2013 Cons: Sirens

[starlady]

I spent the weekend in Stevenson, Washington with a wonderful (and nearly 25% larger) group of people at Sirens, a conference for women in fantasy literature, and as usual, I had a wonderful time. Although I liked the previous hotel a little bit more, I really appreciated being able to breathe normally the entire time, and this was another year of interesting discussions, thought-provoking panels, and remarkably egalitarian socializing. I met a lot of awesome people, both writers and not, and I can't wait to go back next year.

The 2013 theme is Reunion, and the Guests of Honor are Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Robin LaFevers, and Guadalupe Garcia McCall. It should be a really awesome time, and I hope you can join us! Until November 1, you can use this link to register for the discounted price of $165, which is a subsidized cost that includes four meals and all the tea, coffee, and hot cocoa you could want, as soon as the hotel staff get around to refilling the carafes. I also want to say, having heard both Nalo Hopkinson and Malinda Lo as Guests of Honor at other Bay area cons this year (FOGcon 2 and MythCon 43, respectively), that I am firmly convinced that the SIrens programming format forces guests of honor to say things that are less superficial and more interesting than other cons, which I really appreciate.

One thing that makes the Narrate conferences great is the vast amounts of background reading the staff are required to do; I've taken the liberty of following thistleingrey's lead in copying the 2013 Sirens list from praetorianguard's post: I've bolded the books I've read (and because I'm a bit vain about my taste, I've linked my reviews), and italicized the books I have sitting on my shelves to be read.


Sirens 2013 Reading List

Required
Johnson, Alaya Dawn: Racing the Dark AND Moonshine
Kushner, Ellen: Thomas the Rhymer AND The Fall of the Kings
LaFevers, Robin: Grave Mercy
McCall, Guadalupe Garcia: Summer of the Mariposas

Two of the following (warriors)*
Bell, Hilari: Fall of a Kingdom
Britain, Kristen: The Green Rider
Carson, Rae: Girl of Fire and Thorns
Cashore, Kristin: Graceling
Chadda, Sarwat: Devil’s Kiss
Chima, Cinda Williams: The Demon King
Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones
Cremer, Andrea: Nightshade
Gaughen, A. C.: Scarlet
Goodman, Alison: Eon
Healey, Karen: Guardian of the Dead
Kushner, Ellen: The Privilege of the Sword
Lackey, Mercedes: Any Valdemar book [almost all of them]
Maas, Sarah J. Throne of Glass
Marchetta, Melina: Finnikin of the Rock
Pierce, Tamora: The Song of the Lioness OR Lady Knight OR Terrier
Oliver, Jana G.: The Demon Trapper’s Daughter
Roth, Veronica: Divergent
Smith, Sherwood: Crown Duel OR Coronets and Steel
Vande Velde, Vivian: Heir Apparent
Young, Moira: Blood Red Road

Two of the following (faeries)*
Anderson, R. J.: Knife
Black, Holly: Tithe
Black, Jenna: Glimmerglass
Brennan, Marie: Midnight Never Come
Bull, Emma: War for the Oaks
Dean, Pamela: Tam Lin
Dolamore, Jacklyn: Magic under Glass
Hamilton, Laurell K.: A Kiss of Shadows
Jones, Diana Wynne: Fire and Hemlock
Lindholm, Megan (w/ Brust, Steven): The Gypsy
Livingston, Lesley: Wondrous Strange
Marr, Melissa: Wicked Lovely
Marillier, Juliet: Wildwood Dancing
McGuire, Seanan: Rosemary and Rue
Melling, O. R.: The Hunter’s Moon
Mirrlees, Hope: Lud-in-the-Mist
Pope, Elizabeth: The Perilous Gard
Sherman, Delia: Changeling
Simner, Janni Lee: Bones of Faerie
Tomlinson, Heather: Aurelie
Warner, Sylvia Townsend: Kingdoms of Elfin
Windling, Terri (w/ Datlow, Ellen): The Faerie Reel

Two of the following (monsters)*
Billingsley, Franny: Chime
Blake, Kendare: Anna Dressed in Blood
Bronte Charlotte OR Rhys, Jean: Jane Eyre OR Wide Sargasso Sea
Carriger, Gail: Soulless
Clement-Moore, Rosemary: Prom Dates from Hell
Compestine, Ying Chang: A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts: A Collection of Deliciously Frightening Tales
de la Cruz, Melissa: Blue Bloods
Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Creatures
Grant, Mira: Feed
Halam, Anne: Dr. Franklin’s Island
Harris, Charlaine: Dead until Dark
Hodkin, Michelle: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Jenkins, A. M.: Repossessed
Kostova, Elizabeth: The Historian
Larbalestier, Justine: Liar
Link, Kelly: Pretty Monsters
Meyer, Stephenie: Twilight
Murphy, Pat AND Padgett, Lewis: His Vegetable Wife AND Mimsy Were the Borogroves
Okorafor, Nnedi: Who Fears Death
Peterfreund, Diana: Rampant
Reeves, Dia: Bleeding Violet OR Slice of Cherry
Ryan, Carrie: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Scheckley, Alisa: The Better to Hold You
Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein [both 1818 and 1831 editions - they're almost totally different novels]
Smith, Cynthia Leitich: Eternal
Stiefvater, Maggie: Shiver
Taylor, Laini: Lips Touch: Three Times
Whedon, Joss and Jeanty, Goerges: The Long Way Home (Buffy, Season 8, Vol. 1)
Yovanoff, Brenna: The Space Between

Two of the following (retold tales)* **
Anderson, Jodi Lynn: Tiger Lily
Atwood, Margaret: The Robber Bride
Barnhouse, Rebecca: Peaceweaver
Bernheimer, Kate: Any Gold sister book
Black, Holly: White Cat
Bradley, Marion Zimmer: Mists of Avalon
Block, Francesca Lia: Roses and Bones
Bunce, Elizabeth C.: A Curse Dark as Gold
Carter, Angela: The Bloody Chamber
Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games
Cross, Sarah: Kill Me Softly
Diemer, Sarah: The Dark Wife
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee: Palace of Illusions
Donoghue, Emma: Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
Durst, Sarah Beth: Into the Wild OR Ice
Flinn, Alex: Beastly OR A Kiss in Time OR Cloaked
George, Jessica Day: Princess of Glass OR Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Hale, Shannon: The Goose Girl OR Book of a Thousand Days OR Rapunzel’s Revenge
Hopkinson, Nalo: Midnight Robber OR Brown Girl in the Ring
Johnson, Kij: The Fox Woman
Kerr, Peg: The Wild Swans
Kontis, Alethea: Enchanted
Lanagan, Margo: Tender Morsels
Levine, Gail Carson: Ella Enchanted
Lin, Grace: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon OR Starry River of the Sky
Lo, Malinda: Ash
Lord, Karen: Redemption in Indigo
Mantchev, Lisa: Eyes Like Stars
Marillier, Juliet: Heart’s Blood
McKillip, Patricia: In the Forests of Serre OR The Cygnet and the Firebird
McKinley, Robin: Deerskin OR Rose Daughter OR Spindle’s End OR Beauty
Napoli, Donna Jo: Bound
Nyoka, Gail: Mella and the N’anga: An African Tale
Obrecht, Tea: The Tiger’s Wife
Oyeyemi, Helen: Mr. Fox
Patou, Edith: East
Pearce, Jackson: Sisters Red OR Sweetly
Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla: There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby
Reilly, LeAnn Neal: The Mermaid’s Pendant
Satrapi, Marjane: The Sigh
Sedia, Ekaterina: The Secret History of Moscow
Simner, Janni Lee: Thief Eyes
Springer, Nancy: I Am Morgan le Fay
Tacheuchi, Naoko: Sailor Moon Vol. 1
Tomlinson, Heather: The Swan Maiden OR Toads and Diamonds
Turgeon, Carolyn: Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
Ursu, Anne (w/ Erin McGuire): Breadcrumbs
Valente, Catherynne: Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden OR Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice
Vande Velde, Vivian: The Book of Mordred
Wein, Elizabeth: Anything Arthurian
Wrede, Patricia C.: Snow White and Rose Red
Yolen, Jane: Brian Rose OR Snow in Summer

Three of the following*
Beukes, Lauren: Zoo City
Blackman, Malorie: Naughts and Crosses
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee: The Conch Bearer
Enchi, Fumiko: Masks
Fagan, Deva: The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle
Hulme, Keri: The Bone People
Goto: Hiromi: Half World
Hairston, Andrea: Redwood and Wildfire
Hamilton, Virginia: Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
Hopkinson, Nalo: The Chaos
Jemisin, N. K.: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Lowachee, Karin: The Gaslight Dogs
Meminger, Neesha: Into the Wise Dark
Ogiwara, Noriko: Dragon Sword and Wind Child
Okorafor, Nnedi: Akata Witch
Ono, Fuyumi: The Twelve Kingdoms Vol. 1: Sea of Shadow
Parra, Kelly: Invisible Touch
Pon, Cindy: Silver Phoenix
Rhodes, Jewell Parker: Ninth Ward
Suma, Nova Ren: Imaginary Girls
Uehashi, Nahoko: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
West, Michelle: Anything

Four of the following*
Anderson, R. J.: Ultraviolet
Armstrong, Kelly: The Summoning
Berry, Julie: The Amaranth Enchantment
Bow, Erin: Plain Kate
Bracken, Alexandra: Brightly Woven
Bray, Libba: Beauty Queens
Briceland, V.: The Glassmaker’s Daughter
Bunce, Elizabeth: Star Crossed
Burgis, Stephanie: Kat, Incorrigible
Cashore, Kristin: Fire OR Bitterblue
Chima, Cinda Williams: Warrior Heir
Cooper, Susan: The Dark Is Rising
Cypess, Leah: Mistwood
Derting, Kimberly: The Body Finder
Duey, Kathleen: Skin Hunger
Durst, Sarah Beth: Vessel
Farmer, Nancy: The House of the Scorpion
Fisher, Catherine: Incarceron
Flewelling, Lynn: Anything
George, Jessica Day: Tuesdays at the Castle
Hale, Ginn: Wicked Gentlemen
Hartman, Rachel: Seraphina
Hoffman, Alice: Green Witch
Hoffman, Nina Kiriki: Anything fantasy
Jones, Diana Wynne: Anything
Jones, Jaida and Bennett, Elizabeth: Havemercy
Kittredge, Caitlin: The Iron Thorn
Knox, Elizabeth: Dream Hunter
Lanagan, Margo: The Brides of Rollrock Island
McEntire, Myra: Hourglass
McKillip, Patricia: Ombria in Shadow OR The Alphabet of Thorn
Pierce, Tamora: Trickster’s Choice OR The Will of the Empress
Prineas, Sarah: Winterling
Rees Brennan, Sarah: Unspoken
Reese, Jenn: Above World
Rubino-Bradway, Caitlen: Ordinary Magic
Schwab, Victoria: The Near Witch
Sherman, Delia: The Freedom Maze
Smith, Sherwood: The Spy Princess
Spotswood, Jessica: Born Wicked
Stiefvater, Maggie: The Scorpio Races OR The Raven Boys
Stevermer, Caroline: A College of Magics
Taylor, Laini: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Thompson, Kate: The New Policeman
Wein, Elizabeth: Anything fantasy
Weingarten, Lynn: The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers
Whalen Turner, Megan: The Thief
White, Kiersen: Paranormalcy
Wilce, Ysabeau: Flora Segunda
Yolen, Jane: Anything [Pit Dragon Trilogy, books 1 7 2]

Four of the following*
Allen, Sarah Addison: The Girl Who Chased the Moon
Andrews, Ilona: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels Book #1)
Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid’s Tale
Bear, Elizabeth: Anything fantasy [First two books of the magic Valkyrie SFF trilogy = ?]
Berg, Carol: The Soul Mirror
Bernobich, Beth: Passion Play
Bradley, Marion Zimmer: Any Darkover book
Carey, Jacqueline: Kushiel’s Dart
Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Daniells, Rowena Cory: Anything
Dart-Thornton, Cecilia: The Ill-Made Mute (The Bitterbynde Book #1)
de la Cruz, Melissa: Witches of East End
Elliott, Kate: Cold Magic
Freeman, Pamela: Blood Ties (Castings Book #1)
Friedman, C. S., Black Sun Rising (Coldfire Book #1)
Gilman, Greer: Anything
Hamilton, Laurell: Anything
Hand, Elizabeth: Anything
Harris, Joanne: Runemarks
Hobb, Robin: Anything [Assassin trilogy, book 1]
Jones, Tamara Siler: Ghosts in the Snow
Katsu, Alma: The Taker
Kerr, Katharine: Daggerspell (Deverry Book #1) OR Darkspell (Deverry Book #2)
Kiernan, Caitlin R.: The Red Tree
Lackey, Mercedes: Anything
Lee, Tanith: Any adult book
Le Guin, Ursula: A Wizard of Earthsea
Marks, Laurie J.: Fire Logic (Elemental Logic Book #1)
McCaffrey, Anne: Any Dragonriders of Pern book [nearly all of them]
Moon, Elizabeth: Anything fantasy
Moore, C.L.: Jirel of Joiry
Morganstern, Erin: The Night Circus
Neumeier, Rachel: House of Shadows
Novik, Naomi: His Majesty’s Dragon
Paxson, Diana: Anything
Priest, Cherie: Boneshaker
Rice, Anne: Interview with a Vampire
Riley, Judith Merkle: The Oracle Glass
Sedia, Ekatarina: Alchemy of Stone
Snyder, Maria V.: Poison Study
Snyder, Midori: Soulstring OR New Moon
Valente, Catherynne: Palimpsest
Whitfield, Kit: In Great Waters
Wisoker, Leona: Secrets of the Sands

Optional: One of the following*
Elgin, Suzette Haden: Native Tongue
Kagan, Janet: Hellspark
Bujold, Lois McMcaster: Curse of Chalion
Butler, Octavia: Anything
Le Guin, Ursula: The Left Hand of Darkness
May, Julian: Anything
Norton, Andre: Anything
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn: Anything
Russ, Joanna: The Female Man
Tiptree, Jr., James: Anything
Willis, Connie: The Doomsday Book


*Please select books by authors whom you haven’t read yet first; if you have read all of the authors, then please select books that you haven’t read.

**Please select books that are retellings of different tales.

Comments

[laceblade]

Bookmarking the hell out of this reading list.
I don't suppose there's a way to opt out of the meals and get a reduced ticket; I should look at their website rather than bugging you about that, though.

[starlady]

The Sirens people are really accommodating, so I'm sure they'd be willing to explore working out your needs with the hotel staff! But definitely, that is something to send them an email about. :-)

[glass_icarus]

So many of my old favorites on this list! ♥ I'm glad there's a lot I haven't read though, hee.

[thistleingrey]

I thought about linking my relevant book posts, but it would've required more brain than I had while trying to get myself to fall asleep. :)

Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do re: Bear's novels, either. I've read a couple of them but am pretty sure that those I've read are ± SF; she seems to enjoy straddling subgenres.

[starlady]

I spent a very pleasurable hour doing that rather than grading. I've actually talked about more of these books on here than I linked, but there are some authors whose tags I've deleted to thwart their name recognition increasing, and other entries that predate my transition to DW, when I locked a lot of old stuff and went mostly public.

[umadoshi]

Sirens sounds more amazing every year. I'm kind of sad that I live on the wrong coast.

[starlady]

You should come anyway! :P

[umadoshi]

It's really tempting! But the next time I have any kind of travel budget left after going to Toronto as often as possible (never often enough), I should probably aim for an industry con. :/ I haven't really been to one since 2008.

I hear such good things about the west coast, though. Someday I'd really like to see more of it than LAX, and a con would be a lovely excuse...

[jesse_the_k]

I'm intrigued by your point: One thing that makes the Narrate conferences great is the vast amounts of background reading the staff are required to do. By "staff" do you mean people who are on panels? Or the organizing committee?

Also! What a list.

[starlady]

Nope, just the people who are actually staff on the con. There are recommended reading lists for attendees, but those are much shorter and not required.

[coffeeandink]

I like this list. It makes me feel very well-read.

[metaphortunate]

I would love to hear more about the Sirens programming format and how you think it forces people to be less superficial and more interesting! I mean, I think it is a goal that people themselves probably have? But it can be hard to do on demand, and anything that can cause it sounds worth exploring!

[starlady]

Well, the Guests of Honor speeches at Sirens are long - I think the speeches themselves are budgeted at 45 minutes, and Q&A goes up to another half an hour after that. Also, the entire con is in the audience, so the combination of length and unanimity usually leads to some interesting places. They are also actually required to give a speech. Also, GoHs are then required to do "bedtime stories" in which they give readings on Friday evening, budgeted at an hour each. All together, it definitely adds up for a richer experience than other cons I've been to - although I will say that the Wiscon GoH speeches compare favorably, imo.