Nominations for May now June 2022 Group Read

[Dan]

What Weird Fiction book do you think the group might be interested in reading for May 2022 together? Please offer up to two nominations in this topic. Once we have at least four nominations, we'll start a poll for the next group read.

[Dan]

I nominate Reassuring Tales by T.E.D. Klein. I am not letting the negative reviews sway me on this one. It looks to me like the reviewers were expecting a horror anthology, got a weird one instead, and didn't know what to make of it.

[Francesca]

Is there a time range to refer to?
I would like to nominate Web. Can it fit?

[Dan]

Hi Francesca. The fact your nominee is classified as science fiction (primarily), but also horror and fantasy is a good indication to me that it fits into Weird. Breaking speculative fiction genre boundaries is one hallmark of Weird writing. I've read three Wyndham novels, one great (The Midwich Cuckoos), one so-so (The Day of the Triffids), the other rather awful (The Outward Urge). But I've never heard of this Wyndham novel. I'm happy to enter it into the poll.

[Dan]

We can't have a poll with just two books. When I get another Weird nomination, I'll announce a 24-hour close out for further nominations and then run a poll.

[Francesca]

Thank you @Dan. I never read this Author before so I didn't know if this book can be right. The three titles you mentioned are already on my TBR list. I hope to read they soon :-)

[Francesca]

Hi Dan, if there are no other nominations, maybe I have another proposal: Fear. But first I would like to ask you if this title is okay. Thank you.

[Dan]

I have never seen Hubbard's work being called Weird Fiction. In most of Weird Fiction writing craft is important and I'm not sure Hubbard has sufficient command of craft to have something he writes taken sufficiently seriously to be accepted as Weird Fiction. I've only read his Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 as a teen, and don't believe I made it much further than halfway through. I have not read this particular work of Hubbard's, or about it. So I could be wrong. It does span three genres (horror, SF, and Fantasy) nicely. So who knows? I'm game for running it in the next poll.

I want to delay the poll until next month since we're just now getting a third nomination and continue on with the April book through May. One member is just taking April's book up, and I'm less than half-way through. (A job transition is taking much of my personal time this month.) But I really think these last eight anthology stories for April's read will be worthwhile.

The Lovecraft reading for May is "The Call of Cthulhu." That one's important enough for some individual attention, I think.

Therefore, I am extending nominations for the next group read through May 15, at which time I will run a poll for June's group read. The poll can consist of the three nominations so far, or these three plus any others nominated between now and May 15.

[Dan]

When we run the poll May 15, my second nomination (any member may make up to two per poll) will be This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero.

[Francesca]

Thank you Dan for helping me.
I'm not so confident with the genre so I prefer ask before about the titles I would like to propose.

Considering that the poll will be delay, I'll start reading the book of April. Surely I will be slow in reading, but, I'm sure that is worthwhile, as you said.