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Ideal Authors For A Book Club


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Hi,

I'm a design student and I proposed a sort of book club with a library,vdiscussion rooms and cafe. Basically a hang-out spot where people can connect over books. I needed to make it more genre-specific so I've chosen crime/thriller/suspense and horror fiction.

 

The target audience is roughly 16-35.

 

What authors and books would you recommend for a place like this? Apart from this, if you have any other relevant input, I'll really appreciate it. Thanks guys!

 

Some authors I have in mind are Stephen King, Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham, Dan Brown, David Baldacci, Sidney Seldon etc etc etc..

Edited by Kell
Chrissy: Added capitals and removed text speak. / Kell: Added a few more capitals and apostrophes
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I would suggest having a look in the section of the forum devoted to those genres, or in the Reading Circle section, where all the books we've chosen as our official Reading Circle Books have discussions. We've touched on many different authors and genres there and you'll be able to see very easily which ones generated lively discussion.

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It looks like you already have a few names to work with there. Here's a few more to add to your list of potential authors.

 

Jeffrey Deaver has written some excellent stand alone novels, such as 'The Blue Nowhere' and 'A Maiden's Grave' as well as some great series.

 

Val McDermid is another who has a few book series in addition to some excellent stand alone texts.

 

Nelson DeMille has written a variety of books that are suspenseful, and is well worth looking at.

 

Nicci French the man and wife combi, have written a few good and discussion worthy books so you could also look in that direction.

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James Patterson could work as well.. Quick reads, pretty mainstream, and everyone can get access to them pretty easily, I think? Plus there's some series in there which make for great book-clubbing.

Good luck picking an author!

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how about Jeffrey Eugenides, Virgin Suicides is a stunning book as is Middlesex, oh and Douglas Coupland. Hey Nostradamus is awesome :blush:

 

Oh an I should have said, for Horror, Poppy Z Brite! Brilliant, different and gritty :lol:

Edited by Michelle
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Thanks so much, that helps a lot... you guys have given me a lot to work with! And the variety in the timeline is also very very helpful!!! And since I love the genre, you've also contributed to my reading list!! :blush:

 

Now, the next phase is to give a feel to the space. I plan to make it themed, obviously, but I dont want to do the cliched "mystery/horror = dark and mysterious rooms", it needs to be more welcoming and a hang out spot but definitely have a strong emphasis on the books. I mean, the place is for discussing and reading books. But not a library where its all QUIET! And since im trying to get people to read there, its going to have to be bright and well lit.

 

Do you think incorporating the feel of a very traditional English pub or cafe would work? I was also thinking of using a shop-window for the cafe and retail area. Sort of like the Hard Rock Caf

Edited by BookJumper
Added punctuation and caps, removed textspeak, checked spelling.
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A Mod note first: we ask members to please try and use capitals and punctuation, and to refrain from using textspeak; not doing so makes posts very hard to read and understand, as well as looking (well) bad on a book forum :lol:.

 

In answer to your question, I personally don't think I would go to a place like the one you describe, if only because the way I see it you can't have music in a reading space - a lot of people have problems concentrating on what they're reading as it is and music can just annihilate that concentration completely. I've tried and failed to read in Starbucks, for instance, because I kept listening to the music rather than understanding the words I was looking at.

 

To be honest, my ideal book reading environment would be "all QUIET!!!" as you said - what's wrong with libraries :blush:? I'd try to divide the reading from the discussing environments, as people who want to read will not be able to do so over the noise of other people talking.

 

Other than that, I'd only get food involved if people were bringing their own books (think of the spillages waiting to happen!); in any case I'd say coffee is more important than food.

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Sorry about the caps and punctuation. Hope this one's better.Thank you for your response and for editing my post.

 

I can see what I meant and what you understood are two very different things. Let me clarify-

1.Theres no music in the place.What I meant was-what music is to HRC, books is to my place. It is centered around books and reading.

2.There will be a different place to read for people who want it "all QUIET"-its the reading lounge. However, considering this is a kind of interactive space that promotes discussion, there has to be discussion rooms for more serious discussion and a cafe or some refreshment area for just informal chit-chat.

I want to make up for areas where a library might lack.I know so many people who avoid libraries simply because there are "TOO MANY BOOKS" and they find the silence oppressive.

3.I also thought about the food and books issue but I can't seem to find a way around it. But then my job is just the general idea of what kind of space I need to design(since I am an Interior Designer) rather than small details of the working so I decided not to ponder about this one too much and just design it.

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One more thought-

Since the book club is aimed at 16-35 year olds, what is crime,horror,mystery and thriller in the present day context? Although I'll be perfectly content to recreate an old english pub(somehow that's the first thing that comes to my mind) to reflect the genres, the target audience required something more modern.Any suggestions?

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I must say, it does rather seem at this point like you've joined just to get help with your project - you've not contributed to the forum in any way at all apart from within your own thread.

 

While we're happy for regular members to drawn on the expertise of other regular members, registering with the express purpose of getting help on assignments is against our rules:

In the same way, please do not join just to ask for help with your homework / dissertation / survey etc. These are also only allowed for regular, active members.

 

If you love reading, surely there's more these boards can offer you than purely academic help. We're a community where friendships are forged in the name of books, not a resource to be squeezed out of knowledge.

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