SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Ursula K. Le Guin
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Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin (BR)
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Let us know if you'll be joining us for this buddy read!
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I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to join before February.
The plan in my head was to reread the 1966-74 material before moving forward in time. Plus this novel is so big it has a soundtrack: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/...
I have a different version - Always Coming Home: Author's Expanded Edition and it's about 300 pages longer. The flap says "prepared in close consultation with the author, features new material added by Le Guin just before her death, including for the first time the complete text of the novella-within-the-novel, Dangerous People."Can we identify the sections we're reading by the titles instead of the page numbers?
Thanks! I've had this book on my shelf for so long, but it's feels daunting to tackle it alone - thanks for the opportunity!
@a.g.e - Join us when you can. I imagine most of us will be taking our time with this one. I will be starting this one slowly myself. So no worries!@Nadine - yes, I imagine that there will be some page number differences between editions so it will be best to identify section by their titles in the book.
I'd like to join, but can't find the audiobook on Audible or Libby :( Not sure I'll be able to keep up with eye-read, but I'll try.
Olga wrote: "I'd like to join, but can't find the audiobook on Audible or Libby :( Not sure I'll be able to keep up with eye-read, but I'll try."
I hope you can work something out. I know in the US at least, the audiobook is available on Audible and Libro.fm. I got a copy from Libro.fm myself and will be listening to it along with the ebook.
And like I say above, I suspect people may be taking their time with this one. So starting later is fine.
I'm in, and I'll definitely be taking this one slowly. I have a physical copy of the book with the original cassette tape.
I would like to join in as I said on the BR thread. It’s my intention to listen to the audio book, the music cassette tape and follow along with my print copy. My hold on the audio book won’t come in for about 2 weeks though.
I'm changing the official start date to Jan 16th so not to overlap with the SFFBC bookshelf rereads. But again, this is not a hard start date and anyone who wishes to start later, as whatever works for them, is free to do so.
Just saw this. Did not get the notification. Already read the introduction and the first chapter this morning but will wait until tomorrow to continue. I have the audio of this version
and got this version
from Libby on ebook.
Sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I really like this book.I read this book two or three times, but that was a long time ago.
Theoretically, I could reread it. But I don't really understand how to do it for buddy reading. I joined Goodreads about three years ago but have only been active for a little over a year. So, I don't really know how to participate in a buddy read properly.
Sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I really like this book!
Mod
You're probably over thinking it. You just post your thoughts as you read in this thread and interact with other people also reading. It's not terribly structured, but it is helpful to use spoiler tags if relevant.
As Melanie said it’s pretty loose-y goose-y with buddy reads, except for spoiler tags. Here on GR it’s best to mention where you are in the book outside of spoiler tags, so people know whether it’s “safe” to read. Is everyone reading this book also in The Story Graph? Buddy Reads are easier there, in the sense that you can make comments and others can only read them if they’ve progressed as far as you had when you made the comment. It doesn’t work as well if participants don’t keep track with the same version.
DivaDiane wrote: "Is everyone reading this book also in The Story Graph? Buddy Reads are easier there, in the sense that you can make comments and others can only read them if they’ve progressed as far as you had when you made the comment. It doesn’t work as well if participants don’t keep track with the same version..."I have a Story Graph account, and I'm a member of this group on SG, but all I do on it so far is log books I'm reading and write reviews for them. I can see other group reads for 2026, but not this buddy read. Where can I find it?
I want to migrate away from GR, but it's hard when the groups I'm active in are only on GR. I'm hoping more will do what this group has (bravo).
There isn’t a buddy read for this book on TSG yet. I wanted to put out the feelers and I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. As TSG adds more and more functionality it becomes more viable for the types of things we do in this group. I will see if I can set it up there and if anyone wants to join in there, too, great. I will definitely keep posting here, but because I use the app most of the time it’s hard to do spoiler tags. Well actually, I can make them, but not read them!
Diane, if you're able to set up a TSG BR, I'd be interested in trying that feature.
I am interested in joining the buddy read, and I would also be interested in trying out TSG for this. I've had an account there for a while, but I want to make better use of it (and I'm getting frustrated with GR).
Kaa wrote: "Diane, if you're able to set up a TSG BR, I'd be interested in trying that feature."Me too :)
Melanie wrote: "@ Jabotikaba,You're probably over thinking it. You just post your thoughts as you read in this thread and interact with other people also reading. It's not terribly structured, but it is helpful ..."
Okay, then count me in, too. And thank you for the explanation!
I’ve just started and read part one of Stone Telling. I love it, She not only creates a vivid world here, but such a humane one. (It’s like therapy after watching the horror that is going on in Minnesota.). Part two of Stone telling Starts about 150 pages later. I can’t decide whether to jump right to it or read what comes in between. I’m assuming Ursula meant it To be read the way it’s laid out, and I just need to be patient.
I'm just jumping in here, though I haven't started the buddy read yet—I've been meaning to pick up Always Coming Home for ages and this feels like the right moment.Le Guin's approach to worldbuilding fascinates me. Most sci-fi uses the world to explore ideas abstractly, but she seems genuinely interested in how people actually live—the daily texture of a culture, not just the philosophical premise. That humane quality Nadine mentions is exactly why her work holds up.
Planning to start this week with the print version. Will be reading slowly, as CJ says—this book deserves that kind of attention.
Nadine in California wrote: " Part two of Stone telling Starts about 150 pages later. I can’t decide whether to jump right to it or read what comes in between.Nadine I wouldn't jump ahead. I think you are right that Ursula put it that way for a reason. I think it helps keep us intrigued and reading.
I am about 50% through and enjoying it. Le Guin really paints with words.
Salus wrote: "Le Guin's approach to worldbuilding fascinates me. Most sci-fi uses the world to explore ideas abstractly, but she seems genuinely interested in how people actually live—the daily texture of a culture, not just the philosophical premise. ..."She even invented their cuisine and music! Even Tolkien only invented languages for his elves.
This book is genius and beautiful. I'm listening to the music now. It is at the end of the audio book.
Ellen wrote: "This book is genius and beautiful. I'm listening to the music now. It is at the end of the audio book."I had no idea the music was recorded! I've just checked it out of the library!
Nadine in California wrote: "Ellen wrote: "This book is genius and beautiful. I'm listening to the music now. It is at the end of the audio book."I had no idea the music was recorded! I've just checked it out of the library!"
I've only read this story as a paper book and have never heard the music that goes with it, although I know about its existence. Maybe I should check it out, too.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Always Coming Home (other topics)Always Coming Home: Author's Expanded Edition (other topics)
Always Coming Home: Author's Expanded Edition (other topics)
Always Coming Home (other topics)
From the Goodreads page for this book:
"Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America's most respected writers. More than five years in creation, it is a novel unlike any other.
A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork, and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kesh, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific Coast. The author makes the inhabitants of the valley as familiar, as immediate, as wholly human as our own friends or family.
Spiraling outward from the dramatic life story of a woman called Stone Telling, Le Guin's Always Coming Home interweaves wry wit, deep insight and extraordinary compassion into a compelling unity of vision."