2022 Read All the Books: On Cloud Nine

[Beth]

Is Terraphiles the only media tie-in on the bookshelf, I wonder? As much of a temptation as the classy lounge with the stronger drinks is, I think I'll pass. :D

[Beth]

Updating for page 4:

Goal: 7
Read: 7 complete!


Finished:


Currently Reading:


DNF:


On deck (subject to change!)

[Dj]

Ellen wrote: "Finished Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles and On the Oceans of Eternity to bring my shelf total for the year to 27.
Glad to get Doctor Who out of the way. I k..."

Congrats on your clearing that hurddle.

[Dj]

Time to catch up on my reviews again. This one is for The Lions of Al-Rassan

A fantastic retelling of the Spanish Reconquista. This book has an epic wide-ranging sweep to bring the tale to life. It changes the details of the religions involved to avoid any number of conundrums that could have been the result of a more accurate portrayal but keeps the relevant issues intact. The alternatives are enough to keep everything fresh without seeming dusty in the retelling, the people are alive and vibrant. All in all a Masterful retelling.

[Anna]

Holy hackles Batman, as in mine are raised and I'm hissing. Who was here in 2012 and remembers (and can explain to me) why we have a series on the shelf that has three books, each of which is over 600 pages and 22-30 hours on audio?! :'( I mean I've always known it's on the shelf, but I never looked at the page count or audio length before. You have no idea how hard it isn't* to suggest a motion to remove these books from the shelf XD

* I promise this was a typo, but it's so deliciously perfect that I have to leave it!

(I'm trying to find a couple of short ones to keep alive in this challenge, this ain't it.)

Oh, sorry, it's the Nantucket series by S.M. Stirling, starting with Island in the Sea of Time.

edit: "keep alive in this challenge" was probably a mix of "stay alive" and "keep this challenge alive" XD

[CBRetriever]

Anna wrote: "Holy hackles Batman, as in mine are raised and I'm hissing. Who was here in 2012 and remembers (and can explain to me) why we have a series on the shelf that has three books, each of which is over ..."

not to mention that they're in consecutive months...

and there are authors who deserve to be on the shelf that aren't

[Anna]

Yeah it's marked as an extra series summer read, but I never realized it's such a massive undertaking :D

(Something like this would be a buddy read now.)

[Dj]

Anna wrote: "Holy hackles Batman, as in mine are raised and I'm hissing. Who was here in 2012 and remembers (and can explain to me) why we have a series on the shelf that has three books, each of which is over ..."

Well if it makes you feel better at least they didn't put the Dies the Fire companion series in the Group Reads. I think there are seven or eight of those...if it is finished. It wasn't the last time I looked.

[CBRetriever]

or the rest of the Drzzt series

[Dj]

CBRetriever wrote: "or the rest of the Drzzt series"

True. Although I for one would consider the Nantucket series the better of the two. Which is pretty easy for me to do since I have read them already.

I have noticed that it seems the group has a love for some authors over others. Haven't decided if this is a bad thing or not. Well mostly at any rate.

[CBRetriever]

Dj wrote: "I have noticed that it seems the group has a love for some authors over others. Haven't decided if this is a bad thing or not."

it seems to me more of a new and shiny over old and time tested in most cases. I don't want to pay the new prices for books, so I miss out on a lot of the Monthly reads

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

We're reading Solaris right now! That's been around for a bit!

[YouKneeK]

Anna wrote: "Who was here in 2012 and remembers (and can explain to me) why we have a series on the shelf that has three books, each of which is over 600 pages"

I wasn't here then and therefore have no answers, but I think I remember seeing somebody comment in more recent years that it was some sort of experiment to try reading a series as a group, but it didn't get a lot of participation so they never did it again? If I'm even remembering that correctly, it seems like an odd series to pick for that experiment.

I read the series in 2017 and it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I thought it grew increasingly tedious as it went on. I might have still read book 2 even if it hadn't been on the shelf, but I don't think I would have gone on to book 3. I hadn't read a lot of (not really a spoiler, just the subgenre) (view spoiler)[alternate history (hide spoiler)] stories before, so book 1 had the newness factor going for it.

[Liane]

I'm doing well with this at 27 read. I'll try to keep up with the monthlies this year but I'm delayed on a few because we took a big trip in June. Fortunately some of the latest picks were ones I read in previous years. I'm not counting those as 2022 reads, but they're helping my overall.

I wanted to be able to cross one of the past years off my list & picked 2008 since I only had 3 left from it: Storm Front, Neuromancer & The Anubis Gates. I got Storm Front from my library and it's a perfect distracted read today. All of the references in the group read thread are from 13 years ago & it's very amusing to see the difference in style.

[Anna]

YouKneeK wrote: "I think I remember seeing somebody comment in more recent years that it was some sort of experiment to try reading a series as a group, but it didn't get a lot of participation so they never did it again?"

I've also seen something about it, probably back when I was populating the mod shelf or maybe editing the spreadsheet. That's why I knew it was an extra series read, but I don't know (or remember) anything more about it.

I probably won't be reading it very soon, but I'm glad it's on audio since it's so long!

[Ellen]

I just finished the Nantucket series and wondered the whole time how this series ended up on the shelf. Not only are they long but they are tedious . I listened to the audio books and would turn up the speed during all the battles and there are quite a few. I was relieved when I finished the last one.

[Dj]

CBRetriever wrote: "Dj wrote: "I have noticed that it seems the group has a love for some authors over others. Haven't decided if this is a bad thing or not."

it seems to me more of a new and shiny over old and time ..."

LOL, I miss out on all of them. I don't have the funds to keep up with them and I don't read fast enough to keep up with them. I do like that they are on the Bookshelf so that I can get to them when I can.

[Dj]

Allison wrote: "We're reading Solaris right now! That's been around for a bit!"

I am excited about that one. I have seen both the movies and while they don't really make a good movie, the passing being very slow as a book it can take time to do that sort of thing. And while I don't think that they are great movies, as Sci-Fi it is amazing. Very deep. Although admittedly I thought the author was Russian since the first movie was. I hope that isn't the last surprise that the book throws my way.

[Dj]

YouKneeK wrote: "Anna wrote: "Who was here in 2012 and remembers (and can explain to me) why we have a series on the shelf that has three books, each of which is over 600 pages"

I wasn't here then and therefore ha..."

I started with the Dies the Fire Series, the Nantucket Series is somewhat of a spin-off of that. They can be done as stand-alones, but one does support the other. So I came at it from a different aspect. I found the Nantucket just long enough to keep my full attention, but the Dies the Fire just kept going and didn't seem to have any real ending in sight. I was already burned by that sort of thing with the Wheel of Time series so I just set it aside and never picked it up again.

[Dj]

Liane wrote: "I'm doing well with this at 27 read. I'll try to keep up with the monthlies this year but I'm delayed on a few because we took a big trip in June. Fortunately some of the latest picks were ones I r..."

Congrats.

[Marie]

So I am doing this personal challenge of randomly generating book to read from my TBR pile (3000+ books) and Island in the Sea of Time came up. So guess I will try to clean out the series soon. Idk how soon because I get so excited to pick the random read that instead of doing it when I finish one book I kept just going and choosing for next and next month and then joined this random challenge on StoryGraph where you pick 2 per month so now I have 17 in backlog...

[Dj]

Marie wrote: "So I am doing this personal challenge of randomly generating book to read from my TBR pile (3000+ books) and Island in the Sea of Time came up. So guess I will try to clean out the ser..."

I can relate. Sometimes picking the books to read for challenges can be as much fun as reading them.

[Dj]

Gardens of the Moon

While they are in no way similar, the only thing I can compare this to is the Lord of the Rings. It is epic with a wide-ranging scope and deep world-building. The characters are well done and the story, while broken up by which character is the focus of the moment, is well plotted and leads to quite a fulfilling resolution of the tale. While this book is long and does wrap up this particular thread of the story it is clear that it is not the end and as there are a number of books that come after this one that should come as no surprise.

I was glad to finally get a chance to read this through instead of reading a bit and setting it aside for something less weighty. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Ellen]

Finished The Witch's Heart which meets my goal of 30 from the for the year.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

woohoo!! congrats!

[CBRetriever]

wow and I was going to announce that I've just finished my 14th out of the 15 I pledged: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker.

I don't even have another 15 on my TBR pile to make 30 :( as there's only 9 that I own but haven't read and I'm saving all but one of those for next year's challenge

[Dj]

Ellen wrote: "Finished The Witch's Heart which meets my goal of 30 from the for the year."

Congrats.

[Dj]

The Man in the High Castle

The more I read Philip K Dick, the more it seems I don't like reading Philip K Dick. Nuff said.

[Dj]

The Dispossessed

Generally, I am the type of reader that hates reading a series out of order. That said that Hainish Cycle doesn't seem to be a series that needs or maybe even should be read in such a fashion. Each one I have read doesn't really lead to any linkage to other books in the series and is a completely stand-alone story on its own. I do have some quibbles with some of the ones I have read and The Dispossessed is included in that list, but they are such small things that in the larger framework of enjoyment of the story being spun they don't even come to the fore. This was another great addition to the series and I am looking forward to reading more of the series.

[Dj]

The Time Machine

Another good sci-fi entry by Wells. While not as nail-bitting as War of the Worlds, this is a good solid look at a possible time travel future. A lean telling of the tale with little wasted effort or wordage. Due to the age of the story, it might not be for everyone but it is a master class in how to tell a story without getting sidetracked down paths that have little or nothing to do with the actual story.

[Ellen]

Dj wrote: "The Man in the High Castle

The more I read Philip K Dick, the more it seems I don't like reading Philip K Dick. Nuff said."

High Castle was my least favorite of the four Philip Dick books on the shelf.

[Anna]

There is a lot of Dick on the shelf.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

lolol

[Anna]

I have enjoyed Dick’s work very much on occasion, and even talked to my friends about it enthusiastically, but I’m not always in the mood for it. I gave my favorite Dick to my brother as a birthday present a couple of years ago, and he also liked it.

[Anna]

I actually bought the Dick when I was on a cruise with my mom. We were browsing in a leisurely tourist-y way when I saw the Dick, and exclaimed "Oh! This is my favorite Dick! I want to get it for B1!" Mom agreed, and I even told the cashier that it was my favorite Dick.

On my brother's birthday we had a game night at his place, and one of his friends and her girlfriend joined us in discussing Dick. We had lots of fun.

In case anyone is wondering, my favorite Dick is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? :) I still have one Dick on the shelf I haven't tried yet, although I have seen the movie.

[Bonnie]

👀

[DivaDiane]

I finally finished Man in the High Castle recently too. It was not my favorite Dick. In fact, I have to admit to not loving his novels. I love love love his short fiction though.

[Dj]

Anna wrote: "There is a lot of Dick on the shelf."

yeah, but there are people out there that love his stuff. Which isn't all bad, since someone in Hollywood seems bound and determined to make everything he ever wrote into a movie. Generally, a movie that I find to be better than the books. LOL.

[Dj]

Anna wrote: "I have enjoyed Dick’s work very much on occasion, and even talked to my friends about it enthusiastically, but I’m not always in the mood for it. I gave my favorite Dick to my brother as a birthday..."

Which one is your favorite?

[Anna]

I linked my favorite Dick above! 🙂

[YouKneeK]

I’ve read 3 out of the 4 Dick books on our shelf, A Scanner Darkly being the one I haven’t gotten to yet, although I do have it on my Kindle. The Man in the High Castle was my least favorite, I barely even remember it. Ubik was the one I enjoyed the most.

The stories usually held my interest pretty well, but I inevitably ended up annoyed by the end. I sometimes felt like he just wrote whatever he thought seemed entertaining at the moment, but couldn't be bothered with the effort to plot things out and make sure everything would make sense in the end. On the other hand, two of his books provoked me to write some pretty long reviews, and I particularly remember going off on a crazy tangent trying to make Ubik make sense in my head. I don’t do that with a book that just leaves me bored and apathetic, so I figure they get bonus points for that.

[Beth]

I've completed my rather modest goal of reading 7 BOTMs this year, with The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story.

I'll update message 154 to reflect what I've finished since July, and what's next. :)

[Dj]

Beth wrote: "I've completed my rather modest goal of reading 7 BOTMs this year, with The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story.

I'll update message 154 to reflect what I've finished since July,..."

I am more or less just starting this book and am still uncertain what I think of it. What were your thoughts on it?
Congratulations on finishing the challenge you set yourself.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

there's a huuuge tonal shift a little after 50%

[Beth]

Dj wrote: "I am more or less just starting this book and am still uncertain what I think of it. What were your thoughts on it?"

To add briefly to Allison't comment, it takes a while to show its hand, and once it does, it has some interesting food for thought. Also has some really cool battles. I hear someone sharpening an axe, so I'll stop there.

[CBRetriever]

Finished my 15 pledged books with The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart. I didn't like this one at first, but it grew on me and I'll probably purchase the next one in the series.

[Bonnie]

22 is on it's way out- so I will wait and see if there is a 23 version of this challenge.

[Anna]

There will be! 🙂

[Bonnie]

Anna wrote: "There will be! 🙂"

thanks- I am cyclic with my reading genre preferences and somewhat seasonal. Winter is a great time for fantasy/science fiction binges for me.

[Mihai]

I managed to catch up since my last message of 2 July and finished meanwhile:

Sorrowland
The Raven Tower
Compass Rose
Klara and the Sun
Solaris
The Songs of Distant Earth
Howl’s Moving Castle
The Gate to Women's Country
The Witch's Heart
Terra Nullius
The Book Eaters

My favorites were Solaris and Terra Nullius.