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Do you feel like we’ve been having a lot of nominations and polls lately? That’s because we have, and now it’s time to nominate and vote for books for our June 2023 Books of the Month.

Each group member can make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. The Beyond Reality Google spreadsheet of Previous Books of the Month, available at this link: ". To search for a specific title, use the "Find and Replace" option under the EDIT menu. Don't worry, you will be able to find a title but you will not be able to replace it since the spreadsheet is in "View Only" mode.

b. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

c. the threads on this page: Previous BotM Master Lists

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
� Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
� For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
� Seconding is NOT necessary in this group.
� Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
� Nominations will remain open through Sunday, March 19.
� The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Monday, March 20 and will run through Saturday, March 25.
� The final run-off polls go up Sunday, March 26 and will be open through Friday, March 31.

Thanks!
Kathi, for the Mods

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
FANTASY:
Kamikaze by Kit Sun Cheah
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu
Spear by Nicola Griffith
The Bees by Laline Paull

SCIENCE FICTION:
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
The Corridors of Time by Poul Anderson
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall

Kamikaze by Kit Sun Cheah

Fantasy. A very different isekai.

After all the chunksters recently, I'll nominate a couple of novellas.

For SF, it's actually a re-nomination. Let's try again for A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers.

For Fantasy, Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente. Listed with "Fantasy " second and "Horror" first, I would quibble with the horror label. To me, the story is more like a Kafka-esque (or Vonnegut-like) tale of an innocent person feeling more and more like something is wrong with the bourgeois society in which they are trapped.

For Fantasy, All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay. Set in the same world as A Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky, Kay always provides a good story with interesting characters and lovely prose.

For SF, an oldie that somehow I never read, The Corridors of Time by Poul Anderson.

For SF, The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, a Canadian Indigenous author.

For Fantasy, we all liked The Grace of Kings last year, so I'll nominate the second book in the series, The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu.

Just a reminder, nominations for our June Books of the Month close tomorrow night (March 19)! What would you like to read and discuss with the group?

I'll nominate two of the new Nebula nominees that I haven't read yet.

For fantasy, Spear by Nicola Griffith

For SF, The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

still want to discuss these:

I nominate The Bees for fantasy. I've read it as ebook, listened to it, and now I finally have read it in my favorite format, paper, got even more out of it that time (a couple of weeks ago), and would be glad to read it a fourth time in order to discuss it with others. I guess it's fantasy, because honeybees don't really have quite the civilization that the characters in the story do... but all the science context seems to match what I've read lately about real life bees, too.

For SF, I still have Stars Uncharted sitting on my bookshelf begging me to read it. Some say fans of Becky Chambers would like it, and I'm a big fan of her brand of 'hope punk' space opera so I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for all the great nominations. The preliminary polls are open and will remain open through Saturday, March 25.

Fantasy Preliminary Poll

SF Preliminary Poll

Please vote!

Polls are close�

Remember, the preliminary polls for our June Books of the Month are only open through Saturday, March 25. The top two titles in each poll will move into the final poll and the polls are close.

If you haven’t voted, please do. If you have voted, take a look at the polls and see if you want to keep your choice or change your vote.

Fantasy Preliminary Poll

SF Preliminary Poll

Thanks to all who voted in the preliminary round for our June 2023 Books of the Month.

Final polls are now open and will remain open through the end of the month (March 31).

Fantasy Final Poll

SF Final Poll

Please vote!

Reminder that tomorrow, March 31, is that last day to vote for our June 2023 Books of the Month.