The Book Log SFF

New Calendar and nominations

2008-02-18T18:47:07Z

Sorry for the delay. Here is the new calendar I would suggest for the second round.

Calendar for the next readings:
Feb. 18 - Feb. 25: Recommendation of new books
Feb. 25 - March 3: Voting
March 3 - March 16 or March 23: Reading

The discussion could start either after two or three weeks of reading.

You can find all information you need about the nomination procedure in the first nomination post. I'll just repost the parts you have to fill in (So you can use the form for your reply):

Title: (title of the work)
Author: (author(s) of the work)
Presentation: (a link to a website that presents the book (like the Amazon page for the book, or anything similar))
Why: (why you think that novel would make an interesting read, why the people ought to vote to pick this one!)

The next plans

2008-02-04T07:33:24Z

I hadn't so much time in January, that's why the community has fallen in a sort of coma. In order to wake it up, I thought I can just post a little poll.

View Poll: What do you want to do next?

The Telling Discussion #1: General impressions

2008-01-06T21:07:06Z

It's already January 6, and it has gotten a bit quiet. ;) So, I guess it's my turn to invite you to discuss you first impressions of the Telling, by Ursula LeGuin. ;)

Was this your first book by this author? Did you have some expectations before you started reading?

What were your first impressions from the book? Did you like or dislike some things?

What do you think about Le Guin's language and prose?

Have fun!

The Curse of Chalion Discussion #2: Characters

2007-12-31T08:11:41Z

Hello! Sorry this and the next post came late but I was a bit under the weather this weekend. If you've recently finished the book, feel free to jump in on the first discussion any time. ^_^ You may answer any or all of the questions or, if it's related to characters bring up your own.

Who were your favorite and least favorite characters? Why?

Could you relate to anyone?

Was there anyone you wish you saw more of in the story? Less of?

How do you think the author treated the characters?

Were the antagonists compelling enough for you?

What did you think of the relationships presented in the story?

The Curse of Chalion Discussion #1: First Impressions

2007-12-27T21:04:43Z

Hello and welcome to booklog_sff's first discussion! I hope everyone had a wonderful time reading (or in some cases rereading) Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion.

Let's begin with some basics.

What were your first impressions of the book?

Were there things that you liked immediately? Disliked?

Did the main character, Lupe dy Cazaril, interest you from the start?

This post may be edited after some input.

Discussion start

2007-12-27T19:40:10Z

All right, following on the previous poll, we can now start discussing The Curse of Chalion. However, we'll start talking about The Telling only next week on January the 3rd.

I've changed the community setting so that now any member can post an entry, so don't hesitate to make a post about the book.

dizilla and me will also make posts about specific aspects of the book.

Making sure everyone is ready

2007-12-26T23:34:35Z

View Poll: readiness

booklog_sff @ 2007-12-23T00:45:00

2007-12-22T23:48:03Z

Hey,

According to the previous poll, the big majority is ready to begin on the 27th, so we're sticking to this plan.

However, I'll do one last poll just before we start in order to make sure everyone is ready (as with the comm's rule, we need 2/3 of the participants to be ready to start discussing).

booklog_sff @ 2007-12-20T00:59:00

2007-12-20T00:04:06Z

Hello,

A reminder that you have one week left to read either The Telling or The Curse of Chalion before the discussions on those books start.

However I want to make sure that time is alright with everyone, so a poll to know where you stand about this :

View Poll: ready

Vote result!

2007-12-05T21:02:45Z

And the books to read next month are...

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (7.45)
and
The Telling by Ursula K Leguin (7.19)

Time for everyone who wants to participate to find and read the books. Discussions should start on the 27th of December (although we'll make sure 2/3rd of the people have indeed finished the books before we start)

Enjoy the reading :)

Other books' results:
Briar Rose 6.95
Tea With the Black Dragon 6.80
A Compagnon to Wolves 6.75
Rainbows End 6.00
Elantris 6.00
A Game of Throne 5.95
The Once and Future King 5.60
Devlin's Luck 5.58
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War 4.10

Reminder

2007-12-05T12:12:42Z

You have a few hours left to vote for which books you want to read this month! The resultats are very tight so your vote might make the difference ;)

Voting ends at 9 pm GMT tonight.

Voting

2007-12-02T21:18:29Z

Time to vote for which books to read this month.

First a round up of the nominated books:

Title: A Compagnon to Wolves (Another review here)
Authors: Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear
Nominated by: xraytheenforcer
Why: I've heard generally positive things about this book by online nerds I generally trust. And, hey, it's written by two of the most interesting authors to crop up in recent years. Both Bear and Monette are uncompromising, risk-taking writers with tons of talent and a great gift for words and creating complex characters.

Title: Rainbows End
Author: Vernor Vinge
Nominated by: wintermute84
Why: Well, several friends have recommended it...but on a more substantiative note, I'm told that the novel's plot involves an increasingly techno-literate younger generation coming into conflict with an older generation who grew up before the digital age. That's certainly an experience I run into everytime I go home and have to fix my family's network, and I'm curious to see how he explores the topic on a much larger scale.

Title: The Telling
Author: Ursula K. Leguin
Nominated by: wintermute84
Why: Well, in the little time I've had to read for myself this semester, I've managed to delve into her other Hainish cycle books. I thoroughly enjoyed the way she explored social issues in both The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness, and I'm eager to see how she handles the culture industry in this more recent work.

Title: The Curse of Chalion
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Nominated by: alighiera
Why: I adored the book the first time I read it. So many little things that a lot of writers get wrong work out in this story, and it's simply a joy to read. There's character development that goes so far beyond stereotypes that even minor characters get more attention than heroes in other books. There's a well-thought-out setting that feels amazingly realistic. Religion and philosophy have their peculiarities, but they just work and don't expect you to suspend belief.

Title: Devlin's Luck
Author: Patricia Bray
Nominated by: alighiera
Why: People keep reccing this one to me as an overlooked book that comes with two sequels (supposedly this one works as a stand-alone). Fantasy, but low on the elf-and-dragon count. Patricia Bray is currently writing a highly enjoyable and intriguing new series, so I'm hoping that this earlier story will make for a good read.

Title: A Game of Throne
Author: George RR Martin
Nominated by: raggedly_edge
Why: I read this book when it first came out in the late 90's. And I admit, it took me a little bit to get into, but once I was... man I was hooked. Its an epic fantasy in the grandest sense of the word. Think of England and the War of the Roses, and then throw in alchemy and dragons and monsters in a way that is completely believable. I've been wanting to re-read this for ages.
(NB: this is the first volume of an unfinished series of which 4 volumes have been published so far.)

Title: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Author: Max Brooks
Nominated by: raggedly_edge
Why: I love zombies. And really, what could be more perfect given the season fast approaching? Mindless hoardes all going after one thing, letting nothing and no one stand in their way. ::grin::

Title: Elantris (The Author's website has the first 3 chapters to read for free)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Nominated by: dizilla
Why: Alas, like most sci-fi fantasy books I buy, the cover simply grabs me. I've always loved the artist and tend to love the books that the artist does covers for. The summary intrigued me and once I began reading, I honestly couldn't stop. It truly reads like a one-volume epic. You explore the world through three different sets of eyes and each one brings just as exciting as the other.

Title: Briar Rose
Author: Jane Yolen
Nominated by: dizilla
Why: I used to read of ton of her stories when I was younger, and was happy to find that she kept on writing. She has a way with storytelling and this rather modern version of Sleeping Beauty dealing with finding your family roots simply proves it.

Title: Tea with the Black Dragon
Author: R.A. MacAvoy
Nominated by: mnemosyne_1
Why: This is a short fantasy book that intertwines magic and realism in the modern day. I love MacAvoy's writing; it's visceral and amusing. She manages to have fantasy, philosophy and psychology all wrapped up in her books, which are perfectly crafted.

Title: The Once and Future King
Author: T.H. White
Nominated by: mnemosyne_1
Why: Classic fantasy about Arthur and Merlin. I think it's important to read classics along with contemporary science fiction and fantasy, and this is one that I've been wanting to read for quite a while.

To vote, assign a grad between 1 and 10 to each book (1 being a book you really don't want to read, and 10 a book you're really dying to read). The two books with the best grads will be chosen.
You have up to the 5th of December to vote. (If you change your mind you can change your vote too).

VOTING IS OVER - NO MORE VOTES PLEASE

View Poll: First Vote

VOTING IS OVER - NO MORE VOTES PLEASE

Reminder : nominations

2007-12-01T23:49:50Z

Hello,

Just a post to remind you you have one day left to nominate books for the next month. We have 9 books nominated so far, thank you to the people who submitted them. You can find the rules about this and post your nominations here.

The nomination will end tomorrow (December 2nd) around 6pm GMT.

Nomination post

2007-11-26T20:50:59Z

Time to start nominating books to read. You've got up to December 2nd to nominate books, after which point we will vote for which 2 books to read.

Here's the rules about nomination :

- You can nominate up to 3 works

- Books have to belong to the speculative ficton, science-fiction, fantasy or horror genre. It is left to your discretion what that means exactly.

- Books have to be accessible in the English language (they can be translated though).

- It's better if the books are not out-of-order, but you can nominate books which are difficult to find, provided you warn us about it.

- You can nominate graphic novels if you want (just warn us about it).

- You can nominate short stories anthology if you want (just warn us about it).

- For the momment, only original works and works published in paper format can be nominated (we'll see later about opening that up to fanfics or novels accessible on the internet).

- If you want to nominate a series, it's left to your discretion whether to nominate the whole series of books, or only one volume. However be realistic about it : we won't be reading a ten-volumes story in one month. If only one volume do constitute a self-contained story, it's better to nominate it (for example, in the Vorkosigan series, the Taltos series, the Kushiel series... independant volumes do stand alone); but if it's one story broken down in separate volumes, it's better to nominate the whole series. In all cases, warn us about the fact it's a series.

- You don't have to have already read the book to nominate it. It might be just a book you heard about and though would be interesting for whatever reason.

- When you nominate a book, you have to fill these informations :
Title: (title of the work)
Author: (author(s) of the work)
Presentation: (a link to a website that presents the book (like the Amazon page for the book, or anything similar))
Why: (why you think that novel would make an interesting read, why the people ought to vote to pick this one!)

- That's it :)

Opening post

2007-11-26T10:16:02Z

The Book Log SFF is a community featuring monthly discussions about books belonging to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre.

Every month, a list of book will be chosen, and votes will be made to pick 2 novels for this month. After a time to get and read them, the books will be discussed together, and voted about (things like general opinion of the book, favourite character, interesting themes, and whichever ideas and issues may show up in the discussions).

Rules:

#1- Discussion, debate and disagreement are welcome. Rudeness, insults and ad-hominen attacks aren't. Neither are racism, sexism and homophobia. Repeated impolite behaviour will result in banning.

#2- So as to encourage participation, only people who participated by post at least one On Topic comment to previous discussions will be allowed to nominate books (except for the first round where everyone can nominate).

#3- Spam will result in immediate banning.

#4- Two books are chosen every month, for variety's sake, but you don't have to read both of them.

#5- If you've already read one book, you don't have to re-read it if you want and you feel it's still fresh in your memory.

#6- Suggestions about the running of the communities are welcome (and should be made at this post).

#7- If you have a community which you want to affiliate with this one, send me an e-mail.

#8- Spoilers for the books read should always be kept under a lj-cut. Spoilers for other works (be they books or other media) should always be warned about and hidden by a white-out (surrounded by < font color = " white " > your spoiler text here < / font > without the space) so that they can only be seen by selecting the text.

Calendar:
First nomination : 26th November to 2nd December
First vote : 3nd December to 5th December
First reading period : 6th December to 26th December
First discussion & polling : 27th December to 10th January
(calendar is subjected to change depending of participation and people's feedback.)