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

[Anna]

Mike wrote: "This year is a holding year, now... just plan to finish 25 by the end of the year, so I have lost no ground."

This was my plan, but 25 feels completely undoable right now. (I know we have six months left.)

[Dj]

Cleaning up my finished books here are two reviews for books on the group Library shelves. the First one is: Those Who Hunt the Night

So a somewhat predictable Vampire adventure story with a pre-world War I England and France. A decent read but not outstanding in any real sense. A bit of a twist on the take on Vampires, but nothing that raises it above a general mid-ranking. It is easy to read and enjoyable enough but not something I would go out of my way to recommend to others.

And the second one is:
Preludes & Nocturnes

What a fun ride through a different vision of how the immortals work. I am glad that I stepped off the path of my normal reading to take a look at this.


This puts me at 14 for reading all the library books. so I am plus two on my goal for the year.

[Bonnie]

Mike wrote: "[cue inspirational closing] If I can finish Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles, anyone can. "

Love this. I also have considered reading it just for kicks...
Of course if I prioritize all the remaining books it is last. Heck, just get it over with!!

[Maarit]

Since my last post, I've finished two books and I've dumped several, that hopefully will be read sometime in the future (just not now). Only one translated book so far, which is actually a bit suprising and maybe slightly unexpected. We shall see which way this goes, though I'm pretty sure English rules this list for a long time or maybe the whole year.

So far the best book I've read has been Jo Waltons Among Others. I liked the story, how the book was written and just the atmosphere of the book. Maybe I read it the right time or something, but still a good read.

Currently reading
Genevieve Cogman: The Invisible Library (physical book, owned, eternity project)
Nalo Hopkinson: Brown Girl in the Ring (library loan)
Naomi Kritzer: Catfishing on CatNet (library loan)

Read
Hiroshi Sakurazaka: All You Need Is Kill (physical book, owned, 3 stars)
Richard Matheson: Olen legenda (I am Legend, physical book, owned, 3 stars)
Karen Lord: The Best of all Possible Worlds (library e-book, 2 stars)
Waubgeshig Rice: Moon of the Crusted Snow (library book, 3 stars)
Ben H. Winters: The Last Policeman (library e-book, 3 stars)
Daniel José Older: Shadowshaper (library e-book, 3 stars)
Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (library e-book, 4 stars)
Kira Jane Buxton: Hollow Kingdom (library loan, 3 stars)
Jo Walton: Among Others (library loan, 4 stars)

Pile of shame (aka maybe later)
Vernor Vinge: Linnunradan ääret (A Fire Upon the Deep) (physical book, owned)
Daniel O'Malley: The Rook (library e-book)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

hi Maarit! good job! pile of shame made me laugh

[CBRetriever]

The Rook was actually pretty good

[Maarit]

CBRetriever wrote: "The Rook was actually pretty good"

Yeah, I read a few chapters of it (e-book, so not a clue how many pages, maybe around 100 or so?) and liked how the story was building up. Will try it again later, when I have more time and patience for reading an e-book.

[Dj]

The Speed of Dark

This is a well-written story with an intriguing view of what an autistic person might be thinking as they go through life. It brings up interesting questions and gives some possible answers. In the end, I felt a little let down by the ending, it seemed a bit of a cop-out for such a good book up to that point. If not for that this would have been five stars.

This read puts me up to fifteen for the year out of the Group Bookshelf.

[CBRetriever]

I just finished my 8th out of 10 pledged books: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. I enjoyed this books. Now I'm working on The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson which for some reason I thought was SciFi and not Fantasy, bu so far so good.

[Ellen]

Finished Tigana which is 38 of 50 pledged. When I finish reading all the bookshelf books plan to read some more of Guy Gavriel Kay books (Liked this better than The Summer Tree). Currently only reading books on the club shelf. My completionist personality as taken control. I just want to get it done. 71 more to go.

[Anna]

Wow, I hope you make it through unscathed!

[Chris]

Ellen wrote: "Finished Tigana which is 38 of 50 pledged. When I finish reading all the bookshelf books plan to read some more of Guy Gavriel Kay books"

Hurray for GGK! I recently finished Children of Earth and Sky, which I loved. The book I read after GGK is always in a tough spot because my mind keeps wandering back.

[Ellen]

Anna wrote: "Wow, I hope you make it through unscathed!"

Not likely, I keep stalling on certain books like Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles and I'm afraid I'm going to end up with a lot of not my cup of tea books to read in a row.

[Ellen]

Chris wrote: "Hurray for GGK! I recently finished Children of Earth and Sky, which I loved. The book I read after GGK is always in a tough spot because my mind keeps wandering back. "

Children of Earth and Sky is one I really want to read.

[Maarit]

Again two more books finished. That makes it 11 books read out of my 15 book challenge goal, yay. For the last two books, I was positively surprised by The House in the Cerulean Sea, which I read as a translated version. Almost wasn't going to read it, because there were some things in the translation I disliked + the story didn't seem that interesting, but I ended up reading the whole thing in just two days and missing the story after it ended. Not wishing for a sequel, though, the story doesn't need it in my opinion.

Nalo Hopkinsons Brown Girl in the Ring didn't work for me, but I read it till the end anyway. Interesting ideas, but something in the story just didn't click with me properly.

I've also started Walter Moers Uinuvien kirjojen kaupunki (City of Dreaming Books). I've read the The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear from him before (in Finnish) and liked it, so I'm interested to see if this other one is as good.

Currently reading
Genevieve Cogman: The Invisible Library (physical book, owned, eternity project)
Naomi Kritzer: Catfishing on CatNet (library loan)
Walter Moers: Uinuvien kirjojen kaupunki (City of Dreaming Books, library loan)

Read
1. Hiroshi Sakurazaka: All You Need Is Kill (physical book, owned, 3 stars)
2. Richard Matheson: Olen legenda (I am Legend, physical book, owned, 3 stars)
3. Karen Lord: The Best of all Possible Worlds (library e-book, 2 stars)
4. Waubgeshig Rice: Moon of the Crusted Snow (library book, 3 stars)
5. Ben H. Winters: The Last Policeman (library e-book, 3 stars)
6. Daniel José Older: Shadowshaper (library e-book, 3 stars)
7. Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (library e-book, 4 stars)
8. Kira Jane Buxton: Hollow Kingdom (library loan, 3 stars)
9. Jo Walton: Among Others (library loan, 4 stars)
10. Nalo Hopkinson: Brown Girl in the Ring (library loan, 2 stars)
11. T.J. Klune: Talo taivaansinisellä merellä (The House in the Cerulean Sea, physical book, owned, 4 stars)

Pile of shame (aka maybe later)
Vernor Vinge: Linnunradan ääret (A Fire Upon the Deep) (physical book, owned)
Daniel O'Malley: The Rook (library e-book)

[Dj]

Ellen wrote: "Finished Tigana which is 38 of 50 pledged. When I finish reading all the bookshelf books plan to read some more of Guy Gavriel Kay books (Liked this better than [book:T..."

I can relate to that. I have a tendency to do that sort of thing myself.

[Meredith]

Since my last update, I've read
More Than Human
Oryx and Crake, my fave of these recent reads,
The Library of the Unwritten
and I DNF'd The Shadow of the Torturer, this was just not for me.

I'm up to 146 read from the bookshelf.

[Flora]

Maarit wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "The Rook was actually pretty good"

Yeah, I read a few chapters of it (e-book, so not a clue how many pages, maybe around 100 or so?) and liked how the story was..."

I tried the audio version of The Rook. It was a DNF for me

[Dj]

So I have started reading Perdido Street Station and I am waiting for that moment when the book grabs you and drags you in, but I am unsure that is going to happen. It is interesting, but a tad wordy. Somewhat like another Melville, I can think of. LOL.

[CBRetriever]

Finished the 9th out of 10 books I pledged:

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie and i will be continuing on with this series.

I'm about 70% through The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson and it's a bit of a slog continuing on. There have been some interesting parts (beginning, the duel and a couple of others), but economics was boring to me and the characters don't seem to come to life in the book.

[CBRetriever]

and I'm done with The Traitor Baru Cormorant to complete my 10 books I pledged.. The ending killed me - I'm probably going to wait until next year's TBR to read the second book

[Anna]

You deserve a medal for finishing not only Baru but also the challenge!

[John]

Allison wrote: "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 so..."

In addition to 12 books a month put-off, might have to add the pachyderm novels like The Way of Kings which start a series(ous) commitment. Started it in mid-June on a road trip and around 8 weeks later am almost done with book number 6 Rhythm of War. And I get to claim 1 book for the challenge. Just sorted my list TBR by pages and will now read 4 Le Guin starting with The Tombs of Atuan in around 2 weeks so I can get my 150.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

yyusssss!

I also award you +1 point for obviously enjoying Stormlight Archive and for binging I think 5000ish pages in 8 weeks

[CBRetriever]

I'll give John kudos for finishing it and continuing on with the series - I stopped at book 3

for next year I already have 5 ready to go from my TBR pile:

Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Sabriel
The Bone Shard Daughter
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (The Siege #1)
The Book of Koli (The Rampart Trilogy 1)

[HeyT]

Today I hit 30 books with The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. That's twice what I pledged but six shy of my low key real goal of 36.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

well done!!

[John]

Allison wrote: "yyusssss!

I also award you +1 point for obviously enjoying Stormlight Archive and for binging I think 5000ish pages in 8 weeks"

Well, yes I admit to really liking the series as Oathbringer was my 1st 5 star read this year and Rhythm of War might get 5 but... points! over enjoyment. dang OCD about series/authors/challenges. :)

[Lowell]

For the first time in what feels like.. well... ever (but really is more like 15 years) I am taking a real, honest to goodness vacation.

So of course, I’ve busted out the reading like crazy. And it’s been wonderful.

Of the six books I’ve completed in the last four days, two have been bookshelf reads! I *really* enjoyed The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It was a good solid romp.

I also enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, though not quite as much. Sadly, due to goodreads’ very limited five star scale, they both end up at four stars for me.

Edit: also finished Velocity Weapon. You can find my thoughts on it in the group discussion thread.

Currently Reading


On Deck


Finished!


DNF

[Lowell]

Well, I’ve hit my first DNF of the year. Goodbye The Library at Mount Char, you were gratuitous and gross, and I have no desire to keep reading you.

Time to take a shot at another book with.. mixed.. reviews. The Traitor Baru Cormorant, here we go

Though, I will be doing a lot of driving in the next few days, as I wind my way across the western US on my way home, avoiding smoke and stopping in beautiful locations for lots of pictures.

Currently Reading


On Deck


Finished!


DNF

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

That one churned my stomach, too, Lowell!

[Ellen]

Finished The Lathe of Heaven and Soulless to each by goal of 50 books from the shelf

[CBRetriever]

Lowell wrote: "Well, I’ve hit my first DNF of the year. Goodbye The Library at Mount Char, you were gratuitous and gross, and I have no desire to keep reading you.

Time to take a shot at another book with mixed reviews: The Traitor Baru Cormorant, here we go

I won't be reading one as I don't like horror and I didn't like The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Pump Six and Other Stories was pretty good though

[Leticia]

I'm doing reasonably well this year in this challenge, I've read 9 books so far. I've read:

- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- ⭐⭐⭐
- ⭐⭐⭐
- ⭐⭐


- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Anna]

Leticia, Shards of Honor and Ghost Brigades aren't on the group shelf!

[Leticia]

I see. Just got mixed up then.

[Anna]

There's another book from both series that *is* on the shelf! Old Man's War and The Warrior's Apprentice.

[Leticia]

I plan on reading The Warrior's Apprentice soon, I'll add it to my TBR.

[Anna]

I meant to add, but was distracted by something and forgot, that it's no wonder you thought Shards was on the shelf! We probably talk more about it than any book on the shelf, and it's been in so many polls, it feels like we read it every month! :D

[Leticia]

I also read The Ghost Brigades in a br here in the group so I just added it to the list somehow.

[John]

Just returned from a recent trip to Italy and loaded up before I went with books on the bookshelf for reading/listening on bus/airplanes.

Finally cracked the 150 threshold but am behind on my yearly goal.

A Wizard of Earthsea - liked it
The Tombs of Atuan - it was ok
The Farthest Shore - really liked it and looking for some of the other books in the series.

Machine Man - liked it

[Dj]

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers The Crown Conspiracy (The Riyria Revelations, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik

The Anubis Gates
I will just say that for me, Time Travel isn't my favorite form of fiction.

The Crown Conspiracy
So many books try to be funny, try to have that easy conversational style that makes the characters stand out and believable. Many fall short, some get one or the other but so few get both and have a great story and world-building to back it up. This book was a pure joy to read.

His Majesty's Dragon
In general, I am not a fan of alternate history. Often it seems to be more of a case of showing off what the author knows about the past than worrying about a good story. To make matters worse having read a fair bit of military history, and most alternate versions seem to take place around battles I can find it very disconcerting when the action is changed up.

Maybe it was the addition of the Dragons, but the author avoided that with this book at least as far as I was concerned. It could have been that it focused more on the interactions on the smaller scale and worried less about the actual historical events and didn't get lost in the minor details of the society at the time and just drove on with the story.

I found it quite enjoyable.

[Beth]

Goal: 7
Read: 5

I'm a bit behind even though I didn't sign up for much!

Currently reading:


Finished:


On deck (subject to change!):


DNF (<50%)*: didn't finish, and don't want to
* unfinished books at >=50% will be reviewed and rated and counted as read


"Good intentions": didn't finish, and want to

[DivaDiane]

And with finishing Black Sun and the The Imperial Radch Trilogy I have officially reached my goal of 20 group reads! I'm not sure what that brings my total to. If my shelf for the challenge is to be believed: 109. I do plan to read more from the bookshelf, mostly from recent picks:

We Are Satellites and
The Steerswoman's Road

I still have so many from the bookshelf on my owned-TBR, though!

[Anna]

Diane, I checked through the mod account, and you have read 112 (32.84%)!

Anyone else want to know?

Check here: Meet the SFFBC Mod Account (What you can do with it, part 3)
Tell us about it here: How many of our Club Books have you read?

[DivaDiane]

Cool, Thanks, anna!

[Meredith]

Update time (it's been a while). Over the past couple months, I've read:
City of Dreaming Books
Starship Troopers
She Who Became the Sun
Black Sun
Spin (now I'm 4/5 for the SFFBC Logo challenge too)

DNF'd: The Gunslinger.

Since I DNF'd two shelf books this year, I increased my reading goal from 19 to 21. With that, I've read 20, plus I had one retro-read (I read House on the Cerulean Sea last year). So, I hit my goal of reaching 150 shelf books this year! And I have a couple in progress, so I'll definitely be adding to that number before the year ends.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Well done everyone!!

[Mihai]

I`m reading the monthly books for this challenge and is going pretty well. I`m preparing to go for A Master of Djinn soon.

[Dj]

So with this book, I am just four short of the break-even point.
Tigana

On occasion, I found I had difficulty with moving on with this story, but that isn't because it isn't a good story in the overall sense. The world-building is first class, the characters are fully developed and unique onto themselves. The plot is consistent within the parameters of the story, so I have no real idea why I wasn't as caught up in it as I thought I would have been.

This aberration on my part shouldn't keep others from reading it. The book is all that one could wish for in a Fantasy Epic. Wide-ranging, different religions, different types of magic, and it touches on the myth structure of the world. Reading this book you will feel more like the world was in existence prior to the author putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard as the case may be). Enjoy the experience.