The Sword and Laser discussion

Hello good folks of S&L!

I have a reading challenge dilemma, as not in the title, that I wanted some advice on. Hope you can help.

I have a goal of 24 books to read in 2017. I'm at 18. Only 6 more to go. I fell behind a little during the summer but have been working hard to catch up. This 18 is already a huge accomplishment for me as I haven't really read anything since I was in middle school.

Here's the dilemma. I'm a slow reader, and I really, really, really want to read The Way of Kings by Branden Sanderson. Hope that's spelled right. As most you may know the book is 1,000 bajillion pages long, and I might as well throw out my goal for this year. So, should I read The Way of Kings? Or focus on shorter books to knock out my goal before reading it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Out.

Read it. Don't worry about challenge goals except as motivation. Good on you for getting back into reading - the volume of books isn't nearly as important as the fact that you're reading and enjoying it.

A tip - dont force yourself to finish a book you're not liking. Sure, give it a fair chance (for me that's 50-100 pages) but if something isn't for you, move on. Sometimes a book is good, but not what you want right then so you come back to it. Sometimes it's not at all for you. Both are fine.

Again, read the Sanderson. You say "I really, really, really want to..." and honestly that's more important than checking off a number.

Rick wrote: "Read it. Don't worry about challenge goals except as motivation. Good on you for getting back into reading - the volume of books isn't nearly as important as the fact that you're reading and enjoyi..."

ALL of this. Very well put. If you want to read it that bad, do it. Who cares if you fall short of a number goal? Read what you're drawn to, page length be damned!

Yeah. If you like epic fantasy, it's one that's worth missing a couple of other books for. It's in my top five books of all time, and I just dropped everything I was doing for a re-read on a whim. It's just so good.

But if you want to do both, you can also pick 5 short stories after. Mischief managed ;-)

Rick wrote: "Read it. Don't worry about challenge goals except as motivation.

Have to agree with Rick, here. It sounds like the challenge did it's job which is to say, it encouraged you to read more.
In the end, you will be far more satisfied in reading one story you enjoy compared to six short stories you will never think about again.

As a personal note, I faced a similar dilemma in my first year doing the challenge and I choose (incorrectly) to read many short stories just so I could see the "Completed" tag on the challenge.
As a result, they are completely unmemorable for me and I feel like I wasted precious reading time that could have been better spent on a story with real substance.

You might not finish if this year. I’m still reading it. It’s the slowest thousand page book I’ve ever read. I need Prozac to get through all the Kaladin sections. There’s no rush to read it. This series will take years to write and years to read. Might be better to start your year with it.

I've been trying to complete a reading challenge for 25 years, and with only 7 books left, it looks like this is the year. So for me, I'm not going to be distracted at this late date. But I have been completely sidetracked in previous years, so clearly it wasn't that big a deal for me. But then I've never been this close before.

Edgar Allen Poe has short novels that are great. Would go perfect with the Halloween theme of today

Thanks for all the advice!

I must admit I sat down with Way of Kings last night and was instantly overwhelmed by it. I set it down and picked up All the Birds in the Sky, read a couple pages and set it down as well. It seems like I'm in a nostalgic mood and in a twist that no one could see coming I'm reading Lord of the Rings.

After all, it counts as three books.

The Way of Kings has five separate parts, each of which is long enough to count as a short novel. So could you count it as five books? (I'm almost 400 pages in and really loving it!)

Beth wrote: "Edgar Allen Poe has short novels that are great. Would go perfect with the Halloween theme of today"

Sorry if this seems finicky! Poe has lots and lots of short stories, but only one novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, which he wrote mainly hoping to cash in on the novel market. I think it's pretty shoddy, especially compared to the short fiction. But it does provide an enlightening window into how much Poe's consciousness was shaped by a white supremacist worldview.

I really do appreciate the advice and have taken to heart. I definitely plan on not having a number goal in 2018 as many of you have suggested.

My plan is to start 2018 with the Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and then Oathbringer. Here's my plan for the rest of the 2017.

As I've said I'm at 18 of my goal of 24. My plan is to read Lord of the Rings next. I've got a great edition with all 3 books. That puts me at 21. Cheating? Ehhh I'm gonna allow it.

Ive got All the Birds in the Sky at 22.

Then the Rook at 23.

And then a little off topic but I have Joe Biden's new book, Promise Me Dad preordered. Which as a father of 2 boys will be especially gut wrenching. And that makes 24.

I was gonna ask which book I should close the year and goal out with, but as I'm typing this I'm gonna stick with Promise Me Dad.

Who knows. Maybe I'll finish early and start The Way of Kings this year. Thanks for the advice. I plan to follow a lot of it.....next year. ✌️

George wrote: "And then a little off topic but I have Joe Biden's new book, Promise Me Dad preordered. Which as a father of 2 boys will be especially gut wrenching. And that makes 24.."

Gut wrenching, to say the least... I also have two kids, and I cannot even imagine the loss he has endured.

Sounds like the perfect way to finish off a year of amazing reading.

I read Way of Kings in less than a week. It absolutely hooked me and I could not put it down.

Nice. Thanks for getting back to everyone - interesting to see your plan.

As far as a number goal for 2018... if it motivates you to read, go for it. If you're back on the reading wagon regardless... eh. I read somewhere between 50 and 80 books a year but not at a constant pace. Some months I'll read 2 books. Other months, 6 or 8. The key, I think, is to read.

I actually stopped doing the challenge because it got in my head. I kept avoiding longer books and rereads and all for a number that really didn’t matter. The last few years my numbers are down but I’m enjoying my reading far more.

It’s a good plan. Audio helps move things along too. Loved the Rook if you can get past it’s infodumpitis. Enjoyed the sequel too - the audio reader for that series is the very best for all things prim and British.

Audio... might help. Depends on whether you have time for it, but most audio books I've see range from 10 to 20 or 25 hours and for me, at least, that's 2x to 3x what it takes me to read the book. Now, if you drive a long commute? Very different. Reading while driving has issues...

So much faster for me. Read while doing chores. While surfing the net. Read while grocery shopping. Read while walking the dogs or taking them to the park. And yes, I play it at 1.25x.

I am ahead of my challenge, probably because I set it low. But I have a dilemma, how do you count the Akira 35th Anniversary Box Set which is 6 hardcover volumes in one box. I believe this is a newer translation than the old volumes. And the pages are in their proper right to left format. Should I just mark off the older versions as I read each volume or consider this one big 2,500 page book?

I definitely have found myself avoiding longer books. I did get through The Name of the Wind pretty quick. I think it was a little more than a week.

Way of Kings just seems that much more daunting being so close to my goal.

I've used the free month for Audible on the Hobbit so I have that. After several starts I'm not sure the format is for me. I listen to podcasts a lot and enjoy it cause it doesn't require my full attention. Also seems a little pricey compared to actual books. I could be wrong and am open to giving it another go it just hasn't hooked me.

Lena - I've always been curious so I'll ask...

I can see how you can concentrate on a story in audio form when driving (or riding the bus/train/etc) and I can see it doing mindless chores (vacuuming, etc) but surfing the web? It seems to me that it would be hard to follow a story when doing anything that requires attention... correct? Or is that me?

I ask because combined with the fact that audio books take more hours for the same story, I've always wondered about how people absorb them.

Depends on the story. My attention wanders which is often why I find it helpful to have the audio and an ebook or physical book (whispersynch is the greatest!). But yes, sometimes I’ll listen and surf the web/Pinterest and leave just enough attention to keep up with the story so long as the story doesn’t take drastic turns. I learned the hard way books like American Gods and John Dies at the End were terrible audio choices. Books were the character is just driving... attention wanders... and your character is taking to someone with a Buffalo head in another dimension. What? Sigh. Rewind or just let it go because the weird won’t quit.

One thing I like about reading opposed to listening to books is if my mind wanders it's easy to go back to the point that I remember reading last. This is happens quite often for me.

I've been actually listening to old S&L while playing Destiny 2. I tried listening to the Hobbit(only one I have) audiobook while playing Destiny 2 and I would constantly lose the story. Also tried while cooking, but with two kids(4 and 6) to listen for the same thing would happen.

I'm still open to audiobooks. Actually now that I think of it I have a half marathon coming up next Saturday. 🤔 Any suggestions on a book to listen too?

I'm checking out the audiobook deals thread now. There's a thread for everything!

Something action packed should do for a marathon.
Hounded
Ready Player One
Alien: Out of the Shadows (heard this was an amazing audio presentation.

I’m generally on the side of doing much more then then the concentration level of hwy driving in moderate traffic and good weather while listening to an audiobook is a no go. But I do remember at an old job where I was doing a bunch of CAD work that should have taken more concentration, I could listen to audiobooks, or radio plays just fine for a couple hours a day. This was in a cube farm, and I actually got more distracted when I didn’t have my headphones on listening to something.

Not exactly parallel, but... back in the day when I did computer graphics and desktop publishing, I found it VERY useful to keep music going in my head. It's like I had two separate channels and both had to be doing something. If I didn't have music going, I'd think about whatever was bugging me. This distracted me (and the internal conversation generally ran in circles because I didn't have enough focus to go anywhere with it). If I started a song going, I could let it keep going in the background (filling the audio channel with something that didn't require attention) and focus on the graphic stuff.

Serendi wrote: "Not exactly parallel, but... back in the day when I did computer graphics and desktop publishing, I found it VERY useful to keep music going in my head. It's like I had two separate channels and bo..."

That's because we always have two parts of our brain running in parallel. There's the conscious side that we use to perform higher cognitive functions such as reading or learning (or in your example, designing) and there's the subconscious part that's always burbling along in the background which deals with the more emotional aspects of our lives, such as scanning for environmental dangers or working out issues we're having socially.

Playing music engages and distracts the subconscious mind, allowing us to focus on the task at hand. Even mentally replaying a song (or even a snippet of a song) is repetitive enough to occupy the subconscious mind.

ETA - we've probably all had that experience of trying to find an unfamiliar address while driving and when we get close we turn the radio off to help us concentrate. That's because songs with lyrics, or even instrumental music we're not completely familiar with, engages the exact same part of the brain we use to focus. It creates an interference pattern in our concentration.

But extreme familiarity with a song is required for it to be a soothing concentration booster rather than a distraction. It doesn't even matter what kind of music it is, so long as we know it inside and out.

But you're not focusing on the music and the words equally, I'd bet. It's the difference between foreground and background and IIRC brains aren't wired to do 2 or more foreground activities at once. See, for example, https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/04...

(for more, search for 'brain multitasking' in your favorite search engine)

I do the challenge each year because that is how I am wired... Give me a finish line and I am off to the races (even if I resemble the tortoise more than the hare).

The challenge encourages me to pick up a boom rather than a game. It nudges me to do something I enjoy rather than wasting time on ephemera.

Since I love reading (and when a Uni student probably ready a couple of hundred books a year) this seems unnecessary but it really helps when I have the choice of crappy TV or a good book.

Lain(I don't know how to quote post) on your point about crappy tv.

I've actually made it a point to "focus" my entertainment choices. I used to peruse television for hours and ultimately watch nothing. Same for social media. I would spend inordinate amounts of time scrolling through twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The latter I've gotten rid of completely and focused on a couple sites I trust for news, and the wife usually fills me in on anything going on with family or friends on social media. I recommend the wife. I try not to spend much time surfing or perusing anything. And am trying to fill the time with books. If I don't have a specific goal in mind, like watching a particular show, reading a news article about a specific world event/tragedy(way too often) I try to avoid it all together.

In practice I've found that I'm watching way less tv. I also no longer feel the need to do these things. I would get stressed out about watching and consuming everything to be part of the conversation that it become counterintuitive. There was no joy in the thing, just the knowledge of the thing. Now I must admit. I love S&L and when playing loot driven games like Destiny 2 I listen to past episodes. Sometimes a couple times over. But I do not keep up with the book of the month. I take them as suggestions. I listen to the conversation and if it seems interesting I'll buy the book or place it on my to read list to buy later. I've read quite a lot of them. From Left Hand of Darkness, American Gods, and The Name of the Wind and I've enjoyed them all. Stepping back from the conversation of the moment has really helped me "focus" and I feel I'm better for it.

Well, I did it with one day to spare. Not at all how I planned it going, but I feel like I found some real gems this last month.

Highlights
The Name of the Wind
Old Man’s War
(Kisses it and places on list) The Slow Regard for Silent Things
Promise Me, Dad
Book of Joy

Not so highlights
My first audiobook Her Majesty’s Dragon
The Woman in Cabin 10
Left Hand of Darkness

Authors I’ll continue to follow
Patrick Rothfuss
John Scalzi
Jeff Vandermeer
Neil Gaiman
Joe Biden? Lol

Series to continue
Old Man’s War
King killer

New Adventures to start
Stormlight Archive
Expanse

New Goal for 2018
15 there’s a lot of big books I want to read and don’t want to be pressured late like this year, but I do think for me the goal does help.

And that’s it. Thanks for all the advice that I didn’t follow and encouragement. I hope everyone out there had a great 2017, and will have a great 2018. ✌️

Right on! Congrats on meeting our goal and good luck in 2018. :D

Congratulations! Glad to hear that you were able to reach your goal. Starting off your new year with the Way of Kings should get the year off to a good start!

Get the books on audible and set the playback at 300% and play them while you sleep. (Some loss of retention might occur)

Daniel wrote: "Get the books on audible and set the playback at 300% and play them while you sleep. (Some loss of retention might occur)"

Like 0% retention ;-)

I think people who listen to books at 1.5X are weird. 3X would be crazy :-P

Anyone else having trouble getting books to show up in their book shelves. I've read two laser books so far and set the dates read to this year but neither shows on the bookshelf. Is there something else I have to do?

Are you talking about the Sword and Laser Challenges Rik?

If you are, you need to add the books read to a separate shelf that you name when you sign up. You can update it.

I just called mine "laser-2018" & "sword-2018"

Tassie Dave wrote: "Like 0% retention ;-)"

No, that's the brilliance of my patent pending system. You remember the titles for bragging rights (because you have to press play) but don't have to fill your head with all that pesky literature. Leaving more brain-space™ for important things like "Real Housewives" It's BRILLIANT I tell you!

Daniel wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "Like 0% retention ;-)"

No, that's the brilliance of my patent pending system. You remember the titles for bragging rights (because you have to press play) but don't have to fil..."

That made me SIP (smile in public tm). Not quite a LOL, but still something.

John (Nevets) wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "Like 0% retention ;-)"

No, that's the brilliance of my patent pending system. You remember the titles for bragging rights (because you have to press play) but do..."

The old school method is to sleep with the book under your pillow. It gets in by osmosis (quieter too)!

John (Nevets) wrote: "...The old school method is to sleep with the book under your pillow. It gets in by osmosis (quieter too)! "

Let's join forces! With our combined systems just imagine how many books we don't have to read! We could even not read them in the original language. Tonight I'm going for a classic combo: the Iliad in ancient Greek under my pillow and Faust in German on audiobook.

Next week we hear that Daniel has inexplicably tried to lay siege to Troy, Ohio.

Trike wrote: "Next week we hear that Daniel has inexplicably tried to lay siege to Troy, Ohio."

I'll be fine, although the floating black poodle calling himself the hound of Hades and barking in ancient Greek is a bit distracting...