Tildes Book Club Spring and Summer schedule 2025
Next week we will be discussing the City We Became. Our next book discussion after that will be at the end of January.
I've organized this schedule so that longer books are followed by shorter ones. I look forward to reading with you.
Last week in January : Kim Stanley Robinson Ministry for the Future,
Last week in February: Trevor Noah Born a Crime,
Last week in March: Dan Simmons Hyperion,
Last week in April: Adrian Tchaikovsky Elder Race,
Last week in May: Victor LaValle a People's Future of the United States,
Last week in June: T Kingfisher A House with Good Bones,
Last week in July: James McBride the Heaven and Earth grocery Store,
Last week in August: Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Last week in September: Ted Chiang Stories of Your Life and Others
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I just got City We Became in from my library earlier this week, so I've been trying to get through it quickly in time for the discussion. I'm about 25% in now. You'd think I'd have some idea of what's going on by this point, but nope!
I'm actually glad we're taking December off. It's a hectic enough month, and gives me a small chance to get through some of my own backlog. I finally read The Hobbit this month, and I'm excited to move onto the proper Lord of the Rings trilogy now. I can't believe it's taken me this long. I might end up bumping against the January scheduling, but we'll see how it goes.
Excited for much of our upcoming lineup. Some good picks, folks!
I'm trying to get through it in time for the discussion as well... hopefully we'll get there!
I, too, support the choice to take December off. I have a couple books I'm trying to get through and it will be nice to have some time to focus on those during an already hectic month.
Best of luck with Lord of the rings.
I am in chapter 6 (audiobook), same feeling. I think that is par for the course for Jemisin though.
Can confirm that it is. I think some of her earlier works take a bit to build up. In her short story anthology she talks about learning from the experience of developing shorter fiction.
It's sorta like old school fantasy novels where the first 100 pages or so is setup and the next 500 or so pages are the characters interacting with the world.
I think it's particularly appropriate to have the build up in this novel given whose work this is in conversation with.
Sorry, I think I am missing it – whose work is the novel in conversation with?
Spoilers since this isn't the discussion thread for major themes of the book.
here
It's very specifically in conversation with HP Lovecraft. The slower build up makes me think of the similar build up in eldritch horror.
Except the horror is white supremacy and gentrification and the like, instead of the horror of foreign peoples and miscegenation and air conditioning.
Thank you!
I will have to read some of the other author, eventually.
Probably going to have to skip The City We Became, unfortunately. I left my brand new ereader on a flight recently, and there’s effectively a 0% chance that I’ll get it back. 😭
Looking forward to next year’s lineup though. There are some good titles.
Aw, that really sucks!
If there's any silver lining, this might be the best time to find a replacement for it. I don't know about Boox specifically, though the Kobo Colour is $20 off this week (I was eyeing it earlier). Some Nook and Kindle models are on sale too, though I know you're off the Amazon train.
I prefer audiobooks most of the time, so haven't quite gotten around to buying a dedicated eReader yet. Though Overdrive finally just killed the old loophole I'd been using to download DRM-free MP3s, so my preferred audiobook player is no longer working for library books either. Bah!
I already bought a replacement (the same one — another Boox Page). I was in such a good reading rhythm until I lost it, and I want to get back to that! A big part of that was setting up BookFusion. I like the platform enough that I pulled my books off my Kindle and Kobo accounts and put them up on BookFusion, along with my DRM-free stuff from StoryBundle, Humble Bundle, and a few other publishers. My ebook eggs are now solidly in that basket.
Genuinely: it’s a dream to be able to have my library all “under one roof.” On Kobo and Kindle, the books you bought from them always got premium treatment, while sideloaded stuff got second billing and lacked features (like cloud syncing). BookFusion puts all my books on a level playing field, and it also handles series WAY better. I genuinely love it!
The only downside is needing an Android ereader specifically to run the app. It won’t work on Kobo/Kindle, which is why I got the Boox device in the first place.
Also, I don’t have a workaround for Overdrive, but I figure this is worth a mention in case you’re in the market for it: I subscribe to Libro.fm instead of Audible because all of their audiobooks are DRM-free (and because they’re not Amazon).
It’s not as cheap as the library, of course, but I’m happy to fund content I like that’s provided openly. I just use their default app to listen to them, but you could easily plug them into your preferred one.
Note: Yes, I’m fully aware this comment reads like a sponsored post. I promise that it’s not.
Additional Note: I wish it were though! Libro/BookFusion, if either of you are listening, I’m more than willing to shill for some cash — I’ve got a $200 ereader that I need to pay off! 😂
Downpour.com is another good option for DRM free. They have a monthly subscription where you get one credit per month for $12.99 and you can purchase additional credits for the same price.
They are owned by Blackstone audio, so they don't have everything, but they have been a pretty good supplement to the library for me.
I was recently on vacation in New Mexico and lost a Kindle. I feel your pain. E-readers are convenient but I don't think I will take mine traveling again unless it is an old device I am nearly ready to replace.
Ouch, I’m sorry.
I’m buying a slipcase and an AirTag to go in it for my new one, in hopes that I’ll be notified if I ever absentmindedly leave it somewhere again.
Taking an old one is a good idea too though. I bought an old Kindle on eBay for like, $20 just to download books from my account and de-DRM them. Might be worth buying an old model for cheap as your “travel Kindle.”
Woah. This is a cool idea. I've been toying with the idea of trying to read more in 2025. I've read your first book before, and will pick it up in the library again. I'd love to see if can enjoy this community a bit in be new year.
Would you like to be added to the ping list? It's one ping per thread so not particularly frequent.
Sure!