how many S&L books had you read this year before they were announced? (Final Count)

[Christos]

When I first joined S&L I had never heard of 99% of the picks, this year I had read 4 out of 8 of the picks before they were announced so far this year. How many has everyone else read? I read HP1, Martian Chronicles, Last Unicorn and Poppy War

[Trike]

I don’t even know how to easily check that. I guess I’ll go one by one. Probably most of the ones I have read were classics, as I’ve been reading SFF since the early 70s. Hashtag old guy.

I also read Hoary Putter (British pronunciation), Martian Chronicles, and Poppy War.

Looking at the bookshelf I see I read 41 books before they were club picks.

List: (view spoiler)[Calculating Stars, Theft of Swords, Slan, Jade City, Frankenstein, Left Hand of Darkness, Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Sword of Shannara, Canticle for Leibowitz, The Sparrow, DADoES, Neuromancer, Stories of Your Life, Dawn, The Martian, Altered Carbon, Demolished Man, Ringworld, Wool, Dragonflight, Old Man’s War, Hobbit, Foundation, Leviathan Wakes, Hyperion, Ready Player One, Flashforward, Fuzzy Nation, Good Omens, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, World War Z, Ender’s Game, Childhood’s End, Watership Down, Dune, Daemon, Forever War, Game of Thrones. (hide spoiler)]

More importantly, the number of books I’ve read BECAUSE of this book club is — huh, 41. Interesting coincidence. Cool.

[Christos]

I don’t mean total I meant how many books that S&L picked this year so far there are 8 we don’t know the last 4

[Trike]

Christos wrote: "I don’t mean total I meant how many books that S&L picked this year so far there are 8 we don’t know the last 4"

Well then my post is value-added. No extra charge. You’re welcome.😂

[Trike]

But this year it’s 5/8.

[Scott]

I’m 3/8. I read Calculating Stars, Harry Potter, and now Poppy War before the group. Definitely a new high for me in the 4 years I’ve been reading along with the group

[Bryan]

Just one Harry Potter for me, now have we read books that were on my list to read yes, several. Have I also read many books that I have really enjoyed, yes. The most recent example is Jade War the next in series to Aug 2018 Pick of Jade City. I enjoyed it so much I pre-ordered and completed listening to Jade War today (Release day).

[Joanna]

6/8, you have been faster with Theft of Swords and Poppy War.
I started to listen to the podcast around Circe last year, so counting form then it would be 3/7.

[Colin]

3 out of 8 so far. After a couple of years hanging around the 'What else are you reading' threads, I feel a lot more tuned into what's currently trending in SF&F. So even if I haven't read the picks already I'm much more likely to have heard of them before they get selected.

Tom and Veronica have a tough job trying to pick fresh ideas!

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

2. I had read Harry Potter and Theft of Swords.

[David H.]

Three and a half: Harry Potter, The Martian Chronicles, The Last Unicorn, and the first half of Theft of Swords (I read The Crown Conspiracy on its own).

I think The Calculating Stars was the only one I read *for* book club, but I actually had another book club read TCS for the same exact month, so that was a nice two-birds-with-one-stone situation.

[Ruth]

3/8 for me too: Ninefox Gambit, HP1, and now The Poppy War.

I’ve definitely been keeping up more with contemporary SFF since starting to follow the podcast, so even though I read Ninefox Gambit and Poppy War in advance of them becoming official picks, I probably wouldn’t have picked them up without hearing the buzz around them on the podcast and in these forums.

[Joseph]

5/8, although in most cases it's been years or decades since I actually read the books that made the monthly picks.

I did end up reading The Calculating Stars after it had been a pick, but that's because it was a Hugo nominee.

[Laura]

Two for me - 'Harry Potter' and 'The Last Unicorn'

[Rob, Roberator]

5/8. All but The Last Unicorn, Vessel and now The Poppy War. So it was the first 5 picks of the year, and I only reread one of them (Theft of Swords).

[Mark]

3/8 Ninefox Gambit, HP1 and The Martian Chronicles

[Caitlin]

Only Harry Potter

[Silvana]

4/8: Harry Potter, The Calculating Stars, Ninefox Gambit and The Poppy War.

Pretty much a record ever since I joined.

[AndrewP]

Three. Harry Potter, The Last Unicorn and The Martian Chronicles

[Minsta]

Harry Potter was the only one for me this year (so far)

[Mark]

so far, average number of picks read before they become S&L picks is 3.2/8

[terpkristin]

1/4 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Theft of Swords.

[Molly]

Harry Potter, The Martian Chronicles, and The Poppy War for me. I know there have been several over the years that I've already read, but I'm too lazy to go back and crunch the numbers. I'm generally more likely to have read the fantasy picks than the sci fi, and I'm more up to date on new releases than classics.

[Sheila Jean]

4/8 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Theft of Swords, The Last Unicorn, and The Poppy War

I reread Harry Potter (audio this time vs. print) and Theft of Swords. I'll probably just move onto the The Dragon Republic rather than reread The Poppy War since that was more recent.

[Jessica]

Jumping in late to say I had already read 4/9 for this year, now that we're in September: Ninefox Gambit, Harry Potter, The Poppy War, and Trail of Lightning.

[Trike]

Trail of Lightning makes me 7 of 9.

I don’t look nearly as good in a jumpsuit as Jeri Ryan, though.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Trike wrote: "Trail of Lightning makes me 7 of 9.

I don’t look nearly as good in a jumpsuit as Jeri Ryan, though."

My number blindness (not a real thing - I just auto-skip numbers because they are meaningless to me) made me gawp at that for a good long while before I read it again and guffawed! Now picturing a tricycle in a jumpsuit.

[Jessica]

Trike wrote: "Trail of Lightning makes me 7 of 9.

I don’t look nearly as good in a jumpsuit as Jeri Ryan, though."

Ha!

[Anne]

I had read the classics, Harry Potter, The Last Unicorn and The Martian Chronicles, so 3 out of 9. I didn't reread any of them for various reasons and enjoyed the chance to catch up with other stuff I meant to read.

[Christos]

5/11 now counting Snow Queen

[John (Taloni)]

Just took a look and it seems I'm 9/10. Wasn't interested in SBiB and at 600 pages, too long for a casual check.

I feel like I should get extra credit though as I read most of the series' that followed. :) Except for Harry Potter, which for some reason never grabbed me. Plus Rowling is a snob about Fantasy which she says Harry Potter isn't.

Edited to add: Apparently my brain doesn't engage before coffee. I had read two before they were announced, Martian Chronicles and The Last Unicorn. I could delete, but...*shrug*

[Christos]

Final count I read 6/12 S&L picks this year before they were announced. How many has everyone else read? I read Harry Potter, Martian Chronicles, Last Unicorn, Poppy War, Hogfather and Snow Queen.

[Silvana]

6/12 for me

[Rob, Roberator]

5/12, but they were the first 5 of the year:

Ninefox, Calculating Stars, HP, Theft of Swords, Martian Chronicles

[Trike]

Still 7 for me. I might take partial credit for Hogsfather since I watched the BBC adaptation. Call it 7.25.

[Gary]

3/12 for me. There are two more that were on my to-read list before I saw the list. I better get reading.

[Mark]

4 of 12 for me. Ninefox Gambit, HP1,Martian Chronicles and Trail of Lightning.

I've been struggling with the Snow Queen, but Hogfather looks interesting.