2020 Read All the Books: Seven Wonders

[Gabi]

Yup, somehow I decided to not shelf both Gaimans I've read this year on the 2020-group shelf ... ???

[Odette]

Reached my goal of 12 for the year:

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Recursion by Blake Crouch
40000 in Gehenna by C.J. Cherryh
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

woohoo to all of you!

[Jerry-Book]

My Top 15 Science Fiction short stories/novellas that I am re-reading for Facebook group

Flowers for Algerian — Daniel Keyes

Fifth Head of Cerberus — Gene Wolfe

Beggars in Spain — Nancy Kress

Vintage Season — Moore & Kuttner

The Big Front Yard — Clifford Simak

The Ballad of Lost C’Mell — Cordwainer Smith

Last of the Winnebagos — Connie Willis

We can remember it for you wholesale — Philip K. Dick

The Queen of Air & Darkness — Poul Anderson

Sailing to Byzantium — Robert Silverberg

Ugly Chickens — Harold Waldrop

Sound of Thunder — Ray Bradbury

Aye and Gomorrah — Samuel Delaney

I have no mouth and I must scream — Harlan Ellison

The Screwfly Solution — James Tiptree

Sent from my iPhone

[Michelle]

I enjoyed Fifth Head of Cerberus!

[DivaDiane]

Beggars in Spain is considered a novella?!? Or did she right a story that she expanded into a novel. I remember it being thick-ish. Like 300+ pages.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Jerry, I think you meant this for the What Else Are You Reading thread :)

[lanlynk]

Congrats, Gabi & Odette!

TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis sounds good. I've added it to my possible reads for next year. The author's name caught my eye because I just happened to have started her MIRACLE book. It's a collection of offbeat Christmas short stories.

[Anna]

While you can absolutely start with To Say Nothing of the Dog, and in the time of covid-19 maybe you even should, anyone who enjoys Connie Willis and plans to read more of her should technically start with Doomsday Book, to get the background knowledge of how things work. It's not absolutely necessary at all, but I would recommend it if you're planning on reading more of her work anyway :)

[Anna]

Diane wrote: "Beggars in Spain is considered a novella?!? Or did she right a story that she expanded into a novel. I remember it being thick-ish. Like 300+ pages."

I think I remember that it was a novella first, but that might be because many of her other books were started that way? I'm not sure, not caffeinated enough to bother to google :P

[DivaDiane]

LOL, me neither, Anna. I was just surprised.

[lanlynk]

Thanks for the heads-up, Anna. I'll read Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel series in order. Makes sense. :)

[Stephen]

Continuing to chug along, I read The Quantum Thief and The Invisible Library, which gets me to 10/12.

[Rachel]

I completed my goal of 25 books this year over a week ago but haven't been on my computer before now. Here's my list:

1. Dune
2. The House of the Spirits
3. The Goblin Emperor
4. The Island of Doctor Moreau
5. Early Riser
6. The Princess Bride
7. All the Birds in the Sky
8. Elantris
9. The Master and Margarita
10. The Graveyard Book
11. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
12. Charmed Life
13. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
14. Too Like the Lightning
15. Guards! Guards!
16. Rivers of London
17. Gardens of the Moon
18. Fahrenheit 451
19. The Dragon's Path
20. Ready Player One
21. The Martian
22. Pawn of Prophecy
23. Red Rising
24. The Power
25. Red Mars

Favourite fantasy book of the year was 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' least favourite was 'The House of the Spirits'.
Favourite science fiction book of the year was 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and least favourite was 'Too Like the Lightning'.

I'm feeling pretty cross about Hitchhiker's because I thought I wouldn't like it as I didn't enjoy the film as a child. So I didn't bother to read it before and I loved it so much!
My library has been closed for most of the year so I've reading from their e-book collection and the selection isn't the best. I hope to read and participate in the monthly group reads much more next year.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Awesome job and list!! Haha well that must be a pleasant surprise about Hitchhikers, but I also understand the "WHY AM I JUST LEARNING THIS NOW!!" frustration!

[lanlynk]

Impressive list, Rachel. Nice variety too. Congrats!

[Lowell]

I'm not really setting a goal this year, for reasons previously discussed, but I am going to put in "six" as the challenge, just because you never know what is going to happen and I do actually like the reading group books and talking about them, and this seems to be one of the best ways for me to do it. as I read backlogged things from the group shelf, I am just going to post them here and up the goal.



*******READ*******



*******DNFD*******



*******YEAR END SUMMARY*******

Well...

I certainly wasn't wrong to be unambitious this year, but not (entirely) for the reasons I'd previously talked about. My divorce went through the roughest patch through the end of May, but by that time we were deep in Covid-Quarantine, going through a fairly stressful time at my job (mergers are always a pain), and then the stress of being a full time employee AND a parent homeschooling their elementary-aged child... reading for pleasure has been lower on the list and basically has needed to be a low-engagement proposition.

Basically, I read what I wanted this year, and by happy coincidence, the group read a few of them after the fact! But hey, I'll take the win.

I think next year it's time to get ambitious again.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

You did great this year! Take wins where you find them and I'm hopeful that next year is better in all senses for you!

[Raucous]

Lowell wrote: "I'm not really setting a goal this year, for reasons previously discussed, ..."

I'm surprised you found time to read anything given what a year you've had. It's good to hear that it's what you wanted and that the group eventually agreed. I hope that next year improves on this one in all possible ways.

I did set a (very modest) Seven Wonders goal this year but it doesn't look like I'll make it. I'm in the "having trouble focusing" camp that some others have mentioned. Maybe next year.

[John]

John wrote: "choosing author/books not that familiar to me cause this group leads me to some of the best
The Suicide Collectors
The Sword-Edged Blonde
White Cat
Early Riser
All You Need Is Kill

And then the mistake of doing some math. Goal of 26 minus the 24 the group relentlessly adds every year divided into what's left, carrry the one. I'll be done with RATB in 2200.

Completed 3 of 5 and reading All You Need is Kill next based on Alexander's comment..."

And done. Really liked Early Riser and All You Need Is Kill, liked The Suicide Collectors and The Sword-Edged Blonde, White Cat was ok. So RATB and short fiction challenge completed and a total of 133. Really hoping I have less time to complete challenges next year!

[Amanda]

Finished!

Plan was to read 12 books from previous years and then fill in the other 12 with 2020 reads (so 1 per month). My 2020 group reads ended up heavily weighted toward the first half of the year, and I'm pretty sure I swapped out at least half of the books I picked for this to start with, but somehow I still managed to end up with 12 of each.

5 stars:


4 stars:



3 stars:



2 stars:


1 star:

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Wow, great recovery, Amanda! I got a laugh out of some of your picks. Many Colored Land shall live in infamy!

[Anna]

I will never get over Many-Colored Land! I'm still fuming that I swapped it in at the last minute :S

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

There's literally no way we could have known. It's got a crazy high rating!

[Anna]

Yeah but it kills me XD

[lanlynk]

Congrats, John & Amanda!

Allison & Anna, I just read the description of Many-Colored Land and saw the good reviews. I was intrigued enough to read through some of the club discussion comments here. Interesting! Not sure I'll be tempted to read this book now or not. LOL

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I almost love it just for the MST3K-esque conversations it inspired.

Almost.

haha

Please let us know if it worms its way into your head such that you pick it up!

[lanlynk]

Allison said, "I almost love it just for the MST3K-esque conversations it inspired."

Oh no! Now I really am tempted to check it out! HA!

[Chris]

I aimed for 18 and finished 20. That leaves me with a total of 178 out of 319, a bit under 56%.

I seem to have disagreed for the most part with the nominations/wins for the major awards for this set.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Red Country

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Just City, This Alien Shore, Catfishing on CatNet, The Dispossessed (reread)

⭐⭐⭐
Good Omens, The Many-Colored Land, Hollow Kingdom, Gideon the Ninth, The Ghost Bride, The Night Watch, Moon of the Crusted Snow, Recursion, Shadowshaper, The Memory Police

⭐⭐
The City We Became, The Humans, A Memory Called Empire, The Ten Thousand Doors of January

⭐
The Sheep Look Up

[Beth]

12/17: Gideon sneaks in as a group pick I already read this year, bringing my count to five. I hope to finish Last Wish before year's end as well, but we'll see!

Read:


Currently reading:


On deck (for early 2021):

[Christopher]

I had planned to read 24, but only achieved 14 (am planning on 24 again this year, hope springs eternal!) Also, there's a decent chance I finish Gideon in time to get to 15. Here were my ratings:

Monthly Reads:
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (I read the sequel and didn't like it as much, not sure I should read the third, any opinions?)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (already read book two, planning to finish the trilogy in 2021)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (lightweight and fast to read hit the spot back when I read this)
⭐⭐⭐ (memorable and weird, but alien enough to always feel a bit removed, maybe that is more realistic for something set in the far future far from earth, but left me somewhat cold)
⭐⭐ (two stars almost feels generous here, not sure what I liked at all about this, maybe just learning more of the mythology)
⭐⭐ (very dark and not even really sure what I can take away from this, depressing and scary, another where could almost see a one star)
⭐⭐ (readable and believeable teen character, but the story felt a bit silly to me and I ended up speed reading to the ending, no plans to continue)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (fun ride, time travel one of my favorite types of stories, fun to read page turners)
⭐⭐ (started strong, liked the setting and learning about the culture, but dragged on and had a jump the shark moment with the antagonist)
⭐⭐⭐ (replacement level generic fantasy, not bad but not exciting)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (enjoyed this one more than I expected, made me think about things and feeling feelings)
⭐⭐ (westerns are a genre I never really get into, this felt like that, felt dated)

Catch up reads:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (found the matroiska doll nature of this and the imaginative setting to be really intriguing, loved this)
⭐⭐ (heresy I know, I thought there were excellent ideas, but it wasn't fun to read, especially the travelogue section that was way too in depth about the terrain etc for my tastes)

I didn't count them in the total, but I also DNF'ed at various %'s (maybe the highest being somewhere around 60%):
The City We Became, Hollow Kingdown, The Dawnhounds, Servant of the Underworld and the Ten Thousand Doors of January

I found that I had less time for reading than I anticipated this year and also found myself not being able to concentrate on reading at various times.

Looking at the average star rating (counting the DNF's as 1) I had an average of 2.7, which is slightly below average for a random assortment of books with the mode being a disappointing 2. That said, it may have been all worth it for the four 5 star reads I might not have discovered otherwise (one of which was a series so it's sort of a 5++).

Of the books I didn't try, were there any that I should seek out for next year?

[Gabi]

I like these, I wanna do them for my reads as well:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


⭐⭐⭐⭐


(even though I realised while adding that for some of those I can't remember what they were about ... so perhaps I should downrate them in the light of not being memorable over some months ...)

⭐⭐⭐


⭐⭐

[Christopher]

how do you get the nicer star icons? I resorted to asterisks

[Lost Planet Airman]

Christopher wrote: "how do you get the nicer star icons? I resorted to asterisks"

The short way is to copy it from Gabi's post...

The long way (usually my way, I try too hard) is to
-- search "unicode BLAHBLAH emoji", where BLAHBLAH is a similar name to what you want. In this case, "unicode star emoji" gave me some useful pages...
-- Somewhere on the page will be a Unicode reference; here a star is Unicode "U+2B50". Now we translate that to an HTML-readable format:
-- Start with ampersand (&), then hash & x (#x), then the stuff after "U+", and end with a semicolon (;)
        ⭐ becomes
        ⭐
-- BUT, as soon as you finish editing, GR's engines of destruction erases your code, and replaces it with the symbol, so you can't go back to an old message and see what you did....

[Christopher]

thanks

[Alex]

Alright, so just finished my 5th out of 8. I'm in a bit of a pickle now, because I have less than 2 weeks to read Sword of Kaigen, The Humans and Gideon the Ninth. On top of that I'm still missing 19 manga tankoubons for my personal challenge of 2020. This is going to be tight!

[Sarah]

I've hit my goal of 25.

1. Among Others
2. China Mountain Zhang
3. The Ten Thousand Doors of January
4. The Three-Body Problem
5. The Graveyard Book
6. The Martian
7. The Last Wish
8. The Killing Moon
9. Tigana
10. A Darker Shade of Magic
11. The Song of Achilles
12. The Power
13. The Just City
14. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
15. The Ocean at the End of the Lane
16. The Golem and the Djinni
17. To Say Nothing of the Dog
18. Fahrenheit 451
19. The Ghost Bride
20. The Vanished Birds
21. The City We Became
22. Recursion
23. The Bear and the Nightingale
24. Gideon the Ninth
25. The Humans

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Congrats!!

[lanlynk]

Boy, everyone seems to be sprinting to the finish line this past week. Awesome! 👍

[Stephen]

Well, I just finished Three Parts Dead, which makes 12/12.

In chronological order:

Gideon the Ninth
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Guards! Guards!
Assassin's Apprentice
Old Man's War
Witchmark
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Anubis Gates
The Quantum Thief
The Invisible Library
Catseye
Three Parts Dead

Best of the bunch to my taste was The Island of Dr. Moreau and the weakest was Catseye.

[DivaDiane]

Great job, Stephen!

[Megan]

I'm finishing up my year with 10 out of 12, which I'm happy with, because it was all good reading for me.

My favorite from the shelves was The Golem and the Jinni. I'm sorry it sat on my TBR unread for years, but it was really nice to read this during this year, when I really wanted stories about connectedness and communities and how to live as yourself though you're still figuring out who you are.

The book that created the most reading weight for me was This Alien Shore. I've thought so much about it since reading it back in January. The kajas, the way people navigate their different identities, the way connections can be built (and communicated) in neurodiverse ways...the book wasn't perfect for me, but it's left such a deep impression on me. I'm so glad for the series of events that led it to be on our shelf!

[Beth]

I read 13:
The Sheep Look Up
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Seven Surrenders (reread)
Guards! Guards! (reread)
The Fifth Season
Hyperion
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (reread)
The Obelisk Gate
The Stone Sky
The Ghost Bride
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (reread)
Brown Girl in the Ring
Alphabet of Thorn (reread)

and I am finishing up The Fellowship of the Ring which will make 14!

[Meredith]

Last update for the year. My final counts were 23 read and 4 retro-reads picked up that I had read previously. I am at 131 read from the group shelf. I've got two in progress, but I don't think I'll finish either in the next 2 1/2 days.

Since my last update (mid October), I've read:
Moon of the Crusted Snow
Deathless
Ready Player One
Gideon the Ninth
The Humans
Leviathan Wakes

[Ellen]

Met my goal of 50. That brings me to 226 of 319. Too lazy to post all just some highlights
Favorites

Least Favorite

Longest

Seemed like the longest

Cover my family made the most fun of

Read after previously DNF

Reread

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

LOl I love your superlative categories XD

CONGRATS!! That is amazing! So, wait, you're now at 100% of our shelf read?? I guess with the exception of Lonesome, which you may have already counted? Hot damn!

[Ellen]

Allison wrote: "LOl I love your superlative categories XD

CONGRATS!! That is amazing! So, wait, you're now at 100% of our shelf read?? I guess with the exception of Lonesome, which you may have already counted? H..."
No I still have 93 left to read. That will be 95 on 1/1/21. It's going to hard to ever finish because you have to read 24 a year just to break even. (I missed some of the monthlies this year.)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Oh sorry I read too fast! Still extremely impressive!

[DivaDiane]

I can't remember if I posted about my success or not. I think I posted on the 2020 group reads thread. Anyhooo, you'll just have to suffer through if I did already!

I read 17 of 15 (upped from 12 in September maybe?) pledged bookshelf books.

I am in the process of reading 3 more, but I will not finish any of them before midnight tonight.

They were (ranked and in order read):

*****
Embassytown
This Alien Shore
The Way of Kings (audio)
The Farthest Shore (reread - aloud to my son)
The Fifth Season
Kindred (audio)
Dreamsnake (reread-audio)
The Humans

****
Watchmen
The Three-Body Problem (audio)
Dragonflight
Forty Thousand in Gehenna
Servant of the Underworld
Shadowshaper (audio)
1Q84 (audio)

***
Nine Princes in Amber
Moon of the Crusted Snow

Looking at that now, I recognize that there is a huge spectrum of *how* much of a 4-star or 3-star book that was. There are a number of books I gave 4 stars, which were 3.5-stars rounded up and some that were 4.5 rounded down. Also I preferred Moon of the Crusted Snow waaaay more that Nine Princes of Amber, such that I'm considering promoting Moon to 4 stars. Argh. I hate this rating system.

Also, I entered the 100 clubhouse under false pretenses. I hang my head in shame. I discovered I had a number of books on my shelves twice and have now removed them, but that puts me at 94 book. I hope you'll let me in this year when I finally pass 100.

[Alex]

I did not make the goal. I’m at 6 out of 8, but considering I joined at the tail end of October I think I was overreaching. I finished my personal challenge of 75 total reads this year though.