Play Book Tag discussion
April 2020: Science Fiction
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Announcing the Tag for April
Nicole R wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I am considering a SciFi classic that I haven't read:A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr."
I read this one a few years ago and I enjoyed it! But, I did a lot of googling..."
Thanks, Nicole R, I will take your suggestion.
Jen K wrote: "I just need to fine more time to read. Work (even from home) has been intense. ..."Yeah, I worked from home on Friday (first day), and I feel like I have less reading time. My commute is about 1 hr, 15 min each way, so I get a lot of reading done. Plus, sometimes at lunch.
At home (yes, this was my choice, I suppose), I am using my lunch and after work (commute time) to do housework, instead! I will probably do that to catch up on some, then maybe after a while I'll feel like I can "relax" and read a bit while I take lunch and after work.
Like most others, my library has been shut down. So I was hoping for science fiction, since it's the category I have the most of at home. I'm definitely going to read The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. If this shutdown continues, I might also try to read The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.. I've been wanting to for awhile, but I'm scared off by the length, lol.
Now I didn’t expect this! I voted for it as I have heaps I can read but I never thought it would win! I’ve got the next couple of books in a Tanya Huff series to read. That will see me through for a while
Elise wrote: "Oh hey, turns out I do have an unread sci-fi book on my shelves at home! So it'll be The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor for me!"@ Elise-my original plan was Who Fears Death-so I look forward to your review...I admit I am jealous....😞
Jen K wrote: "So 5 of the 15 hardcover books I grabbed from the library before it closed are tagged science-fiction and this doesn't include what is already on my Kindle so I should be good. :)."Ninth House is so good! Enjoy
Aww yisss, Operation Read from My Own Shelves While the Library is Closed is about to get a boost in April!
Joanne wrote: "Jen K wrote: "So 5 of the 15 hardcover books I grabbed from the library before it closed are tagged science-fiction and this doesn't include what is already on my Kindle so I should be good. :)."..."
I was excited to find it!! I've also been toying with trying to add in Who Fears Death. It looks so good!
LibraryCin wrote: "Jen K wrote: "I just need to fine more time to read. Work (even from home) has been intense. ..."Yeah, I worked from home on Friday (first day), and I feel like I have less reading time. My commu..."
Same here on the cleaning. I just end up staring at the necessary house projects. Also the amount of time on spent on work calls has gone through the roof which wipes me out. Last Wednesday I spent at least 6 hours on various meeting calls. I hope it's calmer this week.
Ohh lovely. The only problem will be finding enough time between running FTF classes and online for those who are at home since school is now "optional" as of today over here so we have to plan 2 lessons for each class. Oh Yay!Apparently I have read most of the first page of suggestions any way!
When I started working from home (months ago, nothing to do with the current situation), I watched TV during my lunch hour, and noticed that my reading rate was drastically reduced from when I went to an office without Wi-Fi, when I read for at least 40 minutes straight every lunch hour. So I reinstated that home lunch hours are also reading time, TV time is for dinner only. Now I struggle a bit with my phone, but once I manage to 
Jen K - about 12-15 of us are Reading Ninth House for Trim, #2 if you decide to wait for us!
Amy wrote: "Jen K - about 12-15 of us are Reading Ninth House for Trim, #2 if you decide to wait for us!"I don't know that I will manage to hold back during social distancing and it is due back to the library as soon as it re-opens but will consider it. :)
LibraryCin wrote: "Jen K wrote: "I just need to fine more time to read. Work (even from home) has been intense. ..."Yeah, I worked from home on Friday (first day), and I feel like I have less reading time. My commu..."
I know what you mean. I never minded long commutes when I had a good audio book. You're a captive audience in the car. At home, there are so many more choices of how to spend your time. I find it harder to stay focused, especially when unfinished tasks nag at the back of my mind. My trick is to read at night. I tell myself that doing anything else would disturb family members who are sleeping.
Elise wrote: "When I started working from home (months ago, nothing to do with the current situation), I watched TV during my lunch hour, and noticed that my reading rate was drastically reduced from when I went..."I love your twitter revision. I found it very hard to cut back on twitter. It's like alcohol to an alcohol, or potato chips - it's hard to stop at one. I finally had to quit cold turkey (with a little backsliding). I don't miss it at all now.
My husband is spending a lot of time on Facebook this week. There is a lot of covid (and toilet paper) related humor. Surprisingly though, he got a lot of work done at home over the weekend, now that he has his whole computer setup at home.
Darci wrote: "Like most others, my library has been shut down. So I was hoping for science fiction, since it's the category I have the most of at home. I'm definitely going to read [book:The Restaurant at the En..."I hope you like it better than I did--I quit part way through. I have liked other long books by him, though.
With the library closed and now my local indie bookseller forced to shutter its doors for at least the next month .... I do have the next Outlander book from audible, so maybe that's what I'll listen to.
I've read a few by Isaac Asimov in the past and enjoyed them, so if I can find an audiobook thru overdrive, I'll fit that in as well.
Book Concierge wrote: "I do have the next Outlander book from audible, so maybe that's what I'll listen to."Which Outlander book do you have on deck?
Nicole R wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "I do have the next Outlander book from audible, so maybe that's what I'll listen to."Which Outlander book do you have on deck?"
Nicole, if I'm remembering correctly, I think you, BC, and I all have the same one coming up next (and without looking it up, I can't recall which it is!). Unless someone got ahead of me...
I have the 7th book, An Echo in the Bone up next!
Nicole R wrote: "I have the 7th book, An Echo in the Bone up next!"That's my next one. As usual, I will plan for the summer when I'm on holidays from work for a month!
I usually read it in August, when the show is over for the season, work is super slow, and I spend way too many hours on a beach! lol. But, with all this crazy staying inside because of the ‘Rona, I have an urge to dive into it. Lol
I have Echo in the Bone next too, though I've been listening to book 4 when I need a break from non-fiction.
I love the show and I am already one book ahead of where the show is in season five/book five, so I am hesitant to start the seventh book now and get too far ahead! I am also a little worried of watching the fifth season of the show, which has deviated in some pretty major ways from the books, while trying to simultaneously read the seventh book.
In all likelihood, I will hold off on the book for now.
I generally don't like sci-fi. For those of you who are like me, you might consider reading, Shine Shine Shine. I really enjoyed it! It's quirky, original and has great characters!
Holly R W wrote: "I generally don't like sci-fi. For those of you who are like me, you might consider reading, Shine Shine Shine. I really enjoyed it! It's quirky, original and has great characters!"It sounds fun. My library has the e-audio so I might try it too. I notice that there are quite a few fantasy-sci-fi books on the list, and sci-fi by female authors. They might be more appealing.
It was a fun book. There is a trigger warning though, that I'd like to add. A small part of the book features a terminally ill older mother. I wouldn't want anyone reading the book to be upset unknowingly.
Definitely not my genre. Luckily, A Darker Shade of Magic just came up on my audio holds, so decision made!
Joi wrote: "Definitely not my genre. Luckily, A Darker Shade of Magic just came up on my audio holds, so decision made!"Great book, enjoy!
I liked Darker Shade of Magic quite a bit, hope you do too!
I usually have to be coaxed into reading Sci-Fi but when I do, I'm usually pleasantly surprised. I've put three e-books on hold at the library and pretty confident I'll have 2 of them for April.,Recursion - a long wait list so that might not work
Timeline by Crichton and oldie so not a long wait list
Artemis - short wait list.
There are a few others on my list I may have to fall back on:
Dawn by Butler
The Power by Aldermen
but I'd rather not read Illuminae because there's a fast moving plague in it and I'm just not in the mood for that right now!
Maybe I'll look into the next Jason Fflorde
Science fiction is a LOT broader than I thought. A lot of fantasy and supernatural books have science fiction tags as well. They’re farther down the list but often still on page 1. I’ll have plenty of options.
Holly R W wrote: "It was a fun book. There is a trigger warning though, that I'd like to add. A small part of the book features a terminally ill older mother. I wouldn't want anyone reading the book to be upset unkn..."Thanks for the warning Holly. We say that our mom cheated death a few years ago, and now it seems easier to talk about or read about illness and death.
NancyJ wrote: "Science fiction is a LOT broader than I thought. A lot of fantasy and supernatural books have science fiction tags as well. They’re farther down the list but often still on page 1. I’ll have plenty..."Yes, which peeves the hard and fast scifi readers since they are not the same. There are times where they overlap, of course, but often times people just assign science fiction to things that are not--makes this easy for everyone who dislikes scifi but like one of the other two areas.
NancyJ wrote: "Science fiction is a LOT broader than I thought. A lot of fantasy and supernatural books have science fiction tags as well. They’re farther down the list but often still on page 1. I’ll have plenty..."As a fan of both sci fi and fantasy, this peeves me. The downsides of social tagging!
huh, I wish I remember what I planned to read. Feels like it's been a year since the tag was announced.
Rats! I was so looking forward to reading Dreams of Joy as my sequel! Sci-fi is not usually my favorite genre. That said, looks like April might be the month I finish the Hunger Games series and read Mockingjay.
Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!
I don't think I've EVER read a science fiction book!!!
Kathy wrote: "I don't think I've EVER read a science fiction book!!!"This is a great time to expand your reading, then :)
Hebah wrote: "As a fan of both sci fi and fantasy, this peeves me. The downsides of social tagging!"Same here! There are a few legit blends, but overall it's pretty easy to distinguish one from the other.
I am going with Tehanu, because I own a copy of it and it is series I have been wanting to finish-it is more fantasy than Sci-Fi, but that is ok by me
I like the new banner for April. It looks familiar. Is it from a book?
NancyJ wrote: "I like the new banner for April. It looks familiar. Is it from a book?"If it is, I didn't notice. I just search for pictures, size them to fit, and then we admins vote on our favorites till we pick one.
Thank you all - this tag has forced me to finally face the challenge of working out how to get hold of e-books while the physical library is shut... After almost an hour of coaxing my library account, Overdrive, my Amazon account, and my husband's old Fire tablet to talk to each other (including having to wipe the tablet and re-register it), I managed to read a book! I read Red Clocks - it turned out to be a terrible fit for the science fiction tag, but I'd count it as speculative fiction so I can see why it's been tagged that way, and I was getting bored of scrolling and scrolling and not finding anything I actually wanted to read. Turns out when you take the post-apocalyptic / catastrophic breakdown of society stuff out of the picture AND all the physical-book-borrowers are already checking out all the e-books, there isn't as much choice...
For those of you not into sci-fi, I highly recommend The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. You wouldn’t even think it was sci-fi/dystopian except for the premise. But alas, it’s not a plot driven book, so definitely not for everyone. Beautiful though. If you enjoyed Stoner and/or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn I am pretty sure you'll like this one as well.
Nikki wrote: "Thank you all - this tag has forced me to finally face the challenge of working out how to get hold of e-books while the physical library is shut... After almost an hour of coaxing my library accou..."Nikki, what type of books do you prefer to read? There are lots of sci-fi that fit other genres and are only sci-fi because of a space/future/post-apocalyptic setting. I have lots I can recommend if you give me an idea of what you like. Also, I have a lot of ebooks I can email you.
annapi wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Thank you all - this tag has forced me to finally face the challenge of working out how to get hold of e-books while the physical library is shut... After almost an hour of coaxing my..."Thank you! I think my problem was that I'm not big on traditional space-opera battles & spaceships sci-fi (my eyes glaze over when I get to the battles, so when my husband asks what I thought of that clever bit when X happened I've normally completely missed it), and the type I do like (good character-driven book that happens to have sci-fi elements) often overlaps with the post-apocalyptic stories that I'm not feeling the urge to read right now. I'm now a convert to the library e-books though, so going to try again with Light From Other Stars.
Nikki, I think you would enjoy Becky Chambers's books, and also Carrie Vaughn's Bannerless series (there are only two books so far). If you like fantasy, then Anne McCaffrey's The Dragonriders of Pern series is a good meld of sci-fi and fantasy. Her The Ship Who Sang is also good (if you don't mind a series of linked short stories), and Crystal Singer has an interesting world/concept involving music.
But I can't resist a plug for my favorite female military space heroine Torin Kerr, with Valor's Choice being book 1 of the series. I just love her character, and the snarky dialogue with the various marine aliens. The battles aren't in space, they're planetside.
I would also recommend on for character/ plot driven with sci-fi background:This Is How You Lose the Time War which is a love story told in letters (I think someone else recommended)
A Memory Called Empire which is more of a political thriller but also the start of a series
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus (other topics)Dragonflight (other topics)
The Unseen World (other topics)
This Is How You Lose the Time War (other topics)
Bannerless (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Marlen Haushofer (other topics)Leigh Bardugo (other topics)
William Gibson (other topics)
Gail Carriger (other topics)
Eoin Colfer (other topics)
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I have:
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Changeless by Gail Carriger
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Highfire by Eoin Colfer
It's a good mix. I just need to fine more time to read. Work (even from home) has been intense.