Bookclub 3: Vote here!

I am going through my inbox and just saw this. I assume we are going with Babel by R.F Kuang, which is cool. BTW, have you ever read Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan? It is really good!

if you have not already read it you should read the narrative of the life of frederick douglass.

I quite enjoyed Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series. I've not taken the time to read The Raven Tower yet, but this would certainly motivate me to push it up the TBR tower.

I was hoping Grossman’s translation of Don Quixote would make the short list. Too long?

I enjoyed Babel quite a bit and think it would be a fun discussion.

Raven Tower is so good. Ann Leckie is like a store-brand Le Guin which sounds like an insult but is actually an incredibly high compliment

Had to vote for The Raven Tower, since Ann Leckie is probably my favorite author, every book by her is a banger. How can you not like a book where the main character is a huge rock named The Strength and Patience of the Hills?

I also didn't like yesteryear to start. It gets much better and worth it in the end

Please don’t keep going on yesteryear, the premise is intriguing but the execution is so lazy, the effort is not worth your time. In my opinion :/.

I voted for Sea Poison because a) Beilin graduated from U of Montana, b) I have read the other choices, c) It looks like it is the shortest, or d) Don Quixote wasn't an option?

Babel is a really cool book that would be interesting to talk about. Katabasis would also be good. Haven’t read her newest one yet but I am a fan.

I voted for Mistborn, that is one of those books random people keep recommending me. The R. F. Kuang book would be a safe bet, as an author she has an incredible strength to twist even the oldest cliches in fresh and exciting ways, and the Iliad also couldn't go wrong. (Although in an ideal world, I would probably vote for Sea, Poison, The Raven Tower would win the vote and we would discuss Yesteryear together, .)

Babel sounds really interesting, reading its blurb. Sea, Poison much less so to me. I'd be willing to read The Raven, but I'd skip if Mistborn wins. Not to yuck anyone's yum, but the first Mistborn is the only Sanderson book I was convinced to read, and I hated it so much that I've never given anything else of his a try, despite hearing a good bit of praise about Stormlight. [Criticism of Mistborn 1 follows, if you'd rather not know anyone's characterization of the book, but I don't say any spoilers] I knew nothing about the book going in, but I knew exactly what was going to happen dozens of pages in advance of anything that happened because every sentence in that book is simply functional; it reads like it was written by filling out a worksheet for what's necessary for certain plot beats to take place. It was as bland as cardboard for me. When I've talked to others about it, it really seems like what does it for them is just learning about the bespoke magic systems he comes up with, and yeah, it was a novel take on magic, but I can get just as much out of a fan wiki if that's all the book has to offer. If you're really into genre fantasy, I feel like you've already read Mistborn. If you're not, I don't imagine it has much to offer you, but follow your hearts. Edit: The poll only allows us to pick one option this time (fine), but it also allows us to change our vote freely. I think the consequence of this will be that people are incentivized to check back periodically and change their vote if it looks like their pick isn't meaningfully in the running. I think that's fine, but it should probably be pointed out so that people realize it's possible (and incentivized).

Well, Emily Wilson translation and Babel have been on my TBR for a while. I've tried reading/listening to Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice and failed three times, didn't know she had a new book out. As for Mistborn it's pretty entertaining imo and I'm currently re-reading the trilogy and finding tons of flaws I didn't see the first time so I might be interested in knowing other people opinions. But I think I'll vote for Ann Leckie's book so I might try to read it too (once I'm done with the Bartimaeus Sequence, and everything else I've started 🫠)

This is so much pressure, someone please convince me to vote for their favorite

Hey, have You ever read Solaris by Stanisław Lem? Its one of the greatest books ive ever read. Its a Sci-Fi novel touching on philosophy of 'defective gods' and philosophy of science. Its also heavy on physics and astronomy. I dont want to say too much not to spoil the novel, but please check it out!

Welp. I just bought the Emily Wilson Iliad like a month ago.

Day 1 of requesting Annihilation or Borne by Jeff Vandermeer for a future vote (if u haven’t read them already)

I like MIstborn and I don't know if it's explicitly YA but it certainly reads like YA. I voted Iliad specifically because I think you might be able to get her for a book talk.

I have reported this potential copyright violation. =)

Also last time I mentioned maybe watching a movie. Is that legal? Can I stream a movie I own over my computer for <100 of my friends while we pause and chat about it?