SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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Ines' 2022 & 2021 Challenges - comments always appreciated!
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Mod
my hand: 4/12 cards left
4 of Hearts
- book with mental health as a focus by an author of color8 of Diamonds - played for August with Persephone Station- played for June with Eartheater
- WILD / MULLIGAN5 of Hearts
- book translated to English by an author of color
9 of Spades
- book with southeast Asian mythology by an ownvoices author
6 of Hearts - played for September with Sister Mine
- book with characters with mobility issues by an author of color
5 of Clubs - played for October with Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was
- book translated to English by a non US/UK author7 of Spades- played for May with Wizard of the Crow
- book with African or Caribbean mythology by an ownvoices authorQ of Clubs- played for March with A Tiger for Malgudi
- book with Middle-Eastern/Indian mythology by a non US/UK author4 of Diamonds- played for February with The Outside
- book with mental health as a focus by a woman or NB author3 of Clubs- played for April with Potiki
- book with nonwhite characters by a non US/UK author6 of Spades- played for July with Twice Dead: Contagion
- book with characters with mobility issues by an ownvoices authorJ of Hearts- played for January with Eartheater
- book with South American mythology by an author of color
January
Group card is Jack of Spades (book with South American mythology by an ownvoices author).
I played Jack of Hearts and Eartheater.
Group book is When Fox is a Thousand.
I read When Fox is a Thousand.
February
Group card is 2 of Diamonds (book with at least 2 women or NB protagonists by a woman or NB author).
I played 4 of Diamonds and The Outside.
Group book is In the Vanishers’ Palace.
I read Space Invaders by Nona Fernández.
March
Group card is King of Clubs (book with characters who are neurodiverse by a non US/UK author).
I played Queen of Clubs and A Tiger for Malgudi.
Group book is The Salvage Crew.
I read The Salvage Crew.
April
Group card is Queen of Clubs (book with Middle-Eastern/Indian mythology by a non US/UK author).
I played 3 of Clubs and Potiki.
Group book is A Spark of White Fire.
I read Potiki.
May
Group card is King of Spades (book with a neurodiverse character by an ownvoices author).
I played 7 of Spades and Wizard of the Crow.
Group book is Elatsoe.
I read Testing Pandora.
June
Group card is 7 of Hearts (book with African or Caribbean mythology by an author of color).
I played 5 of Hearts and Eartheater.
Group book is Eartheater.
I read Eartheater.
July
Group card is 6 of Spades (book with characters with mobility issues by an ownvoices author).
I played 6 of Spades and Twice Dead: Contagion.
Group book is The Unbroken.
I read Dead Space.
August
Group card is Ace of Diamonds (book with a LGBTQIA+ protagonist by a woman or non-binary or genderqueer author).
I played 8 of Diamonds and Persephone Station.
Group book is Digital Divide.
I read Signal to Noise.
September
Group card is 7 of Hearts (book with African or Caribbean mythology by an author of color).
I played 6 of Hearts and Sister Mine.
Group book is Redemption in Indigo.
I read ...
October
Group card is 5 of Diamonds (book translated to English by a woman or NB author).
I played 5 of Clubs and Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was.
Group book is ...
I read ...
November
Group card is 9 of Clubs (book with southeast Asian mythology from a non-US/-UK author).
I played ---.
Group book is Amatka.
I read ...
December
Group card is ?.
I played ---.
Group book is Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening.
I read ...
Mod
16/20 books
I will not do much planning on this one. Instead, I'll read books from my tbr and see if they fit one of the prompts and if I'm not sure what I want to read next, I will use this list as inspiration to browse my tbr.
1. Take a gamble: Afro-Cuban Tales
2. Red or black3. Behind the eight ball: Survive the Night4. Charade: Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing series)
5. Agreeable alliteration6. Jackpot: My Heart Is a Chainsaw7. Pawns: Momo
8. An 8 or 219. Dealer's choice: The Route of Ice and Salt10. X marks the spot: The Bacta War (Star Wars: X-Wing series)11. Murrderrrrr: Fugitive Telemetry12. Back from the dead: The Krytos Trap (Star Wars: X-Wing series), because (view spoiler)
13. Features a game or puzzle14. I have no gift for strategy: The Man in the High Castle (yes, I am counting planned rereads), because (view spoiler)15. Features best friends: Signal to Noise16. Queen of hearts: The Final Girl Support Group17. Role-play: The Book of Chantries from the "Mage: the Ascension" role playing game.18. Amazing race: The All-Consuming World19. Taboo: Eartheater20. Critical hit: A Dowry of Blood, because (view spoiler).
Mod
Jan 2022: 20/343
Dec. 2020: 18/319
Let's see where this goes... this challenge is definitely lowest on my priority list, but there are so many interesting books on the group shelf, and so many that are on my tbr anyway, so I will keep track of them.
2021
The Man in the High Castle, it's technically a reread for me, but I didn't count it in my read books before because it was so long ago.
The City of Dreaming Books, I read this one a few years ago.
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Thanks for that tip! I’ve been looking for something to have on my phone for just this purpose!!
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DivaDiane wrote: "Thanks for that tip! I’ve been looking for something to have on my phone for just this purpose!!"
I would love to see yours!
If I ever get it worked up I’ll post it.
Oh wow, your board is beautiful! I especially love the maps! Are those part of the app? I just love filling in maps, highlighting by hand or digitally, places that I've been to, or in this case, read from. Mm, and all those tick-boxes look so tantalizingly satisfying to check off. Nice. 😎I was actively pursuing an Around the World challenge for a while. Lately I've taken a more laid-back tack, of familiarizing myself with and filling my shelves with applicable international titles, putting them in arm's reach, but not setting any quota, letting myself come to the titles in my own time. Any recommendations for that challenge so far? I also read First They Killed My Father, and Pippi, but any others?
Mod
They do, right? Right? And it's so satisfying when you finally check them! I'm glad somebody understands me. :D
I make the maps on this page:
https://bighugelabs.com/map.php
...and then I just screenshot them to put them on the board as a picture, because the page gives you only an iframe-code and Milanote doesn't do those.
From the books on my list, I can highly recommend the following:
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, Passing and Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.
And right now I am reading Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War: Authorized Edition, which is very insightful.
Ooh, I like!Thanks for the link to the map, I just added another column to my spreadsheet.
...and yikes, realized I only have the USA, Canada, and New Zealand represented in my planned upcoming reads. Although I've done periodic diversity audits, this is the first time I've incorporated the data into a more real-time spreadsheet to see, and it's telling.
I have Born a Crime and Nothing to Envy on my TBR, but thanks for recommending Passing. (Why wasn't I given something like this to read in school instead of the glut of disaffected white men from the era?)
I hope your Cuban read goes well. :)
Hi Ines, I meant to come by here a month or so ago and thank you for that link to your Milanote whiteboard! I was impressed with what you’d done, so I tried it out myself early this year. I didn’t do anything nearly as fancy, especially since I don’t do challenges, but I created one board with some reading-related checklists and a couple other more image-based boards for other purposes.I’m not really using it to keep track of my reading for myself since I already have a spreadsheet and a database, but it’s a great way to present to others what my plans are. Fast to set up, and easy to keep updated – just click the check boxes!
Mod
Speaking of software, which is my business, and just as in business, let's do a quarterly review and see where we are, where we can improve and, always important in the business world, who's to blame.
Amazin' Eights Challenge
I'm doing surprisingly well here, considering I usually don't join any challenges because I don't like to do a lot of planning for my reading. I didn't miss a single month.
So far, I've read 3 books, which brings my hand cards down to 9/12, and I will be starting my April book in a few days. Out of the four books I read/am reading, two were the chosen group books and two were an alternative read, all were group reads. I began writing reviews for three and have finished none. :D
TBR Cleanup Challenge
3/20 books so far, but I am currently reading books 4 and 5, so I would say I'm on track. Which is not surprising, since my yearly reading is basically one great tbr cleanup.
Read All the Books
I read one book. Will probably abandon this, I'm just not feeling it and it always collides with more interesting group reads or books I want to read. Let's see where I'm at at the end of the year.
The Vampire Chronicles & Mayfair Witches Re-Read
Still at two books, I cannot binge Anne Rice like I did in my teens, I need pauses from all the adjectives and the narcissistic drama. It's still entertaining, though.
Star Wars: X-Wing series Re-Read
Reading book 4, so I'm on track. I'm enjoying it, no 5-star-read so far, but they are good, entertaining action-adventure novels. Glad I'm reading them again, I definitely see what I loved all those years ago.
All in all, I am giving myself a pretty good quarterly review. As my employer in the reading department, I am pretty happy with myself, and since I did so well in my review talk with myself, I will go ahead and give myself a nice bonus to go buy some books and some nice tea to go with them.
I reread X-Wing: Solo Command this year, which really holds up well.I am also doing the tail end of the New Jedi Order. I started with Destiny's Way, which is where the series brings some positivity back, and I am currently on the last part of Reunion.
Happy reading!
I've finally started populating my Milanote board! Have a look if you like:https://app.milanote.com/1LzzmZ1yyOD2... It's far from finished though.
DivaDiane wrote: "I've finally started populating my Milanote board! Have a look if you like:https://app.milanote.com/1LzzmZ1yyOD2... It's far from finished though."
That just warms my organizing heart, Diane!
Wow the virtual white boards are amazing! I just keep track of everything in different notes on my phone or computer! I'm also loving the read around the world challenge.
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So, how did I do?
For my re-read challenges, I read one book of the Vampire Chronicles, Memnoch the Devil, which I found so boring and rambling that it put me off of those for the rest of the year. I dnf'd it at around 30%. RIP Anne Rice, you gave me a lot of what I needed when I was a teenager, but not all of it stands the test of time. I'll still soldier on, just ... later.
I read 3 books of the Star Wars: X-Wing re-read and enjoyed all of them!
I dropped the Amazin' Eights Challenge in the second half of the year, but it's still my most successful challenge of all times and it was a lot of fun. I plan on reading more of the books that were nominated for this challenge during the year.
I didn't read any books for the Read All the Books challenge, so I think I'll drop that in 2022.
I managed to read 16/20 books for the TBR Cleanup Challenge, so I will have a look at the 2022 challenge and see if I'll do it again.
I will give myself a few days to look through the current challenges and see which ones I'll join.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Memnoch the Devil (other topics)Wraith Squadron: Star Wars Legends (other topics)
My Heart Is a Chainsaw (other topics)
Survive the Night (other topics)
Momo (other topics)
More...
I keep all my goodreads & personal challenges on this virtual whiteboard, so if you're interested, have a look:
https://app.milanote.com/1K1xxL1TxS2j...
SFFBC Challenge Overview
Other goodreads or personal Challenges
Most of those are more ongoing projects than challenges, because I didn't set an end date. I'm a huge mood reader anyways. Since they do not directly relate to the group, I will just leave the titles here and if you're interested, you can go to the whiteboard (https://app.milanote.com/1K1xxL1TxS2j...) to find more information. But please feel free to comment on them here anyway!