Authors on your challenge list

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Here's what I've got so far for sure:

Freda Warrington: Elfland
Naomi Novik: His Majesty's Dragon
Jennifer Fallon: Lion of Senet
K.J. Bishop: The Etched City

Also possibilities:

Stina Leicht: Of Blood and Honey
Katharine Kerr: Daggerspell
Lynn Flewelling: The Bone Doll's Twin
Kate Forsyth: Bitter Greens (I would read this in a heartbeat if it was actually published in the U.S.)
Lauren Beukes: Zoo City (does this read like a mystery? because I do not like mysteries)

[Grack21]

You haven't read Novik! That's insane!

[Tamara]

I think i've got Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, KJ Bishop, Elizabeth Bear, Kathleen Ann Goonan, NK Jemisin, Emma Bull, Nancy Kress, Gwyneth Jones and Doris Lessing. Not sure what to actually read by any of them though (well, with Jemisin I think it's going to be the new duology rather than the trilogy)

[Alytha]

If I understand this correctly, it's about female authors we haven't read anything by, right?
So I challenge myself to read at least one work by the following:

Jennifer Roberson (it counts if I finished it on 1st January, right?)
Amber Benson
Lauren Beukes
Elspeth Cooper
Jo Walton
Kameron Hurley
Tanith Lee
Juliet E McKenna
Tricia Sullivan
Lois McMaster Bujold

The others on the list I've either read or never heard about...so I'll have to rely on recommendations.

[Nathan]

I am not really locking myself in, because in some ways I could have done this challenge last year just in what I picked. But I am going to finally read Bejold, Juliet McKenna, and Naomi Novak for sure. Oh and NK Jemisin. From there I need to look through some plot summers and see what interests me.

[Emma]

I am in! Starting with Palimpsest by Catherynne M Valente. Second in line I have Jo Walton's Among Others. Although technically I should count Shadow and Bone, which I read last night, as my first in this challenge.

[thistlepong]

Among Others - Jo Walton
Proto Zoa or Falling Free - Lois McMaster Bujold
Kindred - Octavia Butler
Nights at the Circus - Angela Carter
The Round House - Louise Erdrich
A Wizard of Earthsea - Usula K. Le Guin
Frankenstein; Or the Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley

Yes, I have... gaps; though I suspect one of those might be unintentionally cheating. I'll have to check.

[Emma]

Ah, superb - Mary Shelley! I've only had Frankenstein on my to-read list for about 12 years or so.

And Octavia Butler too, probably Parable of the Sower.

And finally, I've yet to read anything by Bujold. w00t. This is going to be great.

[Alytha]

I've had some bad experiences with Butler. Especially Fledgling *shudder*

[Grack21]

This was amazing easy. I only need to go out and buy a book for my random pick. So I got:

C. J. Cherryh - Foreigner
Teresa Frohock - Miserere: An Autumn Tale
Erin Hoffman - Sword of Fire and Sea
Kameron Hurley - God's War
K. V. Johansen - Blackdog
Kay Kenyon - Bright of the Sky
Lois McMaster Bujold - Cordelia's Honor
Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
Courtney Shafer - The Whitefire Crossing
Juliet Marillier - Daughter of the Forest
Catherynne M. Valente - Deathless
12 - Random Pick

Extra Credit:
Shaorn Key Penmenn The Sunne in Splendor
Hiliry Mantel - Wolf Hall
Elizabeth Peters - Crocodile in the Sandbank
Colleen Mccullough - First Man in Rome
Dunnet - Game of Kings
Helen Hollick - The Kingmaking
S. J Paris - Heresey
Ruth Downie - Medicus

Plus I'm finishing up the Eli monpress Omnibus and starting the most recent Novik. So, hey, I read female authors. Go me.

[Benjamin]

A few of the ones I'm planning on:

Grimspace, Ann Aguirre
The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood
Spirit Gate, Kate Elliott
Stealing Fire, Jo Graham
Up Against It, M.J. Locke
The Whitefire Crossing, Courtney Schafer
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker

Possible:
The Round House, Louise Erdrich
Beggars in Spain, Nancy Kress

I'd like to do Fudoki, but I've read some of the author's short fiction so she wouldn't really be a new author for me.

Emma wrote: "Lauren Beukes: Zoo City (does this read like a mystery? because I do not like mysteries)"

Well, it's kind of a noir mystery/urban fantasy and the mystery is a fair part of the book.

[ambyr]

So, my goal here is Read All The Things I Already Own And Haven't Gotten Around To Yet. Sadly, a lot of them are by authors that aren't in the database (that is one limited list of female genre authors), so I can't pick them, but that leaves me with more than eleven options, so let's narrow it down to:

In the Garden of Iden
Chime
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
The Red Tree
The Cleft
Redemption in Indigo
The Whitefire Crossing
Steal across the Sky
The Native Star
The Drowning City
Living with Ghosts
...and one mystery author, who I'll cross my fingers and hope ends up being one of the ones I already own. Because, seriously, this backlog has got to go.

[Benjamin]

ambyr wrote: "So, my goal here is Read All The Things I Already Own And Haven't Gotten Around To Yet. ...and one mystery author, who I'll cross my fingers and hope ends up being one of the ones I already own. Because, seriously, this backlog has got to go."

Ditto that. Almost all the ones on my list are ones I already have.

[Tamara]

Yup, me too.

Redemption in Indigo is an interesting one...

[Nathan]

The mod has a thread on the site for expanding the database. one day in it has like 20 authors on it. so i will read what i want, database be damned. if it is updated, so much the better.

[Grack21]

I found two more

The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewert

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Grack21 wrote: "You haven't read Novik! That's insane!"

Not as insane as these people who haven't read Atwood. Or Le Guin. :P For some reason I hadn't even heard of the Temeraire series till a couple years ago. Then I figured I should try Aubrey/Maturin first if I was going to enjoy either series properly. Now I am trying to decide how many Aubrey/Maturin books to read before His Majesty's Dragon.... since there are a gazillion of them and I am not in the habit of reading series all back-to-back. Ah, first world dilemmas....

Benjamin wrote: "Well, it's kind of a noir mystery/urban fantasy and the mystery is a fair part of the book."

Hmm, good to know. I don't mind mystery elements in a book, I'm more put off by the creepiness of mystery books.... eh, it's hard to explain.

[Grack21]

Well if you like Aubrey/Martin you'll love Novik.

I know I've read some Le Guin, but it was ages ago and from a library. I only Goodreads things I own, at the moment.

[thistlepong]

Emma wrote: "Grack21 wrote: "You haven't read Novik! That's insane!"

Not as insane as these people who haven't read Atwood. Or Le Guin. :P For some reason I hadn't even heard of the Temeraire series till a cou..."

I realize Le Guin's a glaring omission. That's the one I think might be cheating, but lazy googling hasn't helped solve that riddle. Anyway, three of her books are on my to read this year list and it's only the fourth.

[Benjamin]

Well, Le Guin is always a good choice! I'll be reading one or two more of her books later in the year.

[Grack21]

I found 6 more on my shelf. I won't even list them at this point. This challenge isn't very challenging.

[Kara]

I'm considering from the following list (some already owned, some recommended by friends, some seen here)

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Shards of Honour OR The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh
The Children of Men by P.D. James
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
The Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee
Tithe by Holly Black
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Warchild by Karin Lowachee
Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Magic for Beginners OR Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Fudoki by Kij Johnson
Beauty by Robin McKinley

For those of us reading the same books: should we do buddy reads or something?

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Added to my list:

The Bird of the River by Kage Baker
Except the Queen by Jane Yolen

@Kara, McKinley is a great choice, but Beauty is not the first book I'd recommend, especially post-Disney movie. It all comes down to taste of course (tons of people love it), but if you aren't wedded to that one and haven't looked at her others yet, that would be worth doing.

[Kara]

Thanks for the tip, Emma! Is there a particular one you'd recommend?

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Sunshine is my personal favorite, and Deerskin is really great too. If you're into YA, The Blue Sword is also an excellent choice.

[Just_ann_now]

I'm starting with Kage Baker's The Bird in the River . Other authors on my list right now are:

Seanan McGuire
Kate Elliott
Cherie Priest
Malinda Lo
Susanna Clark

Anyone have any Tamora Pierce favorites? She has so many books!

[Emma]

Sunshine is one of a small number of vampire novels I actually liked. Deerskin is nice too.

I need a suggestion for where to start with Bujold. Help?

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

@Ann, I haven't read a ton of her books, but quite liked Terrier. It's for a somewhat older audience than most of her books (YA rather than middle grade) so probably more satisfying for adults.

[Grack21]

Man I found 4 more on my shelf. I need to stop buying books for a few years or so.

Also I say this all the time, but everyone should read Firethorn,.

[thistlepong]

Grack21 wrote: "Man I found 4 more on my shelf. I need to stop buying books for a few years or so.

Also I say this all the time, but everyone should read Firethorn,."

I'm waiting for it to come back in.

Isis wrote: "I need a suggestion for where to start with Bujold. Help?"

When I asked, folks said to read the Vorkosigan books in chronological order, but that you could safely skip to The Warrior's Apprentice. They also praised The Curse of Chalion.

[Just_ann_now]

Emma wrote: "@Ann, I haven't read a ton of her books, but quite liked Terrier. It's for a somewhat older audience than most of her books (YA rather than middle grade) so probably more satisfying for adults."

Thanks! I've added it to my list.

[Karina]

My list:

Emma Bull - Finder (read - january)
Kelly Link - Magic for Beginners (read - january)
Kage Baker - (undecided)
Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice
Naomi Novik - His Majesty's Dragon
C.J. Cherryh - Downbelow Station
Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake
Maggie Stiefvater - (undecided)
Diana Wynne Jones - Archer's Goon
Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Disappeared
Joan D. Vinge - The Snow Queen
Elizabeth Bear - Dust

Might make changes - but keeping focus on the "been meaning to read for yeears" Hugo winning authors, and ones generally heavily recommended. Stiefvater was actually my "close my eyes and poke randomly at screen"-pick - I'm a bit hesitant, but it'll be interesting.

[Emma]

Yay. Archer's Goon. :)

[Karina]

Isis wrote: "Yay. Archer's Goon. :)"

I'm glad to see that "Yay", as I embarrassingly chose it because it was cheap in the kindle store. ;) (And I wanted to pick something other than Howl's moving castle, to begin with)

[Kara]

Ooh, I hope you won't judge me, Karina, but I might now have to pick Howl's Moving Castle. I <3'd the movie.

[Karina]

Not at all, Kara! I just wanted to read something unknown to me first - I love that movie, too. :)

I notice a number of us have Naomi Novik listed. Possible future group read?

[Benjamin]

I've added two books to my list:


A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

A Natural History of Dragons looks right up my alley--I think I'll go for that one too!

[Nathan]

Oh, I missed that one. Natural History of Dragons DOES look good.

[Grack21]

I tried to read one her books once and couldn't get past page 20 L(

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

I love making lists of books to read and then changing half the books on them.... still have 7 books to go so here is my plan:

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
Daggerspell, Katharine Kerr
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker
Except the Queen, Jane Yolen
Santa Olivia, Jacqueline Carey
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson
The Ladies of Mandrigyn, Barbara Hambly

Now we'll see if I actually read more than 4 of them....