Monthly Group Reads

[Matt R.]

Here is a quick summary of how the monthly group reads work. On the first day of each month a nomination thread will be set up, each group member may nominate up to two titles. Nominations will remain open for 4 days then a poll is opened for voting which includes all books nominated. Voting will be open for 3 days to select the group read winner for the month. Each group member may nominate 1 or 2 books. Just a reminder not to nominate books that were read in previous group reads (see group bookshelf).

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

July 2013 Update:
When we started this monthly group read program back in October 2009, it was decided that we would read all of Dean Koontz's readily available titles. It was decided that we would not repeat titles until all of Koontz work had been featured as Monthly Group Reads. At the same time we established precisely how group reads would be selected using a 4 day nomination period during which group members were allowed to nominated 1-2 titles after which all titles nominated would go on a poll with 3 days to vote. We have stuck very closely to this procedure. UNTIL NOW......

THE CRAZY LITTLE BROWN OWL announces that the Nomination portion of the Monthly Group Read program is henceforth thrown out and we will now choose from the remaining titles via poll until all the remaining titles have been featured after which (near the end of 2014 or early 2015) we shall start all over and will once again include the nomination portion in our selection.

Yes, I decided this because I felt like it. I'm just tired of every month having to point out which titles we have already read and which ones are still eligible for nomination. It's getting ridiculous at this point, so there you have it. If you feel like this will shake the very foundations of Koontzland, simply teleport to an alternate reality in which this decision was not made.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and participated in this Monthly Group Read Program and Thank you to all you Koontzlanders for your continued contributions to this group. I will set up the Poll very soon.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

The Koontzland - Dean Koontz Group Read Program was started in October 2009. At that time we decided that as a group we would choose a Dean Koontz title each month and not repeat until we had read all Koontz titles that are readily available. We have now featured the majority of Dean's readily available books (we have not included graphic novels, childrens books, or books written by Trixie Koontz). Some months when our poll resulted in a tie, we have featured two titles.

For your convenience, I have listed below our Group Read History.

2009
Oct - Prodigal Son
Nov - False Memory
Dec - Breathless

2010
Jan - Watchers
Feb - Odd Thomas
Mar - Lightning
Apr - From the Corner of His Eye
May - The Bad Place
June - Phantoms
July - Lost Souls
Aug - Strange Highways
Sept - Dragon Tears
Oct - Night Chills
Nov - The Face/ Darkfall
Dec - The Door to December

2011
Jan - What the Night Knows
Feb - Midnight
Mar - Velocity
Apr - By The Light of the Moon
May - Dark Rivers of the Heart
June - The Dead Town
July - One Door Away From Heaven
Aug - Life Expectancy
Sept - Twilight Eyes
Oct - Intensity
Nov - Cold Fire
Dec - The Funhouse

2012
Jan - 77 Shadow Street
Feb - The Servants of Twilight
March - Mr. Murder/ Relentless
April - Strangers
May - The Face of Fear
June - The Taking
July - Odd Hours
Aug - Odd Apocalypse
Sept - Hideaway/ Sole Survivor
Oct - Tick Tock
Nov - The Darkest Evening of the Year
Dec - Fear Nothing

2013
Jan - Seize the Night
Feb - The Husband
March - The Voice of the Night
April - Winter Moon
May - Shadowfires
June - Deeply Odd/ Whispers
July - Shattered/ Your Heart Belongs to Me
August - The House of Thunder
September - The Mask/ The Good Guy
October - A Big Little Life
November - Demon Seed/ The Key to Midnight
December - Wilderness/ Innocence (New Releases!)

2014
January - Icebound
February - To Be Determined :-)

We have picked a lot of titles, but there are still a few more to read. Below is the amazing list of readily available Koontz titles that have not yet been featured as group reads in Koontzland:

Odd Thomas Series
Forever Odd (book two)
Brother Odd (book three)
Odd Interlude (book four and a half)

Frankenstein Series
City of Night(book two)
Dead and Alive (book three)

Stand Alone Novels
The Vision
The Eyes of Darkness

Novellas
note: if one of these novellas is selected, it's a two for one special :-)
Darkness Under the Sun
The Moonlit Mind

At the beginning of each month a poll will be created with the remaining titles. The poll will end on the night of the 7th each month and the winning title(s) will be featured the following month. For example: the title chosen on December 7th, will be featured in January.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Thank you to everyone who has supported and participated in this Monthly Group Read Program which began in October of 2009 before Koontzland was established in December of 2009.

I have updated the previous post listing our Group Read history to date and I will try to keep it updated as we finish this program over the next year or so. If anyone has any suggestions or changes concerning what you would like to see happen when we finish reading all of Koontz's readily available titles - this would be a good place to voice your opinons, ideas, thoughts and suggestions concerning our Monthly Group Read. For Example: once we finish this cycle, should we eliminate the re-read rule? Should we start the nominating process again? Should we only vote via poll? Should there be a random number of random titles on the poll to choose each month? Any ideas are welcome. I would like to keep things as simple as possible which is why now that we are nearing the end of the list - I am only doing the poll and leaving out the steps of nominating.

Feel free to voice your thoughts but keep in mind that we are following through with this cycle by voting on the poll and your suggestions will help decide what happens after that. We have grown much in 4 years and maybe we don't want to do things the same way for the next 5 years concerning the Monthly Group Read Program. We've got a whole year (at best estimate) so no rush - comment when you want.

Thank you to every Koontzlander (no matter how long you've been with us) for your continued contributions to this group.

[Michelle]

Maybe you could start getting suggestions from members for other horror/thriller type reads or authors similar to Koontz for the monthly reads to be chosen from once they have all been used up?
Then maybe a re-read of a Koontz title could be thrown in as well every second month or so?
Just my little suggestion...... :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Thank You Michelle :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

An update on how Group Reads Work:

As a group we have read all of Dean Koontz's readily available titles at least once. In recent years, I have simplified the Group Read Process.

The monthly group read is selected via poll announced one month prior to being featured - giving group members plenty of time to obtain a copy.

Titles featured on the poll have primarily been based on when we last featured the title as a group read. Sometimes, I will also add a seasonal appropriate title. Also, recommendations from group members are welcome.

If you have a title you'd like to suggest as a Group Read, send me a message or post in any discussion thread. If your suggestion hasn't been featured in a while, it will likely make it to the poll.

Thanks for your continued participation in the Koontzland - Dean Koontz Goodreads Group! :-) Happy Reading!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Dee ~ Proudest Nanna Of Newborn Millie ~ wrote: "I would love to read all of James Herbert. It would be a great tribute to him."

Typically, we've featured books written by Dean Koontz. There have been a few exceptions when we finished our first round of reading all Dean's readily available works and were trying to figure out what to do next. At one time we featured a book written by a group member who was inspired by Dean Koontz.

Of course, if you can get enough interest, anything is possible.