Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

We've occasionally done these threads for previous years but I think we skipped 2022.

As we wrap up the current year and look ahead to the next, I'm wondering if group members are setting any intentions or plans for what next year's reading will look like for you. We already know the group is going to tackle Scalzi's Old Man's War series.

Share your goals with us and we can collectively chart your progress and congratulate you on reaching them over the course of 2023. :)

I've been hyper focused on reading new releases the last two years, but I'm starting to get burnt out on that. So I'm thinking I'll try to make back log books more of a priority in the coming year. Right now I'm thinking I'll aim to make 25-50% of my reading not new releases. We'll see how it goes, but I'm interested in joining on Old Man's War.

Old Man's War series is in my plans for 2023. The rest remains to be determined. I have a number of books I have started over the last couple of years and have sat unfinished for no particular reason, so I want to finish those as some are past group reads.

The last two years I was in no mood for planned reading or much talking about books due to my personal situation. My reading decisions were more or less from one minute to the next. The situation will be laid to rest in January and then I hope I can get back to joining group efforts in the various groups I'm a member of.

We'll be really happy to have you back Gabi!!

My plans and goals I guess stay roughly the same:
1. read all monthly reads (unless I've read them and remember well enough to discuss but feel no need to re-read)
2. read 170 books (I usually for the last two years read slightly more but it is too close to my limit and I don't want to force myself just to read more)
3. read at least 30 non-fic
4. read all nominees for Polish SFF fan award Zajdel (5-6 novels)
5. read more Ukrainian books, I chronically fall short there - a smaller market and piracy means few audiobooks I'm interested in and I guess audio now is between 70-80% of my 'reads'. I'd say at least 12 preferably 24

It looks like I will finish 2022 with around 140 books read, which is about 10% less than last year. Of these about half were science fiction or fantasy. I imagine the proportion will remain about the same. I read more older books than new ones, partly because a major goal is to read some of the books I bought over the years but never read, of which I have far too many. Another goal is to catch up on some of the science fiction and fantasy published between the the mid-1980s and about 2010, when I didn’t read much in the genre. I do try to keep up with some of the new stuff as well, but that seems to be a secondary goal and I tend to miss quite a bit. Another factor is that I tend to be most interested in books published between the early 1960s and late ‘70s, for me a genre golden age.

In the coming year I expect to participate in the Old Man’s War read and continue to read many of this group’s monthly selections. I also plan to start and hopefully read quite a bit of Tolkien’s History of Middle Earth, which I bought myself last year. I’ll also keep reading the Kim Stanley Robinson books I haven’t read — first up is likely to be his first story collection, The Planet on the Table. I’ve read several of the stories but I’ll certainly enjoy rereading them.

I could swear we had a 2022 thread but oh well.

First, a wrap of 2022. December has been slow; usually I have lots of time to read and focus on shorter novels, but not so this year. I'll be lucky to finish 9 books, compared to 22 last December. That puts me at 122 books and 37,126 pages this year, down about 7% from 2021 at 141 books. I'll also fall short of my H/N list goal of 10% (61), with 46. Last year was 63, putting me right at half the list, so I'll be at 57.5% after this year. My aggressive goals for WWE challenges also fell short but I think it all just shows I ranged far and wide this year. My audio reads were 56% of the total, the highest I've ever had.

In 2023 I want to hit that ever-elusive 40K pages, which is 134 books of an average 300 pages. To do that, I'll have to maintain a high audio %, and it gets tougher and tougher to find H/N reads on audio, at least for free. My daughter is buying me a Kindle for Xmas, so maybe that will help.

I definitely will participate in Old Man's War. I want to finish/re-read Mars and Oxford Time Travel for sure. I also have the major goal of reading Stand on Zanzibar, which is the highest ranked unread book on my composite top 100 SF. I also have a ton of non-fiction lined up, so I want to knock out some of that & get back to a 10% number on H/N reads. Lastly, knock off the 4 group reads I haven't read.

Just joined the group and am super excited. In 2023 I am planning to get into hard SF. In 2022 I did 30k pages and now planning to go towards 40k this year. I am more of an audiobook as I read/listened to 90% of books in 2022 as audio (I do buy the ones I loved on Kindle for highlighting though).

Looking forward.

Welcome, Vishwesh!

Welcome, Vishwesh! Sounds like you fit right in & hopefully we’ll see you in the various discussion threads!

I listed lots of my expected reading for 2023 over here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... --last entry on the page #1950.

I of course also hope to stay with the monthlies and challenges here and in SFF hot off the presses

I think this is going to be the first year I've been on Goodreads that I won't be reaching my Reading Goal: I had a goal of 75 books, but I probably won't even reach 70. And that's okay. I made a decision this year to only read books I really was interested in, so I DNF'd a lot of books and spend less time reading than in the pandemic years. That also means I've been reading the Monthly Reads quite bit less than in previous years.

Also, I listened a lot more podcasts and a lot less audiobooks on my commute, so that also had an effect.

This is most likely also going to be the first year my TBR-pile on Goodreads shrunk: I had 168 books on my "to-read" shelf on 31.12.2021, and now the shelf is 167 books. If I can make it to the end of the month without adding a book, I've made it!

My reading goals on 2023 will be:

1) Read at least 60 70 books

2) Every month, read at least one Monthly Read from H&N, Hot off the Printers or SFF in Translation groups.

3) Read at least 6 books I already own (either from my physical shelf or Kobo)

4) Re-read at least three books. I'm bad at re-reading, and I've started to regret that. Many books would benefit from a second reading, but I've been too obsessed with finding new (well, new to me) books to read. Three books is not a lot, but you got to start somewhere.

My TBR pile definitely did NOT shrink this year. In fact I added about 300 new books to it (I went a bit crazy this year). So I'm going to be focusing on clearing that rather than bringing any new books in, whenever possible.

For the H&N group here, I've managed to collect 45ish books we have yet to read together, and about 25 that have already been read, but not by me. I'm going to be exclusively nominating from the first group, and if we don't pick one I already have, I'm going to do some extensive catch-up reading from the second group. Whatever wins, I'm hoping to read 24 books next year for the group, and will try for the challenges on top of that.

I'm also aiming to read every BOTM for SF in Translation (so: 12), and I'll participate here and there for SF Hot off the Printers but with no set goals.

I'm doing a challenge elsewhere that is reading one. book from my TBR for each year of the 21st century -- 24 in total.

2022 was full on SFF for me, and I barely read any nonfiction. I'd like to change that so I'm going to try for 1 nonfic book per month - 12 in total.

I'm hoping I'll have read enough 2022 SFF books that I won't be stuck trying to catch up when Hugo/Aurora voting time arrives, but I will be aiming to read the slates unless they are as uninteresting as they were for 2022.

24 + 24 + 12 + 12 = 72 as a firm target, plus whatever else arises. If this year is any indication, that's overly ambitious for me so I don't expect to get there. But I'll be pushing to hit 2000 pages a month, which would make 2023 the biggest year for reading in my life, by page count.

One other goal, prompted by Kalin adding to his TBR pile: read & move out at least 50 paper books. I anticipate the big Half Price Books clearance sale starting up again this October, after a 3-year hiatus. Wife and I usually buy 100-ish books there, so gotta clear some out to make room!

Allan wrote: "December has been slow..... I'll be lucky to finish 9 books, compared to 22 last December. That puts me at 122 books and 37,126 pages this year, down about 7% from 2021 at 141 books. I'll also fall short of my H/N list goal of 10% (61), with 46. ..."

I said that on the 22nd, then basically just failed the last 10 days of the month. The only book I finished was My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and that was New Year's Eve. I only got 5 books finished in December for 1,328 pages, the worst I've had in the 5 years I've been tracking. For the year, instead of 122/37K, it's 118/35K. Oh well, there was lots going on & I was very distracted. But on a good note, the 4 books I've already started will carry over to 2023.

Kalin wrote: "We'll be really happy to have you back Gabi!!"

Agreed!!

I'm usually pretty lackadaisical with my reading goals, but I would like to more actively manage my reading this year, so here it goes:

1. Read at least 10 monthly reads in the H/N awards and Hot Off the Presses groups (so that's one a month with two months of catchup)

2. Read 6 monthly reads from the SFF in Translation

3. Finish or make progress on a few key series (Jade War, The Shadow Rising, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, The Bone Shard War, The Last Hero, Seven Surrenders, Children of Ruin, Vorkosigan (or decide to dnf them)

4. Read more from my favorite authors: Naomi Novik, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Louis McMaster Bujold.

5. Read one of Sanderson's chunky series (I've only read Mistborn and would like to get through another in 2023)

Because I started on GRs in 2021, my TBR pile is consistently growing simply because I've been building it up. I am tempted to set myself a goal of keeping it under 200 books but that's just a nice round number that I'm kina close to. Heck, I'll try it, let's see!

I failed pretty hard on my goals last year... I just haven't got anything that stuck my interest lately, so I read more comics and less prose. I get a fair amount of stuff at various book sales towards the end of 2022.. so hopefully that'll help

That said, I was making some good progress on my to read shelf that is now exploded again, so that's the main goal ;)

After a couple years of knocking down my pile of books I have purchased and not read, last year I added to it quite a bit with a couple trips to used book stores and library sales, so I'll probably do more of those than things on my to read list, but I also really felt the need to find a series to get into, which 'Tales of the Terran Republic' is doing for me quite nicely.

Quarterly Check-In:

40K page: I was on track to do 10K through March, but I got totally derailed by my vacation, where I read hardly anything. So I'm about 1700 pages off track.

Maintain a high audio %: Currently at 62%, so all is good here.

Old Man's War: On track, in the middle of Zoe's Tale.

Mars Trilogy: No progress

Blackout/All Clear: Was hoping for long book August but it's not to be, so I'll have to fit it in.

Stand on Zanzibar: No progress

Non-fiction: 4 down in January, but none since

Read 10% of H/N list (62 books): Slow progress, only 3 so far. Not going to make 62.

Group reads: No progress; still have 4 old ones, plus Up The Line from this year.

Thanks for reminding about this thread!

I read so little in February and March: I managed to finish only one book in March! One! I'm at a loss to explain what happened there. Therefore, my progress hasn't been great.

I had four goals for the year:
"1) Read at least 70 books"
Very much not on track, I had read only ten books by the end of March. That would mean I would only finish 40 books this year, if I continue with the same rate.

"2) Every month, read at least one Monthly Read from H&N, Hot off the Printers or SFF in Translation groups."
Surprisingly enough I haven't dropped the ball with this one: even the single book I read in March was one of our MR's (Downbelow Station)

"3) Read at least 6 books I already own (either from my physical shelf or Kobo)"
Well, I managed to read one book I already had in my shelf, and even that was a gift I received in late 2022. I'm still counting it, even though I originally meant books that had been on my shelf gathering dust for some time.

"4) Re-read at least three books. "
Nope, I didn't re-read any books in the first quarter, but I still have time, don't I?

Oleksandr wrote: "My plans and goals I guess stay roughly the same:"

1. read all monthly reads (unless I've read them and remember well enough to discuss but feel no need to re-read)

so far in line

2. read 170 books (I usually for the last two years read slightly more but it is too close to my limit and I don't want to force myself just to read more)

20 above plan so far

3. read at least 30 non-fic

6 so far, finishing 3 more


4. read all nominees for Polish SFF fan award Zajdel (5-6 novels)

Yet to be named (in May-June), read 1 previous winner, good one

5. read more Ukrainian books, I chronically fall short there - a smaller market and piracy means few audiobooks I'm interested in and I guess audio now is between 70-80% of my 'reads'. I'd say at least 12 preferably 24

so far quite strong, 16 already, mostly classics, mostly audiobooks, which enthusiasts made and share for free

Oleksandr wrote: "Oleksandr wrote: mostly audiobooks, which enthusiasts made and share for free.."

I was going to ask you - since so much of your reading is audio, where do you find books, especially those in a more focused genre like the books we read here? I have a very good local library; in paper, they are really good, but they lag somewhat in newer books and have fewer obscure titles. Do you wind up buying a lot of titles? I don't buy directly but I pay for Audible and Kindle Unlimited (which is more limited than unlimited).

My goals discussed above were mainly pretty vague, but I’m doing ok, chugging along in my usual fashion. I’ve done a monthly read in this and the “Hot from the Presses” group most months, read The Last Colony for the Old Man’s War challenge and will read Zoe's Tale when the library provides it, and I’ve started The Book of Lost Tales, Part One. No KSR to date. I’ve finished 43 books so far in 2023.

Allan wrote: "I was going to ask you - since so much of your reading is audio, where do you find books, especially those in a more focused genre like the books we read here? "

I first go thru my several libraries [as I noted before, I agreed with a bunch of my friends in the US/Canada so they share with me their lib credentials], then if no luck, I admit I start searches and often find links to pirated versions [yes, it is wrong but my salary doesn't allow me to go and buy at US prices, and any excess funds I donate to projects in Ukraine] and if nothing still (less than 5% of cases) then go buy. In the case of audible there is a market for credits and you may [at least previously] return books to get credits back

24 H/N listers: ahead of schedule - I've read 8 so far, 2 for each month plus 2 that were nominated for the Nebulas this year (Babel and Spear). I'm behind on the Old Man's War series but plan to read at least up to Zoe's Tale, when time presents itself.

Every BOTM for SF in Translation: I missed February's, so I'm at 3 of 4 right now. Aiming to catch up in May.

21st century challenge: 8 of 24 read

12 nonfiction books: On tack with 4 read, almost done the 5th for May.

Aiming for 2000 pages a month:
January: 1983
February: 2474
March: 2874 (a personal record)

In all, so far so good, but reading time is likely going to disappear later this year because I'm expecting a new baby (yay!), so I don't think this will all happen.

Oleksandr wrote: "Allan wrote: " In the case of audible there is a market for credits and you may [at least previously] return books to get credits back "..."

Now it seems like the credit limit for Audible has gone up, instead of crediting back. I was doing the same thing with a couple libraries, but some have tightened it down to where you eventually have to show up in person. But you are certainly under difficult, unique circumstances, and I find no fault. I've found that many of the very obscure or older H/N books are not available online or in audio. Sometimes you can find a used book at an online store, but the prices of "vintage" SF books can be ridiculous. I check Open Library as the next-to-last resort, and finally, in a few cases I've resorted to online pdf sites. Of course I try to avoid that but I do everything I can to not buy outside of Audible.

Stephen wrote: "I’ve finished 43 books so far in 2023..."

Your speed rivals Acorn's! I'd be interested in hearing about your reading methods, how you get those counts. I peaked at 141 in 2021 and have struggled to get back to that level, 117 last year.

Allan wrote: "Stephen wrote: "I’ve finished 43 books so far in 2023..."

Your speed rivals Acorn's! I'd be interested in hearing about your reading methods, how you get those counts. I peaked at 141 in 2021 and ..."

I guess I just read a lot, and I’m a fairly fast reader. I am retired and reading is one of my favourite activities. These are all prose books read by eye. Some are fairly light popular fiction, others longer and/or more difficult.

I more or less achieved my vague goals for the year. Looks like I’ll end up with 140 books read, 3 fewer than last year. 80 in the sff genre. I made some impact on the TBR shelves, but also continued to populate them. I didn’t get very far with the big Tolkien work, but I’ll pick it up again I’m sure. I read the Old Man’s War series and a number of this group’s monthly reads. I read The Planet on the Table and A Short Sharp Shock by KSR.

Ihad four goals for the year, and I only reached half of them:
"1) Read at least 70 books"
Nope, not even close. I didn't even manage 50 books this year, the final result is 48.

"2) Every month, read at least one Monthly Read from H&N, Hot off the Printers or SFF in Translation groups."
Hah, no. I missed five or six months, depending how you count it.

"3) Read at least 6 books I already own (either from my physical shelf or Kobo)"
I read seven books from my shelf, so this was a win.

"4) Re-read at least three books. "
I outdid myself here: instead of three, I re-read eight books.


All in all, this was a slow reading year for me, and I basically dropped out from Goodreads for a half year. I didn't read too many five-star books, either, so what I lost in quantity, I didn't make up in quality. Oh well; better luck next year!

Oh, let's check what I have accomplished:
1. read all monthly reads (unless I've read them and remember well enough to discuss but feel no need to re-read)
done for Hot from Printers and this one, missed a few on SF in Translation

2. read 170 books (I usually for the last two years read slightly more but it is too close to my limit and I don't want to force myself just to read more)
Goodreads records 187 and actually there are a few more I have to review

3. read at least 30 non-fic
done, 28 formally on a list for several are waiting for their reviews

4. read all nominees for Polish SFF fan award Zajdel (5-6 novels)
Yes and no - there were more nominees this year (8 were nominated and 2 of them not the first/only volume), so I read all but one, which was the 4th volume - there I've read the first two and disliked them to continue

5. read more Ukrainian books, I chronically fall short there - a smaller market and piracy means few audiobooks I'm interested in and I guess audio now is between 70-80% of my 'reads'. I'd say at least 12 preferably 24
here I read 49, including non-fic and translations, hurray!

December didn't turn out as well as I planned, too much other stuff going on around Christmas to gain much ground.

Read 40K pages: I was on track to do 10K through March, but vacations & moving children all over the country totally derailed me from March to September. I'll wind up just over 30K, nowhere near the goal, down from 35K last year & my lowest total since 2018.

Maintain a high audio %: Finished at 69%, so I met the goal. However, it's artificially high because my reading of paper books was a disaster.

Old Man's War: Completed, including the novellas & short stories. Very glad I re-read & finished.

Mars Trilogy: Fail. Didn't read any of it, but I finally found a paper copy of Blue Mars.

Blackout/All Clear: Fail. Didn't even come close to it.

Stand on Zanzibar: Fail. I planned it for December, but I was too ambitious & other books got in the way. Will do a catch-up.

Non-fiction: Success! Surprisingly, I read 17, 6 of them auto/biographies.

Read 10% of H/N list (62 books): Fail, and not even close at 19, or 3%, 7 of them nominees from 2022-2023. Obviously, my focus was elsewhere.

Group reads: Only 7 of the 22 monthly reads were new to me. I read 6 of those, with the last, Cryptonomicon, over 60%, to be finished in January, plus 3 re-reads. I was not able to complete the 4 old ones. On a bright note, I read 11 of the reads assigned in the New Releases group and kept up with the Evolution group as well.

All in all, not a great year for me, but I'm okay with it. As I tell my wife, it's not a contest, I just strive to read as much as I can. I hope that 2024 will be a little more stable & I can get back to a better routine.