Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This prompt is here to immerse you into science, be it science fiction or non-fiction. Any kind of science would work, not necessarily the 'futuristic techy' type.

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Suggestions:
GR Science Fiction Genre page
Best Science Fiction
Best Science-Fiction of the 21st Century
Best European Science Fiction
Top Science Fiction Novels for the Non Science Fiction Reader

GR Science Genre page
Best Science books (non fiction)
Modern Science Non Fiction
Best Books about Mathematics
Best General Science Books
History of Science Books
Sociology Books
Books about Forensics
Biology

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Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
- Why did you choose this book?
- Are you interested in science?

Trying to challenge myself with the sic-fi here, it's not my favorite genre. Thanks to Zaz for the recommendation! I'm very excited to read Ender's Game.

I also have The Sparrow on my shelf

For science my choices are Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, so I'm going to try and squeeze one of those in, depending on my reading pace. My brother enjoys her books very much, and I've been liking non-fiction lately, which is a deviation from my norm.

Putting priority on the sic-fi though, to try and branch out.

Sci fi is one of my favorite genres I think I'm going to read Stardoc or The Honor of the Queen

I'm planning on reading Borne for this entry. It caught my eye ages ago and ever since I've been looking forward to it.

For anyone looking for a really, really, incredibly good sci-fi book, I cannot recommend Ancillary Justice enough. Let me be clear; it is an absolutely amazingly well-written, interesting and unique science fiction novel, but it is not an easy read. The narrator perspective, without giving too much away, is complicated and not something easily grasped right away. The main character and a major culture within the book do not recognize gender and do not use gender-specific pronouns. This, added to the already complicated perspective makes for a tough, sometimes confusing read for the first third of the book. But I promise, the work you put into it is worth it. There will come a point where everything will "click" and suddenly the major element that caused confusion early on becomes pure genius on the author's part. So, if you're still with me and you're interested, it's totally worth reading, and I would absolutely love to have someone in the group to discuss the book with!!

Ancillary Justice is definitely on my list for next week! I love science and sci-fi so I have 59 options for this one, the choice will be tough!

Peter wrote: "I'm planning on reading Borne for this entry. It caught my eye ages ago and ever since I've been looking forward to it.

For anyone looking for a really, really, incredibly good sci..."

Thanks for the recommendation! I am putting it on my list!

I forgot I have Ancillary justice too

I am doing a 2018 Sci-Fi challenge (12 out of 16 books I have pre-selected). Whatever I don't use for other prompts, I will use here! I would like to find a home for all 12. I could really challenge myself and read a Science genre book. It's possible!

For a light SF read, I recommend the Binti series. Binti . There are 2 books plus 1 to be published in Jan 2018. They are very short, imaginative, Coming of Age type books. I enjoyed the first 2 and plan to read #3 as soon as the library has it.

I have lots of books on my TBR that fit this so it will be hard to choose. Right now I'm thinking I'll go with Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story.

I'm doing a sci-fi challenge next year, so this one should be easy to fill. I have a list of things that would work. Right now, I'm anxious to read Neuromancer, Snow Crash, or I, Robot.

I am really looking forward to reading Artemis by Andy Weir because I loved The Martian.

This one is way out of my comfort zone, and I may take the easy way out and read A Wrinkle in Time before the movie comes out... My other options are:

These Broken Stars
The Left Hand of Darkness
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story
Artemis

Some to consider

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
The Caves of Steel
Rendezvous with Rama
I, Robot
Red Mars

Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, so this one's going to be very fun for me. Some recommendations I have:

Annihilation
The Girl With All the Gifts
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ancillary Justice
Kindred

I rarely read sci-fi, but have The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Martian on my TBR lisr, so may try one of those.
If i go the science route, it will probably be Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, which I’ve owned since it came out, but I keep putting off.
So either way, this a good prompt for me to stretch a little.

Thinking about one of these for this prompt
Waking Gods
The Alien's Mail-Order Bride
After the End of the World

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Going real science, and putting an end to my procrastinating.

- What are you reading for this category? The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

- Why did you choose this book? My friend Greg suggested it as a buddy read in a different GR group. It sounded so interesting that I added it to my SF challenge and started reading it immediately!

- Are you interested in science? Yes, I am interested but I don't read much in the science field.

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

I don't read too much Sci-fi, but i'm about half way through this one, and if not this one I have a stack of others I just got that would work for this topic

I don't like Sci-Fi so I will go into light sort of science :)
I have already read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind which I recommend to everyone and it's perfect for that category. I will be reading a sequel to this book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow I hope it's as good as the first one!!

Goska - both of those books look fascinating!

Sience fiction book

Lizzy! It’s really cool, not a single page made me bored, what is unusual when it comes to science books ;) really well written! And it talks about different subjects too, like capitalism, feminism, animals exploitation. I share author’s views on this, so that probably helped as well ;)

For those of you think they don't like sci-fi these are a few books I love that are very light sci-fi that you might want to check out:

The Unseen World by Liz Moore
Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson
Snake Ropes by Jess Richards
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
When She Woke by Hilary Jordan
The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
The Bees by Laline Paull
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Sci-fi doesn't have to be space ships and aliens and blow-stuff-up. If you just add a wee bit of time travel or futurism or end-of-the-world or astronomy or whatever to a "normal" book....well, then it counts as sci-fi (imo).

Hope this helps someone!

I’d also include Kindred on that list. I don’t usually enjoy sci-fi or slavery books, this is both, but one of my top books of 2017. It’s a favourite in the group, which is the only reason I read it.

I read Sleeping Giants. I don't really get into a lot of science fiction books, even though I really liked them when I was younger. I want to go into medicine after undergrad so I'm interested in science, but for whatever reason books about science don't make up a lot of what I read.

I love science fiction! Between sci-fi and science, that's about half of the books I read each year. I'm reading Provenance, it is fantastic, I recommend it highly to anyone who likes: science fiction, or books that play with social rules and gender constructs, or books that are madcap adventures, or books that are about political maneuvering, or books that keep surprising you with plot changes, or books with a heist ...

What are you reading for this category?
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky

Why did you choose this book?
I watched Sapolsky give a lecture online somewhere and he was a great speaker. He has a great reputation in his field, too, so I thought the book would good.

Are you interested in science?
Yes, especially the biological sciences.

What are you reading for this category? Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Why did you choose this book? It got great reviews, plus it's about a female scientist's experiences and vocation. (Ironically, it follows on the heels of reading John Fowles' The Tree, a novella about the author's take on nature, chosen for Week 30's short book pick).

Are you interested in science? Yes, more than I've ever been. Perhaps it's because of the current odious US admin that seems largely composed of science deniers (amongst other atrocities).

I read Reboot by Amy Tintera for this category.

I chose it because it was one of the many books I ordered right after Christmas. I really liked it!

Generally speaking, I am interested in science and science fiction.

Catherine Fisher -

I read for the science fiction part. I was not sure where else to put this book and I did not have a planned book for this prompt.

What are you reading for this category?
The long walk by Richard Bachman

Why did you choose this book?
I haven't read Bachman in years and I'd never read this one...

What are you reading for this category?
Blackout

- Why did you choose this book?
I wanted to finish the series after the previous one left a huge cliffhanger. I picked it for this prompt because while it's a zombie book, it's approached scientifically from bio-engineered viruses getting out and combining into something new and horrifying. There was also a lot of information about how bodies handle the virus, how it mutates, spreads etc.


- Are you interested in science?

I'm not in a STEM field, I don't like the math that science is based on. But I do really love science fiction and reading about the general scientific discoveries being made.

- What are you reading for this category?
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—And the New Research That's Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini

- Why did you choose this book?
I choose this book because it was nominated in Goodreads Choice Awards.

- Are you interested in science?
I am interested in science, but not interested science fiction books.

I had to read a sci-fi book with a female protagonist by a female author. Kindred appealed and I'm counting it here as well.

I read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I loved this book, and look forward to the next one in the series. I don't think the movie did it justice, but I enjoyed it anyway. If you saw the movie, and didn't get it or like it, you would still enjoy this book!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I recently finished a sci-fi book that might be completely perfect for those who aren't crazy about sci-fi - The Mad Scientist's Daughter.

It's set in the future after an almost-apocolypse, an android is one of the primary characters, and technology is a wee bit more advanced than ours. Overall though, it is about Cat, from age 5 through adulthood, and just all of life's little decisions and dramas.

It's well-written, engaging, and thought-provoking. I rated it 5 Stars and would recommend it without reservation.

ETA: Ignore the genre labels for this book - it is not YA and it is not romance (although it is a love story).

If you don't want a fiction book at all, maybe try a real science book.

I read quite a bit of sci-fi/fantasy, so I found a great science book, Soonish, by Wiederstien.

The subtitle is Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, the book looks at current (2018) tech that has the potential to kill everyone or save humanity.

The authors are a husband-wife team, he is a webcomic writer and draws single-frame comics throughout the book, she is a research scientist who knows what she's talking about. Humor throughout the book, but deeply researched and well organized and presented.

dalex wrote: "I recently finished a sci-fi book that might be completely perfect for those who aren't crazy about sci-fi - The Mad Scientist's Daughter.

This one sounds intriguing, on the TBR pile it goes!

What are you reading for this category?
The Sparrow


I did not plan this prompt at the beginning of the year because quite a few of the books I read are science and science fiction based. I wanted to use it for a book that did not fit the other prompts.

I really did not expect to fill this prompt so early in the year, but I really wanted to add this book to one of my lists. It is a thought provoking book that is more about society then science or science fiction. It is about how to meet new societies that may or may not be as advanced as your own.

I recommend it for those who are not interested in the regular science fic genre. I would class it more as literary sci fi.

Anastasia wrote: "What are you reading for this category?
The Sparrow


I did not plan this prompt at the beginning of the year because quite a few of the books I read are..."

I agree w classifying this book as literary SF. It’s my favorite read of the year so far! I’m going to have to read the sequel, although the book is a stand-alone novel.

@Pam - It has a sequel? That is great. I have been putting off reading the last few chapters because I am worried about what happens next though.

What are you reading for this category?
Crosstalk

Why did you choose this book?
Both my mom and I have been dying to read this for over a year now, but had trouble finding a copy. We finally got a copy from the library. She read it first, and I'm currently about halfway through.

Are you interested in science?
Yes, but mostly biology and anything to do with animals. Also psychology, which can be considered a science.

- What are you reading for this category?
I read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer.
- Why did you choose this book?
I chose the book in anticipation of the Netflix distributed film, though I didn't manage to resist the pressure to see the film first (people kept asking me about it).
- Are you interested in science? Sure, though that had little effect on this. I do love sf though, which isn't the same.

I have at least 20 books on my TBR list that would fit for this category, but I'm going with The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars

Why? I want to know more about women scientists that had a big impact on the science world that not many have ever heard of.

Science? I love science of all types and topics and that's my educational background. I really enjoy (some) sci fi as well, but figured I should knock out one of the many science non-fiction I've tagged to read over the years.

Pam wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "What are you reading for this category?
The Sparrow


I did not plan this prompt at the beginning of the year because quite a few of th..."

The Sparrow is in my top 10 books of all time. I absolutely loved it! It was such an interesting mix of psychology, sociology, religion and science. The sequel is quite different in tone and structure, but still good.

The Darwin Variant
By:Kenneth C. Johnson
It's a Science fiction book
It depends on the type of science book it is.

I can't decide whether to use The Amber Spyglass for this prompt. I figure if A wrinkle in time can fit here then I should be able to put in The Amber Spyglass.

The funny thing is I read plenty of other sci-fi but I'm using them in other categories.

What do you all think?

- What are you reading for this category? Speaker for the Dead
by Orson Scott Card
- Why did you choose this book? I had picked the series up at Goodwill a long time ago and had already read Enders Games
- Are you interested in science? Not at all.