2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge

[DivaDiane]

Dj, and any other interested challenger:

I have a shelf dedicated to all my unread owned books (which is different to the default “Want to Read” shelf (I call it “Read Your Books!”). I sorted it according to number of pages and then scrolled through to find the ones that ended in 8. It was a bit time consuming, but I could’ve stopped after I found the first one. I didn’t make a note of all them, just in case you were wondering. Since some of them are very short, I might read a few of them, though!

[CBRetriever]

DivaDiane wrote: "Dj, and any other interested challenger:

I have a shelf dedicated to all my unread owned books (which is different to the default “Want to Read” shelf (I call it “Read Your Books!”). I sorted it a..."

easier - export your listings to a spreadsheet then filter by TBR and use this function to return the last number in a number

=RIGHT(Cell,1)

ETA: this returns the last digit in the cell and I had 70 books to choose from

since I usually export my TBR pile every year for various challenges this worked quite well

[Dj]

DivaDiane wrote: "Dj, and any other interested challenger:

I have a shelf dedicated to all my unread owned books (which is different to the default “Want to Read” shelf (I call it “Read Your Books!”). I sorted it a..."

Ahh, I was going through my TBR list and then bring up the book to find out if it ended in eight pages or not. Seems a bit more time-consuming then what you were doing. LOL

[DivaDiane]

Sorry, CBR, but that is not easier for me! If one gets on we’ll with spreadsheets, I can imagine how that might be easier.

[Tamara]

2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge
9/20
✔ 1. Only one - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - There can be only one winner of the Hunger Games... usually :)
✔ 2. Binary - Outlander - A woman with two husbands
✔ 3. Three's company - Wyrd Sisters - Three witches <3
4. Four corners of the earth - Too Like the Lightning - "Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets."
✔ 5. Five Finger Discount - The Many Deaths of Laila Starr - Death's job got stolen by a human who invented immortality
6. At sixes and sevens - The Buried Giant - An old couple lives in a village enveloped in a mist that makes them forget almost everything about their lives. They vaguely remember they have a son, so they embark on a trip to visit him!
7. Showstopper - Poslednja Želja - Aka Serbian translation of Witcher book #0.5 - 'nuff said
8. Book page total ends in an 8 - The Just City - 368 pages
9. Nine-to-five - The Ministry for the Future - Working at a Ministry is a nine-to-five job... right?
✔ 10. Top 10 - Insurgent - In the Top 10 of Best Books of 2012
11. From the library - Dragonflight
12. Let's try this again - American Gods - Tried reading this in Serbian, but the translation didn't grab me... so trying again in English
13. Sweet Revenge - Altered Carbon - Not sure if it really is about revenge, but it's found on the list Revenge
14. Technical Challenge - Thief of Time - The construction of Discworld's first truly accurate clock!
✔ 15. My old friend - The Hobbit, or There and Back Again - The audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. Old, but new :)
✔ 16. Scrumptious - Piranesi - A delicious mystery :3
17. Cover with text only, no images - Legende II - Seni, bogovi i demoni

✔ 18. Around the Shelf - The Midnight Library
✔ 19. Bingeworthy - System Collapse - The whole series is made for binge reading!
20. Zero to hero - Dark Matter - In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

[Anna]

Different tricks for different chicks! 😅

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Sign up for the 2023 Read All The Books challenge here.
Sign up for the 2023 TBR Cleanup challenge here.

Challenge trackers are now open!

2023 Know Thy Shelf Challenge is here.

Personal challenge threads here.
Other challenges in Current Events.

[Synek]

It is frightening how fast my to read list can grow, so this year I think I will start cutting it down from oldest to newest.

So top 5 for me will be in the following order:

1. Because everyone is praising Sanderson to high heavens and I'll either become one of his cultists or shout "Overrated" at people who praise it.

2. I've heard that this book has violent games in it and that intrigued me.

3. I don't know anything about this book, but it had a giant lady on its cover and a witch, so I'm intrigued.

4. I got it from a recommendation plea on this group. It promised me loads of action so I'll see how it goes.

5. Again, a book I don't know much about, but it popped into my feed so I think I've added it on a whim.

At the moment I'm finishing up from last year and while I did enjoy the start a lot, cracks are starting to form that are slowly but surely starting to annoy me.

[Anna]

I didn't post my tentative list in this thread this year, because it's such a pain to edit two lists. I'll post it here when I'm finished, but anyone who is curious, my (very tentative and ever-changing) list is in my personal challenge thread.

[Dj]

Anna wrote: "I didn't post my tentative list in this thread this year, because it's such a pain to edit two lists. I'll post it here when I'm finished, but anyone who is curious, my (very tentative and ever-cha..."

It is a good list. Very impressive

[KelB]

2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge
Progress: 20/20

✔️1. Only one: Bloodmarked - 1/17/23
✔️2. Binary: Conjure Women - 6/19/23
✔️3. Three's company: Constance - 8/30/23
✔️4. Four corners of the earth: He Who Is a Friend - 2/11/23
✔️5. Five Finger Discount: A Master of Djinn - 6/21/23
✔️6. At sixes and sevens: The Leavers - 3/11/23
✔️7. Showstopper: The Black God's Drums - 2/23/23
✔️8. Book page total ends in an 8: Demon's Dream: An Unexpected Love - 1/24/23
✔️9. Nine-to-five: Legends & Lattes - 3/30/23
✔️10. Top 10: Black Saint - 3/5/23
✔️11. From the library: Beasts of Ruin - 1/9/23
✔️12. Let's try this again: The Handmaid's Tale - 7/20/23
✔️13. Sweet Revenge: I Have a Secret - 4/19/23
✔️14. Technical Challenge: Earth Unaware - 4/7/23
✔️15. My old friend: Sugar - 3/29/23
✔️16. Scrumptious: The Book Eaters - 2/3/23
✔️17. Cover with text only, no images: Swing Time - 1/22/23
✔️18. Around the Shelf: The Girl With All the Gifts - 3/25/23
✔️19. Bingeworthy: In Covenant with Ezra - 3/22/23
✔️20. Zero to hero: Heartbreak U - 2/12/23

[Tesseract]

progress: 4/20


1. Only one: 1984
unparalleled, and also the oldest book on my tbr.

2. Binary: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

3. Three's company: The Three-Body Problem

4. Four corners of the earth: Mr g: A Novel About The Creation
about the whole universe should be more than enough for all of earth.

5. Five Finger Discount:

6. At sixes and sevens:

✓ 7. Showstopper: The Stranger


8. Book page total ends in an 8: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

9. Nine-to-five:

✓ 10. Top 10: The Candy House
in new york times's top 10 best books of 2022. (spoiler alert: I didn't like it that much, unfortunately.)

11. From the library: Silver Nitrate

12. Let's try this again: The Name of the Rose
started over three years ago, never finished.

13. Sweet Revenge: A Lesson in Vengeance

14. Technical Challenge: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity
reading this for philosophy class. I'll be supremely impressed with myself if I actually finish.

15. My old friend: Old Man's War
seventh oldest on my tbr, and of course "old" in the title.

16. Scrumptious:

17. Cover with text only, no images: Nausea


✓ 18. Around the Shelf: Waiting for Godot
been sitting on my bookshelf for a while now.

✓ 19. Bingeworthy: Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds
so many good short stories here, highly recommend.

20. Zero to hero:

[Beth]

I need this so much - my TBR is a physical bookcase that currently has around 90 fiction, 10 poetry/plays and 20 non-fiction books waiting to be read. I have banned myself from buying more books until I can get through some of it!

[Dj]

Beth wrote: "I need this so much - my TBR is a physical bookcase that currently has around 90 fiction, 10 poetry/plays and 20 non-fiction books waiting to be read. I have banned myself from buying more books un..."

Well, maybe this will help you remove the Ban. Nothing worse than bans on books.

[Edwin]

Beth wrote: "I need this so much - my TBR is a physical bookcase that currently has around 90 fiction, 10 poetry/plays and 20 non-fiction books waiting to be read. I have banned myself from buying more books un..."

One of the hidden benefits of a large TBR shelf is that it gives a person more choices for matching the prompts in this challenge.

[DivaDiane]

This is true. If you look at my list I have multiple solutions for several prompts!

[CBRetriever]

DivaDiane wrote: "This is true. If you look at my list I have multiple solutions for several prompts!"

yep - I'm doing challenges on two boards and I have one book that hits in 4 of them: The Ten Thousand Doors of January and quite a few 3s

[Beth]

Edwin wrote: "One of the hidden benefits of a large TBR shelf is that it gives a person more choices for matching the prompts in this challenge."

Aha, the best excuse for having more unread books than I can justify! XD
This honestly does make me feel better about it though :)

[Dj]

The U.S.S. Arizona: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona, A Day That Would Live in Infamy

I had to give up on this book since some of the phrasings were incompatible with what was being discussed. Like the Battleship USS Shaw. Actually a Destroyer. This was one of many places where I found myself trying to figure out what the author meant as opposed to what was being said. I shouldn't have to work that hard on reading a book, any book. So I gave up on the book a little less than halfway through.

[Stephen]

My father had a copy of Day of Infamy by Walter Lord. I think he got it from the Book-of-the-Month Club some time in the 1950s. It was an easy read and I read it a number of times as a kid. The author had interviewed many Pearl Harbor survivors and produced a pretty interesting anecdotal chronicle of the day, illustrated with photos. A memorable popular history.

[Dj]

Stephen wrote: "My father had a copy of Day of Infamy by Walter Lord. I think he got it from the Book-of-the-Month Club some time in the 1950s. It was an easy read and I read it a number of times as a..."

A great book that one. I really enjoyed it. I agree with the fact that it is an easy read.

[MauQ]

Edwin wrote: ".10. Top 10 Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
–#9 of the top 10 longest residing books on my TBR shelf..."

Clever!

Edwin wrote: "14. Technical Challenge The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson
–The technical challenge of this book was all mine. This was my first TOR freebie. Not being all that computer savvy..."

I didn't know you could do that! Sounds like quite an ordeal indeed. I enjoyed reading your prompt choices :)

[MauQ]

Raucous wrote: "7. Showstopper: Dog Dish of Doom ..."

What a title! :P

Number 18. Around the Shelf: The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness sounds very interesting!

Raucous wrote: "It comes with recipes. I'm going to have to try them to get the full effect. Isn't that the way that works?...'

That sounds really fun! What a great idea.

[MauQ]

Stephen wrote: "6. At sixes and sevens - 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed

Subtract the ones from the sevens and you get sixes...."

Wow! I don't think I would have come up with that one! :D

[MauQ]

DivaDiane wrote: "Dj, and any other interested challenger:

I have a shelf dedicated to all my unread owned books (which is different to the default “Want to Read” shelf (I call it “Read Your Books!”). I sorted it a..."

Didn't know you could sort by page number on here! That would have made this prompt type so much easier in the past *facepalm*

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

haha well now you've learned something for the future at least ^^

[Nicci]

2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge

1. Only one - Kaikeyi book and author on my physical bookshelf
2. Binary - A Master of Djinn - Have both physical and eBook copies
3. Three's company - The Three-Body Problem - There is a set of three's in the book.
4. Four corners of the earth - Eversion - Time travel.
5. Five Finger Discount (view spoiler) - The Pariah - main character is part of an outlaw band.
6. At sixes and sevens (view spoiler) - Black Stone Heart - main char exists in confusion
7. Showstopper - Ancillary Justice - Should I explain.
8. Book page total ends in an 8 - When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
9. Nine-to-five - Iron Widow - main char is a pilot. (Might have to change the book. Pilots def. work longer than nine to five.)
10. Top 10 - The Poppy War
11. From the library - The Memory Police
12. Let's try this again - The Fifth Season
13. Sweet Revenge - Steelheart
14. Technical Challenge - Elder Race
15. My old friend - A Light in the Flame - I have quite a few of this author's books on my shelf
16. Scrumptious - A Marvellous Light
17. Cover with text only, no images - Anthem - This book has been sitting in my library for a thousand years.
18. Around the Shelf - Golden Son - Another oldie
19. Bingeworthy - Network Effect
20. Zero to hero - Vows of Empire - two heroes opposing sides.

[MauQ]

I was really looking forwards to creating this new list 🥳. Was short a few books on the previous year's list. Now I have the whole year so hoping to crush it.
I enjoyed reading through others' choices, I love the thrill of finding new books on your lists to put in my wishlist! Some choices were really intriguing, others made me chuckle, some were rather ingenious with the prompts!
This year I am focusing on my already owned books in various formats and finishing already started series.
I put together my list on paper a few days ago and now I am finally getting a chance to put it on here. Certain prompts took some thinking!

15th anniversary of the club! Wow, congratulations!

📚📚📚

2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge

Prompts Completed: 11/20

✔️1. Only one - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm (paperback). This was the last, only prompt I had left to figure out when putting the list together.

✔️2. Binary - A Scheme of Heaven: The History and Science of Astrology, from Ptolemy to the Victorians and Beyond, Alexander Boxer (audiobook). Astrology is like a code of it's own, reminding me of binary code (in a sense).

✔️3. Three's company - Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (Chocolat #3), Joanne Harris (paperback). Two men in one woman's life. At least that was the case in Chocolat #2, wonder what part 3 will bring :) It's a read I did not get to from 2022 TBR Challenge.

4. Four corners of the earth - Eric (Discworld #9), Terry Pratchett (paperback). It reminded me of four elephants in four corners of Discworld holding up the Great space turtle, A'Tuin. From Discworld Wiki: "Great A'Tuin, the World Turtle, of the species Chelys galactica, is the gigantic turtle upon whose back the Discworld was carried through space. The Disc does not rest directly on A'Tuin; instead, it rests on the shoulders of four immense elephants, Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen, who stand atop the turtle's shell."

5. Five Finger Discount - The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World, Peter Wohlleben (paperback). Before I knew what the phrase meant, it made me think of humans and how we tend to think everything is owed to us, like a discount. So I thought I would choose a book about creatures who are more noble, more humble, like, trees.

✔️6. At sixes and sevens - Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World, Paul Collier (audiobook). Another phrase I didn't know! I couldn't find a book for this prompt. so I looked up it's meaning at which point it made me think of this title. Migration being a confusing phenomenon, encompassing so many factors, leaving those who migrate in disarray and world of those who are stationary, forever changed. (A subject close to my heart as I moved countries as a teenager, and later, once more as an adult, having now lived abroad for half my life).

7. Showstopper - The Last Wish (The Witcher # 0.5), Andrzej Sapkowski (paperback). I will be reading the original Polish version. I started this series whilst at uni, borrowed from my flatmate and I read a few volumes and loved it, the show got stopped though, as my dissertation due date was looming and I had to ask my flatmate not to lend me more volumes, so I could study. Finally coming back to it now, ordered from Poland a few years back to keep in my own collection.

✔️8. Book page total ends in an 8 - Conversations With Nostradamus: His Prophecies Explaned, Vol. 1, Dolores Cannon (audiobook). An unfinished read from 2022 TBR Challenge. Paperback version has 368 pages. (That prompt was a task to find, thought I wouldn't find any book with that number, it was a nice touch that I could put a read from the previous year's list in the end.)

✔️9. Nine-to-five - The Calling: A 12-Week Science-Based Program to Discover, Energize, and Engage Your Soul’s Work, Julia Mossbridge (e-book). I think I read this one already, maybe never finished, either way, can't remember it. It's about discovering your calling and made me think about avoiding standard 9 to 5 jobs, which might not fulfil us, instead thinking of creative solutions.

✔️10. Top 10 - Ten Things About Writing: Build Your Story, One Word at a Time, Joanne Harris (audiobook). Another one of unfinished 2022 TBR Challenge reads.

✔️11. From the library - The Midnight Library, Matt Haig (audiobook). Didn't get to this one in the last year's challenge.

12. Let's try this again - Biomolecular Archaeology: An Introduction, Terry Brown (paperback). A university textbook, which I really enjoyed, introducing concepts of ancient DNA among other amazing concepts in archaeological science. Whilst at uni, I never had a chance to read it from cover to cover with no looming deadlines and I wanted to do that since.

✔️13. Sweet Revenge - The Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King (paperback). One of the books my dad gave me a couple of years ago when he was clearing out some of his fantasy and sci-fi book collection, I completely forgotten about it, until this challenge. I had to search my bookshelf and read blurbs for this prompt, as I was out of ideas. This book's Polish version's prompt got me very intrigued, "Flagg, one of the most notorious living mages, knew all poisons, and each one was more deadly than the other. But the worst of all of the poisons was kept away even from those ones. He had a desk in his office, each of it's drawers locked. One had a triple lock. Inside lie a box inscribed with intricate symbols and runes. And inside it lie Dragon Sand, for which there is no cure. It comes from the deserts of Grenh. You can only get close to Grenh when there is no wind. As one breath of the Sand is enough to kill. But not right away. Only after a few days, the lungs get burnt, skin will emit smoke and the entire body will shrink like that of a mummy's. At which point the person will fall lifeless with their hair in flames. Flagg, in the darkness, unseen, started to laugh. In a cage, hanging on long, black shackles a two headed parrot woke up. Death! - screamed one head. Murder! - screamed the other." . One of the best blurbs ever for me, I think this will fit nicely 🧪☠, I didn't know what this book was about, so I am grateful for this prompt leading me to it! (I translated this blurb from my Polish edition, so apologies if somethings sounds off, suffice to say, King wrote that better, I think it's an excerpt from the novel, but I haven't found that particular blurb in the English editions.

*14. Technical Challenge - The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century, Ian Mortimer (paperback). I mean, time travel is always a bit of a technical challenge. This book is all about visualising the past as if it was a real destination, with descriptions of smells, sights, places to stay etc. I only read a bit of it for an essay whilst studying and wanted to read it fully from a few years' time.

15. My old friend - The Story Of York, Alan Avery (paperback). A short history of the city of York, England. I keep meaning to read it, I get through a couple pages, then forget to continue! And it's so short it's silly not to finish it. It might be as each part sparks me into research mode about this fact or the other. York is a city I fell in love with when I was 16 years old, visiting for a Viking Festival. It's full of history.

16. Scrumptious - Food: A Cultural Culinary History, Ken Albala (audiobook).

17. Cover with text only, no images. The Unreal and the Real Volume 2: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (paperback). Some swirly graphic are there but I think it fits the bill.


✔️18. Around the Shelf - The Search for Hidden, Sacred Knowledge, Dolores Cannon (e-book/audiobook) . It feels like I keep starting this book from a few years' time, I enjoy it but forget to finish it and I keep going around my shelf to find it yet again, wondering, huh, how come I haven't completed that one yet?!

19. Bingeworthy - Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables #5), L.M. Montgomery (paperback). The only book for this challenge which I have yet to purchase. I am thoroughly enjoying this series and looking forwards with each volume, to find out what the next chapter of Anne's life will be like. This one is about her adult, married life I believe.

✔️20. Zero to hero - Sidewinders (The Fire Sacraments #2), Robert V.S. Redick (audiobook). Blurb from the first book in the series says it all: "Two village boys mistaken for assassins become the decisive figures in the battle for a continent..."

Additionally, I am planning a couple more reads, one story with a spiritual message I haven't finished from 2022 TBR Challenge and one political themed book, which I wanted to add to this list, but it didn't fit the prompts. So overall aiming for 22 books this year. Wish me luck :)



Completed:

January - 4/5

March - 4/5 3/5

April - 5/5 5/5

May - 3/5

June - 2/5

August - 3/5

October - 4/5 4/5

November - 3/5

[MauQ]

Allison wrote: "haha well now you've learned something for the future at least ^^"

haha, indeed. I will definitely use this method in the future :))

[Dj]

Nicci wrote: "2023 TBR Cleanup Challenge

1. Only one - Kaikeyi book and author on my physical bookshelf
2. Binary - A Master of Djinn - Have both physical and eBook copies
3. Thr..."

Looks like you have some fun reads going there

[Dj]

MauQ wrote: "I was really looking forwards to creating this new list 🥳. Was short a few books on the previous year's list. Now I have the whole year so hoping to crush it.
I enjoyed reading through others' cho..."

Nice list

[MauQ]

Dj wrote: "MauQ wrote: "I was really looking forwards to creating this new list 🥳. Was short a few books on the previous year's list. Now I have the whole year so hoping to crush it.
I enjoyed reading throug..."

Thank you :))
I think I'll start with The Midnight Library tonight.

[Aga]

I have read so far:


1. Only one Vita Nostra - only this one book from the series was translated into Polish.
2. Binary
3. Three's company
4. Four corners of the earth
5. Five Finger Discount
6. At sixes and sevens
7. Showstopper Rhythm of War - popular, highly applauded series and I have to wait for the next book to continue with the story.
8. Book page total ends in an 8
9. Nine-to-five
10. Top 10
11. From the library
12. Let's try this again
13. Sweet Revenge
14. Technical Challenge
15. My old friend
16. Scrumptious
17. Cover with text only, no images
18. Around the Shelf
19. Bingeworthy
20. Zero to hero

[Stephen]

I’ve read

5. Five Finger Discount - The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

Latest in the long running series about a Greenwich Village bookstore owner and accomplished burglar, by MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block. Unlike the others this one is actually SFF, as our hero wakes up in a slightly altered universe after reading Fredric Brown’s What Mad Universe. Light as a feather, mildly amusing if you like Block’s sense of humour.

and

11. From the library - Fire Time

My copy is a battered hardcover with a Frontenac County Public Library sticker.

1975 Hugo nominee. Interstellar geopolitics impact human-native interactions on a somewhat interesting alien planet. Too many aspects of this are too dated or otherwise not to my taste.

[Dj]

Stephen wrote: "I’ve read

5. Five Finger Discount - The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

Latest in the long running series about a Greenwich Village bookstore owner and accomplished burglar, by MWA ..."


I thought I had seen all the Burglar books. I love Mrs. Rhodenbar's favorite son Bernie.

[Petar]

Stephen wrote: "I’ve read

5. Five Finger Discount - The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

Latest in the long running series about a Greenwich Village bookstore owner and accomplished burglar, by MWA ..."

And as per usual, this challenge, which is meant to whittle down one's TBR list, is extending mine.

[Dj]

Petar wrote: "Stephen wrote: "I’ve read

5. Five Finger Discount - The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

Latest in the long running series about a Greenwich Village bookstore owner and accomplished ..."


Consider it a life-extending exercise

[CBRetriever]

Finished:

6. At sixes and sevens (in a confused, badly organized, or difficult situation) = One Day on Mars by Travis S. Taylor - Reason = It's "24" on Mars: a nonstop futuristic thrill-ride, all in one day, through the critical events which were the breaking point for the underclass of Martian citizens and precipitated a revolution to break the Martian colonists free from the formidable Sol System government.

I did not like this book, but I expect people that like military/space battles might like it a lot. I just couldn't connect to the story.

Still working on:

19. Bingeworthy = Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle - Reason = as this is 4 books in one volume, I'm hoping it will be bingeworthy

which is bingeworthy, but in this volume, I can't see where the breaks were for the 4 individual originally published versions are.

[Dj]

The Goblin Emperor


So in a very loose sense, this book is similar to Game of Thrones. In the first Game of Thrones book, there is very little fantasy in the fantasy nature of the book. It is a lot of political maneuvering and bloody violence. Goblin Emperor is very big on politics with almost no violence and only a spot of blood. While this may not be for everyone, I found myself really enjoying this book and I didn't agree with some of the negative reviews I read on this work.

In one case the individual that pointed out the new Emperor doesn't really learn much and keeps making the same mistakes is correct, but then the entire book encompasses something around four to five months of subjective time in the world it is set in. It is hard to learn the correct way to do things when you are thrust into such a complex situation. All in all the limited time frame I found myself realizing that things were going much better than I would have expected.

I did agree that reading him called Serenity as often as it comes up was a bit distracting at first. Mostly because I found it an ironic honorific for someone leading a nation. It didn't seem to be a state of mind that a ruler would ever really find themselves in, but it is no different than reading, your majesty, or some other royal honorific so I didn't find it all that out of place.

All in all a very enjoyable book. Relaxing and thought-provoking. I am not sure that I will be moving on to the second book anytime soon, but I will read it sometime in the future.

[Cheryl L]

Dj wrote: "The Goblin Emperor


So in a very loose sense, this book is similar to Game of Thrones. In the first Game of Thrones book, there is very litt..."

Dj, you've convinced me this will be a great book for me. I absolutely hated all the violence in GOT but I really enjoy stories about political maneuvering.

[Dj]

Cheryl L wrote: "Dj wrote: "The Goblin Emperor


So in a very loose sense, this book is similar to Game of Thrones. In the first Game of Thrones book, there i..."

Glad I could help.

[Rini]

I have no idea if I finish my '23 reading challenge this year or not. I'm studying and don't have time for academics + novels readings + drawings, though i just want to read and draw but future is important no? If I don't do a job how will I buy books and colors or brushes ;)
But will try to all of these, slowly. and gonna read the books i eagerly wanted to read previous year.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Good luck, Anwesha! any time you can find for books is an act of love for reading when you're a student!

[Dj]

Anwesha wrote: "I have no idea if I finish my '23 reading challenge this year or not. I'm studying and don't have time for academics + novels readings + drawings, though i just want to read and draw but future is ..."

At least, unlike school, the reading challenge isn't graded. Deal with it as you can.

[Dj]

Furies of Calderon

So generally when you talk about pacing the words that come to mind are slow, or fast-paced. After all, you usually don't mention pacing if you feel that it was just right. Well with this book, the pacing is more along the lines of trying to run a marathon by sprinting all the way. After about two chapters or so getting the setup complete it just takes off with no real pauses for explanations or even thinking about what is going on. The chapters tend to jump between characters and they are always seeming to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off. To make it even more fun the characters often split up so you get more and more strings that you are holding on to while trying to keep the plot line straight.

An interesting experience but I think I will skip the second book in the series.

[Meredith]

I've read 2 so far.

3. Three's company - Into the Windwracked Wilds, 3rd in a series/trilogy.

9. Nine-to-five -Lavender House, book is set in 1952, a number that has a 9, a 5, and a t(w)o. I really enjoyed this noir mystery.

[Stephen]

I’ve read a third book:

3. Three's Company - The Society of Time: The Original Trilogy and Other Stories✔️

This is a collection of five stories by John Brunner, all originally published in the early ‘60s. I think they are all novella-length. The first three involve a time-traveling organization trying to keep history stable in an alternate universe where the Spanish Armada succeeded and time travel was discovered in the nineteenth century, though otherwise technology is less advanced than in ours. The stories are well written, entertaining and interesting. A theme is the vulnerability of an organization with a mission to ordinary human greed and corruption. The other two stories are unrelated. One, “Father of Lies”, is the longest and also I thought the weakest in the book, mainly because of its ending. However, I liked the last one, “The Analysts”, which takes as its starting point a geometrically bizarre building plan. I was reminded of Heinlein’s “He Built a Crooked House”, though the stories themselves have little in common. There is also an introduction by editor Mike Ashley setting the stories in the context of Brunner’s career.

[Dj]

Stephen wrote: "I’ve read a third book:

3. Three's Company - The Society of Time: The Original Trilogy and Other Stories✔️

This is a collection of five stories by John Brunner, originally publish..."


And when I read the title I thought it was going to be about a TV Show, seems much better now that you explained this first story.
LOL. Seems a good start to the challenge

[Alexandra]

I don’t really know how it happened, but I have now read 5 books for the challenge :) It is far from certain that I’ll be doing the same for the rest of the year, but I am pleased anyway.


4. Four corners of the earth The Man in the Brown Suit (lots of travel in this one!)

Not the best Agatha Christie, and it hasn’t aged well. But I had fun anyway.

9. Nine-to-five There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

Very strange, very quirky, very Japanese. It might not be for everyone, but it was my kind of novel.

15. My old friend Into the Riverlands (Singing Hills Cycle #3, yes, I am meeting old friends)

Yes, it was a pleasure to meet old friends. There is kung fu.

16. Scrumptious Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat

It was an interesting read with lots of nerdy facts, but also Western-centric and boring at times.

17. Cover with text only, no images Carol (aka The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith)

A brilliant novel that wouldn’t let me breathe until I finished it.

[Dj]

This is my sixth book from the group bookshelf this year.

The Lathe of Heaven


I have to say that this book caught my attention a great deal more than most since it was set in Portland Or. living there makes it a special occasion when it is name-dropped in a book. It deals with a variation on the theme that if you could change the world to be anything you wanted, what would you change it to? The premise isn't quite as straightforward as that but it is the gist of it. I am quite impressed with the subtle twists the author makes to keep the story fresh and interesting. Le Guin so far has never failed to impress with her writing.