2019 Bookshelf Rereads

[DivaDiane]

Count me in on All Clear too.

[Bfgdhrubo]

I am following the polling and I dearly hope that fellowship makes it. I was 15 when I read it and have been putting off reading it for so long.

Bonus I have the rob inglis audiobooks as well. I am thinking of reading while listening. Has anyone actually done that?

I am doing it with The Silmarillion right now and I just find that it makes it easier to read.

Cheers.

[Beth]

Bfgdhrubo wrote: "Bonus I have the rob inglis audiobooks as well. I am thinking of reading while listening. Has anyone actually done that?"

I'm currently doing that with Gardens of the Moon, but usually it's one or the other. I have the Inglis-narrated Fellowship as well, and suspect I wouldn't be able to slog through that book in any other way.

I'm up for All Clear as long as I enjoy Blackout enough to go through with it!

[Anna]

Voting is closed! Results below.
Come to the BR thread to talk about the schedule.

21 The Blade Itself (517)
19 Embassytown (345)
18 A Night in the Lonesome October (280)
17 The Fellowship of the Ring (398)
16 Blackout (610)
16 The Graveyard Book (312)

[Anna]

While we wait for the schedule to be confirmed, is everyone happy with how we're doing this? We will still continue doing the Google Forms poll, but are you happy with voting four times a year? Should we go back to two polls per year? We're doing this for you, so please chime in with any suggestions!

[Gabi]

I like the four votings, cause I love the dynamics on the polls. And having them four times instead of two times is fun!

[Anna]

Haha Gabi! :D Good to know we're providing entertainment via Google Forms!

[Gabi]

Anna wrote: "Haha Gabi! :D Good to know we're providing entertainment via Google Forms!"

XD I must admit that I don't care so much which book makes it or not (I read the ones I don't know and that's it), but I really enjoy the interaction here in this thread.

[Jemppu]

Same. I tend to be open to reading what ever the collective decides. The polls provide nice activity (and do actually engage you in thinking *somewhat* about what you'd like to see make it to the top).

[CBRetriever]

Anna wrote: "While we wait for the schedule to be confirmed, is everyone happy with how we're doing this? We will still continue doing the Google Forms poll, but are you happy with voting four times a year? Sho..."

I'm content with it even though my nominations and seconds never seem to win

[Chris]

Would it be a lot of trouble to output the poll results to a spreadsheet? The current formatting is terrible. I haven't worked with Google Forms. I know it's possible, but it might be a pain to do.

[Anna]

I do have the poll results in a spreadsheet already, so I could maybe make an automatically updating copy of just the results without the actual votes. I'll put it on the list!

[Chris]

Great, thanks!

[Anna]

Here's the Oct-Dec schedule:


October 1st:
A Night in the Lonesome October (280) (one chapter per day)

October 15th:
Blackout (610)
All Clear (656) buddy read

November 15th:
The Graveyard Book (312)
The Blade Itself (517)

December 15th:
Embassytown (345)
The Fellowship of the Ring (398)

[Beth]

I like the current format of voting every quarter. Six months in advance is a little too far to be practical; three months keeps the discussions lively and timely.

I know it's not a perfect solution for the mods, but I also like the bookshelf rereads being planned and included in the BR thread and list. Makes it much easier to figure out what side reads I want to join or coordinate. In short, the way it is now works great for me!

[Anna]

The only tiny problem with having the rereads on the BR list is the different discussion format, but the spreadsheet is now set up for that, so it's not really a problem at all!

[Meredith]

If anyone's still interested in Swords and Deviltry, I'm going to suggest it on the Buddy Read thread. I want to read it for the Time Traveler challenge (1970s are my last needed decade!).

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Woo hoo! Thanks. I happy with the list, but was feeling sad it didn't make the final cut, but then realized I can read it all by myself, but now I can have buddies!

Honestly, these polls get emotional near the end.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

haha! It's really high stakes, I get it!

[Meredith]

Melanie wrote: "Woo hoo! Thanks. I happy with the list, but was feeling sad it didn't make the final cut, but then realized I can read it all by myself, but now I can have buddies!

Honestly, these polls get emoti..."

I hear that! I was all set to just read it on my own when I thought I'd put the call out for buddies, and voila! Buddies appear! :)

[Anna]

Get ready for this month's rereads!


September 15th:
The Black Prism >> First impressions | Final thoughts
Red Mars >> First impressions | Final thoughts

October 1st:
A Night in the Lonesome October (One chapter per day)

Are you planning on joining the Lonesome October daily read? You totally should, reading it this way is lots of fun! Now is the time to make sure you'll have the book by October 1st, since there is no ebook available in the US. Check your libraries!

[Jen]

I had trouble finding A Night in the Lonesome October, so I just bought a copy from Powell's, that's the only non-Amazon place I could find it.

[Gabi]

I have my copy already waiting here. I'm looking forward to the fun.

[DivaDiane]

I got my ebook a few weeks ago. It’s available on Amazon UK. Are you sure it’s not on the US site? (Goes off to have a look-see) But it IS available in paperBack for $16.99 and Kindle for $3.23.

[Anna]

Well people in the US say it's not available, and since I'm not there, I have to believe them!

edit: Meaning it is on Amazon.com, but not available to people who live in the US.

[Raucous]

Diane wrote: "I got my ebook a few weeks ago. It’s available on Amazon UK. Are you sure it’s not on the US site?..."

Nope. I did see when I was looking for an eBook version of A Night in the Lonesome October that the one issued in 2016 was "Not available to readers in USA/Canada." So I guess that there's a rights issue there? Zelazny's estate was... complicated.

[CBRetriever]

Diane wrote: "I got my ebook a few weeks ago. It’s available on Amazon UK. Are you sure it’s not on the US site? (Goes off to have a look-see) But it IS available in paperBack for $16.99 and Kindle for $3.23."

I checked - it's not

[DivaDiane]

How weird. Well sorry about that.

[YouKneeK]

Regarding A Night in the Lonesome October, I ended up purchasing a physical copy, something I never do for fiction. It should be here by sometime next week. My library system has only one copy, and I want to follow the chapter-a-day plan. I didn’t want to rely on the book still being available by the time I was ready to start it, and I refuse to hoard the library’s only copy for the entire month of October for my own selfish purposes.

I already had a similar situation for another book I want to read soon, except that this other book isn’t in my library system at all in addition to not being available as an e-book. So I decided to just go ahead and purchase both books. Somehow it’s easier to make an exception for two books rather than only one.

[Maggie]

:( I have already read all six of those.....
Oh well, gives me no excusae not to get into Red Mars

[Anna]

September 15th:
The Black Prism >> First impressions | Final thoughts
Red Mars >> First impressions | Final thoughts

[Jacqueline]

I just found A Night in the Lonesome October on my computer in with stuff I downloaded years ago. Score :)

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Night in the Lonesome October is now available on Kindle Unlimited?? When we were voting is wasn't available on ebook at all.

[Anna]

Wrong book/author! We’re reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Anna wrote: "Wrong book/author! We’re reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny."

thanks!

[Anna]

October's rereads are a little different. If for some strange reason you haven't yet noticed the Lonesome October daily read thread, the link is below.

And then we have Blackout/All Clear, the latter doesn't have a set start date, but feel free to move to the All Clear BR thread once you finish Blackout.

October 1st:
A Night in the Lonesome October >> Daily Read

October 15th:
Blackout >> First impressions | Final thoughts
All Clear >> Buddy read discussion

[Anna]

It's time to vote for 2020 rereads! :o You have until November 25th.

VOTE HERE

Once we have enough votes, I'll post the link to the results spreadsheet, and I'll also post regular updates here, like before.

[Beth]

Placed my first round of votes and am willing to either follow or push an agenda if the price is right!

[Anthony]

Nine Princes in Amber, anyone? And lots and lots of others...

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Seriously, you have no idea how much the campaigning on votes replenishes my energy. Let the chaos begin!!

Already voted for Nine Princes :D

[Amanda]

LOL, I voted and then realized I had completely skipped over Nine Princes. It's fixed now. :-)

[Anthony]

Ok here are more to chew on:

I am eager to read more CJ Cherryh after I loved Downbelow Station, so let’s get Foreigner in there.

I keep waiting for one of the silkpunk novels to knock me out, and maybe The Grace of Kings will do that?

After loving my first encounter with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, I’d love to read the first entry in the tales of another legendary sword and sorcery character, Drizz’t, so how’s about Homeland?

Folks seem to really love the Expanse a lot, and I’d love to see what they’re talking about by reading Leviathan Wakes.

Any takers?

[Beth]

I'll get on the stump early for:

Dawn or Wild Seed - not picky, I haven't read either

Snow Crash - a long-time favorite that I'd love to read for the third time, with company :)

Legend - never read a Gemmell and I'm curious!

[Eva]

I loved Gemmell's Legend as a teenager, it inspired me to be strong and stick to my own principles in a difficult time. I'm sure if I read it today, I would probably notice that it was his first novel and has all kinds of flaws, but there are just those special books that had such a big impact on your life that you'll always be grateful and you don't care about their flaws. :D

Snow Crash: I voted for this one, would love to give it a try! I'm finding Seveneves very long and slow, though - does Snow Crash have a faster pace?

Nine Princes in Amber: Anthony's wish is my command - I dutifully voted for it not knowing anything about it. :D

[Oleksandr]

Anthony wrote: "Ok here are more to chew on:"

Voted for all

[Jemppu]

Anthony wrote: "Ok here are more to chew on:

I am eager to read more CJ Cherryh after I loved Downbelow Station, so let’s get Foreigner in there...

I'm definitely down for Foreigner and Homeland. And intrigued by the hype for Expanse as well.

[Anna]

Results in spreadsheet
Sort by votes (on a computer)

[Beth]

Eva wrote: "Snow Crash: I voted for this one, would love to give it a try! I'm finding Seveneves very long and slow, though - does Snow Crash have a faster pace?"

I think so! It's an earlier book and shorter, with lots of crazy stuff going on. We'll just try to ignore the huge essay that takes up a lot of the last third of the book, or the fact that the ending isn't all that great. Maybe these things carry on into his later books and you'll see them in their baby form if you read this one?? :D

[Mareike]

I'll be over here crossing my fingers really hard for The Stars Are Legion, Boneshaker, The Forever War, and The Master and Margarita.

[Anthony]

@Mareike I voted for The Forever War, but at the moment I’m trying to limit my votes for books that I actually own, so I’m not yet ready to vote for those others at the moment, sorry...