2017 Ideas

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2017 Ideas

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1.Monkey.
Oct 14, 2016, 3:41 pm

Well it's getting near(ish) the end of the year, so, would we like to start discussing 2017 plans?

2sturlington
Oct 14, 2016, 3:49 pm

I had an idea--you all can let me know if you hate it; it won't hurt my feelings.

Instead of, or in addition to, categories, what about doing some group reads? I had in mind a kind of book club scenario, where each person who wanted to participate could pick a book, and anyone who wanted could read along. Purely optional. Maybe one every other month.

I thought this might be a fun way to get to some of those books we've been meaning to read and maybe have a bit more involved discussion.

3.Monkey.
Oct 14, 2016, 3:51 pm

Reposting my reply here :P
I'm always down for group reads. I may not be able to participate much, given the language situation here (plus that I'd have to renew my public library card anyway for anything I don't own & have no plans to buy, which I'm not really looking to do for another few years yet, and the uni library is limited on genre fic), but anything that I could join in with, I would.

4luvamystery65
Oct 14, 2016, 5:49 pm

I think adding group reads in is a great idea. How about we split the difference. 6 categories and 6 group reads. We can alternate months with the group reads on the even months so people have time to get them in. We can start the thread on the 15th of even months and start discussing.

5mathgirl40
Oct 14, 2016, 6:18 pm

>4 luvamystery65: I like that idea!

6sturlington
Oct 14, 2016, 8:47 pm

>4 luvamystery65: That sounds good!

7LibraryCin
Oct 14, 2016, 10:33 pm

I am less likely to participate in group reads unless it's already on my tbr.

Will be able to whittle it down to only 6 categories? That is, will we be able to agree on 6?

I was going to comment that I really enjoyed the way it worked this year.

8.Monkey.
Oct 15, 2016, 2:57 am

>7 LibraryCin: I'm inclined to agree. While in theory splitting it in half sounds good, it means that for at least a few of us, we'd only be doing something in the group half the time. I think perhaps the better option would simply be to choose group reads that fit with half the themes we choose, so that anyone who is only/mostly reading off their shelves won't be sitting there twiddling their thumbs half the year, and then anyone who does read it doesn't "have to" read an extra book for that month to read for the theme, if it wouldn't fit in with their other reading plans. Win/win.

9mathgirl40
Oct 15, 2016, 7:39 am

>8 .Monkey.: That sounds like a good idea, and it has worked well in other themed groups I've participated in. Why don't we have an optional group read for every monthly theme? Another variation is to have an optional focus author for every theme. That would give people more choice.

10sturlington
Oct 15, 2016, 10:52 am

>8 .Monkey.: That works. I know for me, the monthly categories haven't been working so well, but I did really enjoy our Stephen King and family month. I'll be interested to see what authors/titles are suggested for the categories that are eventually chosen.

11.Monkey.
Oct 15, 2016, 12:00 pm

I think more options are always better than fewer, that way if folks don't do one, for whatever reason, maybe they can do another. :) We can also vote whether everyone wants the group reads to tie in to the theme, they don't have to, it just seemed like a good 2 birds-1 stone deal, lol.

Maybe for a few of the months we could choose authors rather than themes; only relatively prolific authors that allow for a good range of choice, of course. Those like King, Koontz, Straub, Barker, etc.

12LibraryCin
Oct 15, 2016, 12:28 pm

>8 .Monkey.: I think that is a good idea, Monkey!

13LibraryCin
Oct 15, 2016, 12:28 pm

>9 mathgirl40: I also like the optional author focus suggestion, as well.

14luvamystery65
Oct 15, 2016, 3:03 pm

I like the author idea.

15.Monkey.
Oct 16, 2016, 9:14 am

So do y'all want to start tossing out ideas in here for the themes & authors? We can still keep hashing out the finer details as well (or wait until ideas are out and then continue that when we see what's what)...

16luvamystery65
Oct 16, 2016, 9:46 am

I also loved the King Family month and have continued to read/listen to both Stephen King and Joe Hill. I wouldn't mind another go round on Modern Horror either with an optional focus of one author like Clive Barker or Peter Straub. I can live without Koontz.

Personally, I love Gothic but I have my own category for it in the Category Challenge group. In order to do something older maybe we can focus on Dark Romanticism...Shelley, Poe, Hawthorne?

That's all I've got for now. This group has completely challenged me out of my comfort zone and I'm enjoying horror. Whatever we decide, I know it's going to be enjoyable for me.

17sturlington
Oct 16, 2016, 11:46 am

>16 luvamystery65: I have read all the Koontz I want to read for a lifetime. Ditto Barker. Ditto Dan Simmons. I've read a lot of Straub too. But Barker, Simmons, and Straub are important horror writers, and I can support a focus on them even if I personally won't join in. I read a lot of horror in the 1980s-1990s, and these are the authors I read then, along with King. I've only stuck with King, though; the others got repetitive for me.

I should probably wait to see what the categories are, but authors I'm particularly interested in are Shirley Jackson, Tananarive Due, Lauren Beukes, Caitlin Kiernan. Possibly Joyce Carol Oates. I will always read Neil Gaiman (he straddles horror/fantasy, imo.) I also want to learn about some new-to-me authors, so I'd like to see who others suggest.

As for categories, I remain consistently interested in the haunted house/ghost story and psychological suspense. Modern horror is good--I am still tracking down and reading 1970s horror classics.

18luvamystery65
Oct 16, 2016, 12:25 pm

>17 sturlington: I'm new to horror so I have never read any of these writers except a couple of King and like you I read Koontz and I'm over him. I also adore Gaiman.

As I said, I'm open to anything because most of this is new to me and I am discovering authors and works I am enjoying.

Ghost stories and psychological are great categories that we can read broadly from and add an optional focus on an author.

I've not read Joyce Carol Oates but I have a collection of her slated for December. Can't wait.

19LibraryCin
Editado: Oct 16, 2016, 1:09 pm

I'd like to see Dean Koontz in there somewhere. How about also John Saul?

Some of my favourites from this year's categories are slashers/serial killers, King and family, graphic novels/YA, paranormal, hauntings/ghost stories.

ETA: But, if we add an author focus to the months, we can put Stephen King in there, and Joe Hill separately? Or just put King and family as the focus.

20LibraryCin
Editado: Oct 16, 2016, 1:08 pm

>17 sturlington: To add to this post, there are still lost of horror writers listed there who I haven't read. I think Neil Gaiman could be paired with a paranormal month or graphic novels/YA.

I don't think we did a "psychological suspense" month this year, but I would love that one!

21.Monkey.
Editado: Oct 16, 2016, 3:30 pm

I see Gaiman as fantasy not horror, though I suppose if everyone else feels otherwise we could have him. But personally I would rather see others, there's no shortage of options; in my opinion he doesn't fit ...and is also vastly overrated. YMMV.
I enjoy Koontz mainly as super fast light reads, mostly I really love the ones with the snarky witty characters, that's a style I always have a good time with. That said, I agree that, well not all but most of what he writes is really nothing spectacular, it's very light and fast-paced thriller stuff, nothing really special. He has written a few more serious things, but there's far less of them, and, yeah. I think John Saul also probably falls in a similarish realm, though his are more straight horror than thriller of Koontz. But while prolific (and someone I do read from time to time) he's also more run-of-the-mill.
Shelley... I mean her stuff was ...dreary? but, eh. I know I for sure have read all the Shelley I want to read. Her Romanticism is way too over the top for me.

I definitely support a King & fam repeat. Certainly Poe. Jackson and Oates are good, the others I've never read and don't know much about.

Barker, Simmons, and Straub are important horror writers
Indeed. Also Ira Levin, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison... There's J Sheridan Le Fanu, and I would also suggest Poppy Z Brite however his writing may be a bit graphic, for some.

And because I was having trouble coming up with more female names to throw out, here's two lists (one quite short, one rather overflowing):
http://www.the-line-up.com/6-female-horror-writers-to-read-right-now/
http://martyyoung.com/the-wonderfully-horrific-world-of-female-horror-writers/

Now that we're absolutely overloaded with options XD what if we changed things up a bit this year: 12 authors, and for ...all? most? half? (discuss!) of them we can choose a theme that fits them somehow, either sort of based around either their body of work, or some "key" title of theirs, or whatever (could even be as broad as another "women" month)? And then the group reads could be one of their titles, that way even those who don't read that particular title could, potentially, still read something else of theirs and still be able to really chime in to the conversation because there's often commonalities to discuss, and whatnot. And those who don't have access/desire to those would still be able to do the broader theme.

Thoughts?

22sturlington
Editado: Oct 16, 2016, 3:41 pm

>21 .Monkey.: Now that we're absolutely overloaded with options XD what if we changed things up a bit this year: 12 authors, and for ...all? most? half? (discuss!) of them we can choose a theme that fits them somehow, either sort of based around either their body of work, or some "key" title of theirs, or whatever (could even be as broad as another "women" month)?

I really like this idea. Also, yes Levin, Matheson, Bradbury--I could read or reread them infinitely. I would like to read Le Fanu as well.

ETA Daphne du Maurier is on both lists you posted. She's gothic, but is she really horror? More romantic suspense, but I would read her, for sure.

23LibraryCin
Oct 16, 2016, 3:39 pm

I think we should choose a theme for all of them, just in case someone has either read everything that author has written, or they really don't like what they've read and want to stay away.

I am ok, though, with choosing the author first, then the theme based on the author.

24sturlington
Editado: Oct 16, 2016, 3:41 pm

>23 LibraryCin: We could probably come at it both ways. For instance, if we know we want to dedicate a month to ghost stories, then we could pick an author who's done a few. M.R. James comes to mind.

25mathgirl40
Oct 17, 2016, 8:18 am

Some names mentioned that I'd like to see as focus authors: Daphne Du Maurier, Joe Hill, Ira Levin, Edgar Allan Poe

I'll toss a few more names out there: Cherie Priest, Kelly Link, Paul Tremblay, Kelley Armstrong, Andrew Pyper. Some of these authors are somewhat obscure, so maybe they're not especially good as focus authors, but I thought I'd mention them anyhow.

26sturlington
Oct 25, 2016, 6:12 pm

The discussion has petered out. Should we draw up a tentative list of categories and/or authors?

27luvamystery65
Oct 25, 2016, 7:26 pm

>26 sturlington: Yes, let's start throwing out ideas and see what we agree on.

28.Monkey.
Oct 26, 2016, 8:15 am

Yeah sorry I've been meaning to follow up here, just been a bit distracted lately. Husband's started another year of school, cats getting infections, no reading, yadayada anywaaay yeah did we want to sort out the authors and then move on to figuring categories to match, or do we want to do both at once and just pair things up as best they work out after?

29sturlington
Oct 26, 2016, 9:22 am

>28 .Monkey.: I think we should do both at once. In some cases, it may be easiest to come up with the categories first.

Here are some categories I'm interested in:
-ghosts/haunted houses (possible author: M.R. James)
-psychological suspense
-monsters/vampires/werewolves
-historical???

Authors:
-Shirley Jackson (maybe for a gothic or women theme)
-Daphne DuMaurier (ditto)

I'm open to many of the authors previously mentioned.

30luvamystery65
Oct 26, 2016, 10:15 am

ghosts and or haunted houses
Psychological suspense
Gothic
Women
Apocalyptic or dystopian

31sturlington
Oct 26, 2016, 10:16 am

>30 luvamystery65: Second apocalyptic/dystopian.

32.Monkey.
Oct 26, 2016, 10:55 am

Okay so authors mentioned above & in those blog posts:
King & fam
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
E.A. Poe
Ira Levin
Richard Matheson
Ray Bradbury
Harlan Ellison
J Sheridan Le Fanu
M.R. James
Dan Simmons
Poppy Z Brite
Shirley Jackson
Tananarive Due
Lauren Beukes
Caitlin Kiernan
Joyce Carol Oates
Daphne du Maurier
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Ann Radcliffe
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long née Campbell aka Marjorie Bowen
Flannery O’Connor
Maxine O’Callaghan
Gertrude Barrows Bennett aka Francis Stevens
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Sarah Langan
Sarah Pinborough

I think we are well set with author ideas here, now we need to figure out narrowing them down. So we've got 12 males (including one trans male), and 16 women (plus King-affiliates, lol). Since we do have such a nice amount of female potentials, I propose we keep it 50/50. What say ye?
I also think everyone seemed fond of the King & co month, so do we want to just keep that, no voting necessary? Or does anyone object to King repeated?

Alright for me, if I were to knock out half the men, I think I would keeeeep... King, Barker, Matheson, Le Fanu, Straub, and Poe... but I really would like to keep Brite too so urgh! Lol. Also note I'm being slightly selfish in my choosing because I have things on my shelves by most of those (I think I'm only missing Barker & Brite), but, really all of them are Big Deals so there's not really a wrong way to go there.

Women... agh. Jackson, du Maurier, Radcliffe, Bowen, O'Connor, Yarbro? Oates is of course also good...

So okay I guess those are my official 14 nominations, or something, lol. Maybe everyone can second/nominate their choices also, then we can drop those unmentioned, and vote on the rest?

33.Monkey.
Oct 26, 2016, 10:57 am

Themes that've been mentioned so far:
slashers/serial killers
graphic novels/YA
paranormal
hauntings/ghost stories
monsters/vampires/werewolves
historical
Psychological suspense
Gothic
Women
Apocalyptic/dystopian

34sturlington
Oct 26, 2016, 4:57 pm

Authors: I'll nominate King, Matheson, Jackson, and du Maurier.

I know that's only four, but I'll likely be reading them anyway. I'll wait and see what everyone is interested in because I'd like an element of randomness to my reading. My sort-of plan was to see if the library had something by each month's author or if I had a story in an anthology.

I would pair Du Maurier with gothic or historical and Jackson with women or gothic. King with monsters or paranormal. Matheson--don't know. Short stories?

35.Monkey.
Oct 26, 2016, 5:26 pm

My sort-of plan was to see if the library had something by each month's author or if I had a story in an anthology.
Yeah that was always my norm for any challenge stuff, until my card expired lol. Uni library doesn't have much that isn't more literary/significant so it makes things harder. I may actually consider renewing though because I discovered our little bitty library over here actually has a ton of language books so I may want to take advantage. We shall see! :P

Hmm I guess I'll say maybe du Maurier for historic, Jackson for women, and then Radcliffe is Gothic hah, she's one of those original early pioneers of Gothic. I'd go paranormal for King, almost everything he writes falls under it somehow. Matheson could be haunting (Hell House/Stir of Echoes), monsters et al (I Am Legend), apocalyptic (I Am Legend)...
Barker would probably do best as slasher? Le Fanu... hm I guess ghosts would be better suited to him, unless we wanted to split up ghosts from haunted houses? We do need a couple more themes. Straub for suspense? Poe...hm short stories weren't mentioned previously but, again, we need more so, he fits there... Brite would be another slasher/serial.
Oh dang, this is leaving nothing for graphic novels/YA, okay well, switching King & co to that one, because they don't really need a theme anyhow and King & Hill have tons of their work in GNs so, it fits.
Okay, so Bowen would fit in paranormal/supernatural. O'Connor wrote Southern Gothic, and Yarbro was known for vampire, so I guess that'd pull that spot from Matheson. ;P

So, there's my workings of my ideas, and now I must go do my daily Dutch and flit off to bed! xD

36mathgirl40
Oct 26, 2016, 5:45 pm

>35 .Monkey.: I know you dislike Neil Gaiman's work, but he is actually a great choice for Graphic Novel and YA. It's my impression that most of King's graphic novels are adaptations of his novels rather than original work in that medium. While I absolutely love Joe Hill's Locke & Key series, he hasn't done all that much in graphic novels compared to Gaiman.

I'm partly being selfish. I'd much rather read King's full novels than the GN versions and I've already read the entire Locke & Key series. :)

37mathgirl40
Oct 26, 2016, 6:07 pm

By the way, we don't have to have a featured author for every month, do we? Maybe Graphic Novel and YA is fine without a focus author if an obvious one doesn't come to mind.

38sturlington
Oct 26, 2016, 6:09 pm

>37 mathgirl40: Agree, not necessary for every month.

Forgot a category: modern horror

39luvamystery65
Editado: Oct 26, 2016, 9:30 pm

Poe!!!
Would love to do Radcliffe
King also does psychological horror and short stories. He's versatile isn't he? Not crazy about King in GN though and I've read all the Locke & Key our first year.

I agree with >37 mathgirl40: that we don't need a focus author every month, but since it's optional we can. I'm not very helpful.

>38 sturlington: Yes modern horror!

I nominate Mark Z. Danielewski for that category. I've been itching to read one of his.

40LibraryCin
Oct 26, 2016, 9:29 pm

From Monkey's list, I'd like to keep:

King & fam
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
E.A. Poe
Ira Levin
Richard Matheson
Shirley Jackson
Daphne du Maurier

Have to admit, I've not heard of many of the others. From the ones I kept, I know I like some, I'd like to try a couple, and I'd like to read more by a couple that I've only read one by so far.

I'd still like to keep John Saul and Dean Koontz in there - maybe we can do a "popular horror authors" month to cover them?

41LibraryCin
Oct 26, 2016, 9:31 pm

>36 mathgirl40: I know you dislike Neil Gaiman's work, but he is actually a great choice for Graphic Novel and YA.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Coraline, The Graveyard Book and there are probably plenty more that aren't immediately coming to my head!

42luvamystery65
Editado: Oct 26, 2016, 9:32 pm

>40 LibraryCin: Gaiman could fit into "popular horror authors" as well.

43LibraryCin
Oct 26, 2016, 9:32 pm

>39 luvamystery65: we don't need a focus author every month, but since it's optional we can.

I agree that the author focus is optional, so why not put Gaiman in there for GN/YA? :-)

44luvamystery65
Editado: Oct 26, 2016, 9:34 pm

>43 LibraryCin: I LOVE GAIMAN! So I don't mind if he is included or not. I'll read him anyway. Got to see him in 2015 and I've got my tickets to see him October 2017. Love him.

45mathgirl40
Oct 26, 2016, 9:48 pm

>39 luvamystery65: I'll cast another vote for Danielewski! I really liked House of Leaves, and I've got The Familiar, Vol. 1 waiting for me on my shelves.

46majkia
Oct 26, 2016, 10:00 pm

I like John Wyndham and Thomas Tryon myself.

47luvamystery65
Nov 8, 2016, 7:20 pm

Bumping

48.Monkey.
Nov 9, 2016, 5:02 am

I know, I know, I've still had this tab sitting here! It'll probably be a few days before I can try focusing on this now though, my mind is just reeling and I literally cannot focus on anything for long. I'm in shock (even though I had been fearing this for months and was never one of those who took any comfort in any polls showing her leading, it was too close and there was far too much chaos to believe any of that) and horrified and appalled and my mind literally cannot make sense of this and, yeah, I probably won't be on much for at least a few days. You guys are welcome to keep discussing things further.

49luvamystery65
Nov 26, 2016, 8:05 pm

Bumping this thread again. I know it's been a crazy month but I am FINALLY cataloging my books that I have on my shelves. I am placing some in storage so if we can decide on next years picks, then I'll keep the ones that fit.

For my opinion on the final vote, I would love to continue some old Gothic (don't care who the author pick is) Still would love to see E.A. Poe on the list somewhere and also a very modern author like Mark Z. Danielewski or at least the category of current modern author.

Thanks!

2016 has been very, very strange.

50mathgirl40
Dic 7, 2016, 9:45 pm

For the Gaiman fans: there's a new pay-what-you-want Humble Book Bundle with some obscure and hard-to-find works.
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/neil-gaiman-book-bundle

I was amused to see that, if you pay $15 or more, you'll get as a bonus Gaiman's first work, a biography of Duran Duran. Looking at those 80's hairstyles, I'd say this fits well into the horror genre. :)

51luvamystery65
Dic 7, 2016, 10:10 pm

>50 mathgirl40: Ha ha! I saw this humble bundle on FB.

52LibraryCin
Dic 7, 2016, 10:17 pm

>50 mathgirl40: Looking at those 80's hairstyles, I'd say this fits well into the horror genre. :)

LOL! Ok, that made me laugh!

53luvamystery65
Dic 8, 2016, 1:26 pm

>50 mathgirl40: & >52 LibraryCin: TBT Big 80s hair version. This is me on the left and my friend Susan.



BIG 80S TEXAS HAIR!!!

54mathgirl40
Dic 8, 2016, 4:29 pm

>53 luvamystery65: That's a great photo. Nice hair!

I'm not brave enough to post any 80's photos of myself, but I will say that I spent way too much time trying to force my poker-straight hair into an unnatural configuration. The ironic thing is that my daughters spent an equivalent amount of time this past decade trying to straighten their (already mostly straight) hair.

55LibraryCin
Dic 8, 2016, 10:14 pm

>53 luvamystery65: Fabulous 80s hair there! I also grew up in the 80s, but my long, but thin/fine hair, didn't go well with 80s styles. I had one friend, one year for school pics, who managed to make my hair bigger, at least for the photos, but mostly I just didn't make the effort!

56LibraryCin
Dic 8, 2016, 10:15 pm

>54 mathgirl40: Ah, I was too lazy to take the time to make my hair do those things!

57LibraryCin
Dic 8, 2016, 10:15 pm

We must have a few 80s "children" in our group...

58sturlington
Dic 9, 2016, 6:09 am

>57 LibraryCin: Count me in. Not possible fr me to have big hair, but I died it colors and once dressed as Cyndi lauper for Halloween. Won best costume too.

59.Monkey.
Dic 9, 2016, 8:04 am

Okay okay, sorry for the delay, we should get on with it eh? Lol.

>37 mathgirl40: / >39 luvamystery65: / >41 LibraryCin: Actually we do, we decided above that this year we would try something different, choosing an author each month instead of the themes, with the themes being the secondary optional angle. :)

Okay so I'm kind of at a loss how to go forward from here though. How do we want to do this? sturlington had suggested we decide on the authors at the same time as their themes, but with such a huge number of potential authors I think that's a bit difficult... so does anyone have any ideas on how we should go about voting?

Also pointing out, I for sure do not want more than 7-8 of the authors to be male. I know they are more in focus so people have an easier time finding more male names, but that is exactly the point. I'd like to keep it as close to 50:50 as possible, bring more females to the forefront. We can always do more of the ones that don't make it, next time! ;)

60sturlington
Dic 9, 2016, 8:18 am

>59 .Monkey.: How about each person nominates a male and a female author, or maybe two? Then, if we have more than 12, we vote on our favorites? I think the themes should be easy enough to decide on based on the authors that are chosen.

61.Monkey.
Dic 9, 2016, 8:24 am

Well, I don't know how well I really see that working as far as choosing key authors of the genre, but I will go along with what the group wants. If that's what's preferred, I'll go with it.

62sturlington
Dic 9, 2016, 8:26 am

>61 .Monkey.: Several authors have already been mentioned in this thread. We could vote from among them.

63mathgirl40
Editado: Dic 9, 2016, 8:48 am

>61 .Monkey.: Here's a suggestion based on the way I run one of my book clubs. It seems to make people happy most of the time. :)

1. Compile a list of all the authors already mentioned. If the list seems too small, ask for more suggestions.

2. Compile a list of 12, using authors from that larger list. First, consider the authors requested by several people and put them at the top of the list. Then, add authors taking into account male/female ratio, a variety of subgenres, etc.

3. Propose the list and let everyone comment on it. People might want to argue for replacing one of the authors (e.g. not enough works available, too similar to another on the list). With luck, we'll come to a consensus before too long.

By the way, I don't think we necessarily need to have only "key" authors of the genre. I'd be happy to have a chance to explore new authors I'm not familiar with. Ideally, we'd have a combination of bestselling and less well-known authors.

Last of all, I suggest we don't agonize too much over the end result. If we don't like an author for a particular month, we can choose an alternative that fits the associated theme.

Anyhow, this is just a suggestion that seems to have worked for me with my own book club. Feel free to take it or leave it. I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever is chosen in the end.

64luvamystery65
Editado: Dic 9, 2016, 9:22 am

>59 .Monkey.: 100% agree we should not overwhelmingly pick male authors.

>63 mathgirl40: I agree not to agonize over picking an author. We can certainly choose to read someone else if we like.

Here is the list from >32 .Monkey.:
King & fam
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
E.A. Poe
Ira Levin
Richard Matheson
Ray Bradbury
Harlan Ellison
J Sheridan Le Fanu
M.R. James
Dan Simmons
Poppy Z Brite
Shirley Jackson
Tananarive Due
Lauren Beukes
Caitlin Kiernan
Joyce Carol Oates
Daphne du Maurier
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Ann Radcliffe
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long née Campbell aka Marjorie Bowen
Flannery O’Connor
Maxine O’Callaghan
Gertrude Barrows Bennett aka Francis Stevens
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Sarah Langan
Sarah Pinborough
John Saul
Dean Koontz
Neil Gaiman
Mark Z. Danielewski
John Wyndham
Thomas Tryon

In addition I added others that were mentioned after.

65majkia
Dic 9, 2016, 12:55 pm

That's a tough list for me. I am unfamiliar with a lot of them, and I'm trying to read my TBR, so I don't want to go out and buy yet more books. That's why I'd prefer something a bit more open than just certain authors.

I don't see the few horror writers I do read either, like Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, or Paul Cornell or Richard Kadrey.

I know I'm just one voice and I'll try to hit a few months if we go with specific authors, but I'm not sure I'll manage many of them.

66luvamystery65
Dic 9, 2016, 1:25 pm

>65 majkia: I just listed what we had discussed before earlier in the thread. There will still be a theme as a secondary for each month so if you don't have the author you can still pick something that goes with the overall theme.

67majkia
Dic 9, 2016, 2:09 pm

68.Monkey.
Dic 9, 2016, 2:28 pm

>65 majkia: Yep what >66 luvamystery65: said. Themes will still be there. So, "best-case" is choosing a fitting themed book by the author, then there's just the author, and lastly just the theme. So, it's possible some months will be a little less cohesive for the group, but eh, long as everyone's having fun, right? :P
But also, no library visits in the works for you? I get TBR-focused reading, it's what I try to mostly do these days as well, but the occasional library book is always a welcome addition for me. :) I usually tend to get one or two every 1.5mos or so.
As an aside, I've never heard of Preston/Child writing horror, only thriller-suspense stuff. Never heard of the other two, a quick look seems like they do fantasy/sci-fi? Which would explain my unfamiliarity as well as their lack of being mentioned by others. ;)

69.Monkey.
Dic 9, 2016, 3:07 pm

So looking over things, there's 12 male authors that have been remarked on by multiple people, and 5 female.
King & fam
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
E.A. Poe
Richard Matheson
Ira Levin
Ray Bradbury
Neil Gaiman
Harlan Ellison
J Sheridan Le Fanu
Dan Simmons
Mark Z. Danielewski

Poppy Z Brite
Dean Koontz
M.R. James
John Wyndham
Thomas Tryon

Shirley Jackson
Daphne du Maurier
Ann Radcliffe
Flannery O’Connor
Joyce Carol Oates

Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long née Campbell aka Marjorie Bowen
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Tananarive Due
Lauren Beukes
Caitlin Kiernan
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Maxine O’Callaghan
Gertrude Barrows Bennett aka Francis Stevens
Sarah Langan
Sarah Pinborough
Cherie Priest

Any thoughts on which males to bump and arguments for others to take their places? That can include arguments for different males as well.
Personally I think Danielewski is overrated, I thought House of Leaves was gimmicky and anti-climactic; and we all know I have no love for Gaiman.
I'd also choose to dump Simmons but that's mostly because I haven't read him yet and I know the other ones are good LOL.
I'd dump Bradbury just because I'd put him more in the fantasy/scifi realm, though of course that's not all he did, just more how I see him, and well, we need reasons to cut! ;P
I would dump Ellison selfishly because I don't own any of his, and Levin & Matheson selfishly because I've read several already and have no more on hand, lol.
Then I'd bump Brite in, because I liked his writing (when I read him years ago, and always meant to read more but never got around to it) and I like more diversity, so trans author with gay characters is good.
For female I'd bump in Bowen, because she was a hugely prolific author between 1906-1940s, who received tons of praise for her work.

So, who's next, step on up, plead your cases! ;)

70sturlington
Dic 9, 2016, 3:32 pm

Definitely keep from your bolded authors: King & fam; Poe, Le Fanu, Jackson, du Maurier, O'Connor, Oates

I think Richard Matheson is underrated and would love to read more by him, so I'd argue to keep him. He wrote a lot of short stories and I Am Legend is a terrific novella-length piece, so it would be easy to read at least something short by him.

Neutral (I've read most of their work, so if we kept them, it would be a reread for me, but I wouldn't mind that): Levin, Bradbury, Gaiman

Dump or neutral: Barker, Straub, Ellison, Simmons, Koontz, Tryon* (I'm not reading anything more by these authors but they are all prolific and if others wanted to keep them I would just read the theme for that month instead).

Dump Danielewski (I haven't read him but all his books seem so long and I'm not reading long books right now)

I'm fine with adding in Brite and Bowen. I'm also fine with any other non-bolded names on the list and will probably try to find something to read by them.

*I've read two books by Tryon. One was really terrific (The Other--not touchstoning); the second was incredibly misogynistic and I hated it and now I won't read any more books by him (Harvest Home).

71mathgirl40
Dic 9, 2016, 3:55 pm

I'd be happy with any of the bolded female authors as well as Bowen. However, I'd like to see two or three contemporary female authors chosen, and from those, only Oates is still writing. I'm not sure which ones to suggest, though, as I'm not familiar with most of the names on the non-bolded part of the list.

I'd argue for Gaiman because he has a lot to choose from, and also because we could then use a YA or graphic-novel theme. I'm not sure that theme would work with any of the other authors.

For the other male authors, I'd like King & family and Poe to be kept, and I'd like to add Poppy Z. Brite. I'm neutral about the others.

72luvamystery65
Dic 9, 2016, 4:31 pm

King and Poe for me as well. I'd love to read Matheson too. I'll read Danielewsi because I own a couple of his but I don't need him to be a featured author to do that.

I'm interested in reading more by WOC so I will also like to pipe up for Tananarive Due.

73.Monkey.
Dic 9, 2016, 4:58 pm

I think Matheson is great, as I said my only reason for dumping him was availability and needing to toss names hahaha. So of course I have no actual problems with him staying. But then I'm still at a loss for another to remove, lol.

I'd definitely like to read nearly all the females on the list, eventually, but it'll probably be a while before I acquire most of them, since I doubt I'll be running into most in local 2ndhand shops. ;)

I'd support Tananarive Due, as being a good addition for diversity as well as contemporary ...but that means removing one of the other women (if Bowen were included), or another of the men. Ideas on who?

74luvamystery65
Dic 9, 2016, 5:17 pm

>73 .Monkey.: I don't need Matheson on the list so I'd go with whatever the majority wants. Do want Poe though!

I wouldn't mind removing one of the men in favor of Due, but I have a question. Forgive my ignorance. If we are going with theme secondary, would Bowen and Du Maurier occupy a similar genre/space?

75LibraryCin
Dic 10, 2016, 2:27 am

OK, I don't know many of these names, but I'll comment on a few...

In general, I'd be ok with keeping all the women authors bolded. If we want to keep the 50/50, then we'd just need one more and I agree with someone's idea of a contemporary author.

Comments on the male authors, I'd like to keep Matheson. I really liked the one I read, and I'd like to read more by him. A month for him gives me that push.

I think we all enjoy King & Fam, and there is so much to choose from there!

I'd like to keep Gaiman. Someone mentioned him for a YA/graphic novel month, and I do think he'd be perfect (and it would give me a chance to read another by him!).

The rest of the names... I've heard of some, but am neutral on them, and haven't heard of others, so can't really comment. I suppose I'm not a big fan of Bradbury, but that's just me.

Like a few others, I mostly try to stick with what will fit from my tbr, but we'll see. I can try to be flexible, depending if something sounds interesting by some of the authors. Maybe I'll find a new author(s) that I like!

76LibraryCin
Dic 10, 2016, 2:29 am

Didn't I mention John Saul at some point? Just throwing out more names of authors I know I want to read more of. Also, Dean Koontz. I know, they are "big" names and probably people don't need to be introduced to them or anything, but given that I try to go off my tbr, they are both on there. :-)

77.Monkey.
Dic 10, 2016, 6:06 am

>74 luvamystery65: I'm sure we could come up with a different theme for Bowen (Radcliffe being pretty definitively Gothic heh). Her horror was apparently often supernatural, and she also wrote mysteries based on real life murders - I don't know just how the style is but I think a case could be made for those counting as well. ;)

Okay, reducing the lists down to whose been pleaded for:
King & fam
E.A. Poe
Richard Matheson
J Sheridan Le Fanu
Poppy Z Brite
Clive Barker
Peter Straub
Neil Gaiman
Shirley Jackson
Daphne du Maurier
Ann Radcliffe
Flannery O’Connor
Joyce Carol Oates
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long aka Marjorie Bowen
Tananarive Due

Please do note that Barker would be perfectly suited to serve for graphic novels, he has a handful of series of them, since the 90s; he is who I would be reading for a GN theme. He is completely steeped in the horror genre, unlike Gaiman who has a couple of things (out of his huge number) that could be argued as falling under horror. I really just do not feel he belongs, distaste aside, and that including him just because he would serve for a theme isn't really a preferable way to go about things. We have to cut down names, and imo it only makes sense to cut out the one doesn't properly fit the genre. A GN/YA month is wanted regardless, yeah? So those of you who desire could still read Gaiman for it if you so choose, regardless of whether he's the officially slated author for that month. Right? If y'all are really adamant about it then we could slate him as like, secondary author for the month?

What if we did diversity, and paired up Brite & Due? And I'll give up Straub for this year (though there's a good chance I'll still read him for one of the months :P). Then we'd wind up with these 12:

King & fam
E.A. Poe
Richard Matheson
J Sheridan Le Fanu
Clive Barker (Neil Gaiman)
Poppy Z Brite + Tananarive Due
Shirley Jackson
Daphne du Maurier
Ann Radcliffe
Flannery O’Connor
Joyce Carol Oates
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long aka Marjorie Bowen

Thoughts?

Contemplating themes for those:
King & fam -- a theme unto itself, since we do the family inclusion? Modern? Influential?
E.A. Poe -- Short stories? Dark Romanticism? Suspense?
Matheson -- Haunting? Creatures*? Apocalyptic?
Le Fanu -- Short stories? Ghosts?
Barker (Gaiman) -- GN/YA
Brite + Due -- Diversity
Jackson -- Haunting? Psychological suspense?
du Maurier -- Historic?
Radcliffe -- Gothic
O’Connor -- Southern Gothic? Women?
Oates -- Modern? Short stories?
Bowen -- Supernatural? Crime/mystery?

Feel free to suggest others, too, I'm not familiar with all their bodies of work so I could be missing ideas.

*Creatures being my catch-all for the vamp/werewolf/monster/etc group.

78.Monkey.
Dic 10, 2016, 6:19 am

>76 LibraryCin: Lol I came on between your two posts and started writing up all that but kept getting distracted so didn't wind up posting for hours later heh.

Koontz was on the above list, as not bold because not supported by multiple people (Saul was apparently missed in the long list, but again, no one else expressed interest). All the other comments made in regard to Koontz (and there were several) were don't want, including my own, which is saying a fair bit since I do generally read a couple of his every year lol. I enjoy most of his stuff - as quick distractions between other things. They're a little snack of entertainment, but the vast majority of his work is just not worth focusing on. Also, as I had pointed out somewhere earlier on in the thread, a lot of his stuff often falls more on the side of thriller than horror. He has written a small handful of more serious stuff, but, comparing the numbers... And, again, we have only 6 male spots at most. If we were able to choose more than a dozen, then I might consider him more worthwhile of inclusion, but as it is...

I'd say just read him for one of the themes, if you're aching to use him for the group. :)

79sturlington
Dic 10, 2016, 8:39 am

Theme ideas:

King -- modern
Poe - short stories/poetry
Ke Fanu - Victorian or 19th century
Matheson - creatures or paranormal
Jackson- psychological
Du Maurier - historical
O'Connor - Southern Gothic
Oates - women
Biwen - ghost stories

80mathgirl40
Dic 10, 2016, 9:27 am

How about "books made into films" for Du Maurier?

I like the "crime/mystery" overlap for Bowen and "creatures" for Matheson.

Otherwise, any combination of the ideas in >77 .Monkey.: and >79 sturlington: would be fine with me.

81sturlington
Dic 10, 2016, 9:54 am

>80 mathgirl40: Also good with books made into film for Du Maurier. I saw that Netflix had an adaptation of Jamaica Inn, maybe a miniseries, but I haven't watched it.

82luvamystery65
Dic 10, 2016, 11:36 am

I like this and since many write short stories I wouldn't necessarily pick it as a stand alone theme. I love the idea of pairing Brite and Due!

King & fam -- a theme unto itself, or Influential?
E.A. Poe -- Dark Romanticism Supernatural?
Matheson -- Creatures paranormal
Le Fanu -- Ghosts? Victorian?
Barker (Gaiman) -- GN/YA
Brite + Due -- Diversity
Jackson -- Psychological suspense
du Maurier -- Made into movies - Historical
Radcliffe -- Gothic
O’Connor -- Southern Gothic
Oates -- Modern
Bowen -- Supernatural? Crime/mystery? Ghosts? I love the true crime angle!

83LibraryCin
Dic 10, 2016, 6:51 pm

Commenting on possible themes... I'll bold my "votes" (when there is more than one suggestion):

Contemplating themes for those:
King & fam -- a theme unto itself, since we do the family inclusion? Modern? Influential?
E.A. Poe -- Short stories? Dark Romanticism? Suspense?
Matheson -- Haunting? Creatures*? Apocalyptic?
Le Fanu -- Short stories? Ghosts?
Barker (Gaiman) -- GN/YA
Brite + Due -- Diversity
Jackson -- Haunting? Psychological suspense? I like both of these options.
du Maurier -- Historic? books made into films? What do we mean by "historic"? Historical fiction combined with horror? Or do we mean "classic" horror? I just don't know how to vote depending what is meant.
Radcliffe -- Gothic
O’Connor -- Southern Gothic? Women? (Especially if we already have a gothic month.)
Oates -- Modern? Short stories?
Bowen -- Supernatural? Crime/mystery?

84luvamystery65
Dic 11, 2016, 1:19 am

>83 LibraryCin: Great point about making O'Connor theme Women since we already have Gothic.

85LibraryCin
Dic 26, 2016, 11:38 am

With january only a few days away, may i suggest we start with a king and family month, as that is one we all seem to agree on?

The only question is whether or not we add a theme of modern or influential or leave it without a theme.

86luvamystery65
Dic 26, 2016, 11:40 am

>85 LibraryCin: I'd say lets leave it as a family theme so we can save Modern for someone new that we haven't done yet.

87LibraryCin
Dic 26, 2016, 11:48 am

Oh yes, as i scroll back, i see modern was an option elsewhere as well. Influential was the other option for the king month or no theme.

88mathgirl40
Dic 26, 2016, 12:09 pm

>85 LibraryCin: I'm good with using "King & family" as a theme.

89.Monkey.
Dic 26, 2016, 6:01 pm

I was thinking the same actually; sorry, time keeps running off and leaving me with too many things to do!

90luvamystery65
Editado: Ene 6, 2017, 11:41 am

I posted a thread for January.

January 2017 Stephen King and family

91LibraryCin
Editado: Ene 14, 2017, 4:44 pm

No more discussion to figure out the rest of the year?

We could, potentially just go in order (for the authors) of how they are listed above.

King & fam
E.A. Poe
Matheson
Le Fanu
Barker (Gaiman)
Brite + Due
Jackson
du Maurier
Radcliffe
O’Connor
Oates
Bowen

Should we vote on the possible themes (from the options listed above):

King & fam -- a theme unto itself, since we do the family inclusion? Modern? Influential?
E.A. Poe -- Short stories? Dark Romanticism? Suspense?
Matheson -- Haunting? Creatures*? Apocalyptic?
Le Fanu -- Short stories? Ghosts?
Barker (Gaiman) -- GN/YA
Brite + Due -- Diversity
Jackson -- Haunting? Psychological suspense? I like both of these options.
du Maurier -- Historic? books made into films? What do we mean by "historic"? Historical fiction combined with horror? Or do we mean "classic" horror? I just don't know how to vote depending what is meant.
Radcliffe -- Gothic
O’Connor -- Southern Gothic? Women? (Especially if we already have a gothic month.)
Oates -- Modern? Short stories?
Bowen -- Supernatural? Crime/mystery?

92LibraryCin
Ene 14, 2017, 4:44 pm

I bolded my votes above, but we can do an "official" vote to make it easier to tally...

93luvamystery65
Editado: Ene 15, 2017, 11:46 am

>92 LibraryCin: I liked your bolded choices in >83 LibraryCin:

We just need to clarify a couple so we don't have overlapping themes. We have haunting and psychological suspense in a couple of categories. Also, short stories in a couple of categories, although I don't think we need to pick short stories as a theme. We just did that in December and we can read short stories with several of these authors. Just a thought.

Also, for duMaurier historical fiction? or books made into movies? Both themes would give plenty of options if someone didn't want to read that author.

94sturlington
Ene 15, 2017, 12:10 pm

>93 luvamystery65: I agree with most of those bolded choices as well. I like the theme of psychological suspense for Jackson and books made into films for du Maurier.

I just finished The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier, which I enjoyed. It is not really horror, more of psychological suspense. Apparently, it was made into a movie twice, although I don't think I've heard of either one. It looks like all of her best-known books were filmed. I for one would love an excuse to watch The Birds again, which is one of my all-time favorites.

95luvamystery65
Ene 15, 2017, 12:26 pm

Let's see how this looks so far

King & fam -- a theme unto itself, since we do the family inclusion? Modern? Influential?
E.A. Poe -- Dark Romantic /short stories/
Matheson -- Creatures
Le Fanu -- Ghosts
Barker (Gaiman) -- GN/YA
Brite + Due -- Diversity
Jackson -- Psychological suspense
du Maurier --books made into films? What do we mean by "historic"?
Radcliffe -- Gothic
O’Connor -- Women
Oates -- Modern
Bowen -- Crime/mystery

We need to pick a theme for Poe. The two left after suspense is eliminated are short stories or dark romanticism. Dark romanticism is very limiting. I myself will read Poe but what theme do you want for next month?

96luvamystery65
Ene 15, 2017, 12:27 pm

Also, should we flip some of the authors so that we aren't reading men or women all in a row?

97sturlington
Editado: Ene 15, 2017, 12:39 pm

>96 luvamystery65: Why don't we alternate men and women?

Why don't we make Poe short stories and poetry? That's a bit different from the short stories theme last December. Also, we can move Poe further down in the year.

My suggestion for order (basically the same order but alternating men and women and moving Poe a bit further back):

Jan - King
Feb - Jackson / psychological suspense
Mar - Matheson / creatures
Apr - du Maurier / books into film
May - le Fanu / ghosts
June - Radcliffe / gothic
July - Barker / graphic novels and YA
Aug - O'Connor - women
Sept - Brite/Due - diversity
Oct - Oates - modern
Nov - Poe - short stories and poetry
Dec - Bowen - crime and mystery

98luvamystery65
Ene 15, 2017, 12:44 pm

>97 sturlington: That sounds great! I've added Gaiman to July because we agreed to have 2 authors for that theme as well as during the diversity month.

Is everyone okay with this order and themes?

Jan - King - family month
Feb - Jackson - psychological suspense
Mar - Matheson - creatures
Apr - du Maurier - books made into films
May - le Fanu - ghosts
June - Radcliffe - gothic
July - Barker/Gaiman- GN/YA
Aug - O'Connor - Women
Sept - Brite/Due - diveristy
Oct - Oates - modern
Nov - Poe - short stories & poetry
Dec - Bowen - crime & mystery

99sturlington
Ene 15, 2017, 12:45 pm

>98 luvamystery65: Yes, looks good to me.

100luvamystery65
Editado: Ene 15, 2017, 1:01 pm

Should we switch months for Oates and Radcliff? any other suggestions

Le Fanu and Radcliffe are older more gothic writers and Aug, Sep and Oct are more current authors.

ETA: I'm ok with order in >98 luvamystery65: just want to make sure everyone is

101LibraryCin
Editado: Ene 15, 2017, 1:15 pm

>95 luvamystery65: I haven't read further, but I liked the "Suspense" theme for Poe.

ETA: OK, I've read further and see it was moved to a different author.

102LibraryCin
Ene 15, 2017, 1:17 pm

I like alternating male/female. I can probably be ok with most of the configuration in >98 luvamystery65: but I know there will be a couple of trickier months for me. Mostly looks good, though.

103LibraryCin
Editado: Ene 15, 2017, 1:23 pm

Oh! Can we list them with first names, as well? I guess first names are further up, but I don't know who some of these authors are, so that would be great. Thanks so much!

104LibraryCin
Ene 15, 2017, 1:44 pm

Ok, I'll try to find the first names...

Jan - Stephen King & Family - family month
Feb - Shirley Jackson - psychological suspense
Mar - Richard Matheson - creatures
Apr - Daphne du Maurier - books made into films
May - J. Sheridan le Fanu - ghosts
June - Ann Radcliffe - gothic
July - Clive Barker/Neil Gaiman- GN/YA
Aug - Flannery O'Connor - Women
Sept - Poppy Z. Brite/Tananarive Due - diveristy
Oct - Joyce Carol Oates - modern
Nov - Edgar Allan Poe - short stories & poetry
Dec - Marjorie Bowen - crime & mystery

105mathgirl40
Ene 15, 2017, 2:12 pm

>104 LibraryCin: Looks good to me!

106luvamystery65
Ene 15, 2017, 2:40 pm

>103 LibraryCin: >104 LibraryCin: Thank you! I've got my thread filled out now.

107luvamystery65
Mar 11, 2017, 12:45 pm

108luvamystery65
Abr 8, 2017, 1:49 pm

109luvamystery65
Abr 30, 2017, 12:13 pm

110LibraryCin
Jun 14, 2017, 11:43 pm

I just made a thread for June: https://www.librarything.com/topic/259573

112LibraryCin
Ago 2, 2017, 9:13 pm

Oh, I totally forgot to plan for August for horror - appears to be Flannery O'Connor/women. I'll probably keep it simple and come with a woman author...

113luvamystery65
Ago 7, 2017, 10:38 am

Quick little thread set up for August. http://www.librarything.com/topic/266890

114LibraryCin
Dic 1, 2017, 2:26 pm

I started a December thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/276640