Nominations for August 2020 Books of the Month

[Chris, Moderator]

Nominations for August 2020

Hi everyone,
It's time to open nominations for our August 2020 Books of the Month. What do you want to read by the pool under the hot sun?

Each group member may make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination. If possible, please use a link to the book and author in your nomination post. Click on “add book/author" for an easy way to do that.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2018 - Present
Master list of Previous Books of the Month (Apr-Dec 2017)
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2012 - 2017
Master list of Previous Books of the Month 2006 - 2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Thursday May 21.
• The first (preliminary) round of polls will open Friday May 22 and will run through Tuesday May 26.
• The final run-off polls go up Wednesday May 27 and will be open through Sunday May 31.

Thanks!
Chris, Moderator

NOMINATIONS SO FAR:
SCIENCE FICTION:
Vagabonds
Cloud Atlas
Noumenon
The January Dancer
QualityLand
Dreamsnake

FANTASY:
The Song of Achilles
The Book of M
The Way of Thorn and Thunder
The Fellowship of the Ring
A Brightness Long Ago
The City We Became
Jaran
The Shadow of the Torturer

[Christopher]

For my sci-fi pick I would like to nominate the new release Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang. When I first read the description for this book, I was hooked. But I became even more excited after reading a few of the advance review from readers and I would love to read and discuss it with others.

For my fantasy pick, I would like to nominate The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I read her most recent book Circe and loved it and I hear that this previous book was just as good. And it's told from the perspective of Patrocles, so that should be interesting.

[Anthony]

For SF I nominate the genre-bending, multi-award-nominated Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

For fantasy, I nominate the Native American author Daniel Heath Justice’s The Way of Thorn and Thunder. It’s come highly recommended by a couple of bookworm friends.

[Kari]

I love all of these nominations so far!

For mine, I'm picking two books that have been lingering on my TBR shelf for way too long.

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd is shelved primarily as fantasy although it has a bit of a sci-fi element as well. It's about a post-apocalyptic world where people's shadows begin disappearing, along with their memories. Interesting concept with the potential for some good discussion.

Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter--because frankly, I want to talk more about clones and generations-long deep-space missions.

[Mary]

SF: The January Dancer by Michael Flynn A tale of far-future intrigue, adventure, and philosopy.

Fantasy: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

[Shel, Moderator]

I'll again nominate A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay for fantasy. For SF, how about Jaran by Kate Elliott, which has been languishing unread on my kindle for far too long? I've enjoyed her fantasy and would like to try her SF.

[Wekoslav]

For Fantasy I'd like to nominate The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. I've very much enjoyed everything she has written this far, and I like the short story that the novel is based on.

For SF, I'd nominate QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling. Never heard of the guy, but lots of people whose taste I appreciate have recommended it.

[Chris, Moderator]

Shel wrote: "I'll again nominate A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay for fantasy. For SF, how about Jaran by Kate Elliott, which has been languish..."

Shel, Jaran is classed as Fantasy by more readers than classed it SciFi. Would you like to nominate another SF, or nominate this one instead of Brightness?

[Shel, Moderator]

Oh, dangit! I didn't look at the goodreads listing, I'd just classified it as SF myself based on the description. Forgive a stressed out mod? :D

I'll stick with the Kay nomination and ponder another SF title.

[Rafael]

So, I would like to nominate The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe in Fantasy. I haven't read anything by him yet!

And in Science Fiction Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre.

By the way, the links to access the master list from before 2018 are not working for me.

[Shel, Moderator]

Rafael wrote: "By the way, the links to access the master list from before 2018 are not working for me."

Hi Rafael, those threads can all be found in this folder; let us know if you still have trouble there.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I will steal Shel’s nomination and nominate Jaran by Kate Elliott for Fantasy. I, too have this series on my shelf, unread.

[Chris, Moderator]

What a fantastic list of nominees!

Just for awareness, The Shadow of the Torturer was last read in May of 2013. Also, Dreamsnake is not available in ebook format. Both are still eligible according to our rules.

[DivaDiane]

Dreamsnake *is* available on Kindle (£3.99) at least in the U.K. it’s also available from Book View Cafe (which Vonda helped found and run).

[Gabi]

Dreamsnake is also available on kindle in Germany.

[Rafael]

Chris wrote: "What a fantastic list of nominees!

Just for awareness, The Shadow of the Torturer was last read in May of 2013. Also, Dreamsnake is not available in ebook format. Both ..."

Ups, sorry. Since I couldn't access the list before 2018 I wasn't able to check it.

But the new link works perfectly. I'll save it for future reference.

[Chris, Moderator]

Preliminary polls are up for our August BOTMs, and will be open through Tuesday May 26. We have some wonderful choices. Let's vote!

Science Fiction: Preliminary SF Poll

Fantasy: Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Chris, Moderator
Beyond Reality

[Chris, Moderator]

Final polls are up. Lets vote!


Science Fiction: Final SF Poll

Fantasy: Final Fantasy Poll

Chris, Moderator
Beyond Reality