SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
SciFi and Fantasy Book Challenge
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Circadian Reading Challenge
I put a tentative list in my Challenge thread both for authors from a time zone and for books set in a time zone. It took 29 books to complete both categories especially since a lot of the SF&F authors wrote books that were not set in their country of origin/long term place of residence. I'm still doing some fine tuning before I put it up in this threadETA: I had to do some: Iceland should be in the UTC -1 Time Zone but uses GMT 0 instead fudging.
Nice! Remember that you only need to read 24 books to complete the challenge :) You can of course read more!(I had to cap it at 24 to make it circadian.)
or if you do both legs (author and setting) it could be a bit more. I like to take the hardest, most difficult way to meet the challenges, so I'm doing both = just 29 books as all but 5 of the author books fit the settings books
Yes of course you can read as many as you want! I just meant that if you read from 24 different zones you've completed the challenge. Anything more than that is a bonus :)If you want a really hard challenge, read one book per actual time zone in use, taking DST into consideration XD Unless I'm mistaken, at this very moment there are 38 time zones in use, so a setting + author for each and your goal is 76 books! And then when DST happens, at different times around the world, there will be new ones and I feel confused just thinking about this :D
Also I have to say that I love how you really get into all the challenges, CBR! ^_^
oh, no why'd you have to go and mention DST.... Not going to go there - it was difficult enough to come up with lists even with the UTC zones
Ok please someone tell me…. What is a relaxed dolphin?
You have to look at the links to find out! 😄
I’m a relaxed wolf haha 😂 And this description: "Wolf - Fill as you go, if you remember" is my typical challenge attitude. I’m starting the first book for this challenge today „Czarownik Iwanow“ ("Sorcerer Ivanov") by Andrzej Pilipiuk. It’s a Polish urban fantasy and we are UTC + 1 this time of the year, so I’ll start from here.
Home is a good place to start! I have no plans at all yet, I was actually thinking of asking what kind of plan of attack everyone has? I might just start reading, look at what I have in a couple of months, and then fill in what I need? But I also kind of want to make a list? Undecided :)(I'll probably make a list.)
This is one I had to plan out because I didn't have anything for some of the time zones. I have a list and will be starting on it soon probably with one of the story collections from my TBR list.
That's why I'm also thinking I have to at least start looking for options for some of the harder zones. But I think I might start reading from around the world without obsessing about the zones just yet, and see if I manage to pick everything from one zone or spread them out without too much effort.
those island only zones are tough (middle of Atlantic and middle of Pacific)
Yes! I did do some research before I decided this challenge was doable, but I know it won't be a walk in the park.
UTC 0-UK False ValueUTC +2 Poland The Tower of the Swallow
UTC +3 Russia We
UTC +7--Indonesia
UTC +8 China Death's End
-
-7 Mexico
UTC -8 West coast-
-12 New Zealand
I will think of some more, but at least it is a start!
I’m thinking of finally reading We this year because I have the audio!
Circadian Challenge - AuthorUTC Time Zone Title Author Country Genre
-12 (see end of list)
-11 Telesa: The Covenant Keeper by Lani Wendt Young - born in Samoa - SF
-10 The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig - raised in Hawaii - SF
-9 Twenty Sci Fi Stories by David Grace & Hayford Peirce - Peirce lived in Tahiti for 23 years Tahiti - SF
-8 Promises to Keep by Charles de Lint - born in Canada - SF
-7 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - born in Mexico - F
-6 Floreana by Margret Wittmer - one of the original settlers of Galapagos - NF
-5 Havana Red by Leonardo Padura - born in Cuba - F
-4 Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord - born in Barbados - SF
-3 Seven Graves One Winter by Christoffer Petersen - lived in Greenland for 7 years Greenland - F
-2 Death at the Water's Edge by Miriam Winthrop - family was from Azores - F
-1 The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - born in Iceland - F
0 The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky - born in UK - SF
1 The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend by Oliver Pötzsch - born in Germany - SF
2 A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley - both authors were born and lived in South Africa - F
3 Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol - born in Ukraine - F
4 Arabian Tales: Short Stories from the Arabian Gulf edited by Paul McIvor - born in Arabia - SF
5 The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan - born in India - F
6 The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hossain - born in Bangladesh - SF
7 The Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow - born in Thailand - SF
8 The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu - born in China - SF
9 The Moonflower by Phyllis A. Whitney - born in Japan - F
10 Sabriel by Garth Nix - born in Australia - SF
11 Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Russian Science Fiction and Fantasy by Alexander Levitsky - born in Russia - SF
12/-12 Beast Master's Circus by Andre Norton &Lyn McConchie - Lyn was born in New Zealand - SF
Circadian Challenge - TitleUTC Time Zone Title Author Country Genre
-12 (see end of list)
-11 Telesa: The Covenant Keeper by Lani Wendt Young - set in Samoa - SF
-10 The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig - set in Hawaii - SF
-9 Twenty Sci Fi Stories by David Grace & Hayford Peirce - set in Tahiti - SF
-8 Promises to Keep by Charles de Lint - set in Canada - SF
-7 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - set in Mexico - F
-6 Floreana by Margret Wittmer - set inf Galapagos - NF
-5 Havana Red by Leonardo Padura - set in Cuba - F
-4 Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord - set in Barbados - SF
-3 Seven Graves One Winter by Christoffer Petersen - set in Greenland - F
-2 [[book:The Islands of Magic Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales from the Azores|13115747] by Elsie Spicer Eells - stories from Azores - F
-1 The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - set in Iceland - F
0 The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky - set in UK - SF
1 The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend by Oliver Pötzsch - set in Germany - SF
2 A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley - set in South Africa - F
3 Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol - set in Ukraine - F
4 Alamut by Judith Tarr - set partly in Iran - SF
5 The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan - set in India - F
6 The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hossain - set in Bangladesh - SF
7 The Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow - set in Thailand - SF
8 The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu - set in China - SF
9 The Moonflower by Phyllis A. Whitney - set in Japan - F
10 Yeyuka by Greg Egan - short story set in Australia - SF - in Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
11 The Floating Island: The Pearl of the Pacific by Jules Verne- set in various islands in UTC-11, 12 & 13 - SF
12/-12 Shortcuts: Track 1: Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories from Aotearoa New Zealand by Marie Hodgkinson - one of these stories should be set in New Zealand - SF
I want to read Creak on the Stairs but I'm waiting to see if Storytel gets it. They have other books by her, so I'm hopeful.I do have another mystery for Iceland though, The Fox by Sólveig Pálsdóttir :)
I've read that one back in April - it was fairly good
Good to know, I honestly saved it to my TBR because of the 🦊
Some more by authors from Hawaii: (GMT-10)
Australia (GMT+7 to GMT+12):
Fiji (GMT+12)
New Zealand (GMT+13):
Ecuador (GMT-5 to -6):
Hope this helps a bit!
Looks fun. I have my doubts about the sleep researcher's characterization of 'dolphins', but I'm definitely a late-night loving chronotype. It is 3:30am here now and I am meandering towards my natural bedtime. I am always most productive between midnight and about now, and I need to sleep only about 6-7 hours if I can go to bed when I want to (3-4am). :)It is nearing bedtime though, so I'll fill in my notes to lay out my initial plans for this challenge in this spot later (tomorrow, probably).
The chronotype thing is just for a bit of fun :) I was thinking of naming the different modes (author, setting, mixed) something more creative, and went looking for what someone is called if they're not a night owl or an early bird, but something in between, and I ran into this thing. It was too ridiculous to use as the actual mode names in a serious (:P) challenge, so I added it on as a bonus layer. It has certainly made me laugh several times, so I feel like it's already earned it's place! :D
I started putting together my list, and after I'd filled in all the books I planned to read anyway, it was time to find something for the missing slots. I went straight for the hardest one, UTC -2, and tried to find an Azorean author. I'm still stuck here, but I wanted to say that I think I now have to learn Portuguese so that I can read everything by Alice Moderno!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_M...
"Alice Moderno (11 August 1867 – 20 February 1946) was a Portuguese writer, feminist and animal rights activist. An active campaigner for women's rights, she also founded the first association dedicated to animal welfare in the Azores. Early biographies ignored that she was an open lesbian."
Alice, why aren't your books available in English? :'(
edit: Also, I need a show/movie about Alice, played by Suranne Jones, à la Gentleman Jack:
"Throughout the 1940s, the couple were often seen walking their dog around Ponta Delgada, with Moderno dressed in men's attire using a walking stick and smoking a cigar."
my two lists have two different Azores possibilities
CBR yes, I think we both found the same list! :D I did look at those ones, too.
So is the preferred mode a) to make one post of all reads and go back and edit that initial post or b) to keep copying in the newly updated list of reads? I mostly use the app and it is a huge hassle, so I infrequently post. Thanks!
Whatever works for you! I prefer to keep my things in one post, because it's easier to find and update, but when other people post their updated lists, I get to see what they've read, so there are upsides to both :)If the problem with updating is finding the correct post, then a personal challenge thread might help, because it'll have fewer posts. And if you prefer to keep track outside of Goodreads and update with a new list when you feel like it, that's fine, too!
I use the personal challenge threads to update my original post, but after posting my lists here, I will post when I have read one or more of the books in the list with just the accomplishment plus a short list of the zones already read
Ah, ok, those are helpful suggestions. I used the personal thread last year, but it is fun to see others’ progress. Thanks!
Those who didn't take part in Amazin' Eights last year, there's a great spreadsheet with lots of diverse books from around the world linked in the first post, made by Ines!
I think I'm pretty much done with my tentative list, and somewhat happy with my current choices. My list is in my challenge thread, because I know I'll keep changing things around, and I don't want to have to copy it several times. I'll post it to this thread when I've finished the challenge :)Notes:
- All of my choices are based on where the author was born or raised.
- Part of Iceland is geographically in the UTC -2 zone. Who knew tiny Iceland would play such a role in this challenge? :D
- Samoa is geographically in the UTC -11 zone, and used that time until 2011, so I'm using UTC +13 as my UTC -11.
- I had wanted to leave out UTC, because it's so easy, but I had to leave out UTC -12 instead. It is what it is, I'll live with it.
- I've left UTC +2 empty for now, because it's my home zone, and I want to read something in Finnish for that, and there are lots of options.
- I took Kaa's excellent suggestion and picked Indigenous authors from the areas the US/Canada time zones cover. I hope I've matched them correctly! There shouldn't be too much overlap, so I think I have most of that area covered. If anyone sees something glaringly wrong with my choices for -7 to -10, please let me know!
- I have way too many eye-reads on this list, so if I read something that fits on audio, I'll likely swap it in.
I'm excited! I found a couple of new books that I'm really interested in! ^_^ And I was pleased when I started filling the list out with books I'd planned to read this year anyway, and noticed how few empty slots I had left. That means I've naturally evolved to reading from around the world, and now I just need to start paying attention to the areas where I still read almost nothing from. (More about that another time.)
For those having difficulty finding a novel in the middle of the Pacific, I found “Pillar to the Sky” by William R Forstchen to be a very enjoyable read. The main action occurs in Kiribati which is a bit west of the Hawaiian Islands at the equator.
I found The Mountains Sing during my January 2021 project, but because it was written in English instead of Vietnamese, I didn't read it back then. It's been on my shelf, and I've seen it several times, but I'm not typically drawn to historical fiction, especially when it's about such a heavy topic. So I added it to my list for this challenge, and today I read it, and I'm so glad I did! Every time I finish a historical fiction book I think that I should read more of it, but then proceed not to do so. The point of this ramble? Challenges are great! I don't mean my own challenge in particular, I'm not that vain, but in general matching books with challenge prompts is an amazing way to get things read that you might not otherwise have chosen.
This gush brought to you because I read a good book for a challenge, instead of forcing myself to read a ridiculous list of ridiculous books just to get points that mean nothing *eyeroll* (Talking about my December 2021 Scrabble challenge mania.)
(Content warnings for Mountains Sing are pretty much as expected when the story is about women during times of war.)
Finished:UTC-6 = Floreana by Margret Wittmer - set in the Galapagos and written by a woman who moved there in 1932 and died there in 2000 - Autobiography.
This qualifies for both Author and Setting and was an amazingly quick and interesting read. Thank you for the challenge because I never would have picked this book up otherwise
Anna wrote: "https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl..."This is a very interesting article Anna, and I'm totally a dolphin.
CBRetriever wrote: "I'm saving the US one for UTC-10 (Hawaii). I'm still looking forUTC−12:00 = Baker Island, Howland Island
UTC−11:00 = American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Niue, Palmyra At..."
If you wish I can send you recommendations for Brazilian books, what do you prefer reading?
Leticia, Brazilian author/book recs would be great! ^_^ I have all three Brazilian time zones covered for this challenge, but I'm always happy to add more to my TBR.
I’d love Brazilian author/books recap too!
Leticia wrote: "If you wish I can send you recommendations for Brazilian books, what do you prefer reading?"please list them here because so many other people want them too
already had to make the following changes:-9 Twenty Sci Fi Stories by David Grace & Hayford Peirce - set in Tahiti - SF
to
-9 The Floating Island: The Pearl of the Pacific by Jules Verne- set in various islands in UTC-11, 12 & 13 but using for Tahiti - SF
because none of the stories in the first book I listed are set in Tahiti
this means that I will now use:
11 Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Russian Science Fiction and Fantasy by Alexander Levitsky - born in Russia - SF
for both Author and Setting
I've also changed several already, for various reasons. Most because I happened to read something else that fit before getting to the one I'd planned, but I've also had a couple near DNFs, that might become full DNFs.
I've finished The Floating Island: The Pearl of the Pacific by Jules Verne from Complete Works of Jules Verne. This books covers California, Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, the Marquesas, New Hebrides and New Zealand as well as quite a few other islands in the Pacific. It was extremely colonialist (? is that a word?) with a lot of negative comments about the islanders/natives as well as quite disparaging of Americans, especially rich ones, and the British (ditto).I'm counting this, as noted above, to Tahiti in UTC -9
finishedUTC -8 Promises to Keep by de Lint, Charles
he was born in Canada and the book is set in Canada so this covers both Author and Settings for UTC -8
it was very good and as usual, de Lint's writing soothes me
and finished -9 Twenty Sci Fi Stories by David Grace & Hayford Peirce - Peirce lived in Tahiti for 23 years Tahiti - SF
only three of the stories were by Peirce - most of the stories in this book were pretty good. Grace's stories were of the "end with a twist" type which I enjoy
finished:-2 The Islands of Magic Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales from the Azores by Elsie Spicer Eells - stories from Azores
this was an interesting little book of fairy tales set in the Azores
Authors: -6, -8 and -9
Settings: -2, -6, -8 and -9
I'm now starting on The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hossain which was a Locus award finalist for best novella. This will do for both author and Setting for UTC 6 as the author was born in Bangladesh and the story is set in Nepal
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(Also all the points for Terraphiles XD)
I was going to read Disoriental for a translated fiction challenge years ago, but I don't remember what happened, maybe I ran out of time or something, anyway I never did read it, so I'll be interested to see how you like it!