This Way Comes (I have always wanted to read this but haven’t)
3) The Winter People (I am sure I will read this soon regardless)

Start Ranking!!

[Katey]

1.) something wicked this way comes.
2.) the winter people
3.) pet semetary (only because I've already read it)

[Quentin]

1. Something Wicked
2. The Winter People
3. Pet Semetary (For the same reason Katey mentioned, I've already read it, otherwise it would have been my top pick)