2021 Read All the Books: Around the Shelf in Eight(y) Years

[Bonnie]

Haven't decided yet what will come next.
Could be something I own already:
(then also read her new one, Unconquerable Sun)

something that crosses over w/ IRL book club:
(then could also read two Frankenstein-adjacent books, Frankenstein in Baghdad and Tiptree winner The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein)

something that also won awards:
(could also watch TV show)

[Tawallah]

DivaDiane wrote: "Great list, June! Welcome to the challenge!"

Thanks. Fortunately for me i am in a SFF mood these days and eager to surpass my planned number of reads.

[Meredith]

So far for the year, I've read 7 + added one retro read so I'm up to 139 books read from the shelf.

since my last update, I read:
The Graveyard Book (fun and also quite touching, audio book read by Gaiman))
Book of Koli (really enjoyed)
Man in the High Castle (meh)
The Road (I recommend the audio book!)

Plus I added one retro read:
House in the Cerulean Sea (read last year, really enjoyed)

Currently Reading:
Artemis (audio book, enjoyable so far)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Hail and well met, adventurers! We have 12 days left for any 80 day challenges you may have set yourself! Please be sure to report back on how many worlds from the shelf you navigated before March 22!

[Anna]

I did not set myself any traps extra challenging challenges, which is good, since I've read one (that's 1) group book in 2021 :D

[CBRetriever]

dang, I forgot the 80 days bit. I've just added two books, but there's still a possibility of more then.

[DivaDiane]

I didn’t realize there was and 80 day aspect. But I think I’ve done pretty well regardless. I’m on my 7th book from the shelves right now:
Lock In, Scalzi
Fate of the Fallen, Kel Kade
The Best of All Possibke Worlds, Karen Lord
Rendezvous with Rama, Clarke
Children of Time, Tchaikovsky
The House in the Cerulean Sea, Klune (in progress)

I wonder if I can squeeze in another one for a nice 8 in 80 days?

[Ada]

DivaDiane wrote: "I didn’t realize there was and 80 day aspect."

Oh same! But you can do it!

I've only read two from the shelves:
1. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
2. An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Currently I'm reading:
3. House with the Ghosts (Het Huis met de Geesten) by Isabelle Allende

But somehow I'm fired up now. I have all my books picked out, no time to read all day because of work but I will make this happen! (view spoiler)[probably not but it is good to have goals 😉 (hide spoiler)]

[CBRetriever]

I've just read these so far

This Alien Shore by Friedman, C.S.
Gideon the Ninth by Muir, Tamsyn

and I'm working on

Magician (Riftwar Saga) by Feist, Raymond E. but that's on my outside the house book, so I might not make it except that I have to drop Mr CBR off and wait until he's vaccinated and then pick him up afterward (1-2 hours) and i have a doctor's appointment on the 18th.

Maybe after i finish the 4th Steerswoman book I could fit in whichever of my remaining 8 are shortest....

[Dj]

Oh, Mother McCreedy's Lost Dog I thought the challenge was for the whole year. LOL.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

it is!! there's an extra one for the daring!

[Dj]

Allison wrote: "it is!! there's an extra one for the daring!"

I am too old to be daring anymore. LOL Gave it up for Lent. I think that was Lent in 89 maybe.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

XD

[Bonnie]

Dj wrote: "Oh, Mother McCreedy's Lost Dog I thought the challenge was for the whole year. LOL."

Me too! But now that I think about it, I can make it "18 in 80." I was going to read some other stuff this next week but once I finish The Dog Stars I will switch back to "Bookshelf Mode!"

We started watching American Gods on TV so I am reading the book along with that, a couple chapters every few days. It is tough for me to suspend my disbelief to have supernatural stuff, especially gods, cavorting around in modern-day current America. I could do it for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel but not this? So, hopefully the TV show is going to help me get through it.

Hmm, what else next?! {rubs hands together in anticipation}

[Aga]

Hmmm, I wonder if I can reach 8 in 80 days. I've already read 5 and I'm in the middle of both books of the month. "The Obelisk Gate" RR is scheduled for the next week... I'm going to try.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Rock on! That's the adventurous spirit we're lookin for, y'all! You got this :)

[Dj]

I did hit seven, but I am not sure I will get another one done by the 80-day mark. I am focused on a library book and a TBR at the moment.

[CBRetriever]

the rules didn't say anything about 8 in 80 days. I'm doing 10 total and I've done 2 so far with possibly two more by then

[Banshee]

I completely forgot about this additional challenge, too. I'm doing quite well, though. I've finished 7 books so far: Leviathan Wakes, Fate of the Fallen, Children of Time, Witchmark, The Book of Koli, The Bear and the Nightingale and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

I'm currently reading The Poppy War and We Are Legion (We Are Bob), so I should be able to finish at least one of them by March 22. I'm feeling really happy with myself 😀

[Aga]

CBRetriever wrote: "the rules didn't say anything about 8 in 80 days. I'm doing 10 total and I've done 2 so far with possibly two more by then"

8 in 80 days is just my personal goal. It sounds fun and I'm close to reach it :)

[CBRetriever]

ah, congrats if you make it :)

[Bonnie]

OK three more in a week and a half.
It's not cheating, it's tactical... This one is short:
I Am Legend. And it continues my post-apocalyptic streak. I'll knock that out.
The Calculating Stars just came in at the library, that's two!

[CBRetriever]

that second on is over 400 pages...

I'm at 75% on Magician: Apprentice Volume 1 and 11% on Parable of the Sower so it's possible I could reach 4 books by March 21st

eta; especially since my Covid jab is on March 17th and I have a procedure scheduled on march 18th

[Meredith]

I've read 7 and have one in progress, so maybe I'll make the '8 in 80' mini-challenge. Allison's question made me think about what worlds I have visited...

1. Cool fantasy world with a library AND a magic school.
2. Interesting planet with different community enclaves following their own paths.
3. Kind of grim fantasy world, but with interesting magic.
4. A graveyard.
5. Dystopia with killer trees.
6. Dystopia with Nazis.
7. Dystopia with... canned food and a lot of dust.

and currently I'm on the Moon.

[Dj]

Meredith wrote: "I've read 7 and have one in progress, so maybe I'll make the '8 in 80' mini-challenge. Allison's question made me think about what worlds I have visited...

1. Cool fantasy world with a library AND..."

This may be my own personal opinion, but isn't anything with Nazis a Dystopia?

[Meredith]

Probably, but not all dystopias have Nazis.

[Dj]

Meredith wrote: "Probably, but not all dystopias have Nazis."

That would of course be true.

[HeyT]

I think I'm now sitting at 12/15 pledged for the year (but my secret goal is still 36)

[CBRetriever]

Finished the third of the 10, I signed up for: Parable of the Sower and I still have hopes of finishing Magician: Apprentice Volume 1 before March 20th. a doctor's appointment and the queue for getting my first Covid shot will help.

[Jessica]

I adjusted my goal from 20 to 10 as I'm doing too many other reading challenges or book club reads! (Not just here, ha). I now have read 1, but there's a lot I still want to read this year.

[CBRetriever]

Didn't finish Magician: Apprentice Volume 1 by the 20th, but I have finished it for the 4th of 10 that i signed up to read

[DivaDiane]

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to 8 in 80 days. I’m in the middle of my eighth though, so... almost!!

Onward!

[Ada]

Whelp I didn't make it. Next time though...


But I did get to read some great book so that's always a plus.

Finished:
1. Old Man's War by John Scalzi ★★★★★
2. An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon ☆☆☆☆☆
I couldn't rate this because my reading experience was so weird.
4. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor ★★★☆☆

DNF'ed:
3. House with the Ghosts (Het Huis met de Geesten) by Isabelle Allende
Did not expect to dnf this. My memory really left out some stuff...

Currently I'm reading:
5. Mort by Terry Pratchett
I find myself not wanting to read this, not because I'm not enjoying it but because I don't want it to end.

Weirdly enough I enjoy seeing other people completing this challenge.

[Aga]

DivaDiane wrote: "Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to 8 in 80 days. I’m in the middle of my eighth though, so... almost!!

Onward!"

Haha, me too! I'm still in Te Stillness ;) I'll propably stay there for some time because I'm going to read "The Stone Sky" right after "The Obelisk Gate".

Do BRs count? Or just the books from The Shelf?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Books from the shelf, however they're read!

[Aga]

Ok! Thank you, Allison.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

you're crushing it!! outstanding

[Midiain]

Of the books I read this month, four were from the bookshelf.
Caliban's War
The Salvage Crew
The Bear and the Nightingale
Promise of Blood

And that puts me at exactly 100.

[Bonnie]

Century Milestone!!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

hot damn! welcome to the clubhouse!!

[Anna]

Yay for 100!

(Salvage Crew is not on the shelf.)

[HeyT]

It's the end of March and I'm now at 14 out of my 15 pledged books for the challenge (secret goal is 36). The most recent I've read being Childhood's End, The Thousand Names, and The Obelisk Gate. This puts me at a total of 163 books read from the shelf so far.

[Midiain]

Anna wrote: "Yay for 100!

(Salvage Crew is not on the shelf.)"


Oops. I thought all group reads got added. Thank you for clearing that up! Well, I'm still at 100 so I got there without noticing since I didn't check until today.

[John]

Anna wrote: "Yay for 100!

(Salvage Crew is not on the shelf.)"

Dang. Just started reading this and thought I would check and see if it was going to count for one from the bookshelf.

Still going to read it as started very strong but have to find some more from bookshelf. At 141 and MUST get to 150.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

You got this John!!

And yeah, though we support many other books, the only books that are actual book club reads are the two we vote on every month =/ We thought that 12 books a month might put some members off, ha!

[Dj]

So with everyone talking about getting to a hundred books off the shelf I went and checked and I am sneaking up on it. I am at 82 at the moment.

[Anna]

Easiest way to see how many group books you've read: Group account
Best place to talk about it: The Clubhouse

[Bonnie]

HeyT wrote: "It's the end of March and I'm now at 14 out of my 15 pledged books for the challenge (secret goal is 36). The most recent I've read being Childhood's End, The Thousand Names, and The Obelisk Gate. This puts me at a total of 163 books read from the shelf so far.

HeyT, ONE more and that puts you at 50%!
Caillen, 100 is fabu.
John, 150 will feel awesome.

Head on over to
How many of our Club Books have you read?
and celebrate accomplishments and "Clubhouse" milestones!

[Bonnie]

March Report: POSITIVE.
I positively did not do much else other than read (thanks, Pandemic Lockdown?).

*the two monthly group reads
*moved three books from "DNF/Unfinished" to "Read"
*two fairly recent SF titles, now I can converse about them
*four Classics - proud to have gotten these under my belt; confession, they were short!

Now to rank them in the order I liked them:

The Once and Future King
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
Starship Troopers
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
I Am Legend
Artemis
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Ubik
American Gods
Neverwhere
The Calculating Stars

[Hank, Hankenstein's Modster]

Cranking them out Bonnie, well done!