the great urban75 2016 reading challenge thread

[toggle]

I'm lining up some science fiction written by women. I got massively into Sci Fi when i was about 16 and then again when i met my 2nd wife who was also a big fan. The funny thing is I'd not read much written by women, i suspect because back in 1980s and 90s it was harder to get hold of and generally viewed with suspicion by the Sci Fi establishment. And the funnier thing is, my ex, who introduced me to a few new authors, but they were all men too!
Reading some short novels recently (on my list) I was struck by how awful the female characters were in one of the books - written by a man who clearly thought all highly qualified female astronauts would want to do is have sex with as many as the male astronauts as possible, get jealous of each other and go round calling each other "sluts". And it got worse, but I don't want to introduce a spoiler.
So that got me thinking, just why haven't i read much written by women?
I'm building a list. They will make it onto here through the year. Meanwhile I've ordered a copy of this because it intrigued me:

it's pretty good. cyteen is also worth reading, although of quite epic length. i also quite liked 40000 in genenna and serpents reach. i think i have them all on ebook somewhere.

DotCommunist recommended Ann Leckie which is on my to-read list. suspect he could recomend a few others.

i'd also suggest ursula le guin. Octavia butler is interesting, although a little odd at times.

 

[DotCommunist]

there is shit tons here
SF Mistressworks (I mined this to find a book i took 8 damn years looking for. Everynow and then I'd get bugged and google up to no joy. But it was listed here)

Le Guin you want 'Left Hand of Darkness'. Her earthsea fantasy stuff is great but its fantasy.

Elizabeth Bear is brilliant also, go for the wetwired trilogy

Lois McMaster Bjold for the Vorkosigan saga

I think you'd really get a kick out of Leckie's Ancillary books though, I have yet to read ancillary sword or ancillary mercy but Justice is ace

oh and this ones a bit old school and it is YA but still worth a punt 'Plauge 99' their are two more books in the sequence the last being 'Come lucky april' which as well as being my fave book title is also good reading. Jean Ure.


You must must must read Tricia Sullivans horrfic cyperpunkish future(s) described in 'Maul' also.

I'll mention more if I remember any

 

[DotCommunist]

oh, margaret atwood. Handmaids Tale, and the entire Maddam trilogy. Orynx and crake, year of the flood and MadAdam

 

[Sea Star]

oh, margaret atwood. Handmaids Tale, and the entire Maddam trilogy. Orynx and crake, year of the flood and MadAdam

I have Orynx and crake lined up already. Read Handmaids Tale years ago.

 

[Sea Star]

there is shit tons here
SF Mistressworks (I mined this to find a book i took 8 damn years looking for. Everynow and then I'd get bugged and google up to no joy. But it was listed here)

Le Guin you want 'Left Hand of Darkness'. Her earthsea fantasy stuff is great but its fantasy.

Elizabeth Bear is brilliant also, go for the wetwired trilogy

Lois McMaster Bjold for the Vorkosigan saga

I think you'd really get a kick out of Leckie's Ancillary books though, I have yet to read ancillary sword or ancillary mercy but Justice is ace

oh and this ones a bit old school and it is YA but still worth a punt 'Plauge 99' their are two more books in the sequence the last being 'Come lucky april' which as well as being my fave book title is also good reading. Jean Ure.


You must must must read Tricia Sullivans horrfic cyperpunkish future(s) described in 'Maul' also.

I'll mention more if I remember any

Thanks! I'm quite a slow reader these days so the books I've already been recommended will probably keep me going through this year.

 

[May Kasahara]

Missed the CJ Cherryh post! I love all the Merchanter's Universe books, esp Cyteen. In fact it's probably time for a reread again.

 

[sparkybird]

1/10 Stoner - John Williams

What an amazing book - I have not yet met anyone who didn't give it less than 11/10
Terribly sad though....

 

[Biddlybee]

Isn't it, to both those - amazing and sad.

 

[marty21]

1/60 The Lost Starship - Vaughn Heppner.
2/60 The Lost Command - Vaughn Heppner
3/60 The Lost Destroyer - Vaughn Heppner
4/60 The Lost Colony - Vaughan Heppner
5/60 Why it is still Kicking Off Everywhere - Paul Mason
6/60 The Lady From Zagreb - Philip Kerr
7/60 Anzio - Wynford Vaughan Thomas
8/60 Extinction Point : Genesis - Paul Antony Jones
9/60 Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel
10/60 Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
11/60 Blood Relatives - Ed McBain
12/60 Blood on Snow - Jo Nesbo
13/60 Raven Black - Ann Cleeves

 

[inva]

1/51 - Multiculturalism and Its Discontents by Kenan Malik
2/51 - Slade House by David Mitchell
3/51 - The True History of Merlin the Magician by Anne Lawrence-Mathers
4/51 - SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
5/51 - Double Bind: The Muslim Right, the Anglo-American Left, and Universal Human Rights by Meredith Tax
6/51 - The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
7/51 - The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry by Ned and Constance Sublette

 

[Sea Star]

I'm on book number 12 now. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I'll put up my full list later.

 

[iona]

AuntiStella have you read Synners by Pat Cadigan? It's mentioned in that link DotCommunist posted above. The short story it comes from, that she wrote a few years earlier, is in a book I'm rereading at the moment - I'll scan & pm it if you want, it's short enough.

 

[Greebo]

1/31 Wie man Deutscher wird in 50 einfachen Schritten - Adam Fletcher
2/31 Goblin Fruit - Laini Taylor
3/31 Just Kids - Patti Smith
4/31 Hydrofracked? One Man's Mystery Leads to a Backlask Against Natural Gas Drilling - Abrahm Lustgarten
5/31 The Cleaner - Mark Dawson
6/31 Saint Death - Mark Dawson
7/31 The Warrior Princess Submissive - Michael Makai
8/31 Unfinished Business - The Politics of Class War - Class War
9/31 How to Build the Perfect Rake - Kate Harper
10/31 The Driver - Mark Dawson
11/31 UR - Stephen King
12/31 Ghosts - Mark Dawson
13/31 The Sword of God - Mark Dawson
14/31 Salvation Row - Mark Dawson
15/31 The Loney - Andrew Michael Hurley
16/31 1,000 yards - Mark Dawson
17/31 Tarantula - Mark Dawson
18/31 Explaining the Explicit - Julian Barnes
19/31 The Princess Bride - William Goldman

 

[Me76]

1/50 A Heat of the Moment Thing, Maggie Le Page
2/50 How to Build a Girl, Caitlin Moran
3/50 The Guest Cat, Takashi Hiraide
4/50 The Fire, John A Heldt
5/50 The Worst Day of my Life, So Far, MA Harper
6/50 Alive and Killing, Jeff Carson
7/50 Persuasion, Jane Austen
8/50 The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
9/50 The Rowan Tree, Robert W Fuller
10/50 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, JK Rowling

 

[D'wards]

1/20 - Peter Straub - Ghost Story
2/20 - Duncan Falcolner - First Into Action
3/20 - William Gibson - Neuromancer
4/20 - Paul Trynka - Starman: David Bowie - The Definitive Biography
5/20 - Robert A. Heinlein - Starship Troopers
6/20 - Patrick DeWitt - The Sisters Brothers
7/20 - Terry Pratchett - Wyrd Sisters

 

[Pickman's model]

10/50 lon milo duquette, 'low magick'

11/50 ira levin, 'the boys from brazil'

 

[toggle]

5 books I've owned more than 3 years -8 - 9 - 10 -15 - 23 - 24-
5 books i buy during the year -17 -29 -
5 books that are 2 inch thick hardbacks that challenge me to look at them -
5 local history books -13 -
5 local fiction books -
5 fiction books not set within anglo/anglicised culture -
5 books that are about teaching myself new skills -
5 biogs/autobiogs - 25 -
5 translated fiction books -
5 of himself's books -12 -
10 pre 20th century fiction books -16 -20 - 28 -
10 books I'd need for the lit review when i get off my arse and pick the bloody project -21 - 32 - 38 -
5 books for the other thing I've got planned -14 - 26 - 27 -
10 books that i got the idea to read on this thread (or last years) -4 - 5- 18 -
5 non fiction books that aren't history - 1- 2
10 audio-books -3 - 11 - 43

1. Lynne Truss - eats shoots and leaves.
2. tansy Hoskins - stitched up
3. marie kondo- the magic art of tidying up
4. marie brennan - a natural history of dragons
5. joe abercrombie - half a war
6. octavia butler - parable of the sower
7. octavia butler - parable of the talents
8. cj cherryh - merchanters luck
9. cj cherryh - rimrunners
10. cj cherryh - cuckoo's egg
11. neal stevenson - cryptonomicon
12. paul wady - guerilla aspies
13. atkinson - mining sites in cornwall
14. margaret fuller - women in the 19th century
15. peter f hamilton - fallen dragon
16. harriet beecher stowe - uncle toms cabin
17. alice walker - the colour purple
18. marie brennan - the tropic of serpents
19. gail dines - pornland
20. jane austen - pride and prejudice
21. jeffrey klaehn - filtering the news
22. tyler stoddard smith - whore stories
23. robin hobb -sharman's crossing
24. robin hobb - forrest mage
25. amy poehlr - yes please
26. selma james - strangers and sisters
27. edmond and flemming - all work and no pay
28. nathaniel hawthorne - the scarlet letter
29. robin hobb - renegade's magic
30. helen rogers - green gone wrong
31.james meek - private island
32. daniel trilling - bloody nasty people
33. will bunch - the backlash
34. juliet jaques - trans
35. ian banks - canal dreams
36. ian banks - song of stone
37. terry pratchett - the carpet people
38. nancy matthews - confronting rape
39. gareth pierce - dispa5tches from the dark side
40. peter and mari jo buhle - it started in wisconsin
41. peter cann - adoption
42. robert weitzer - sex for sale
43. virginia woolf - orlando
44. WEB Du bois - the souls of black folk
45. thomas paine - common sence
46. iain banks - whit
47. iain banks - look to windward
48. iain banks - the business
49. iain banks - the crow road
50. christine delpny - seperate and dominate
51. eyal weizman - the least of all possible evils
52. michele wallace - black macho and the myth of the superwoman
53. virginia woolf - a room of one's own
54. iain banks - the wuarry
55. pratchet and baxter - the long mars
56. iain banks - the wasp factory
57. juliet mitchell - woman's estate
58. alain badiou - the rebirth of history
59. p cook - the othe side of dv
60. sterba and farrel - does feminism descriminate against men
61. cj cherryh - bothers of earth
62. cj cherryh - voyager in the night
63. neal stevenson - in the beginning...
64. iain banks - matter
65. perry anderson - the indian ideaology
66. jason semmens - the witch of the west
67. patten people - e lamorna kerr
68. a kent - feminism, literature and women writers in corwall
69. j hay - the origin of liberal welfare reforms
70. iain banks - surface detail
71.

 

[BoatieBird]

1/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Facts of Life and Death
2/75 - Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin
3/75 - David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
4/75 - Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone
5/75 - Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
6/75 - Margaret Atwood - Lady Oracle
7/75 - Jon Ronson - So You've Been Publicly Shamed
8/75 - Kate Atkinson - One Good Turn
9/75 - Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
10/75 - Iain Banks - Espedair Street
11/75 - John Steinbeck - East of Eden
12/75 - Ruth Rendell - Make Death Love Me
13/75 - Stephen King - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
14/75 - Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar
15/75 - Kate Atkinson - When Will There be Good News?

16/75 - Stephen King - Finders Keepers

 

[Fozzie Bear]

1/21 Scott A Wilson (ed) - Music At The Extremes: Essays on Sounds Outside the Mainstream
2/21 Dawn Foster - Lean Out
3/21 Albert Meltzer - The Anarchists In London 1935-55
4/21 Simon Morris - Consumer Guide

5/21 David Keenan - Furfur: Sideways Into England's Hidden Reverse
6/21 Pete Coward - Vessel Without A Soul

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

1/50 The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Provence -- Martin Gayford
2/50 The Boxcar Children -- Gertrude Warner
3/50 The Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and their Food -- John Dickie
4/50 Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X -- Deborah Davis.
5/50 White Trash Zombie Gone Wild - Diana Rowland
6/50 Dead to Me - Anton Strout

7/50 Deader Still- Anton Strout
8/50 Dead matter - Anton Strout
9/50 American Gothic: The Life of America's Most Famous Painting - Steven Biel

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I'm lining up some science fiction written by women. I got massively into Sci Fi when i was about 16 and then again when i met my 2nd wife who was also a big fan. The funny thing is I'd not read much written by women, i suspect because back in 1980s and 90s it was harder to get hold of and generally viewed with suspicion by the Sci Fi establishment. And the funnier thing is, my ex, who introduced me to a few new authors, but they were all men too!
Reading some short novels recently (on my list) I was struck by how awful the female characters were in one of the books - written by a man who clearly thought all highly qualified female astronauts would want to do is have sex with as many as the male astronauts as possible, get jealous of each other and go round calling each other "sluts". And it got worse, but I don't want to introduce a spoiler.
So that got me thinking, just why haven't i read much written by women?
I'm building a list. They will make it onto here through the year. Meanwhile I've ordered a copy of this because it intrigued me:

Don't miss Octavia Butler. She's one of the few authors, male or female, who writes truly alien aliens.

 

[Sea Star]

1/50 Special Deluxe - Neil Young
2/50 The Edible woman - Margaret Atwood
3/50 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4/50 Sacrilege - S.J. Parris
5/50 Easily Distracted - Steve Coogan
6/50 Autobiography - Morrissey
7/50 The Ice Owl - Carolyn Ives Gilman
8/50 Angel of Europa - Allen M. Steele
9/50 The Ants of Flanders - by Robert Reed
10/50 The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary - by Ken Liu
11/50 Kiss Me Twice - by Mary Robinette Kowal
12/50 The Bell Jar - by Sylvia Plath

 

[toggle]

5 books I've owned more than 3 years -8 - 9 - 10 -15 - 23 - 24-
5 books i buy during the year -17 -29 -
5 books that are 2 inch thick hardbacks that challenge me to look at them -
5 local history books -13 -
5 local fiction books -
5 fiction books not set within anglo/anglicised culture -
5 books that are about teaching myself new skills -
5 biogs/autobiogs - 25 -
5 translated fiction books -
5 of himself's books -12 -
10 pre 20th century fiction books -16 -20 - 28 -
10 books I'd need for the lit review when i get off my arse and pick the bloody project -21 - 32 - 38 -
5 books for the other thing I've got planned -14 - 26 - 27 -
10 books that i got the idea to read on this thread (or last years) -4 - 5- 18 -
5 non fiction books that aren't history - 1- 2
10 audio-books -3 - 11 - 43

1. Lynne Truss - eats shoots and leaves.
2. tansy Hoskins - stitched up
3. marie kondo- the magic art of tidying up
4. marie brennan - a natural history of dragons
5. joe abercrombie - half a war
6. octavia butler - parable of the sower
7. octavia butler - parable of the talents
8. cj cherryh - merchanters luck
9. cj cherryh - rimrunners
10. cj cherryh - cuckoo's egg
11. neal stevenson - cryptonomicon
12. paul wady - guerilla aspies
13. atkinson - mining sites in cornwall
14. margaret fuller - women in the 19th century
15. peter f hamilton - fallen dragon
16. harriet beecher stowe - uncle toms cabin
17. alice walker - the colour purple
18. marie brennan - the tropic of serpents
19. gail dines - pornland
20. jane austen - pride and prejudice
21. jeffrey klaehn - filtering the news
22. tyler stoddard smith - whore stories
23. robin hobb -sharman's crossing
24. robin hobb - forrest mage
25. amy poehlr - yes please
26. selma james - strangers and sisters
27. edmond and flemming - all work and no pay
28. nathaniel hawthorne - the scarlet letter
29. robin hobb - renegade's magic
30. helen rogers - green gone wrong
31.james meek - private island
32. daniel trilling - bloody nasty people
33. will bunch - the backlash
34. juliet jaques - trans
35. ian banks - canal dreams
36. ian banks - song of stone
37. terry pratchett - the carpet people
38. nancy matthews - confronting rape
39. gareth pierce - dispa5tches from the dark side
40. peter and mari jo buhle - it started in wisconsin
41. peter cann - adoption
42. robert weitzer - sex for sale
43. virginia woolf - orlando
44. WEB Du bois - the souls of black folk
45. thomas paine - common sence
46. iain banks - whit
47. iain banks - look to windward
48. iain banks - the business
49. iain banks - the crow road
50. christine delpny - seperate and dominate
51. eyal weizman - the least of all possible evils
52. michele wallace - black macho and the myth of the superwoman
53. virginia woolf - a room of one's own
54. iain banks - the wuarry
55. pratchet and baxter - the long mars
56. iain banks - the wasp factory
57. juliet mitchell - woman's estate
58. alain badiou - the rebirth of history
59. p cook - the othe side of dv
60. sterba and farrel - does feminism descriminate against men
61. cj cherryh - bothers of earth
62. cj cherryh - voyager in the night
63. neal stevenson - in the beginning...
64. iain banks - matter
65. perry anderson - the indian ideaology
66. jason semmens - the witch of the west
67. patten people - e lamorna kerr
68. a kent - feminism, literature and women writers in corwall
69. j hay - the origin of liberal welfare reforms
70. iain banks - surface detail
71. anabel hernandez - narcoland

 

[inva]

1/51 - Multiculturalism and Its Discontents by Kenan Malik
2/51 - Slade House by David Mitchell
3/51 - The True History of Merlin the Magician by Anne Lawrence-Mathers
4/51 - SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
5/51 - Double Bind: The Muslim Right, the Anglo-American Left, and Universal Human Rights by Meredith Tax
6/51 - The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
7/51 - The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry by Ned and Constance Sublette
8/51 - Félicie by Georges Simenon

 

[D'wards]

Hey toggle have you read 71 books this year already? Thats some great going, thats just under one a day

 

[Pickman's model]

Hey toggle have you read 71 books this year already? Thats some great going, thats just under one a day

to be fair, you can read something like pride and prejudice on a train journey

 

[D'wards]

When i was on the Rock n Roll i'd quite often read a book in a day, up the park. But these days can only fit in about 25-50 pages most days. Me mate who works for Virgin media on the vans gets through loads of audiobooks whilst he's working. Thats a pretty sweet deal, think he's with audioble.

 

[toggle]

Hey toggle have you read 71 books this year already? Thats some great going, thats just under one a day

it's not as impressive as it looks. I have a shit job, but i get to listen to audio books while I work. and there's a fair few really short ones in there. but i also grab a book when i can't sleep. which happens a lot.

 

[D'wards]

it's not as impressive as it looks. I have a shit job, but i get to listen to audio books while I work. and there's a fair few really short ones in there. but i also grab a book when i can't sleep. which happens a lot.

Ahh, consuming books whilst at work is the dream. I try to listen to podcasts at work but realise that is still going but i haven't heard anything for 20 minutes.

 

[Orang Utan]

Ahh, consuming books whilst at work is the dream. I try to listen to podcasts at work but realise that is still going but i haven't heard anything for 20 minutes.

i get to read at work a couple of hours a week. i call it 'stock familiarisation'