SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Plus Harrow the Ninth could work for the TBR Challenge and the series challenge as it's the second book in the series and it looks like there's a weapon on the cover

I'm going to join in this year. Never even knew it was a thing!

I'm going to try Medium mode for titles and numbers. My ABC & 123 Challenge.

It's a new thing! Glad to have you Karen and KelB :)

This sounds like a good way to read the books I'm dithering on, and to give me an order to read them in (which is one of the reasons for the dithering). It will also help me discover some new books, which is always a need.
Is the idea to read them in alphabetical order? I think I like that, and would do it anyway - but it's nice to know that it's part of the challenge. Or I'll just make it part of mine.
Thanks for the idea!
One more question: does the challenge include non-fiction, or does that make it too easy?

Definitely no requirement to read them in alphabetical order.

I couldn't even if I wanted to; I have multiple books from multiple series on there and I couldn't very well read those out of order.

Tamara wrote: "One more question: does the challenge include non-fiction, or does that make it too easy?"

No one ever called me out on using NF in a TBR challenge. I know those are slightly different beasts than this challenge, but in this laid back crowd, I would not expect it to matter.

I think Allison once told me, that in the end, if it makes your TBR smaller, that is what counts.

If it’s on Goodreads, it counts for the challenge! And most definitely NO to reading them in order, but you’re welcome to do so if you want to :D

working on U for Author with John Updike instead of the Qs I mentioned above. It's a book of short stories and will remove the last non-SF&F book from my challenges. Unlike last year, where I had quite a few in my challenges, there were only 3 this year.

and I finished H for author with Lynn S. Hightower

Authors: H, X and working on U
Titles: X
Numbers: 8

Thanks, Joon, Mike, and Anna. I take back my bold claim about reading them in alphabetical order - it was the exuberance of innocence and inexperience! Since then, I have learnt much :D

Good to know I can include non-fiction. I already have some to put in the challenge, I think - will get the shelves set up.

I'll do Medium mode 'light', with 26 books. Currently on 'D'.

Is this a team or solo challenge?

solo

I'm in!

I wanna try medium mode. Number and letters.

My ABC and 123 challenge

Welcome, Kay! :) I think there's something wrong with your profile pic?

Unfortunately the one i loaded last year didnt stay

The new one looks cool! 👍🏻

Thanks

I was wondering, can i change to light mode? And still do numbers? Im doing two other challenges the year

of course! this is for fun, do what sounds good

@Anna: I am in the middle of Xeni now, and I'm enjoying it, but there is a lot of on-page sex. Just as a heads-up.

Thanks! I'm probably going to listen to it anyway, because it's a convenient X, but it's good to know what I'm getting into!

Someone suggested this challenge also in another group. I looked over my 2020 reading and found that I almost completed the challenge by accident! I only missed X and Y. I could easily have filled those in if I'd tried. (Xenocide and XX are on my to-read list.)

Those looking for an 8, I recommend 88 Names.

I have now finished

U = John Updike for Licks of Love: Short Stories and a Sequel, "Rabbit Remembered"
Q = Arthur Quiller-Couch's The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales from the Old French
7 = Seven in this Collection of sort stories: Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy. I was written by Naomi Novik

So I am now up to:

Authors: H, Q, U, X
Titles: X
Numbers: 7 & 8

and I'm starting on G & 9 for Gideon the Ninth which also works for the Around the World of Club Books challenge

You're really getting into all the 2021 challenges!

I skipped the card game one...but otherwise 4 plus a continuation of the short stories one. What can I say: I'm retired, copped up because of the pandemic and bored...

and I'm multi-tasking - Gideon ticked off three boxes, and Seven (short story) and X was in a short story collection and the Q & U authors were a collection of their works. I'm way ahead in short stories, so I'm gonna pull back on them for a while until I finish Gideon & Harrow plus This Alien Shore (40% through as of now)

I love it when one book can kill many birds, I mean tick many boxes.

Finished Gideon the Ninth for a

G and 9 double

so I'm at

Alpha Author: H, Q, U, X
Alpha Title: G & X
Numbers (0-9): 7, 8 & 9

working on Title H with- Harrow the Ninth

Just read Ben Bova's Zero Gee from The Best of Bova: Volume 1 for Zero

so I'm at

Alpha Author: H, Q, U, & X
Alpha Title: G & X
Numbers (0-9): 0, 7, 8 & 9

and still working on Title H with- Harrow the Ninth

edit to correct Zerp to Zero

I looked through my 2020 reads to see how close I would have come and I was just missing X and Z for titles. I was missing Q, U, and X for authors.

That's cool, Meredith. I expect that would be the same for most of us. But half the fun is perusing my TBR/owned books and choosing what fits in the challenge. However, I've already read books that I hadn't intended on using for the challenge, but am now plugging in for it anyway.

And here is a bi-monthly update on my progress:

Title: L, R, W, X

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to count the same books towards the author challenge but here they are:
Author: A, C, L, S

Lock In, Scalzi, John
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke
When Fox is a Thousand, Larissa Lai
The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but "six" in latin is "sex".

So for anyone struggling with that number.....you're welcome.

Just finished Harrow the Ninth for H

so I'm at

Alpha Author: H, Q, U, & X
Alpha Title: G, H, & X
Numbers (0-9): 0, 7, 8 & 9

and working on The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition for Y in the Title series

So far for my ABC & 123 Challenge I've completed letters A-F and T.

Titles completed are: After Atlas, Blood Oath, Cibola Burn, The Duke and I, Empire Girls, The Forever War, and Troubles in Paradise.

Currently reading: Greenlights, How Lulu Lost Her Mind, and Nemesis Games.

I initially planned on going in alphabetical order but the best laid plans, etc... I won't start my number books until I get through the alphabet.

I was gonna say, are you reading them in alphabetical order?!? You did way better than I would have, if I’d even tried.

me, I'm going for the cover the most bases books as I'm doing the three Alpha-Numberic challenges, the TBR challenge, the Aroudn the world challenge and the Series challenge

Harrow & Gideon ticked quite a few boxes

We should have a challenge to see who covers the most challenge prompts with the smallest number of books! :D

I’m already trying to win that one!

:D

The most I have is three on a book

DivaDiane wrote: "That's cool, Meredith. I expect that would be the same for most of us. But half the fun is perusing my TBR/owned books and choosing what fits in the challenge. However, I've already read books that..."

I'm doing so many challenges, it was a bit overwhelming to contemplate trying to plan 26 more reads. So, I'm letting things fall as they will for now. I'll start being more strategic later in the year.

Just finished The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition

so I'm at

Alpha Author: H, Q, U, & X
Alpha Title: G, H, X & Y
Numbers (0-9): 0, 7, 8 & 9

and working on Magician: Apprentice Riftwar Saga #1 for the Around the World Challenge and some short stories

I finally made a list for titles a while ago, I should make one for authors, too, to see if I want to go for it.

I did it, I made tentative lists for author and number mode. Yay! I have something for everything, but there are a couple of things I'd love to have better options for. Rec me if you think of something! Novels or collections, not individual pieces of short fic please!

- Author X, other than Xia Jia. I thought I had this covered, but it was just GR having the wrong sort order for Can Xue :( (I've fixed it now.)

- A book title that starts with "(the) five"

- A book title that starts with "(the) six" (other than Six of Crows, Six Wakes, Six Months and Three Days, also no Sixth/Sixteen, etc.)

- Less important, but if someone has a novel/collection that starts with two, that'd also be great. My current two is a short fic piece, which I think is fine for numbers, but consistency would also be nice :)

I have good options for both five and six, but all my other number titles start with the number, so it'd be nice if they all did :)

I'm at:

13/26 title
21/26 author
1/10 number

edit: Oh, if you want to see my lists, they're in my challenge thread.

try here for X:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

I almost went with Xenophon's On Horsemanship

Five Children and It - this is Fantasy

The Six Wives of Henry VIII - this is history but written in an interesting way

Five Children is definitely going on my list, it's on Storytel and it's perfect for bedtime audio :) I have no idea why my "five" search on Storytel didn't find it <_<

good - that's my Five as well

Well done, Anna!

I am making good progress on titles: B, C, D, I, L, R, W and X

Authors: A, C, L, O, S

Also one Poetry title down: S

Edit: For specific titles you can look at post no. 61, which is where I'm keeping track. I cleaned it up a little, and removed the mood reading choices of letters I've checked off. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Woop! This is much more fun when you can take all year and not cram it all into one month! Which was to be expected I guess :D

I prefer yearly challenges too!

My Title Letters so far: E, I, O, P, W