Hayley

There was a story in The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights that was definitely inspired by The Yellow Wallpaper - I think you'd like it!

I really want that one… I have so many unread books right now but I might have to treat myself at the end of the month! Yay 😁 Yeah definitely do that! Reading the same book would be ideal, it’s just too difficult to find something that everyone wants to read and has access to!

I had to google the Fair Fortnight and now I can’t believe I’d never heard of it! Good timing for nice weather 😄

How are you feeling now Madeleine? I hope you're getting plenty of rest!

I feel like both would be excellent options! I'd like to read some more Agatha Christie, I've only read Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and A Murder is Announced. I really liked all of them though! I didn't know there was a new book in that series! I have the second one, The Retreat, on my shelf, so actually that would be a good choice for this challenge too . I think that one should count towards Something Mysterious as well... maybe we could talk about it once you're done in the 'finished reads' thread!

I'm sorry that there wasn't much time for a discussion on this, but I think we really need to get this challenge going! For that reason, we're going to take the broad theme 'Something Mysterious' for this quarter's Book Club (even though I do feel very bad about pushing ahead with my own idea before everyone has replied... I feel confident that we can have fun with this!). But please do still reply in this thread to the question of genres! My only concern would be that while things like 'Gothic' can be found in lots of different types of books (so you could have elements of the Gothic in a mystery or a horror, a fantasy or even science fiction), there might genuinely be nothing in the genre of science fiction (or horror or fantasy etc.) that someone enjoys. The plus side would be that it might encourage us to read something outside our comfort zone! So please tell me your thoughts! And also let me know what you're thinking of reading for 'something mysterious'. From my shelves, I'm thinking maybe Slade House by David Mitchell (about a mysterious house, accessed by a door which can only be found in the right conditions. The blurb asks 'what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it's already too late...').

If you’re thinking of reviewing books, to say ‘yes I’d recommend this one if you like…’ then you might consider starting a book blog! You can find that section of the forum here: https://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/forum/16-book-blogs-discuss-your-reading/ It sounds like you might be thinking of a book that you suspect most people won’t have read though? We do have a ‘have you read?’ thread in general book discussions, where you could just reach out to say ‘hey I really loved this, has anybody else read it?’.

Ooh so suggestion to do a specific genre this time? I’d be up for science fiction! How do others feel about this? Should we try out a genre theme? Or would you prefer to have a broad theme so you can choose your own genre?

Don’t worry 😄 . Maybe you could suggest a theme it might still fit into in the new BCF BookClub thread?

With a slight delay (sorry about that) it’s time to choose the next BookClub theme! As always, participants can read any book which fits with the suggested theme, regardless of genre. For this one, which will run to the end of September, I’d like to suggest the theme ‘Something Mysterious’. Please add your suggestions for a theme below and we’ll decide on one this Monday (15th)!

I finished Stephen King’s Fairy Tale and absolutely loved it. I’m sad that it’s over! Definitely a must-read for anybody interested in the fairy tale form

Hi Wimble! That’s right, but the same would apply to those advertising something book related. Imagine, for example, that an author joins the forum to say that they have a new book and provide a link for people to find it. That doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing, right? But nobody comments on that post, because it’s an advertisement. And the original poster doesn’t take part in any other forum discussions because they didn’t actually want to talk about books, they just wanted to sell their own. Now imagine that there are hundreds of people doing the same thing. Now the forum is cluttered with single post threads, each one an advertisement which other members find annoying. If somebody is actually here to talk about books and not just trying to get people to notice their own published book, they will not be banned. In fact, as you’ll see in our policy, established members who are authors can contact me or a moderator to ask whether it’s ok to tell people about their book. We just want to make sure this space stays fun and interactive for everyone . As @Brian. said, if there’s a particular post you’re not sure of, just ask us!

Why only 3 stars for Abroad in Japan? I nearly bought that as a present for someone who wants to visit! The Stand is one of the Stephen King books I do want to try, so I’m glad that got a good rating. Very happy to see The Colour of Magic on your new stack 😄. I hope you love it!

Wow, thank you for coming back and posting this to help other searchers Kal!!!

I just saw that Susanna Clarke has a new short story coming out in October, ‘The Wood at Midwinter’. It’s set in the same world as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and I can’t wait! 😄

I need to ask a favour of those who’ve read Fairy Tale already… I am about 100 pages in at the moment and I am going to need a single spoiler (otherwise I am afraid I might cry in public 😅). Does the dog die? (Please put the answer in a spoiler box, in case others don’t want to know!).

I haven’t read it but I have heard good things about it!

I love reading myths from different parts of the world! So interesting when you get crossovers in the stories with small changes 😄 I’m still working my way through Watkins’ fairytales (there are a lot!) but also started Fairy Tale by Stephen King!

I just looked it up - it sounds good! Our group read at the moment has a ‘folklore and fairytale’ theme though, do you think it would fit?

Nope, sorry, you’ll have to come back

It does tend to be the main criticism of Stephen King books, doesn’t it? The slow pace. I’m still working my way through Watkins Book of English Folktales and I love it. It’s perfect if you’re interested in how folktales develop and how they’re categorised! I have started to feel like I’d like to dig into a longer story now though, so I might be tempted to read something alongside it .

Oh that is intriguing!

Same here!! I actually decided to go for The Watkins Book of English Folktales by Neil Philip. It’s such a beautiful book and has explanations of the origin of folktales, how they were recorded and who by, as well as details of how they connect to other stories (giving clues as to how they might have developed). I haven’t had much reading time recently (it exam season and I’ve been especially busy this year) but this book is great to just dip into. That makes me want to read it too. Although I have heard of Salem’s Lot, I will admit that I didn’t even know it was a vampire story!

I loved it! It made me cry, but I loved it. That was actually the first Stephen King book I read - the one that made me want to try more!

It won’t be my first Stephen King book . I don’t read a lot of horror, so he’s not an author I come across a lot, but I have read The Green Mile, Cell and the short story collection Everything’s Eventual.