June's female sci-fi and fantasy month: The warmup thread.

In the end, june was declared "female author month" in general, but wee seemed to be many who considered focusing on sci-fi and fantasy. After all, the Jenny Wurts quote, was what set the whole thing in motion. I though it could be nice to have a little teaser thread to talk about what we plan on reading, and swap tips for those who want them.

I'll only read female authors in june, and plan on making most (if not all) of them sci-fi and fantasy books. Since I have quite a few candidates on my lists already, I guess I'll primarily try to cluster those. Likely reads in june for me will be:

In the cities of coin and spice by Catherynne M. Valente
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
At The mouth of the river of bees by Kij Johnson
Natural history by Justina Robson
The mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

What about you guys?

Apart from my already committed monthly reads I'll also only read women in June

possibles are:

Darkmans by Nicole Barker
the G string murders Gypsy Rose Lee (OK that's not SF)
the brides of Rollrock Margo Lanegan
the grass-cutting sword Catherynne M. Valente (although this is Claire's book so she'll have to read it first)
boneshaker Cherie Priest
the golden notebook Doris Lessing (Not SF)
among others Jo Walton
the immortal life of henrietta lacks Rebecca Skloot (S but not F)
waiting for Robert Capa Susanna Fortes (Not SF)

These are my candidates:
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
Farthing by Jo Walton

I'm also waiting for the Hugo nominees to be announced. Last year, the nominee lists for novel, novella, novellette and short story had a good number of women (almost 50%).

I've got Farthing too. Maybe I'll try to get to that. I'm also reading through Janny Wurts's books so I'll read at least one of hers.

Foreigner, Thomas the Rhymer and The Cloud Roads are also possibilities.

Looking forward to it! Hope I can wait that long!

I am planning to read only female authors too, I am avoiding romance (paranormal or otherwise) and YA just because its the traditional ground for women.

so far for SF & F:
-unread books by Catherynne M Valente: The Labyrinth, the grass-cutting sword and her new book Deathless
-Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
-Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine (if I can get hold of a copy!)
-Karin Tidbeck's Jagannath
-something by Ursula Le Guin but not the wizard of Earthsea
-

I need comics recommendations, I have nothing :(

I would recommend anything by Catherynne M Valente but particularly the fabulous duology In the Night Garden, standard Steampunk by Cherie Priest, short stories by Angela Carter, Ursula Le Guin or Kelly Link. Oh and anything by Margo Lanagan and the 1st in the Kushiels Dart series by Jacqueline Carey

5: Regarding comic recommendations ... have you tried Digger by Ursula Vernon? I just finished the first volume and loved it. I think it's all available on-line: http://www.diggercomic.com/.

clfisha, ever read any comics/graphic novels by Wendy Pini?

oo I have heard good things about Digger but the completely forgot what is was called :) didn't realise it was online too thanks!

and no not heard of Wendy Pini, thanks! I do like getting recommendations

I guess there is a question if comics should be 100% female or can half of the author/artist team be male. I am going to plump for 50%, part of the creative team.

edited to add: oh I have heard of ElfQuest :)

Because of the origins for this I will definitely be continuing Janny's own series with Fugitive Prince. Other series continuations would be:

The Twelve Kingdoms: Skies of Dawn by Fuyumi Ono

And some new to me authors would include:

Feed by Mira Grant
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Soulless by Gail Carriger
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

So far all I've committed to definitely is Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress, but let me look into it further....

I've already decided to read the two group reads; To Kill a Mockingbird and Song of Achilles. I have Oryx and Crake tilting dangerously at the top of a TBR pile. I'm sure I can find more to continue with if I need more.

I can't promise to only read female authors in June but I am going to try and read mostly new-to-me female authors. So far I am planning on:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
Sky Burial by Xinran
Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Almost the Truth by Margaret Yorke

If at all possible I would also like to squeeze in Bone Shaker by Cherie Priest

I don't want to commit to all female authors either, but I wouldn't mind concentrating on fantasy and sci-fi, either. Here's what I have to look forward to:

Ship of Magic and Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
Passage and Bellwether by Connie Willis
The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski
Snow-Walker by Catherine Fisher
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Splintered by A G Howard
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The Changeling Sea by Patricia A McKilip
The Naming by Alison Croggon
The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Those ought to be plenty! It sounds like fun. What was the quote?

After a glance at Mt. TBR, I think the following may be good possibilities:

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making Catherynne M. Valente
The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan
Firebrand by Gillian Philip
Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge
Changeless by Gail Carriger (and perhaps a few more in that series)
What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower by Margaret Killjoy (which is a choose-your-own-adventure - can't remember when I last read one of those!)
Possibly Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley for my reread category.
I've yet to read any Le Guin, so I might give The Earthsea Trilogy a shot since it's been on Mt. TBR for longer than I care to admit.

It won't be difficult to make it an all-female reading-month, that's for sure! I'll play it by ear.

My author count so far this month is 7 females and 1 male authors read.

And I wasn't even trying!

I can't plan my reading that far ahead, but some likely candidates, based on their date of publication are:

If I Should Die by Amy Plum
Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross
Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

13> If I haven't read Wither before June, maybe I'll join you.

14> A Wizard of Earthsea is on my long list of possible re-reads. Read it when I was in 7th grade and remember liking it enough to read the whole trilogy. It's more than just a trilogy now though . . . hence the desire to re-read.

I can't promise all female authors, because I have June set aside for the last three Leaphorn/Chee books, and I definitely can't make any solid reading lists two months in advance (please, I can't even predict what I'll read this week!), but any of the following books may make an appearance:

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin
Storm and Siege by Leigh Bardugo -- out June 4th!
Thermae Romae by Mari Yamazaki
Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie E. Czerneda

Also, one of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels -- after I figure out the best place to start them

>12 DeltaQueen50:, A Discovery of Witches was amazing, I hope you like it.

The Hugo nominees were announced yesterday:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2013-hugo-awards/

There are plenty of female authors on the list! I really need to read some Mira Grant / Seanan McGuire. Note that Grant is the pseudonym of McGuire, so she actually has an impressive four nominations.

Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them, from the "Best Related Work" category, also looks interesting.

18 - just spotted the same info here - http://forbookssake.net/2013/04/02/2013-hugo-award-nominations-announced/

The Arthur C. Clarke shortlist was just announced (http://www.clarkeaward.com/2013-clarke-award/2013-shortlist/) but sadly, there are no female authors to consider for our June group read.

On the other hand, the Nebula list (http://www.sfwa.org/2013/02/2012-nebula-awards-nominees-announced/) announced earlier in the year includes plenty of female authors. There is some overlap with the Hugo list, but between the two, there are lots to choose from if you're looking for ideas for the group read.

Thanks for giving us these links Paulina!

Thanks I was going to ask if anyone can recommend a good, recent sci-fi book, I can only think of Lauren Beukes but I do not read much science fiction.

It's odd since the majority of the judges were female for the Clarke awards..

http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?p=16531&fb_source=pubv1

some discussion of the Clarke awards

I'll join in with the all female read month. I have a few who fir in for fantasy, the rest though will be from the 1001 list

I have a couple of books by New Zealand women writers of fantasy that I'd like to tackle:
The gathering of the lost by Helen Lowe
When we wake by Karen Healey

I'm only just starting to form a list of possibilities, and even better most are on Mount TBR. So far my options include:
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
Age Of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold
Tamora Pierce
Gail Carriger

... That should keep me entertained for a month

This sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to participating. (And can I say that I am fiercely jealous of those of you who own a copy of The Brides of Rollrock Island!?!)

Here are the titles I plan to read, though I may change my mind at any moment:

Beauty by Sheri Tepper
Six Moon Dance by Sheri Tepper
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson
The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip

And I may be brave enough to attempt the massively long Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke!

ETA: I looked through the Guardian's list of 1000 SciFi/Fantasy Novels Everyone Must Read and learned that ghosty books also fall into this category, so I'm adding two more books to my Maybe List: Beloved by Toni Morrison and Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel.

I have narrowed my new-to-me female Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors that I plan to read in June down to:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

For those who are still looking for ideas for women authors of science fiction and fantasy, you might want to check out the Women of Genre Fiction page on the WorldsWithoutEnd website here:
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/authors_women.asp

I've signed up for their 2013 challenge to read 12 woman authors who are new to you during the year and have read 5 new authors so far.

Thanks for the link, Roni. My wishlist is starting to scare me it's so long!

Thanks for the link, ronincats. Looks like a useful one. I'm quite excited about this upcoming group read, as I have many books that fit the theme on my shelves. I'm still trying to sort through the candidates, but I have at least decided on my first read. It's Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight, one of my very oldest "dust collectors". I'm ashamed to say that it's been sitting on my shelves for about 30 years. My cousin had passed this on to me when I was a teen, but then I went through many years when I was disdainful of high fantasy, especially anything with dragons or unicorns. Fortunately, I'm well past that immature stage and am willing to read any good story, with or without mythical creatures.

Time to start a "real thread"?

> 32 - I better get organized and start finding books to read for this one! Thanks for the reminder. ;-)

Here are my planned reads:

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

I say go for it Anders :) or I could stop being lazy and do it...

>29 ronincats: - Thanks for that link! I've discovered so many new books on the site and have also signed up for their challenge to read sci-fi/fantasy female authors.

Also, with so many people including Shards of Honor on their TBR lists, I think I'll have to dig that one out of the storage box and add it to my list!

Thread up and running here http://www.librarything.com/topic/154893 come and tantalise everyone else with what you are starting..

Thanks for getting the thread up Claire.