Bookshelf Suggestions

[E.J.]

We've got Barbara Hambly on the shelf already, but I'd offer her Sun Wolf and Starhawk series as well: The Sun Wolf and Starhawk Series: The Ladies of Mandrigyn, The Witches of Wenshar, and The Dark Hand of Magic. It features an aging hero (a trope I'm intensely interested in these days) and an unusual lady-soldier heroine. I was sorry she ended the series after the third book.

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

S. Elliot wrote: "If you don't mind suggestions from authors (sorry!) -- please consider my novel Irradiated.

I'm a male author (again, sorry!) but my novel is about two sisters, living in post-apo..."

We are only adding female authored books to the booklist; however, I have created this here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It is yours to promote as much as you want to group members.

And here are the (lax) author rules I've made up: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

They are general rules for nay future authors we may get, you've always been great here and we will happily promote books with strong women. And don't you dare apologize for being a male author, this group may exist to spotlight works written in sf/f by women but we push for equality of all genders within sf/f. You are more than welcome here as a member and an author. Okay, done with my speech now, I just can't stand when someone apologizes for something like gender, race, or sexual orientation. :)

[E.J.]

Nice speech, Alicja. :) Perfectly said.

[S.]

Thanks, Alicja.

You're right--equality should always be the goal. Thanks for the information on your rules, and for creating that thread. I appreciate it. :)

[E.J.]

Reading the recent threads on Twitter and FB about diversity in books reminded me of a wonderful Australian fantasy author, Patricia Wrightson, and her series, The Song Of Wirrun: The Ice Is Coming. The Dark Bright Water. Behind The Wind. I loved her aboriginal characters, the mythology and the tensions between men and women, man and nature and tradition and modernity that she explored in that trilogy. I think The Dark Bright Water is the best of the three, but I need to re-read them to make sure . . . (soon!)

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Thanks for all the suggestions, added to our boofshelf. :)

[Gary]

The Goodreads search engine just spat out a few recommendations "Because you are currently reading The Parable of the Sower" that actually look intriguing to me, and might be appropriate for this group.... These are the links (I'm hoping they haven't already been listed here):

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

That last one is particularly intriguing....

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Gary wrote: "The Goodreads search engine just spat out a few recommendations "Because you are currently reading The Parable of the Sower" that actually look intriguing to me, and might be appropriate for this g..."

Well Gary, the cool part of having mod powers is that you can add the books to the bookshelf. :P

Ha, just had to tease. I added them, thanks for the suggestions.

[Yoly]

Gary wrote: "The Goodreads search engine just spat out a few recommendations..."

Interesting.
He, She and It is on io9's list of The Twenty Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life

[Bryn]

Gary wrote: "The Goodreads search engine just spat out a few recommendations "Because you are currently reading The Parable of the Sower" that actually look intriguing to me, and might be appropriate for this g..."

I used to own that under this cover:
in which case I'd have got it for the cover, but can't exactly remember whether I ever read it.

I had a lot of those 'The Women's Press SF' titles, they seemed to be the way to get women sf writers in that day. Here's a list: http://sfmistressworks.wordpress.com/...

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Hey...how about Janny Wurts.
:) The Curse of the Mistwraith
To Ride Hell’s Chasm
Janny also paints her covers.

And..Jennifer Roberson
Sword-Dancer
And my new favorite by the author....Karavans

P.C. Hodgell ...God Stalk
Also does art.

[Sarah]

I'm just new to the group but if these haven't already been added, I think they would apply:

Vengeance From Ashes by Sam Schall
The Targon Tales series by Chris Reher
Journey to Nyorfias series by T.M. Roy
The Spectras Arise Trilogy by Tammy Salyer
The Major Ariane Kedros series by Laura E. Reeve
The Sequoyah series by Sabrina Chase
A Soldiers Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why series) by Jean Johnson
The Serrano series by Elizabeth Moon

All great female writers with great female protagonists.

[Yoly]

Sarah wrote: "I'm just new to the group but if these haven't already been added, I think they would apply:
"

Thanks for the recommendations Sarah. I added the books you mentioned to the bookshelf.

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Yoly, have Brenda's recs been added as well?

[Matthew]

Okay, is anybody going to say something about the "Boofshelf". Is that a thing? Am I out of the loop on this one?

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Matthew wrote: "Okay, is anybody going to say something about the "Boofshelf". Is that a thing? Am I out of the loop on this one?"

Look at the top to your right... there are a number of links and the first one says group home. Right underneath it says bookshelf. The bookshelf contains a growing list of sci fi and fantasy books written by women. A great list to peruse when looking for something new to read.

[Gary]

I didn't even notice that. Boof?

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Gary wrote: "I didn't even notice that. Boof?"

Ah, lol!! I must have been sleeping. A great example how I scan words when reading... I'll fix it now. :P

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

There we go, my embarrassment fixed!

And no one else noticed either!

[Matthew]

I know! I thought we were just ignoring it, or that it might have been a... I don't know, subtle reference to something. I guess it's a testament to people's opinion of you Alicja. They just assumed you knew exactly what you were doing ;)

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Matthew wrote: "I know! I thought we were just ignoring it, or that it might have been a... I don't know, subtle reference to something. I guess it's a testament to people's opinion of you Alicja. They just assume..."

Haha! Pity them, I never know what I am doing.

I think it has more to do with how we read language. We have certain expectations of what things say and we tend to read the beginning and end of a word while skimming the center and if the center looks to the eye like it should we don't focus on it. The f was close enough to k for our eyes to miss.

Thanks for pointing it out, though. Would have been awesome if "boof" was a reference to something but alas...

[Gary]

Alicja wrote: "Would have been awesome if "boof" was a reference to something but alas... "

::cough, cough:: Check out Urban Dictionary.... ::cough:: Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Gary wrote: "Alicja wrote: "Would have been awesome if "boof" was a reference to something but alas... "

::cough, cough:: Check out Urban Dictionary.... ::cough:: Don't say I didn't warn you."

Hahaha!!

I love this example: Where'd the kitty go? I boofed it.

WTF? Now that's messed up. :P

[Matthew]

Alicja wrote: "Matthew wrote: "I know! I thought we were just ignoring it, or that it might have been a... I don't know, subtle reference to something. I guess it's a testament to people's opinion of you Alicja. ..."

Yes, I believe its what my English teacher called "semantic reading", meaning that you see it in terms of meaning rather than what is actually spelled. Now to check out the meaning of boof...

DWAAAAAAH! Eyes! Forever unclean!

[Gary]

Matthew wrote: "DWAAAAAAH! Eyes! Forever unclean!"

I've created a new category for "My Books" on Goodreads: boofshelf. I'm not going to define what that means other than to say its a place to "insert" certain books....

So, I finally have a place to put Ender's Game.

[Matthew]

Gary wrote: "Matthew wrote: "DWAAAAAAH! Eyes! Forever unclean!"

I've created a new category for "My Books" on Goodreads: boofshelf. I'm not going to define what that means other than to say its a place to "in..."

Dwahahaha! Ah, forever amused. I should stop drinking and typing, this isn't Imbibliophiles ;D

[Alicja, ἀπὸ μηχανῆς Θεός]

Gary wrote: "Matthew wrote: "DWAAAAAAH! Eyes! Forever unclean!"

I've created a new category for "My Books" on Goodreads: boofshelf. I'm not going to define what that means other than to say its a place to "in..."

Haha!! At least something productive came from my typos. Let's see what Gary can do with more of Alicja's mistakes. Keep finding them people, I know they are hiding out somewhere. :P

[Yoly]

Alicja wrote: "Yoly, have Brenda's recs been added as well?"

They are now :)

[Yoly]

Gary wrote: "So, I finally have a place to put Ender's Game. "

LOL

[A.R.]

Hello! I'm pretty new to Goodreads and haven't gotten the chance to sit down and look around at this site. This is also the first group I have joined, so I'm not exactly sure yet how everything works. I did notice that this thread seems to want suggestions for sci-fi/fantasy novels. May I suggest my own book, The Esoteric Design? I'm female and the main character is a rather strong woman. Sorry, I don't mean to self promote if that's frowned upon, but I think some of you may enjoy it. Thanks!
The Esoteric Design
A.R. Crebs

[Mary]

we could stand to have some of Andre Norton's early SF work. Like Ice Crown, Dread Companion, Ordeal In Otherwhere

[Leonie]

Mary wrote: "we could stand to have some of Andre Norton's early SF work. Like Ice Crown, Dread Companion, Ordeal In Otherwhere"

I'm currently re-reading 'Moon of Three Rings' and its sequel at the moment. Andre Norton was one of my entry reads into Science Fiction as a pre-teen. I remember reading Catseye and being completely sucked into the genre.

[Deedee]

I read The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord last year and I would highly recommend it for the Bookshelf. The author is female. Included amongst the characters are strong women with principles. And, the novel was an excellent reading experience!

[Yoly]

Deedee wrote: "I read The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord last year and I would highly recommend it for the Bookshelf. "

Thank you for the recommendation Deedee. I added it to the bookshelf.

[Amber]

I'd recommend all but the sixth (and hopefully final) volume of Jean M. Auel's six book EARTH'S CHILDREN series as the sixth book of the series, THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES, has the worst ending of any of the books in the series.

Why is it the worst ending in the series? Because Ms. Auel has ADMITTED that she's NOT gonna continue the story of life in Ice Age Europe as seen through the eyes of Ayla and Jondalar's child, Jonayla. It just...SITS THERE... like the proverbial 800 pound gorilla you can't ignore.

Why am I recommending the EARTH"S CHILDREN series if it's set during the last Ice Age (20K years ago)? Because a guy friend of mine on Facebook once said that "Science fiction, regardless of when/where it is set, is about the human condition" and since one of the criterion for this group's bookshelf is that it should be by a FEMALE author, I figured "Why NOT?"

For a more specific recommendation, how about adding THE VALLEY OF HORSES to the bookshelf out of the series? I am recommending VALLEY because as the second book of the series, it isn't QUITE as slow paced as the first book of the series is (THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR).

[Yoly]

Amber wrote: "I'd recommend all but the sixth volume of Jean M. Auel's six book EARTH'S CHILDREN series as the sixth book of the series, THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES, has the worst ending of any of the books in the..."

I added The Clan of the Cave Bear to our bookshelf. We're only adding the first book in a series, so I only added that one.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Amber]

Cool, Yoly. Just out of curiosity, why only the first book?

[Yoly]

Amber wrote: "Cool, Yoly. Just out of curiosity, why only the first book?"

I'm going to have to say that one is above my paygrade, haha. It's one of the rules Alicja set for the bookshelf when she started the group.

I guess it makes sense not adding a whole series, it might make the bookshelf unnecessarily long. If someone likes the first book, they can continue from there with the series if they like it.

[Gary]

I'm sure Yoly's right. It's probably just so we don't go nuts and add twenty-six books when we read Dragonflight, for instance....

It might make sense to add the second in a series after we've read the first, though. So, it would make sense for Dragonquest to go on there now that we've read the first in the series. Or, if there's some sort of plan to specifically read a later book in the series first then adding that particular one would make sense.

[Amber]

Yoly/Gary: Thanks for the answers. Both ideas make sense.

[[deleted user]]

Has anybody read the Hrinn Series by K.D. Wentworth?
1) Black on Black
2) Stars over Stars
It's a great series, sort of military alien sci-fi.

[Sarah]

Here's a few more to add if they aren't on the bookshelf already:

Aurora Rising series by G.S Jennsen
The Morcai Battalian by Diana Palmer
The Fall of the Altairan Empire series by Jaletta Clegg
The Enclave by H.M. Clarke
The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald
Planet Bound by A. Maire Dinsmore
Heart of Annihilation by C.R. Asay
Escapement by Ciara Knight

[Ellen]

For anyone who enjoys action packed sci-fi with spaceships, aliens and kickass female protagonists, I'd definitely recommend:

Sirantha Jax series, by Ann Aguirre
Dred Chronicles series, same author
Paradox series, by Rachel Bach

[Louise]

I can thoroughly recommend
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker, both fantasy.

As for Sci-fi, many moons ago, when I was 17, I remember reading Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence, and thinking it was fantastic.

[P.S.]

If you enjoy YA or Middle Grade lit, here is a new heroine that you just might love!

Essie Brightsday has never heard a rock basilisk scream. She has never worn magical armor, stood up to a queen, or run from dragons. Instead, Essie, her sarcastic cat Tigrabum, (just call him "Tig"), and her secretive family struggle to survive on their small farm nestled against the forbidding cliffs of the Valley of Fire.

But all that is about to change when a rebellion against the cruel interim ruler is sparked. Forced to flee for their lives, Essie and Tig lose themselves in the twisting labyrinth of the ancient lava flow. When Essie finds proof that the missing King Mactogonii may be alive, she is given the opportunity to help restore stability to the kingdom. But the course of her journey will force her to face her deepest fears and unravel the mystery behind her own blindness...if Essie can survive the encounter.

[Yoly]

P.S. wrote: "


If you enjoy YA or Middle Grade lit, here is a new heroine that you just might love!

Essie Brightsday has never heard a rock basilisk scream. She has never w..."

Than you for the recommendation.

Although the group's theme is to read fantasy and sci-fi books written by female authors, we also have some books on the group's bookshelf written by male authors which feature a female main character, so I added it to our bookshelf.

[Gary]

I just read Binti, which seems quite appropriate for this group, though it is very short at 96 pages.

It would be interesting to put together a poll (in a month or three...) that had 5-7 novellas on it and we read, say, the top two. So, if you have suggestions for that poll, please make them here and we'll see what we can do.

[[deleted user]]

Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell from the same imprint.

All About Emily by Connie Willis.

The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson.

[Gary]

Those all look intriguing.

[Olga]

Lina J. Potter 's fantasy series Medieval Tale with a strong female lead is a must-read!