Supernatural Fiction Readers discussion
Common reads
>
What are we going to read in this group?
Sounds good to me--Shiver vs. Second Glance. So far that is...
I vote for Haunted. I haven't read Herbert in some time and have been meaning to. I'm not opposed to Second Glance, but if we're looking for firm votes and/or decisions, then I'm going with Haunted.
Well, Maryjo, we're not requiring anybody to make firm votes or decisions yet; I won't post the poll until next month, and even then you can always change your vote until the poll closes. :-) But it should be fine to include both the Herbert and the Picoult books. I'm hoping to narrow our suggestions down to no more than six, but that's only four.I've been debating adding another book from my (huge) to-read list, this time a stand alone. Two that I thought of are War in Heaven (1930) by Charles Williams, and Moon of the Wolf by Les Whitten. The latter one was in one of our polls a couple of years ago, and got some votes; but it's werewolf-themed, as is Shiver. Maybe we wouldn't want two werewolf books in one poll? (In which case I'd stick with War in Heaven.)
i think that anything by James Herbert would be great. i have read the whole David Ash trilogy, Ash being the last novel he published before he died, and they were all great reads so anything by this great man would be recommended by me.
Rachel wrote: "i think that anything by James Herbert would be great. i have read the whole David Ash trilogy, Ash being the last novel he published before he died, and they were all great reads so anything by t..." According to his Goodreads description, the late James Herbert (d. 2013) was the number one best selling novelist in the U.K., starting with the publication of his first novel. That in itself says something about his work!
Besides the two titles I mentioned in message 409, another stand-alone book in my to-read piles that I'm considering as a possibility for the poll is Grave Intent by Deborah Leblanc. (I won't nominate all three; I want to narrow it down to one, but at this point I'm just floating trial balloons to see if anyone else has any feelings one way or the other about any of the three. Leblanc's Water Witch ultimately got four stars from me; but that book did have significant bad language issues, and I'm concerned that Grave Intent may as well.
Okay, the poll is up! It'll run through Sept. 14 (or in other words, for two weeks). Since nobody had any feedback one way or another on my three suggested stand-alone titles, I went with War in Heaven for the poll. With five choices altogether, I'm hoping to get a good response! Now, I'm going to send a general invitation to the members to vote.
The poll results are in, and we have a clear winner, by a runaway margin: Haunted by James Herbert, with 13 votes. (Shiver was a distant second with six; A Discovery of Witches and War in Heaven tied for third place with four votes each, and Second Glance trailed with two. So, those who want to join in will be reading Haunted, starting on Oct. 1; I'll plan to get a thread up in the "Common Reads" folder on that day, if someone else doesn't do so first. (I realize that our Aussie members, for instance, are a day ahead of the rest of us. :-) )
Cool! Looking forward to the discussion.
woo hoo love that book. Great choice readers hope you all enjoy it.
I know we're not supposed to self-promote, but...
For that matter, what about the rest of you? Have anything to share? Send me a copy of yours, will send one of mine. Truthfully, would rather read some underground material...I miss self-published chapter books and the like. Does 'Fact Sheet Five' even exist anymore? I'll have to google that...later!
For that matter, what about the rest of you? Have anything to share? Send me a copy of yours, will send one of mine. Truthfully, would rather read some underground material...I miss self-published chapter books and the like. Does 'Fact Sheet Five' even exist anymore? I'll have to google that...later!
Actually, Eli, you can start a thread to promote your work in the "Group Members Who Write/Publish" folder, if it's in the supernatural genre. And be sure to add your book(s) to our "written by group members" bookshelf!Where common reads are concerned, though, I'd prefer that we author members NOT suggest our own books. It's fine if other members like a group member's work well enough to suggest it; but the fact is, we're not the most objective judges of our own work! Besides that, most of us aren't well enough known as authors for our work to be widely held in libraries; and for a common read, it's important to pick a book that's easily accessible to those who can't afford to buy it.
As we begin, once again, to seriously brainstorm about what book to choose for our annual (voluntary) common read in October, I'm going to again suggest Les Whitten's Moon of the Wolf. This is one that's been suggested before, and that's even made it into the poll once or twice, only to be overshadowed by other books. But I consider it a must-read (it's been on my to-read list forever, along with quite a few other "must-reads" --that list has become sort of a "bucket list"); so I'm game to float a trial balloon for it once more!
Well, so far we haven't had any suggestions for next month's poll except mine in the previous message. I'd like to have at least two nominees, to make the idea of a poll meaningful.Though I don't usually offer a lot of suggestions myself, it occurs to me that several of our common reads have been books by big name authors in the supernatural fiction genre. One major writer we haven't tackled, though, is Stephen King. Is there anyone who'd be interested in reading something by him? I believe his latest supernatural novel is Joyland; but his 'Salem's Lot is better known. (If we put a King book in the poll, we should probably pick just one, so as not to divide his votes.)
I've now mentioned three titles. But if anyone else has a suggestion, we can narrow mine down to one, so that no one person gets to pad the poll with all of his/her own suggestions!
Perhaps the question we should pose is, is there any interest in doing an October common read this year? (I broached a similar question last August, when we'd gone more than halfway through the month with no suggestions but mine; after that, it became apparent that there was genuine interest, and the suggestions picked up. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the same would hold true this year.)Back in September 2008 (nearly eight years ago now!) the original impetus for common reads in this group came from the members, not the moderators (our fellow group member Dylan suggested it in the first place). In our early days, I think the common reads contributed to a lot of camaradrie; but of course we were a lot smaller then; with 1,720 members, it's harder to find a book that interests everyone. Of course, the common reads are voluntary, so we can do one with much less than universal participation! I've really enjoyed some of the books we've chosen to read this way over the years; but nonetheless, we don't have to do a read every year if the interest isn't there in a particular year. What do you all think?
Hi Werner I'm not sure if my input would be of any good but I would like to recommend a book to read. Due to the fact that we recently lost such a great talent I would like to recommend James Herbert ' s great a final novel 'Ash'. I myself read it a little while ago and loved it. I'm not sure it would be to everyone's taste but I'm just putting it out there as a suggestion.
Rachel, we did Herbert's Haunted (his first David Ash novel) as our common read last year. (I'd never read any of his work before, so it was a discovery of a new author for me; and I really liked the book.) At that time, the discussion was almost entirely just between Deb and I, though others no doubt took part in the read. Ash is the third book of the David Ash "trilogy," but the consensus seems to be that all three books can be read alone.My one reservation about this one would be that there are so many good supernatural authors out there; reading two books by the same author back-to-back might seem like a bit of overkill on one writer. But of course, putting Ash in the poll wouldn't mean that people had to vote for it, if they had a problem with that --and, if they don't, would give them a chance to vote for it.
It's nice to have a confirmation that there is some interest in this subject out there, and that this thread isn't just an echo chamber! :-)
That's fair enough maybe back to back author is not such a great idea, just a suggestion of a book that I liked. I'm not sure if you've ever read it but how about HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski. The only reason I read it was because of the amazing reviews that it received. I wasn't as taken aback as many that have read it but even so it's a good book for people to have discussions about. Hopefully this one has not already been a choice of previous years.
No, Rachel, House of Leaves has never been suggested for the poll before! I'll plan to put it in this one, for sure.
Is there any interest at all out there in reading anything by Stephen King this time around? (If not, I'll go back to my original suggestion of Moon of the Wolf.)
I would like to nominate Joyland
sounds like it may be hard to read in digital format which would be an issue for me.
looks quite good but the reviews are few and not very highly rated.
Okay, Emma, we'll go with putting Joyland in the poll! That was one of my suggestions above (message 422) as well.
The poll is now up, and it has one vote so far (mine); it'll be open through Wednesday, Sept. 14. I've sent a message to all members inviting people to vote. Here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1... .
Voting on the current poll ended at midnight, and we have a clear winner: Joyland, with 14 votes compared to 11 for House of Leaves. So, Joyland will be our common read for October this year. Many thanks to all those who voted! I haven't read anything by Stephen King since the early 90s, so I'm looking forward to sampling his work again (especially in this genre --the previous books I read by him were science fiction and fantasy).
it's still summer, and most people probably aren't thinking much about autumn; but October is actually just around the corner, bringing with it Halloween, cold and moon-lit nights amid falling leaves, scarecrows and jack-o'-lanterns --and our group's annual common read. (Participation is voluntary, as always!) So it's not too early to start seriously brainstorming about what to read. Does anyone else want to start the ball rolling with a suggestion?
A couple of books that have been sitting in my physical TBR piles for several years are Moon of the Wolf by Leslie H. Whitten --which I've suggested a couple of times before, though I think it's only made it into the poll once, in 2011-- and Carrie Vaughn's series opener Kitty and the Midnight Hour, which was in the poll that same year (and got more votes, though neither were picked). But given that both are werewolf books, maybe we should put just one into the poll?
Emma wrote: " looks quite good but the reviews are few and not very highly rated."That's true; in this case, there are only 17 ratings, averaging a bit less than three stars (three stars on Goodreads' scale, of course, would be four on Amazon's), and only three actual text reviews, with ratings of one, two and three stars. (When one draws on a very small pool of reviews, averages mean less than with a larger one, and the individual reactions of a handful of reviewers assume greater significance than they'd have in a larger pool.) Published in 1968, it's an older book, written before Stephen King made "horror" a trendy market category, so it's not necessarily one that many Goodreads horror/supernatural fans will have stumbled across.
The one characteristic all the text reviews agree on is that it's slow-paced, and for modern readers that often translates into "boring." (For me personally, that's not necessarily an equation I'd make, if a writer is developing other aspects besides plot and action in the meantime, and there are some indications that's the case here.) Related to this is the fact that it's written as a police procedural, like the author's vampire novel
. I found that an intriguing approach in the latter book (my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ), but some reviewers felt that here it took away suspense --we already know the killer is a werewolf, though the deputy sheriff doesn't.Besides my earlier reading of the other Whitten book, my main inspiration for reading this comes from having watched and liked the 1972 movie adaptation (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068967/ ) starring David Janssen and Bradford Dillman. However, one of the Goodreads reviews make it clear that the movie doesn't follow the book very closely (an old story for Hollywood --sigh!); it's set in contemporary Louisiana, whereas the book is set in Depression-era Mississippi. (Personally, though, I actually think the period setting in the book might be a plus.)
So far, it seems like I'm the only one commenting in this discussion (and I'd really welcome feedback from others in the group!). Since there doesn't seem to be any groundswell of interest in Moon of the Wolf, I'll withdraw that suggestion, so as to leave just one werewolf book in contention. (I do definitely want to read it myself sometime, and when I do, I'll post my own assessment in our Werewolves thread.) Kitty and the Midnight Hour, IMO, deserves another chance.Some of our best common reads --or at least, the ones that have generated the most participation and discussion-- have been older books that pretty much have the status of genre classics. I don't usually like to make more than one suggestion in any given year; but given that track record, if no one else wants to offer one, what would you all think of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes? The late Bradbury was a master of speculative fiction, including that of the supernatural.
Maybe the question that should be asked is not, what book shall we pick for a common read --since so far nobody has taken part in that discussion-- but rather, do we want to do a common read this year at all? It's possible that this is something we've outgrown, or that no longer fits into most people's reading schedule; if that's the case, there's no law that says we have to do it any more, or that we can't skip it for this year.
Well, I think it's safe to conclude that there's no interest in doing a common read this year. We'll give it a rest this time around, and perhaps try again next year if circumstances have changed and there's more interest. (And of course we don't have to wait for next October; any group member can propose a common read anytime!)
Werner wrote: "Well, I think it's safe to conclude that there's no interest in doing a common read this year. We'll give it a rest this time around, and perhaps try again next year if circumstances have changed a..."Hi Werner,
I'm so sorry I did not see your posts about a common read. Not sure what happened. Perhaps it's a combination of dispiriting news stories or my own forgetfulness, but I'm, coming late both to your group read and the R.I.P. read I do each autumn.
I sure hate to let this wonderful tradition die (notice how I'm using death imagery here?). I don't normally read vampire novels, but if you're still interested in doing Kitty and the Midnight Hour even if it's just the two of us, I'm game. Something Wicked This Way Comes is a good choice, too and contains no profanity or sex that I recall. I know that was a concern for some readers last time.
Deb, thanks for letting us know of your interest! I too would hate to see the tradition die, so I'm glad to see that at least some spark of interest is still there! Accordingly, I've put up a poll to choose the book from these two alternatives, and just now sent out an invitation to all group members to vote on it. However, the group message unfortunately has the wrong link (although you can get to the poll from it with another click). I didn't discover the error until I'd sent the message, and Goodreeads won't let me send out a correction until tomorrow! But meanwhile, the correct link is here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1... .
Great! I'm voting now.Just so I don't forget next year, when do you start discussing the group read--August?
Yes, Deb, we usually start brainstorming seriously about what books to put in the poll in August (although this thread stays open year around).
Something Wicked This Way Comes took an early lead in the poll and never lost it. It's our winner by a wide margin, with 21 votes to eight for Kitty and the Midnight Hour. So, we'll be starting our read/discussion next week. I'm looking forward to it!
are you doing a read for November? I'm new to the group. I love group reads. I'm getting my list ready and wanted to check here too. thanks!
Latasha, good question! Unlike some groups, we do NOT do a common read every month. When the common reads were begun (back in 2008, the same year the group got started), we originally tried to do one three times a year. Participation started out strong, then declined. In 2009, a poll (with little participation) indicated a preference for monthly reads, and that was tried for awhile; but people seemed to get burned out on them and participation dropped even more. Early in 2010, we instituted a policy that any group member who wanted to propose a common read could do so at any time, and that if there was enough interest, we'd do it. Members actually still have that right, but it's never been used since 2011, when I.broached the idea of regularly planning on an annual common read every October. So far, we've done a read every October since 2011.This thread stays open for ideas all year around. I usually gather up the suggestions and use them to construct a poll in September, so we can vote to pick the actual book for the read. Hope that helps! And glad to have you in our group; be sure to introduce yourself here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... , if you want to!
Ok. I'm fine with just in October. Thanks!
After some discussion between ourselves, occasioned by experiences in a couple of other groups, Paula and I have agreed to set a new policy for our group's common reads. Books written by group members will not be considered for these, and will not be put in the polls. Author promotions in the appropriate folder are fine and encouraged (your moderators are both authors ourselves!); but involving group-member authors in the common reads process opens the door to too many abuses and problems.If authors want to offer free electronic or paper copies of their books to group members, that's fine! However, those who do this should handle the distribution of these copies themselves. (The group moderators will not take on the responsibility.) It's also fine for authors, as well as other group members, to use the new "Buddy reads?" thread, here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... , to suggest and arrange buddy reads of books, whether they're written by group members or not.
October will be here almost before we know it, so it's not too early to begin brainstorming seriously about what book to pick for this year's (voluntary) common read. (I try to put the poll up around the beginning of September.)Usually, though we're a large group, not many members take part in these discussions to put forth suggestions. I'd welcome a wider participation at this stage! There's a book I could suggest; but I'm wondering if my suggesting titles too quickly has a chilling effect on everybody else's input, just because I'm one of the moderators (?). What do the rest of you think about that?
I think if u have an idea, suggest it! I’ll think about one to suggest too.
Latasha wrote: "I think if u have an idea, suggest it! I’ll think about one to suggest too."Thanks, Latasha! Well, in that case.... In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd read Progeny of the Adder by Les Whitten back when I was a kid (though it's not a kid's book). Although I've reviewed it here on Goodreads, I've often thought my memory of it wasn't sharp enough to do it justice; and if I read it as an adult, I'd have a different perspective. I'd be game to read it again; and I think it could be a good choice for a common read in this group.
Latasha, This is Halloween sounds like a promising read in a lot of ways. But the problem I see with it is that it's a self-published book (CreateSpace is a printing service, not a publisher), and has been published for less than a year. There's nothing wrong with self-published books as such, but most libraries won't buy them; and if any of them do, most of them have rules against lending out very new books by interlibrary loan. So, in order to read the book, group members would have to buy it --something I've tried to get away from in our common reads.Do you have another idea, that would involve a book that's more likely to be in libraries?
Oh! I didn’t check that. I’ll look for more.
Latasha wrote: "...I’ll look for more."Sounds good, Latasha!
It'll soon be time to put up the poll, and we really should have at least two choices. How would you all feel about Black Creek Crossing by John Saul? Having been published in 2001, it's not overly new; and given that Saul is a best-selling author, it should be widely available in libraries (the one where I work has it). It's not on my to-read shelf at present; but many of the supernatural fiction books that are on it might be too esoteric for this group, and I'd definitely read this one if it were selected in the poll.
Supernatural Fiction Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Cold Visitor (other topics)The Cold Visitor (other topics)
The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral (other topics)
The Jewel of Seven Stars (other topics)
The Jewel of Seven Stars (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert Westall (other topics)Bram Stoker (other topics)
Robert Westall (other topics)
Anthony Trollope (other topics)
Antonia Barber (other topics)
More...
Nah, Deb, I didn't mean to lay a guilt trip on anybody! (My summers are typically hectic, too.) I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one interested this year; and now I'm reassured on that point!
I checked out both Haunted and Second Glance. I've never read anything by either author; but Herbert certainly has cachet in the supernatural genre, and one of my Goodreads friends gave the Picoult book 5 stars (though another one panned it). They both look like worthy reads.
After posting message 402 above, it occurred to me that both Shiver and A Discovery of Witches are trilogy openers. Haunted is also apparently a series opener (for the David Ash series), while Second Glance is a stand-alone. There's nothing wrong with doing a series opener as a common read; but I've noticed that I have a tendency to start a LOT of series, and then to take forever to follow them up. That realization hasn't stopped me from starting new ones; but I am conscious of it. If we're going to narrow our choices down to one ghost book, the Picoult book being a stand-alone could be a point in its favor.