Beyond Reality discussion

Hi everyone,

It's time to open nominations for our July 2016 Books of the Month. Each group member can make 1 science fiction and/or 1 fantasy nomination in this thread. If you would like to make a nomination, please reply to this post with the title and author of the book(s) you would like to put forward for the group’s consideration. A couple of suggestions to keep in mind:

1. Telling us a little about the book and why you think it would be a good group read can help get other members interested in reading (and voting for) your nomination.

2. To see if your nomination has already been read by the group, you can check:

a. the group's bookshelf for Previous Books of the Month

and/or

b. these threads:
Master List of Previous Books of the Month 2012-Present
Master List of Previous Books of the Month 2006-2011

Books the group has read in the past 2 years are not eligible for current consideration. Being chosen as a past BotM prior to that time is not an automatic disqualification, but be aware that it may hinder your nomination’s chances at the polls.

General guidelines:
• Feel free to re-nominate a book that didn’t win in the polls in previous months!
• For questions regarding specifics such as book formats, books in series, self-nomination and various rules for nominations, please see the group FAQ.
• Seconding isn't necessary in this group.
• Friendly discussion & debate is strongly encouraged, but let's please keep things civil.

Poll schedule:
• Nominations will remain open through Tuesday, April 19.
• The first round of polls will open Wednesday, April 20, and will run through Sunday, April 24.
• The run-off polls go up Monday, April 25, and will be open through Friday, April 29.

Thanks!


NOMINATIONS SO FAR:


SCIENCE FICTION:
Armada by Ernest Cline (Nicole)
All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (Kurt)
Ice Crown by Andre Norton (in omnibus Ice and Shadow (Mary)
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (Helen)

FANTASY:
The Infernal City by Greg Keyes (Nicole)
The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig (Kurt)
Except the Queen by Jane Yolen & Midori Snyder (Mary)
Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells (Tad)

For Fantasy I will nominate The Blue Blazesby Chuck Wendig. An urban supernatural fantasy about someone contending against the underworld while trying to be a good parent.

For Science Fiction I will nominate All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. A book that mixes Groundhogs Day with Starship Troopers sounds like fun summer time reading to me.

Kurt wrote: "For Science Fiction I will nominate All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. A book that mixes Groundhogs Day with Starship Troopers sounds like fun summer time reading to me..."

I've been wanting to read this for several years. Then when the (Western) film adaptation, Edge of Tomorrow, proved to be far, far better than I expected it to be, it jumped way up my list.

For fantasy: Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder. Two fairies are banished by the queen to the modern world, and find themselves women of a certain age. They also find there's more to their banishment than offending the queen.

For SF: Ice Crown by Andre Norton. A work by the Grand Master, of adventure on a far future planet. (In print in the omnibus Ice and Shadow)

Candiss wrote: I've been wanting to read this for several years. Then when the (Western) film adaptation, Edge of Tomorrow, proved to be far, far better than I expected it to be, it jumped way up my list.

I had the exact same reaction. I had the book, didn't get to it before the movie came out and then was wowed by the movie. I need a push to knock it off my TBR stack and into my hands.

For Fantasy, I'll nominate Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

Urban fantasy with both some traditional elements along with some new twists and interesting characters. I've just started reading it but am enjoying it so far.

This is the last day to make nominations, folks. So if you have contenders to toss into the ring, let us know! We have a short list this time, and I'd like to see at least 5 books for each poll, just to provide a well-rounded roster of options.

Sci-fi: Sleeping Giants

Nominations are now closed, and the first polls will be up in a few minutes. We have four books for each category, which while being a bit slight is at least even. :)

The preliminary polls are open. You can vote through the end of the day Sunday, April 24.

Fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Science Fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

The run-off polls are up. Voting will be open through the 29th.

Fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Science Fiction: -https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...