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I’m late to the party, but I’m finally taking action to Lesson the effects of my sieve-like memory. (A vacation is good like that!)

I’m participating in 2 SFFBC challenges - the 2019 Read All the Books, with a total of 8 books from the list. I’ve read 7 that are new to me so far this year:
Semiosis
Catseye
The Power
Sabriel
The Black Prism
Blackout
A Night in the Lonesome October

I should manage to exceed my pledged 8 books with An Unkindness of Ghosts and Embassytown

Also the TBR Challenge:

1. ✅Oldest book- Player Piano, Vonnegut (oldest SF from 1952 - added bonus: oldest paperback from 1979 bought used who knows when. )
2. Work of Art - not gonna do this one.
3. ✅Novella or Short stories - The Call of the Wild
4. Title is a question - What am I doing Here? Bruce Chatwin - not SF - in progress
5. Ugly cover - Ballad of Beta-2, Delaney
6. ✅✅Has inspired other art forms - Call of the Wild, London; Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Patterson
7. ✅Your initials are in the title - Downbelow Station, Cherryh
8. A book recommended - The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Chambers
9. ✅A book that intimidates you - Red Mars, Robinson
10. Reminds you of a song - Time Enough for Love, Heinlein
11. � Buddy read - Dark Matter
12. Book with a luck symbol - Joy Luck Club, Tan (not - SF)
13. The 6th book - Cloven Hooves, Meghan Lindholm (6th Genre novel on my Want to Read shelf that I already own)
14. ✅Last in a series - World’s End, Vinge
15. � One Hit wonder - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
16. � Hidden Gem - The Gatehouse Mystery
17. Someplace you want to go - (Mexico) Mayan December, Cooper
18. ✅Get on the Band Wagon - the Power, Alderman
19. Words in title in alphabetical order - A Fistful of Sky, Hoffman
20. Graphic or illustrated novel - Watchmen, Moore - in progress

2 are in progress and 9 total to go. Don't think I'm gonna make it.

I'm revamping my TBR until the end of the year and have redone a little bit of my 2020 TBR challenge line-up. I'm totally overbooked. There's no way I'll finish all of them, so I'm going to dispense with re-reads completely and hope that I can power through some of the Group and Buddy Reads I have planned.

November:

The Farthest Shore (SFFBC) reading aloud to my son.
Green Mars (SFFBC) - hangover from October. I've pr-empted All Clear for this.
An Unkindness of Ghosts (SFFBC) in progress
Watchmen (TBR Clean-up) in progress
What Am I Doing Here?, Bruce Chatwin (TBR Clean-up) in progress

The Girl With All the Gifts (SFBR)
Winter Rose (BY)
Interference (Semiosis #2) (SFBR & SFFBC) - depending on when I get it, I may not be able to participate in the BR.
The Testaments

December

15th: Embassytown (SFFBC)
20th: The Windup GirlThe Windup Girl (audio - SFFBC)
The Ballad of Beta 2, Delaney (TBR Clean-up)
Mayan December, Brenda Cooper (TBR Clean-up

Wishful thinking:

A Fistful of Sky, Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
Cloven Hooves, Meghan Lindholm
Tales from Earthsea, LeGuin (hopefully, my son and I will get to this for the discussion on SFFBC)

2020:
January 18: The Other Wind
February 18: Lavinia

2020 SFBR - TBR (exact months pending):

â€�(³Ù¾±³Ù±ô±ð)Reigning Cats and Dogs, Tanith Lee
â€�(·É³ó²â?)Echoes of the Fourth Magic, TA Salvatore
�(short stories)Just North of Nowhere, Larry Santoro
â€�(²Ô´Ç±¹±ð±ô±ô²¹)The Winter Triptych, Nicole Khorner Stace
�(longer novella)The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense
Coraline (SFBR with Vavita and Linda)
�(stand alone #1)The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
�(stand alone #2) WLT: A Radio Romance, Garrison Keillor
�(Big Book 500)The Shelters of Stone, Jean M Auel
�(Big Book 600)The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (BR with Vavita and Rebecca)
�(next in series)The Star Scroll, Melanie Rawn
�(Finish series)Dragon Prince, Melanie Rawn
â€�(¹ó´Ç°ù±ð¾±²µ²Ô)The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
â€�(¹ó´Ç°ù±ð¾±²µ²Ô2) The House of Binding Thorns (SFBR with Lata)
â€�(¹ó´Ç°ù±ð¾±²µ²Ô3)Purge, Sofi Oksanen
�(long TBR)Walk to the End of the World, Suzy McKee Charnas (BR with Gabi - SFFBC)
�(longest TBR)Time Enough for Love Heinlein
�(pre 1987)The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories Angela Carter
�(pre 1969) A Case of Conscience, James Blish
�(most GR ratings) Divergent, Veronica Roth
�(fewest GR ratings)Nursery Rhyme Noir, David Kopaska-Merkel

Anyone who wants to join me on any of these, let me know!

Groups key:
SFBR - SpecFic Buddy Reads
SFFBC - SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
BY - Beyond Reality group

Alphabet Challenge 2021

More than one choice per letter to accommodate moodiness...

Book Title:

Z � The Zodiac Legacy (Kindle)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (HC)

Y � Yellow Dog (Kindle)

X � X-men: Wakanda Forever (Kindle)

W � Waging War, A. White (Kindle) Series #4
Women of Wonder (PB)
The Way the World Ends (Kindle short)
Walk to the End of the World (PB) Motherlines #1

V � Voices, UKL (PB) Powers Series #3
The Very Best of Charles de Lint
Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet (PB) Poetry

U � The Uplift War (PB) Series #3
Uncanny Magazine #1(Kindle)
The Unhappy Medium (Kindle) Middle Grade

T � TRIsocialization (Kindle)
The Traiter Baru Cormorant (Kindle)
To Say Nothing of the Dog (audio) (Series)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January

S � The Star Scroll (PB) Dragon Prince Series #2
Starfarers Quartet (Kindle)
Soul Case (Kindle)
Seed to Harvest (Kindle) Series

R - Robots and Murder (HC) Series
The Room of Lost Souls, Rusch (Kindle) Diving Series #2
Rendezvous with Rama (Kindle)

Q � A Quest of Heroes (Kindle)
Quantum (Kindle) Chaptain Chase #1
Queen of Sorcery (PB) Belgariad #2

P � Primary Inversion (audio) Skolian Empire #1
Phoenix Code (Kindle)

O � The Outside (Kindle) series #1
The Obelisk Gate (Not owned) series #2
Out of the Silence: After the Crash (Kindle)

N � Nursery Rhyme Noir (PB)
The Northern Girl (PB) Tornor series #3

M � Motherlines (PB) series #2
Mindtouch (ebook) series #1

L � The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (PB) series #1
Lock In (audio) Series #1
Lord Valentine’s Castle (PB)

K � King Dog, UKL (Kindle)
Die Kleine Hexe (HC) Middle Grade
Katrina Hates the Dead (Kindle) Graphic Novel series #1

J � The Judas Rose (PB) Native Tongue series #2
Just North of Nowhere (PB) Short story or collection

I � The Inheritance, Hobb (PB)
In an Absent Dream (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #4
If the Hero of Time was Black (Kindle) Poetry

H � How to Talk to Girls at Parties (Kindle)
Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (Kindle)
How to Fracture a Fairy Tale (Kindle � Netgalley)

G � The Green Dwarf (PB)
The Golden Torc (Kindle) series #2

F � Full Share (audio) Series #3
Feeding Frenzy (Kindle) Series #1

E � Earthsong Native Tongue Series #3
Endymion (audio) Series #3
Every Heart A Doorway (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #1

D � Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #2
Diving in to the Wreck (Kindle) Series #2
Dancers of Arun (PB) Tornor series #2
Daughter of Odren, UKL (Kindle) Series #6.5

C - The Curse of the Mistwraith (PB) Series #1
Changing Nature (Kindle) Series #3
Catwoman, Vol. 1 The Game (Kindle)

B � Beneath the Sugar Sky (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #3
The Bourne Legacy (PB) Series #4
Bone Swans (Kindle)

A � Avengers: Wakanda Forever (Kindle) Series
The Angel’s Game (HC) Series #2
Ancillary Sword (Audio) Series #2

Author:

Z � Zafón, Carlos Ruiz � The Angel’s Game (series #2)
Y � Yolen, Jane � How to Fracture a Fairy Tale
X � Xia Jia � in Upgraded (short story)
W � Wells, Martha � Artificial Condition (series #2)
V � Vonnegut, Kurt � Slaughterhouse-Five
U � Urioste, Eduardo Strauch � Out of the Silence: After the Crash (memoir)
T � Tiptree, James � Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (short)
S � Simmons, Dan � Endymion (series #3)
R � Rusch, KK � Diving into the Wreck (series #1)
Q* � Quinn, AT � Shadows of the Stars: The Children of the Arks
P � Pinsker, Sarah � A Song for a New Day
O � Okorafor, Nnedi � X-Men: Wakanda Forever #1
N � Nohelty, Russel � Katrina Hates the Dead (series #1)
M � Montefiore, Santa � Secrets of the Lighthouse
L � Lowell, Nathan � Full Share (series #3)
K � Kopaska-Merkel, David � Nursery Rhyme Noir
J � Jacob, Charlee � Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet (poetry)
I � Itzkoff, Dave � Robin (biography)
H � Harrow, Alix, E. � The Ten Thousand Doors of January
G � Gloss, Molly � The Dazzle of Day
F � Foster, Eugie � Requiem Due, Concerto for Flue and Voodoo (short story)
E � Elgin, Suzette Haden � The Judas Rose
D � Dickinson, Seth � The Traitor Baru Cormorant
C � Chambers, Becky � The Long Way�
B � Brin, David � The Uplift War (series #3)
A � Asaro, Catherine � Primary Inversion (series #1)

Series Completion Challenge

My Series (what square in the BINGO they fulfill):

The Uplift War, Brin (series #3) (Trilogy)

The Obelisk Gate, Jemisin (Broken Earth Series #2) (Genre bender / Trilogy)
The Stone Sky, (Broken Earth Series #3)

Starfarers Quartet, Vonda McIntyre (Quartet / SF)

Endymion (Hyperion series #3) (Quartet / SF)
*The Rise of Endymion (Hyperion series #4)

Changing Nature A. White (Kindle) Immortals Series #3 (Fantasy / longer series)
The Gift (free on website) Immortals Series #3.5
Waging War, A. White (Kindle) Immortals Series #4
Cheating Death Immortals Series #5

The Star Scroll (PB) Dragon Prince Series #2 (Fantasy / Trilogy) (dragon)
Sunrunner’s Fire (PB) Dragon Prince #3

Dancers of Arun (PB) Tornor series #2 (Fantasy / Trilogy)
The Northern Girl (PB) Tornor series #3

Walk to the End of the World (PB) Motherlines #1 (SF)
Motherlines (PB) series #2

Artificial Condition (series #2) (SF / longer series)
Rest of Murderbot (don’t own Network Effect)

The Judas Rose (PB) Native Tongue series #2 (SF / Trilogy)
Earthsong Native Tongue Series #3

Voices, UKL (PB) Powers Series #3 (Fave author - Trilogy)

Daughter of Odren, UKL (Kindle) Series #6.5 (Fave author / longer series)

Diving into the Wreck (Kindle) Diving series #1 (SF/ Longer series)
The Room of Lost Souls, Rusch (Kindle) Diving Series #2
Rest of bundle (6 in all)

Every Heart A Doorway (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #1 (Author new to me)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #2
Beneath the Sugar Sky (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #3
In an Absent Dream (Kindle) Wayward Children Series #4

Full Share (audio) Series #3 (SF / debut author)
Rest of series (podiobooks)

*Ancillary Sword (Audio) Series #2 (SF)
Ancillary Mercy (get from Audible) #3

*The Angel’s Game, Zafón (HC) Series #2

*The Golden Torc (Kindle) series #2

*The Bourne Legacy (PB) Series #4

*Queen of Sorcery (PB) Belgariad #2

*Mindtouch (ebook) series #1
*The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (PB) series #1
*Lock In (audio) Series #1
*Katrina Hates the Dead (Kindle) Graphic Novel series #1
*Feeding Frenzy (Kindle) Series #1
*The Curse of the Mistwraith (PB) Series #1
*Primary Inversion (audio) Skolian Empire #1

*Don’t own (the rest of the series � not free)

A Round up of SFFBC 2021 Challenges

Amazin' Eights Game

My hand:

8 of Diamonds - WILD / MULLIGAN

January: 6 of Spades - book with characters with mobility issues by an ownvoices author played for January - Uncanny Magazine Issue 24: Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue
February: 3 of Diamonds - book with nonwhite characters by a woman or NB author played for February - Signal to Noise
March: K of Hearts - book with characters who are neurodiverse by an author of color played for March: "Unauthorized Access" Lightspeed Magazine, September 2016
April: Q of Spades - book with Middle-Eastern/Indian mythology by an ownvoices author played Star Daughter for April.
May: 10 of Spades - book with Indigenous characters by an #ownvoices author played for May Elatsoe WON!
June: 7 of Hearts - book with African or Caribbean mythology by an author of color played for June: David Mogo Godhunter (7 of Hearts)
July: 6 of Spades. Played: 9 of Spades - book with southeast Asian mythology by an ownvoices author. Nominated: "Asphalt, River, Mother, Child" by Isabel Yap (Strange Horizons).
August: Ace of Diamonds. Played: Ace of Hearts: book with LGBTQIA character(s) by an author of color. Nominated: The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zarate.
September: 7 of hearts. Played: 3 of hearts - book with nonwhite characters by an author of color. Nominated: Fledgling by Octavia Butler.
October: 5 of Diamonds - book translated to English by a woman or NB author. Nominated and read: Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono, trans. by Emily Balistreri.
November: 9 of Clubs - book with southeast Asian mythology by a non US/UK author. Nominated nominated Black Water Sister by Zen Cho and The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang. Chosen: Amatka by Karin Tidbeck

Books that won:
✅J²¹²Ô³Ü²¹°ù²â: When Fox is a Thousand
✅F±ð²ú°ù³Ü²¹°ù²â: In the Vanishersâ€� Palace
March: The Salvage Crew read �"Unauthorized Access" Lightspeed Magazine, September 2016 instead.
April: A Spark of White Fire plan to read my nom Star Daughter instead
✅M²¹²â: Elatsoe
✅J³Ü²Ô±ð: Eartheater
July: The Unbroken
✅A³Ü²µ³Ü²õ³Ù: Digital Divide
September: Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord
October: ?
✅N´Ç±¹±ð³¾²ú±ð°ù: Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
December: Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening in progress but I'm taking a break from it.


SFFBC TBR Challenge

�1. Take a gamble - Seanan McGuire Every Heart a Doorway new to me author, I'm not sure I'm going to like.
2. Red or black - Sunrunner's Fire cover red AND black
�3. Behind the eight ball - Parable of the Sower
�4. Charade - The Haunting of Tram Car 015,
�5. Agreeable alliteration - Rendezvous with RamaIn progress
6. Jackpot
�7. Pawns - Interference
8. An 8 or 21 - Tin - 21st book on my physical SF TBR shelf
9. Dealer's choice
�10. X marks the spot - The Poet X
�11. Murrderrrrr - Artificial Condition (well, obviously)
�12. Back from the dead - Katrina Hates The Dead
�13. Features a game or puzzle - A Memory Called Empire
�14. I have no gift for strategy - Winter's Orbit
15. Features best friends - Seraphina
�16. Queen of hearts - Chasing the Queen of Sassi
17. Role-play - Ready Player One OR Catfishing on CatNet
�18. Amazing race - Children of Time In progress
�19. Taboo - Out of the Silence: After the Crash Cannibalism
20. Critical hit - A Song for a New Day OR Riot Baby

So it’s been several years since I updated my personal thread here. I wasn’t even sure anymore that I even had one, but lo, and behold! Here it is.

I’m going to add the challenges I’m doing here in this group below.

2025 Read All the Books

I still have plenty of our shelf books that I own and should read, but I will aim low, for 12 books this year.

Here’s a my list!

1. Our Wives Under the Sea
2. The Poppy War
3. The Stars My Destination
4. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
5. Elantris
6. To Say Nothing of the Dog
7. Slaughterhouse-Five, or the Children's Crusade: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
8. The City & the City
9. The Sword of Kaigen
10. The Space Between Worlds
11. Catfishing on CatNet
12. Reap the Wild Wind

The first 7 I’m quite likely to read, since they are already scheduled. But since I’m a pretty moody reader, I reserve the right to add or swap any of the, really.

TBR Clean Up



1. Welcome to the Red Carpet
2. Suit Up
3. All That Glitters
4. Let Your Hair Down
5. Special Effects
6. Six of One � Half a Dozen of the Other
7. Strike a Pose
8. Bohemian
9. Global Inspiration
10. Dime a Dozen
11. Slay
12. Twelfth
13. Cottagecore
14. Oh! the Horrors
15. Punk vs Prep
16. Organic vs Synthetic
17. Modern vs Traditional
18. Avant-garde
19. Bold Look
20. Loungewear

SF & F Lover Combat - SF Team

Aliens
1. Area 51: Read a book with an alien character.
Usurpation
2. Starry Night: Read a book with at least one star on the cover.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Alt History
1. Back in the Day: Read a book set 20+ years ago.
Lady Susan
2. Historicity: Read a book with a time machine or historical figure on the cover.

Clones
1. DNA: Read a book with clones or twins in it.
Never Let Me Go
2. Palindrome: Read a book with a mirrored cover (cover features a graphic that reads the same on both sides).

Dimensional Travel
1. AltDimension: Read a book set in more than 1 dimension.
The Space Between Worlds
2. Portal: Read a book with any kind of portal on the cover.
Beneath the Sugar Sky

Space Travel
1. The Black: Read a book set in outer space.
Enterprise: The First Adventure
2. Nebula: Read a book with a space scene on the cover.

Terraforming
1. Oxygen: Read a book that features terraforming.
2. Foliage: Read a book with any kind of flora on the cover.

Biological Engineering
1. Lab: Read a book with a character that is a biologist and/or engineer.
Transition
2. DNA: Read a book with a helix on the cover.

LitRPG
1. Game: Read any book classified as LitRPG or a novelized version of a video game.
Ready Player One
2. Console: Read a book with any gaming console or DND dice on the cover.

Big Data
1. Arithmetic: Read a book with an accountant or mathematician as a main character.
The Calculating Stars
2. Data: Read a book with numbers on the cover.

Mad Science
1. Scientist: Read a book with a scientist as a main character.
2. Gear: Read a book with anyone in a lab coat or lab beakers on the cover.

Artificial Intelligence
1. Intelligence: Read a book where AI is an important character or important to the plot.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
2. Robot: Read a book with a computer or code on the cover.

Time Travel
1. Time Machine: Read a book where time travel is part of the plot.
To Say Nothing of the Dog
2. Clock: Read a book with any kind of time keeping device on the cover

Just popping in to say hi 👋

I need to add the SFF Combat SF Team to my reading thread also.

Cheryl L wrote: "Just popping in to say hi 👋

I need to add the SFF Combat SF Team to my reading thread also."

Thanks for dropping by!

I added books that I intend to read for the challenges in posts 7 and 9. Let me know if you’d like to buddy read any of them.

AltDimension: Read a book set in more than 1 dimension.
The Space Between Worlds
I have the same book planned for this prompt. When do you expect to get to it?

If I’m allowed to be a bit of a stickler, Dennis Taylor is adamant, that Bob is not an AI:

Bob isn't an A.I., he's a replicant. It may sound like pedantry, but an A.I. would be built from the ground up to specs. A replicant (in the Bobiverse) is a copied human mind, so has all the limitations of the original, but is a speed superintelligence, which just means he can screw up faster.

Olga wrote: "AltDimension: Read a book set in more than 1 dimension.
The Space Between Worlds
I have the same book planned for this prompt. When do you expect to get to it?"

I could do it as soon as February, because I have it as audio. But I’ll let you decide. I haven’t scheduled it yet.

Olga wrote: "If I’m allowed to be a bit of a stickler, Dennis Taylor is adamant, that Bob is not an AI:

Bob isn't an A.I., he's a replicant. It may sound like pedantry, but an A.I. would be built from the gro..."

Well, I wouldn’t really know because I haven’t read it, but when I did a search for books with AI this one was like the only one I already owned that popped up. I think even the blurb says he’s an AI! Well, I’ll ask Melanie if a replicant is close enough.

Yep, the GR blurb does say AI... I wonder how much control Taylor had over it. Well, maybe just ignore me )))

February sounds OK for me. Towards the beginning or towards the end of the month?

Olga wrote: "Yep, the GR blurb does say AI... I wonder how much control Taylor had over it. Well, maybe just ignore me )))

February sounds OK for me. Towards the beginning or towards the end of the month?"

Melanie has ruled: Bob is a cloned human brain.

Can we do The Space Between Worlds better towards the end of February?

Can we do The Space Between Worlds better towards the end of February?

Great! Around 23rd?
I'll also post about it in BR Recruitment thread, if it's OK.

Diane, I was sure we discussed possible BR for Slaughterhouse Five somewhere, but can't find where. Please tell me I'm not going crazy )) Are we still on for that?

I'll try to join you two in the BR of The Space Between Worlds.

My apologies, I didn’t see your messages, Olga and Cheryl. That must have been during the extended period when I wasn’t receiving notifications.

Olga, I think we touched base about Slaughterhouse five and are going to wait for the group reread, right?

Cheryl, we are reading The Space Between Worlds right now! Join us, by all means!

Yes, sure :)