SciFi and Fantasy Challenge 2014

[Michael]

MK wrote: "Also, my shelves are a hot mess. So, that doesn't help ;-)"

Wow, what a trip! At least your Read bookshelf is straightforward.

Agreed, Edwin. This bookclub seems good at attracting birds of a feather!

[MK]

Michael wrote: "Wow, what a trip! At least your Read bookshelf is straightforward..."

You were warned ;-).

[Valerie]

Edwin wrote: "Michael wrote: "I create a reading list bookshelf at the start of each year, not just for these types of challenges but also because I have so many genres I'm interested in it helps me make sure I'..."

Color me geek, I have a reading goal spreadsheet, too. I may or may not have a couple of other spreadsheets that track things like book purchases, monthly reading challenges, and a very dorky sheet that tracks my series progress.

[Robyn]

I think I might need more spreadsheets in my life.

I mean, I just have a note on my phone on ideas for the next month's reading. You all are professionals about this.

(And I do *love* lists.)

[Valerie]

You can never have too many spreadsheets : )

[Edwin]

Valerie wrote: "You can never have too many spreadsheets : )"

Or shoes, says my wife.

[M.L.]

Or books!

My spreadsheet last year had columns for Author, Author Country of Origin, Place Setting (main), and Genre and Sub-Genre. Drove myself a bit crazy but it gave me a push to diversify since so many books were by US and UK authors so a bit of analysis proved helpful.

[[deleted user]]

Im going to devour any and every book I get my hands on, from thrillers to ARCs to classics. For this year, I want to delve into science fiction, my reading that genre has been restricted almost exclusively to H. G. Wells and Star Wars. So I have stuff like Old Man's War and Dune on the agenda. In addition to thatk I want to read as many of the Gollancz SF Masterworks as I can. And then there's my one true love; epic fantasy. This year, I want to read Malazan Book of the Fallen and Elderlings. Maybe even Sword of Truth. A lot of read, too little time. But even if I fall short, its going to be an awesome year.

[Maarit]

So far I have read two books for my 12 book challenge, so I'm on track with. They are:

1.The Left Hand of Darkness (Finnish translation, 4 stars)
2.Brave New World (Finnish translation, 3 stars)

Currently I'm also reading these challenge books:

3.1Q84 (currently reading, will take lots of time)
4.The Lies of Locke Lamora (currently reading, will also take time)
5. Silo (Wool Omnibus #1-5) (I'm in third book)

So far I must say that now I remember why I quit reading The Lies of Locke Lamora in my first attempt few years back. I got stuck in the same place in this attempt, too, than I did last time! So it seems to be the hard one for me :P

And now that I've almost got my master's thesis out from my hands, I can concentrate on other things as well and read more books :D

[Scott]

I would suggest pushing through on Locke Lamora. I know I had a little trouble getting into the book, but, for me, the pay off was totally worth it. And that series has quickly become one of my faves.

[Julia]

I just finished Locke Lamora. It took longer for me to read than a lot of books, so I only added one book instead of two to this challenge in February.

[Joseph]

Just realized I was supposed to put this here... lol

1-Ubik
2-Caves of Steel
3-Cat's Cradle
4-Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
5-The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
6-American Gods
7-The Man in the High Castle
8-The Martian Chronicles
9-Stranger in a Strange Land
10-Ender's Game
11-The Princess Bride
and
12-A Scanner Darkly

These are in no particular order...

I finished Cat's Cradle yesterday and have 5 of the books on this list on my night stand. Just found a new Library which is connected to 9 others in this area to make life easier!

[MK]

I just started to read The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon, which I didn't realize was a club book until about 3 mins ago, so I guess I'll be sneaking another in towards my goal of 24 club reads this year :)

[Michael]

Joseph wrote: "Just realized I was supposed to put this here... lol

1-Ubik
2-Caves of Steel
3-Cat's Cradle
4-Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
5-The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
6-American Gods
7-The Man in t..."

You are the eighth person to announce The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as one of their challenge books for this year, and there is a tentative plan to read it in November, if you can wait that long! Check out the other group reads for this challenge over here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Joseph]

I think I can hold out until November. Lol. I have 77 books to read for this year's Goodreads challenge to include the 12 for this challenge, so I think waiting for it will be ok.

[Michael]

Joseph wrote: "I think I can hold out until November. Lol. I have 77 books to read for this year's Goodreads challenge to include the 12 for this challenge, so I think waiting for it will be ok."

LOL. It's hard to plan that far ahead but I share your "situation" of having plenty of books to occupy the time!

[Joseph]

I have been on a philosophy kick as of late but have also been revisiting my old friends Isaac Asimov, Phillip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut. It's at that point where if I can't remember reading it or I have read it and just want to read it again, then I'm not even rating it until I tackle it again.

[Michael]

Joseph wrote: "I have been on a philosophy kick as of late but have also been revisiting my old friends Isaac Asimov, Phillip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut. It's at that point where if I can't remember reading it or ..."

Yes, I have a lot of those, too. And I have to decide in each case if rereading a favorite that I barely remember is more important than experiencing something new, or vice versa. There's actually something philosophical about those dilemmas, now that I think about it...

[Joseph]

And the joyous conundrum of reading presents itself. Lol

[Joseph]

Now that I'm thinking about it, waiting will be easier than I thought. I have to either buy or borrow the book first anyway. Lol

[Amanda P]

Question. I am doing the book challenge for the year that I saw on the main page. Should I also have a separate book challenge list just for books from this group? New to goodreads, sorry if stupid question. Thanks.

[Richard]

Hi, Amanda. Kim and/or Penny are our leaders, but you and I are doing similar things with challenges. I signed up for both the Goodreads general challenge as well as the SciFi / Fantasy Group Challenge. The group challenge is limited to the books on the group's reading list. The Goodreads general challenge is for anything you read as far as I can tell. If Iam in error, more knowlegable folk, please set me straight. Hope that helps, Amanda. And as far as questions go, the only dumb question is the you don't ask, at least that is my go-to answer I gave to my students when I taught school in my pre-retirement days. Welcome to our group.

[Amanda P]

Thanks Richard. That does help clear things up. I guess I will be creating two separate lists. And thanks for the last comment. I will ask away. :)

[Michael]

One thing to note, Amanda, is that you don't actually need to make a list for the general Goodreads challenge. Of course, you can if you want but Goodreads will count any book on any of your shelves that are marked "Read" and have a "date I finished this book" set to some date in 2014.

[A.L.]

I've just finished Temple of the Sixth. Was ok, some funny bits and good scenes but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. Didn't guess the twist either.

[Joseph]

So I'm having trouble running down some of the books on my list below...

1-Ubik
2-Caves of Steel
3-Cat's Cradle
4-Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
5-The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
6-American Gods
7-The Man in the High Castle
8-The Martian Chronicles
9-Stranger in a Strange Land
10-Ender's Game
11-The Princess Bride
and
12-A Scanner Darkly

With that, I have come up with a list of possible replacements for the once I can't track down. In the event I find them all, then I will just bump up the number I plan to read.

Possible replacements for the books I can't find:

Anansi Boys
Ready Player One
A Game of Thrones
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Childhood's End
The Road

[Amanda P]

Joseph - do you read on kindle?

[Joseph]

I did for a while... Something just felt off to me. Lol. Guess I just really crave having a book. On a good note, there are a ton of used book stores near me so I have lookouts planted amongst them.

[Amanda P]

Gotcha. I understand. If you have a library near you, they do book sales usually every month or few months for pretty cheap , so you could try that. I get a few that way for like only $1

[Joseph]

Good news! I managed to snag 3 of the books I am missing for the challenge at the library today! Score!

[A.L.]

I've just finished Tempus. Once I'm done with what I'm currently reading I might look at some historical, before hopping back to fantasy.

[Scott]

So far I'm at 12 of my goal of 25 for the group challenge. 5 ahead of schedule!! Planning on reading #13 next Mort - Terry Pratchett.

[Mawgojzeta]

I am coming into this late, but happen to be reading a book on the list, so will give this a go and say I will read 6 from now until year end (in no particular order):

1. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
2. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
3. Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic
4. The Terror by Dan Simmons
5. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
6. The Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

[MK]

MK wrote: "I just started to read The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon, which I didn't realize was a club book until about 3 mins ago, so I guess I'll be sneaking another in towards m..."

This happened again ^_^. Slaughterhouse-Five was a BOM selection for another group, and on a lark, I checked the bookshelf here. Sure enough, it was a group read here as well. So, I 'snuck' in another read for the group challenge.

This, plus The Island of Dr. Moreau brings me up to 12 so far. Hoping to finish Oryx and Crake and Legend soon, too. If so, then I'll be up to 14.

[MK]

Oh, I dug up Slaughterhouse-Five group threads, in case anyone else reads this one:

Slaughterhouse Five - Have You Started Reading It?
Slaughterhouse Five - Discussion Questions
Slaughterhouse Five - Chapter One: Impressions, Thoughts and More
Slaughterhouse Five - Chapter Two Discussion
Slaughterhouse Five - Finished! (Spoilers herein)
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut Links


And, for any Hugh Howey fans, here is a related short that has been recommended to me:

Peace in Amber: The World of Kurt Vonnegut, by Hugh Howey.

It's set in Slaughterhouse's Billy Pilgrim's world.

[Penny]

MK wrote: "MK wrote: "I just started to read The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon, which I didn't realize was a club book until about 3 mins ago, so I guess I'll be sneaking another i..."

Hehe nice :)

I'm busy reading Hyperion which is book 18 of my challenge this year and once I'm done I'll have read 60 of the group books!

[MK]

Penny wrote: "Hehe nice :)

I'm busy reading Hyperion which is book 18 of my challenge this year and once I'm done I'll have read 60 of the group books! ..."

^5, Penny!

I keep hearing about that book ... I'll have to sneak it in sometime this year :)

[Penny]

MK wrote: "Penny wrote: "Hehe nice :)

I'm busy reading Hyperion which is book 18 of my challenge this year and once I'm done I'll have read 60 of the group books! ..."

^5, Penny!

I keep hearing about that book ... I'll have to sneak it in sometime this year :) "

I'm enjoying it! I've also heard about it way too often so I had to add it to my challenge this year. I'm finding that I like the writing style and although I feel like I have no idea what's going on, that's ok.

[MK]

LOL!! That's awesome :D

Yes, I'm definitely going to find time to squeeze that one in this year. Probably not til summer/fall tho.

[Valerie]

I read Hyperion last year and was left mystified by the hype. But then, how boring the world would be if we all had the same opinion.

[Laventeli]

I'm late for the party so i'm going for 12.

1.A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) done 15.11
2.Slaughterhouse-Five done 1.12.2014
3.The Handmaid's Tale
5.Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)
6.Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 10.11.2014
7.Fahrenheit 451 24.04 2014 Done
8.Cat's Cradle 21.11.2014 done
9.The Princess Bride 2.11.2014
10.Watership Down 10.8.2014 done
11.The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman The Ocean at the End of the Lane done 22.10.2014
12.I Am Legend 10.8.2014 done

[Caleb]

So help me out here. This is my first group and I'm not 100% sure I know what's going on. The challenge is to read only from the bookshelf that is inside this group?

[Maggie]

that's right caleb. You can find them listed under bookshelf up in the right hand corner

[Penny]

That's exactly it Caleb. Pick some books from the group's bookshelf (12 or more), and read them by the end of the year. That's the challenge. There are some great books to choose from!

[Sam]

Is it very bad to start reading the next months books a little early? I've just read the kindle sample for The Last Wish and want to jump in now :/

[Penny]

Not at all! I've just started The Mote in God's Eye cause there isn't really time between now and the 1st to read another book. So I say go for it :)

[Sam]

Penny wrote: "Not at all! I've just started The Mote in God's Eye cause there isn't really time between now and the 1st to read another book. So I say go for it :)"

Thanks Penny, I'll start on that tonight :), I love finding new books and Authors, this club is such an effective method of discovery, with kind people to help with my questions too, amazing!

[Penny]

Sam wrote: "Thanks Penny, I'll start on that tonight :), I love finding new books and Authors, this club is such an effective method of discovery, with kind people to help with my questions too, amazing! "

We do try :) I'm really enjoying this challenge from that point of view too. I get quite a lot of grief from a few friends here *cough Rob cough* about not being able to read sequels or books that have just come out since I've chosen my reading list for the year by deciding to read too many books for this challenge. However I've been reading so many books that I've wanted to read for ages and others that I might never have picked up. It's a great challenge!

Am I the only one keeping a list and crossing out names as I finish a book? I do seem to be alone in that.

[MK]

Penny wrote: "Am I the only one keeping a list and crossing out names as I finish a book? I do seem to be alone in that. ..."

I think some people have a pre-planned list like you do, but I'm not certain.

I do have a list that I keep updating, but different from yours, b/c I mostly planned to fill in my planned 24 from monthly group reads. But I have a few planned in advance, and I have stumbled onto a few that I read and later found out 'counted' :D.

Link to my 'tally sheet' - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Penny]

That's a fair point. My list includes (although unseen) the monthly group reads which I fill in as they get picked.

I hadn't noticed anyone else keeping track like I have, but then you are so clearly I didn't look properly :P Good list! :)