The 2015 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CRussel

If my French were better, I might give it a try. Or my Spanish, either one.

Myself, I find that reading a favourite novel in translation does help me grasp the language better, since I'm already familiar with the story and have a fair idea of what the characters are saying and doing and What It All Means, and often already own a copy that I can refer back to and compare. (And the built-in dictionaries on the Sony and my Mac do come in handy sometimes, since it's so easy to pause and look stuff up.)

If you've a favourite kids/YA sf/fantasy series that's available, you might want to give it a try. I bought a bunch of Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci and Moving Castle books in French a long time ago for this purpose, and I picked up the recent paperback reprints of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet and some Robert A. Heinlein juveniles and short story translations as well since I've been getting the e-books via Baen's Bundles.

If you check the BC Library, it's possible you might luck out on some titles that you could start with. IIRC, they had a reasonably decent-ish selection of non-English languages in their e-book catalogue.

Originally Posted by CRussel

How has the wide availability of eBooks changed that publishing picture? Do they do eBook versions? Or just paperback?

I have both francophone ebook versions and paperbacks now, though for translated sf/fantasy, paperbacks are still much more widely available for most titles from most of the French imprints, and the price is pretty much the same: already fairly high, and within ~1-3 dollars in either direction (and Amazon & Chapters often regularly discount at 5-15% off online and Archambault runs these periodic special promotions for 20% off if you buy a minimum of 3 books at a time, whereas French publishers are generally non-couponable and very, very rarely ever discount anything at all).

A lot of my favourite authors who do have French translations just flat-out aren't available in francophone ebook versions at all (at least, not in Canada), although they do seem to be more commonly represented in Spanish and German (and Polish!) translations available in the Kobo store.

Also, money-saving omnibus editions are available for paperbacks which aren't for the ebook versions, which are usually sold exclusively as singles. As an example, I own #1-5 of "L'intégrale" TPB editions from Pygmalion/J'ai Lu for George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which exactly correspond to #1-5 of the English language originals.

In French, due to length, each book was originally split into 2-3 volumes for translation, and they are sold separately @ Amazon/Kobo etc. for between $16-20 CAD apiece for tomes #1-14 covering the series thus far, non-couponable. (And $16 CAD is roughly what the MMPB individual paperbacks would cost you anyway.)

By contrast, my omnibus of #5 of L'intégrale, covering tomes #12-14 corresponding to ADWD, had a base price of $40 CAD, which went down to $32 CAD after Archambault's Black Friday weekend mystery coupon sale, which I kept retrying until they gave me a max-level 20% off code (with free shipping over $40).

Similarly, I paid $12 for my mass market paperback copy of the collected first 2 Dunk & Egg tie-in novellas from Amazon, whereas the e-book version is going for $16 (to be fair, the TPB edition of that which is sold by the publisher who actually puts out the ebook, which is not the same as the publisher who puts out the MMPB, is in the $30 range).

Some books do wind up being cheaper in e-book version, though. Guy Gavriel Kay's translations out from Alire in MMPB are roughly $15-19 CAD per, but the e-books at Kobo are around $8-10 for the main part, and since I don't already have him in French in paper, I'll probably pick up the e-versions instead of starting on the PBs.

Also, some books which are technically out of print (or at least severely unavailable between reprintings) are now still purchaseable in ebook editions. For example, the individual MMPBs of Mercedes Lackey's Arrows and Mage War trilogies are extremely difficult to track down in paperback (though there are new omnibus TPBs of both of them), but you can now buy them @ Kobo, etc. for $8.99 a pop, although the $27 total cost of the e-books in each trilogy works out to be higher than the $24 base price of the corresponding paper omnibuses (the MMPBs were $14.95 each, IIRC).

[Luffy]

I racked my brains but couldn't come to a realistic estimate as to how many 500 and 1000 paged books I could get away with reading without falling short of my book total for the year. The trick is to go for a total that's just right. I don't want to choose a total of 25 books and then reach it in June. My reading habits break down when I face a very big book so simulating a scenario and estimating would be to no avail.

I'm leaning more to a total of 60 books and five 700+ pages as a sub-challenge.

[Rumpelteazer]

My goal for 2015 is, as usual, to have fun, keep track and try to keep the number of active series to a reasonable number. I also want to try to read at least four books of 700+ pages. I got several longer books on my TBR list for a long while and hopefully this will motivate me to read those.

[DrNefario]

I've added a list of named writers to my 2015 challenges. The idea is that these are writers I definitely want to read more of, who have a large catalogue I haven't read, and where I already own more than one book I could read. I've included 12 so far, but two of them feel a little bit cheaty, and I've thought of another one I could add, so I might still revise the list.

The current list is:

Iain Banks - A favourite author. I have all of his books, and have not yet read four of them.
John Le Carre - I have a couple of his books I'd like to get to.
Agatha Christie - I already own the complete works, and would like to make some good progress next year.
Ursula Le Guin - I have two books I'd like to read, and there are plenty more possibilities.
Graham Joyce - I wanted to read him this year, but other challenges pushed him off the list. I have two books I could read.
Christopher Priest - I have two or three books I could read. I'm not even sure how many.
Alastair Reynolds - Another one I wanted to read this year but didn't get to. I have four books I could read.
Brandon Sanderson - I read two of his books in 2014, and would like to read more. I have six books in three series.
Nevil Shute - I already have the complete works, and would like to make some progress.
Gene Wolfe - Another favourite I've been neglecting for years. I have four books in three series.

The two I'm less comfortable with:

Bernard Cornwell - I have two unread books in the same series, so only one I could read immediately. He has a large catalogue I haven't read, but I'm currently not engaged in any of his other series. I've read all the Sharpes, and tried a couple of his other series, but this is the only one that has stuck. I think I mainly want to include Cornwell to make the list less SF&F-heavy.
Adam Roberts - I don't currently have any unread books by Roberts, but I'd very much like to read more of his work. This is the only one which requires me to worsen my TBR.

And the new one I'm considering:

Jack Vance - I have a good handful of his books, which I splurged on during a sale, but I'm not even sure I'm a fan. Certainly needs more investigation.

Maybe I should try to find 15, since it will be 2015?

Edit: Also, I attempted to list them in alphabetical order, but do Le Guin and Le Carre file under L or do they come under G and C?

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by CharredScribe

So, I've set my overall reading goal at 60 books, with a sub-goal of 5 non-fiction books. Reading over my reading list from this year, I realised that I had not read any non-fiction books which I don't think has ever happened before (although, I did only start tracking in March). Usually, at least one quarter of my reading (often more) is non-fiction. I think it is because I got my first e-reader and so I read lots of fiction, as I don't really find non-fiction readable on an e-reader. Next year, I want to get back to my usual pattern of reading several non-fiction books.

I read very little non-fiction. To help overcome this, I've started getting audio books of various non-fiction titles. I've really enjoyed several books by Simon Winchester - he even reads his own books. First up in 2015 will be Longitude by Dava Sobel.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Edit: Also, I attempted to list them in alphabetical order, but do Le Guin and Le Carre file under L or do they come under G and C?

In libraries, Le Guin and Le Carre file under "L". And McCall Smith is filed under "M". In bookstores, I've learned that they often don't *know* the author's surname is compound and just file under the last word in the author's name. When I asked a clerk at a bookstore why Alexander McCall Smith's books were in the "S" section, she said "it's not hyphenated". Duh! I can't figure out whether they are catering to the uneducated clerks in the store of if they think the reading public is that uninformed.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I racked my brains but couldn't come to a realistic estimate as to how many 500 and 1000 paged books I could get away with reading without falling short of my book total for the year. The trick is to go for a total that's just right. I don't want to choose a total of 25 books and then reach it in June. My reading habits break down when I face a very big book so simulating a scenario and estimating would be to no avail.

I'm leaning more to a total of 60 books and five 700+ pages as a sub-challenge.

lol, 90% of my books are over 500 pages. I often think what "short" book of 300 pages I can choose.

[DrNefario]

I had a quick browse through my TBR spreadsheet, and came up with at least a dozen more possible names. I've settled on LE Modesitt Jr. and Jo Walton to make my list up to 15.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

and Jo Walton to make my list up to 15.

Oh, Jo Walton's stuff is marvellous! Good choice.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I read very little non-fiction. To help overcome this, I've started getting audio books of various non-fiction titles. I've really enjoyed several books by Simon Winchester - he even reads his own books. First up in 2015 will be Longitude by Dava Sobel.

A fascinating book. I read it when it first came out, and then got a chance shortly after to visit the Greenwich Observatory where a couple of Harrison's clocks are on display.
Note that this is now a KU title, with WhisperSync so you can add the audio book for less than $9.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Note that this is now a KU title, with WhisperSync so you can add the audio book for less than $9.

Unfortunately, I already bought the audio book with an Audible credit. I'm really disappointed that WhisperSync discounts don't go both ways -- I'd love to get the Kindle version of a couple of books that I own from Audible.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Unfortunately, I already bought the audio book with an Audible credit. I'm really disappointed that WhisperSync discounts don't go both ways -- I'd love to get the Kindle version of a couple of books that I own from Audible.

Yeah, I have the same situation, though it isn't applicable to this title.

[ATDrake]

So, I think I might have a tentative plan to try committing myself to just 6 unread French-translated purchased books as my challenge (I'm keeping the number low so that it won't seem so unattainable if Real Life stuff cuts into my reading time again and I technically get 2 months completion time per title, just in case). I thought about trying to do a tandem challenge where I read the translation and the original (or otherwise English-language version where applicable and/or available), but that seemed too prone to complication.

3 titles I've previously read in the originals, where I'm familiar with the story:

1. Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, translated by Patrick Couton as Le Père Porcher will obviously be the 1st pick (if I can find where I left it) as my usual holiday read, which I'll try doing this time around in French (and Couton is an excellent translator who fully deserves all the awards he's gotten for doing the Discworld series).
2. Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives in his Laundry Files series, translated by Bernard Sigaud as Le bureau des atrocités is likely to be the 2nd candidate, as I'm in the middle of a read of the latest installment, and there will be a new one out next summer. So this time around I'll try doing the periodic series re-read in French (and I'm pretty impressed that they translated the full novel, the bonus novella, Stross' additional essay, and the list of espionage-related acronyms, rather than omitting the extras and appendices like sometimes happens).
3. Haven't decided yet, but likely to be another old favourite I haven't touched the translation of yet. Tanya Huff, Barry Hughart, and Lois McMaster Bujold certainly are candidates, though I may go with a short story collection for variety instead of a full novel and dip into Robert Silverberg's Roma Aeterna or Ted Chiang's La Tour de Babylone or Lucius Shepard's Le dragon Griaule, which I finally have the English e-book of, or Tanya Huff again with Nouvelles Sanglantes.

3 titles I haven't previously read at all (easier to pick, actually):

1. Finnish author Leena Lehtolainen's Henkivartija/Le Lynx, 1st in her Bodyguard series which is also being translated by AmazonCrossing into English, alongside her Maria Kallio series I've been reading and enjoying, but which I probably won't see discounted to my usual pick-it-up-on-sale price for some time.
2. Richard Matheson's I am Legend/Je suis une légende. I do kind of know the story from having heard part of a BBC Radio reading which I never finished listening to, and in a vague way from having seen the Will Smith movie after having part-listened to the BBC's version, but I've never actually read it.
3. Icelandic author Árni Thórarinsson's Dauði trúðsins/Le dresseur d'insectes, which will have to be a new purchase ( for a price-drop/sale). As mentioned in the What were your favourite books of 2014 thread, he was an AmazonCrossing discovery for whom I said I'd like to see another book with the reporter amateur sleuth.
   
   It turns out that there are at least 8 books in the series, AmazonCrossing only translated the 4th (to be fair, apparently it was the award-winning one of the lot, and the story did standalone), and since they did it way back in 2012 and haven't done any more as they have for their other Nordic crime series released around the same time, I'm going to assume that it didn't sell well enough/garner enough critical attention to justify further translations.
   
   So if I actually want to read the rest of the series at all, I'm going to have to do it in French. (At least for #4-8, which seem to be all that Points/Seuil have done; if I want to read #1-3, it looks like I'd have to drastically upgrade my severely limited Icelandic and then find a source of ebooks for them that are accessible from Canada, if they even exist, since apparently the 1st one dates back to 1998.)

I have to say that I'm kind of looking forward to trying this. Being reasonably fluent in another language or few dramatically expands my available circle of reading choices in certain areas of interest, it seems.

It's kind of like what Charlemagne was said to have said: "Knowing another language is like possessing another soul." And that's the sort of thing one could always use a few more spares of to like, keep around for trading purposes and stuff.

[Tarana]

My goal for 2015 is to really restrict buying and read from my TBR.

[CharredScribe]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I read very little non-fiction. To help overcome this, I've started getting audio books of various non-fiction titles. I've really enjoyed several books by Simon Winchester - he even reads his own books. First up in 2015 will be Longitude by Dava Sobel.

Audiobooks is something I have been thinking about but have never tried. I should download a couple of samples maybe, and give them a go. Maybe I'll enjoy them.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by CharredScribe

Audiobooks is something I have been thinking about but have never tried. I should download a couple of samples maybe, and give them a go. Maybe I'll enjoy them.

I've been listening to audiobooks for around 35 years or so, starting with books on cassette tapes. It was a great way to make the workday go faster when doing repair or construction work at a workbench. Audiobooks are a very different experience, but can be very rewarding, and with local lending libraries and online sites like Librivox, can be very inexpensive. You may want to check out MobileRead's new Everything Audiobooks forum for recommendations.