The Side Quest Book Club discussion

If you're new to the club, feel free to say hi and tell us a bit about yourself and what you like to read, or what your favorite books/authors are. Current members, let's make them feel welcome.

Hey Folks! George here, looking forward to talking books:)

To keep things going, I'm Travis. I joined the club almost a year ago now and tend to gravitate more toward scifi, but I've found several awesome fantasy books I've enjoyed over the years as well. Really I'm open to almost any genre fiction. Aside from books I'm into video games, craft beer, and riding motorcycles when this crazy Cleveland weather allows for it.

I *am* new to the club, but I've been reading along at home for a while and I've really been enjoying the book choices. Former roller derby player, currently a software developer, artist, and maker of all trades.

I'm newer to the club. I'd been meaning to join in sooner (thanks to my husband Eric's urging). I work in marketing and am a writer. I like outdoorsy stuff, making stuff, baking stuff, climbing and fashion. My favorite types of books are fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Favorite authors are Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, and I'd have to add N.K. Jemison after reading Broken Earth.

@Lindsay Welcome! I wasn't sure if we had any distance members, but it's cool knowing we do. One of the reasons I wanted to do this group was expressly for that reason. Roller derby sounds rad.

@Llona Glad to see you decided to join. I was really impressed with Jemison's book as well. I can't wait to read the next one in that series. I love listening to Gaiman's audio books. He has the perfect voice for the kind of fantasy he writes. What kind of writing do you do? Just for work or other stuff as well? I do some writing myself, but not creatively. I write editorially and currently do monthly op-ed pieces for a retro/collector-focused video game website.

Eric wrote: "Travis, tell me about this retro game site some time..."

RFGeneration.com It has a database where you can track your collection, games you're looking for, and a community/forums that can help find what you're looking for. The articles are good too, and tend to run the gamut from retro focused all the way to pieces about more modern games and consoles.

I'm not new either, but I'm Alicia, sometimes go by Leih. My fav book topics are hard Sci fi, British history, neuropsychology, death and macabre /horror. All around weirdo queer. Major crush on NK Jemisin. Asimov's my home boy.

Travis wrote: "@Lindsay Welcome! I wasn't sure if we had any distance members, but it's cool knowing we do. One of the reasons I wanted to do this group was expressly for that reason. Roller derby sounds rad.

@L..."
I am a former journalist (I was an editor for Ohio Magazine, and did some work for Cleveland Magazine). These days I work in web content creation, which involves a lot of copywriting and writing for blogs. I occasionally do freelance work or write for fun as well. Where do you work that you do editorial writing?

That's awesome. I've always loved the written word and have a lot of respect for good writing skills. If I could go back to high school I'd probably look more seriously into journalism. How did you like being in that line of work?

I didn't realize how much I liked writing until I was knee deep in my current career path, so I've never done paid writing. I've been doing news/reviews/op-eds for various game and movie websites since I was a teenager, and in recent years dabbled in editing and podcasting. A couple of the earlier sites I contributed to don't even exist anymore. My current gig is with RFGeneration.

Travis wrote: "That's awesome. I've always loved the written word and have a lot of respect for good writing skills. If I could go back to high school I'd probably look more seriously into journalism. How did you..." Journalism was fun, but very long hours for very low pay. Which is why I do marketing these days. :) That being said, strong writing skills can get you a lot of paid freelance work. Even without a formal background in writing, you clearly have a lot of experience you could leverage if you ever wanted to try to find some paid gigs. Feel free to pick my brain at the next book club if you want. I'm always happy to chat about writing!

Ilona wrote: "Travis wrote: "That's awesome. I've always loved the written word and have a lot of respect for good writing skills. If I could go back to high school I'd probably look more seriously into journali..."

I may take you up on that. I'm always up for interesting discussion about writing.

Hello I am Emily! I am also not a "new" member but I joined in October of 2016 because the book of the month was Frankenstein which is my favorite book. Unlike Travis I tend to gravitate towards fantasy but I also love satire, "classics", thrillers, and nonfiction. I also have a soft spot for a well written romance book. However most of my favorite books were always recommended by others so always share a good find :)

Hello, I am Milad. I like books and live in Cleveland.

Welcome Milad! Hope to see you at one of the meet-ups sometime.

Travis wrote: "Welcome Milad! Hope to see you at one of the meet-ups sometime."

Thanks!

Hello! I'm Max, I read a lot of science fiction but have been branching out the last few years. I also just moved to Cleveland from Chicagoland.

Salutations! I'm Kat, and I've been reading some of the books, but not making the book club for a while. I don't know where that puts me in the "new", "not new" categories. Maybe a spectator?
Anyway, I'm addicted to audiobooks and love a good story teller. I gravitate to 'urban fantasy' and dable in straight up fantasy as well as science fiction. I also enjoy memoir books by funny people like Betty White, Amy Schumer, Neil Patrick Harris, Jenny Lawson, and Tina Fey.
Presently, I am listening my way through the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne and read by Luke Daniels. As well as trying to put in all the short stories in the proper place in the series. Anyone else use spreadsheets to keep track of these things?
I am enjoying the books and look forward to the titles you pick in the future!
Cheers!

Glad to have you both in the group! Sounds like you both will find/have found a lot to like here.

Max, if you're branching out that's a great opportunity. We try to cover a range of styles, authors, and voices, so finding something new to like shouldn't be too difficult. If you're looking for some recommendations in a particular genre I'm sure we could get you a few.

Kat, if you like urban fantasy, have you read any of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series? I just found them recently and really liked the first book, especially since the narrator for the audio version has the perfect voice for it. Re: spreadsheets, I've done that before, but not in a while. With this site I don't find it as necessary as I used to, but I do love cataloging stuff like that.

Travis wrote: "...have you read any of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series?..."

Travis, those are the books that got me into the urban fantasy genre. I love them and I agree 100% that James Marsters does a fantastic job reading. I'm hoping they will have book 13 redone with Marsters reading instead of Glover in the future (even though I haven't heard of any such thing happening).

Kat wrote: "I'm hoping they will have book 13 redone with Marsters reading instead of Glover in the future..."

I didn't realize they got a different narrator at some point. That's disappointing.

Kat wrote: "Travis wrote: "...have you read any of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series?..."

Travis, those are the books that got me into the urban fantasy genre. I love them and I agree 100% that James Marster..."

It is only the one book, and then back to Marsters.

Hi there, I just found this group earlier this month. I’ve been in the market for a book club for a while, and I really like your picks!
I’m interested in exploring more of this renaissance of science fiction and fantasy we seem to be in. NK Jemisin, Anne Leckie, and Victor Lavalle are current faves. Also was a big fan of Gene Wolfe and Iain M Banks earlier in my reading career.

Glad to have you here, Adam! Hopefully we'll see you at one of the in-person meetings. Yeah, we try to keep the book/author selections diverse. I've personally found several books I really loved that I never would have checked out if not for them being club picks.

Val here. this is the account that cannot be found :) send me a friend request.

Glad you found us! The more the merrier.