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Ardis’s Lists

Ardis Ardis's Lists Buyer Guide Science Fiction

10 Contemporary Scifi Stories Perfect for Your Book Club

written by Ardis

I love a book club. Reading and loving (or not loving) stories on your own is certainly wonderful, but there’s something incredibly fulfilling about reading and discussing a book together. But as anyone who has participated in or run a book club can tell you, choosing a book for your book club can be a real pain.

In this list I have gathered 10 contemporary science fiction books that are perfect for a book club to read and discuss. They each present complex themes, rich characters, and engaging plots worthy of thought and discussion, and are widely enjoyable and accessible to a diverse audience of readers. Whether your book club is scifi/SFF focused, or looking to explore the scifi genre for the first time, or anywhere in between, any of the books on this list should prompt engaging dialogue and rich thought.

Please note that all of the discussion questions linked in this list are filled with spoilers. As I publish new Discussion Questions for the books below, I will update this list to include links to those collected questions. As always, click with caution.

July 14, 2020 0 comment

2020 Ardis's Lists Buyer Guide

Interesting Books to Be Released in June

written by Official Decree

Sometimes the best way you can take care of yourself is by opening a good book. While our lives are full of difficult conversations, self reflection, and community action, we’d like to take this moment to talk about some books we’re excited about.

We understand that not everyone has the time, energy, or want to read right now. Our hearts are with you all, and these stories will wait patiently for when you’re ready to join them.

June 8, 2020 0 comment

2020 Ardis's Lists Buyer Guide

Interesting Books to be Released in May

written by Official Decree

We hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy. If you are looking for more stuff to read, rejoice, for it is a new month! Here are some May releases that we are interested in. Comment below to add your own recommendations. We are certainly open to suggestions.

Byron’s Picks

Clap When You Land ~ Elizabeth Acevedo (Release Date May 5, 2020)

It caught my attention by being on Amazon’s list of Best YA fiction of the month. It’s written by a National Book Award winner. The format looks interesting: a novel written like a poem (or vice versa). It’s been a while since I’ve read a straight-up Literary YA novel, and I am looking forward to trying this out!

Ardis’s Picks

Network Effect ~ Martha Wells (Release Date May 5, 2020)

Martha Wells dominated 2019 with three new novellas in her Murderbot Diaries series, and she is bringing the heat in 2020 as well by publishing its first full-length novel. I can’t wait to see what this new story has in store!

Catherine House ~ Elisabeth Thomas (Release Date May 12, 2020)

Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House promises deep intrigue and suspense set against a backdrop of a near-gothic boarding school in rural Pennsylvania. What secrets will be unearthed, what threats unleashed, to wander among the halls of Catherine House?

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea ~ Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Release Date May 14, 2020)

Pirates, magic, rebellion, colonialism, marauders, thieves, and worse? Yes! This YA fantasy sounds like everything I need to curl up with after a long day in a long week in a long month, and I am so excited for whatever adventure waits among its pages.

May 7, 2020 0 comment

Ardis's Lists Buyer Guide Lists

Interesting Books to Be Released In April

written by Official Decree

Some months it feels difficult to find any books to get excited about, and other months you can’t help but think “when it rains, it pours” because you’re fair drowning in exciting New Releases. April is definitely in the latter category this year, and with so much time to spend at home I can only say thank goodness, for the diversion, for the entertainment, for the lessons, and for the hope that literature brings.

Keep scrolling to see which books we’re excited about this month, and consider adding some to your “to read” list. If you do read any of these, remember to come back and let us know what you thought! And of course, comment below with any April books you’re excited about that we may have missed.

April 6, 2020 0 comment

Ardis Ardis's Lists Award Winners Literary Fiction Science Fiction Short Story Collection

The Philip K. Dick Award, 2020

written by Ardis

Each year the Philip K. Dick award is given to “the best science fiction paperback novel published in the United States in the previous calendar year” at Norwescon. This year, the award ceremony will take place in Seattle, WA, on April 10th.

Between now and then, I will be working to read and review all of the nominees. Hopefully, I’ll have time to circle back before the ceremony and update this list with my bet (and my vote), but if the past is any indication I’ll be reading down to the wire.

For now, read on for a little about each book as a nominee. One by one I’ll add review links to this page, so if you’re following along (or reading along), be sure to bookmark this page and check back for the latest updates.

February 18, 2020 0 comment

2020 Ardis's Lists Lists Uncategorized

Interesting Books Released in February 2020

written by Official Decree

February is upon us and we have been scouring the new book releases to find those books we’re most excited about.

Check out this list of books we can’t wait to read in February, and let us know which ones you’re excited about (and which ones we may have missed)!

February 5, 2020 0 comment

Ardis Ardis's Lists Award Winners Reflection

Ardis’s Top 15 Books of the Decade

written by Ardis

This past decade brought change and opportunity, perhaps none more for me than a renewed commitment to reading. It didn’t really start until 2016, when I finally started to see my Goodreads challenge as more than just a perfunctory exercise. I started keeping up with books as they were published, following authors and publishers on their various media, and engaging with book reviewers and reading communities.

The world opened before my eyes.

2016 and 2017 were near miraculous years in genre publishing as far as I’m concerned, but the whole decade was full of beautiful, inspiring stories that continue to push the bounds of what we can, as storytellers, accomplish.That said, here are my top 15 books of the decade (presented in chronological order by publish date).

January 9, 2020 0 comment

Ardis Ardis's Lists Byron Lists

Interesting Books to be Released January 2020

written by Official Decree

Happy New Year!

Have you decided to read more books this year? Do you want to explore a variety of genres? Are you interested in what we are adding to our (already hopelessly behind) stack of stuff to read? This post is for you!

At the beginning of every month, we scour the interwebs for info about new book releases. We read a lot of sites for recommendations: Amazon, B&N, other bloggers in our WordPress Feed, NYT, Washington Post, AV Club, Ars Technica, Popular Mechanics, and many many more that google-fu or spam email might provide. We each make lists of the particularly interesting stuff that stands out to us, we talk about them, and we get really excited about the coming month! This year, we’ve decided to share those monthly lists with the public!

Here are the books on our radar screen for January 2020:

January 6, 2020 0 comment

2019 Ardis Ardis's Lists Award Winners Fantasy Science Fiction

2019’s Nebula Award for Best Novel: Nominees

written by Ardis

The 2019 Nebula Awards will be announced at the SFWA Nebula Conference in Los Angeles, CA, on (or around) May 18th. Over the past few months, I’ve been working to read and review all of the nominees in the Best Novel category. As theVerge.com describes:

The Nebula Awards are issued annually by SFWA to the best works in genre novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories published in the last year, alongside the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. The Nebulas are a sort of industry award, determined by professional authors.

Over the coming months, I will be reviewing each finalist in the Best Novel category and linking those reviews here. As I have in years past, I will circle back to this post once the Nebula Award winners are announced in May to record the winner.

Be sure to follow this page for the latest updates to this review series, and as always don’t hesitate to read along with me and let me know what you think of these nominees (or the Nebula Awards) in the comments!

May 2, 2019 0 comment

2019 Ardis Ardis's Lists Award Winners Fantasy Science Fiction

2019’s Hugo Award for Best Novel: Nominees

written by Ardis

The 2019 Hugo Awards will be announced at this year’s WorldCon 77 in Dublin, Ireland, on August 18th, 2019. Often considered “among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing“, the Hugo Award for Best Novel is the central event of each year’s Worldcon. Any work of fiction 40,000 words or more and published or translated into English during the previous year is eligible.

Over the coming months, I will be reviewing each finalist in the Best Novel category and linking those reviews here. As I have in years past, I will circle back to this post once the Hugo Award winners are announced in August to record the winner.

Be sure to follow this page for the latest updates to this review series, and as always don’t hesitate to read along with me and let me know what you think of these nominees (or the Hugo Awards) in the comments!

April 9, 2019 0 comment

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