SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Total Books Read: 200 (goal was 120)
Average Rating: 3.5 stars (I generally abandon books I don't like, so this probably keeps my ratings high. I am quite stingy with 5-star ratings.)

5-STAR READS:
So You Want to Talk About Race, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You These both speak to our time and they were both easy to understand and follow.
The Mere Wife I don't have words to describe this book but it was impactful and poetic and weird and I really liked it.

GENRE BREAK DOWN
fantasy: 98
scifi: 47
nonfiction: 16 (goal was to be 10% of my reading, so I'm a little shy)
christian fiction or nonfiction: 5
picture books/ short stories: 6
dramas/plays: 3
poetry: 1
fiction: 29

Series Finished/ Caught up on most recent book: 17
Series Started: 37 (but a lot of these I won't continue)
Rereads: 29 (because rereads make great comfort reads)

Best of the Year:
To Kill a Mockingbird- This was a reread but the last encounter was highschool. I definitely appreciate it more as an adult.
Catfishing on CatNet- I didn't even know I needed a book like this in my life until I started reading it :) I definitely wouldn't have picked it up on my own (despite cats being in the title) if it wasn't a group pick.
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits- This book hit a lot of checkboxes in my wheel house. It had good world-building and character developement. It was silly but well written.
Hounded- A fluffy, sexy fantasy series that I didn't have to think too hard about as I read. #2020
***A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking*** This is officially my favorite book of the year. Again, great world-building, characters, and the right amount of puns and silliness. Also brought to me compliments of SFFBC!

Stand Out Nonfiction:
The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome- The stories about how insane the Roman emperors were actually true. Also archeologists have studied the graffiti left behind in Pompeii and it's hilarious :)
Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases- This was a mixed bag, some essays were better written than others, but it was interesting and informative and timely.
Live to Tell the Tale: Combat Tactics for Player Characters- For v.5.0 DnD players exclusively. I joined some online players since my IRL campaign shut down and I was feeling outclassed so I decided to upgrade my skills. This book was great.

That list, Melanie!! I'm glad you got a mix of time with old favorites and finding new ones!

I lost the ability to be interested in a lot of things sometime in March/April this year. Reading has always been a way to work out stress for me, but with everything else being so stressful I couldn't handle the simple stress of not knowing what's going to happen in a book. I managed to revive a bit in May by re-reading a series I know that I like and has a satisfying ending. It's been a weird year for sure.

That said, looking at my stats:

The majority of my books were rated 3 stars, which is good. I rated more books 5 stars then I did 1 star, but more books 2 stars then 4 stars.

I've read 102 so far (I will likely finish one more before 2020 ends). This count does include some novellas because Goodreads doesn't distinguish those as separate, there might even be one short story included, that's fine.

I read almost exclusively science fiction and fantasy, there are a handful that don't fit in those categories, but not a lot. I re-read more than I have in a while though.

My top books:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
All Systems Red (re-read)
Exit Strategy (another re-read)
Paladin's Grace
Ninth House
The Outsiders (re-read)
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Network Effect
Deeplight
Children of Time
A Deadly Education

Deeplight was the only book on your list I'm not familiar with, but the opening of the description "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein" kind of has me sold!

I did a lot of rereads this year too, and I feel no shame.

Deeplight was one of my favorite reads of 2020, too. Unexpected, original, and so, so relatable.

Deeplight was awesome. It was one of those books where you read the description and ask yourself "How on earth is the author going to pull this off?" But they do! and it's wonderful!

Anna wrote: ""Anna, you've listened to Catwings 361 times this year!"

XD

(No, they did not tell me that, but it would be true.)"

oh... that was one of my childhood favorites. the hardcover got handed off to my younger sister, who wandered off into adulthood with it and probably doesn't have it any more... sigh.

In that vein of "listened to it innumerable times this year" I use The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Secondary Phase audibles as my go-to bedtime listens. I set them up on my ipad and just let them go... and I usually knock right out. so.. yeah, my audible stats aren't "real" if you count how much time I spend on those...

I rave about the Catwings audio all the time, but if you already love the story, you have to check out the audio! It’s narrated by UKLG herself and it’s wonderful! 😸

well, according to my Goodreads year in books, I read 39 books total, with an average rating of 3.9 stars.

This is a pretty darn high rating, as 17 of those 39 were re-reads of The Dresden Files, which I tend to rate highly.

My Goodreads challenges for last year were 30 books overall, and 6 books from the group shelf. I did not achieve my group shelf challenge, falling one book short.

Stats
Novels: 33
Novellas: 3
Anthologies: 3
DNF: 1

Books written by women: 11
Books written by BIPOC: 3
Books written by LGBTQIA+: 2

So, yeah, this last year my reading was outstandingly white and male. This is specifically due to the overrepresentation of Jim Butcher, at 17 novels and 2 anthologies. of the *NEW TO ME* books I read in the last year, percentages get better, but are still not great. This is something that matters to me, so next year it's going to be fixed.

My stand-out books of the year are:

Recursion - a book that really surprised me. It starts in one place and takes a drastic turn later in the book that makes the tired groundhog day trope into something much more intense and shocking.

This Is How You Lose the Time War - I mean... I can't even describe how cool this whole thing was. and it was an epistolary!

A Memory Called Empire I see why it won a Hugo, and I'm down with the win. I really enjoyed the whole setup and cultural exploration. I'm looking forward to the sequel next year.

progress and awareness are themselves good goals to have met! what a solid end to a year that was real shirty with anyone trying to do good

Alabaster wrote: "Deeplight was awesome. It was one of those books where you read the description and ask yourself "How on earth is the author going to pull this off?" But they do! and it's wonderful!"

Francis Hardinge is an auto-buy for me. She ALWAYS delivers, and frequently on premises that make me go, "bwa?"

Anyone else getting discrepancies with the various GR counters? Not two of mine show the same count (but, I trust the sidebar Reading Challenge one to be the accurate tally). Just a curious observation.

Jemppu wrote: "Anyone else getting discrepancies with the various GR counters? Not two of mine show the same count (but, I trust the sidebar Reading Challenge one to be the accurate tally). Just a curious observa..."

I don't keep a challenge counter, but it does take a while for the Year in Books to update any changes. So if you added a couple books recently, wait at least a few hours.

Melissa wrote: "...I don't keep a challenge counter, but it does take a while for the Year in Books to update any changes. So if you added a couple books recently, wait at least a few hours. ..."

Been 24 to 12 hour now. But I do trust it's a delay in system, indeed. If a bit prolonged. Makes for an amusing 'show', anyway. (And curious, indeed, that different bits of code would update separately; you'd think they'd fetch the data from the same source).

My Year and the regular stats use different calculations/editions for pages <_< But the number of books read should match! My Year often lags behind, check it in a week or so and it should match. Yeah I said week, one year that's how long it took for me <_<

I already said that the average for the books I rated on GR in 2020 is 3.0, but I protest this statement on my Year in Books page:

"My average rating for 2020
3.0"

My rating, average or otherwise, for 2020 itself is nowhere near 3.0!

Who else is obsessive about starting the year with books that don't have horrible covers, so that when you look at this page next year, you don't have to look at the most hideous ones? I guess I'll have to stop binging werewolf romance for a couple of weeks :P (I haven't been reading werewolf romance, but I'm planning to in 2021! Yes, that's my big plan for 2021, more werewolf romance and staying in bed as much as possible.) Eventually I forget and read something that gets on my nerves and then I plan to do better next year. Let's see how many good books with pretty covers I can manage before I read a 1 star book with naked dudes on the cover.

Or maybe for your first book, pick one with a cat on the cover!!

I've seen someone who had their book year color-coded to look like a rainbow!! She doesn't recommend the technique, though, says it sucked always having to read the book with the right-colored cover next instead of what she felt like reading.

Happy new year, everyone!🥂🥳 🎊🎆

I finished with 152 books, and my average rating was 3.7.

Eva wrote: "I've seen someone who had their book year color-coded to look like a rainbow!!"

What the actual everliving f*ck? XD That's both amazing and absolutely nuts in the best possible way!

Anna wrote: "...Who else is obsessive about starting the year with books that don't have horrible covers, so that when you look at this page next year, you don't have to look at the most hideous ones?..."

This so much! One also has to be careful about the first and the last review (preferably something positive and/or something you won't regret looking/sharing later).

Another thing I obsess about each year is also the automatically highlighted books in the list: mine seem to have lined up pretty dang decently this year (I'm sure GR favors better ratings on those near the slots).

The one thing I'm a bit dubious about on my 2020 page is my particular "least popular/rated book on GR" - which is a book on suicide notes. Not the cheeriest highlight to start the page with, perhaps, yet, in a way also encouraging for it to get noticed, too.

I know! I reacted with "okay, there's #goals and there's #omg this is so beyond my mortal capabilities".

Jemppu wrote: "Another thing I obsess about each year is also the highlighted books"

Me too, but I don't think I have any control over that. Also all the longest/shortest, highest/lowest, etc. books, every single year I have something so stupid in at least one of those slots, often all :D

Anna wrote: "Eva wrote: "I've seen someone who had their book year color-coded to look like a rainbow!!"

What the actual everliving f*ck? XD That's both amazing and absolutely nuts in the best possible way!"

Whoa! What? Awesome :D

Are you sure those were genuine reads, though? Someone didn't just click around to make a display? I am instantly skeptical, but impressed all the same, regardless!

No, I believed her and she reviewed them throughout the year. I wish I could remember who it was, I'll try to find her profile.

Found it! Here it is (but keep in mind she only did this in 2020 and has vowed never to do it again because it sucked):

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...

Anna wrote: "Jemppu wrote: "Another thing I obsess about each year is also the highlighted books"

Me too, but I don't think I have any control over that. Also all the longest/shortest, highest/lowest, etc..."

Yup. For those, though, I'm also hoping they'll be actual books worthy of the highlight - not some completely random shit-and-giggles reads (but I do trust - and think I have noticed - GR shift those around a bit, so, that only the high-rated ones in the vicinity of the slot get highlighted).

But yes, nice cover is indeed always a plus, too. Which is why - in most dire cases - I sometimes choose the best looking cover from the editions list, regardless which I'm actually reading/listening.

Eva, I wonder just how many of us hightailed it over there to look!! That looked really nice, but it's too much work for me. Plus I'm a mood reader.

Eva wrote: "Found it! Here it is (but keep in mind she only did this in 2020 and has vowed never to do it again because it sucked):

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i..."

Haa! Niiiice! :D All points for the effort!

(It is so tempting, the idea to attempt something as gimmicky, but my goodness, I'm too much of a mood reader; I'd get discouraged being forced to a reading pattern, yet curse myself for breaking the visual balance *ha*).

Jemppu wrote: "Which is why - in most dire cases - I sometimes choose the best looking cover from the editions list, regardless which I'm actually reading/listening."

That goes without saying!! So important. I can tell you that if I ever read the Neuromancer trilogy, it most certainly will be the Brazilian editions despite of not speaking a word of Brazilian Portuguese:


It's completely incomprehensible to me why they're not selling them with these covers in all countries! I'd buy it immediately just for the art.

She read Catwings and her Year in Books is a rainbow? She really did do her utmost to make 2020 better! ^_^

Eva wrote: "Jemppu wrote: "...That goes without saying!! So important. I can tell you that if I ever read the Neuromancer trilogy, it most certainly will be the Brazilian editions despite of not speaking a word of Brazilian Portuguese..."

Yes! I was gonna say! Often some the best looking and/or creative covers tend to be on the non-English editions.

Eva, that rainbow of color is amazing and ridiculous, and somethings I'd never ever try to attempt. I understand her only wanting to do it once. Thanks for sharing.

Jemppu, I'm also twitchy about which books they choose to highlight. They usually do an alright job, but then I'll also get a one-star read highlighted, or a blank book with no cover, which I wish I could change. And the "least popular" book is by definition, something unusual, so I wouldn't worry. :)

It seems I read 130 books this year, 37186 pages. Assassin's Apprentice was the “most popular” book I read. My average rating was 3.7. (I do try to read things I’m going to like.)

A manual count tells me that 52 of the 130 were science fiction or fantasy, or closely related. Most of these were not new 2020 publications. Of the new works I read, the ones I liked best were The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Piranesi, and Ring Shout.

BTW this is a good time to do a GR export, if you haven't done that in a while! Go to your bookshelf, scroll down to the bottom of the left column, and click on "Import and export". And then "Export Library". It takes a while, and then you'll see a link that says "Your export from [date and time]". Click on it to save it. It's a csv file you can open with Excel for example.

Direct link: Import/Export

If you don't care about backups and don't need an export for anything, then nevermind :)

Anna wrote: "Go here to see your 2020 "My Year in Books" page."

Anna wrote: "Go here to see your 2020 "My Year in Books" page."

When I click on the link, it takes me to my year in books, instead of yours.

Anna wrote: "Go here to see your 2020 "My Year in Books" page."

My goodness, that is a lot of books. I am curious about the Clockwork bird books. What were those like?

Grr, GR is being uncooperative and I lost the first post I typed!

Anyway, I read 116 books this year, which was 4 short of my goal of 120, but I did also read 329 pieces of short fiction, many of which were in collections or magazines that I didn't finish this year and so are not counted in that 116.

SFF books: 86 (74%)
Average rating: 4.0 - the highest it's ever been and likely ever will be; I was extremely picky about what I read this year, and several of the books I liked least I didn't rate for various reasons
Average length: 241 pages

Books by authors of color: 64 (55%) - I had a specific goal of reading more books by authors of color than by white authors this year, so I'm happy to have at least met that goal
Books by non-male authors: 89 (77%)
Books by (openly) queer authors: 30 (26%)

This was the first year I did some cross-tabulations on the demographic data, so I was able to see that I read about twice as many male authors of color as male white authors, and that the percent of queer authors who were also POC (57%) was about the same as for authors overall.

Favorite books of the year: This is How You Lose The Time War; ...And Other Disasters; Of Wars, And Memories, And Starlight; The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday

So I finished the standard challenge, I set for 140 and ended up with 142
Also for the first time, I finished the TBR challenge.

So I read 142 books for 31483 pages

The shortest book I read was:
The Authentic Amish Cookbook: 25 Delicious Amish Recipes Made in a Modern Kitchen


It was 36 Pages

The Longest Book I read was:
Seveneves


Says it was 880 pages, seemed like more when I was reading it. LOL

The Most popular book I read was:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Which has been shelved by 965071 people and I am one of the outliers, since I was somewhat underwhelmed.

The least popular book was:
Superfoods Seafood Recipes: Over 35 Quick & Easy Gluten Free Low Cholesterol Whole Foods Recipes full of Antioxidants & Phytochemicals


Which only had ten people shelving it. Although I find that surprising since I thought it would have been the US Army Offical history book I read. Oh well, go figure.

My Average Rating was 3.5 Stars

I have five, five-star reads but only one, one-star read.

That’s really awesome, Kaa! You did so well with your challenge to read more diversely. I did better, but not nearly as well!

Dj wrote: "When I click on the link, it takes me to my year in books, instead ..."

Yes, it’s supposed to! 😊

Dj wrote: " I am curious about the Clockwork bird books. What were those like?"

You mean The Clockwork Crow and The Velvet Fox? I don't really remember, those are bedtime audios, I don't even try to remember them, unless they're very good. I've rated them three stars though, which for a bedtime audio in 2020 means they must've been better than my average bedtime audio.

Oh, there's also The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, another bedtime audio, and also a three star OK :)

Melissa wrote: "The most random stat I've found that amused me is that I finish most books on a Tuesday, and least on a Friday!"

I've been meaning to reply to this. Storytel recently added a running stats tool, and when I first tried it it told me:

Night Owl - You enjoy your stories most between 2AM and midnight.

Wow, that's a 22 hour window Storytel, very specific XD But I guess those two hours are when I shower and do other stuff that means I have to leave my phone off my body?

But then just a couple of days ago it finally updated (it's a rolling 30 days) to:

Insomniac - You enjoy your stories most between 1AM and 4AM.

So essentially the exact opposite of the previous stat XD But this feels more correct :)

Anna wrote: "Dj wrote: " I am curious about the Clockwork bird books. What were those like?"

You mean The Clockwork Crow and The Velvet Fox? I don't really remember, those are b..."

It was the crow and the sparrow that I noticed. The titles were kind of amusing so I was wondering.

I think I listened to them fairly close together, and chuckled about the names :)

OK, I think I'm ready to talk stats. I don't really have goals, I just look at these at the end of the year and go "interesting!" and then move on.


Format: 82% audio, 18% eye-reads

Length: 70% novels, 26% short fic, 4% graphic/illustrated

Age: 78% adult, 6% YA, 15% MG, 1% kids

Genre
32% fantasy
24% scifi
12% other specfic
5% other
2% nonfic
13% mystery/thriller
11% romance

The last two weren't even in my spreadsheet before, this is super weird

Authors*
77% non-male, 23% male
62% white cishet able people, 38% people I want to read from
53% US, 17% UK, 6% Canada, 3% Finland, 2% Australia/New Zealand, 2% Malaysia/Singapore, 2% Scandinavia, 15% other

27% #ownvoices (46% for anthologies)
8% translated (0% for anthologies)

* Excludes short fic (authors) read in anthologies

If I stopped reading books I "have to" read, these stats would be better :/

I'm tired and hungry and feeling a little bit silly, but this really made me laugh :D



Also how great is my 2021 reading year going to be, woohoo!

'People I want to read from' lol

Ryan wrote: "'People I want to read from' lol"

It was the first thing that popped into my head when I was trying to decide what to call the group!

Okay- I have a moment to kill here so I figured I'd finally sit down and crunch numbers.

I've read:
Novels: 46
Novellas: 2
Short Stories: 9
Serial Box: 1 series

Genre:
Fantasy: 8
SciFi: 9
Speculative: 5
Mystery/Thriller: 16
Horror: 11
Non-fiction: 1
Contemporary: 5
Historical: 3

Longest book: The Evening and the Morning at 817 pages
Avg. Rating 3.7

Male authors: 23
Female authors: 34 (this is the first time in maybe forever I read more women then men, so the year wasn't a total loss on stats... )
Non-binary: 0
Compilation: 1 (Serial Box)

Authors of Color: 16 (27.5% of my reading, which I want to say is also up from previous years- but I still wish this was higher)

And I had four five star reads: