welcome everyone to the reopening of the WF Book Club!! co-leaders: ruskaya & @EFMingo VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! We will alternate the reading of fantasy and SF novels, and comment both content and writing. So if you are interested in the structure of story and to learn from analyzing the writing or simply like to say what you think about a reading, I hope you will join us! Everyone is welcome Timeline (we will post threads accordingly): June 1st - 15th : poll to pick the reading (please select up to two of the options) June 15th - July 15th : reading time July 15th : comment thread opens We will kickstart the reopening with a fantasy novel of your choice! Here are the options: 1) Coraline by Neil Gaiman pub. 2006 | ~37,000 words | goodreads rating: 4.08 Summary: Coraline and her family move to a new home. The new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. Through the fourteenth door she finds another family--another mother and another father just like her own but better because they pay attention to her. However, to stay with them she has to get her eyes buttoned up, or else she will have to leave. Coraline is unsure. In fact, she discover she is not the only child they have adopted . . . . 2) Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson pub. 2022 | ~232,500 words | goodreads rating: 4.27 | series: Illborn saga vol.#1 Summary: "Long ago, The Lord Aiduel emerged from the deserts of the Holy Land, possessed with divine powers. He used these to forcibly unite the peoples of Angall, before His ascension to heaven. Over eight hundred years later, in a medieval world which is threatened by war and religious persecution, four young men and women begin to develop supernatural abilities. These forbidden and secret powers will shatter the lives that they have known, and will force each of them to confront the mystery of the ethereal Gate which haunts their dreams. What does the dream mean, and how is it connected to their burgeoning abilities? As they experience conflict, love, lust and betrayal, in lands which are being overtaken by war, they must try to stay ahead of and to survive the sinister forces which are now pursuing them. For they are being hunted…" (from goodreads). 3) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins pub. 2016 | ~149,000 words | goodreads rating: 4.09 Summary: "A missing God. A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away. Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a normal American herself once. That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation. As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. But Carolyn has accounted for this. And Carolyn has a plan. The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human. Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy" (from hardback cover on goodreads). 4) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke pub. 2020 | ~65,000 words | goodreads rating: 4.27 Summary: "Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house. There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known" (from goodreads).
If you have questions about the readings, or want to comment why you voted for a particular reading, or want to contribute other thoughts, feel free to hit reply! Don't forget to VOTE!!
voted for piranesi and coraline. They were the two less demanding books on the reading list. By word count. That makes them likelier to complete within a month. Maybe? Besides that they both also happen to have the most interesting story-line. Honest.
I voted for Coraline mainly because of the length of two of the others, and the fact that the Kindle version is on sale for $1.99. ETA: (I didn't say a word about there being a movie.)
We'll try to keep that in mind in the future. Always include a short book or one that is either cheap or free.
Probably a good idea. I could have handled 80K words, but 150K or (!) 232K is right out for me. Do I understand that we'll only be discussing Fantasy and SF?
For now, though if interst is high for outside those genres, we'll probably sprinkle a few others in the polls in following months. Reading is over a whole month, so 150k to 200k seems pretty reasonable to me. Over is a little bit of a stretch, but I've done clubs with those too and still gotten worthwhile responses. My one worry with Coraline is that it's simply too short. If it wins, I'll probably finish it over a couple mornings. But that does give me time for a bit more analysis. We can also discuss aspects related to the rank and what that brings to the table where a long book can't. Whatever is chosen, we'll make it work.
The Remains of the Day is a pretty short book and I think it was one included at a previous book club poll. It’s a sweet read.
I am guilty for having suggested Illborn (232k), but I read the beginning and I flew through the pages, a lot faster than The Library at Mount Char (150k). I am not sure if it sustains the rhythm throughout the book, but reviews says it is worth reading. I also believe this is Jackson's debut novel, and I am curious to see what makes such a long debut novel happen in the publishing world, despite all the 100k-110k limit warnings.
Just a reminder that the poll for choosing the next read for the WF Book Club is June 15 (Wed) at 10:00 AM. Both leads--Coraline by Neil Gaiman (~35,000 words) and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (~65,000 words)--are short, so why not read one of them with us and discuss it? Only one vote separates the two, so cast your votes now and decide which one we will read!
Just when I thought Coraline was a done deal, Piranesi has done and given us a tie! With only one day of voting left which one of these two dark horses is about to win the race??
@ruskaya poll’s closed. You need to create a new poll for Piranesi and Coraline and so that a winner is chosen between the two. Maybe keep the new poll open for 48 hours until a sure winner is announced.
