SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Allison wrote: "As I was saying here, and nowhere else, because I'm good at keeping threads separate, is that Donald, this is a perfectly cromulent way to join in."

Going The Golem and the Djinn first up definitely helps, because it was one of my favourites from last year!

Is there a particular date you're planning on rolling the next category for the group read?

yes! if I roll on the 15th and we have 5 days for buddy read selection, is that enough time for folks to prepare?

I had already read The Golem and The Djinni so I read Gentlemen of the Road for the Jewish Lore/Characters square. Pretty good read.

Am I boring if I just try to read something for each of the 24 prompts without rolling? I'm not competing for prizes, just looking for ways to read something I might not otherwise have read. So I'm thinking I'm using the group board, trying to read the buddy reads, and otherwise just filling the numbers with something I happen to read.

Bill wrote: "I had already read The Golem and The Djinni so I read Gentlemen of the Road for the Jewish Lore/Characters square. Pretty good read."

Oh, that's one I added to my personal TBR, glad to hear it was good!

Anna wrote: "Am I boring if I just try to read something for each of the 24 prompts without rolling? I'm not competing for prizes, just looking for ways to read something I might not otherwise have read. So I'm..."

That sounds lovely to me! I don't think there's any wrong way to read more books :) I hope you have fun!

Allison wrote: "Hey all! If you're looking to read together, here are some books of interest concerning judaism!

Science Fiction:
The Book of Esther
The Cure

Fantasy:
Gentleme..."</i>

Allison, does [book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon fill the bill for this challenge?

Oops, sorry, Richard. Yes, any Michael Chabon book would work :)

It's the 15th! I've rolled:

16 - Queer Author/Protagonist

Queer is a word of several meanings. It can be used by people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and so on to mean people who are not heterosexual. It can also be in and of itself an identifier for people who are attracted to many genders, are not gender or sexuality conforming, or as a way to include their activism as part of their identity. In short, it's an evolving word, with a host of meanings, and we should be able to find some great books that support this identity!

As we have gay and lesbian authors on our "to read" list as well, I am personally focusing on the other definitions. Here are some books I've found for us!

An Unkindness of Ghosts
The Way of Thorn and Thunder (Also Native American!)
The Left Hand of Darkness

And here's a graphic novel that looks interesting:
Elements: Fire

What other books look interesting?

An Unkindness of Ghosts looks amazing! I’m still a little behind because I’m waiting for the Golem and the Jinni from my library ☹️

Nicol wrote: "An Unkindness of Ghosts looks amazing! I’m still a little behind because I’m waiting for the Golem and the Jinni from my library ☹️"

You have plenty of time! Some folks like to plan ahead so I'm trying to give us some wiggle room :)

The Black Tides of Heaven / The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang

I've still not read them, so I don't know what kind of protagonists they have, but the author identifies as queer and non-binary. I really want to read these soon, and there are two more in the series coming out later this year and in 2019.

J.Y. Yang is queer and non-binary. I recently read The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven. They are novellas and technically are stand alone but one follows the other in chronology. The stories include elements of gender identity as well. The stories are set in a very cool world and the characters are interesting.

Anna wrote: "The Black Tides of Heaven / The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang

I've still not read them, so I don't know what kind of protagonists they have, ..."
Doh, I was too slow!

We'll just consider it two votes for JY! :) And it's good to know that the characters are also on the spectrum.

edit: Meredith, did you read Red first? Black is listed as #1 in the series, but which is first chronologically?

Sorry I had to get on my computer to actually add books - can you do it on your phone?
Just a few books I would throw in but definitely cross into other squares so could be considered at later date as well (I have read all these already and loved them)
Dreadnought (this can be used for trans author or main character as well but there are tons of other queer characters in this book)
Not Your Sidekick the only heteronormative characters in this book are the parents of the main character
Of Fire and Stars - this is more of a lesbian book
The Gilda Stories - historical fiction with people of color and vampires!
Jane, Unlimited main character is bi - and the world building is amazing
History Is All You Left Me this is barely sci fi as it is set in the near future but it has an interesting concept and so many different characters
Every Day the main character has no traditional gender or sexuality identity and wakes up in a different body every day - it is really interesting but the whole sci fi thing about it is a being that wakes up in a different body everyday besides that it is set in our world
and two books that I think we did on group read, forgive me if I am wrong More Than This and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Dreadnought looks amazing!

Anna wrote:
edit: Meredith, did you read Red first? Black is listed as #1 in the series, but whi..."

I read Black first. It is first chronologically following two characters from childhood to adulthood while the events of Red occur during their adulthood (and after the events in Red). They could be read in any order, since you don't have to read Black to follow the story in Red.

I believe The Upside of Unrequited has a pansexual character. I had actually rolled 16 earlier this month as a personal roll and hadn't gotten around to reading for it yet, but I tried to find a sexuality that we didn't already have a square for.

So many good suggestions to look at so far. I'll throw out:
Ammonite
Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia

Both authors are queer and it looks like both books look at gender. Both have also been on my tbr list for forever. :P

If Ammonite qualifies it has my second!

(Are we doing the same 1 nom and 1 second thing as in the regular nominations?)

some more suggestions
Ascension, LGBTQ relationships (also characters of color and one with a chronic illness, this book could work for a few different squares).
Karen Memory and Carnival both by Elizabeth Bear.
Fledgling, Octavia Butler.
I agree with Ammonite as well, that was an excellent read.

I'll nominate The Girl in the Road since Allison probably wants something uplifting (snicker).

I was mighty tempted by The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay again...

So many good options for this one! I already own Karen Memory and it's a club pick so I might just go with that.

I'm also interested in:
Dreadnought, Carnival, The Black Tides of Heaven, The Left Hand of Darkness and Not Your Sidekick

Meredith wrote: "Ascension"

It was on my TBR and I was very excited to read it, but then I heard it's more romance than scifi, so I'm not so excited anymore. But it's still on my TBR, as are many of the other suggestions/nominations.

I liked Not Your Sidekick and both sequels are on my TBR, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I haven't been in a YA mood.

Oh- I did find one book I was interested in (prior to all these lovely suggestions) for this prompt: Salt Fish Girl.

You are all so great. I am really excited about a lot of these--several are ones I've pegged for other categories, too, so if we don't get to them now there's hope for the future!!

I'm going to check everything and tabulate responses. Quick rules reminder--must be SFF, format nonspecific. Because we're not doing a formal vote, you can "second/vote" for any that look most interesting to you. Whichever has the most votes in a week (or when votes start petering out) is the one we'll use as a buddy read :D

Allison wrote: "must be SFF, format nonspecific...."

Oh duh! I'm such a dunce. :) Forgot which book club I was in for a minute. Please disregard the book I mentioned.

Excited to see what gets picked!

Books with seconds:

The Black Tides of Heaven - 2
Dreadnought - 2
The Red Threads of Fortune - 1
Ammonite (also on my list for the lesbian square!) - 1
Karen Memory - 1
Carnival - 1
The Left Hand of Darkness - 1
Not Your Sidekick - 1
An Unkindness of Ghosts - 1

-----------------------------------
Books without seconds:
The Way of Thorn and Thunder (Also Native American!)
Elements: Fire
Of Fire and Stars (though I think this is more specifically a lesbian relationship from what I can tell)
The Gilda Stories (also lesbian and going on the list for that square!)
Jane, Unlimited (ditto)
Every Day
More Than This (primarily gay. Thanks Nicol!)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia (on my list for the gay square, too)
Ascension
Fledgling
The Girl in the Road*
Salt Fish Girl

* Har har, Sarah =P Although that does look good.

Let me know if I forgot something! I excluded a couple that didn't seem to be SFF. And there are several books from our bookshelf. While I won't tell anyone NOT to read those of course, I'd kind of like to try branching out. We'll always have those for our re-read options and the Read All The Book challenges, I'd sort of like to focus on new works. What do you think?

More than this is primarily about a gay teen - it’s hard to describe because of the sci fi elements without spoiling it. 😳

Kristin B. wrote: "Allison wrote: "must be SFF, format nonspecific...."

Oh duh! I'm such a dunce. :) Forgot which book club I was in for a minute. Please disregard the book I mentioned.

Excited to see what gets pic..."

No worries, I do that all the time :) And it looks really good!!

Nicol wrote: "More than this is primarily about a gay teen - it’s hard to describe because of the sci fi elements without spoiling it. 😳"

Thanks, Nicol!

I have a quick question on #17 - Intersex Author/Protagonist. Are we going with the medical term of someone who was born with the characteristics of more than one gender OR someone who identifies as gender fluid or non-binary? Or either?

Ooh I’ve been eyeing Black Tides for the ‘cover love’ tbr slot!

Oh wow, so many amazing suggestions here! I've added a ton to my to-read pile, but if I have to pick just one to read next, I'm gonna have to vote for An Unkindness of Ghosts.

I still haven't started The Golem and the Jinni for this month, but I put in on hold at the library over the weekend so it should hopefully be arriving sometime this week!

Kristin B. wrote: "I have a quick question on #17 - Intersex Author/Protagonist. Are we going with the medical term of someone who was born with the characteristics of more than one gender OR someone who identifies a..."

Good question! I am using the definition provided by the Intersex Society of North America: (putting in spoiler tags because it's long.)

(view spoiler)["“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY." (hide spoiler)]

Thanks, Allison!

Rachel wrote: "Ooh I’ve been eyeing Black Tides for the ‘cover love’ tbr slot!"

Is that an upvote?

Some very interesting titles. Need to check which I can get from the library. Would be up for Fledgling since I’ve wanted to read But;er for a long time.

Bill wrote: "Some very interesting titles. Need to check which I can get from the library. Would be up for Fledgling since I’ve wanted to read But;er for a long time."

I'm assuming that's a vote? Or do you want to wait to see what's in from the library?

Highly recommend Butler. I think this one's a little different from her usual, but it was very interesting nonetheless!

You can count that as a vote. If I read others it will be in addition to that.

I'll second Dreadnought. I have friends who have wonderfully positive, effusive praise for that book.

I'm also going to nominate Passing Strange because I've heard excellent things about it.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I'm also going to nominate Passing Strange because I've heard excellent things about it."

I really enjoyed it, sad and lovely at the same time.

I agree with trying to find books for this that are not already on the group bookshelf. Not that I'm against reading those, but they are already on my radar, so it's not adding anything new.

And a suggestion: I think The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune should be considered together, since they're companions anyway. If it wins, people can choose if they want to read just one or both.

Also, it would be great if people stated if the books are ownvoices (for all categories) and where on the spectrum the protagonists are (for this category). If they know, that is.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I'm also going to nominate Passing Strange because I've heard excellent things about it."

It's on my soon-TBR, but I don't know if it's lesbian or does it have genderqueer protagonists as well? I've never gone to a more specific level than LGBTQIA+, so again Allison is challenging me in an area where I thought I was already doing so well.

If it qualifies as queer in the sense that Allison specified, then I'll second it.

Anna wrote: "I agree with trying to find books for this that are not already on the group bookshelf. Not that I'm against reading those, but they are already on my radar, so it's not adding anything new.

And a..."

Good suggestions, Anna. I'll add which authors are open about their queer identity.

Books with seconds:

The Black Tides of Heaven - 3 (queer author)
Dreadnought (also listed for trans) - 3 (trans author)
An Unkindness of Ghosts - 2 (queer author)
The Red Threads of Fortune - 1
Ammonite (also on my list for the lesbian square!) - 1 (lesbian or queer author, hard to say)
Karen Memory - 1
Carnival - 1
The Left Hand of Darkness - 1
Not Your Sidekick - 1 (bi author)
Fledgling - 1
Passing Strange - 1

-----------------------------------
Books without seconds:
The Way of Thorn and Thunder (Also Native American!) (queer author)
Elements: Fire (queer author)
Of Fire and Stars (though I think this is more specifically a lesbian relationship from what I can tell)
The Gilda Stories (also lesbian and going on the list for that square!) (lesbian author)
Jane, Unlimited (ditto)
Every Day
More Than This (primarily gay. Thanks Nicol!)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (queer author)
Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia (on my list for the gay square, too) (gay author)
Ascension
The Girl in the Road*
Salt Fish Girl

Remember you can second as many books as you want. As we don't vote, this is just a process to see how many people would join us if we read it together.

Also, I don't think my list of queer authors named in the poll is comprehensive--Those are just the ones I know off the top of my head. I'll update it as I have a moment. If anyone wants to shout it out, that'd be a help, too.

Dreadnought, Gilda stories, everyday, and of fire and stars are own voices as well - off they top of my head too 🤔