2017 Group Bookshelf Challenge Reading Calendar

[Hank]

Chris wrote: "David wrote: "Should I plan on finding time to read All Clear after Blackout?"

Blackout and All Clear are one story chopped in half for publishing reasons."

And poorly chopped in half, in my opinion. I swear they just stopped mid sentence.

[Sarah]

Here we go with this month's threads.

Ancillary Sword
"Ancillary Sword" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Ancillary Sword" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

The Aeronaut's Windlass
"The Aeronaut's Windlass" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"The Aeronaut's Windlass" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[J.]

Okay, I have my copy of Ancillary Sword. Started reading it today. Is there a place where any discussion will take place?

[Sarah]

Yep, the threads in the links above will be where we discuss it.

[Michele]

Dune is up for May, is that right?

[Sarah]

Yep, it's Dune and Windup Girl in May.

[Sarah]

Oh, no! I forgot the threads on the 10th. Here they are:

Dune
"Dune" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Dune" Finished *Spoilers*

The Windup Girl
"The Windup Girl" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"The Windup Girl" Loved It? Hated It? Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[Sarah]

Okay, here are the June links:

Blackout
"Blackout" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Blackout" Read it! *Spoilers*
"Blackout" A dash of History with your Blackout Tea?

The Left Hand of Darkness
"The Left Hand of Darkness" the obligatory first impressions topic *No Spoilers*
"The Left Hand of Darkness" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*
"The Left Hand of Darkness" Sex and Gender *Possible Spoilers*

The spoiler thread for Left Hand is new since there wasn't one specific to that.

Are we going to want a thread for All Clear? It would be a Side Read and would have only one thread. It could be either full spoilers or marked spoilers.

[Monica]

Speaking of side reads, would anyone be interested in a side read of Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler? This is the sequel to Dawn on our bookshelves. We were thinking of starting July 20th and can open a thread if there is any interest.

[Lata]

Monica wrote: "Speaking of side reads, would anyone be interested in a side read of Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler? This is the sequel to Dawn on our bookshelves. W..."

Hi Monica, I'd be interested in reading Xenogenesis #2. This would be a good incentive for me to read book 1 also by then (I have a bad habit of buying books then not reading them for years.)

[Michael]

I am in for Adulthood Rites, thanks Monica! (I'm one of the "we" Monica said was looking at July 20 for a start date.) I have both eagerness and trepidation at the thought of this sequel...

[David]

I've got too much on my plate to commit... I'm already not keeping up with the things I wanted to read for this group.

I read Dawn almost 20 years ago, so long ago that I only vaguely remember the themes. Can Adulthood Rites be fully enjoyed with such a vague recollection of Dawn?

[Monica]

David wrote: "Can Adulthood Rites be fully enjoyed with such a vague recollection of Dawn?"

I read Dawn about 3 years ago and what I remember is creepy but intriguing. I think this one will be similar.

Lata wrote: "I'd be interested in reading Xenogenesis #2."

Lata that would be great!! Dawn was a fast read and I was surprised by how good it was. But it was unsettling...

[Sarah]

Here are July's links:

The Wise Man's Fear
"The Wise Man's Fear" First Thoughts *No Spoilers*
"The Wise Man's Fear" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" First Thoughts *No Spoilers*
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?+ - Have You Finished?
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" The many, many, many other threads for this book

There was no appropriate spoiler free thread for Electric Sheep so I created a new one. There are an absolute ton of threads for this book so rather than pick through them I attached a link above to all of the threads.

[Ellen]

I am so far behind with the group reads this year!! Don't know when I'll get to these.

[Sarah]

I may have to reread Do Androids Dream. It was such a delightful book.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

If I finish the club uh...front reads in a timely manner, I may hop to Do Androids Dream. But I have a Plan this year, and I should really also finish that plan, like someone who can commit to things.

[Sarah]

How about if I tempt you by pointing out how short it is?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Sarah Anne wrote: "How about if I tempt you by pointing out how short it is?"

...I'm not sure if the correct term for someone who says things like that is "temptress" or "enabler."

*moves around book Plan to put Do Androids Dream next in line.*

[Sarah]

Lol! It's such a wonderful book that I feel a little enabling is necessary.

For your own good, of course 😜

[David]

I've been doing a terrible job of keeping up, but fortunately my IRL book club also picked Do Androids Dream for this month. Hopefully that should be enough to motivate me to get with the program.

[Michael]

Are those of you who are interested in Adulthood Rites still available to start reading on July 20? Should I (or someone) start the thread in the Side Reads folder?

[Lata]

I'm still interested in reading Adulthood Rites, starting on July 20.

[Katy]

Sarah Anne wrote: "I may have to reread Do Androids Dream. It was such a delightful book."

I may just need to add it to this month. I've never read it -- but keep meaning to do so.

[Michael]

I've started a discussion thread for Adulthood Rites in the side reads folder:

Side Reads thread for Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler

I should be able to start this book tonight. Anybody who wants to join us, please do!

[Lata]

Thanks, Michael, I'll be starting Adulthood rites this weekend.

[Sarah]

Here are our August links:

Red Rising
"Red Rising" First Thoughts
"Red Rising" Full Discussion *Spoilers*

The Final Empire
"Mistborn: The Final Empire" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"Mistborn: The Final Empire" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[Sarah]

Here are the September links.

The Blade Itself
"The Blade Itself" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
"The Blade Itself" Likeable and Unlikeable Characters *Possible Spoilers*
"The Blade Itself" Finished Book Discussion *Spoilers*

The Three-Body Problem
"The Three-Body Problem" First Thoughts *No Spoilers*
"The Three-Body Problem" Final Thoughts *Spoilers*

[Chris]

I started The Three-Body Problem recently, and The Blade Itself is next on my list. Looking forward to the discussions.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Chris wrote: "I started The Three-Body Problem recently, and The Blade Itself is next on my list. Looking forward to the discussions."

The Three Body Problem is a book I thought I didn't like when I read it, but it has set with me over time and I'm still contemplating it 2 years later.

[Sarah]

Edwin and I are gossiping about you guys trying to come up with a plan that works for this.

Who regularly participated this year? I have no idea of that will help us but it's worth a try.

[Hank]

Not me unfortunately. I think I have read everything that I am going to from the shelf except new ones.

[Christopher]

I had already read: Seveneves, Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Dune, and The Wise Man's Fear.

I started but DNF: I, Robot, Doomsday Book, The Windup Girl, The Final Empire, and the Three Body Problem. (Of those I definitely plan to finish Robot and Empire, unclear on the rest).

I read this year: The Color of Magic and Red Rising, both of which I enjoyed although not sure I commented or not here, if I haven't I'll make sure to comment sometime soon.

For upcoming books I own The Blade Itself but am not sure if I'll get to it soon or not.

I've already read Girl with all the Gifts, American Gods, Assasins Apprentice, and Goblin Empreror.

I tried to start Cloud Atlas this year, but had a tough time getting into it.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I did Aeronaut's Windlass and Do Androids Dream. Will likely also do American Gods and chat about Goblin Emperor. The rest I'd read some other time, or was not super interested in at the moment.

For me, I really liked when a subgroup of us read Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders together. It was more of an immediate reaction and then talk down, which worked well for how I absorb books. When the book of the month comes up, I feel invested because several of my friends are all reading it at once, and I don't like being left behind in the conversations.So, for these side reads which are less urgent, maybe it's a good time to facilitate a "deeper dive?" Maybe someone who loved the book and wants to keep talking about it would like to put forward some topics for us to discuss upon completion, or set up a space to have reactions at chapter ends?

Also I personally don't like committing more than 1000 pages a month to group obligations. More than that stresses me out, so if our BOTM books are door stops, I am less likely to commit to a side read with the group.

[Sarah]

What do you guys think of not letting books that won the prior year in? Some seem to end up on the list every year.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Makes sense to me

[Chris]

Sarah Anne wrote: "What do you guys think of not letting books that won the prior year in? Some seem to end up on the list every year."

I've thought about such a restriction. From a purely selfish perspective, it would serve me well. However, I think that new people join the group all the time. If (and only if) a few repeating favorites get them involved in reading and discussion, that would be a good thing. If they aren't discussing the books, the lack of participation is the real problem, regardless of which books are selected.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I dunno, I think one year could be fine. There are lots of books, and if we re-read something annually, we're going to get diminishing returns on new discussion.

[Sarah]

I think Doomsday Book has been on three years in a row.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Sarah Anne wrote: "What do you guys think of not letting books that won the prior year in? Some seem to end up on the list every year."

That is a very good idea, but I agree 1 year is probably better than 3. New members join all the time.

I had to take a second job, so my reading dropped way down recently. Plus I don't re-read books very often. If a book I've already read is picked, I usually skip it.

Another reason I've read less of these selections is that not every month had a fantasy selection. I just seem to prefer that genre and when I'm stressed for time I try to pick books I know I'll like.

[Chris]

I think some kind of discussion leader system would work best. I also think that what people say they will do is generally of little predictive value in 12 months. That means we would have to make selections closer to the time of reading. Maybe do a quarterly schedule.

[Sarah]

A quarterly schedule or quarterly voting?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Sarah Anne wrote: "A quarterly schedule or quarterly voting?"

Wouldn't that be both, then? Voting in December, February, May, and August for the books for the next 3 months?

[Sarah]

We could also do the voting once per year and then just do a quarterly schedule. This year were did voting for two months so we would have to change things a bit for quarterly voting.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Oh, I see. I personally prefer a little more flexibility--I think there are fads, either due to TV/movies coming out or new books being announced etc, that might be good to capitalize on. We voted 2 months at a time this year? I thought we had a whole schedule in January.

[Sarah]

We voted Nov 15th to Jan 15th for the whole year.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

AHA! I am now fully on the same page as you. Sorry! It's coffee o'clock. Yes, I agree with Chris that we are not likely to be super trustworthy about our future interests all at once. I'm not, at least.

[Chris]

One (non-binding) vote is fine. I'd like to be able to see names.

[Sarah]

I don't think it gave us any info on names.

What about voting every six months one month? Not that I want to make this more difficult for Edwin and I but I would love to get participation up. It seems silly to make a schedule and then nobody joins in.

[Sabrina]

Just to add my opinion: I voted, but only one of my books got in, so that's the only month I participated. I think twice a year would be good, but maybe with a restriction on books, I need to read the less familiar ones...