The instructions were: Bold the ones you’ve read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov 3. Dune, Frank Herbert * 4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein 5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin * 6. Neuromancer, William Gibson 7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke 8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley 10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury *
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe 12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. *
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany 21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey 22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card 23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (now if I could only strike it from my memory)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl 26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling 27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams * 28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson * 29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice 30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley 32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny *
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys 41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien * (Sue me — it’s essentially a history book, but I enjoyed it a great deal.)
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut 43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester 46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein * 47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock * 48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer
You have me beat by a couple... which surprises me because at first I figured I would score even worse. Hmm.
posted by GreyDuck, January 9, 2007 11:24 AM
I only missed reading 3 of the top 15. It would be easier to list the ones I haven't read, though I'm one of the few in the country who has never read any Harry Potter books.
The only book I despised (and couldn't finish) was the Thomas Covenant book. Lord did it annoy me!
posted by John, January 9, 2007 12:30 PM
Read 39 of them.
Ditto Covenant.
posted by Randal Trimmer, January 9, 2007 5:50 PM
You know, I don't know as I've ever met anyone who actually admitted to liking Thomas Covenant. Though my first wife did read the whole first trilogy -- and maybe the second. Hmmmmm ...
posted by *** Dave, January 9, 2007 7:14 PM
I liked the Thomas Covenant trilogy...and the second set...and the Man Rides Through books...and Daughter of Regals...and Strange Dreams...but then, he broke. I have to wonder what happened to him.