Qt3 2019 Reading Challenge

Missed this thread…is it too late to add my name?

Last year I got through 26, which was damn good for me. I haven’t read that many books in the last 10 years, probably. So I though this year I’d increase the weight a little and bump it up to 32.

Not at all, just added you!

Cool, thanks!

My goal this year is to get through as many Edgar Award winners that I haven’t read as I can manage. If I start getting tired of those, I’ll mix in some Bram Stoker Award winners. Those kind of mix in well with the monthly prompt upthread.

Currently reading: The Long Goodbye by Chandler…love the movie, never read the book.

Progress: 2 / 52

Exceedingly entertaining and informative, and did a great job bringing me up to speed on how the state of knowledge about the Mesozoic era has advanced since I was a dinosaur-obsessed 6-year-old. Effortlessly dances among personal anecdotes about the process of digging up fossils, vivid descriptions of the environments and events, dives into individual species and what makes them interesting, and clear discussions of the scientific methodology involved in expanding the frontiers of knowledge. 4.5/5

I’ve started reading Gnomon by Nick Hardaway which was apparently on the Guardian’s best of 2018 sf list, and I’ve certainly heard it recommended a few times. Anyway the opening is quite good, there is clearly plenty going on under the surface in this seemingly utopian society and I look forward to seeing the layers peel back. OTOH I had thought I was done with dystopias, having read so many, so we’ll see.

I guess I’ve done this one already. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor is a terrific little novella about a girl from Africa who journies offworld against her family’s wishes, and meets aliens. There’s plenty to unpack for such a short form, and I look forward to the rest of the novella trilogy.

Lots of acclaim for this one last year, and it’s historical fiction which is right up my alley. Hope I like it, because I’m pretty sure Chen is going to be producing more novels for quite some time.

I’ve got the same author(s) for these two. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, a bunch of Robotech novels were written that adapted the cartoons, and then added a bunch of other stuff of their own. As a giant-robot-obsessed teenager, I devoured these. I’ve been wanting to go back and wallow in the nostalgia for a while, and it turns out that I can go one further - there are three books that were published in the mid-90s that I didn’t read! I can’t be sure I’ll get through the entire series in February but I’ll give it a try…most of the books are pretty short and (as befits the young audience) easy reading.

Oh, I should probably explain why the books fit the categories…the name on the novels is “Jack McKinney”, who does not exist. That name was used by the authors James Luceno and Brian Daley for their collaborations. So all of these books are both by two authors, and published under a pseudonym.

I thought I had this one nailed with Ken Liu, since he did such a great job translating the Three Body Problem and sequels. But it turns out the other two novels listed on his translation page don’t come out until later this year! Ah, but we can still do this…Liu also translated Folding Beijing, a novelette by Hao Jingfang published by Uncanny magazine back in 2015. Won the 2016 Hugo for best novelette, too, and it’s been on my list to read for a while. Bumped up the list for February!

Based on @ineffablebob’s praise, I’m leaning toward The Hate U Give for this slot. Though I just started The Fifth Season for 1A, and by the time I finish it it’s entirely possible I’ll want to immediately jump into book 2, The Obelisk Gate.

Going to be a bit flexible with these, deciding what to count things for depending on how they grab me. Looking at some combination of:

Planning to check out The Expanse for real this time. This works for both 2B and 2C, so if the first one grabs me I might go immediately into the next.

I liked The Three-Body Problem, and it has stuck around in my head in the months since reading it, so continuing the series seems like a safe bet for 2D (incidentally, as far as I can see, this was translated by Joel Martinsen, not Ken Liu).

And then there’s this, which has always sounded intriguing, and works for either 2B or 2D.

Also considering mixing things up with a graphic novel for two-authors, especially if I wind up running short on time for the month. That’s an area that I’m almost entirely ignorant about, but this looks intriguing:

Progress: 3 / 52 (stealing @Thraeg’s progress indicator idea)

This is a book written for sci-fi nerds. Which puts it right up my alley, but even I felt the second half was really fragmented and unfocused. I realize that’s partly because there are two more books in the trilogy, but the way this one was written doesn’t make me want to keep going. (Not to mention that other QT3 posters recommended not proceeding.) I still might get to the other two someday, but no rush.

To quote myself from my review:

Progress: 1/32

Already behind! But I finished The Long Goodbye last night, and absolutely loved it. It does seem to be a divisive book amongst Chandler-philes, but I couldn’t find much at fault with it.

So that counts as:

I’ve started into my next book, G. Willow Wilson’s 2013 novel Alif The Unseen which has been sitting on my e-book shelf for quite awhile. I was a pretty big fan of her Vertigo Comics series, Air, and picked up the novel a couple years back and hadn’t gotten to it yet. But given prompt 1B (the book won a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and I rarely read fantasy), seems like a good enough reason to get around to it.

Progress: 4 / 52
Which finishes January, but is not as impressive as it sounds since I read two at the end of December when I had the time available. I will use the extra time to re-read some of the Robotech books preceding the ones I’ve got lined up for February.

I enjoyed this one, and will certainly read the other two books in the trilogy at some point. (Maybe a future month will feature “finish out a series” prompts?) The mystery aspect was fine, but what really made this one for me was the exploration of “what happens to people and society when hope for the future disappears.”

The latter two books of that series are totally worth your time. They carry on the theme of this guy trying to be a detective, but against the growing despair/collapse of civilization as the asteroid approaches.

Progress: 3 / 52

  • 1A - Main: Recipient of a major award in one of your favorite genres

This one lived up to the high expectations for it. Beautiful writing, disturbing vision of society, fresh take on scientific magic, and several haunting moments.

One thing I didn’t realize going in is that this is not even close to self-contained. It’s a masterful prologue, but resolves almost nothing. 4.5/5

Good to know. This one is on my read list. I’ll have to wait to start it until I can run through the series.

All righty then, I’ve completed my first book of the 2019 reading challenge, Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. This is a recommendation by @malkav11, and it sounded intriguing enough to try, not to mention it cost about a buck. And it was worth my time (and money). It’s the kind of buck that drops you in the deep end of the pool and expects you to start swimming. It gives you enough information to get an idea of who the players are and, eventually, what the stakes are, though how it all comes together into a coherent story isn’t really apparent until basically the end of the book. But there are two more in the trilogy that I also bought, and will also read, at some point. I’ll probably zig toward something else next month.

Side note, I’m pleased that I managed to read my first month’s book within the first two weeks of that month. I wasn’t sure how things would work out, trying to keep to a regimented schedule. At one point in my life, a book a week wouldn’t be a serious challenge, but I’ve got a lot more going on in my life than I did in those days. One a month is at least a pace I’m (pretty) certain I can maintain. See you again in February.

For January, I pretty much half-assed it. I read The Labyrinth Index by Charles Stross… a book that I was going to read anyway. It vaguely fits the prompt of “Recommended by a friend of Qt3 poster” because a couple folks in the book thread said they enjoyed it.

For Feb, I think I’ll jump on the bus with everyone else and read The Hate U Give. It’s been on my wishlist for a while but I never pulled the trigger.

You say that like it’s a bad thing :)

I seem to remember you’ve read the rest of the Laundry books, am I right? Too lazy to go back in the other threads and look. If not, it’s worth going back and hitting the rest of the series.

Also, it’s worth mentioning for any other Stross fans that he’s expanding the Merchant Princes series. Alternate-universe-hopping stuff, though the first book or two read more like fantasy than sci-fi (if you care about such distinctions, which I increasingly find irrelevant the more widely I read). Dark State came out last year and he has another one in the works.

One of the rare occasions when I rode the bus early! Glad to see that book making the rounds.

I got the first book in that series last month, but bounced off of it after a couple hours of the audiobook. It was a weird time of the year, so I’m hoping I will get back to it… but it just seemed very “meh”.

Actually, your review was what convinced me to give it a go.

That’s a pretty common criticism, deservedly so in my opinion. The first two books are OK, but nothing spectacular…it’s mostly about setting up how the world(s) work and slowly discovering who all is involved. The third and fourth books are where it really picks up. For me, that’s not a big deal - I read quickly enough that it’s not a big deal to wade through a novel or two of setup before the payoff, plus I kinda like the big sprawling multi-book epic genre. But I realize that’s not for everyone!

I’m a week early for February, I know, but the library hold came through and due dates wait for no reader!

Progress: 5/52

TL;DR - Great book, well written, engrossing story. Did not want to put it down. Somewhat depressing in terms of both setting and character flaws…lots of humans being real jerks to one another. But that’s what made it such a good story. Recommended.

Progress: 4/52

I’ve loved everything I’ve read so far this year, and the streak keeps right on going with this one, a retelling of the events of the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus.

Despite my advance knowledge of all the major plot points, this hooked me right away with its lush and evocative descriptive prose full of phrases that feel like they could have come right out of Homer. And the author plucks the strings of love, fate, pride, and glory as masterfully as those of Achilles’s lyre. 4.5/5.