50 books to read before you die discussion

June group read from our list.
Mayra will lead this discussion.

I read Ender's Game a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorite books. I don't know yet if I will re-read it this month. (So many books, so little time)

The movie released late last year was okay, but falls far short of the novel.

Orson Scott Card published Ender's Game as a short story in the 1970s. A decade later he expanded it to a novel to provide the back story for Speaker for the Dead, which he published the following year. Speaker is good, as are all the books in the Ender series, but the first book, Ender's Game, is the best IMO.

I recently watched the movie. I'm glad that you say it fell short of the novel because I was not impressed at all. Looking forward to this one.

I just picked up a copy from the library this morning. I know I nominated this one, but I actually voted for Things Fall Apart (my other nomination). Like Buck, too many books and not enough time. I will try to fit it in, though.

Linda wrote: "I just picked up a copy from the library this morning. I know I nominated this one, but I actually voted for Things Fall Apart (my other nomination). Like Buck, too many books and not enough time..."

Including Ender's Game I have ten books, I think, as group reads this month, one of which is Things Fall Apart. I just started two, aside from those ten. I also have a long list of other books I want to read. I need to learn speed reading.

Buck wrote: "Including Ender's Game I have ten books, I think, as group reads this month, one of which is Things Fall Apart. I just started two, aside from those ten. I also have a long list of other books I want to read. I need to learn speed reading."

Once I started participating in the group reads, I found that my limit for the number of books I can concurrently read is four. Doesn't sound like many, I guess, but before this I was strictly a one book at a time reader. Now bring on summer and the yard work and garden duties are cutting into my reading time! I need to find a job where I can also read at the same time. :)

Linda wrote: "Now bring on summer and the yard work and garden duties are cutting into my reading time! I need to find a job where I can also read at the same time. :)"

That's what audiobooks are for.

Buck wrote: "That's what audiobooks are for."

Maybe at some point in my life I'll get into those more (so far I've only listened to two). But when I'm working outside I need to keep my attention on where the kids are and what they are doing as they are still pretty young.

But actually now that you mention it, I could try an audiobook at work - I work in a lab, so I'm pretty much in my own world while at the bench, I just can't sit and read a paper book. Now I just need to get the setup going. The last time I listened to an audiobook was by CD, and the time before that was a tape cassette. :)

Thanks for the bug in my ear, Buck!

Linda wrote: "Buck wrote: "That's what audiobooks are for."

Maybe at some point in my life I'll get into those more (so far I've only listened to two). But when I'm working outside I need to keep my attention ..."

You can get audio books for iPod now. Can just see you in your lab with earbuds in your ears totally preoccupied. Enjoy.

Buck said: "Including Ender's Game I have ten books, I think, as group reads this month, one of which is Things Fall Apart. I just started two, aside from those ten. I also have a long list of other books I want to read. I need to learn speed reading."

I've got 12 books in my kindle at present. I've always read several books at once and find I can read more with group reads. But there are so many books I want to read and just not enough hours in the day!

Definitely enjoying this more than the movie. It has more soul.

The idea of creating a given number of children to fulfill a function is common to science fiction. I was intrigued that Enders was created because his siblings were defective: Peter too aggressive and Valentine too empathic.

Peter strikes me as a would-be psychopath with his veneer of beauty, intelligence and competence; concealing his cold, callous, unempathic nature.

That's certainly how Peter struck me, too. And yet later in the series Peter is ambitious and controlling, yes, but much less vicious. The roles of Peter and Valentine are important in this book and crucial to the series, but pretty much omitted from the movie.

I can imagine that the role between older siblings and a third must be difficult. The third reminds them of their failures and imperfections; whilst older siblings may target thirds.

Lisa wrote: "I can imagine that the role between older siblings and a third must be difficult. The third reminds them of their failures and imperfections; whilst older siblings may target thirds."

I just started reading. Yeah, I agree it would be difficult to be a third. And then if the third doesn't make the cut, it would be even worse!

I'm a little over halfway through the book and I'm sad to say I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The characters feel a little flat to me, like I can't really visualize them as real people. Perhaps this has something to do with the feeling I get that there aren't enough descriptive details about the settings and characters. On the flip side, I am getting a bit bored of all the combat tactics - formations, number of soldiers in the armies and toons, which way is "up" and "down" in the battle room, how many soldiers were frozen, etc.

Maybe I'm just not reading this book at the right time? Or maybe I've been reading too many books that go overboard in their descriptions of settings and characters? I just know a lot of people love this book so I'm a bit disappointed not to be loving it at this point.

Linda, I finished this last week and was disappointed. Walked away with a bad feeling that the premise was the use of child soldiers to commit genocide.

Lisa wrote: "Linda, I finished this last week and was disappointed. Walked away with a bad feeling that the premise was the use of child soldiers to commit genocide."

I finished the book and yeah, the genocide by children also gave me a bad feeling. But to be honest, by the time I actually got to that point in the book I was just ready to be done reading it already. I just got bored by all the battles and the "sameness" of all that Ender went through. How he never lost even one battle and he was just so good at everything. I guess it just didn't seem very realistic to me.

I think I would have enjoyed this as a teen. You're right, it's very samey.