2020 Bookshelf Rereads

[Anna]

We'll leave it as is for this round, but I can change it for next time, if everyone agrees on how it should look like :)

[YouKneeK]

I really think we should add more creativity to our lists.
* Option M[inimalist]: atu
* Option R[everse]: (p334) neesnU eht filA
* Option S[cramble]: The 433 Alif p Unseen
* Option CRY[ptogram]: ENOH GFY KXJYYX

In all seriousness, I couldn’t care less – I’m rarely bothered by the aesthetics of something as long as it has the desired content. I gave up on voting a couple rounds ago anyway. I only vote for (and usually only join in for) standalones, and I think by this point I’ve read the majority of the more popular standalones that people tend to vote for. I’ve usually read all the ones that are winning lately, but I can still enjoy reading the discussions.

Of the first 13 books on the most recently-posted list, I’ve read all but 2. I was planning on reading The Underground Railroad sometime this summer, and since it’s a standalone I could easily rearrange my schedule to fit it in during whichever month it gets scheduled if it wins. So I went over and added a vote for that one.

I also have The Bear and the Nightingale on my tentative reading schedule for late-summer-ish, so I may join in if that wins, but I’m not going to vote for it since I can’t guarantee the timing would work out for me to join in.

[Anna]

lol, maybe I'll hand over the list to you, YouKneeK, and we'll spend the month trying to figure out which books won! :D

[YouKneeK]

I’m partial to option CRY myself, but I think it would be too easy to crack if we used the same code for all the books on the list. Maybe 6 different codes, randomly chosen for each book based on a die roll. O;)

[Anna]

Top 6 will become our rereads for July-September
VOTE HERE until May 25th
Live results in spreadsheet / GR links to all books here

19 The Bear and the Nightingale (322p)
17 Alif the Unseen (433p)
16 The Color of Magic (228p)
15 Dawn (248p)
15 The Fifth Season (468p)

14 City of Bones (488p)
14 Cloud Atlas (509p)
14 Fahrenheit 451 (238p)
14 A Wizard of Earthsea (183p)

13 Neverwhere (370p)
13 The Ocean at the End of the Lane (178p)
13 Station Eleven (336p)
13 The Underground Railroad (306p)

12 Doomsday Book (578p)
12 Oryx and Crake (400p)
12 The Princess Bride (398p)

11 Among Others (304p)
11 Anansi Boys (384p)
11 Brave New World (268p)
11 Guards! Guards! (376p)
11 Leviathan Wakes (561p)
11 The Night Circus (400p)
11 Rivers of London (Midnight Riot) (310p)

10 The Caves of Steel (206p)
10 Frankenstein (273p)
10 The Girl with All the Gifts (460p)
10 Good Omens (430p)
10 I, Robot (225p)
10 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (1006p)
10 The Martian (369p)
10 A Natural History of Dragons (334p)
10 Seveneves (881p)
10 Warbreaker (688p)
10 Watership Down (478p)
10 Wild Seed (320p)
10 The Word for World is Forest (160p)

9 Alphabet of Thorn (291p)
9 The Anubis Gates (387p)
9 Artemis (305p)
9 Assassin's Apprentice (480p)
9 Boneshaker (416p)
9 Childhood's End (224p)
9 Foreigner (428p)
9 Grass (544p)
9 His Majesty's Dragon (353p)
9 Hyperion (483p)
9 I Am Legend (160p)
9 The Last Policeman (322p)
9 Mort (243p)
9 Ninefox Gambit (384p)
9 Snow Crash (470p)
9 The Snow Queen (448p)
9 Soulless (365p)
9 To Say Nothing of the Dog (493p)
9 The Yiddish Policeman's Union (414p)

[Cheryl]

The newsletter seemed to be telling me I could vote for Golem and Jinni but I didn't see it on the poll...?

[Cheryl]

Btw, very cheering & creative newsletter, thank you both!

[YouKneeK]

Cheryl wrote: "The newsletter seemed to be telling me I could vote for Golem and Jinni but I didn't see it on the poll...?"

The Golem and the Jinni is the current April 15 – May 14 re-read.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Can I cast my vote for more than one book? How many?

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

As many as you like, montagner.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Done!
Thanks.

[Lost Planet Airman]

Diane wrote: "Can someone please vote for Fifth Season? Or a few of you? I’m obviously not the only person who hasn’t read it yet, but I already voted for it so my hands are tied. I suppose I could un-vote for s..."

If, in return, you could throw a quid pro quo vote in for Dawn, that would be great!

[[deleted user]]

I'm new to the group and have only read 25ish books off of the Bookshelf, so I have a lot of ground to catch up on, and voted for a bunch of them that I had just added to my TBR list after joining the group :)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Woohoo! I like both the buying and selling of votes and the much more "working as intended" method where people select books they haven't had a chance to read yet!

ZeeJane, it is important to note that we VERY MUCH ENCOURAGE campaigning, so if you have any you're particularly hoping to read and they're not yet in the top 6, feel free to make your case for why we should read them!!

[DivaDiane]

Of course, Mike, but I’ve already voted for Dawn!

[Cheryl]

YouKneeK wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "The newsletter seemed to be telling me I could vote for Golem and Jinni but I didn't see it on the poll...?"

The Golem and the Jinni is the current April 15 – May 14 re-read."

Ack. Well, hm... In any case, thank you, sorry I missed learning about that. I'm so bad at keeping track of things.

[Cheryl]

Oh, and maybe I should edit my votes to include Fifth Season. How hard is it to edit? Would all my previous choices be lost?

[Anna]

No it opens with your earlier votes checked and you can add and scroll down to save!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Ah, sorry, Cheryl! I just saw your posts earlier. Yes! I list the books that are selected for the current and upcoming (that span the month we're starting).

And thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it this month :D

[Cheryl]

Allison, I always enjoy the newsletter. This month especially, even though I didn't read carefully enough.

Anna, thanks, I'll go add Fifth Season to my choices.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Campaigning?
Ha!

I'm taking the re-read already in progress as a chance to finally approach LeGuin's Hainish Cycle (cue The Word for World Is Forest).
I've voted for trilogies that I've long postponed, i.e. William Gibson's Sprawl and Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch. But at the moment they each need to at least double their votes...
From the look of things, the summer will be a chance to start Xenogenesis, Broken Earth and Earthsea.

What is the group policy toward series in this context?

[Christopher]

Weirdly I didn't get a newsletter for May.

[Anna]

A.G.E. montagner wrote: "What is the group policy toward series in this context?"

If there are more than one book in a series on the shelf, there is no reason why they couldn't all be on the rereads schedule. In general the group doesn't read many sequels anymore, but a series buddy read is always an option.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Yes, a buddy read wuld be option B, thanks.
I'm only going through one SFF saga at any time... at least until I finish my Norse mythology reading project.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Christopher wrote: "Weirdly I didn't get a newsletter for May."

Weird! Did you change any settings on your account? I can send it to you now, if you'd like :D

AGE, yeah, we START a lot of series as a group, but we tend to finish series more individually or with planned buddy reads. Good luck with your project!

[Chris]

If you didn't get the group newsletter, check your account settings. Look at "Who can send me private messages." If you picked "Just my friends," you won't get group messages

[Travis]

Cheryl wrote: "Allison, I always enjoy the newsletter. "

Me too!

[Christopher]

Ok Chris, yes, I had that filter on, I switched it now so anyone can send me messages, thanks.

[Anna]

Top 6 will become our rereads for July-September
VOTE HERE until May 25th
Live results in spreadsheet / GR links to all books here

21 The Bear and the Nightingale (322p)
18 The Fifth Season (468p)
17 Alif the Unseen (433p)
17 A Wizard of Earthsea (183p)
16 The Color of Magic (228p)
16 Dawn (248p)

15 Fahrenheit 451 (238p)
15 Neverwhere (370p)

14 City of Bones (488p)
14 Cloud Atlas (509p)
14 The Ocean at the End of the Lane (178p)

13 Anansi Boys (384p)
13 Oryx and Crake (400p)
13 The Princess Bride (398p)
13 Station Eleven (336p)
13 The Underground Railroad (306p)

12 Among Others (304p)
12 Brave New World (268p)
12 Doomsday Book (578p)
12 Frankenstein (273p)
12 Guards! Guards! (376p)
12 The Martian (369p)
12 A Natural History of Dragons (334p)
12 The Night Circus (400p)

11 The Girl with All the Gifts (460p)
11 Good Omens (430p)
11 His Majesty's Dragon (353p)
11 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (1006p)
11 Leviathan Wakes (561p)
11 Neuromancer (271p)
11 Rivers of London (Midnight Riot) (310p)
11 Seveneves (881p)
11 Watership Down (478p)
11 The Word for World is Forest (160p)

10 Alphabet of Thorn (291p)
10 The Anubis Gates (387p)
10 Artemis (305p)
10 Boneshaker (416p)
10 The Caves of Steel (206p)
10 Foreigner (428p)
10 Hyperion (483p)
10 I, Robot (225p)
10 The Last Policeman (322p)
10 Mort (243p)
10 Ninefox Gambit (384p)
10 Redshirts (320p)
10 Snow Crash (470p)
10 Soulless (365p)
10 To Say Nothing of the Dog (493p)
10 Warbreaker (688p)
10 Wild Seed (320p)

[Bobby]

Oh, Alif the Unseen looks like it's finally got a chance! I've been hoping for it the last couple times. I also own The Fifth season, so that would be nice too. With The Color of Magic, that's 3 I would read if the list ended now.

[CBRetriever]

please bump City of Bones (a virtual cookie for those who do)

[Gabi]

CBRetriever wrote: "please bump City of Bones (a virtual cookie for those who do)"

I already voted for it and I can't de-vote any of the leading ones cause I didn't vote for them (already having read them). So hopefully some gracious souls will take pity on us and help. :D

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

How can I say no to virtual cookies!! Voted for City of Bones and Alif.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Allison wrote: AGE, yeah, we START a lot of series as a group, but we tend to finish series more individually or with planned buddy reads. Good luck with your project!"

Makes sense. Good thing I get to stick with the Hainish for the time being. And thanks!

Allison wrote: "How can I say no to virtual cookies!!"

Indeed. Is there an official bribery protocol for buying votes?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

The official protocol is bribe as much and as flagrantly as you can, provided you'll join in once you win *grin*

[DivaDiane]

I gave some love to the requests I could, but I really can almost never read our rereads when we reread them. Best intentions, but I suck at time managing my reading.

[[deleted user]]

Allison wrote: "Woohoo! I like both the buying and selling of votes and the much more "working as intended" method where people select books they haven't had a chance to read yet!

ZeeJane, it is important to note..."

It would be nice to see The Bear and the Nightingale get picked, since I can get the overdrive/kindle version from my library, (which is closed until the end of the month but electronic books are still available). It's very hit or miss what I can get a hold of right now, but that one is available :)

[Jacqueline]

I'd be happy if the voting stopped today. The only one I haven't got is Alif the Unseen and I haven't read the others yet. I've started The Bear and the Nightingale. I kept looking at Dawn on the shelf at the Beach yesterday and decided that I had enough books in the car already so if that wins can we at least put it in the last month so I have a chance of picking it up before the read.

I've been trying to read more of the rereads and group reads this year. I've read a couple so far.

[Anna]

City of Bones is now in second place!


21 The Bear and the Nightingale (322p)
20 City of Bones (488p)
19 Alif the Unseen (433p)
18 Dawn (248p)
18 The Fifth Season (468p)
18 A Wizard of Earthsea (183p)

[Jemppu]

Let's make that first, while at it.

[a.g.e. montagner]

Now we want virtual cookies.

[CBRetriever]

aha, they'll definitely be virtual since I have no chocolate, no sugar and am missing the rest of the ingredients except for eggs and oatmeal.

Sending out Double Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies to everyone

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

MMM!! Delightful.

Although now I want oatmeal cookies, and, ironically, I have everything except the eggs and oatmeal.

[Anna]

You don't need eggs for cookies!

I was contemplating making cookies just half an hour ago, but ate some chocolate chips instead.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yeah, eggs aren't the part that's bothersome. Oatmeal cookies without oatmeal are a bit trickier haha! I guess I could grind up some nuts...

[Christopher]

That reminds me of the old Polly-O string cheese commercial. "Gimme a pizza but without the tomato sauce... and the crust."

[DivaDiane]

Mmmh! Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies! I think I have to make some tomorrow. Why do eggs seem in such short supply in the US? Chickens lay them everyday whether there’s a lockdown or not. Is there a problem with the supply chain? This is one instance where I’m glad I live in a more rural area and have not had any trouble getting eggs. Flour (of the less gluttony type Spelt, that we use) on the other hand is almost impossible.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

The store usually has eggs when I go, but we're told not to go more than 1 time a week (I go once every other week) and there are restrictions on how many you can buy. So 12 eggs for 2 weeks, every meal at home is...not a great bounty lol. And it's really hard to sign up for delivery because of the wait times around metropolitan areas at least. I think it's 2-3 weeks lag time where I am.

Keeping on topic, City of Bones is the only one I need still to read!

[a.g.e. montagner]

Curious insight into the shortage of fresh eggs in the USA; I'd be interested to discover what the reasons are. I live in northern Italy, probably one of the areas worst hit by the pandemic (and the lockdowns), yet I've seen no changes in the egg supply: I buy directly from an organic producer, but even shops are stocked as before.
Anyway, I'm sure there's a topic for that... this group has a topic for everything and its polar opposite!

I'd campaign for Neuromancer but it seems I'm the only one who hasn't read it. I own the trilogy, which is one more reason to cross it off the list (unlike other books that I am or will be reading digitally); anyone who's down with the Sprawl let's push for it, or plot a buddy read.

[Anna]

Yes, there's a cooking thread in the chat folder!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...