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June 2020 nominations-Our Own 'Best Sci-Fi' list
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I think I’ll nominate The left hand of darkness
Cool! I've been slowly working my way through the list and have read a little over half at 66. I'll be voting for one I have not read and have on the shelf.
I'll nominate the book I added to the list some years ago :The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt
I am limited to two books on that list as they are the only ones Ihave. One is the sort of less last book in the series amd I want to re-read the others first so it is a no-go. The other one is the first book in a seies but we moved a few months ago any many of my books, including that one are are somewhere in a large storage locker. And of course getting anything other than an audiobook, which I don't do, is out of the question due to COVID-19.
I get most of my books through the mail. Used, more than half are less than $5, including tax and shipping. Try bookfinder.com to get the lowest price. See? Limitations are all in the mind. The world of reading is now open to you, no mess, no fuss. For example, Mary's choice in Message #9 above (ISBN 9780671720667) is just $4.14 plus your province's tax (if any). Well under $5 total. Not that it matters for this particular nomination. The group read that book in 2013, so it will be disqualified.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I'll second The Weapon Shops of Isher. I nominated it on the wrong thread...oops."Thanks Mike for seconding even if it did get lost on the wrong thread.
I’d nominate “Children of Time” by Adrian Tchaikovsky or the 3rd book in the “The Last Policeman” trilogy (“World of Trouble”) by Ben Winters but it’s not as effective unless you read the first two.“Chasm City” by Alastair Reynolds is pretty great as well.
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward is 'of course' my choice. I nominated it to the list as some of my other favorite books were there already and I was limited to one addition.
Maggie wrote: "For our June nominations, please nominate a book from the list that we havent read yet (You can check it by searching on the bookshelf)."Challenge Question:
Can you accurately predict how many books that will be nominated are already on the group bookshelf, meaning they have already been read and discussed by the group, and thus will earn disqualification from the poll?
a) Exactly one quarter of the nominations.
b) Exactly one third of the nominations.
c) Less than one quarter.
d) Between one quarter and one third.
e) More than one third.
Winner gets an Aficionado Prize.
I predict E.
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Dang Mark, we have been doing this for a long time!
Phil wrote: "I will suggest The Many-Coloured Land simply because I have not read it and I like May."This would have been my second or third selection if I had more than one pick allotted! I met May a couple of time through friends of my mother and an academic friend at UCB.
Dan wrote: "Maggie wrote: "For our June nominations, please nominate a book from the list that we havent read yet (You can check it by searching on the bookshelf)."Challenge Question:
Can you accurately pre..."
I'll vote "D" and more specifically between 27% and 32% as a narrower range.
I don't favor allowing previous winners to be in the polls to be the group read again. If one allows previous winners into the poll, they have the best chance of winning. They've already proven they're at minimum superficially attractive choices, which is how they won the first time. The group will never move on to new science fiction reads at this rate!Furthermore, it penalizes long-term members of the group who already read the book who have enough enthusiasm about the science fiction genre that they'd rather read a new book than some book they've already read again.
If someone is interested in reading a book that won group read pick previously, there's nothing deterring that person from doing so. Please do and please comment here. They can read it and comment on it in the topic already created for that purpose. Topics never close, so there is no reason not to comment on a book previously read. Are we going to create a whole new topic for the second time a book is read, or are we just going to add on to the 2011 thread, or whatever? Wording for the second topic for the same book will have to be different then. No matter how it's worded, this can become quite confusing when looking through discussion topic archives.
Here's one more reason it's a bad idea: if someone nominates a book that was previously the group read despite the clear instructions not to, why would they do this (ignore the instructions)? I can think of only one reason. Clearly that person is too lazy (uncaring) to check to see if the book was previously nominated. What are the chances that person will suddenly become more caring and actually participate and read the book if the book wins the poll again? Pretty low I'd say. And people who already read the book are unlikely to read it again. Who does this leave to actually read and comment on it? There's no audience left. The idea fosters low-to-negligible participation in the group reads.
Don't we have enough books nominated otherwise in order to run a decent poll without resorting to this bad idea?
One final note: did you guys notice that not one but both books selected for May are sequels? If people haven't read the first, how likely...? And even if they did, how likely will they be to continue on? I think you've (again) really limited your potential audience and will get next to no participation in May. I could be wrong. Time will tell. Anyhoo, see you in June if a new (to the group) book wins the poll and it's not a sequel.
I dropped back and picked up the first volume in one of the series...or put it on hols. Haven't gotten it yet.
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As for the May books, one is part of a series read, and for the other the theme was actually 'Sequel to a Book we have already read'.
Maggie wrote: "well, of the ten nominations we have so far, we already read 4 of them! lol.....bt I am going to see how long ago, because theyre all really good and if its more than just a few years ago, I will l..."Phew I'm glad one wasn't my choice, I did actually check the bookshelf to make sure though.
There is another way to look at the situation of books bein read before. If someone keeps suggestting a book and being told "oh, we read that one ten years ago" then after awhile they may decide to hell with this I am not going to bother with the group read at all.
Science fiction has tens of thousands, maybe more, of really, really good works written in its genre. Is it truly so difficult to avoid repeating from a list of less than two hundred of these? Is our knowledge, depth of experience, and ambition so self-limited and narrow in scope?
Of course one must admit that a really good work of anything is in the eye of the beholder. Person Q might consider a specific work a masterpiece while persom X considers it middling at best.Furthermore how caan you be sure that someone who read a book ten years ago might not be happy to reread said book nd discuss it again. I cannoy count the number oftime Ihave read certain books, but I have every intention of reading them again, for no other reason than that I enjoyed them.
Yeah. That question of to repeat or not, I grant, is a matter of personal preference. Children, I note, generally enjoy watching a show over and over again, their joy in doing so seldom diminishing. My wife watches repeats too. When she does, I go do something else instead, like write this post.I hypothesize one issue that may be involved is memory. My wife's is not the best. Those with better (long-term) memories tend not to be interested in repeats--of anything. These same people tend to score extremely well on standardized academic tests (which all rely on long-term memory), can learn foreign languages more easily, etc. People with poor long-term memories have the benefit of enjoying repeats and not being bored from year to year in school when the same material is represented, necessitating the sneaking of science fiction books between notebook pages in order to retain consciousness.
If the group really wants to repeat, that's cool. I might be one of the few to join you if the book looks interesting and I personally haven't previously read it. I still think it's not the best idea for the group though for reasons I've already presented.
I must be unusual then as one of the books I have read several times is "The Nine Tailors" by Dorothy L. Sayers. If you don't know the book it is a mystery. I know who did it, but It doesn't affect my enjoyment of it.As fr memoty I don't know what I am. Some things from long ago I remember, some I don't.
Dan wrote: "Yeah. That question of to repeat or not, I grant, is a matter of personal preference. Children, I note, generally enjoy watching a show over and over again, their joy in doing so seldom diminishing..."Meh. Sorry Dan, but I don't buy your hypothesis that joy in rereading correlates with poor long term memory. There are other reasons.
Might I point you to Jo Walton's What Makes This Book So Great for some deeper thought on this subject.
I don't disagree that there are other reasons people enjoy rereading. I only assert that having poor (mostly long-term) memory is likelier than not to be one of them.This NYT article has a lot of relevant things to say on the subject of the "joy of repeating experiences": https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/sm...
One thing I found telling about a reason why people enjoy repeating: “We’re simply more boring than we’d like to admit.” They also coin a term: "hedonic adaptation — when an identical stimulus provides less pleasure the more it’s consumed."
What I find particularly bolstering for my assertion that repeaters will tend to have poor memories is this statement: "There is joy in repetition partly because every human mind wanders. Consequently, we miss a substantial part of every experience." Wandering minds, I would imagine, also would not be minds that can remember very well since they are not taking in the full experience to begin with.
So if the majority of the people in this group are people who don't get things well the first time, repeating books could be an excellent idea for you.
People can still comment in the old discussion threads, right? If someone really wants to read a book that has already been done, they can see what everyone thought about it and add their own thoughts in the existing thread. They could also potentially do a buddy read of the book.I agree with Dan above that it is really easy to avoid repeats, and the pool is deep and wide enough to allow for more exploration than the same titles again and again.
I suggest that if the book hasn't been read in the last year and it's nominated we put it on the list and see if it wins. If it does more people want to read it. If it doesn't more people don't want to read it.I'm lucky to remember what was read a month ago much less a year and we may have picked up a lot of new members. Why worry so much about it?
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "...put it on the list and see if it wins. ... Why worry so much about it?"
Agreed and agreed. It is not such a big deal.
I wrote about it. That alone makes it a big deal. Unless having no readership for group selections is no big deal. Maybe for this group it's not. Macroscope much anyone? If you ever wondered what the sound of one hand clapping would be like...
I agree with Dan that we should not read books already read by the group. There are plenty on that list that the group has not read and the direction was to pick one not read. Choose a month to pick a book previously read (perhaps restrict to books read 5 years or more ago).
Well, feel free. I never read the selection unless it appeals to me anyway. Enjoy.
Not reading the selection unless it appeals is a valid option with this group.
Right now my science fiction reading options are rather limited. Basically E.E. Smith, some books in Hyperion’s series of classic science fiction issued in the seventies, some non-fiction, some magazines, 2000 A.D. Annuals and maybe some comics. Everything else is in storage. And of course bookstores and libraries are closed due to the virus.
Since I am here:I nominate a book I listed on the Best Science Fiction List a few years ago:
The Voyage of the Space Beagle.
A book I read decades ago and I admit I will not be re-reading it if chosen. This book was sorta like a pre Star Trek book. Also available in eBook form.
C. John wrote: "Right now my science fiction reading options are rather limited. Basically E.E. Smith, some books in Hyperion’s series of classic science fiction issued in the seventies, some non-fiction, some mag..."Your options are so much wider than that. See message 11 above. In addition to that solution, many books on the list are available at no charge at InternetArchive.org as well as electronically through various library services. If you're reading this message you can access them. I estimate at least 70 percent of the books on the list are available to you for five dollars or less. Message me and I will solve this problem easily for you.
Mickey wrote: "Since I am here:
I nominate a book I listed on the Best Science Fiction List a few years ago:
The Voyage of the Space Beagle..."
What a coincidence! I read and reviewed that book last February. Strange choice. I'm surprised it made the list as ANYONE'S favorite. I read it twice actually. The first time as four individual short stories available at http://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/, the second time as the fix-up novel. Each way of reading it led to a radically different experience. Otherwise, as you might guess, I would never have read it twice. I think the stories by themselves were more fun, especially the first one.
Actually I am reading your message on my phone. The computer died.
Less than $100 on eBay. Oh forget it. I agree, you're doomed.
Dan wrote: "What a coincidence! I read and reviewed that book last month. Strange choice. I'm surprised it made the list as ANYONE'S favorite."It was my favorite when I listed it. My favorites have changed over time. My top five favorite science fiction books have been written in the last five years. Same with music, I no longer like the music in my High School days.
Mickey wrote: "Dan wrote: "What a coincidence! I read and reviewed that book last month. Strange choice. I'm surprised it made the list as ANYONE'S favorite."It was my favorite when I listed it. My favorites ha..."
I almost nominated this for the list all those years ago but went for Weapon Shops in the end.
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I am going to define the rule a little better for future threads.
ok, I am setting the poll up now, so it will come out today :)
Science Fiction Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Voyage of the Space Beagle (other topics)The Voyage of the Space Beagle (other topics)
What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading the Classics of Science Fiction & Fantasy (other topics)
The Many-Coloured Land (other topics)
The Many-Coloured Land (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert L. Forward (other topics)A.E. van Vogt (other topics)
That list can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..., with the final list being in message 309.
For our June nominations, please nominate a book from the list that we havent read yet (You can check it by searching on the bookshelf)
Should be fun to read one of our own favorites!