The Mary Sue Books and More Club discussion
Nominations & Polls
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Suggest a Theme for Choosing Books Each Month!
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If we are looking for more specific themes then here are a few : 1950s sci fi, character based horror , zombie , time travel ,short story books , books with LGBT lead characters , speculative fiction or alternative history novels. That's just some off the top of my head I would love to see suggestions for books within these themes.
On that note could we maybe have a book section section ? :)
Subversive Sci-Fi, Feminist Fantasy, Herstorical Fiction? XD
I like the idea of having alternating genre's as well as theme months. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery, etc and then like then choose a different type of book within each genre. Women of Color in a mystery novel would be something interesting or an epic fantasy with a queer woman (I love this one, one of my unfinished novels has this as a plot because I wanted to read this- also a PoC).
We could do some types of fiction, like Translated fiction, Graphic Novels, Short Story Collections.But also themes. Women Pirates, Planet Colonisation, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (time travel etc), Future Societies, Evil Villains, Super Heroes, Survival Stories, Alien Invasion, Gothic novels, Fairy Tales retold, Made into Movies, Steampunk.
What about choosing it based around the year this time around:January: Time Travel Past/Present February: Romance March: Woman's History etc.
Charlie wrote: "What about choosing it based around the year this time around:January: Time Travel Past/Present February: Romance March: Woman's History etc."
starfleetbrat wrote: "We could do some types of fiction, like Translated fiction, Graphic Novels, Short Story Collections.
But also themes. Women Pirates, Planet Colonisation, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (time travel etc..."
I like both these ideas. Especially having "quirkier" themes, and not just "sci-fi" or "fantasy". People will have to come up with more creative suggestions then!
I also had the possibly odd idea of using lootcrates monthly theme then it's random and out of our hands but will always be geeky.
Charlie wrote: "I also had the possibly odd idea of using lootcrates monthly theme then it's random and out of our hands but will always be geeky."I actually really love that idea, and then we can branch out to that to make sure that we're inclusive and have women and POC as the main characters and things like that.
Well it's usually a loose theme based around a word like 'Battle' or 'Galactic' so I'm sure there's room for a lot of books under those headings.
Shelly wrote: "2015 is the year of the sheep/goat. I suggest at least one sheep or goat themed month. Book suggestions could include:The Android's dream
Three bags full
The men who stare at goats
Bonus points ..."
It's true, sheep do go to heaven, whereas goats... we all know where goats go.
Battle Sheep 100%!!
But really, I would be down with The Men Who Stare at Goats. I've wanted to read that one. I may just bump it up in my list, no matter.
Shelly wrote: "2015 is the year of the sheep/goat. I suggest at least one sheep or goat themed month. Book suggestions could include:The Android's dream
Three bags full
The men who stare at goats
Bonus points ..."
Oh my God, I love this idea.
Great ideas from everyone! Maybe dystopian/utopian literature?
How about LGBTQ horror fantasy lit with a sex positive outlook?
This initial example made me think of the amzing book by Nelson Algren - Chicago: City on the Make, but also made me miss the city:)
Love love love this idea! Rikki wrote: "I like the idea of having alternating genre's as well as theme months. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery, etc and then like then choose a different type of book within each genre. Women of Color in a myst..."
I have seen fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian-ish lit, but not horror. Do you know of any authors? Would like to check them out. Charlene wrote: "How about LGBTQ horror fantasy lit with a sex positive outlook?"
Cheryl wrote: "I have seen fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian-ish lit, but not horror. Do you know of any authors? Would like to check them out. Charlene wrote: "How about LGBTQ horror fantasy lit with a sex positive out..."The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is an oldie but a goody. It had to be subtle for it's time but there is a bisexual character in it who is pretty sex positive for the time.
Megan wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I have seen fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian-ish lit, but not horror. Do you know of any authors? Would like to check them out. Charlene wrote: "How about LGBTQ horror fantasy lit with a s..."I loved Hill House. Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite authors.
I know about this book, but have never heard this, and never read it. Thanks so much! Megan wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I have seen fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian-ish lit, but not horror. Do you know of any authors? Would like to check them out. Charlene wrote: "How about LGBTQ horror fantasy lit with a s..."
Wait, so are we talking about having 4 genres each month and choosing one book per genre based around an overall theme? Because that sounds, quite frankly, AMAZING. I'm in! And it gives the people who read really quickly more choices!We could go one step further and have everyone vote on the genres they want and every month we choose one book per genre without changing genres each month. I would think that mystery/horror, sci-fi/fantasy, "classic" literature, and grab-bag could work or some other kind of genre mashing that makes sense. Maybe do 5 or 6 genres and really give people a choice in what to read.
Edited to add: I think that LGBTQ/POC/Diversity as one genre is a MUST because it appears that we're all clamoring for this.
Echoing the sentiment to aim for diversity in both writers and characters, including ideally at least half women for each since, well, obviously, and the idea of multiple books each month to cover different genres sounds like a good idea considering there's bound to be some variation in reading preferences with over 800 members.So if one month we have a general "historical" theme, there would be historical mystery/horror, historical sci-fi/fantasy, historical classics (is that even a thing?), and historical grab-bag (or whatever broader genres we wind up settling on).
Oh a little suggest I just thought of for the comic book and graphic novel fans in the group maybe we should also have one of them a month to read or do one every two or three months. They arnt everyone's cup of tea though so I think doing them along with a book a month would be good cause there is allot of great new comics out there.
I think all the ideas are great, specially because with so many options there a few chances of not having something that one would like to read :)
On mobile so I can't reply directly: I think Kirstie's idea about a parallel monthly comic/graphic novel sounds awesome. For additional themes: high school lit, urban fantasy, fairy tale retelling, mythology, Hugo or National Book Award winner (not necessarily recently)
Some of you have expressed enthusiasm for choosing books by theme. We think it would be a ton of fun, but we need your help. Please suggest the themes you would like to see us use for choosing books.
For instance, we could go by era or by city. "1930s" or "Chicago" - if you wanted to pick by "Historical Crime" then the book we choose could include the 1930s and Chicago!
Just something for you to think about. :)