A Novel Experiment #1: Monthly TBR

A Novel Experiment is a new feature of mine where I try some experimental reading over the space of a month or so, and then report back at the end of the month. What is experimental reading, you may ask? My goal is to try different ways of reading, such as reading only ebooks, only one genre, only non-fiction etc, for a month, and then see whether it affects how much and how eagerly I read. Obviously this is not going to be something I repeat every month, but rather every couple of months or so.

For the month of May, I’ve decided to try sticking to a monthly TBR list, meaning I can only read pre-selected books. It’s a good way to get through review copies and new releases, and I was inspired by Amber when she started posting them. It will be interesting, especially since I’m quite a big mood reader.

So what are my selections for May?

That should be enough for now! I’ve chosen these particular books for a reason. They are a mix of Books of the Month for Dragons & Jetpacks as well as a Buddy Read, some books from my top ten brand new books on my shelf, some to fit the DC vs. Marvel Challenge and one more because I can’t wait to read it!

I’ll report back with my progress at the beginning of June! 🙂 Have you ever set up a monthly TBR?

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2016 – The Year Of Re-Reads & Readalongs?

All through 2015, I seemed to tell myself I would soon re-read certain books and series, but I never got round to re-reading any of them. So I’m determined to make 2016 the year that I re-read these series – and why not host some readalongs/discussions so that others can join in on reading these with me?

These are the series I hope to re-read next year:

• The Divergent series by Veronica Roth (Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant) – this will be a re-read of the first two books, and a first time read of the last one.
• The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows – this will be a re-read of the first three books, before I finally read the long awaited Queen of Shadows for the first time.
• The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien (technically one book, but the three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King) – this is my favourite book of all time, and I’ve read all three volumes every year since I was 10, with the exception of the past two years. So I need to get this re-read in soon!
• The A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons) – pretty sure I’ve been meaning to re-read the whole series since season 2 of the TV show aired.

I’d love to know if any of my readers would be interested in joining in with readalongs or discussions of these books, whether you’d be reading them for the first time, or re-reading. Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Would you be interested in joining any of these re-reads/readalongs? Are there any books that you really want to re-read?

Sci-Fi Month 2015: It’s The End of the World As We Know It

This post is part of Sci-Fi Month 2015, a month long event to celebrate science fiction hosted by myself and Over the Effing Rainbow. You can view the schedule here, follow the event on Twitter via the official @SciFiMonth Twitter account, or the hashtag #RRSciFiMonth.

A common trope of science fiction is to show the Earth greatly transformed, or even completely destroyed, in some way. Our poor planet has been used and abused throughout the history of the genre. Here’s a brief guide to the (post-)apocalypse, or dystopian future, covering books, TV, films and video games.

Aliens

In these titles, Earth is either destroyed or invaded by aliens. In the latter, it is altered to a state where it is unrecognisable: either through the collapse of society and government, or destruction of large portions of the planet. Sometimes the extra-terrestrials are aggressive, sometimes they are just inquisitive, and other times we’re not even aware of them until it is too late.

Mass Effect, The 5th Wave, Defiance, The War of the Worlds (plus the 2005 film version), Independence Day, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos.

Illness/Disease

These titles show an Earth ravaged by illness, disease or plague, including technological viruses and biological warfare. In many of them, the illness transforms humankind into something else, often zombie or vampire-like creatures.

The Passage, Blindness, Oryx and Crake, Partials, Parasite, I Am Legend, The Stand, Children of Men, The Strain.

Humankind

Science fiction frequently shows how humankind causes its own downfall, often through war or revolt. This is a particularly popular theme in current Young Adult dystopian fiction, although it’s not exactly a new trend in the genre. This is one of the more frightening sides of sci-fi: how we become our very own worst enemies. Occasionally, it shows a glimpse into an alternate future or past.

The Hunger Games, Divergent, The 100, The Years of Rice and Salt, Unwind, The Man in the High Castle, How I Live Now, A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Natural Disaster

This could also technically come under ‘Humankind’, because most of the time the natural disasters are caused by people, namely through global warming and climate change. This category includes these as well as other things such as asteroids/meteors, tsunamis, earthquakes etc.

2012, The Day After Tomorrow, The Maze Runner, Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Drowned World.

Brainwashing/Government

Another terrifying thing about science fiction is how government is often portrayed. Often it is shown as being a totalitarian or ‘Big Brother’ society, a term coined from George Orwell’s 1984. Citizens often have very little freedom, or even free will, having been brainwashed into behaving in certain ways.

1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Atlas Shrugged, V for Vendetta.

Machines/Artificial Intelligence

Okay, maybe there’s a lot of scary things about science fiction – another one being the very thought of the Earth being overrun or overtaken by machines or artificial intelligence. Many a sci-fi tale tells of the invention of some fantastic new technology, only for it to become sentient and rise up against mankind.

I, Robot, Robopocalypse, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Love In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Prey, Neuromancer.

Can you think of any other titles that would fit in these categories, or any categories that I have missed?

Weekly Roundup #3

This is where I share the books I have received in the past week, whether bought, gifted, borrowed etc.

• Doctor Who: The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole – I love Doctor Who, and I spotted this in the library today, so I thought I’d give it a go. This is a Ten/Rose novel.
• Doctor Who: The Many Hands by Dale Smith – Same as above, but this one is Ten/Martha.
• Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth – I own Divergent, and really quite enjoyed it – I’m sure you’ve heard the hype! I wanted to buy Insurgent, but since I can’t find it second hand locally and I don’t want to buy it brand new as I’m trying to save money, I ordered it from the library and picked it up today.
• The Gathering Dark (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo – I just spotted this in the library today, and the cover made me pick it up. They’ve obviously just gotten it in, and it was only published a few months ago.
• Company of Liars by Karen Maitland – I found this in the local charity shop for 50p, brand new. I have Maitland’s other book, The Owl Killers (which I still haven’t read…), but the covers combined with the setting made me snap them up. I’m really in the mood for some historical fiction at the moment so I think I’ll be reading this one soon!
• Burning Embers by Hannah Fielding – Hannah held a competition on her website to win her book and an Amazon giftcard, and I was one of the lucky winners! Thank you, Hannah!
• Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) by Rick Riordan – I’ve already read all the Percy Jackson books and I really enjoyed them, because I love Greek mythology. I borrowed them all off of a friend, so I’ve been trying to build up my own collection. So far I have half of them, all from charity shops. This one cost 40p for the hardback.

That’s all for this week, no e-books as I’m trying to get through my to review list – although it didn’t stop me from buying/borrowing physical copies! Whoops…