Coordinating reading books in groups

[Ruth]

I would like to read American Gods. I have a copy and have been wanting to read it for awhile. Hopefully I'm going to read The Handmaid's Tale this weekend. I just got it from my library. I'm finishing The Lathe of Heaven first. I just read Ready Player One so I would be interested in joining the discussion for that one.

[Michael]

Ruth wrote: "I would like to read American Gods. I have a copy and have been wanting to read it for awhile. Hopefully I'm going to read The Handmaid's Tale this weekend. I just got it from my library. I'm finis..."

Great, I'll add you to the list for those three!

[Steve]

Sorry to be obtuse. But is there some sort of schedule? Or do we just look at the list with common folks for books and work it out?

[Edwin]

Steve wrote: "Sorry to be obtuse. But is there some sort of schedule? Or do we just look at the list with common folks for books and work it out?"

We are running a rather loose and unofficial series of side reads of past books on the club's bookshelf. Folks who are interested in participating are submitting their "wish-lists" and a schedule of the more popular choices is being created.

We have set up the first three months based on interest so far which we start discussing on the 15th of the month, using the old discussion threads. Here is the schedule so far:

January -- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
February -- Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
March -- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

We are waiting for more folks to respond before setting up the rest of the year.

Again, this is all unofficial, optional and open to anyone. It gives those of us who are interested a way to read and discuss these books together.

[Michael]

Edwin wrote: "Steve wrote: "Sorry to be obtuse. But is there some sort of schedule? Or do we just look at the list with common folks for books and work it out?"

We are running a rather loose and unofficial ser..."

Great summary - thanks, Edwin!

[Maggie]

okay-as soon as we get the schedule going here, we can figure it out....

[Steve]

I am in for the whole schedule. Thanks for explaining.

[Alexandra]

Ruth wrote: "I would like to read American Gods. I have a copy and have been wanting to read it for awhile. Hopefully I'm going to read The Handmaid's Tale this weekend. I just got it from my library. I'm finis..."

I vote for American Gods as well.

[Michael]

Okay, I hope this doesn't confuse anyone, but I updated the latest votes on my big tally post which you can go back to by clicking here. Please confirm that you see your first initial (or other letter...) by all the books you are voting for to read/discuss this year.

If response to my earlier post is any indication, you are all going to calculate preliminary tallies again. So here are the names:

Alex = A
Chris = C
Edwin = E
Flash Beagle = F
Hillary = H
Maggie = M
Manju = J
Michael (me) = X
Richard = R
Ruth = U
Sandi = D
Sarah = S
Valerie = V

And here is what I calculate as the top 21:

Handmaid's Tale, The Han X R S E H J U (7)
Ready Player One Ready P M X R S E J U (7)
Altered Carbon Altered C X R S V H D (6)
American Gods American G X R S V A U (6)
Foundation Foundation Fo X R S V C F (6)
Fuzzy Nation Fuzzy Natio X S V C E J (6)
Neuromancer Neuromancer X R S E H D (6)
Martian Chronicles, The X R V C E (5)
1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 M X R S (4)
City & The City, The Cit M X R S (4)
Dispossessed, The Dispos M X R S (4)
Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenhei M S F D (4)
Long Earth, The Long Ear X S V D (4)
Old Man's War Old Man's S V C F (4)
Promise of Blood, The Pr R V E J (4)
Red Mars Red Mars Red Ma M R S D (4)
Tigana Tigana Tigana Tig X S V D (4)
Warbreaker Warbreaker Wa X R V J (4)
Word for World is Forest X R S D (4)
World War Z World War Z X R S E (4)
Zodiac Zodiac Zodiac Zod M X S D (4)

Why 21? Well, I did the cutoff at 4 votes. 5 votes only gave us eight books.

Can we read 21 in a year? Well, kind of. We are already doubling up Martian Chronicles/Ready Player One for March, remember, and I think we can do the same thing for a few others. If we don't count Sarah (because she is reading everything lol), then it turns out that the people reading American Gods are not reading Farhenheit 451, those reading Promise of Blood are not reading Zodiac, those reading 1Q84/City&City/Dispossessed are not reading Old Man's War, and similarly for Red Mars vs. Fuzzy Nation. If we set up those pairs on the same months, then we end up covering 10 books with 5 monthly reads, plus 3 months for the remaining three top 7 books, leaving us 4 months to pick 4 group reads from the remaining eight books that got 4 votes.

I don't propose doing any of this yet, since votes are still coming in, but I thought I would put it out there as an idea. Maybe a bunch of votes will come in for the 4-vote ones and solve this problem...

Also, if anyone sees a problem with my tally, let me know!

[Michael]

Oh, and I just got The Handmaid's Tale from the library. Will start tomorrow!!

[Steve]

I am in for them all. Read about half and I will join in. Handmaid's Tail (and Oryx and Crake) coming via Prime. Thanks for all the hard tallying work!

[Em Lost In Books]

When are we reading Ready One Player?

[Sarah]

Michael wrote: "If we don't count Sarah (because she is reading everything lol),..."

Sure Michael, don't worry about me... ;) It actually looks great and I like your breakdown of how we can read two in a month. I was beginning to think this was necessary. The good news is that we have lots of interest! The bad news is you've probably got a headache at this point :)

And yay for The Handmaid's Tale!

[Sarah]

Manju wrote: "When are we reading Ready One Player?"

March :) I hear the audiobook is particularly good.

[Michael]

Sarah wrote: "The bad news is you've probably got a headache at this point :)"

Ha! It's true I don't really have the time that I'm spending on this, but if I could do this for a living I would!

[Sarah]

I knew you were crazy ;)

[Edwin]

Michael wrote: "Ha! It's true I don't really have the time that I'm spending on this, but if I could do this for a living I would!"

More power to the spreadsheet! Thanks for being our unofficial organizer/nerd on this :).

Oh, and I can't wait to discuss The Handmaid's Tale. I am about 1/3 of the way through and I think it is right up you alley, so to speak.

[Michael]

Edwin wrote: "Michael wrote: "Ha! It's true I don't really have the time that I'm spending on this, but if I could do this for a living I would!"

More power to the spreadsheet! Thanks for being our unofficial..."

Excellent! (To both posts!)

[Deedee]

Currently reading: The Handmaid's Tale. Where is the discussion? Or do we discuss here?

I will definitely join the Fuzzy Nation read next month.

I would like to read the following with the group:
Assassin's Apprentice
The Snow Queen
1Q84
The Anubis Gates
Spin
Hyperion
Consider Phlebas
Doomsday Book
The Last Wish
Across the Nightingale Floor

Big thanks to Michael for organizing this!

[Michael]

Deedee wrote: "Currently reading: The Handmaid's Tale. Where is the discussion? Or do we discuss here?

I will definitely join the Fuzzy Nation read next month.

I would like to read ..."

There is so much activity on this thread right now, I had to find it - back on message 315. I'll post it again here!

...

"Here are some likely threads for discussion of The Handmaid's Tale. (Note I added the last one because there didn't appear to be a "Final Thoughts" thread...)

The Handmaid's Tale - First Impressions *no spoilers*
The Handmaid's Tale - Reading in Progress First Half - Spoilers
The Handmaid's Tale - Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[Michael]

Deedee wrote: "I will definitely join the Fuzzy Nation read next month.

I would like to read the following with the group:"

Oh, and glad to have you, I'll add your books to my tally!

[Michael]

Deedee, I noticed Across the Nightingale Floor on your list. You're the first person to vote for that, but I think that may because a group read it last September/October. If you wanted to post comments on that thread, I'll bet those folks would discuss it with you!

Here's a post with links: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Maggie]

Michael wrote: "Okay, I hope this doesn't confuse anyone, but I updated the latest votes on my big tally post which you can go back to by clicking here.
Can we read 21 in a year? Well, kind of. We are already doubling up Martian Chronicles/Ready Player One for March, remember, and I think we can do the same thing for a few others. If we don't count Sarah (because she is reading everything lol), then it turns out that the people reading American Gods are not reading Farhenheit 451, those reading Promise of Blood are not reading Zodiac, those reading 1Q84/City&City/Dispossessed are not reading Old Man's War, and similarly for Red Mars vs. Fuzzy Nation. If we set up those pairs on the same months, then we end up covering 10 books with 5 monthly reads, plus 3 months for the remaining three top 7 books, leaving us 4 months to pick 4 group reads from the remaining eight books that got 4 votes....

I don't propose doing any of this yet, since votes are still coming in, but I thought I would put it out there as an idea. Maybe a bunch of votes will come in for the 4-vote ones and solve this problem...
..."

I love the idea of doubling some up...I love reading with the group, and there are only a few of my books in the top list, so I would hate for any of them to fall off!
(plus we are trying to squeeze in the Snow Queen)

[Sarah]

Edwin, I totally laughed when you said Handmaid's Tale is right up Michael's alley. I thought the same thing and I've been curious to see what he would think.

Maggie, I really have my fingers crossed for The Snow Queen!

[Chris]

Michael, you can put me down for Promise of Blood...

[Maggie]

I was trying to compare some double-ups to see what worked, and it does seem like Red Mars should match up with Fuzzy Nation...

[Michael]

Maggie wrote: "I was trying to compare some double-ups to see what worked, and it does seem like Red Mars should match up with Fuzzy Nation..."

And that is coming up fast in February. But I think we still have time to warn people if we wait until after the voting settles down...

Chris wrote: "Michael, you can put me down for Promise of Blood..."

Will do!

[Sarah]

Red Mars and Fuzzy Nation is good with me.

[M.L.]

I added these to my list:
- The Terror
- I, Robot
- The War of the Worlds
- Childhood's End

I don't think they have enough votes but that's ok, just for the record.

[Edwin]

Sarah wrote: "Edwin, I totally laughed when you said Handmaid's Tale is right up Michael's alley. I thought the same thing and I've been curious to see what he would think."

Yes, let's fire up the discussions!

[Edwin]

Chris wrote: "Michael, you can put me down for Promise of Blood..."

YES! That makes 5!

[Michael]

Sarah wrote: "Edwin, I totally laughed when you said Handmaid's Tale is right up Michael's alley. I thought the same thing and I've been curious to see what he would think."

Speaking of which, I've been looking at the male/female author ratio in our top 22 list (top 21 + The Snow Queen): we have 4 books by women for a female percentage of 18%. This is only slightly lower than our bookshelf ratio of 23%, but it is derailing my "catch up on all the women authors" goal with the bookshelf. Specifically, my list of 55 book votes includes 19 authored by women (35%), whereas the 17 books on my list that made it into the top 22 include 3 authored by women (18%). I can make some of this up by reading other selections on my own, but this is limited by the fact that I only read 12 - 18 books from the shelf per year, and I need to save some room for monthly Club Selections. (I know, Sarah, I'll never catch up!)

All this is just to say that I may have to pull some of my votes in order to stick to my goal. I will try to pull mainly from books that won't make a difference in what gets read (Foundation and American Gods come to mind) but a few of the 4 votes are likely to drop off. (This might also be good, since it doesn't look like we'll be able to read them all anyway...)

In other news, the addition of The Snow Queen to our top 22 is convenient, as we can read that the same month as Foundation with no reader conflicts (except Sarah again). With 6 identified pairs, we can read (2 * 6) + 6 = 18 books for the year as it currently stands...

[Sarah]

Michael wrote: " but it is derailing my "catch up on all the women authors" goal ..."

Well, I can always help you if I can find the time to read... ;)

Actually, as long as you continue to focus on female authors you'll eventually get them all read.

[Sarah]

Edwin wrote: "Chris wrote: "Michael, you can put me down for Promise of Blood..."

YES! That makes 5!"

I'm trying to decide if I want to reread this. I read it with the group a few months ago so that would normally be a no, but now the third one comes out in Feb or March and I do want to read the series.

[Maggie]

dang I was worried about some of my reads falling off, but I should start getting worried if I can get to all these! lolol

its all good-there is no such thing as too many books :)

[Michael]

Maggie wrote: "dang I was worried about some of my reads falling off, but I should start getting worried if I can get to all these! lolol

its all good-there is no such thing as too many books :)"

Yes, I guess that was my main point - "what have I signed on for!?"

But really, I am getting very excited about the year as we talk about all these discussions. Starting The Handmaid's Tale has me invigorated and I'm looking forward to ironing out the schedule for the remainder of the year.

I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and flexibility. It's inspiring!

[Michael]

Maggie wrote: "I was trying to compare some double-ups to see what worked, and it does seem like Red Mars should match up with Fuzzy Nation..."

I just noticed that Red Mars matches up with February's theme of "Climate Change Sci-fi". (Poll winner for the main group read was The Sheep Look Up). And doesn't Fuzzy Nation have some environmental aspects to it?

[Sarah]

Yes. The company is strip mining the planet. It will be an interesting month. :)

[Zachary]

If you are still taking votes, I would be very interested in the following books:

Warbreaker
Old Man's War
Tigana
Fuzzy Nation
Neuromancer

( I will probably pop on here for a lot of the other's as well, but these have been on my physical to-read shelf for far too long)

[Sarah]

Fantastic selection! (I say this because I want to read all of these) We're reading Fuzzy Nation next month. We start discussions on the 15th. Glad to have you with us!

[Steve]

Edwin wrote: "Steve wrote: "Sorry to be obtuse. But is there some sort of schedule? Or do we just look at the list with common folks for books and work it out?"

We are running a rather loose and unofficial ser..."

Just finished Fuzzy last night and it was a fun read. Handmaid's Tale arriving today and I will join in when I am done. Read RP1 recently and first two chapters of TMC (weird stuff man). Looking forward to the discussions.

[Michael]

Zachary wrote: "If you are still taking votes, I would be very interested in the following books:

Warbreaker
Old Man's War
Tigana
Fuzzy Nation
Neuromancer

( I will probably pop on here for a lot of the other's a..."

Great, glad to have you!

[Michael]

Steve wrote: "Just finished Fuzzy last night and it was a fun read. Handmaid's Tale arriving today and I will join in when I am done. Read RP1 recently and first two chapters of TMC (weird stuff man). Looking forward to the discussions."

Excellent!

[Monica]

Here is the list of books that I have currently have access to and planned on reading. My hope is to read them when this group reads them. Looking forward to Fuzzy Nation next month and then Ready Player One the following month. Both are books I'm itching to read. The first list features my votes for group reads no particular order (FWIW) Here's my lists:

Planned on Reading for the Challenge:
Dawn
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Ready Player One
Anansi Boys
The Dispossessed
Fuzzy Nation
Ancillary Justice
Leviathan Wakes
The Lathe of Heaven
Pump Six and Other Stories
Neverwhere

Have access to and can contribute to the discussion:
Neuromancer
The Snow Queen
Foundation
Hyperion
The Mote in God's Eye
To Say Nothing of the Dog
Man in the High Castle
Forever War

Would go seek if the group chose to read:
Altered Carbon
The Killing Moon
Any China Mieville

[B.H.]

Michael wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Edwin, I totally laughed when you said Handmaid's Tale is right up Michael's alley. I thought the same thing and I've been curious to see what he would think."

Speaking of which, I'v..."

I am a strong adherent of the Snow Queen. I just reread Foundation a few months ago, so this is a strong vote for putting Snow Queen up against Foundation.

[Michael]

Monica wrote: "Here is the list of books that I have currently have access to and planned on reading. My hope is to read them when this group reads them. Looking forward to Fuzzy Nation next month and then Ready..."

Glad to have you, love your categories!

Note to self: Updated spreadsheet through this post

[Michael]

I have just updated the "spreadsheet" I'm tracking of votes back in message 311 here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I am pretty detail oriented but it wouldn't hurt if you want to go back and check message 311 to make sure your votes are still counted correctly!

Current "top 23" for those watching the evolution of things:

Fuzzy Nation Fuzzy Natio X S V C E J O P Z (9)
Handmaid's Tale, The Han X R S E H J P U (8)
Ready Player One Ready P M X R S E J O U (8)
Neuromancer Neuromancer X R S E H D Z (7)
Altered Carbon Altered C X R S V H D (6)
American Gods American G X R S V A U (6)
Foundation Foundation Fo X R S V C F (6)
1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 1Q84 M X R S P (5)
Dispossessed, The Dispos M X R S O (5)
Martian Chronicles, The X R V C E (5)
Old Man's War Old Man's S V C F Z (5)
Promise of Blood, The Pr R V C E J (5)
Tigana Tigana Tigana Tig X S V D Z (5)
Warbreaker Warbreaker Wa X R V J Z (5)
City & The City, The Cit M X R S (4)
Dawn Dawn Dawn Dawn Dawn S V D O (4)
Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenhei M S F D (4)
Long Earth, The Long Ear X S V D (4)
Red Mars Red Mars Red Ma M R S D (4)
Snow Queen, The Snow Que M S D P (4)
Word for World is Forest X R S D (4)
World War Z World War Z X R S E (4)
Zodiac Zodiac Zodiac Zod M X S D (4)

If I use Sunday night as a cutoff does that seem fine to everyone? (I know, it's a big planet... midnight GMT, 7pm EST, etc.). I've been continuing to calculate likely pairings and should be able to make a proposal at that point. And of course there was a bit of flux last year so we can always make changes if necessary as the year goes along...

[Sarah]

Sunday works great for me. I like the looks of that list. :)

[Louise]

I read The Handmaids Tale a few years back and really enjoyed it.

If I may, I would like to vote for
Fuzzy Nation
Ready Player One
The Long Earth
World War Z
The City and the City
1Q84
American Gods
The Word for World is Forest

[B.H.]

I would like to vote for:

The Handmaid's Tale
Neuromancer
The Dispossessed
Tigana
The Snow Queen
The Word for World is Forest