SciFi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge 2015

[Neal]

Update...

Done...
1) The Ocean at the End of the Lane - 5/5 stars
2) The Red Wing (graphic novel) - 2/5 stars
3) Earthbound - 2.5/5 stars
4) Transcendental - 4/5 stars

[James]

I'm keeping it at 30. I read 35 last year, but I might not have as much time to read this year. Plus, I'm finally going to take on the Malazan Book of the Fallen, so it might go a little slow.

The ones that will definitely be on my list this year:

Sword of Shadows series
Tawny Man trilogy
The Skull Throne
Dexter Is Dead: A Novel
Shadowdance series (last 3 books)
Malazan Book of the Fallen (at least 5 of them)
Odd Thomas (last 3 books)
And hopefully a few more that aren't confirmed yet but will be, like Peace Talks, Staked, The Thorn of Emberlain, and Doors of Stone.

[Sarah]

I just finished Saint Odd. Odd Apocalypse was one of my favorite ones. Have fun :)

[Michael]

James wrote: "I'm keeping it at 30. I read 35 last year, but I might not have as much time to read this year. Plus, I'm finally going to take on the Malazan Book of the Fallen, so it might go a little slow..."

Those sound like some interesting books, but unfortunately they won't qualify for the challenge (except for Gardens of the Moon) because they have to come from the group's bookshelf, which is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

They would qualify for the Goodreads' challenge, though, if you wanted to keep track that way (here: https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...).

[M.L.]

2 down, 10 to go!
Just finished Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I love Asimov, galactic scale but never remote; always happy for having read him.
The indicator says 10% ahead of schedule, that's good too.

[Michael]

Flash Beagle wrote: "2 down, 10 to go!
Just finished Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I love Asimov, galactic scale but never remote; always happy for having read him.
The indicator says 10% ahe..."

Congrats! Keep your notes in case you want to join the discussion in December (a bit of a wait...).

[M.L.]

Michael wrote: "Flash Beagle wrote: "2 down, 10 to go!
Just finished Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I love Asimov, galactic scale but never remote; always happy for having read him.
The i..."

Congrats! Keep your notes in case you want to join the discussion in December (a bit of a wait...).

Thanks! Will do.

[Alice]

12 books. Mostly from previous years since I have a lot of those books lying around at home.

Currently I'm on my third book that count towards this challenge! Watership Down

Books I own from the shelf but haven't read yet are:
The Road
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Forever War
The Day of the Triffids
The City & the City
Old Man's War
Hounded
American Gods
Anansi Boys

Anyone have a recommendation on which I should go for first? :)

[Chris]

I'm listening to the audiobook for Pandora's Star.

[M.L.]

Alice wrote: "12 books. Mostly from previous years since I have a lot of those books lying around at home.

Currently I'm on my third book that count towards this challenge! Watership Down

Books I ..."

I would love to be reading Watership Down for the first time!

[Sarah]

I still haven't read it!

Alice, The Road is a quick read, Hounded is just easy fun, and American Gods is wonderful and fascinating. Does that help?

[M.L.]

Sarah wrote: "I still haven't read it!

Alice, The Road is a quick read, Hounded is just easy fun, and African Gods is wonderful and fascinating. Does that help?"

How lucky! It's one of my favorites.

I'd add to Sarah's list, The Day of the Triffids. It generated a lot of enthusiastic discussion as a group read.

[Sandi]

Update 3/18 Completed 19!
Another update 3/9 Completed 15!

I am revising my list of 30 TBR's here (so I can keep track when I am away from my home computer). Mostly I do this so that I can remind myself why I am waiting to pick up a few of the books that I plan to read, postponing the pleasure to coordinate with the Group Reads schedule.

Books I Have read (so far) in 2015
1. The Hobbit (*****)
2. The Fellowship of the Ring (*****)
3. The Carpet Makers (*****)
4. Alif the Unseen (***)
5. Warbreaker (****)
6. Weaveworld (****)
7. The Last Unicorn (*****)
8. The Yiddish Policemen's Union (***)
9. Night Watch (****)
10. Red Mars (***)
11. Slaughterhouse-Five (*****)
12. The Accidental Time Machine (***)
13. Storm Front (***)
14. Gun, With Occasional Music (***)
15. The Martian Chronicles (*****)
16. Blade Runner (*****)
17. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (****)
18. Childhood's End (*****)
19. Rendezvous with Rama (****)

Group Reads
Neuromancer (Apr)
Fahrenheit 451 (Apr)
Zodiac (Apr)
The Long Earth (May)
Tigana (Jun)
Altered Carbon(Jul)
Dawn (Sep)
The Word for World is Forest (Oct)
The Snow Queen (Dec)

Other Reads

The Black Company
Ender's Game (reread)
Dune (reread)
The Name of the Wind
Watership Down
...plus others from the SF&F Group shelf.

((Enough of the computer, reopening my book now...:)

[Sarah]

Sandi, Maggie and I are reading Zodiac in April if you want to join us.

I really need to finally read Watership Down!

[Sandi]

Sarah wrote: "Sandi, Maggie and I are reading Zodiac in April if you want to join us...

I would love to...it is always more interesting to read with others to see their take on things.

[Steve]

I will join you for Zodiac if you want another person.

[Sarah]

Absolutely Steve! That would be fantastic. I love discussing things with a small group of people. You both will be welcome :)

[Steve]

My clone always guesses my passwords.

[Sarah]

Lol! I'm seeing duplicate messages all over goodreads right now. It's a plague.

[Maggie]

the more the merrier!

[K. G.]

Alice wrote: "12 books. Mostly from previous years since I have a lot of those books lying around at home.

Currently I'm on my third book that count towards this challenge! Watership Down

Books I ..."

THE FOREVER WAR then THE CITY AND THE CITY. I found THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS ponderous.

[Sarah]

I keep hearing good things about The Forever War. Is it that good?

[K. G.]

Yes, FOREVER WAR is that good. The characterization of a young man who keeps getting sent to endless wars and missing life is poignant, if embittering. Time dilation makes this even more jarring, yet possible; Haldeman gets this right. Not only does it deal with war (Haldeman's against it w/o being preachy), but also class (the poor become cannon fodder) and gender (if you're poor, it's irrelevant b/c you're still cannon fodder).

I taught in college English 102 (forms of lit). It's a short novel, which are hard to find these days. Most of my students finished it--in some cases, it was the first novel they'd ever finished. It started some conversations within families about Vietnam. All in all, it was a highly engaging book for most of my students, very few of whom could be said to be strong readers.

Other short, but excellent novels that I taught to this same crowd were THE STARS MY DESTINATION and THE DEMOLISHED MAN, both by Alfred Bester. The first is a brilliant revenge novel and the second is a mystery.

[Michael]

Flash Beagle wrote: "I'd add to Sarah's list, The Day of the Triffids. It generated a lot of enthusiastic discussion as a group read. ."

Now you've got me nostalgic! That was back when I first starting doing the group reads in earnest...

[Sarah]

I put The Demolished Man in my cart. I'm still looking for the other.

[Janalyn]

This is my first year to participate. The challenge sounds like a lot of fun.

[Roland]

Alfred Bester's books mentioned above are both superb. Amongst my favourites. For something a bit different Flowers for Algernon is a gripping, if slightly sad read, and the Forever War is fabulous. As damning of war in its way as Catch 22.

[Kim]

Roland wrote: "Alfred Bester's books mentioned above are both superb. Amongst my favourites. For something a bit different Flowers for Algernon is a gripping, if slightly sad read, and the Forever War is fabulous..."

I might slip Flowers for Algernon in to an upcoming poll. I recently read it and would like to hear the group has to say.

[Louise]

I would vote for Flowers for Algernon! I picked up a second hand copy in a charity shop last week. Read the first few pages. Looks really good.

[Sarah]

I've heard of that one and I'd definitely be interested in reading it.

[Edwin]

Kim wrote: "RI might slip Flowers for Algernon in to an upcoming poll. I recently read it and would like to hear the group has to say."

I am old. I read this in high school in 19xx and remember it being very compelling........and worthy of a reread.

[Roland]

Ahh the days before computers and video games. Football and books.

[Neal]

Just finished Slow River and starting Consider Phlebas

Done...
1) The Ocean at the End of the Lane - 5/5 stars
2) The Red Wing (graphic novel) - 2/5 stars
3) Earthbound - 2.5/5 stars
4) Transcendental - 4/5 stars
5) Slow River - 3/5 stars

[Steve]

I liked 'Flowers' when I read it back in middle school. It will make a good re-read I bet.

[Michael]

Steve wrote: "I liked 'Flowers' when I read it back in middle school. It will make a good re-read I bet."

I still can't figure out if I read the whole novel growing up. It seemed like the school versions would have been the short story/novella version.

[[deleted user]]

Kim wrote: "I might slip Flowers for Algernon in to an upcoming poll. I recently read it and would like to hear the group has to say..."

I've never read the book, but I saw the 1968 movie version, "Charly," and I'm wondering how the two would compare. The movie was very well done, and Cliff Robertson won an Academy Award for his performance. A good-quality, widescreen version of the movie is available for free on YouTube for anyone interested in comparing the two.

[Alice]

How do you guys regard rereads in this challenge? Because I'm really itching to reread Foundation (One of my all-time favorites)

[Roland]

I'd quite like an excuse to revisit Foundation after 20 plus years.

[Roland]

I'd quite like an excuse to revisit Foundation after 20 plus years.

[Sarah]

There's a thread called Coordinating Reading in Groups where we're going back and rereading stuff off the shelf. We're doing Foundation in December I believe.

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

[Michael]

Last year I did 20 new books, but I also reread a lot of my previous books, too. This year, I'd like to try and hit 35 new books. Some books that area already on my list for this year are

The Three-Body Problem
A Natural History of Dragons
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Dead Heat
Blood of the Earth

[Kim]

Michael wrote: "Last year I did 20 new books, but I also reread a lot of my previous books, too. This year, I'd like to try and hit 35 new books. Some books that area already on my list for this year are"

This thread is for talking about our book club reading challenge. Only one of those books meets that criteria. If you wish to talk about the Goodreads reading challenge please use this thread - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Ruth]

Sarah wrote: "Sandi, Maggie and I are reading Zodiac in April if you want to join us.

I really need to finally read Watership Down!"

One of my favorite books of all time.

[Kateb]

I am only new to this site, how do I become involved in this challenge?

[Ilona]

Or we can try to get some books in the challenge if they fit. I really want to read The Three-body problem even if it isn't in the challenge.

So far, I read Charmed Life (rereading 5 stars), His majesty's dragon (3 stars), The Word for World is forest (4 stars) and The Carpet-maker (3 stars). I gave up Neuromancer after reading more than half of it and I'm currently reading The Lathe of Heaven. Mostly all of them short reading.

[Maggie]

Kateb wrote: "I am only new to this site, how do I become involved in this challenge?"

Look at our bookshelf under the group logo on top of the page and pick out some of our old reads you would like to read.
Near the top of this page is the list of old reads we are going to read this year and when...for those you can just join in!

[Tawallah]

So I'm finally off the mark with a good read- . It was slow paced but did get into it as time progressed. And contemplating the series-though I did see some bad reviews for book 2.

Next up- The Day of the Triffids

[Michael]

Maggie wrote: "Kateb wrote: "I am only new to this site, how do I become involved in this challenge?"

Look at our bookshelf under the group logo on top of the page and pick out some of our old reads you would like to read.
Near the top of this page is the list of old reads we are going to read this year and when...for those you can just join in!"

Kateb, and others -

Bookshelf is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

The Challenge link is on the group's home page, but here is a link to the sign up if you're having trouble: https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/... You have to make a bookshelf for the challenge in order to track your progress.

And, yes, some of us are reading books for the challenge together, but that list is not maintained on this thread, it is currently maintained here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Enjoy!

[Michael]

Ilona wrote: "Or we can try to get some books in the challenge if they fit. I really want to read The Three-body problem even if it isn't in the challenge."

There is actually a place for that kind of thing, if there is enough interest. It is here: Side Reads Folder

Salient quote from the description:

"This folder is not to be used as a dumping ground for anyone to start a conversation about any book they love. If a GENUINE discussion is called for, usually springing from discussions elsewhere or some sort of pop culture event, a splinter read will be valid and welcomed. I and the Czars reserve the right to delete any novel discussion that has no participation or widespread support."

[M.L.]

Number 3, The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Before reading it I wondered if it might seem dated but it wasn't. As with other Wells novels I've read his is a very personal, singular and somewhat lonely vision. He tells it with complete conviction and that moves it to the realm of alternate history or an almost parallel universe. I thought it was brilliant.