SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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2016 Group Bookshelf Reading Calendar/Planning
Yes, I find that quite puzzling. I actually have been adding the names of the voters next to the threads because last year if I ran out of time I would check if the voters were participators.We do have consistent participators as well as people who don't. I don't think the google doc we're using tells us who voted for what.
I would want to talk to Edwin to get his opinion but ideas like those above are welcome. We could also maybe do voting and scheduling twice per year? Participation really does seem to lag more later in the year.
I actually can't figure out what purpose voting and not participating serves?
I assume that everyone is voting in good faith, but then for some people, their situation changes over time. I wouldn't want anyone to be penalized; this is all for fun.
True :) Chris, do you think voting twice per year would help with what you mentioned about less participation as the year goes on?
Just my two cents....voting earlier on all of them helps my participation. I rely on the library and for some titles the waiting list can be long. I start the year by checking the availability and wait list for all of the books and if the wait is long I will add it to my hold list. If it comes in early, I just try to make good notes to participate in the discussion later in the year. For example, I have had a book on hold since April, but there are still 6 people ahead of me (not for this group).
Regardless, I appreciate the effort you and Edwin put in and I will participate as much as I can either way. :)
Thank you very much for doing this, I really liked to read these group books together and hope to be participating again next year.Sarah Anne wrote: "True :) Chris, do you think voting twice per year would help with what you mentioned about less participation as the year goes on?"
I’d like to add my thoughts too... For me it was kind of hard because almost all the books I voted for ended up being at the beginning of the year. Also, if I really like a book, I usually feel compelled to read the whole series and because we have a lot of series on our shelves these are a lot of books and so, I just barely made it this year.
For that reason I’d find it helpful, if we could vote twice a year.
@Sarah Anne: As people have pointed out to me several times, some voters only prefer to read the discussions and not participating. It is also one of pet peeves of mine when it comes to group reads since often the books that have the most votes are not actually the books with most participators. Just for comparison, in another group, the moderator specifically mention that the one who proposed the winning book must lead the discussion and the voters should consider whether they REALLY want to participate on the threads. No sanction on nominator/voters-cum-lurkers though, just relying on good faith.
And I admit I had not participated in a few books I voted for. Now I actually try to look for Kindle samples and read it before deciding which one to vote aside from reading friends' reviews or ask them whether I would like this and that book. That has been helpful since I actually successfully dodged a few lousy books or books I most likely would not enjoy ;p
Silvana wrote: "@Sarah Anne: As people have pointed out to me several times, some voters only prefer to read the discussions and not participating. ..."This is one of those issues that often comes up in small groups. I see it all over the place and it's always the groups that have something like 25 people voting.
Given the amount of hair I tore out last year, I admit I would like lots and lots of participation on every single read. :) But I do know that sometimes having a schedule can keep me on track.
Of course, sometimes there just isn't much to say about a book. I've found myself occasionally not participating just because of that.
I think that two votes per year would help, if that's not too much trouble.Also, perhaps we shouldn't schedule two books every month. Book length makes a huge difference. One of the longer books can take more time than two of the shorter ones put together.
Okay, for everyone who wants to do the read of The Final Empire before doing The Well of Ascension I'm going to post the threads here. They will also be in the first post and I'll post them on the page for Well of Ascension when the read starts."Mistborn: The Final Empire" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Mistborn: The Final Empire" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*
It looks like when Michael did a read for this in 2014 he opened threads for each Part, 1-4. Let me know if you guys want that.
The groups, or why we sign upI really did have good intentions, but didn’t read it:
*The overly ambitious: “my eyes are bigger than my stomach…….”
*The dreamer: “gosh, all these books are so great..….”
*The obsessive organizer: “maybe a schedule will keep me on track…….”
*The disorganized: “hmmm, did I vote for that?........”
*The unfortunate: “dang, I can’t afford that and am still on this stupid wait list at the library…..”
OK, I read it but didn’t comment:
*The shy: “boy, everybody else seems so smart……”
*The busy: “great book, gotta go now……”
*Nothing to add: “wow, that's just what I was about to say…….”
Yup, I read it and commented:
*The loquacious: “hi, my name is Sarah……”
Edwin wrote: "Yup, I read it and commented:*The loquacious: “hi, my name is Sarah……
Haha!!! Oh man, that totally made me laugh!
Edwin wrote: "The groups, or why we sign upI really did have good intentions, but didn’t read it:
*The overly ambitious: “my eyes are bigger than my stomach…….”
*The dreamers: “gosh, all these books are so gre..."
Fantastic, Edwin!
My two cents to this thing. I admit, that if I read the planned book on the time and go to the discussion part, I belong to the group *The shy: “boy, everybody else seems so smart……”. It's mostly because I'm not good at analyzing books at all, all I can tell is that I liked/disliked it and maybe why, but nothing fancy. It was my problem in university also, when I studied literature as my minor subject, that's why my grades in it were crappy. But still, I'm a librarian, so maybe it's quantity over quality analyzing thing or something like that, don't know.So anyways all that stuff in discussion about characters and how they related to this and that and those deep thoughts about the book and even author kinda scare me. Mostly because I think I need to produce something similar in order to bring something in to the discussion. Instead of the usual I didn't like this book or I liked this book.
I go with opinions rather than analysis. Opinions I have in abundance ;) I know what you mean, though. Especially tropes. As soon as someone says the word I flee in horror.
Sarah Anne wrote: "Especially tropes. As soon as someone says the word I flee in horror."I flee in annoyance. Clearly one of the most over-used phrases on this website.
Very much so. And people are using it in multiple ways. It reminds me of the way the word "meme" turned from its original use to slapping a comment on a photo and posting it on the Internet.But yeah, enough with the tropes already.
Edwin wrote: "The groups, or why we sign upI really did have good intentions, but didn’t read it:
*The overly ambitious: “my eyes are bigger than my stomach…….”
*The dreamer: “gosh, all these books are so grea..."
Perfect! Somebody should make an illustration for these.
I am all of these. Except that in 'the unfortunate' part, usually it's when no Kindle version available for me to purchase (usually takes months to order via mail)
In defense of the word trope, I use it because it is a concise way of expressing a specific concept related to books. In this case, (and I borrowed this definition from the interwebs, since they are able to state it more eloquently than I), "the word trope has come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works."To me, it is not necessarily a judgement of good or bad, because there are oft used plot devices throughout literary history that are effective. However, the term has a bit of a pejorative* connotation** these days because so many authors seem to be guilty of bundling together a mass of tropes, rather than crafting a quality plot. I could go on a tangent to describe why I believe it to be the case, but that is way off topic.
So, I am going to apologize in advance for continuing to annoy you guys by using the word trope. For me, it is just much easier to type, "the author used this trope to good (or bad) purpose." versus, "the author used this commonly recurring literary device or motif to bad (or good) purpose."
Ah, but you're using it the right way. There are a lot of people who use it to mean anything they may have seen before. Like if Rowl was similar to some other cat they would say he was a trope. It's used far more broadly than the definition like the one you just gave. I don't mind it used properly; it's when it's smeared all over everything that it's annoying.
Yeah, I know what you are saying. Both trope and derivative get bandied about so much. Let's face it, there is very rarely anything completely new or fresh. Let's all accept it and continue reading, discussing and enjoying. :)
That would be wonderful :) I have to say that I do love it when I read something that's fresh and seems different. Blackbirds was one of those.
Valerie wrote: "In defense of the word trope, I use it because it is a concise way of expressing a specific concept related to books. In this case, (and I borrowed this definition from the interwebs, since they ar..."Agreed, though sometimes a derivative is new to me so it seems fresh. And also, a well worn trope can still get five stars out of me if it's well done and interesting.
Sarah Anne wrote: "That would be wonderful :) I have to say that I do love it when I read something that's fresh and seems different. Blackbirds was one of those."I thought so, too. I am so sad that no one has seconded it yet for the UF read. (shameless plug for my nominee)
There hasn't been much activity yet. Maybe people will wise up ;)
I use this particular subgroup to add incentive to read different books that I might not have picked up otherwise. So far I think I have read all but one that I voted for. However, reading is my main goal, discussion for me is less important so it can be hard to force myself to form a coherent thought I can write down.On to Little Big....
p.s. Since Valerie has rated Sevenes 5 stars I can clearly not trust any of her future opinions so no way am I seconding Blackbirds ;)
I totally agree about Seveneves. I stayed to say "But Blackbirds is fabulous!" and then realized that that doesn't exactly encourage you :)
I stand by my position on Seveneves even if it means people will question my choices. I loved it.Lately, it appears that Sarah and I have been agreeing more. Maybe we can rotate who is the odd man out? Tag! Hank's it! Mwuhaha!
By the way, enjoy Little, Big. *smirk*
Ha! I noticed the overabundance of star(s) that you gave it. The books can't all be good or.....something.
I moved the July-Dec threads into the second post so they're easier to find.
I already finished it :) I need to remember to post.
Thoughts: I've been feeling guilty because I haven't been able to participate like I wanted to...reasons for me include many of the already stated:
-the unfortunate (unable to attain books due to wait lists/money)
-multiple books at one time
-books I voted for happening to occur when life happened
-life happening (I moved to another country...turns out that takes a lot of time. Good news: now that I'm here I have time to read!)
Also, I don't typically participate in the non-spoiler threads, because sometimes spoilers are inadvertent. I usually read them once I've finished the book, though.
Here are Sept threads :)The Lies of Locke Lamora
"The Lies of Locke Lamora" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"The Lies of Locke Lamora" What did you think *Spoilers*?
To Say Nothing of the Dog
"To Say Nothing of the Dog" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"To Say Nothing of the Dog" Finished Reading *Spoilers*
Here are our Oct threads! I'm excited about reading Wild Seed.Wild Seed
"Wild Seed" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Wild Seed" Between the beginning and the end *marked spoilers*
I have no idea why it says "marked spoilers" but it's as close as they have to a final thoughts thread.
Dune
"Dune" First Impressions
"Dune" Finished (possible spoiler alert)
Mod
Wild Seed
"Wild Seed" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Wild Seed" Between the beginning and the end *marked spoilers*
I..."
I'm a little nervous about Wild Seed. It seems kind of depressing...but then Amazon had to put it on sale, so I didn't have an excuse to not get it.
Voting for the 2017 books will begin on Nov 15th. Edwin and I have decided to do the whole year at once again for a couple of reasons.- This bookshelf reading idea actually goes hand in hand with the Read All the Books! challenge, which is a challenge for the full year.
- Doing the whole schedule all at once allows us to schedule the highest ranked with the lowest ranked, which makes for fewer conflicts for people who only read one per month.
- This also gives us the most flexibility for making sure that we don't end up with two high page count books per month.
- It keeps us from having to schedule the same book twice because it's voted in twice.
At Edwin's suggestion, I have started to add in what we're reading into the monthly announcement of what's going on in the group. Hopefully this way we can stir up some participation. I'll make a note next month to include the fact that we'll be voting soon.
This year we're trying something new with the voting. We're going to use a link to a google doc that works as a survey and will allow the voters to choose as many options as they like. Voters will also be able to edit their response. This is new for Edwin and I both but it does appear that it will work well. Books will be listed in alphabetical order and it will include book title, author, and page count. I stopped shy of the research involved in adding the audiobook length as well.
Edwin and I are very glad that we won't be at risk of losing our sanity when trying to track everything. Hopefully this will work as well as we hope!
I'll post the voting link on Nov 15th.
Mod
- This bookshelf reading idea actually goes hand in hand with..."
Thanks for all the work you put in. Between the BOTM and the group re-reads, there is always a book I want to read.
Melanie wrote: "I'm a little nervous about Wild Seed. It seems kind of depressing...but then Amazon had to put it on sale, so I didn't have an excuse to not get it. *..."They did that at my request. I knew you were wavering ;)
Mod
They did that at my reque..."
You really are all-powerful!
Wouldn't that be totally fantastic if I could do that?!?! We could all get discounted books right before doing these reads.
Melanie wrote: "Thanks for all the work you put in. Between the BOTM and the group re-reads, there is always a book I want to read. ..."It's no problem :) The nice thing about this google doc is that I'll just have to add the new books in every year and clear the votes. It's going to make things much easier over the years.
Great plan! Thanks to both of you for all the enthusiasm and creative thinking!!
You're welcome, Michael :) Thanks for getting this whole thing started a few years ago. It's helped me a lot in getting more bookshelf books read.
Thank you Sarah Anne and Edwin! You guys rock. I love the group reads to catch up.
I'm going to post the threads for Leviathan Wakes for those who haven't read it. Then they can be all ready for Caliban's War, which I'm very excited to read."Leviathan Wakes" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Leviathan Wakes" Finished Reading *Spoilers*
Here are our November threads.The Quantum Thief
"The Quantum Thief" Discussion *No Spoilers*
"The Quantum Thief" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*
The Warded Man
"The Warded Man" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"The Warded Man" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Caliban’s War (other topics)Leviathan Wakes (other topics)
Wild Seed (other topics)
Wild Seed (other topics)
Royal Assassin (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Octavia E. Butler (other topics)Scott Lynch (other topics)
Guy Gavriel Kay (other topics)
Hugh Howey (other topics)
Iain M. Banks (other topics)
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I admit, I missed the read for one of mine. I'd totally understand if my vote was given lower value because of it.