Witches, Weres, and Vamps, Oh MY! discussion

If you have any suggestions for a fun theme please let us know. We've got things planned out through October but would love some suggestions for there on out.

Zombies! There is a explosion of Zombie Fiction these days. Lets check one out.

Lily

Oooh - Zombies sound great. We'll get it on the list!

Shifters - all kinds

i have never read a zombie book.. sounds like fun :)

I have a long list of zombie fiction that I plan on reading so I really like that idea.

Also, maybe a month of short stories, foreign fiction, or a classic that is also paranormal.

I agree, zombies sound interesting.

I like all those ideas, (forign, classic, short stories,) Also, I am interested in your zombie list!

Lily wrote: "I like all those ideas, (forign, classic, short stories,) Also, I am interested in your zombie list! "

These are the zombie books on my to-read shelf that I can think of

As The World Dies: The First Days: A Zombie Trilogy
Monster Island (Zombies, Book 1)
Day by Day Armageddon (A Zombie Novel)
Gil's All Fright Diner

And this site is cool
http://www.zombiebooklist.com/index.php

Many I would grab at the used book store but I will not list them all on my to-read shelf.

I also have some zombie graphic novels I will eventually get to.

what about ghouls. there kinda like zombies rnt they

Heck yea, bring on the Ghouls!

Do you have any books in mind?

hmmmm so zombies and ghouls here are a few books i would like to read :)

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Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry
Seattle. One minute you're drinking a vanilla breve, the next, some creepy old dude is breathing on you, turning you into a zombie. And that's just for starters. Now, the recently deceased Amanda Feral is trying to make her way through Seattle's undead scene with style (mortuary-grade makeup, six-inch stilettos, Balenciaga handbag on sale) while satisfying her craving for human flesh (Don't judge. And no, not like chicken.) and decent vodkatinis.

Making her way through a dangerous world of cloud-doped bloodsuckers, reapers, horny and horned devils, werewolves, celebrities, and PR-obsessed shapeshifters--not to mention an extremely hot bartender named Ricardo--isn't easy. And the minute one of Amanda's undead friends disappears after texting the word, "help" (The undead--so dramatic!) she knows the afterlife is about to get really ugly.

Something sinister is at hand. Someone or something is hellbent on turning Seattle's undead underworld into a place of true terror. And this time, Amanda may meet a fate a lot worse than death...

"Happy Hour of the Damned - is it a comedy? An urban fantasy? A whodunit? Who cares! Mark Henry's written such a clever and engaging story that fans of any genre will totally adore it. Amanda Feral is the freshest, funniest character to come out of fiction since Bridget Jones and my only regret is she's not real and we can't go out for drinks. (Because, really? Zombies are the new black.) In short? I loved this book!" --Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter Is The New Black

"Happy Hour of the Damned blends the hilarious narcissism of Seinfeld with Night of the Living Dead. Who knew skincare-obsessed zombies were so much fun? I couldn't read this book fast enough." --Jeaniene Frost, New York Times bestselling author of Halfway to the Grave

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What's A Ghoul to Do? (Ghost Hunter Mystery, Book 1)
by Victoria Laurie

M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...

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The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even
by Julie Kenner

Elizabeth Frasier's ticked off. Her junior year of high school was going just fine. But thanks to a bunch of jerkwad vampire jocks, she ended up undead, and with a thirst that a thousand Diet Cokes couldn't quench. Now she's out for blood-and revenge. And she knows exactly what to do...Elizabeth's read Salem's Lot. Separate the good vamps from the bad and wipe out the crowd that did her in. On top of that, she's got to figure out how to be mortal again-unless universities start accepting dead girls.

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Good Ghouls Do by Julie Kenner
The USA Today bestselling author returns to Horror High-and so does teen vampire Beth Frasier.

In The Good Ghoul's Guide to Getting Even, Julie Kenner introduced Beth Frasier, high school sweetheart-turned-bloodsucker. She's back-and not alone in her habit. Vampirism is catching on at Waterloo High, since the Master Vamp Beth thought she offed is still wandering the halls. Now, sun-shy Beth has a new survival plan. But finding the real Master is putting a lot pressure on a girl who wants two things out of life: one more chance to tan, and a boyfriend who doesn't bite back.
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i will keep an eye out for some more. :) but this is what i got... i hope they all fit the theme. :)

Ohh. I have had Happy Hour of the Damned on my mental tbr list if Its not on my virtual one. (It may be I just dont remember). I remember b&n read it and they raved. I was just in the middle of other stuff.

The Victoria Laurie book isn't what it sounds like. There aren't any ghouls or zombies in it. The heroine sees ghosts and puts them to rest. I've read all 3 of the books in this series so far and not a zombie to be had!

How about ? It's a YA and has undead who aren't vampires.

We only have themes picked out through our 12/1 book. We have some ideas for some future themes but are curious if anyone has an even better idea :)

Any themes you'd like to see?

How about a ghost story?

I have a few ghost story recommendations too. I love that idea.

Hmmm... What about psychics? Its a lot harder to come up with theme ideas than I thought it would be. :)

I like both of those ideas!

We can also do a theme around the author. Like a GoodReads author, or male author. Or a theme about the book itself instead of the theme in the book like a debut novel, a book considered a classic. Anything about the characters works too - a strong female lead (ummm... EASY to find books to fit that).

Ghost story is good. Psychics is good. Demons or angels (or both LOL) would be cool. Weres or shifters.

What about mythology? Like a specific culture or a specific myth or story?

A lot of paranormal/UF/fantasy books include mythological characters. If my brain was working today, I could even think of a few! The same goes for Fairy Tales. Actually a regular fairy tale itself has elements of the paranormal (witches, trolls, shapeshifters, etc), though I think it's a better story if the fairy tale elements are put into a modern book. The Kim Harrison books contain many such creatures. One of my favorite retold fairy tales is East by Edith Pattou. It is a YA book, though.

So many great ideas, I particularly like Kelli's involving a specific culture or mythology. That would be fun!

Non-wolf shifters
or a specific category like werecats, dragon shifters, etc.

Non-wolf shifters sounds like fun too. :)

See... I knew I could count on y'all for some good ideas! We'll get a list of upcoming themes out soon. Keep the ideas coming as you think of them!

I'm sure it's been said, but I don't see vamps on here... And what about maybe some fantasy like medevial times, King Artur, Merlin, dragons, etc.

Oh! Arthurian legend would be fun!

I know right!!!! Has anyone read the Pendragon Cycle books? I have to first but didn't start it yet.

I am really drawn to the mythology idea but want to be sure the theme isn't too specific so we can find books to fit it. Should we limit it to a certain culture or just say mythology in general (though that could cover just about everything).

If you're interested in the cultural option - which cultures would be the most interesting.

I think Greek would be great, that or Norse mythology.

Celtic myths are always fun! Thought it sometimes works better if it's a specific Celtic culture's myths, like Welsh or Irish.

I'm kinda thinking we'll do a different culture every other month for a few months. So our 4/1, 6/1, 8/1 etc books will be cultural themed.

We did Asian for 2/1.
Then we'll do a Celtic month, a Greek/Norse month, maybe a Native American month... any others you can think of???

Also - do you think we'll be able to find some interesting books for each culture or am I being to hopeful?

You could also add letters as an easy filler category. like February: Title or Author starts with F.

Cultures/ regions I'd be interested in reading about, besides the ones already listed: Jewish, Gypsy/ Rom, Middle Eastern, Africa, Indian subcontinent, Central/ South American...

Ones off the top of my head:
Celtic:
T.H. White's book about Merlin
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon

Greek:
Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin
Nobody's Princess (about Helen) by Esther Friesner
The Firekeeper (about the Fall of Troy) by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Norse:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette(wrote Melusine)

Native American:
The Painted Drum by Loius Erdrich
Flight by Sherman Alexie
Ceremony by Silko

Jewish:
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Rabbi's Cat 1 & 2
Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein

Gyspy/ Rom:
Mulengro by Charles de Lint
Romano Drom also by Charles de Lint (short story)
this one's hard!

Middle Eastern:
I don't know of any and I want to!

Africa:
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
Imaro by Charles Saunders

Indian subcontinent:
There's a lot of Indian/ Pakistani writers. The guy who wrote Satanic Verses writes sometimes in magical realism, I understand.

How about Carribeanish, or Haiti? Lots of zombie, voodoo, stuff like that...

Even a voodoo theme sounds fun. I haven't read anything that has voodoo as a focus before.

So many books Julia! It looks like we could do just about any culture we wanted to and find a good number of books to read.

If you're looking for Middle Eastern, Egypt is considered part of the Middle East and there's a lot of books set there.

Kathryn, didn't you read a cool book set in Egypt with paranormal stuff going on? Or am I getting confused? Is that what 24 Bones was???

If we are talking Egypt I would prefer it be ancient Egypt, not set at the time but Egyptian gods and such. I would like to see some books set in Roman times.

For Celtic, definitely Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

Middle Eastern:
I don't know of any and I want to!

Middle east could be djinns and ifrits and arabian nights stuff ... one would think there's a lot of fantasy with that setting but I can't think of any off the top of my head either.

Djinn's play a major role in the Weather Warden series (LOVE it!) but it's set in the U.S. with no mention of the Middle East at all.

I can't think of any other books off the top of my head that deal with djinns or ifrits either.

weeell... the Dog Days series has an ifrit, actually several of them, but it is set in San Francisco.

Salman Rushdie does sometimes write magical realism, but he's Pakistani/ Indian/ English, which I think matters less than the setting, IMO.

As for Egypt, my favorite Saint Germain historical fictiion/ vampire book is set there in ancient times and in the early 1800's with one of his protegees there as an Egyptologist, studying his past.

Greek mythology

Female werewolves in a historical context (e.g., the French Revolution and Napoleonic War era).

I have read this book The Girl in the Dream, a story of supernatual and ghosts and liked the theme and the way the doctor woke up to find objects she dreamed about on her bed. I also liked the idea of weird scary things happening in hospital because of a black magic, would like to read more with the theme and get recommendation with the theme.

Show some love for FEMALE WEREWOLVES.

I make it a point (when I can) to buy good, well-written novels where female werewolves are the focus.

Taming the Wolf by Stephanie Nelson