The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

So it may be an idea if the monthly theme reads are announced before the month starts. This will allow any of you who want to join in get ready by picking a book and/or maybe finishing the one you're currently on and not picking up another one that doesn't quite fit.

Obviously, this should go without saying but just to make sure, you don't have to join in with a theme read, it's all just for fun!

March 2013 Theme Read will be: Biography.

Hello there Hayley! My updates are usually at http://cmriedel.wordpress.com/2013/02... but interaction with the worldwide public is a gift. If autobiography or memoir is as good as biography for your theme, I can fit the bill, given the time. :) ~Carolyn~

Hello C. Glad to hear you think you may be able to join in next month's theme read. Autobiography and memoirs are practically the base of the theme biography, aren't they?

As per normal the theme read thread will be going up at the beginning of next month.

Would The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera count? It's a biography of John Snow and and also involves a lot of medical history. It's been on my shelf for a few years now...

On my whole dusty shelf I haven't got a single biography.... :(

OMG, I have so many bios and memoirs on my dusty shelves ... guess I need to decide on just one! ;o)

Jessica wrote: "On my whole dusty shelf I haven't got a single biography.... :("

Neither have I... but then I have an essay to hand in next Thursday before moving on to the next textbook, my apprenticeship guy keeps sending back questions to rewrite and I'm not the biggest bio fan myself... so I will not be taking part this month :(

Liz wrote: "OMG, I have so many bios and memoirs on my dusty shelves ... guess I need to decide on just one! ;o)"

You say just one... but it's a whole month, you may find you ahve time for more.. we won't stop you, honest :D

Next month's theme read shall be..... wait for it......

MODERN READS! (1990 & later)

Any book published 1990 or later will fit right in so get searching those front pages people :D

I have loads of these. Now it's a matter of deciding which ones.

Oh cool theme Hayley! I think I have a few of those.. :) I'm going to participate next month.

Criminy woman, you've changed your pic!! I thought there was yet another Jessica in the group!!! I was about to start assigning numbers :P
Glad you enjoy it, have fun picking the books you'll read folks ;)

LOL sorry :D You do an awesome job picking the themes - I knew you would ;)

No problem finding one for this!

We have a theme for May yet?

Sorry, I was trying to make a choice and got sidetracked thinking of my own books for the ones I came up with, which then led to me looking through one of my bookcases.... which led to me deciding to rearrange my bookcases :S

So, May's them shall be.... *drumroll*.... "A Book You Started Once"!

If you have a book you've picked up, read some and then put down again for one reason or another then this shall be a theme read for you. (I'm rather thinking of picking up one I put down and left for a reason that isn't because I didn't like it ;P)

Cool theme! I have a couple but I might try origin of species if I'm really brave. I kept falling asleep last time lol.

Ooh, good luck! I know I have one hanging around somewhere. It's in the fantasy genre but it's been so long since i picked it u I'm not entirely sure what it was about except there was an elf involved :S

I definitely have one that's already on my dusty bookshelf challenge - Rebecca's Tale. Now it will just be a matter of whether I can get to it this month - I have a few books to read for discussions, and it isn't a very short book. But I've been trying to get back to it for years now!

I have several of those, and this would be a great theme to bring up every so often. I might do Jane Eyre or Dracula for this one.

I think the one I am struggling with right now should count. I have picked it up a few times meaning to read it. I just never got real into it. I finally got the audio version hoping it would help. I can listen while I do other things. :)

Not to pressure, but has next month's theme read been selected? Trying to organise my reading schedule and maybe I can fight one or two dusties in :D

Okay, sorry for delay - last two weeks threw everything they possibly could in my direction :S

The theme read is going up now!

Hope everyone's enjoying this month's theme read :D

I'm getting in next month's in advance due to a lot of responsibilities that I can just see bearing down on me for the end of the month!

Next month's theme read is going to be Local Authors - maybe give you a chance to find out more about the author's by looking to see if any of them come from around you.

We aren't going to give any distance requirements or set a P.I on you if we think you may be taking liberties with your area though ;)

This is for July? Sounds like fun :) I really like the idea. Gives us a chance to learn about our authors and maybe find new ones we will like!

Yes, for July :) I thought the same thing and then realised... the only author I know from my area is Dickens, but then I do have 3 Dickens books on my dusty :S

I was saving August for something Holiday themed.... as a nod of the head to us who miss the ability to take off summer holidays from work, like we did back at school :( However, those of us on here who are teachers or down south of the equator may not quite feel the same... but still, holidays!!

So with July (local authors) and August (Holidays!) decided upon, what themes would you like to see for September, November and December? (October shall be spooky, mwuahahaha!)

Drop in with some ideas and good ones that more than one agree upon shall be put up for consideration :D

One should be "Obscure books nobody's ever heard of" because I have several of those on my shelf and, of course, they never come up in any groups to read so I never get around to them.

"A book from the year you were born (or decade)" - unless you bought it recently, it's probably something your mother bought to clear her mind in between taking care of you and has been sitting on the shelf forever and you've always wanted to read something from that year but you've just never gotten around to it.

I think we should do a random theme for December, esp since we are doing holidays in August. Something like "summer" or "comedy in a dysfunctional family(nothing depressing!)" or "has an animal or pet in the title."

Those are great ideas! I already picked out mine for July. I just picked an author from the same state. It's one of my favorite authors and I did not even know it.

These sound like good ideas too :) Hopefully there'll be enough suggestions with backing behind that we can be sure others will be able to take part :D

I like the idea of December not being too serious, as that happens far too often in theme reads that people go with 'classics' or 'christmas themed reads' and really, it can be stressful enough for those organising family get togethers that a light hearted, fun read could be good.

Since December is a big food month, maybe a food themed, or food in the title, or recipe in the book theme?

My mum just gave me a Nora Roberts novel that includes some recipes her main character cooked in the book. I think there are loads of cozies with that sort of thing too. Oh, or drinks recipes...lol lots of drinking for some people in December heh.

I think we should do cozy mysteries for December. Even better if it's a comedy cozy mystery!

I think it might be nice to do a sequel or next book in a series challenge. I don't know about you all, but I know there are a ton of series I read the first book or two of, but haven't gotten to the others yet.

These are all great ideas that will go into consideration.
If there aren't enough leanings to some more than others I may have to look into doing a poll for them beforehand :)

I do like the sequel/next book in series challenge. I know I have loads of those. I'm also open to cozies.

I like the idea of cozy mysteries for December. Does Sherlock count? I've been wanting to read the originals forever and since its taking so long for the next bbc season I could get my Sherlock fix!
Could fantasy be a theme for one of the months? I have a ton of fantasy on my shelf for some reason.

What makes a 'cozy' mystery? I've never heard of this term before, could someone please enlighten this poor rock dweller? ;)

Fantasy does sound rather wide & encompassing enough to be a good idea for a theme - more people would be able to see if they could join in (and after all, we want as many of you to join us as possible, mwuahahaha!) but then again, fantasy is general enough that it can also fall under other categories that may be picked. I love multi-genre books ;D

I wrote an article on gothic mysteries as the tremendously popular genre for decades. I discussed it was about 1990 when cozy mysteries replaced them (regardless of roots); in terms of churning out a dime-a-dozen as we see now.

Paragraph four has my short cozy mystery definition. :-) Carolyn. http://cmriedel.wordpress.com/2012/04...

Since cozies are my favorite genre, I have plenty of dusty ones!

One part of the strict definition that I don't count is that the sleuth has to be an amateur - I have plenty of mysteries that I consider cozy that feature Scotland Yard detectives. And even Hercule Poirot is a retired professional.

To be honest, I didn't realise they were considered 'cozy' until I joined GR. I think it's sort of a catch all for mysteries that aren't hardboiled, intricate or as Carolyn noted, Gothic.
People like Dorothy L. Sayers, M.C. Beaton and Agatha Christie are examples of cozy mystery writers. They're usually written by women, and tend to be regular people rather than law enforcement and the like, who solve mysteries. They also tend to be afternoon reads 200-250 ish pages.

ETA: I should mention though, that the main character could still be in law enforcement though, i.e. the Hamish Macbeth series.

Thank you for acknowleding me Darcy. :) One area in which I differ with some folks is that I don't consider the vintage mystery giants 'cozy'. I find a distinction between amateur sleuths and the complicated plots and exquisite writing of Agatha for instance.

I find that mainstream 'cozy mysteries' have one plot and that the book undergoes a few bumps in unearthing it. Of course some writers, like Charlotte MacLeod, Juliet Blackwell are exceptions; in the possession of pheneomenal writing to boot.

The mind blowing cacaphony of plots concocted together, like a REAL clue-based mystery? I wouldn't call a 'cozy'. If you see paragraph 4 of my article above, a 'cozy' tends to be humorous rather than serious or atmospheric and is HEAVILY career based. A flower shop, a witch, a cat lover, a baker, a gardener....

Carolyn, we will have to agree to disagree on classic cozies, as I would consider them. I do agree with you that in the past couple of decades there has been a proliferation of theme-based cozies, and that is what you are describing, but cozies have been around for a lot longer than that. I definitely consider the 'grandes dames' to be cozy writers, although I am not that familiar with Margery Allingham, but I have read all of Agatha Christie's, Ngaio Marsh' and Dorothy L. Sayers' mysteries. To me, although a cozy can be set anywhere, the quintessential classic cozy setting would be a small village or a house party at a stately home, and you will find plenty of those in these authors' works.

Maybe there needs to be a further subdivision in the cozy subgenre - perhaps 'classic' vs. 'modern', where the modern ones are the theme-based cozies that are so popular today. That doesn't imply time period, though, as there are probably still authors writing in the classic style.

I'm comfortable with healthy debate and open to altering my opinion. {GRIN} I mentioned the 'cozy' didn't necessary start in 1990 with the proliferation of career-based series, abundant now. Yes, present day is its sweet spot in terms of quantity.

If by 'the classic style' we mean beautiful phrasing, impeccable plotting, emphasis on riddles or clues; I see little in the 'cozy' today. It might attribute reluctance to define Agatha as such. Let's see where basics agree. Any location. Gendre doesn't matter, nor law enforcement professional or not. Gore is minimal. If a mystery is a crime, (my favourites aren't!) a murder would occur 'off-stage'. In "The Mysterious Affair At Styles", the victim perished in front of her household. Would we say sexuality is watered down?

Except Lyn Hamilton ("The Celtic Riddle") I don't find clue-based or non-crime mysteries today. A trait I reiterate is a 'cozy' is simple; one or two plots and we run in a fairly straight line to each conclusion. That doesn't match Agatha's class at all. Also a 'cozy' tends towards humour. I'm not finding suspense or fear; the closest being Juliet Blackwell or Shirley Damsgaard.

Hmmm.... can one take back a question that's already been asked? :S This is now sounding like a can of worms that should've stayed closed.... but it's good to know that it's up for friendly debate :)

I think if 'Cozy Mystery' did come up as a them read it'd be left open for the person's own interpretation :)

Here's the thread discussing the same topic on the Cozy Mystery group...

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

It is lovely, that here are international peers discussing a happy topic. What's tremendously special, meaningful is a group collaborating to define a whole genre of current fiction. I can't wait for what the next person's ingredient to a fresh soup.

Here's another thread from another cozy mystery group:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

Two points upon which my Agatha fork in the road hinges: would we say a 'cozy' is simply-plotted, lighter reading? And separately, how many say sexuality is toned down as well as gore?

Any chance this healthy debate can be started in a new thread, lovely ladies? Whilst interesting it has derailed this one slightly but I do want to see it carry on :)

How about re-visiting authors you've loved in the past? I read Robin Hobb's Tawny Man and Farseer series years ago, and due to my growing TBR list, I just haven't found the time to read her other books. I'm using this challenge to fix that, I just hate leaving them unfinished.

Also, is anybody up for a readathon? Um, we pick a weekend that's convenient, and we just read. Get rid of distractions. Give our reading appetites the pampering it deserves?

Ooo a read-a-thon sounds fun!! I'm currently finishing up my last two week of college so hopefully I will be able to join in.