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Hi everyone,
Oh my goodness, is it that time again? It's time to open nominations for our November 2023 Books of the Month.

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. 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 group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

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 isn't necessary in this group.
� Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
� Nominations will remain open through Thursday August 17.
� The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Friday August 18 and will run through Thursday August 24.
� The final run-off polls go up Friday August 25 and will be open through Thursday August 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
The Terraformers
The Passengers
Stars Uncharted
Sarah Canary
Carnival
House of Suns
A Just Determination

FANTASY:
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
I Am Not a Serial Killer
The Bees
At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities
All the Seas of the World
Kamikaze

I'll propose The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz again for SF, since a lot of folks seemed interested.

For fantasy, I've been hearing a lot of buzz about Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett so let's give that a try - it looks like fun!

The Passengers by John Marrs for SF- it’s a terrifying novel that feels like a great Black Mirror episode about hackers taking control of 6 self driving cars. The cars will crash in 6 hours and people have to vote on social media who will survive

I am not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells for F- Dexter meets Supernatural. A human teen with serial killer tendencies (hasn’t killed anyone yet) finds out there’s a supernatural monster in his small town so he has to let loose his serial killer skills to stop it. He becomes scarier than the monster

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.

We could use a few more nominations for our November books of the month. What would you like to read and discuss in November? Nominations are open through Thursday August 17.

I like to make nominations that reward the need for something new and unknown. But I like to give a nod of the cap to the classic authors also, meaning nominating the same books over and over, hoping that they might eventually win. It's a conundrum.

When I first started nominating Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler, it was listed as "Fantasy" first. Within a year, though, the genre "Science Fiction" became higher on its list, so I had to switch over. Fowler is such an interesting author, because she carries a love for science fiction over into other more mainstream genres, such as "Contemporary" or other more nebulous categorizations. Even her most popular work, The Jane Austen Book Club, carries with it not only a love for the classic female author, but also a nod to female science fiction authors as the various characters discuss the why's and wherefore's of Austen's Big Six.

So I will try once again to get a discussion started on Sarah Canary. I will nominate Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler for Science Fiction.

And I will step into unknown areas to nominate something new for Fantasy, At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber.

Fantasy: All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay, set in the same fantasy-Renaissance world as some of his other books, Kay’s writing is always lovely to read and his characters are complex.

SF: Carnival by Elizabeth Bear, a stand-alone science fiction spy novel.

Fantasy: Kamikaze by Kit Sun Cheah

A different sort of isekai.

SF: A Just Determination John G. Hemry

A SF courtroom drama in the US Space Navy

SF: House of Suns

Preliminary polls are open! Please take a moment and vote for what you'd like to read in November.

Preliminary Fantasy poll: /poll/show/2...

Preliminary SciFi poll: /poll/show/2...

Final polls are open, including a three-way tie for our SF selection. Please take a moment and vote for your choice for November books of the month.

Final Fantasy poll: /poll/show/2...

Final SciFi poll: /poll/show/2...