I was born May 24, 1979 in Logan, WV. Until the age of 15 I lived in Mingo County, WV near Delbarton when I moved to Swansboro, NC with my mother due to my parents divorce. I graduated in 1997 from West Carteret High School. I worked afterwards as an assistant manager of an Eckerd Drugstore, general manager of a Carmike Cinema and then as an advanced technician for Volaris Online (formerly Coastalnet and Duro Communications). In 2001 I moved to Wheeling, WV to be closer to family and due to meeting my future wife here Lisa. On July 4, 2003 I married her. Currently I am attending West Liberty State College toward a double major in Social Science and English for a Secondary Education degree.

This year I've read these books, in no particular order:

The Stand
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Eyre Affair
Moby Dick
Scarlet Letter
Namesake
The Awakening
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Samurai's Garden
Desert Flower
The Bluest Eye
The Kite Runner
Drawing of the Three
The Wastelands
Wizards and Glass
On Writing (second time)
Gateway
The Tomb
Legacies
Conspiracies
All the Rage
Native Son
The Bean Trees
Unquiet Earth

as well as some more that I can't remember. I'd love to discuss them if you'd like!

I think I've read two of those....

Born in '70. Raised in southern California, I currently live in the Bay Area working for CNet. My dad reads SF, is very interested in history, and was in the wargaming industry when I was little, so I come by my hobbies honestly.

BA, majored in History, split minor anthropology and creative writing. Currently, my spare time is mostly sunk in WoW, where I'm in a guild that consists of good friends.

By Goodreads, I've read this year:
Covenants: A Borderlands Novel - Freeman, Lorna
Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck
The Price of the Phoenix - Marshak, Sondra
The Fate of the Phoenix - Marshak, Sondra
History of the Goths - Wolfram, Herwig
Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World - Geary, Patrick J. (reread)
To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World - Herman, Arthur
Army of the Potomac Trilogy - Catton, Bruce
The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra - McCullough, Colleen
Dog Wizard - Hambly, Barbara
Harry Potter series (reread 1-6) Rowling, J. K.
Eragon - Paolini, Christopher
Stuka Pilot - Rudel, Hans Ulrich
Mutiny on the Enterprise - Vardeman, Robert E.
Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews - Patten, Fred
Alanna: The First Adventure - Pierce, Tamora
In the Hand of the Goddess - Pierce, Tamora
Demons - Dillard, J. M.
Vulcan! - Sky, Kathleen
The Entropy Effect - McIntyre, Vonda N.
The Prometheus Design - Marshak, Sondra
Prehistoric Mesoamerica (reread) - Adams, Richard E. W.
The Dragonbone Chair - Williams, Tad

Hi everyone. Well, I live in Lexington, KY and work for one of the biggest hardware/software/services corporations in the world. Not a fulfilling job but it pays the bills. After a long absence from reading, I started again this year in June. I guess I started reading to fill the void left after quitting World of Warcraft. Sad, but true.

I am married with two kids...one in kindergarten and one in first grade (this is why I had to make myself quit WoW). I am mostly interested in sci-fi, but I've been reading a lot of classics and a few fantasy. If I had to pick, I would say my favorite author would be Kurt Vonnegut. I am also an Asimov fan.

Hi, everyone. I was born in 1986, which makes me 21 years old. I grew up in rural New York state, in a small town of about 500 people. Right now, I'm a senior in college. Major is Psychology, minor is Japanese.

When I was in fifth grade, my teacher recommended that I read The Hobbit, and that was what got me started on fantasy. Finding out that there was a whole trilogy after The Hobbit was one of the best things ever. But it took finding Robert Jordan to realize that fantasy was a current genre, so I'll always be indebted to The Wheel of Time. After that, I focused a lot of my time on reading fantasy and eventually some science fiction.

This past year I put a lot of effort into reading more because I'd really been slacking off. The result is that I have a fairly long list, but I've decided that it's too much trouble for me to be scrolling past my whole list, so I'll just tell you some recent highlights for me.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series (I'm almost completely caught up)
Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Those are definitely the three things I'm happiest I've read this year.

Nice to meet you all!

I was born in '77, which makes me about a median age for this list, I think. After a long and varied (but mostly boring) history including an ex-husband and 10 years of waiting tables, I ended up where I am now. I'm currently living in Minnesota with my girlfriend, paying the bills by working in the accounting section of a megabank. My free time goes to WoW, books, and knitting.

I can't even begin to list off the books I've read this year, as I can't recall all of them. But I will say that I read the entire Crown of Stars series and adored them. Highly recommended to anyone that likes good, rich plot and a lot of intrigue with their fantasy.

I must be the geezer of this group. I was born in '63 in the Windy Suburbs of Chicago. My wife dragged me back to her ancestral lands, so I'm currently living in Seattle with her and our two kids. We just got back from two years overseas, so I haven't settled down to many activities outside of work--mostly I'm overindulging on some of the pleasures I missed out on back in China, like a wealth of English language books and movies. By day, I'm a typesetter/pre-press operator.

I am not going to list all the books I've read this year. If you really want to know, you can check my reading blog at jspages.blogspot.com. ;-)

Hello everybody. I was born in '78 to Air Force parents and spent my childhood in the back of a packed mini van moving back and forth across the country (and sometimes the world). Books, especially Sci-fi and fantasy books, were my companions on my family's crazy adventures.

I majored in English and minored in American history for undergrad and got my masters in reading and certified as a k-12 reading specialist. But, I have taught English to teenagers for the last 7 years (I thrive on the drama!). In August, I packed up my CRV and moved across the country again to pursue my PhD in literacy. Most of my adult life has centered around school and books (and I actually love it!)

My passion is young adult literature, but when I stray into adult reads it is usually in sci-fi and fantasy. I am excited to start reading for this group and hope to have some great debates!

Greetings and Salutations ...

Here is the quick summary: I started reading on my own in 8th grade with Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, which completely suck me in. At one point over my summer breaks, I was reading 2 novels a day from the nearly 1000 books in my parents' basement ... all of it pure escapist trash according to my English Teacher :)~ I soon started my own collection with weekly trips to the book store and through various monthly book clubs. While I was in the Coast Guard, I moved around a lot, so I have most of my library still in boxes, and I am only now starting to go through them for ideas for my oldest daughter. This year I think I have managed to read about 6 books total as my time has been extremely limited (I just have too much to do these days) and for a long while, I just did not see much in the stores that interested me (so I am re-reading what I have).

For a non-literature based bio, you can go here [formating on IE7 is good, but anything before that isn't ... so use firefox or somethin']

I was born in '79 in Tasmania, Australia. I've lived in various places in Australia, also Japan and now Canada. Why leave beautiful sunny Australia and move to downright chilly (currently -22 C) Toronto? Ah, met a man, enough said! I have an Arts degree - majoring in English and History - and was about to do my PhD on fantasy fiction before going off to Japan instead.

I read a mix of fantasy, general lit and classics, Young Adult and paranormal romance - a new addition to my reading list. My favourite author is still Isobelle Carmody, who writes very unique fantasy. I'm trying to read more non-fiction - it's not that I don't enjoy them and learn a lot from them, they're just much harder for me to get into (my mind wanders a bit...).

I've been waiting till 2007 finished, but it turns out I managed to read 96 books last year and if I post the list here it'll be a complete waste of space. So, you can check out the list (and reviews, if you want) on my LiveJournal.

Oh, and Arian, I completely agree about Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, which I finished last year when the final book came out. I also recommend her Jaran series (4 books in total), which are I guess more sci-fi than fantasy but really terrrific!

Hi everyone

Perhaps I'm the geezer - born in '59. I started out reading sci-fi when I was 8 years old, reading collections of Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, never seeming to get enough. Not much into fantasy, but have run across some that have piqued my interest. I do like to try an eclectic mix of fiction - one now I', reading "Chanelling Mark Twain" is really good.

I work at the University of Maryland and have access to libraries that can go beyond your wildest dreams of lending - wish I had more time!

I have three boys, two in college and one in middle school - our love for reading has really inspired them. A list of books - have to think about that one and come out such a thing one day.

It's good to find you guys. I read a wide cross-section of books, mostly fiction, and I've loved fantasy & SF my whole life. Family legends say I was reading on my own at age 3, and I'm sure it was a fairy tale.

I'm from Ohio, circa '76, but have lived in Tahoe and Chicago too. There's no place like a home with lots of bookshelves. My favorite housemates include Tad Williams, Neal Stephenson, Connie Willis, Ursula LeGuin, Lois Bujold, Joan Vinge, Judith Reily, Mary Doria Russell, Terry Pratchet, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ken Wilber, Kurt Vonnegut, Susan Cooper, Alfred Bester.... It's a long list.

I work as a transportation and land use planner, which I love, I'm one of those messy desk people, and I encourage everyone to use public transit because it gives you so much more time to read. On the downside, you end up bringing your book to work with you, and even if you never pick it up, you know its there... waiting.

My name is Jason and I'm 25. I can't list all the science fiction and fantasy books I've ever read because I don't remember them all. However, I can name some of my favorite authors - Bradbury, Asimov, Dick, Gibson, Butler, Tolkein, and Leguin.

Its great to see such a variety of sci-fi and fantasy tastes by the above members. I think that shows that SciFi/Fantasy clearly have much wider appeals than critics give the genres credit for.

Glad I found this place I need to expand my horizons and try new stuff in these genre's. Born 1974 in Montana, started my reading in High School with the Dragon Lance Chronicles by Weis and Hickman. Have eviated to different genre's for one reason or another with Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy. Have a few books by those guys I own but have not read. I got bit by the same bug that bite me back in High School. Just got down with Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series and I loved it right behind GRRM and his Ice and Fire series (i wish he'd hurry already). Hopefully I can glean some other stuff to try by browsing your library's :-) Definitely looking forward to Feb's book Snowcrash.

Hi all, I'm one of the geezers too at the ripe (figuratively) old age of 40. I recently moved to Phoenix after 38 years in California and 2 years in the army. I have been an avid reader since my teens when my grades suffered because I read what I wanted instead of what I should have. I have been toying with a story for a few years and am motivating myself to get it done.
One of the reasons I thought it would be good to join this group is it will give me an idea what other people think. After all, what is the point of subjecting a publisher to my drivel if I don't think it is worth printing?
Also, I see that the current book is already started. When will the discussion be, so I know if I have time to read it with everyone else.

Hi, I'm Emeraldz and at 43 and the mother of 4 I guess I'm also one of the geezers even though I'm still waiting to feel like a grown-up!

I love all books but especially fantasy and sci-fi. The Hobbit by Tolkien got me started as a child as well aa a Heinlein addiction in my teens. The rest, as they say, is history.

I also love finding new authors, especially one's who have a completed series so I can read the books in order and not have to wait a couple of years for the next one (I have trust issues after starting the Wheel of Time eons ago!). Anyways, that's me so please feel free to recommend new authors and it's great to meet you all.

Hi, I'm Audry, I'm an engineer whose been reading science fiction since I was about 12(I'm 26 now). My first real sci-fi book was 'Enders Game' by Orson Scott Card and I think my favorite series is the 'Thomas Covenant Trilogy' (I know there were six books, but I'm not going to count the second three) by Stephen R Donaldson.

I'm an engineer and currently live in ohio.

I think I joined this club because I have a tendency to plow through books just to see what happens next. I'm really looking forward to the much richer experience of discussing and and dissecting a book.

I've posted a couple times in other discussions, but it occurred to me I hadn't actually introduced myself.

I'm 31, living in RI, teaching English. I'm a once-and-future music teacher as well--my fiancee and I are moving to western PA for the next school year. Originally from Ohio, I started reading fantasy in 4th or 5th grade with Tolkien and Lewis, and gradually branched out from there. I was a voracious reader of fantasy and sci-fi up through high school and nursed dreams of writing in those genres. I went to college, majored in English (and music) and put aside sf and fantasy as somehow inferior to "real" literature.

Thankfully, while doing graduate work in music, I happened to pick up some of my old fantasy novels (I think it was Zelazny's Amber chronicles, but perhaps not) and realized that just because I enjoyed it as a kid didn't mean the genre was a bunch of fluff. I've been voraciously reading and re-reading sf and fantasy ever since.

On the whole, I lean more toward fantasy, and that more on the "epic" side of things, though I'm not tied down to that and appreciate other kinds of fantasy and sci-fi as well.

I read 32 books last year, but rather than list them all, I'll just share some of the series that have stood out for me. In no particular order: R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing, Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, Sherwood Smith's Inda series, and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Only the first of those has actually been completed, and even that one *really* has a whole follow-up series that hasn't even started. I'm just hoping none of them go the route of Robert Jordan.

Hello, my name is Ben. I'm 25, recently married and I work for the largest retailer in the country. I hated reading in highschool. I always read the spark notes or found an essay online about whatever book we were forced to read.

It wasn't until I went to college (at 23, I waited) that I really started to read books. I started off easy with some R.A. Salvatore (whom I still love), then went to some more series stuff with Starship Troopers and Armor.

I joined this group to try and broaden my horizons. I seem to be stuck in DnD reads (FR novels and eberron mostly) and a couple recommended by friends. So here I am to listen to other's opinions and get some books read.

I have a moderate goal of 35 books this year. I would set a higher goal, but my wife and I just started playing WoW again, so some of you know how that absorbs time.

Hello, my name is Angie. I'm 28 (for two more days) and I am unemployed right now. I have a degree in Management from the University of Alaska, and moved to Colorado Springs 2 years ago.

I love fantasy novels but haven't read any Sci-Fi novels so I hope to find some good ones from this group. The monthly book discussions look fun so I can't wait to start! I love that we can vote for our books using that hyperlink. I think that makes it easy!

Hi my name is Diane and I am an author :)... i too hated reading while at school but now i love it .... i have read all of dan browns novels and think he is an amazing author and also dave pelzer who was my inspiration ... he wrote an amazing story and made me think about and finally write my own one. I would love for my book to be added to one of your polls just to get some reviews on it and find out how people feel about my writing ... i am sure it would be of great interest good or bad so i hope i can be considered for a book review from you all. My book is a true story and very graphic so not for the faint hearted but great for true story lovers .. anyway nice to meet you all and look forward to hearing your stories :) diane

it wouldnt let me post a new comment so i will update this one for you .... the title of my book (and thanks for asking by the way xx) is HIM and my full name is diane martin ..its on amazon.co.uk ........ thanks again for requesting this information

I'm a systems administrator for a small high school. I was born in 1970 in Denmark, but I've been living in Sweden the last 10 years. I consider myself an avid reader though I've slowed down a bit what with work, movies and computer/video-gaming taking up much of my time.

My favorite genre is fantasy, closely followed by horror and sci-fi. However, I read other genres too (right now I'm reading some of the books from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group.

Diane, what is the title of your book?

Hi there all I was born in 66 and like "the other john" I also live in Seattle, I didnt do much personal reading while my children were growing up,But now that they are grown and on their own my husband has had to suffer the consequences.I averaged about 3000 pages a
month for the first year and have slowed down a bit over the last 6 months while searching for new books. I turned one of our childrens rooms into a library and am filling it up with as many HB editions I can find of all my favorite books( a couple that are not so much)I am tickled to have found so many wonderfull sites dedicatd to fantasy books, just in case, are you all familure with "Realms of Fantasy Maggazine" website they have a great forum section check it out if you haven't.My to read list is growing steadily and thanks to abebooks and amazon books I've been able to find most of them. Happy reading to you all, and dont forget to pass tittles of any GREAT books your reading!

Hi

I'm a '69er - so geezerish.

I taught myself to read aged 4 and a half. My mother claims this was as a defence against the boredom of being an only child in a family with a penchant for the siesta.

I was weaned on Star Trek and Dr Who and as a preteen devoured Nicholas Fisk, John Christopher and John Wyndham and believed Madeiline L'Engle knew the secret of Life.

Then school began to dictate my reading choices ....

Much later I discovered the internet and virtual bookclubs and it occurred to me that I should try and combine my love of books and scifi.

Hi...I too realized that I've been posting here but have not introduced myself yet.

I was born in '78 and so I think I am about to turn 29 again....I haven't decided if I want to turn thirty, hee hee :)

I'm married with 2 darling/devilish daughters, and I design/sew children's clothing. I do most of my reading during ballet lessons and basketball practice and on Saturday mornings when the girls only want to cuddle with Daddy :)

I cannot remember a time that I could not read. My mom says I learned when I was 4...I don't actually remember learning to read. It's as if it's something I've just always been able to do.

I've always been a huge scifi fan, though in the form of TV and movies...I've only recently started reading scifi/fantasy and there are so many books that I missed out on and I have to catch up!

Aw, jeez...Lessee...

I'm 33. I'm a big fat guy. I play guitar and bass. I have a 3-year-old daughter who is very silly. I used to be a journalist and a high school teacher, now I'm neither. I'm currently unemployed and I hate it. I'm moving to the Madison, Wis. area soon, so if anyone is from that area can hook a brother up with a job, let me know.

I wrote a novel, published last year. I'm working on its sequel, plus three other books--one fantasy, one sci-fi, and one that's sort of a comic book in novel form. I play too much World of Warcraft. I probably read too much, as well...well, that's what my wife says.

I'm a big Gaiman fan. I love Pratchett. Douglass Adams is the man. If your book has a sword-fight in it, I'll probably read it.

I'm 55 and live in Florida.

Had nine hours of driving to do and I spent it listening to From Here to Infinity on science fiction; it revived my old interests. My brother has also been updating his list of books on Goodreads, and I go and check on those.

In the 60s I was surrounded with books by Asimov, Norton, Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke, Burroughs, Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, Analog. We had the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits to watch, and Star Trek. LeGuin's book was the basis of my college entry essay. My college roommate is an editor of one of the magazines today.

Frankly, I thought Star Wars made a mess of things. The movie was OK; I saw it in Farmington with a bunch of Navajo kids at 400 in the afternoon. Maybe actually landing on the moon and Mars hurt, too. Now Pluto isn't even a planet. Everything got to be a big production. I did like Blade Runner, and mostly liked Babylon, and the Patrick Stewart Star Trek revival, but not the other.

When I was younger, I liked Narnia, but it doesn't stand up for me on rereading. Nor do I care for Harry Potter, or all the arcana of Tolkien. Not British enough, I guess.

Am going to try Neil Stephenson and some other things I haven't read. Maybe go back to Philip K. Rucker is too weird. I like Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert Wilson.

I used to write, but I never thought about writing in sci-fi, and still don't think I'd have any aptitude for it.

I'm Elizabeth. I live in Maryland. :)

I seem to be on the young end of the group, because I'm a sixteen year old high school student. I'm actually taking a class called "Fantasy Lit" right now (I know, can you believe that class actually exists?), which is a lot of fun and has put me on a fantasy book kick lately. I've never been into sci-fi as much, but Ender's Game is one of my favorite books.

Right now I'm reading The Mists of Avalon, The Color of Magic, and Lord of the Flies. Unfortunately, the books I read for school come before everything else. :/ My "to-read" list has gotten very long.

That's all, I guess - I'm excited to be a part of this group!

I'm Jasmine, 25, born and raised in San Diego, CA.
Avid reader my whole life. Just recently became a fan of Fantasy after reading "The Mists of Avalon", and then stumbling on James Clemens' "Banned and the Banished" series. Looking for more along those lines, hopefully with female protagonists, and I hope to find some good recommendations here.

Elizabeth, I'm curious to hear what's on the syllabus for that class. I'm an English teacher and sometimes have the opportunity to teach electives, but I always thought fantasy would be difficult to do simply because so much fantasy tends to be part of a huge series. So do you take the class time to read an entire series? Read a single book from the series? Only read stand-alone works?

Hi everyone! My name is Robert and I love to read! Back in the fourth grade, I had read every book that (to my knowledge) was in my house, and I kept complaining to my parents that there was nothing to read. At this time, I wasn't really hardcore into reading like I am now, I was really just bored, lol! I guess my dad finally got sick of hearing me whine, so he went upstairs for a few minutes, and came back down with a big box of books, all from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, and says "Here, now be quiet". It was a literal goldmine! These were the books my father had read when he was a kid, and now he was passing them on to me. For no particular reason, I selected a book called "Dune" by Frank Herbert, a hairy looking man with an interesting book cover.

Within one week, I had read all four of the original Dune Series, and was enthralled by the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Since then, I have made a point to go back and re-read the Dune Saga, for as a young child, I know I did not really catch all the subtleties to the series, and I'm glad I did!

Now, I read four or five books a month. I still have the original Dune series my father gave me as one of my favorite pieces, right along side Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. My wife gets exasperated with me at how much I read sometimes, mainly when I'm so lost I don't hear her calling for me, but I enjoy it too much to let up. I look forward to discussing some interesting books with you all!

John -
Our first book was The Fellowship of the Ring. We read it outside of class and then spent the class time either discussing or doing some sort of related activity, followed by watching the corresponding scenes from the film. The rest of the books on our syllabus are A Wizard of Earthsea, The Once and Future King, various "legends and folklore from around the world," The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Basically, we read the first book of a few different series and there's always the option of continuing them on our own if they really spark our interest.

We also have an "outside reading" which is another fantasy book that we read within a smaller group of people in the class. My group is reading The Mists of Avalon, another is reading The Golden Compass, another is reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and so on.

Hi!!
I'm new to goodreads and looking for more book ideas! I was born in 78 in MI. My 30th birthday is coming up in MAY and I'm getting my first tattoo for my birhtday! Excited!

I love horror, sci-fi fantasy, drama/lit. classics, non-fic, biography, comics - tons of stuff!

I have two kids, a three year old and a one year old! So I don't read as fast as I used to!

I'd love more goodreads friends so I can see what everyone is reading so I might be adding some of you and feel free to add me, thanks!

-lola

I love Gaiman too!!

Hi! I'm Christopher and I'm an author and avid reader. I was born on March 11, 1976 so I share a birthday with Douglas Adams which is ironic since he is one of my top three influences.

I've lived all over the US and in three countries. I love to travel almost as much as I love to write.

I recently published my first book, The Incredible Origins of the Onyx Sun, which can find more information about by searching "Onyx Sun". I have plenty of advance review paperbacks for anyone interested in reading and reviewing my book.

I'm glad to be part of the group and look forward to more of our discussions around great books!

- Christopher

Hi! I am Jessica. I am 45 and my most valuable possesion im my Library card! I have read so many good books! I recently gave my TV away inhopes of leading a more productive life. Quilting and Books thats all I do out side of work and the twice-weekly visits to the gym. I read at least 2 books a week sometimes as many as 5. I love science fiction, a bit of fantasy novels and a well written vampire book. I joined Good reads because my family decided to pool our list of great books we have read and to give our little sister and our children a place to find a good book.

My Favorite Sci-Fi Books:
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Pattern Recognitionby William Gibson
The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman
Beholder's eye and any other book written by Julie Czerneda

and of course Anne McCaffrey

Got a relly good book you're excited about? Please send me a message I am ALWAYS looking for new authors/books

hi, my name's heather, i'm 35yo and i recently moved back to oregon after a 16 year absence. in case you're wondering, yes it did make me even fonder of this place.

i was raised on star trek - first old, then the newer stuff. read a lot of it, too, and then stopped reading for about 10 year or so, probably due to all the required reading at school. i started back up in the last few years though, and though i've read very little scifi since, it still has a very soft, warm fuzzy place inside.

it's probably because of this soft spot that i'm starting a book, SF in nature and no i didn't expect that to happen. so if you have any tips about alien thought patterns, feel free to send them my way.

Hello everyone. I currently have two books out. A Dragon's Birth and The Attic Above. I am working on my fantasia novel now. You can see a sample of it on my profile. Tell me what you think.
Terry

Hi everyone! I decided to finally introduce myself to the group. I'm Deanna, born in '77, LOVE reading. I'm currently living in Iowa of all places (NEVER would have predicted that 10 years ago!) I've lived in Idaho, Utah, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Germany. I got my degree in psychology and now stay home with my two kids - a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. I get my reading done after they've gone to bed since that's when I finally have peace and space to myself. I actually didn't start reading fantasy until right after I graduated from college and could finally read the books I wanted, whenever I wanted! What freedom! My husband is a huge fantasy person, so I finally picked up some of his books (starting with his favorite Lord of the Rings). I've been hooked on fantasy ever since and find myself happily reading series that seem like they will never end and books that weigh 10 pounds. I generally have to try to force/remind myself to try to read books in other genres.

I am loving this group because I am new to sci-fi and wanted to branch out a little bit. I'm enjoying the discussions and recommendations of books from everyone!

Hi. I'm Nick, 47 (a non-geezer in everything but the number). Have read voraciously since I first picked up Bradbury at a very young age, eclectic reading but more in SF then anywhere else. I consider myself very fortunate because I have:
- read 3 books a week or so, on average, for most of my life.
- kept most of the books I have read, both for re-reading and 'respect to the authors'.
- this ever-increasing pile of books has followed me around, accumulating in a home library that is in my photo.
- approximately 2100 of these books are SF.

Most recently, have read:
_Generation Loss_ by Elizabeth Hand
_The Merchant Wars_ by Charles Stross

Currently reading:
_The Dark River_ by John Twelve Hawks

Have a deep knowledge of SF, having read it for 30+ years now. Hoping to have serious conversations with other readers on the genre.

P.S. Started at Shelfari. Still there, but hoping there is more activity on this site...testing the waters.

My name is Chris, and I'm new to goodreads. I am a 36 year old father of two and husband of one. I've been reading fantasy since my father gave me a copy of King Arthur back when I turned eight years old.
I'm a confirmed geek, which includes roleplaying on the sly and computer gaming. I've got a queue of books as long as my arm, so I'm looking forward to breaking out and adding EVEN MORE BOOKS to my reading list. YAY GOODREADS!

My name is Hannah and I've been a member of goodreads for almost a year, I just joined this group. I'm 18 and I really enjoy reading, though ironically when I was younger and homeschooled I H A T E D reading. Whenever I get books from the library (an average of 6 books) I usually read them all in a day. I'm starving for some new books that I can read.
I read just about any genre of book (don't tell my parents that). The exceptions are horror/stephen king books and mushy romantic novels (Stephanie Meyer's books don't count).
I also write stories and poems which I hope to publish someday.
Some of the books I've read are:

The Dark Is Rising
Lord of the Rings
Enders Game
All 3 Maximum ride books
The Dragonriders of Pern Series
The Hobbit
The Sight
Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse
The Dune Series
Tree of Avalon Trilogy (I THINK thats what the trilogy is called)
Abarat
Eragon & Eldest

And eighteen billion more I can't recall off of the top of my head.

Howdy all, I'm Eric. I'm 18, and just recently joined this site due to a suggestion of a friend. Sadly, I'm not the most avid reader, but I do want to change that! I would love to leave a list of books I read, but I fear I would take longer to go look and remember all the names then it would be just to say "Hello".

I would like to join in on your monthly reading, I see Ender's Game is coming up in May, I've read and enjoyed that book many times and would love to read it along with many others again.

Anyways, hope to have a great time reading, and hope to have a great time.

I’m Nick, 29 and feeling it. I was born and raised in Chicago, live in Alaska. Grew up in the Marine Corps. I have a job that requires me to read a lot. 2 weeks on 2 weeks off 84 hours a week. I read a lot of Sci-Fi, and some fantasy.

Some of the best new Sci-Fi in my book is
By Peter F Hamilton

“Pandora’s Star & Judas Unchained”
“Reality Dysfunction” (Series)
And a new one I have not bought yet

Robert C Wilson:
“Spin”

Charles Stross:
“Accelerando”

Some new Sci-Fi to avoid
David Marusek:

“Counting Heads”

Oldies but goldies
1984: George Orwell
The Illuminatus Trilogy:Robert Shea
Cryptonomicon: Neal Stephenson

Hello, I'm brie and I just joined goodreads... I love scifi and ironically am reading a Neil Stephenson book right now...
(it's ironic because thats the author of the read-a-long book for this month in this group... just in case you're reading this days, months, or years later and feel my claim to irony holds no water.)
Anyways, guess I just wanted to pop in and say hello!

Hi all, I'm Donna, born in '60 so I guess I get to join the geezer clan. I'm a (sometimes) starving artist - fiber, graphic, word, just about anything but music really- tin ear. Going through a mildly starving phase at present so thank goodness for a good library system and interlibrary loan! Been reading sci fi and fantasy since I could read, are you sure Madeleine L'Engle DOESN'T know the secret of Life? Some authors/books I love, Lois McMaster Bujold esp. the Chalion series, Terry Pratchett, Paula Volsky, Steven Brust, Larry Niven, could go on but gotta go request Neverwhere from the library so I can get it here by April.

Hi! My name is Amitha Knight and I am an aspiring YA writer. I have just finished co-writing a YA fantasy novel with my twin sister and am currently working on a YA historical fiction. Check them out at http://amitha.static.net.

I love fantasy novels and thought that this club would be a great place to find new books to read and discuss.

I look forward to reading the next book!

Hi, I'm Krista the Krazy Kataloguer. I'm 51 and a librarian at a community college in Utica, New York. I used to read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when I was a younger. These past 15 years if I read it at all, it's children's or young adult SF or fantasy. I would like to get back into reading adult books in the genre, as I know there must be many good books out there. Some of my favorite SF/fantasy authors are Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, Jack Williamson, Andre Norton (#1!!), Katherine Kurtz, Chad Oliver, Manly Wade Wellman, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein (his pre-Strangers in a Strange Land stuff), John Wyndham, Lynn Abbey, and Robin McKinley. I'm glad this group is here to motivate me!

Hi, booklovers. I seem to be on the young end of this group, like Elizabeth, I'm only twelve years old. I LOVE books, however. I live in New York City, I've only just joined this group. I'm an aspiring writer, though I havent published anything yet. I've written some short stories, which I'm thinking of posting in Goodreads, and I'm working on a novel.

I absolutely love fantasy, and I thought this group sounded cool,so I joined.And it's pretty cool.

Hi everyone. I'm 34 years old, single, 3/4 college student and full time library assistant at the Wichita Falls Library. Currently going to Midwestern State in Wichita Falls for a BA in English. Would like to work as an editor, proofreader, or anything in written communication when I grow up lol.

I've been writing off and on since I was 10, and have enjoyed reading since I was 5. Had a short story published through my high school creative writing class back in 1992. Have some poetry, articles, and some short stories posted on Helium.com. Recently decided to self-publish a novella called Out of Time through Iunivere.com, which I probably should've done a little more research on what self-publisher to use. Anyway, it's a time travel/alternate history story that I nitpicked to death for more than 5 years and then decided last year I needed to get into the outside world. You can find info on it at my website, http://www.cliffball.com, or you can buy it at: http://www.amazon.com/Out-Time-Cliff-Bal...

I've read most of the alternate history novels of Harry Turtledove, some by Eric Flint, and S.M. Stirling. I'm a Trek fan and have read lots of those novels. Have read H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Isaac Asimov.