2017 Group Bookshelf Challenge Reading Calendar

[Ellen]

8 of mine have made it so far. Which is good since my plan is to read the 2 new selections and at least 1 shelf selection each month for a total of 36.

[Sarah]

I actually had a dream last night that we were going to do three selections instead of two. Totally random dream.

Maggie, lol! I'm SO sorry you'll have to suffer ;)

[David]

Gardens of the Moon and The Color of Magic are both on my to-read list. I, Robot wasn't but probably should be.

I've already read Seveneves (and loved it). I probably won't re-read it (I wouldn't have time for all my other February reading if I did!) but I might skim it.

[AndrewP]

That works for me as I have already read one of each of the Jan & Feb books :) In both cases it's the shorter one of the two though.

[Maggie]

Sarah Anne wrote: "I actually had a dream last night that we were going to do three selections instead of two. Totally random dream.

Maggie, lol! I'm SO sorry you'll have to suffer ;)"

lol-at least i will know what's going on....unlike the first time!

By the way, the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson is a complete series in and of itself (although it is ten books long). His friend wrote another series, The Malazan Empire, which takes place in the same world but is more or less side stories to the main series.

[Peggy]

Pretty sure I have a copy of "The Color of Magic" laying around here somewhere, so YAY! Plus I voted for it. I can't remember if I've read I, Robot (almost typed it iRobot).

And since I was one of the dissenters on "Seveneves," I won't be revisiting it. The more I think about it, the stabbier I get. :-)

[Sarah]

I'm with you on Seveneves. And iRobot. I did the same thing the last time. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming up.

[Silvana]

Yippee I already have Seveneves!

[Monica]

Interesting that a giant door stop like Seveneves (and yes I did vote for it) is ranking so high on the list while The Fifth Season isn't registering on the lists. My guess is that many folks have recently read the book (I finished it last month and enjoyed it) and are busy getting to the sequel ...

[Chris]

Maybe people like the idea of reading Seveneves a lot more than the act of reading Seveneves. :D

[Jen]

Looking forward to both of January's reads... Feb will most likely be a catch-up month since I just read both books earlier this year.

[Sarah]

I think you're right there, Chris.

[David]

Neal Stephenson in general and Seveneves in particular are naturally polarizing. If you're the sort of person who doesn't mind having your story interrupted for a 20-page data dump about some random machine out in space, you're probably going to love Seveneves. If you're not a fan of that, you'll rightfully hate it. There's no shortage of people in either category.

The people in the former category (myself included) are enthusiastic enough about the book that lots of people will be interested in it, but I certainly wouldn't want the people in the latter category to pick it up by accident.

[AndrewP]

Monica wrote: "Interesting that a giant door stop like Seveneves (and yes I did vote for it) is ranking so high on the list while The Fifth Season isn't registering on the lists. M..."

I think Gardens of the Moon is more of a doorstop than Seveneves. I have both and they look similar in size, but the former has a tiny font :)

[Sarah]

For anyone who's reading Seveneves, do yourself a favor and do not do the audio. I say this as Queen of Audio. I'm sure I've listened to over 100 audiobooks this year and that is one of the worst I've heard.

[Karen]

Sarah Anne wrote: "For anyone who's reading Seveneves, do yourself a favor and do not do the audio. I say this as Queen of Audio. I'm sure I've listened to over 100 audiobooks this year and that is one of the worst I..."

Thank goodness for Audible's preview button! I debated getting it through them and OH MY WORD what an annoying reader! Glad to hear it wasn't just my persnickety ear.

PS: How in the world did you manage 100+ audiobooks? Long commute? No TV? Just WOW!

[Sarah]

I do have a long drive to get anywhere but only two or the times per week. I listen to them whenever I need my hands free. Laundry, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning, grocery shopping (or Target or Costco). I listen to them when I'm getting ready for bed and since I speed them up that's usually 45 hours per month by itself. I also use them when I need to do something on the computer or just can't concentrate on print. And I haven't watched much TV in a year or so :( I've been exhaustingly relentless about it.

And that reader for Seveneves was unbelievably awful. And accents! If it's specified that characters have accents then the reader should be capable of doing them! I was torn between appalled, horrified, and hysterical laughter. She was terrible.

[Hank]

Sarah Anne wrote: "For anyone who's reading Seveneves, do yourself a favor and do not do the audio. I say this as Queen of Audio. I'm sure I've listened to over 100 audiobooks this year and that is one of the worst I..."

I will second the "avoid the audio" comment. 1/2 of my (much less than 100) books are audio so I have alot to compare.

I do audio while jogging and my commute, which takes care of about 30 hours a month which is ~900 pages

[Ioana]

Sarah Anne wrote: "For anyone who's reading Seveneves, do yourself a favor and do not do the audio. I say this as Queen of Audio. I'm sure I've listened to over 100 audiobooks this year and that is one of the worst I..."

Good to know, thanks. It will be the real read book :-)

[Silvana]

Sarah Anne wrote: "For anyone who's reading Seveneves, do yourself a favor and do not do the audio. I say this as Queen of Audio. I'm sure I've listened to over 100 audiobooks this year and that is one of the worst I..."

I have an e-book version, thank goodness.
Glad to have a group read on this, indeed the reviews are polarizing.

[Richard]

Sarah Anne wrote: "Yes, we're continuing the challenge :) Otherwise I would get bored and stop reading off the shelf. There's nothing quite like watching those numbers add up!"

I have been a member of this group specifically for the challenges, both for the monthly votes and reads of a fantasy and a sci-fi book in a month. I do admit that reads longer than 400 pages are about the limit that I can handle, and I am paring down my attempts on several currently reading to focus specifically what I will be reading in our challenges. I have enjoyed the side reads group as well since it gives me a chance to catch up on the shelf.

One question, Sarah. Are we looking at two books for the 2017 reads from the shelf? I jay have missed the discussions while I devoted my time to writing a 53,000+ novel in the November National Novel Writing Month challenge in November, 2016.

Thanks. Richard W. Buro, Temple, TX USA.

[Sarah]

It will be two books per month, yes.

[Farhana]

David wrote: "If you're the sort of person who doesn't mind having your story interrupted for a 20-page data dump about some random machine out in space, you're probably going to love Seveneves. If you're not a fan of that, you'll rightfully hate it.

Ha ha ha! I enjoyed your comment very much. I think I fall in the first category and will like Seveneves very much. Science-fiction without much science and technology in it is no fun. :D

[TheADHDreader]

Submitted my choices, that's quite a list, I was disappointed not to see wall of storms though. But then again depending on what the choices are I might skip a few. Several on the list were part of my list for 2016. This is pretty exciting.

[Richard]

Sarah Anne wrote: "2017 January - Feb Schedule
Gardens of the Moon (666)- January 15
I, Robot (225) - January 15
Seveneves (881) - February 15
The Color of Magic..."

Thank you, Sarah. I am focusing on the one I haven't finished Seveneves and Gardens of the Moon which i have just purchased.

Thanks for the verification about our annual challenge. i haven't participated as much as i usually did in years past, but 2016 was the year that i needed to be the executor rather than the reader.

Richard Buro,
Temple, TX USA

[Silvana]

What are the March books? Extra time to search/buy/wait/discount hunting would be nice :)

[Sarah]

Voting ends on Jan 15th and then Edwin and I will have the schedule up by Feb 1st. We are definitely keeping in mind that some people have time constraints.

[Yvonne]

I'm so excited to read these! I've wanted to read I, Robot and The Color of Magic for a long time. Thank goodness for the local library.

[Angela]

Anyone who are planing to read I Robot should read the short story I Robot written by Isaac Asimov The movie version is quite a stretch

[Angela]

Or are we reading the short stories. I would enjoy rereading them

[Sarah]

We're reading the collection that's on the shelf. It's this one I, Robot. If I remember right it's a collection of short stories.

[Michael]

Angela wrote: "Anyone who are planing to read I Robot should read the short story I Robot written by Isaac Asimov The movie version is quite a stretch"

Hmm, I don't know the short story of which you speak. Asimov's short story collection, I, Robot, contains 9 stories, none of which are actually named "I, Robot". Wikipedia lists two short stories with the title "I, Robot", but neither are by Asimov.

I admit the movie was in a world of its own, and only vaguely related to the books. I did like the way the movie explored irrational/emotional decisions viz a viz humans vs. robots, though. That aspect of the movie had a kind of Star Trek (Kirk vs. Spock) vibe to me.

[Ronnie Paul]

Am I able to add this as a reading challenge? I can't figure out how to do so...

[Sarah]

Tomorrow it will be on the group's home page and available for people to sign up. It's all ready to go but Goodreads holds it until 2017 is official. Have fun :)

[Silvana]

Sarah Anne wrote: "Voting ends on Jan 15th and then Edwin and I will have the schedule up by Feb 1st. We are definitely keeping in mind that some people have time constraints."

thank you!

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Can you post the discussion threads for January? I started Gardens of the Moon already. It's long and I wanted to have time to read it.

[Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm]

Just voted, this is a neat idea :) Excited to read The Color of Magic with the group. Curious to see which books end up making the final cut for the rest of the year.

[Sarah]

Sure, here are all of the Jan threads. I added a couple of extra threads in for Gardens of the Moon because they look like fun. I had to create the I, Robot threads because the threads back then were less specific regarding spoilers.

"Gardens of the Moon" Navigating the Malazan World
"Gardens of the Moon" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Gardens of the Moon" Over the Halfway Mark! Who is still with us? *Spoilers*
"Gardens of the Moon" Finished - What did you think?

"I, Robot" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"I, Robot" Finished Reading *Spoilers*

[Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm]

Eager to see what ended up making it on the schedule :)

[Sarah]

Okay, my friends, we worked into the long hours of the night to provide you with your schedule (not really) so here it is! We had 9 books with 14 voters and only three would fit so we put them in the list randomizer on random.org and it yielded Master and Margarita, Wise Man's Fear, and Doomsday Book.

Drum roll please!

Number of voters, title, page count, followed by total monthly page count at the bottom.

March
17 Ancillary Justice 386
14 Doomsday Book 578
964

April
16 Ancillary Sword 356
17 Aeronaut's Windlass 630
986

May
16 Dune 604
17 Windup Girl 359
963

June
15 Blackout 610
15 Left Hand of Darkness 304
914

July
14 Wise Man's Fear 994
21 Do Androids Dream 256
1250

August
20 Red Rising 382
15 The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) 541
923

September
20 The Blade Itself 517
17 The Three Body Problem 400
917

October
15 The Girl with All the Gifts 460
21 American Gods 480
940

November
15 Anansi Boys 384
19 Assassin's Apprentice 480
864

December
15 Cloud Atlas 509
16 The Goblin Emperor 446
955

I will put them in the schedule now and include the tagged titles.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yay! This is a good lookin' year for challenges. I'm really excited that a few of these were on my personal list this year, so now I can move them around to discuss with y'all!

[Sarah]

That's great Allison :) There are only two on here that I haven't read so I think I'll do a couple of rereads.

[AndrewP]

Having read both selections it looks like I get March and October off :)

[Valerie]

I am probably going to be late with the January reads, but looks like I have plenty of time to finish them and catch up by June for the next one on my list.

Great work, you guys. Much appreciated.

[David]

Thanks for doing this! At least half of these were on my to-read list. I also get April off, which I'll probably need if I'm not going to fall behind on my current reading commitments.

Ahhh! I've been deliberately putting off reading The Wise Man's Fear The Name of the Wind until the series is finished, because I don't want to join the angry mob with pitchforks demanding that he write faster. What to do, what to do?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

David wrote: "Thanks for doing this! At least half of these were on my to-read list. I also get April off, which I'll probably need if I'm not going to fall behind on my current reading commitments.

Ahhh! I've ..."

One of us. One of us. One of us.

[Chris]

I don't want to throw a wrench in the works, but I think you missed Cloud Atlas with 15 votes.

Looking forward to the rest of the year!

[Sarah]

Chris wrote: "I don't want to throw a wrench in the works, but I think you missed Cloud Atlas with 15 votes.

Looking forward to the rest of the year!"

For some reason the spreadsheet was showing that as 14. I'll put that in in place of Master & Margarita. Thanks, Chris.

[Hillary]

Thanks for organizing! I'm excited to see the Ancillary books on for March & April -- those are both on my list. Wind-up Girl is one I keep picking up & putting down, so seeing that one on the schedule gives me a little extra incentive.

[Ellen]

I've read 7 of the books on the list in the last 6 months. I won't try American Gods again ( tried but not for me).
I have March off which will give me more time to finish Seveneves