Book Recommendations June 2019

A little less people around, a little more peace and quiet, a little bit of travelling, a lot more hot weather, a little less smoking and a lot more water drinking and reading. That, for me, is what the summer is all about and I am glad it has finally arrived in Berlin. Plus, with so many book club sessions coming up there is no shortage on books I plan to read either, to say the least. The summer schedule is set, so unless there are suddenly a bunch of international authors who spontaneously decide to visit us, it will keep on being a quiet summer with lots of reading, book club or not, and here are some recommendations from our selection for you to enjoy.

But first, check out the summer plan for the book club:
July 12 - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
July 26 - The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris (MYTHIC FICTION BC)
August 9 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
August 23 - Salem's Lot by Stephen King (HORROR SPECIAL)
September 13 - Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Otherland Speculative Fiction Book Club meetings are always on the second Friday of the month (or any other given Friday for the horror, mythic fiction or theory sessions) at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookstore.
There's always snacks and drinks that you don't have to pay for, contributions are welcome.
You never need to sign up to join us, but we appreciate it greatly that you do read the book if you're coming.

A Feast for Berlin Role Players

This Saturday, June 14th, is Free RPG-Day again and the Otherland is in on it!
That means you can feast on adventures, quickstarters, dices, t-shirts and cards of games such as The Witcher, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Starfinder, Mythic D6, all FOR FREE, all in English and while supplies last. Don't forget to drop by!

Book Club Reminder

That whipping star, that whipping star...
Frank Herbert's 1970 SF-novel featuring an agent of the infamous Bureau of Sabotage, a psychopath woman who plots a rather nonsensical plan to bring about the end of the world and an alien species who invented so-called jumpdoors that allow instant travel, is a very very interesting book, to say the least.
Meeting starts Friday, June 7th at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookshop as always. There will be snacks and drinks as always too.
See you there!

The Otherland Speculative Fiction Book Club meetings are always (not this month for some reason) on the second Friday of the month at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookstore.
There's always snacks and drinks that you don't have to pay for, contributions are welcome.
You never need to sign up to join us, but we appreciate it greatly that you do read the book if you're coming.

Upcoming OBC meetings are as follows:
June 7 -  Whipping Star by Frank Herbert
July 12 - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
July 26 - The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris (MYTHIC FICTION BC)
August 9 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
August 23 - Salem's Lot - Stephen King (HORROR SPECIAL)

Horror, Horror and Even More Horror

Looking for a new apartment in Berlin, my life right now is pretty much a psychological horror movie itself, but that does not prevent me from craving for more, more, more horror, especially in the form of written fiction - or a real life haunted house I can move into, if I must!
And speaking of haunted houses, I am especially excited that it is time for the horror book club again where we will discuss Michael McDowell's The Elementals, a haunted house-Southern Gothic merger. Meeting is on Friday, May 24th, at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookshop as usual.
I must say it is a pity there are so few other books available from McDowell; apparently he has co-written Beetlejuice as well as Nightmare Before Christmas and an intriguing book series titled "Blackwater", which is, unfortunately, out of stock... Hope Valancourt takes notice!

On a further note; the votings for the horror books have been somewhat monopolistic with the only source of suggestions being me. And having decided to go by classic horror tropes (we will discuss haunted houses and terrible places on our next meeting), I prepared a short list sorted by tropes that you can expand according to your own taste and which can serve as a basis for our votings. I bet there are many more good books out there, so please help me improve it in terms of books as well as categories! (List has been edited)

Book Recommendations May 2019

Folks, there is so much going on right now in our private lives (side jobs, vacations, flat hunts, sick children…) that it was a slog to prepare the newsletter for May, but done at last! A little late and a little paltrier than usual, but here we are.
So as you know we had Cory Doctorow here and that was awesome. We have one more international event coming our way, and that one is with Brandon Sanderson on Tuesday May 14th (reading starts at 7 pm at Lettrétage - Mehringdamm 61). Since presumably it will be packed and we strongly suspect that Lettrétage will be bursting at the seams, Brandon and Heyne-Verlag decided to make a little signing at the bookstore before the event, so everybody interested gets the chance to meet him. If you have not had the opportunity to get a reservation or you cannot come in the evening, you can drop by the shop in the afternoon, where Brandon Sanderson and his marker will be waiting for you from 3.30 pm on.
Next Otherland Book Club session deals with horror again; we will be talking about Michael McDowell’s The Elementals, a haunted house-southern gothic merger that will not only scare you, but will often will make you smile and ponder. Meeting is Friday May 24th, begins as usual at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookshop. There's always snacks and drinks that you don't have to pay for, contributions are welcome. You never need to sign up to join us, but we appreciate it greatly that you do read the book if you're coming.
Enjoy our recommendations for May!

Cory was here...

Next Regular OBC Meeting

Next Friday, May 10th, the Otherland Speculative Fiction Book Club is meeting to discuss Octavia Butler's Kindred; the story of Dana, a black woman who time-travels between 1976 and the slavery-infested 1815 to prevent one of her ancestors from dying. It is also one of the few books that we have read whose impact has reached beyond the community of speculative fiction. There are still copies left at the store, grab them!

The Otherland Speculative Fiction Book Club meetings are always on the second Friday of the month at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookstore.
There's always snacks and drinks that you don't have to pay for, contributions are welcome.
You never need to sign up to join us, but we appreciate it greatly that you do read the book if you're coming.

Upcoming OBC meetings are as follows:
May 10 - Kindred by Octavia Butler
May 24 - The Elementals by Michael McDowell (HORROR)
June 7 -  Whipping Star by Frank Herbert
July 12 - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

Hope to see you there!