# [Reading Group] June 2014 Nominations/Voting



## Philip Overby (May 7, 2014)

So for June, I'm open to suggestions for themes again. If leaving it open is best, we can continue to do that. I feel like _The Name of the Wind_ is going to stretch into June because it's pretty long, but we can certainly do a June novel as well, especially for those who aren't reading our May selection.

For the theme I was thinking non-fantasy books. Seems kind of weird for a fantasy site, but nominations could be for science fiction, horror, classic literature, etc. Out of our choices so far, we've had three books that could be classified as epic fantasy in some way (_Prince of Thorns, His Majesty's Dragon, The Name of the Wind_)
while _Swordspoint_ was low fantasy with no magic to speak of and was confined to a smaller area.

If no one is keen for a non-fantasy theme, we can just go with an open theme again because it allows people to present more ideas for books. 

Thoughts?


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## T.Allen.Smith (May 7, 2014)

I'd be for a non-fantasy selection. I think it's healthy for writers to read out of genre & it's been awhile since I have done so.


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## Steerpike (May 7, 2014)

I'll nominate a few. The first two by writers that I think we can benefit from in our own genre, in terms of page-turning fiction. For the third, a science fiction novel on my reading list.


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## T.Allen.Smith (May 8, 2014)

Connelly is good. I've never read the other two.


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## Philip Overby (May 8, 2014)

OK, let's go with non-fantasy then. I'll try to think of some things I want to read that aren't fantasy and would be able to have interesting discussions on.


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## Philip Overby (May 8, 2014)

So, I'm thinking it would be good to not limit nominations this time since we didn't get so many last time. However, please limit them to three at a time and only once per day if possible until nominations are closed (which will be once no one is posting here anymore  )Here are my nominations then:







This is Richard K. Morgan cyberpunk. I think he's primarily a SF writer anyway, but he's also known for his fantasy series. 







Considered by some to be Cormac McCarthy's best, this is a bloody tale that follows scalp hunters in the Old West, but has McCarthy's signature style.







Recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Alice Munro is considered one of the finest short story writers around. I read one of her collections years ago and I agree. While this isn't a novel, I do think it would be worth checking out writers who earn such high praise.


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## Philip Overby (May 10, 2014)

Keep the nominations coming folks. I have some more here:



















Choices above are not quite fantasy, but seemingly kind of steampunkish/dystopian. Some nominations for those who don't want to get completely away from speculative fiction, but don't necessarily want Medieval style fantasy with swords and dragons.


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## Ophiucha (May 11, 2014)

Allow me to pre-emptively second the nomination for _Blood Meridian_. For my first set of nominations, I'll lean towards related genres, but I may come back and nominate some classics.


_Snow Crash_, by Neal Stephenson
_Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions_, Edwin Abbott Abbott
_Embassytown_, by China Mieville
I wanted to include some horror on the list, maybe a Gothic classic, but somehow it just became three science fiction books. Woops.


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## Steerpike (May 11, 2014)

For horror-related, I'll nominate Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House.


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## monyo (May 11, 2014)

I'll throw out two that I just ordered last week, if anyone else happens to be interested:







Seems pretty well liked, and the upcoming movie _Edge of Tomorrow_ is based on it. Only ~230 pages.







At ~1000 pages this may be way too long, but there it is.


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## ACSmyth (May 12, 2014)

I should be getting Ancillary Justice in my Hugos voting packet, but I don't know when they get sent out.

And I have Ack-Ack Macaque, Boneshaker, and the Windup Girl on my wish list, but not actually bought yet.

Waiting patiently on my bookshelf I have







which is a thriller and according to the friend who lent me it, is very good.

Also 







I know nothing about this, other than that it seems similar to the Brother Cadfael mysteries and is a monk solving murders. It seemed a little bit away from my usual fantasy stuff, yet still with elements I could perhaps absorb for future use in another form.


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## Philip Overby (May 12, 2014)

Lots of interesting nominations so far. I'll keep them open until May 17th and then we'll start the voting. I figure voting for your top three will work this go around.


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## ACSmyth (May 13, 2014)

Huh. So I'm not getting a copy of Ancillary Justice in my pack, just an "extended preview". Poor form, Orbit. Poor form.

The Hugo Voter Packet | Orbit Books | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy


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## Philip Overby (May 14, 2014)

From what I've heard of it, I still think it should be favored to win. I've read some of it (sample on my Kindle) and liked what I've read, but I'm not a huge SF person for the most part.


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## Philip Overby (May 16, 2014)

A couple of more days to get in any additional nominations you've been thinking about. If I don't get any tomorrow, I'll go ahead and open up the voting.


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## Philip Overby (May 17, 2014)

OK, so the final nominations are now locked in:

_The Black Box_ by Michael Connelly
_The First Rule_ by Robert Crais
_Ancillary Justice_ by Anne Leckie
_Altered Carbon_ by Richard Morgan
_Blood Meridian_ by Cormac McCarthy
_Runaway_ by Alice Munro
_Ack-Ack Macaque_ by Gareth L. Powell
_The Windup Girl_ by Paolo Bacigalupi
_Boneshaker_ by Cherie Priest
_Snow Crash_ by Neal Stephenson
_Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions_ by Edwin Abbott Abbott
_Embassytown _by China Mieville
_The Haunting of Hill House_ by Shirley Jackson
_All You Need is Kill_ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
_Infinite Jest_ by David Foster Wallace
_Gone Girl_ by Gillian Flynn
_A Plague on Both Your Houses_ by Susanna Gregory 

For this month, please vote for three books. Only one can be one of your nominations. May 24th will be the deadline to get your votes in. Whichever book has the most votes will be our choice for June.


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## Steerpike (May 17, 2014)

Some of those seem to me to be fantasy, but I'm going to go ahead and go completely non-SF/F and go with:

Gone Girl
The First Rule
Blood Meridian


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## Philip Overby (May 17, 2014)

I'm going to try to read as many samples as I can this go around so I'm not going in completely blind with my votes. Worth a shot.


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## Kaellpae (May 17, 2014)

Gone Girl is my top pick.

Then Boneshaker.

And finally... Altered Carbon.

I had a little trouble deciding between a few of the nominations, but I ended up getting it done!


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## ACSmyth (May 18, 2014)

I'm going to plump for:

Gone Girl
The Windup Girl
Ack Ack Macaque


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## Philip Overby (May 20, 2014)

I'm going to go with:

Snow Crash
Gone Girl
All You Need is Kill 

Of the samples I've read so far those just have stood out to me the most. 
We already have four votes for Gone Girl, so keep the votes coming as we have an early frontrunner.


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## monyo (May 20, 2014)

Tough call, but I'll go with:

Blood Meridian
All You Need is Kill
Embassytown


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## Ophiucha (May 20, 2014)

Blood Meridian
All You Need is Kill
and... Snow Crash


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## Ankari (May 22, 2014)

I have a copy of _Gone Girl._ I'll put my vote in for that.


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## Steerpike (May 22, 2014)

Looks like _Gone Girl_ is the likely choice. It has been on my reading list, and I'm looking for something new to start so I'm going to begin reading it. If something else ends up winning, I'll switch over.


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## Philip Overby (May 22, 2014)

Let's give a couple of more days and see if anyone else chimes in. If not, Gone Girl will be our choice.

I have to say, I really got through the sample quickly and I've been thinking about the novel ever since. That's the sign of a damn good book in my opinion. I actually haven't been this interested in a book in quite some time. Maybe I _do_ have fantasy fatigue? 

It's just kind of weird. As I read parts of Gone Girl and The Name of the Wind at the same time, I kept wanting to go back to read the former. Not that The Name of the Wind is bad, it's just pretty familiar for me (kind of story, genre I read in, etc.)


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## Ruby (May 22, 2014)

I haven't participated in the Reading Group before, but I've just started reading Gone Girl, so if that's the choice I'd like to join you for this one!


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## Steerpike (May 23, 2014)

I got a copy of _Gone Girl_ from Audible since I was going to be doing a ton of driving yesterday. I'm about six hours into the reading, and have to say that it is quite good.


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## Philip Overby (May 23, 2014)

OK Gone Girl is our choice. I will make a new thread soon.


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