Fantasy Book Club discussion

Am trialing a new way in which members can nominate and vote for novels for the monthly readings. Up to 100 novels can be added by each member. Add your nominations and votes here :

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...

Any members who have already had novels added to the previous old listing should add their nominations also to the new listing.

So far 3 members have voted which has resulted in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke leading with a score of 195.

What happens if there is a tie?

And when is the date of the decision on what we will be reading next? (ie the 20 of each month?)

The current polls end on Jan 31st. I will post the results the following day. If there is a tie, I will do a tie-breaker poll.

This poll is for what to read in March and discuss in April, so we shouldn't have any problem getting the results out in time for the reading! ;)

Our novel nominations listing now has American Gods by Neil Gaiman leading, which has had 9 people vote which results in a score of 890. In second place is The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan with 7 votes and a score of 690.

The more members who vote and nominate books will result in a better compiled listing of what novels the group wishes to read, so make sure you add any novels you wish to read in the future, as it allows up to 100 novels per member to be added. To date 41 novels have been voted on with 24 members so far voting.

Our list is here :
Fantasy Book Club - Book nominations for monthly readings

I like the new method, it allows me to go through when I have time and vote as I learn new information. Good job, JJ.

Now, about the list itself, there a few entries on there that made me raise my eyebrow. I do not mean to tell anyone they are wrong, or that they can't nominate/vote for books they enjoy, but the Star Trek Novels, as well as Triplanetary and the Lensmen series are solid, 100% Science Fiction, not Fantasy. While I personally have no objection to reading these novels (I have all of Triplanetary AND Lensman on my bookshelves downstairs, just haven't gotten to them yet) it made me wonder if, as a Fantasy Book Club, we wanted to open the lists to Science Fiction as well.

Yes i noticed those books also and wondered why they would be considered Fantasy rather than Science Fiction, so it maybe just human error. The Lensmen series is a space opera. I will message the member who added those to see why they were added. I can always remove novels that are miscategorized.

I added 20 books to the list this morning from my fantasy shelf. I only included books I have not read. Several of the books already on the list I have read, so I refrained from voting for them as I have too much to read to re-read something I've recently read.

Since we're discussing it, Cordelia's Honor is a great book but definitely Sci-fi as is Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon. Otherwise I find the list to be a great idea.

Thank you LaTrica. I've removed those books from the list as well as Triangulation: Taking Flight and The Door into Summer, which both seem to be pretty clear SF books.

Does anyone know anything about Paratime? I'm not really sure whether it would be considered SF or Fantasy, so I've left it for now.

Since I will be taking over the managing of the Listopia nomination list, I will have to rely on all of you to help me keep incorrectly categorized books out of the list. I will try to keep on top of it and check them myself when I can, but if anyone sees anything that shouldn't be there, just send me a message or leave a post here please! Thanks in advance!

Paratime is a collection of alternate history stories. The heroes use a device to travel across worlds to specific AUs, but the adventures they have may or may not be considered fantasy-ish. If the focus is on fantasy specifically you may want to delete it. Triangulations: Taking Flight is mostly fantasy short stories. I'm sorry if I put in too many of the wrong type of books.

It's alright, Marc. I was just wondering if we wanted to leave it open for Sci-Fi, or if we wanted to be strictly Fantasy.

Robert wrote: "I like the new method, it allows me to go through when I have time and vote as I learn new information. Good job, JJ.

Now, about the list itself, there a few entries on there that made me raise my..."

I like keeping this group just fantasy. There is a fantasy/sci-fi group here on GoodReads and while most people seem to lump these two genre's together - I personally see a big difference between the two and gravitate toward Fanatasy rather than sci-fi.

I agree, there is a very large difference. The bulk of what I read is Fantasy, though I do enjoy a good Sci-fi read.

Marc, I removed "Triangulations: Taking Flight" because the description ("
The 2008 edition of PARSEC Ink's Annual Confluence of Science Fiction.") put it in the SF category for me. The shelf listings weren't any help in this case.

I'm going to remove "Paratime" from the list as well as well as "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen". They both seem to be more SF to me than fantasy.

I agree with Robin and all that we want to keep this group strictly fantasy.

Thanks for the help everyone! :)

Yes we will be keeping the list strictly fantasy as Robin says, there are groups already with Science Fiction and Fantasy. The idea of this group was to focus solely on the fantasy genre.

I posted a suggestion at Goodreads Feedback on having Listopia for group members only like the Polls. Michael, the Architect has stated he has wanted to add that for awhile, and if enough beg he may just build it. So check out the thread here and post a comment (or beg) if you wish: Goodreads Feedback - Listopia scoring algorithm

Begged. :)

We need more beggars !! We already have 5 begging for this to be added. It will make listing nominated books for monthly readings so much easier than the old way of having threads for nominating books and then manually compiling the titles and then numbering them.

Having the option to limit it to group members only removes the main problem with have at the moment of non members nominating titles. This will make Listopia the ideal way of nominating novels for any group who wishes a listing of titles.

I think Michael enjoyed our begging :), he states 'dear lord...Goodreads feedback group sure knows how to beg :) its officially in our lists of tickets now, Higher priority than most, but still not super close to the top of the list'.

So at least it has now made it to list of tickets, but comments to that thread are still welcome, as they may life it higher on the list.

Becky wrote: "Marc, I removed "Triangulations: Taking Flight" because the description ("
The 2008 edition of PARSEC Ink's Annual Confluence of Science Fiction.") put it in the SF category for me. The shelf listi..."

I just went over one of the more thorough reviews (http://thefix-online.com/reviews/tria... ) and see that there are several stories of a scifi nature in there, although most are fantasy. Anthologies can be tricky, I guess.

I added my beg - good to see we are on the list - hopefully a few more begs get it further up the list

Becky, a few more books to be removed:

Rowena Cherry's books (added by the author):
Knights Fork
Insufficient Mating Material
Forced Mate

Stacy Klemstein's books:
Eye of the Beholder
The Silver Spoon

The Cherry books are all Romance novels set in a futuristic/SF setting, and the Klemstein books are all SF/romance books as well.

Thanks!

I really like the idea of using the list to see what other books people recommend - I've already added a bunch to my TBR list. = ) I didn't vote for books I've already read, only the ones I haven't already read that look interesting.

Also adding a beg! = )

Can we vote for books on the list of we -just- finished them and would like to see them discussed in group?

I don't see why not! I certainly voted for and added a bunch I've already read!

Thanks Carolyn, I have removed them from the list. (Since Rowena will be participating in the Author Group read, they don't really need to be on this list anyway.)

Collin, you can vote for whatever you like. The whole point of the list is to narrow down the popular books that the group would like to read as a group. So, as far as I see it, the more votes the better.

Just had a thought - once we read a book, it can be removed from the list (and put on the group's bookshelf), this way all the standings for the list can be recalculated for each month's selection. New books and rankings can be added continuously, and people can change their rankings at any time if they want...

Carolyn wrote: "Just had a thought - once we read a book, it can be removed from the list (and put on the group's bookshelf), this way all the standings for the list can be recalculated for each month's selection...."

How do you remove a book from a list? Can only the creator of the list do that? I'm sort of confused on that point.

No, Librarians can remove books from the list, as well as the list creator.

But, the problem with removing books as we read them is that they could just be added back on by someone who doesn't know that we've already read it.

Well, that and if books are removed "inappropriately" from the list (meaning they are correctly categorized for the list but removed anyway) the offending librarian could lose their librarian status.

I'm hoping that if we get Group Listopia capabilities, this would solve both problems.

Becky is right 'the problem with removing books as we read them is that they could just be added back on by someone who doesn't know that we've already read it', so we just dont include those novels on our monthly poll that have been read.

This is how it will work
Listopia has our nominated titles from which we select the 5 top novels which are unread by the group and then 5 random novels from elsewhere in the list, these 10 titles are then placed in a Poll for members to vote on which should be the monthly read.
For the group author readings we will probably be doing the same selection process.

I put Mistborn on our "Read" shelf. Can't we just ask people to check that list first:?

I don't know anything about it really, but couldn't the entry for a particular book be edited to mention that it has been previoulsy used and left on the list, too? That way even if someone doesn't look at the read list, they'll know that a book has been chosen in the past and isn't going to be done again.

Emery, I'd thought of that, and there is not a way to do that on Listopia. Since anyone is able to add books, not just a mod or the list creator, the search is similar to the "add book" link in messages and once the book is found, it's added. There's no way to edit the book other than to remove it completely.

I know the listing isnt perfect and thats why it was important for Michael to complete building it, but its the best we have at the moment and he see's the potential use for it being used to nominate books.

I received a private message from a Goodreads friend who voted for Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine but he said he was surprised it was listed as fantasy. Although it contains space travel, it is fantasy and not science fiction. If you need a more detailed synopsis, let me know and I'll post a description of the book.

Thank you,
Shelagh Watkins

Shelagh you should post details of your novel in the 'Authors Promotions' section of the Group Forum with a synopsis, as your book has no details in the description part on Goodreads yet.

JJ,

Thank you for inviting me to this group.

I am both a reader and a writer. As a reader I have already voted for my favorite books on the list.
As a writer I have a question: Can I add my own book Two Moon Princess? I don't want to be rude.

Also, I saw in the list The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I loved the first book in the series (The Name of the Wind) and can't wait to read the second. but it doesn't come out until April 9.

Carmen, feel free to add and vote for as many books you'd like, as long as they are fantasy.

Also, please post some additional information about your book in the Author Promotions section. And finally, if you'd like to participate, we will be having semi-monthly author led book discussions. :)

Welcome to the group!

Becky,

Yes, I would be happy to participate in the author led book discussions.

Thanks,

Carmen

JJ wrote: "Shelagh you should post details of your novel in the 'Authors Promotions' section of the Group Forum with a synopsis, as your book has no details in the description part on Goodreads yet. "

Okay, JJ, I'll do that. In the meantime, I've added a description to Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine.

Martyn, technically, there are no rules regarding what to vote for. The way it should work is that people vote for books that they would like to read with the group, regardless of whether they have already read them or not.

Voting on the Listopia list should be determined by information readily available online and on GR. If they are looking for more information on your book, I'd imagine they could ask you (if you don't mind of course) but it is a bit presumptive in my opinion to ask you for a free copy of the book.

From the Listopia nomination list, we choose the top 5 ranked books (the ones we haven't already read) and then 5 random others, and form a poll, and from there we vote for the monthly read.

Martyn, from looking at your books on Goodreads, i suspect the member was wishing to read books reviews before deciding and from looking at your books here on Goodreads none have yet received reviews. It may just be a case of them wishing to read what others have to say about your books before deciding to vote.

Any particular reason why Crown Conspiracy has been moved to #53 despite it's high points and number of votes. I love this list and have been following obsessively but think I missed something here.

Not sure, I think that the GR team may be fiddling with the scoring algorithm, and maybe that changed it.

The score is what I will be going by to compile the poll though, not the ranking, so I will make sure that the most popular ones are the ones on the poll.

Either way, TCC is likely to be the book discussed in the upcoming author led reading, so it wouldn't be included in new polls.

:)

Its showing at number 1 now, so it was probably just Michael working on the scoring algorithm as Becky stated.

Group authors who are inviting friends to vote for their books on Listopia should first send out a invite to our group to those friends who they are canvassing for votes. This is to prevent non members voting on titles that they wont be able discuss, since they are not a group member, if the title does become the monthly reading.

Because the Listopia Nomination list is open for all GR members to vote on, not just our group, I will be compiling the list based on the highest number of GROUP VOTES, rather than just the total number of votes. This means that I will be going through each book, verifying the votes cast by members of the group, and then forming the poll.

Hopefully, this will prevent us from having a bunch of books on the poll that nobody in the group actually voted for.

Wow Becky, that sounds like a lot of work - I'd be more than happy to volunteer to do some of them as well. We really only have to concentrate on the top ones so not all of them right?

Right, I'd just be checking the top ones so it shouldn't be too difficult. I appreciate the offer though, Robin. :)

If it becomes too much work to keep up with the Listopia nomination list, I may just go back to having regular nomination threads and do everything the old fashioned way until we get group Listopia lists.