My Year in Reading 2017

Posted on by Sable Aradia

This year I fell down on the job in completing my Goodreads reading challenge.  I started with an optimistic attempt to read 75 books.  I started strong, but a brutal self-imposed writing schedule kept me hopping, and I realized in about August that I was nowhere near where I wanted to be for reading challenges.  I dialed back my Goodreads challenge to 50 in October, accepting the inevitable, and made an attempt to cut back my Worlds Without End Roll-Your-Own Reading Challenges to a more manageable level.

My Reading Challenges

2017 12 Awards in 12 Months2017 Big Fun In A Little Package Novella Challenge2017 Genre Non-Fiction2017 I Just Have To Read More Of That Author2017 LGBTQ Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge2017 Military Spec-Fic Reading Challenge2017 Second BestBooks Read This Year: 2017Grand Mistresses of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge 20172017 Women of Genre Fiction Reading ChallengeApocalypse Now! 2017 Reading ChallengeAuthor! Author! 2017Collections!Giants of Genre: A Long Book Challenge 2017Hard Core Sci-Fi 2017 Reading ChallengeHigh Fantasy Reading Challenge 2017Need To RereadRead the Sequel 2017SF Masterworks Reading ChallengeSpace Opera 2017

While this might be ambitious, it’s not as crazy as it looks.  A lot of these challenges overlap, in that I read one book for multiple categories & challenges, and the “Books Read in 2017” is just a way to keep track of everything you’ve read or intend to read in one place.  Unfortunately I discovered two things about these challenges; one is that if you’ve entered a challenge, you can’t leave it; and two is that if you create a challenge, you must do the highest level of the challenge you set.  If others have finished the highest level of the challenge already, you can’t dial it back.  The long and the short of this was that I dialed back what challenges I could, but resigned myself to simply not finishing many of them, and decided I would take them up again in 2018.

For the most part I kept up religiously with the Science Fiction Masterworks Book Club, however (and thus the SF Masterworks Challenge); except I have not yet completed Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, which is long and rambling, even though it is interesting, and which I only have on my Kindle app on my phone, so I don’t tend to read it except when I’m waiting for something.  I will make it through, but not until 2018.

Here’s what I actually did manage to read in 2017, finishing More Than Human just about an hour ago:

More Than Human by Theodore SturgeonTimescape by Gregory BenfordWolves of the Calla by Stephen KingThe Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen KingNo Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition by Chris BatyWizard and Glass by Stephen KingThe Waste Lands by Stephen KingThe Reaping by Diane MorrisonThe Drawing of the Three by Stephen KingThe Gunslinger by Stephen KingGold by Isaac AsimovFluffy Bunny by Sarah BuhrmanWay of the Gun by Diane MorrisonShift by Hugh HoweyDragonwriter by Todd J. McCaffreyUbik by Philip K. DickFlowers for Algernon by Daniel KeyesThe Time Machine & The War of the Worlds by H.G. WellsThe War of the Worlds by H.G. WellsThe Time Machine by H.G. WellsThe Book of Skulls by Robert SilverbergSlow Apocalypse by John VarleygiANTS by Edward BryantA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le GuinHoneymoon by James PattersonBehold the Man by Michael MoorcockFlashing Swords! #4 by Lin CarterThe Vigil by Diane MorrisonFrancesco Augustine Bernadone by Stan FarynaStation Eleven by Emily St. John MandelChasing Fireflies by C.L. CannonThe Giver by Lois LowryPleasing The Professor by Janae KeyesA Scanner Darkly by Philip K. DickVice & Virtue by Diane MorrisonEmphyrio by Jack VanceRed Holocaust by James AxlerThe Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick RothfussShowdown by Diane MorrisonMirrors by Rebekah DodsonThe Martian by Andy WeirMiles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster BujoldThe Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Star Songs of An Old Primate by James Tiptree Jr.Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr.Bloody Sunday by William W. JohnstoneThe Shadow of Saganami by David WeberA Momentary Taste of Being by James Tiptree Jr.Too Wyrd by Sarah BuhrmanRocks from Space by O. Richard NortonThe Drowned World by J.G. Ballard

Some Stats:

  • SF Masterworks: 12 (The Drowned World, The Sirens of Titan, Emphyrio, A Scanner Darkly, Behold the Man, The Book of Skulls, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, Flowers for Algernon, Ubik, Timescape, More Than Human)
  • Indie Books: 5 (Too Wyrd, Mirrors: The Curse of Lanval, Pleasing the Professor, A Brief History of Our Tomorrows, Fluffy Bunny)
  • Non-SFF Fiction: 4 (Luke Jenson Bounty Hunter: Bloody Sunday, Pleasing the Professor, Chasing Fireflies: A Summer Romance Anthology, Honeymoon)
  • Non-Fiction: 4 (Rocks from Space, Dragonwriter, Gold, No Plot? No Problem)
  • Dark Tower Books: 6 (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole, The Wolves of the Calla)
  • Books I Wrote or Contributed To: 6 (Showdown, Vice & Virtue, Chasing Fireflies: A Summer Romance Anthology, The Vigil, Way of the Gun, The Reaping)

Favourites

  • Too Wyrd & Fluffy Bunny by Sarah Buhrman: awesome urban fantasy with a Norse mythological element!
  • Star Songs of an Old Primate by James Tiptree Jr.: just discovering her, and she’s a certified genius, just sayin’.
  • Dark Tower series: an old favourite
  • More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon: look for my review in the New Year.

I review every book I read here on my blog, so this was also 51 blog posts.  Looking forward to 2018, when I intend to keep the Worlds Without End challenges mostly to the ones I invent (except where they cross over with others specifically) and hopefully read some more stuff from other genres this year!

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I'm a Pagan and speculative fiction author, a professional blogger, and a musician. I'm proudly Canadian and proudly LGBTQ. My politics are decidedly left and if you ask for my opinion, expect an honest answer. I am owned by a cat. I recently lost my dog, who was my boon companion, and I'm taking the loss hard. I used to work part time at a bookstore and I love to read, especially about faith, philosophy, science, and sci-fi and fantasy.