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SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge 2015
REVISED 12-29-2015My original goal was 36 Sci-Fi/Fan and 12-21 General. I am at 26 Sci-Fi/Fan and 36 General for a total of 62 for the year.
My goal has been 36 for the group challenge, I am behind on current selections by 6-10, and I am still behind although I have completed several books this month -- still I missed by a solid 10 by last count.
My General Challenge Goals were between 12-21 additional in the GR General Group 2015 Challenge. I finish this year with 36 General Challenge works exceeding my goal by 24-15 depending on which number above you want to use in the calculation.
My current revised report follows:
Goodreads Challenges Science Fiction / Fantasy Book Group 2015 Challenge
Monthly Group Lists - 2015 Group selections completed.
January,2016 Sci-Fi Selection Status. We will be reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
January, 2016 Fantasy Selections Status.We will be reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.
READ YEAR-TO-DATE FINAL SUMMARIES
SCI-FI/FAN TO BE COUNTED ON GENERAL CHALLENGE 26 titles to date:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin -- REVIEW.
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge -- REVIEW.
Embassytown by China Miéville -- REVIEW.
The Colour of Magic by Sir Terry Pratchett -- REVIEW.
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi -- REVIEW
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood -- REVIEW
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, trans. by Doryl Jensen -- REVIEW.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien -- REVIEW.
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey -- REVIEW.
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner -- REVIEW.
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett -- REVIEW.
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin -- REVIEW.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel -- REVIEW.
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson --REVIEW.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. -- REVIEW
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes -- REVIEW
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury -- REVIEW
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker --REVIEW.
Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gordon, illustrator/colorist and John Higgins letterer -- REVIEW
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov -- REVIEW.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -- REVIEW
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut -- REVIEW.
Guards! Guards! by Sir Terry Pratchett -- REVIEW.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell -- REVIEW.
Armada by Ernest Cline -- REVIEW .
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie -- REVIEW .
GENERAL CHALLENGE ONLY -- 36 titles to date:
Quintessence The Search For Missing Mass In The Universe by Lawrence M. Krauss -- REVIEW.
Death from the Heavens: A History of Strategic Bombing by Kenneth P. Werrell -- REVIEW.
NUKED: I Was A Guinea Pig For The U.S. Army by Michael Harris -- REVIEW.
Write Now! 20 Simple Strategies for Successful Writing by Greg Strandberg -- REVIEW
Inside Windows 10: An early look at Microsoft's Operating System by Onuora Amobi -- REVIEW.
Justice Calling by Annie Bellet -- REVIEW.
Il-2 Shturmovik Guards Units of World War 2 by Oleg Rastrenin, author and A_Yurgenson, illustrator -- REVIEW
WordPress Made Super Simple - How Anyone Can Build A Professional Website From Scratch With Little Or No Experienceby Jack Davies, series editor Sarah Wiley -- REVIEW
The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground by Michael Harris -- REVIEW.
Mosquito: The Original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft by Graham M. Simons -- REVIEW
PC Patrol Craft of World War II: A History of the Ships and Their Crews by William J. Veigele -- as a tribute to my late father who served on one of these vessels in World War II. REVIEW.
Cat and Jemima J by Jane Green -- REVIEW.
Summer Secrets by Jane Green -- REVIEW.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough -- REVIEW.
The Realm of the Nebulae by Edwin Powell Hubble -- REVIEW
Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions-- Anthology REVIEW> by Ursula K. Le Guin - the first three books of the Hainish Cycle (not on the GR SF&F Book Club shelf).
The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi -- REVIEW.
JavaScript and HTML5 Now byKyle Simpson - REVIEW
How to Speak Wookiee: A Manual for Intergalactic Communication byWu Kee Smith illustrated by JAKe. -- REVIEW.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, translated by Alan R. Clarke and Clifford E. Lander-- REVIEW
Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein -- REVIEW.
Simon Ships Out A heroic cat at sea. Based on a true story by Jacky Donovan -- REVIEW.
Incursion by Ray Daley -- REVIEW
318: Legacy Code Prequel Story by Autumn Kalquist -- REVIEW.
Decode: Fractured Era Archives by Autumn Kalquist -- REVIEW
50 Greatest Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee and Peter David -- REVIEW
IA: Initiate by John Darryl Winston -- REVIEW in work.
The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov -- REVIEW.
Better World by Autumn Kalquist -- REVIEW.
Hitler's Time Machine by Robert F. Dorr -- REVIEW
In the Governor's Shadow: The True Story of Ma and Pa Ferguson by Carol O'Keefe Wilson -- REVIEW
Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America by Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney -- REVIEW.
Black Widow #1 by Nathan Edmondson. READ. REVIEW in work.
This Long Vigil by Rhett C. Bruno READ. REVIEW is in work.
My reading challenge reports for 2015 can be found at:
The post you are reading (102) on the current page.
Message 94 at My Bringing Up Burns 2015 Reading Challenge progress.
Message 3 at The Goodreads 2015 General Challenge Page
Post 251 for my Total Number of Sci-Fi/Fantasy Club Shelf books that I have read
I have chosen 150 books.I am reading some Orson Scott Card, Peter F Hamilton, Phillip K Dick, and Aldous Huxley just at the Moment. The Huxley is probably the most engrossing.
Sandi wrote: "11) The Long Earth12) 2001: A Space Odyssey
12) ----------that's enough planning for now.
As far as the Warrior's Apprentice, you cannot go wrong with either books as the jumping-in point. "
Thanks!
Looks like a fun list, but I don't think 2001 is on our bookshelf, is it?
One read, 11 to go! Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Very impressive and glad I read it. I see why it's a classic.
Michael wrote: "Sandi wrote: "11) The Long Earth12) 2001: A Space Odyssey
12) ----------that's enough planning for now.
As far as the Warrior's Apprentice, you cannot go wrong with either books as the jumping-in..."
I guess 2001 is not on the list. For some reason I thought it was!
Flash Beagle wrote: "One read, 11 to go! Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Very impressive and glad I read it. I see why it's a classic."Nice! One of my favorites
I am also one down with John Dies at the End - David Wong. Was torn with this one. I really liked the humor but thought the book itself was way too long. Didn't much care about the plot but enjoyed the characters.
Richard wrote: "REVISED 1-10-2015Planning on reading the standard 24 for the group, 12 on the list, and 12 for the main Goodreads challenge in addition. I was able to do that this year, but I am going to be real..."
Thanks for the update, Richard!
I'd like to repeat: If anyone else wants to join the group discussions of prior year books for this 2015 Challenge, let me know on this thread or over in the Coordinating reading books in groups thread. Here is who I have so far:
Sarah
Edwin
Valerie
Michael (me)
Maggie
Chris
Hillary
Galaxy Press
Kiwi
Flash Beagle
Richard
Barbara
We start The Handmaid's Tale on January 15...
I will give this a try for the group reading please.
Steve wrote: "I will give this a try for the group reading please."Great, glad to have you. Do you have a book list you are interested in or are you just along for the ride for whatever the group picks?
Steve wrote: "Along for the ride is fine."Cool, thanks!
I haven't even set my goal for 2015 yet because last years results were so depressing :(I first started the challenge in 2012 with 50 books and read 51. Since then I have set myself lower and lower targets which I fail to achieve.
The main culprit is work - doing 12-14 hour days several times a week I sleep on my commute (my primary reading time) and at the weekend I have to catch up with housework.
Also I can't bear to throw out books which I haven't at least tried to read and once I start a book it has to be really bad for me to stop. As many of my books have been given to me second-hand they are not all perfectly suited to my taste.
So this year's goal is to alternate older books (normally those given to me) with newer books (mostly those I have bought for myself). That way I can make inroads into my TBR pile without constantly subjecting myself to deciding whether a 'meh' book has potential or needs to be abandoned.
Well... I've completed one. Not exactly an auspicious start to the year. I've got books coming out of my ears, I just can't seem to finish them.
Sarah wrote: "Well... I've completed one. Not exactly an auspicious start to the year. I've got books coming out of my ears, I just can't seem to finish them."Yup, there is just too much good stuff out there. Speaking of which, the audiobook version of Fuzzy Nation is amazing.
Just bought Fuzzy Nation. I am a big Scalzi fan. Looking forward to it after Fahrenheit 451.
FUZZY!!! That is totally the best book I read last year. Edwin, who's narrating?
Sarah wrote: "FUZZY!!! That is totally the best book I read last year. Edwin, who's narrating?"Wil Wheaton. He's amazing, I can't stop listening to the darned thing.
Steve wrote: "Just bought Fuzzy Nation. I am a big Scalzi fan. Looking forward to it after Fahrenheit 451."We are doing another group read of it in February and will be using the original discussion threads. You should join us.
Hey, anybody who wants to read and discuss their challenge books with others in the group, now is the time to head over to the Coordinating reading books in groups thread. We are finalizing voting on the books to be read this year. Here are the current top 13 to whet your appetites:Title CountIf you want to try to get something else on that list, head on over and vote!
Foundation 6
Altered Carbon 5
Fuzzy Nation 5
Handmaid's Tale, The 5
Martian Chronicles, The 5
Neuromancer 5
Ready Player One 5
1Q84 4
American Gods 4
City & The City, The 4
Dispossessed, The 4
Old Man's War 4
World War Z 4
Thanks,
Michael
I posted the same numbers on that thread :)
Sarah wrote: "I posted the same numbers on that thread :)"Glad our counts match!
Wil Wheaton. He's amazing, I can't stop listening to the darned thing."
He really was/is good, definitely find an audio version of Ready Player One, he narrates that as well and makes that book super-awesome!
Hank wrote: "Wil Wheaton. He's amazing, I can't stop listening to the darned thing."
He really was/is good, definitely find an audio version of Ready Player One, he narrates t..."
I was just listening to that tonight! He's great; I've finished 11 hours of the 13 on the audiobook.
I just finished my third book of the year for the challenge read - The Carpet Makers and it was terrific (and for once does not obligate me to go out and purchase and read a dozen sequels;) Yeah! I love reading great books!
Edwin wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Well... I've completed one. Not exactly an auspicious start to the year. I've got books coming out of my ears, I just can't seem to finish them."Yup, there is just too much good s..."
I totally agree with this. I thought his narration was just okay for Redshirts, but loved him for Fuzzy and Ready Player One.
I just finished Lock In, but I decided to go with the Amber Benson narration to see how it impacted my enjoyment of Scalzi. I loved it. Audible had a special, so I also have the Wil Wheaton version and I will probably go back and listen again at some point.
I have completed two books toward my challenge thus far. To be fair, I started both in 2014, but I long ago decided that unless otherwise stated in a challenge, I classify my "read" date by when I finish the book.Complete:
Watchmen
The Killing Moon
I really want to read Watchmen too Valerie. Did you enjoy it?
I read The Grapes of Wrathfor my wife and she read Watchmen. Wife....for the win. Grapes of Wrath=Depressing. Watchmen=Depressing and Cool.
Valerie, what did you think of Lock In?
Maggie wrote: "I really want to read Watchmen too Valerie. Did you enjoy it?"Yes and no. I can see why at the time of publication it was considered to be ground breaking. However, I've only accidentally developed a graphic novel addiction in the past few years and so I am fan of current writing styles.
The writing for Watchmen was a bit wordy and dry at times, plus there were a lot of side threads that I found more disruptive than helpful to the plot. On the other hand, once you get down to the cores story is is really quite brilliant and timeless.
So, I say definitely read it. If you find it tough going, try to push through because in the end it is worth it.
Sarah wrote: "Valerie, what did you think of Lock In?"Sarah, I absolutely loved it. It was a solid 5-star for me.
I was very disappointed. It was all talking with very little description. I ended up liking it sort of but not as much as others of his.I'm glad you liked it. Out was in the Goodreads Choice Awards and I couldn't figure out why.
Valerie wrote: "Maggie wrote: "I really want to read Watchmen too Valerie. Did you enjoy it?"Yes and no. I can see why at the time of publication it was considered to be ground breaking. However, I've only acc..."
I liked Watchmen a lot (4 stars). The themes of what is peace, what is victory, what is heroic, what is not, who gets to decide - all very powerful, timeless ideas.
I don't have as much problem with the style, as I've probably read earlier comics (1970's) and modern comics equally. The driest part for me were the little sections between chapters that were excerpts from books and magazine articles. They slowed it down a lot for me. If I had it to do over again, I would just skip those, and then come back to them later as if they were part of an Appendix.
Michael, that is exactly what I meant. Well, that and the comic within a comic pirate story. I understood where he was going with it, but at times felt it was more of a distraction.
Valerie wrote: "Michael, that is exactly what I meant. Well, that and the comic within a comic pirate story. I understood where he was going with it, but at times felt it was more of a distraction."Ha, I forgot about that! Yes it seemed redundant.
Scott wrote: "Flash Beagle wrote: "One read, 11 to go! Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Very impressive and glad I read it. I see why it's a classic."Nice! One of my favorites
I am also one down with John Dies at the End - David Wong. ..."
Thanks!
I started This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong. I loved the humor and then began to get creeped out (view spoiler), which is a good thing for horror. Maybe I'll go back to it.
Michael wrote: "Hey, anybody who wants to read and discuss their challenge books with others in the group, now is the time to head over to the Coordinating reading books in groups thread. We are finalizing voting..."I'll be happy to join! My reading order may be a little off from the exact month; my 'strategy' is to read what I already have before buying another one (not sure how long that will last). Great job coordinating everything. I never can find the old group reads so the link is helpful.
Also, I noticed last month's reads are still active way at the bottom of the home page which is a nice change.
I've started #2, Foundation by Isaac Asimov. The Caves of Steel was a group read last year, or year before, and I really enjoyed that one.
Flash Beagle wrote: "Also, I noticed last month's reads are still active way at the bottom of the home page which is a nice change."I don't know what determines how many threads are on the home page, but I know every once in a while the moderators have to move the old book discussions out of the "Discussions" topic and into a "Year 2012" or whatever topic because they are only allowed to have 99 topics or something in the group. (That's why some of the older discussion threads are hard to find...)
Michael wrote: "Flash Beagle wrote: "Also, I noticed last month's reads are still active way at the bottom of the home page which is a nice change."I don't know what determines how many threads are on the home p..."
Makes sense. Thanks!
That's odd. It's also good to know. :)
For any Murakami, Haruki fans, being that 1Q84, is on the bookshelf and it may be in the 2015 challenge and someone may want to know more! This is from the Guardian about Murakami answering questions on line. Good article.http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is to offer advice to troubled readers in an agony uncle column on his website, his publisher said Tuesday.
The website, named “Murakami-san no tokoro” or “Mr. Murakami’s place” will solicit problems from fans of the surrealist, whose novels are published in dozens of languages around the world. . . .
The LA Times article said he'll answer on any topic!
(Kim won't be interested I know! ;) But I loved it, love his work!
Got my list of 13 ready.The Island of Dr. Moreau - HG Wells
The Caves of Steel - Asimov
Infernal Devices - KW Jeter
Ready Player One - Kline
Consider Phlebas - Ian Banks
American Gods - Gaiman
The Man in the High Castle - Dick
The Time Machine - HG Wells
Good Omens - Pratchett and Gaiman
Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
The Color of Magic - Pratchett
A Wizard of Earthsea - Le Guin
Childhood's End - Clarke
4 of these were from the previous challenge which was sadly interrupted by life...
I just finished The Carpet Makers and my status updated:"You have read 1 book toward your goal of 12 books.
1 of 12 (8%)
Great work, you're 1 book (4%) ahead of schedule."
lol, I love that last line.
By the way, our very ambitious (and unofficial) Sci-Fi Challenge 2015 Reading Group will be finalizing our reading list soon! We have already started The Handmaid's Tale for January and are planning to read and discuss as many as 19 books this year from our past bookshelf for the 2015 Challenge.So come on over to the Coordinating reading books in groups thread if you haven't already and put in your vote for what you'd like to read with us!
(Current voting tally is here.
Current schedule so far is here.
Links to Handmaid's discussion are here.)
Cheers!
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Lathe of Heaven (other topics)
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emily St. John Mandel (other topics)Sarah Wiley (other topics)
Jane Green (other topics)
John Scalzi (other topics)
Rhett C. Bruno (other topics)
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I read Weaveworld close to 15 years ago and enjoyed it. I should read it again.