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Have You Found any Literary Gems in this Challenge?
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2013-04-23 12:21 PM (#4971)
Subject: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Middle TN, USA		I recently finished reading Pat Murphy's, "The City, Not Long After", and found it to be one of the best books I have read in a long time, if not ever read. If I had not signed up for this challenge, I never would have read this gem of a book (Review will be posted soon), because I had never heard of Pat Murphy. Who else out there has read a book in this challenge that they have enjoyed, but would not have read if it was not for this challenge?
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Rhondak101
Posted 2013-04-24 6:13 AM (#4973 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: SC, USA		Badseedgirl, For me, this is a tough question. I think Night Circus is a gem, but it had been on my TBR pile for a long time. I did not discover it through the WoGF. Now I did discover Leigh Brackett through the WoGF. I' m glad I read something by her (and will probably read more), but I was not blown away by her book. But don't we all read in hopes of that discovery!
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Tim_Eagon
Posted 2013-04-24 8:18 AM (#4974 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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I haven't read any books as part of the WoGF chaellenge per se, but all the updates to the database have allowed me to add a lot of interesting books to my wishlist!
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2013-04-24 11:18 AM (#4976 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Not so far. I liked "Bitter Angels" but found "The Highest Frontier" and "The Testament of Jessie Lamb" disappointing although the latter was very well written. I'm currently on "The Speed of Dark" but haven't really got into it yet.
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carlajpatterson
Posted 2013-04-28 12:12 AM (#4996 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Richmond, California		I had never heard of most of the authors I'm reading for this challenge because I had to leave all of my favorite (and overall pretty famous) women authors off the list since I'd read them before. The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern) was a huge surprise since I'd never heard of it or its author - that's been my favorite so far. Another pleasant surprise was The Scorpio Races (Maggie Liefsvater). It's a young adult title but it's really beautifully written and for that reason I enjoyed it. I never would have read either of those without this challenge. Also, although I didn't love it, The Alchemy of Stone (Ekaterina Sedia) was well-written and I will try something of hers again.
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francesashton
Posted 2013-05-18 11:40 AM (#5066 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Cheshire, England		I've found steampunk by randomly choosing some authors, though I have been disappointed with the books I've chosen so far. Still, I'm only on number 4, so there's hope yet!
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2013-05-18 5:20 PM (#5068 - in reply to #5066)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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francesashton - 2013-05-18 11:40 AM

I've found steampunk by randomly choosing some authors, though I have been disappointed with the books I've chosen so far. Still, I'm only on number 4, so there's hope yet!


Frances - I saw you had Cherie Priest on your list. I enjoyed her series very much, and it has ZOMBIES. I don't think I saw Gail Carriger on your list; her novel "Soulless" is a light-hearted romp through Victorian England, and has Werewolves, and vampires (but is infinity better than that twaddle known as "Twilight". I adore Steampunk and have read all the novels in both of these series. You might also try a YA series by Scott Westerfeld staring with "Leviathan", although that is not a WOGF novel. "The Alchemy of Stone" by Ekaterina Sedia is another WOGF steampunk novel you might try. Oh Yeah, if you have not read "Steampunk" edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, you should try that. It is a collection of short stories all about , you guessed it! And now that I have vomited all this info over this forum page. I say good luck!
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francesashton
Posted 2013-05-19 3:16 AM (#5069 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Cheshire, England		Thanks there Badseedgirl. I shall have a look at some of those :-)
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carlajpatterson
Posted 2013-05-21 7:46 PM (#5091 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Richmond, California		I absolutely adore Speed of Dark. Hope it ends up being a favorite once you get into it further JS.
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francesashton
Posted 2013-05-25 12:31 PM (#5115 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Cheshire, England		I've got a bit side-tracked. I'm currently reading two WoGF books: Storm Constantine's "Stalking Tender Prey" and Cherie Priest's "Dreadnought" but I'm not convinced I'll finish the Storm book in time (yes I think that it'll take me to end of the year to finish that one at a couple of pages a time!). Cherie's book is going much better. My trouble is that my favourite authors are all now bringing new books out so I'm stopping to read them rather than working on new authors. So I've just finished "The Rithmatist" by Brandon Sanderson (yes, I know it' s a children's book) and then there's Peter V. Brett's "Daylight War" and the next Kate Elliott is out shortly, not to mention all the books I pick up at the charity shops. Good job it's only May :-)
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HRO
Posted 2013-06-16 10:39 AM (#5282 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Neither here...nor there		Both "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke and "Beauty" by Sheri S. Tepper were 5 Star reads for me. I didn't discovering them because of this challenge, but I was motivated to finally blow the dust from them and read them.
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Linguana
Posted 2013-06-17 1:41 AM (#5284 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Austria		My gems were "The Drowning Girl" by Caitln R. Kiernan, "Midnight Robber" by Nalo Hopkinson" and Margo Lanagan's "Tender Morsels" - I didn't expect too much from any of them and they all blew me away. Nalo Hopkinson in particular, because of what she does with language. I finished her book weeks ago and it seems to be one of those that only grow in esteem after you've put them down. I'm already itching to read more by her.
That's the danger of this challenge: You discover a new writer and immediately want to read their entire back catalogue. But that keeps you from continuing the challenge. My TBR has grown so much, it's ridiculous.

"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" is a brilliant (and huge!) book. Can't wait for the miniseries to come out - or for Susanna Clarke to finally write another book.

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mjmahoney
Posted 2013-07-27 10:12 AM (#5456 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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I really enjoyed Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre, which I discovered by clicking its cool book cover (yay snakes!) on someone else's WOGF reading list. Interesting post-apocalyptic world and I liked the main character a lot as well as the role of the snakes since it was grounded in actual snake biology but extended in a fascinating way.
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carlajpatterson
Posted 2013-07-27 5:04 PM (#5457 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Richmond, California		I ended up enjoying Outlander by Diana Gabaldon much more than I thought I would. It's a romantic fantasy/alternate history book (the first in a series). Not enjoying the second in the series (Dragonfly in Amber) anywhere near as much though.
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HRO
Posted 2013-07-27 8:48 PM (#5458 - in reply to #5457)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Neither here...nor there		Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge blew my mind. A million kinds of fabulous. If you like sci-fi books that have more character development and psychological intrigue than techy-geeky stuff, I can't recommend this book highly enough. (Incidentally, it was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2002 alongside big names like Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, and Ursula LeGuin. Gaiman won that year for American Gods.)
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Emil
Posted 2013-07-28 2:26 AM (#5459 - in reply to #5458)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia		I also adore Speed of Dark, was really disappointed in The Highest Frontier, and absolutely smitten with Among Others, The Love We Share Without Knowing, The Drowning Girl, The Road, Blindness, Cloud Atlas, American Gods, Kafka on the Shore and The Master and Margarita.

And of course, anything by Gene Wolfe, Lauren Beukes, Ursula Le Guin and China Mielville

Oh, and for steampunk, do try out Andrew P Mayer's Society of Steam trilogy. I found it immensely enjoyable.
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Linguana
Posted 2013-07-28 3:56 AM (#5460 - in reply to #5457)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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carlajpatterson - 2013-07-27 11:04 PM

I ended up enjoying Outlander by Diana Gabaldon much more than I thought I would. It's a romantic fantasy/alternate history book (the first in a series). Not enjoying the second in the series (Dragonfly in Amber) anywhere near as much though.


I had the exact same experience. I read Outlander when I was 18 and never made it through the second book despite several attempts. Now I've pretty much giving up on ever reading that series. But Outlander still has a special place in my heart.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2013-07-28 9:56 AM (#5461 - in reply to #5456)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Middle TN, USA		I'm looking forward to reading Dreamsnake. I actually thought I had already ready it before, but it turns out I had read the short story the novel was based on as a teen. Because of that, I will not be able to read it for WoGF, but I still want to read it, It has to be good if I can remember the short story for 20+ years.
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carlajpatterson
Posted 2013-08-01 12:11 AM (#5469 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Fond any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Richmond, California		Linguana - Weird how that happens sometimes, isn't it?

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Administrator
Posted 2013-08-01 6:15 PM (#5474 - in reply to #5456)
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mjmahoney - 2013-07-27 10:12 AM I really enjoyed Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre, which I discovered by clicking its cool book cover (yay snakes!) on someone else's WOGF reading list. Interesting post-apocalyptic world and I liked the main character a lot as well as the role of the snakes since it was grounded in actual snake biology but extended in a fascinating way.

Dreamsnake was a nice surprise for me.  I didn't think it would be my cup of tea and I've been putting off reading it for many years.  Glad I finally got around to it.

So far I've been really pleased with my picks for the WoGF.  Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang was an obvious and safe bet and Zoo City has been getting so many accolades I just had to read that one.  Plus, I got to meet Lauren Beukes at WorldCon in Reno and she was absolutely charming and I liked her reading from the book.  No brainer there either.

The one that I knew absolutely nothing about was Brenda Cooper's The Silver Ship and the Sea.  I picked her as my first random author, based on the book cover alone, and was not disappointed.  Went on to read book 2 right away and hope to get back to the 3rd eventually.

Unfortunately I'm really behind in my challenge.  I'm going to have to step it up now that we're halfway through!

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francesashton
Posted 2013-08-25 12:44 PM (#5541 - in reply to #4971)
Subject: Re: Have You Found any Literary Gems in this Challenge?		Quote Reply



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Location: Cheshire, England		Well, as I've been pretty disappointed with my WoGF choices so far, it's been a great surprise that I am really enjoying Catherine Valente's "The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making". I've realised that I read more YA than I expected and have decided to try to complete the Locus YA award list. I'd have loved to have books like this to read when I was in my teens!
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