Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

I would love hearing from of our members telling us how many pages they are comfortable with reading per month within the group. There are multiple reasons for that that could affect our nominations and ways we handle our challenges and series-reads.

Of course we are all free to read outside the Monthly Reads and the most of us are surely doing that, but group discussions are great way to hear other opinions and awesome insights.

Let us know how many pages you feel the most comfortable with, when it comes to our Monthly Reads!

250-800 pages.
250-270 usually a SF novel from the 60s-70s
fantasy usually larger, about 400 as well as a lot of modern SF. There is a case of page inflation :)
So, 1-2 books per month

I don't know if I can tell you how many pages I feel comfortable with

1) I read more than this group
2) It depends on my life that month
3) Books are different for me. Some I can breeze right through, others, I struggle with. It depends upon the writing and my knowledge/grasp of the subjects in a book.

Examples:
Scientific descriptions are more difficult.
Trying to figure out spatial/geography relations can cause me to go back and reread.
Also, too many characters slows me down.

I could have easily read these two books this month if I had liked them (Difference Engine) or had access to at a library (The Love We Share Without Knowing).

I suggest we leave this thread open so people can report for a few months. Take a sample. Hey, it's Sci-Fi, so let's do some research!

You both pretty much described my own sentiments regarding this subject. Two books a month is an easy enough target for me since I also try to fit a nonfiction for every 3 or 4 novels I read. There are also other books that are not on the list but I am dying to read.

The reason I asked was also because while I was sorting out the series I tried setting various brackets, based on the amount of pages in the series. Looking at both the amount of pages and the amount of books would help us decide how to read a particular series, all in one shot for some and one book per month for others.

I was also thinking that if we are all on the same page (that pun though..) and special occasion would to arise, where we would find ourselves with two short novels of 500 pages combined, we could also chuck another short one into the mix (as a moderator's pick) in order to get closer to our 800-ish pages goal.

I absolutely agree that some are short and we could add another.

How accurate are the Kindle page counts? Wouldn't word counts be better? Because I assume they are getting page counts from the printed version, and they can differ by font and so on.

Kateblue wrote: "How accurate are the Kindle page counts? Wouldn't word counts be better? Because I assume they are getting page counts from the pr..."

In my experience the page count for e-books has always been a mess, so whether they improved on it or not, I cannot tell.

For the lack of better options I based my page count info off whatever data Goodreads was able to provide and though I think the majority of those page counts are from paperback editions, I think there still might be discrepancies here and there.

Still I think the most of us can picture a 300-400 page paperback and estimate roughly how long it would take to get through. You are also right about some books reading slower than others.

If I was straight reading, I could get through 1 average sized book a month. But since I listen to most of my books, I can usually read 4 to 10 books in a month, depending on the size of the books.

Average sized book is about 8 or 9 hours long. So if a book is 30 to 40 hours long then it takes me longer to read. Also, like everyone else is saying, if I'm just not into the book, then it drags on for me. Like The Difference Engine is 14 hours and 23 minutes long, but it took me several weeks to finish it. But I tore up Extracted and Executed (together is 24 hours and 18 minutes) I finished in less than a week.

I'm good with whatever the group wants to do. I know it is kind of unfair that I can "read" and drive/cook/clean/work at the same time.

Audiobooks aren't cheats, I also use them on almost daily basis, they allow to read much more. When I counted pages I actually meant in any form, incl. audio

Oleksandr wrote: "Audiobooks aren't cheats, I also use them on almost daily basis, they allow to read much more. When I counted pages I actually meant in any form, incl. audio"

Says so another cheater!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have Attenborough's Life on Air audio book that I am half through listening to.

Me, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the car, only, so it is taking a while

Looks like we're coming up short with number of pages in June, so we will be adding an extra short read to make up for the difference. Stand by for more info.

How about Seanan McQuire's novella win from a year or so ago? It was really good if you like unique fantasy worldbuilding. Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Though it is YA.

I've already read it, so whatever.

I've found some interesting pieces while looking up the shortest novels on our list, there are apparently plenty of those. The shortest one I've found so far is 119 pages and I am barely one eighth way into the list and already found at least 30 books shorter than 300 pages with over half of them being around 200-250 pages long.

Bryan's sorted out the Mod's Pick of the month for June as you can see in our Upcoming Reads. Tau Zero is the lucky winner!

I second the idea that some novellas are very good and should be added sometimes

Oleksandr wrote: "I second the idea that some novellas are very good and should be added sometimes"

Oh that one is a full fledged award winning novel, albeit a very short one.

I tried to pick something more upbeat or light hearted...sci fi/fantasy authors don't seem to believe in that for shorter books. So I tried to pick something less end-of-the-world-ish.

The only problem is, my semi-large city's public library doesn't have Tau Zero, it's not out in kindle, and the new paperback is $20.

I will look for a used one.

Is it really that short?

It's like 7 and half hours. That less that a normal sized book. If you've never had an Audible account, you can try it with a free book. I've also been able to find a lot of audiobooks on youtube that people upload. It's not the more perfect audiobook experience, but that's how I'm going to listen to The Postman.

Here is Tau Zero on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERgO...

Surprisingly now that I am making a shelf of books shorter than 300 pages I've learned that there are loads of them. Besides that there are also many books with less than 200 pages, the realization of that fact somehow cheered me up!

Art wrote: "...the realization of that fact somehow cheered me up!"

lol, it's like getting a stack of papers you have to work on, but then realize a good chunk of them only have a few simple questions!

*bump*

Just thought of reviving this zombie thread seeing how we've gained at least twice the number of members since we spoke about this. Feel free to add to the discussion or throw a suggestion in or anything.

Also, for my Audiobook brethren, how many hours do you listen to in a month?

Bryan wrote: "Also, for my Audiobook brethren, how many hours do you listen to in a month?"

I listen roughly 1.5 hours per day and part of it at 1.5x speed, so up to 2 hours of reading at normal speed

How do you listen at 1.5 speed?

Looking at my stats, There are 12 books that I read completely in June, most of them 175-200 page short classics. Add in a few at 250+ and it surprisingly adds up to around 2000 pages! I've really been focusing on reading in general and on short classics to clear them off my bookshelf (make room for more!). But I'm astonished myself that it's that much, and I'm not sure I can keep that pace up.

Kateblue wrote: "How do you listen at 1.5 speed?"

There are several players that let you speed up with correcting (so speedy books don't sound like birdspeech). I use on my android this one
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

it can increase speed, reads mp3, m4a and m4b (iToons audiobooks format), has some other features

thanks for the info. Some books sure NEED to be faster . . .

Allan wrote: "Looking at my stats, There are 12 books that I read completely in June, most of them 175-200 page short classics. Add in a few at 250+ and it surprisingly adds up to around 2000 pages!"

Must've been a thrill, I took the liberty of checking out some of the novels you've read this month and let's say a certain vice overcame me, one that starts with an "e" and ends with "nvy". The majority of those books have been on my to read lists for ages.

I am trying to finish Rendezvous with Rama by tomorrow, it is second month in a row that I slack off for the first two weeks, then try my best to finish 4-5 novels in the remaining time.

Next month we have a miniseries coming up, looking forward to the discussions.

I appreciate that, Art, and you're welcome to look over my shelves anytime. (Does that sound suggestive? lol). It's a great sense of accomplishment because most of them have been on my list for years too! Being a little more aggressive in attacking the list helps. I'm also having fun searching the used book stores for classics, and have been very successful at that too. It puts them at my fingertips, making it easy to move right into the next one.

This is the thread I mentioned in my post in the suggestions.

New members, let us hear from you!

2700-2800 pages a month, about 90 pages a day, 10 books a month depending on length.

Allan wrote: "2700-2800 pages a month, about 90 pages a day, 10 books a month depending on length."

I'm not jealous at all!

That counts everything.....paper, e-books in various forms, and audio. Most of what I read falls into this group. Hugos & Nebulas have been my focus for a long time, with some history/military history thrown in. I still read those but sparingly and they take longer. I don't have a bunch of groups either. But I do have other pursuits, believe it or not!

I surprised myself: I assumed I've been reading something like 1500-1800 pages per month, but upon checking I found that this year it's been pretty consistently around 2500 pages.

What changed and what I didn't take into account was audiobooks. Since around New Year's, I've been listening only audiobooks instead of podcasts on my way to work. That's 500 pages per month "extra".

Yes, audiobooks, esp. speeded up give a great boost to overall page count

Speeded up? OMG! That can't possibly allow one to appreciate the beauty and power of the writing. Or ponder the interesting concepts included. I'd much rather tally fewer pages per month than feel like I'm shoving books into my brain at high speed.

Actually, Cynthia, I think right now I am shoving books into my brain at high speed. For me, though, it's at least partially because I am reading things I don't like. I need to just stop reading the ones I don't like instead of insisting on finishing them

I so agree that reading is much more fun when it is leisurely with a book I love, but that is why I am in this group--I am looking for books to love.

I agree with you Cynthia, there are cases where rushing through a read is a terrible idea. Some writers make me pause and go back rereading the whole paragraphs, just enjoying the quality writing itself. Some make pause and go online to look up some obscure references because I believe that it will allow me enjoy the book more.

Then there are those books where writing is mediocre, plot is borderline entertaining enough to continue reading without over thinking things too much. In those cases I don't mind using audiobooks to speed things up a bit and save me a lot of grief.

The last category consists of books where writing is atrocious and for me audiobooks is the only way to deal with it, a few hours of listening to a book I am far from liking, while doing rote or physical work is the ticket for me.

I'm right there with Art. Although I'm reading at a high rate, I can pick out what's going to be good and put more focus and time into that. A good example of that for me has been Kate Wilhelm. Some stuff is not worth that time and you can pick it out pretty quickly. On audio, I tend toward shorter books (10 hours or so) that I can speed up (1.25 is my max though) or listen to while I'm doing other things.

I normally listen at 1.5, but it depends on the book. I think the narrators read the books very slowly on purpose, in order to make fewer mistakes, and therefore anything below 1.2 sounds just way too slow for me.

I mostly listen to non-fiction, and if I'm unfamiliar with the subject I listen slower, if it's a subject I already know a lot of I listen faster.

Cynthia wrote: "Speeded up? OMG! That can't possibly allow one to appreciate the beauty and power of the writing. Or ponder the interesting concepts included. I'd much rather tally fewer pages per month than feel ..."

As others said, it crucially depends on a book. There are some books that make you stop and appreciate a paragraph or phrase - they aren't suited for audio (rewind is not the same). and there are books, which are interesting plot-wise, but the prose is mediocre, so listening is ok. Also there is the third kind - foreign language books, where you appreciate the sound of it - for example this way I read Polish - initially read to understand and then listen (normal speed) to 'feel the language'

I read around 126 pages per day. However, since I am already in 20 groups, half of them are active, including six other SFF groups, my page limit is very low for books that are not already scheduled in my group read/buddy read calendar :(

126, nice! I was at 122 in April, but I'm not sure I can sustain that. Speed listening, maybe?

I am just four pages shy of 80 pages a day, which is pretty surprising considering how relaxed my reading schedule has been so far this year. Gotta keep it at least about 2,200 pages a month if I want to reach my goal of a hundred novels for this year.

Allan wrote: "126, nice! I was at 122 in April, but I'm not sure I can sustain that. Speed listening, maybe?"

I've been very selective when it comes to reading. Bad books only slow me down, or worse, making me skim the pages.

Being selective is why I joined this group, and why I focus on award books. I'm not getting any younger, why read crap? Even if you don't like them all, they're highly regarded.

I've checked my last year's stats to find out that my average was 120 pages per day. I was surprised, for I thought it'll be around 80-90

Allan wrote: "Being selective is why I joined this group, and why I focus on award books. I'm not getting any younger, why read crap? Even if you don't like them all, they're highly regarded."

There are still gems which weren't adequately acclaimed at the time of publishing

After seeing multiple goodreads members with a few thousands of book ratings and read books I started wondering what the dynamic behind that is. I doubt that every single user in that range averages 350pages EVERY single day for years in a row.

Do DNFs contribute to the bloated score? Do you have friends with similar stats? From what I know speed reading is not worth much, I think we already discussed this last year.