SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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SciFi and Fantasy Challenge 2014
Bill wrote: "I made a list but have only read one book off of it so far. I have read four of this years group reads. I am pretty bad at sticking to premade lists and would never be able to do what you are this year. "I think I'm a bit crazy for doing what I'm doing this year :P More than a book a week when some are massive? Not my smartest move ever. But it is challenging :) Stick to the monthly reads and you'll be fine I'm sure :)
I think what you're doing is awesome, Penny. It's fun to watch! (I'm not doing it, but I'm having fun watching YOU do it :p)
MK wrote: "I think what you're doing is awesome, Penny. It's fun to watch! (I'm not doing it, but I'm having fun watching YOU do it :p)"Haha, that's awesome MK thanks :) I do like to entertain.
I've been updating my list on this thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...(No strikethroughs cause I want to be able to read the titles!)
It looks like Richard is updating, too, at message 48. (no strikethroughs)
Now is a good time to check in since we are 1/3 through the year. I'm at 7/12 on my goal so I am way ahead!
MK wrote: "Link to my 'tally sheet' - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... "Good message linking, MK! I seem to remember you learning some linking tricks earlier this year and you have come far, young Padawan!
I am at 55% having read 11 toward my goal of 20:The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Fuzzy Nation
The Graveyard Book
Wool Omnibus
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
The Last Unicorn
Anansi BoysThe Island of Dr. Moreau
Ancillary Justice
Watership Down
Oryx and Crake
Michael wrote: "MK wrote: "Link to my 'tally sheet' - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... "Good message linking, MK! I seem to remember you learning some linking tricks earlier this year and you have come ..."
ty, Michael! :)
Yes, you did teach me something about Goodreads functionality just a few months ago, I forget what it was now. I took what you taught me and branched out :D
Just updated my list with strikethroughs at message 42.
Bill wrote: "Just updated my list with strikethroughs at message 42."I don't know about this here fancy message linking that most of y'all seem to know, but I have now completed 11 of my planned 24, and I am also updated at message 75.
Ha!!! Just figured it out!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I've completed 21 out of my (currently) 44. Will be half way once I've finished my next book.
A group of us are starting The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin this week (technically Thursday the 15th). Here is a link to the discussion topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...in case anyone else is interested in joining us!
Got 5 out of my 12 read so far. Hard for me since I have read a good chunk of the books on here before and I really want to read the sequels, but they aren't on the list. And cursing my library for not having Infernal Devices but it has the sequel to it. Grrrrrr.
I've been able to read more challenge books than I thought I would be able to, so I've decided to up my challenge from 12 to 20. 9 more to go!
Doing this challenge thing makes me cringe a little inside...I keep thinking it sounds like those horrible hot dog eating competitions **shudder**];P
Micah wrote: "Doing this challenge thing makes me cringe a little inside...I keep thinking it sounds like those horrible hot dog eating competitions **shudder**];P"
Nice analogy! That's why I gave myself some breathing space and only picked 12. I don't want reading heartburn!
Finished! Although I shot low not knowing how obsessed I would get with it. I have now read 80 book club books and am contemplating trying to keep up with Penny (not really possible) and shooting for 100.My favorite of the bunch was John Dies at the End, I think it hit me at a particularly juvenile moment of my life which is necessary for this book :)
Read: In order
Furies of Calderon
Under Heaven
Assassin's Apprentice
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Storm Front
Ubik
Ship of Magic
Altered Carbon
Pump Six and Other Stories
The Color of Magic
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Watchmen
The Diamond Age
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Long Earth
The Warded Man
Infernal Devices
Warbreaker
John Dies at the End
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
The Name of the Wind
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Consider Phlebas
Fuzzy Nation
Acquired: I.e. going to read
The Speed of Dark
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Soulless
The Player of Games
The Man in the High Castle
Ancillary Justice
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Perdido Street Station
Island in the Sea of Time
Hank wrote: "Finished! Although I shot low not knowing how obsessed I would get with it. I have now read 80 book club books and am contemplating trying to keep up with Penny (not really possible) and shooting..."Conrgats Hank! :) I think you should add those 20 books to your list and go for the 100.
I'm 2 books behind schedule at the moment, but I should have more time later this year to play catch up. That's my excuse anyway :P
I'm a little behind so far having read 6 of my goal of 15. I get too distracted to keep up...So far I've read:
The City and the City
Altered Carbon
The Lathe of Heaven
Assassin's Apprentice
Ancillary Justice
Snow Crash
So far this year I've read:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Machine Man
I Am Legend
and, I'm currently reading:
The Sword-Edged Blonde
I've got both
The Tombs of Atuan
The Lathe of Heaven
right here so I'll be getting to those sooner rather than later
So far this year I've read:Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Soulless by Gail Carriger
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Legend by David Gemmell
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
which makes me feel better about being a bit behind on my goal :)
I'm way behind my goal of 50 books this year. Blaming it on having read War and Peace and 2 of Peter F Hamilton's massive books.
So far for me it has been:The Last Wish
Pump Six and Other StoriesMort
Ancillary Justice
The Gunslinger
The Summer Tree
The Man in the High Castle
Fuzzy Nation
The Dragon's Path
I am about to start:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
and plan to read:
Gun, With Occasional Music
Promise of Blood
Zoo City
The Diamond Age
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack
Across the Nightingale Floor
this will make 17! almost there anyway....
See: Post #66 for club books read as of April 13, 2013Added to that list:
books read april-dec 2013 & books I've read in the past that became BOTM after april 2013:
The Long Earth
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Legend
The Name of the Wind
Pump Six and Other Stories
The Last Unicorn
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ubik
The Caves of Steel
The Day of the Triffids
Under Heaven
So far in 2014 I've read:
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Machine Man
I Am Legend
and, I'm currently reading:
The Sword-Edged Blonde
I've hit my modest target of 12, will up my goal to 20. Maybe start one of the longer books since the pressure's off.
So far this year I have readGood Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ready Player One
Fuzzy Nation
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Soulless
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Color of Magic
Neverwhere
The Player of Games
Oryx and Crake
Air
The Blade Itself
The Road
The Martian Chronicles
The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)
Wild Seed
Ancillary Justice
The Fellowship of the Ring
Red Country
I am currently reading
John Dies at the End
I have on the shelf waiting to read
Across the Nightingale Floor
Storm Front
My 2014 Science Fiction and Fantasy Goodreads Book Club ChallengeCompleted so far (updated on 12-31-14) in 2014
Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Legend by David Gemmell
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Mort (Discworld # 4) by Sir Terry Pratchett
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Old Man's War (Old Man's War # 1) by John Scalzi
Rendezvous with Rama by Sir Arthur C. Clarke
The City and the Stars by Sir Arthur C. Clarke
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Long Earth by Stephen Baxter and Sir Terry Pratchett
Childhood's End by Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
The Martian by Andy Weir
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Currently reading --
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Wool Omnibus 1-5 (Silo # 1) by Hugh Howey
Embassytown by China Miéville
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
To be started on 01-01-2015
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, trans. by Doryl Jensen
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
To be moved to 2015 Challenge List
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm
The Color of Magic (Discworld # 1) by Sir Terry Pratchett
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Progress to date (12-29-14) also linked all books and authors and updated message originally written up on page 1 when I first signed up for the Challenge.
35 - Read and completed
08 - Currently reading
02 - To be started 1-1-2015
11 - On the To Be Read List
00 - Still to be chosen by the group by end of 2014
My favorites so far are:
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
The Martian by Andy Weir
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Hounded by Kevin Hearne
PLEASE NOTE:
I have to reduce my challenge number from 54 to 37 or 38. I know the 54 was ambitious for me considering how slowly I read, but I was going to try. Of course I had no idea my mom would be diagnosed with Stage 3+ cancer in June, choose to have nothing done beyond palliative care, and succumb to it earlier this month. Needless to say, it has been a tough half-year, and I have been too engaged in supporting my mom to keep up my reading. Probably not a good reason to be cutting my list by a clean 1/3, but about the only one I have other than my snail like reading pace. Still I have read more books this year than at any other year in my life, so I guess that there might be a hint of silver in the lining of the dark cloud covering my heart having been there for the better part of the last 5 months or so, and not letting up any time soon, I am afraid. I am not leaving the Challenge, just cutting back to a goal that I hope to attain by 12-31-14, and I will be back in January in the 2015 Challenge with a more reasonable (for me at least) number to attempt to meet. In keeping with that, I will be moving those I have not read or completed reading to the 2015 list just as soon as the posting location goes live and active as we get closer to the new year.
Richard wrote: "21 - Read and completed10 - Currently reading
2 - To be started 8-1-2014
12 - On the To Be Read List
8 - To be chosen by end of 2014 "
Wow, Richard, and I thought I was the only one crazy enough to try 10 books at once! I came down off that ledge a few months ago... And a lot of yours are long ones, you've got your work cut out for you!
I'm still interested in reading Mistborn: The Final Empire next month if you're interested in reading 11! I reposted the schedule over at the group reads thread in case there are still people wanting to read that one and others. Now that we've started the second half of the year it seems like more people are assessing their plan for the challenge...
So far I've already read 9 out of 12 books for this challenge. The only two books from my list in page 3 that I haven't still read are 1Q84, which is on hold (I'm planning to finish it this year, though) and The Lies of Locke Lamora, which is 75% completed.The books I've read so far are:
Brave New World (translated version)
The Left Hand of Darkness (translated version)
Wool Omnibus (translated version)
Foundation (translated version)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (translated verion)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
The Last Wish
Slaughterhouse-Five (translated version)
Legend
I'm currently reading:
The Lies of Locke Lamora
The Lathe of Heaven (translated version)
Soon starting:
Neverwhere (translated version)
So basically I already have 12 books coming up, so I may go over my goal a bit. I have given up one book for good, though, and it was Dawn by Octavia E. Butler.
I am at 80% of my goal right now. I only committed to twenty since I belong to several book clubs over different genres.
I've read 8 of my goal of 15. Hopefully I will make it, although I will be a lot busier from September on. I've read:
The Handmaid's Tale
Pump Six and Other Stories
Slaughterhouse-Five
Ancillary Justice
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Left Hand of Darkness
Michael wrote: "Richard wrote: "21 - Read and completed10 - Currently reading
2 - To be started 8-1-2014
12 - On the To Be Read List
8 - To be chosen by end of 2014 "
Wow, Richard, and I thought I was the only o..."
Hi, Michael,
Yes, 10 is a handful, but I have others that are involved in some back story and reference work for a current project of mine, so the number is more like 16. Still, I am working along, also I have never given up on a club selection. I admit I have put a few offer, even a couple I have reread just to refresh things. I am making more notes now and writing short reviews of those I finish. So....
Bearing under the piles of paper and covers, keeping calm and reading on...
Richard
I'm currently at 30 books done for the challenge. So far I've read:
The Lathe of Heaven
Red Country
The Algebraist
Wild Seed
The Dragon's Path
Dawn
Neuromancer
Kushiel's Dart
The Mote in God's Eye
The Terror
1Q84
Zodiac
The Speed of Dark
The Island of Dr. Moreau
A Fire Upon the Deep
The Crown Conspiracy
The Native Star
Furies of Calderon
Ancillary Justice
Those Who Hunt the Night
On the Oceans of Eternity
The Last Unicorn
The Road
Pump Six and Other Stories
Alphabet of Thorn
The Player of Games
The Martian Chronicles
A Night in the Lonesome October
The Accidental Time Machine
Fuzzy Nation
Just out of curiosity Kim, do you have any favorites from the 30 you read? Out of my 26 that I read I think Mistborn: The Final Empire and Perdido Street Station were my favorites.
Hank wrote: "Just out of curiosity Kim, do you have any favorites from the 30 you read? Out of my 26 that I read I think Mistborn: The Final Empire and Perdido Street Station were my ..."Hank, do you mean the 30 he's read for the challenge this year or almost the entire bookshelf? Kim is about 4 books away (I think it's 4) from completing his challenge to read all the books on the group's bookshelf! Rather an amazing feat I think :)
Hank wrote: "Just out of curiosity Kim, do you have any favorites from the 30 you read? Out of my 26 that I read I think Mistborn: The Final Empire and Perdido Street Station were my ..."So far my favourite of the challenge books I've read have been The Player of Games, Those Who Hunt the Night, The Terror and Fuzzy Nation.
Penny wrote: "Kim is about 4 books away (I think it's 4) from completing his challenge to read all the books on the group's bookshelf!"
Close! I've got 6 books to go then I'll be completely caught up with the group reads.
Close! I've got 6 books to go then I'll be completely caught up with the group reads. Truly amazing! I did mean his challenge books, hard to pick favorites from the whole 170-ish book shelf.
Hank wrote: "Close! I've got 6 books to go then I'll be completely caught up with the group reads. Truly amazing! I did mean his challenge books, hard to pick favorites from the whole 170-ish book shelf."
That's a good point :) Have to agree with Kim on The Player of Games and Fuzzy Nation. Also two of my favourites this challenge.
Hi,I believe that as of today I'm doing quite poorly with my list. I have read only the following in 2014 from the group's master list:
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure which is no longer on the group list but was when I compiled my science fiction and fantasy 2014 bookshelf.
Slaughterhouse-Five
Snow Crash
1Q84
The Black Prism
Today at Barnes and Noble I got a good deal by using my girlfriend's 20% educator's discount, two 20% member discount coupon cards I got in the mail (aka post), and my 10% general discount to get the equivalent of seven books for $US47.56:
Four Novels of the 1960s. This is a Library of America compilation of The Man in the High Castle; The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; and Ubik. I wonder if electric sheep have nightmares about androids. The last two books are on the group list.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Warbreaker
Fuzzy Nation
Jim
Jim wrote: "The Princess Bride which is no longer on the group list but was when I compiled my science fiction and fantasy 2014 bookshelf."This is on the bookshelf. We read it in December 2012.
The Man in the High Castle
This is definitely on the bookshelf. If the group hadn't read it when I took over it would have been the very next book the group read.
Hi,I forgot that I've read Chronicles of the Black Company. I think I finished it in February. I am enjoying The Man in the High Castle. Never read Philip K. Dick; but if this 1962 novel about an alternate history in which Germany and Japan won WW2 is any indication, I'm in for a fun but scary ride. Imaginative.
Jim
So far I'm at 18 out of 25, 4 ahead of schedule, for the group challenge. Pretty proud of myself! Have been some excellent reads so far, for the most part, and I'm looking forward to the final 7. Not sure which ones I'm going to pick yet, kind of been going by feel for the year.
I set up my 2014 bookshelf and there are two books in there, but only one is showing up on this challenge. Can anyone help me? I am doing only books within 2014.
I chose to be conservative and only choose 12, but I'm slightly ahead of schedule and could probably have comfortably doubled that goal. As of now I've read along with the group this year:
The Lathe of Heaven
Red Country
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Ancillary Justice
Pump Six and Other Stories
Altered Carbon
And from the shelf:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Spin
The Windup Girl
Looking forward to seeing what else the group picks for the rest of the year, but from the shelf my most likely next few picks will be:
Embassytown (which I've already reserved from the library)
Hyperion
The Player of Games
The Black Company
or
Gardens of the Moon
I hope the group does this challenge next year too, there's a lot of great stuff to pick from the shelf that I haven't read yet.
The Lathe of Heaven
Red Country
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Ancillary Justice
Pump Six and Other Stories
Altered Carbon
And from the shelf:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Spin
The Windup Girl
Looking forward to seeing what else the group picks for the rest of the year, but from the shelf my most likely next few picks will be:
Embassytown (which I've already reserved from the library)
Hyperion
The Player of Games
The Black Company
or
Gardens of the Moon
I hope the group does this challenge next year too, there's a lot of great stuff to pick from the shelf that I haven't read yet.
Sarah wrote: "I set up my 2014 bookshelf and there are two books in there, but only one is showing up on this challenge. Can anyone help me? I am doing only books within 2014."They need to have a read date. I can see one of your books has no read date set.
Thank you Kim! Unfortunately that means I didn't read it this year. I need to get crackin'.
I've just started the Tripods, I loved those books when I was younger, I think that is what got me into Sci-Fi - that and the Star Trek books.
Definitely way behind on my goal of 12. Starting my reading up again and hoping to keep going strong. My biggest problem with this challenge thus far though is that I keep reading sequels. Like Enders game, now I'm reading Enders shadow and speaker for the dead. Sadly they aren't on the list because they are follow up books :/ i will keep chugging along though.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Oryx and Crake (other topics)Ubik (other topics)
Dawn (other topics)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (other topics)
Assassin's Apprentice (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
J.R.R. Tolkien (other topics)Andreas Eschbach (other topics)
Jim Butcher (other topics)
N.K. Jemisin (other topics)
Guy Gavriel Kay (other topics)
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I made a list but have only read one book off of it so far. I have read four of this years group reads. I am pretty bad at sticking to premade lists and would never be able to do what you are this year.