SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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Coordinating reading books in groups
Sounds like a good idea and the book you suggested seems interesting. Is there a time frame to finish the book? Unfortunately I'm not a fast reader :)
Tara wrote: "Sounds like a good idea and the book you suggested seems interesting. Is there a time frame to finish the book? Unfortunately I'm not a fast reader :)"I'll probably read it by 1 February, but there's no deadline. I do think it'll be nice to read it at about the same time so that we'll have a conversation when we post about the book on old posts. But I really don't think we need to rush or put any pressure on each other. It's just nice to share first impressions at the same time (ish) and then discuss what we all thought while the book is still fresh in our minds whether that's a few days or weeks later.
I agree and like the idea of reading the same book with others and hold discussions.. makes it more fun..
January 27 works for me, and I'm flexible if we need to change the date for some reason...2014 Challenge: Scheduled Group Read Start Dates
January 27: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Dirk Gently discussion topics
February 15: Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) - Wool discussion topics
(I'll update this post as more discussions are planned)
I am also intersted to work in this discussion group as well. Like Tara, I am also a reader who takes their time reading just about anything. The thing for me is a movie-like running show about what I am reading. It makes things a bit slower, but it enables me to remember what I have read for quitea long time. "Dirk Gently..." and 27 Jan 14 start both work for me. Like Michael, I am quite flexible. If anyone is a Barnes and Noble Nook user, there is a copy of this work available at a paperback type of price. FYI...Happy trails and good reading,
Richard
Yes, I'm for sure interested in reading this one! :-)Another group I joined (classics group) is reading Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for February so it would be neat to read two of Adams back to back.
However, a third group that I only just joined last week (literary exploration) is reading John le Carré's George Smiley #5 book for January. Since I didn't want to jump in in the middle of a series, I started at #1. I only just started last night, and the next ones are already reserved at the library, so my reading time for the next couple weeks is pretty full already. (I also have Doctor Zhivago, The Forgotten Garden, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating in progress, and The Beautiful and Damned committed eeek!)
Anyway, all that is to say, I might not be able join for the end of Jan. But the again, I might. I need fun and easy books to trade off with, when reading classics. And Doctor Zhivago is a bit of a beast for me :-p. Many fun 'alternates' required!
Count me in. Jan. 27th works for me, also.
Think I will be signing up for this one as well. Have wanted to read some more Adams so this is a great opportunity. Will have to keep my eyes open for it at the local bookstore and for the kindle.
Hi,I read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency years ago, find it hilerical, and would like to read it again. May I join this group read?
Jim wrote: "Hi,I read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency years ago, find it hilerical, and would like to read it again. May I join this group read?"
We'd love to have you! This will be a reread for me as well: I definitely read it in 1987, can't remember if I reread it between now and then.
This is great! It looks like we'll have a nice group of people reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency at the end of the month which should be good fun to read together.
I'd love to join the Dirk Gently group as well- I love it, and haven't re-read it for years. Great choice :-)
MK wrote: Another group I joined (classics group) is reading Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for February so it would be neat to read two of Adams back to back."I would be all over that plan.
Excellent, I think we can officially call this a side read with in the group. I'll set up a thread in the folder "Side Reads" closer to the 27th so we have a place to discuss the book.
Penny wrote: "Excellent, I think we can officially call this a side read with in the group. I'll set up a thread in the folder "Side Reads" closer to the 27th so we have a place to discuss the book."My only concern about that would be that the description of the "side reads" folder says it is for books not on the group's bookshelf. (I'm just reading that now as I've never done a side read before and was curious, but that idea makes sense to me). Based on Kim's comment in the challenge thread I had assumed we would reopen the old Dirk Gently discussion topic by posting there. I actually liked that idea because for some of the challenge reads this year I would love to include people on the original thread, if they were interested in responding to any of the new comments.
Just my opinion, though. I will follow your lead.
Michael wrote: "Penny wrote: "Excellent, I think we can officially call this a side read with in the group. I'll set up a thread in the folder "Side Reads" closer to the 27th so we have a place to discuss the book..."Yes, my preference would be to build on previous discussions, too, rather than a new side read folder.
Plus, then, you can see what all discussion participants have rated the book. I've noticed that discussion threads about official group books include a notation (in desktop view, not mobile app view) about activity a member has engaged in with regard to a book (ie added it, or rated it).
Edwin wrote: "I would be all over that plan."I invite you to join the classics group, for the Hitchhiker's Guide read :-) - link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Or, if you meant, read the Detective Agency in Feb instead of end of Jan, I may just join you :-). I'm not sure I'll be able to clear my bookshelf of already committed books in time for the 27th. (But I'm giving it the ole college try! lol)
MK wrote: "Michael wrote: "Penny wrote: "Excellent, I think we can officially call this a side read with in the group. I'll set up a thread in the folder "Side Reads" closer to the 27th so we have a place to ..."Yes, I love that feature! But that feature is turned on by the person who starts the thread, it's not because of where it is on the group site. If you make the topic refer to a specific book, then the thread has "this topic is about (name of book)" at the top, and then you see all the ratings when people post. Some of the old side reads threads didn't have that, but those were not set up by Kim or Penny!
Oh, did I mention lately that our moderators rock?!
MK wrote: "Edwin wrote: "I would be all over that plan."I invite you to join the classics group, for the Hitchhiker's Guide read :-) - link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/......"
I think MK was excited to be reading Dirk at the end of January and then Hitchhiker's at the beginning of February. Thus, back to back. But MK will have to chime in if I am mistaken.
I'm actually a little surprised Hitchhiker's isn't on our bookshelf, but maybe there is no one left who hasn't read it, lol...
Michael wrote: "Yes, I love that feature! But that feature is turned on by the person who starts the thread, it's not because of where it is on the group site. If you make the topic refer to a specific book, ..."Ahhh! TY for explaining how that feature got turned on! I've just joined GR 3 mos ago, I'm sill learning it's features
( edit -- heh massive snafu with copy/paste. If you got in before the fix edit - apologies!)
Michael wrote: "hink MK was excited to be reading Dirk at the end of January and then Hitchhiker's at the beginning of February. Thus, back to back. But MK will have to chime in if I am mistaken.I'm actually a little surprised Hitchhiker's isn't on our bookshelf, but maybe there is no one left who hasn't read it, lol..."
I am excited to be reading the Detective Agency, with a group, period! I'm just worried I won't have time in Jan bc I still have 8 previously commuted books to read by the end of Jan :-p.
MK wrote: "( edit -- heh massive snafu with copy/paste. If you got in before the fix edit - apologies!) "That blew my mind.
Michael wrote: "MK wrote: "( edit -- heh massive snafu with copy/paste. If you got in before the fix edit - apologies!) "That blew my mind."
LOL! Sorry, Michael .... chuckles
MK wrote: "I'm just worried I won't have time in Jan bc I still have 8 previously commuted books to read by the end of Jan :-p. "Yeah, 8's a lot. But if you read one a day... (you don't have school or work or kids by chance?) Also, even if everyone starts on Jan 27, it doesn't mean everyone will finish in a week, we all have other books/distractions. (We have a whole month for the regular group reads!) And even if people are finished, I'm sure they would still reply to any comments in February, for example...
As for the features, I know plenty of seasoned moderators who don't know about that one, so you are not necessarily behind. I tend to have occasional bits of esoteric information to share.
MK wrote: I invite you to join the classics group, for the Hitchhiker's Guide read :-) - link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...Or, if you meant, read the Detective Agency in Feb instead of end of Jan, I may just join you :-). I'm not sure I'll be able to clear my bookshelf of already committed books in time for the 27th. (But I'm giving it the ole college try! lol) "
I meant both books. However I, like you, am getting worried I am biting off more than I can chew, especially if I join yet another group.
It appears that I am one of the few who has never read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Gotta keep up with the Jones'............
And thanks Penny for orchestrating this. I only hope I can keep track now of all of these multiple threads and commitments.
It will be a new read for me, too, Edwin. :-)Michael, good point, on the read period. And yes, atm, I do have time. I need to make sure not to overcommit myself again next month :-p .
OK, I just downloaded Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency to my Kindle, which is now awaiting my completion of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (off topic I know, but amazing book by the way). And I already have The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I got last month. Good to go.
Right, you guys make a good point. We'll stick to the original idea and reopen the old discussions. I see for Dirk that the discussion folder is still standing.The group is only allowed 100 folders so as we create new folders for each new monthly group read we have to delete older folders. Since we don't want to delete the discussion threads, we move them into big folders for each year. So if you look at the Discussions" link you'll see lots of older folders as you scroll down and at the bottom you'll see that we have Group Reads Discussions 2008, Group Reads Discussions 2009, Group Reads Discussions 2010, Group Reads Discussions 2011. These 4 folders will include the discussion threads for books read during these years. It can take some looking to find the thread you're after, but they're all there and they're all well labelled to the best of my knowledge.
Thanks, Penny! I didn't realize that about the 100 folders, but that's a great workaround.
I've been compiling everyone's lists in a spreadsheet in order to coordinate group reads, and so far I have found 11 books that 4 or more people plan to read in 2014. These are from the lists posted in the challenge thread, so there could be more people intending to read each book who have not posted their choices.I've listed them below as: (reader count), name of book (with an asterisk if I'm reading it), estimated page count, and my proposed month to read it (maybe toward the end of the month, like we are doing for Dirk Gently):
(7) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency* - (306pp) - January
(4) Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)* - (539pp) - February?
(5) Perdido Street Station* - (867pp) - March?
(4) Foundation - (296pp) - April?
(4) The Left Hand of Darkness* - (304pp) - May?
(6) Embassytown - (405pp) - June?
(5) The Color of Magic* - (250pp) - July?
(4) Mistborn: The Final Empire* - (647pp) - August?
(4) Leviathan Wakes - (561pp) - September?
(4) Doomsday Book* - (578pp) - October?
(5) The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress* - (302pp) - November?
I have no idea if anyone will like my proposals at all, so feel free to censure and make counter-proposals as you see fit. For example, I separated the Mieville's, but people may want to binge and go right from Perdido to Embassytown, so propose that if you prefer. I think it will be fun to read some of these together, but coordinating 11 "challenge reads" may be overly optimistic. We'll see!
P.S. Those in our "are we sexist?" thread may notice there are only 2 female authors whose books were on 4 people's lists so far. Interpret that as you will. But if you are interested, I just finished The Snow Queen and would be happy to discuss it if anyone else reads it, and I am reading Oryx and Crake in April for another group, and can also discuss that here if others are interested.
Note: I've edited my comment way at the top of this thread in message 5 and I will update the calendar there during the year with any discussions I see planned. So you can always check there for any discussions planned even if you don't want to participate in the planning.
Michael wrote: "I've been compiling everyone's lists in a spreadsheet in order to coordinate group reads, and so far I have found 11 books that 4 or more people plan to read in 2014. These are from the lists post... (5) The Color of Magic* - July?" ...
*raises hand* for The Color of Magic, Discworld #1!
I still haven't compiled my list yet, but that one will be on it for sure.
Nice work, Michael!
I just requested Wool from the library. I'm excited to read it - I don't have an e-reader and couldn't get my hands on a dead-tree copy during the original group discussion.
Michael wrote: "I've been compiling everyone's lists in a spreadsheet in order to coordinate group reads, and so far I have found 11 books that 4 or more people plan to read in 2014. These are from the lists post..."I second Michael's proposed calendar motion.
As someone interested in reading Embassytown & Mistborn, the proposed months for those look good to me. (I *may* actually get to Embassytown before June, but probably not so soon that it wouldn't still be fresh enough for discussion.)
I'm down the discussion calendar idea. I do think we ought to separate the two Mieville books. From my experience with CITY AND THE CITY, Mieville is a thought-provoking author with a dense, not always easy to read style. A break between PERDIDO and EMBASSYTOWN will give time to absorb Mieville. And PERDIDO is only 847 pages long, too. Another reason for a break.
I'd like to read Wool, The Left-Hand of Darkness, Embassytown, and perhaps Leviathan Wakes (despite not having named any particular books when I signed up to the challenge), so that list/calendar looks good to me!
& forgot to say, thanks for organizing, Michael!
Hillary wrote: "& forgot to say, thanks for organizing, Michael!"You're welcome, glad people seem to feel positively about it so far!...
Does the last week of each month make sense at all? When Penny scheduled Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for next week, my impression was that she was trying to avoid the monthly group reads, which tend to be read between the 1st and 15th. That makes sense to me, and we could:
a) start these on the last week (22nd-ish) of the months going forward
b) start these on the 15th each month
c) figure it out month-by-month based on length and people's schedules
Thoughts? Votes?
Michael thanks for coming up with this list! You're so well organised :)I did want to avoid the first two weeks so we could read the monthly group picks. I'd be up for option c) and we could decide as each month comes up. My main reason for saying that is because I think it'll depend on which books the group chooses to read each month. If we're reading two large books we may want to start these group side reads around the 22nd, if not the 15th may suit most of us better.
Not to throw the list out completely, but we could consider which books to read during which months based on the monthly reads? Since the February club books are both fairly small (they're both in the 200-odd page zone) we could pick one of the larger books to read together from the 15th? The March nomination thread just closed and I may turn out to be wrong, but I'd put money on the March Fantasy book being The Name of the Wind which is over 1000 pages. I think perhaps we might want to pick a smaller book to read together in the last week of March.
I'd suggest we switch the proposed books for February and March around.
I think we could play the dates and even the books by ear as we choose the monthly group reads, but I understand that this isn't the only group people belong to and not everyone reads along with the group picks so I'm good with whatever we decide.
I started reading Leviathan Wakes before Michael's list! I can tell those of you who have yet to read it that 1/5 of the way in I'm really enjoying it! :)
Penny wrote: "I'd suggest we switch the proposed books for February and March around."I am itching to start Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) and from what I hear about it, I suspect that I am going to want to read the sequels (Shift Omnibus Edition (Silo, #2) and Dust) in rapid succession. My vote, if we decide on a fixed schedule, would be to switch March and April and keep Wool for February.
Do we really have to decide in advance for the rest of the year? As an option, we could set up a side-read vote with nominations from previous group reads. Maybe with the exception that no book from the previous year should be chosen.
Thanks, Penny! That's a good point about the size of the monthly group reads, I hadn't thought about that. In any case, I think I knew choice c) was best even as I was typing because there is no way to know what we will be doing 6 or 9 months from now, so we'll be adjusting as we go!I like Edwin's friendly amendment, since Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) is on my hot list and still one of the larger books so would fit in with the February choices, and we could push Perdido Street Station until April if it will be too much in March, and read shorter Foundation in March. Although honestly, Perdido is going to be a bear no matter what month we do it!
What do the other folks reading Perdido Street Station think? Do you have a month preference?
I went ahead and put approximate page counts up on my message 32 post. I used mass market paperback when available since words per page seem most consistent for that format but really it would be better if Goodreads listed word counts! In any case, I didn't realize how long Mistborn: The Final Empire was, though I did know Doomsday Book was a big one. I'll cross those bridges when we come to it...
I like starting our "Catch up reads", as I think of them, on the 15th or the 22nd, to kind of stagger against the regular book club books.Maybe we can set the reads going out a few months in advance? I like to know early, so I can arrange around other book clubs and library availability, so I sometimes read ahead.
Andreas wrote: "Do we really have to decide in advance for the rest of the year? As an option, we could set up a side-read vote with nominations from previous group reads. Maybe with the exception that no book fr..."Certainly everyone will approach this challenge differently. Some will have planned which books to read, some will do it spontaneously, and some might follow others' leads if there is voting like you propose or a schedule for some of the books like the one I proposed above.
There is nothing "official" about the schedule I am proposing. I just noticed a lot of people were listing the same books and thought they might want to read them together and I knew it wouldn't happen without a plan. I picked the 11 most common books, but there are actually close to 100 books on the spreadsheet I am tracking that people have said they want to read this year, and that is only from the people who have posted their lists. So there is plenty of opportunity for other side reads and buddy reads or even nomination threads if people want to go that route.
I'm just someone who likes to have a basic plan for my reading, especially for a goal/challenge like this, because I have a lot of monthly groups, so it works best for me to know what month is what, or at least to have a general idea and finalize it as months get closer (like Valerie proposed). If other people want to do that, too, then I'll commit to reading with them. Other people may have different plans and I think there is room for all approaches. Just consider my proposal a sub-thread of this planning topic, no reason other plans can't be made in this thread, too!
I agree with you, Mike. I'd rather have it planned out. Don't look now, but my OCD is showing (and I believe your may be, as well). :)BTW - I love that you have this in a spreadsheet. I had switched to Evernote because I take it everywhere. However, I am now considering switching to spreadsheets on my SkyDrive, because it is a better data tool (sorts, calculations, and formatting, oh my!)
LOL. Yes, sometimes my OCD is an advantage (my job, cool spreadsheets) and sometimes it is a disadvantage (everywhere else?). I'll have to research your Evernote and SkyDrive references, you'd think I'd be up to speed on technology, but actually I'm not.And please call me Michael. Some people like Mike, but for some reason it doesn't work for me. (Wait, is that OCD, too??)
LOL! Michael, it is! Evernote is good for making notes and having information at your fingertips across all devices (or with any browser connect to the internet), but it does not have all of the editing and formatting tools that come with Office apps.
SkyDrive is Microsoft's answer to a cloud based storage solution. It starts out free for a certain amount of space. What is nice is that it has built-in internet enabled light version of Office applications (Word, Excel, etc) to edit your documents (I may or may not have a lot of spreadsheets).
Google Drive is also good and does about the same thing. I just prefer the Office light web enabled editing.
What is cool with both options is you can enable your computer to automatically sync a specific folder when you are connected to the internet. This way, can say download your Audible/Kindle files to this directory, and then your are automatically backing them up online just in case.
Hmmm, now my dork is showing.
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Since it's already come up and I'm keen to read it soon, I'd like to suggest that we start reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on Monday 27 January. I've chosen this date for no particular reason, so please feel free to suggest a change to this date if you'd like to participate and this suggested date doesn't suit you. It's a short book so I thought it would be a nice one to read before we hit the February group reads.