SciFi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge 2015

[Sarah]

It's killing me that I don't have time for Cyteen :(

[Chris]

I'm still 3 short of my goal of 12 for the year. Though I'm working on 2.

Red Rising on audiobook
Leviathan Wakes on ebook.

So if I can squeeze in another, I'll hit my goal. It's a low one, but I was short last year so it's progress.

[Edwin]

Sarah wrote: "It's killing me that I don't have time for Cyteen :("

Yeah, me too. And I am reading it.

[Sarah]

Ah, so I chose wisely ;) On the other hand, you guys have tempted me into trying to miraculously squeeze in The Goblin Emperor.

[Silvana]

Finished all twelve books in my list. Maybe I should have added more. But some books I want(ed) to read were sometimes not available to buy so...

I am glad though, the challenge introducted me to Brian Staveley, Patrick Rothfuss and China Mieville. Thanks, group! :D

[Sarah]

Silvana wrote: "Finished all twelve books in my list. Maybe I should have added more. But some books I want(ed) to read were sometimes not available to buy so.. ..."

Nice job :) I'm also quite happy about Mieville. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on since I read The City & the City.

[David]

Done, hit my goal of 20. Now have to study remaining unread books on the bookshelf and plan for 2016.

[Jamie]

My personal goal for the year was 104 books, I'm still a couple of books short but I should get there. Some of the highlights were the Last Policeman trilogy, rereading the Hobbit, the Odd Thomas series, and the Goblin Emperor

[Maggie]

I am at 15/20 right now, but I have 2 in progress and 2 sitting here, so it POSSIBLE i might still catch up!

[Chris]

I'm at 10/12, with 1 that I'm almost finished with. So I just need to pick one more from the shelf and finish the challenge.

[Sarah]

in at 48/45 and I think I'll hit 50 (Goblin Emperor and Summer Tree). I had a very good year and I won't be able to duplicate it next year.

[Teanka]

I'm at 20/12 and the group keeps choosing books that I've already read in previous years so I'm probably going to hit 50 % read soon.

[Sarah]

Don't you love that? In a way. I like reading with the group but I like adding to my total read, too.

[Teanka]

Sarah wrote: "Don't you love that? In a way. I like reading with the group but I like adding to my total read, too."

What I don't love is that I can't add books that I read in previous years and the group is reading this year to the challenge. In the beginning, I thought they also counted.

Also, there are some books on the list that I know I don't want to read. So won't ever hit 100%.

But overall, of course that it's fun :).

[Sarah]

I'll be happy with 90% :) There are definitely some I'm not interested in. My goal this year was more about getting my total up to 100 so I've loved books I've read getting nominated.

How about Seveneves? Missed that one getting in the challenge by one month.

[Chris]

Teanka wrote: "Also, there are some books on the list that I know I don't want to read."

It's good to be selective. I love that the Club's bookshelf has brought so many cool-sounding books to my attention, but I'm not going to turn on autopilot.

[Chris]

Oh, well my 10/12 count was for this year alone. I'd have to run the numbers to get my all-time stats.

Personally, I'd tag Seveneyes if I'd read it. You did read it this year, and it is a club selection. You can't really tag it as read in 2016 without a reread, right?

[Sarah]

Right. That's why I'm disappointed. Although, I did DNF it so maybe I shouldn't whine...

[Chris]

I debated back and forth with myself last year whether to count a DNF (Ancillary Justice) towards the challenge. Some folks here encouraged me to, if I recall. Figuring that an honest try should count for something.

Hey wait. By that reckoning.

*finishes Leviathan Wakes*
*opens The Gunslinger*
*reads "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed.."
*marks The Gunslinger as DNF*
*Challenge Complete!*


ok, so maybe we need to focus on the "honest" in "honest try"...

[Chris]

I F so I can B about it with more credibility. ;)

[Sarah]

I call it a good faith effort :) Your breakdown made me laugh!

[Teanka]

Sarah wrote: "
How about Seveneves? Missed that one getting in the challenge by one month. "

Sure. And, in my case, same goes for The Fifth Season :).

Chris wrote: "Oh, well my 10/12 count was for this year alone. I'd have to run the numbers to get my all-time stats.

Personally, I'd tag Seveneyes if I'd read it. You did read it this year, and it is a club sel..."
The challenge itself won't allow you to count it, even if you put it in the proper folder. That's because we aren't in January yet, and by then it will be too late.

As for counting the DNF's it just depends on what you like to do:) Most people count them, I think. Personally, I don't, but that's mostly because I usually think I might come back to that book and finish it, and maybe I was just in a bad mood while reading it.

Gunslinger and the rest of the series is one of the books I could tag as a DNF before starting, I know that I won't like it so I'm not going to try :).

Chris, I also read 20 this year only, and should read at least one more, I think.

[Sarah]

I loved The Gunslinger. I was very surprised by this :)

[Beachesnbooks]

I'm at 10/12 right now after finishing The Name of the Wind and I doubt I'll finish this year...I'm in the middle of To Say Nothing of the Dog and I really like it, but it's the type of book I like to read slowly and savor. And I don't think I'll be able to fit another one in! But overall I've really loved the books I've read for this challenge, and maybe next year I'll actually hit my goal.

[Chris]

Teanka, if you read my post then you could technically say you started and did not finish.

Of course, I'm certainly not encouraging a bunch of DNF reviews on a King book.

[Teanka]

Chris wrote: "Teanka, if you read my post then you could technically say you started and did not finish.

Of course, I'm certainly not encouraging a bunch of DNF reviews on a King book."

I know. But I don't rate or add the DNF's anyway :).

Jaleenajo, enjoyment is the most important part about this challenge, doesn't really matter if you've hit the goal or not, but it's given you the motivation to read some more great books :).

[Chris]

What's up with the low challenge completion rate? Only 6 out of 263 people finished their challenges so far.

[Monica]

Yeah, it said that on mine as well. I'm thinking that isn't accurate at all. I'm 12/12. When I look at what the community is doing, I count at least 10 completed challenges on the first page alone and there are several pages so...

[Edwin]

Monica wrote: "Yeah, it said that on mine as well. I'm thinking that isn't accurate at all. I'm 12/12. When I look at what the community is doing, I count at least 10 completed challenges on the first page alone ..."

There is some kind of bug in the display program. As far as I could tell when I noticed this last month, it only counts the completions for the folks who show up on the display page, and NOT for the whole group.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

I joined he group late I the year (September), so I am still 3 books shy of the minimum challenge of 12. I will be starting The Goblin Emperor tomorrow, so that plus two more books and I've got it! I will continue reading through the group's book shelf next year. It certainly helps to have such a strong list of books to choose from.

[Amanda]

I just started reading with this group in November, so I didn't join in this years' challenge, but I fully intend to join in on the 2016 challenge.

Quick question: I plan to get my hands on Leviathan Wakes soon (I checked, it's on the group bookshelf), which I want to start reading ASAP, but I wondered whether I could count it towards the 2016 challenge, since technically I will likely have it finished in early January 2016. Also, do ANY books ever read by the group count towards the reading challenge, or is the challenge only for books that are selected on this thread for monthly read-along?

[Edwin]

LadyCello wrote: "I just started reading with this group in November, so I didn't join in this years' challenge, but I fully intend to join in on the 2016 challenge.

Quick question: I plan to get my hands on Leviat..."

Any book on the club bookshelf counts, old or new.

[Sarah]

If you finish it after the New Year you'll want to shelve it as 2016. It's based on the date finished.

[Michael]

LadyCello wrote: "I just started reading with this group in November, so I didn't join in this years' challenge, but I fully intend to join in on the 2016 challenge.

Quick question: I plan to get my hands on Leviat..."

And the challenge bot counts anything with a "finished" date in 2016 so it doesn't matter when you start it if you mark it Read in 2016 it counts for 2016.

[Jamie]

Finished today, 104 books, not all sci fi and fantasy, but a large proportion

[Amanda]

Thanks Edwin and Sarah! It'll be a holiday read I'm looking forward to :)

[Amanda]

Thank you too Michael!

[Sarah]

I'm reading Leviathan Wakes in early Jan. I'd be curious to know if you like it :) I'm dreading it.

[Amanda]

I'll post a review when I finish it. I'll have to have it done early January as well, so I'll have to fully commit to it. I haven't read a really good space opera for awhile, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

[Valerie]

Sarah wrote: "I'm reading Leviathan Wakes in early Jan. I'd be curious to know if you like it :) I'm dreading it."

Why are you dreading it? I loved it!

[Sarah]

I'm not crazy about Space Opera. I've been avoiding it for a long time. I think the only thing I struggle with more than Space Opera is Epic Fantasy. I keep hearing such wonderful things about it and I've never heard a complaint. I have my fingers crossed.

[Teanka]

Sarah wrote: "I'm not crazy about Space Opera. I've been avoiding it for a long time. I think the only thing I struggle with more than Space Opera is Epic Fantasy. I keep hearing such wonderful things about it a..."

These are my 2 favourite subgenres, Sarah. No wonder we often have different opinions. Lol :)

[Valerie]

Sarah wrote: "I'm not crazy about Space Opera. I've been avoiding it for a long time. I think the only thing I struggle with more than Space Opera is Epic Fantasy. I keep hearing such wonderful things about it a..."

Sarah, you wound my heart! These are also two of my favorite subgenres.

[Sarah]

Sorry ladies :) Maybe they'll grow on me someday.

[Valerie]

To each their own, Sarah. That's what make the world so much fun!

[Hank]

Teanka wrote: "Jaleenajo, enjoyment is the most important part about this challenge, doesn't really matter if you've hit the goal or not, but it's given you the motivation to read some more great books :)."

True that! 36/24 with Goblin Emporer almost done to make it 37. There are so many of these books that I wouldn't have picked up without the bookshelf and the challenge and I have really enjoyed most of them.

22 out of those 37 were this year's monthly selections which was also a fun challenge in itself, trying to get the books on time.

[K. G.]

I'm with you, Hank. I wouldn't've picked quite a number of books without this group. I blogged about the fantasy books I read this year. Only GAME OF THRONES and THE HOBBIT (husband for them) didn't come from recommendations or selections from this group.

http://www.kgwhitehurst.com/musings_r...

[Valerie]

While I can't say that I've enjoyed all of the books that I've read from the group shelves, I have been delighted by so many that I might not other wise have selected for myself. For this reason, I plan to give all of them at least a shot.

I've also found that I am more likely to hang in there to finish a clunker from this group, just in case. It doesn't always pan out, but usually I don't regret the decision.

[Chris]

Well, I just finished my 12/12. The last one was a bit of a disappointment: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. But it did the job - I picked it simply because it was short.

[Sarah]

I finished at 51 :)