Genre books
Jan. 29th, 2009 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofastolatOff work sick, and feeling floppy and bleurgh, so I've been pottering around on a bit of old-style Baldur's Gate, and now it's meme time. This one's courtesy of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
philmophlegm.
One thing these book memes always reveal to me is just how little I've read over the last ten years or so, ever since the Internet started eating up so much of my time. For the last few years, I've read almost nothing but non-fiction (popular science, mostly) and my fiction needs have come from fanfic. On the original list of 100 books that was doing the rounds a few days ago, I had read about two thirds, but almost all of those were read (by choice) before I was 18, when I devoured classics and historical novels. Since my core reading years were before I was 18, and since historical novels were my genre of choice then, I managed to miss out a lot of the classics of sf and fantasy.
philmophlegm's rules:
1) Look at the list, copy and paste it into your own journal.
2) Mark those you have read however you want.
3) Feel free to tell your friends what you thought of them.
My addition:
4) Ramble at great length about anything you feel like rambling about.
I've done bold for read, and underlined for read in part. Not a very good haul, I'm afraid, due to the afore-mentioned reasons.
In no particular order:
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien Read at 9, and loved it. Read at 14, and seriously, seriously, seriously obsessed over it. Not, er, actually ever reread it since listening to most of it in Dramatic Miming.
2. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien My Mum read it to me when I was 8, and I liked it so much that I sneakily read it myself through to the end, but never told her. I bet she knew, though.
3. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien I remember reading this on a holiday in Edinburgh not long before my O-levels. My copy still contains family trees of all the characters scrawled on some Puffin Club notepaper, done out of desperation since I was confused
4. Foundation series, Isaac Asimov
5. Robot series, Isaac Asimov - Read in c. 1993, bought from The Works, I believe, in Oxford.
6. Dune, Frank Herbert - I read half of it, but it really annoyed me. I can't clearly remember why, but I think it's because everyone was having such literate, complex though processes even when desperate and emotional.
7. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
8. Earthsea series, Ursula le Guin - I was given the first book as a reader in free reading time in my first year at grammar school. I loved the first trilogy, but really, really disliked Tehanu. Incidentally, my first memory ofbunn was of her reading Tehanu on a bus trip to London, and me talking to her about Earthsea as a result.
9. Neuromancer, William Gibson
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham - Can't remember when I read the book, but probably c. 1992, since I think it was Pellinor's copy that I read. The TV series terrified me at a formative age.
12. A Book of the New Sun series, Gene Wolfe - I started reading this on a train journey from Soton to Plymouth a few years ago, and really couldn't get into it.
13. Discworld series, Terry Pratchett - I read about a dozen, and did initially enjoy them, but then got a bit tired of them.
14. Sandman series, Neil Gaiman - I've read the first one, which Pellinor got me for my birthday a few years ago. Graphic novels aren't really my thing, though.
15. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - I remember watching the TV series round about the time of my O-levels, and I think I read all the books just after that.
16. Dragonriders of Pern series, Anne McAffery
17. Interview with the Vampire series, Anne Rice
18. The Shining, Stephen King
19. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula le Guin - I really ought to read this.skordh lent it to me some years ago, but I was going through a non-fiction reading phase, so didn't get through it - even though I did like what I saw - and I felt guilty about keeping it so long, so gave it back.
20. The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny
21. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
22. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
23. Ringworld, Larry Niven
24. Elric of Melnibone series, Michael Moorcock
25. The Dying Earth series, Jack Vance
26. Lyonesse series, Jack Vance
27. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson - I did actually enjoy this series, although I really shouldn't have, given that I do normally need a sympathetic hero that I can fall in love with. I read the second trilogy, too, but haven't read the new ones.
28. A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin - Love, love, love! Though if he delays too much longer before the next book, that love will start trickling away, I suspect.
29. The Worm Ourobouros, E.R. Eddison
30. Conan series, Robert E. Howard
31. Lankhmar series, Fritz Leiber
32. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
33. The Time Machine, H.G. Wells - Read aged 16, or so. Can't remember much about my reaction.
34. The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells - Ditto
35. The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells - Ditto - although even now I still feel a little frisson of doom and recognition when I see names such as Weybridge and Chertsey.
36. Eon, Greg Bear
37. Book of the First Law series, Joe Abercrombie - I did actually start this a few months ago, but got distracted by some non-fiction. It's on my "to read" list once I'm in a fiction mood again.
38. Miss Marple stories, Agatha Christie
39. Hercule Poirot stories, Agatha Christie
40. Lord Peter Wimsey stories, Dorothy L. Sayers - I read about half a dozen a couple of years ago.
41. The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett - I can't actually remember if I've read this, but I was really into films of this type when I was about 16, and I know that I did go on to read quite a few of the associated books.
42. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
43. Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I think I've read them all. I've got an uncomfortably large compilation volume. This was back when I was 17, or so, though.
44. Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft - All I know is what I read a few months ago, when role-playing it. I did read The Mountains of Madness, after falling asleep during the radio play.
45. Inspector Wexford stories, Ruth Rendell
46. Adam Dalgliesh stories, P.D. James
47. Philip Marlowe stories, Raymond Chandler - As with The Maltese Falcon - I might have read some of them, but can't remember.
48. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
49. The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
50. The Fourth Protocol, Frederick Forsyth
51. Smiley series, John le Carre
52. Gentleman Bastard series, Scott Lynch - Liked the first, but ran out of steam during the second.
53. The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson - I stuck it to about volume 3 or 4, but it was annoying me too much by then. It was too impersonal for me - a tale of races, not individuals.
54. Watchmen series, Alan Moore
55. Maus, Art Spiegelman
56. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Miller
57. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
58. Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling - I read em, and enjoyed em... but will argue to anyone who cares to listen that DWJ was doing much the same before JKR came along, and was doing it better. (In my opinion, of course.)
59. Chrestomanci series, Diana Wynne-Jones - Read everything by her, and loved almost all of them. The Lives of Christopher Chant was my first, read in c. 1995, when off work with a cold, and eagerly reading my way through the entire children's library.
0. Ryhope Wood series, Robert Holdstock - I started one of them, but found it rather tiresome.
61. Wilt series, Tom Sharpe
62. Riftwar Cycle, Raymond E. Feist
63. Temeraire series, Naomi Novik - I read the first, and felt nothing against it, but nothing sufficiently positive to want to read the second.
64. Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis - I read The Lion, the Witch... and Prince Caspian aged 7 or 8, and totally failed to spot the allegorical message. I picked up the others at some point over the next few years.
65. His Dark Materials series, Phillip Pullman - I read the first one as soon as it came out, after two other children's librarians had started to read it, and had reported, "I think it's probably good, but I just can't get into it. Does anyone want to do a second opinion?" I couldn't put it down. I was at a children's librarians' conference when the second book came out, and almost everyone there bought a copy in great glee.
66. Dragonlance series, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
67. Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer - I did skim the first one when it came into the library as a brand new book, way before any hype and craze. I didn't much like it.
68. The Night's Dawn trilogy, Peter F. Hamilton
69. Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer - I read the first one, and thought it had elements that I liked, but I found too much of it childish - farting dwarves, etc. Of course, it's a children's book, so I don't for one moment say that it shouldn't have elements like this.
70. Honor Harrington series, David Weber
71. Hannibal Lecter series, Thomas Harris
72. The Dark Tower series, Stephen King - Read the first 3 just before the 4th came out, then read and loved the fourth. My interest had waned by the time the final books came out, but I did read them through to the end. Didn't like the end one little bit.
73. It, Stephen King
74. The Rats series, James Herbert
75. Dirk Gently series, Douglas Adams
76. Jeeves and Wooster stories, P.G. Wodehouse - I can't remember if I've read them all, but have definitely read some. This would have been back when I was 18, or so. I did so much reading them.
77. The da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
78. The Culture Series, Iain M. Banks
79. The Duncton series, William Horwood
80. The Illuminatus! trilogy, Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
81. The Aberystwyth series, Malcom Pryce
82. Morse stories, Colin Dexter - I read all the books that were then current in 1993, when I was working in a certain library in Oxford that required me to do nothing much but sit at a desk and read.
83. Navajo Tribal Police stories, Tony Hillerman
84. The Ipcress File, Len Deighton
85. Enigma, Robert Harris
86. Fatherland, Robert Harris
87. The Constant Gardener, John le Carre
88. The House of Cards trilogy, Michael Dobbs
89. The Dark is Rising saga, Susan Cooper - I was a contrary child when it came to book recommendations, so when a teacher told me when I was 10 that I'd love this series, I dug in my heels and refused to read it. When I finally did read it, aged 18, I was so cross that I'd deprived myself of it at the correct age. I got rather obsessed with it for a while. My five-in-one volume is inscribed to me from my parents, "for triumphing over the darkness of Mods."
90. Psychotechnic League and Polesotechnic League series, Poul Anderson
91. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
92. Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy, Timothy Zahn - Honestly can't remember. I did read quite a few Star Wars novels, though, back in 1999, when I was going through a Star Wars enthusiasm in the lead-up to episode 1. I only saw Star Wars for the first time ever in 1998.
93. Ender's Game series, Orson Scott Card
94. Gormenghast series, Meryvn Peake
95. Miles Vorkosigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold
96. The Once and Future King, T.H. White - Read it and loved it, but I can't remember when this was. Pre-Oxford, I think.
97. Fighting Fantasy books, Ian Livingston & Steve Jackson - I played through one or two when I was about 14 or 15, and desperate to play D&D, but lacking any real-life friends who wanted to play so geeky a thing.
98. The Stainless Steel Rat series, Harry Harrison
99. The Lensman series, E.E. 'Doc' Smith
100. The Cadfael stories, Ellis Peters - I read all the ones that Pellinor possessed in 1993, which was quite a lot of them. Then I lost interest, since I got used to her formula and could always guess whodunnit right from the start.
philmophlegm. One thing these book memes always reveal to me is just how little I've read over the last ten years or so, ever since the Internet started eating up so much of my time. For the last few years, I've read almost nothing but non-fiction (popular science, mostly) and my fiction needs have come from fanfic. On the original list of 100 books that was doing the rounds a few days ago, I had read about two thirds, but almost all of those were read (by choice) before I was 18, when I devoured classics and historical novels. Since my core reading years were before I was 18, and since historical novels were my genre of choice then, I managed to miss out a lot of the classics of sf and fantasy.
philmophlegm's rules:1) Look at the list, copy and paste it into your own journal.
2) Mark those you have read however you want.
3) Feel free to tell your friends what you thought of them.
My addition:
4) Ramble at great length about anything you feel like rambling about.
I've done bold for read, and underlined for read in part. Not a very good haul, I'm afraid, due to the afore-mentioned reasons.
In no particular order:
1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien Read at 9, and loved it. Read at 14, and seriously, seriously, seriously obsessed over it. Not, er, actually ever reread it since listening to most of it in Dramatic Miming.
2. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien My Mum read it to me when I was 8, and I liked it so much that I sneakily read it myself through to the end, but never told her. I bet she knew, though.
3. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien I remember reading this on a holiday in Edinburgh not long before my O-levels. My copy still contains family trees of all the characters scrawled on some Puffin Club notepaper, done out of desperation since I was confused
4. Foundation series, Isaac Asimov
5. Robot series, Isaac Asimov - Read in c. 1993, bought from The Works, I believe, in Oxford.
6. Dune, Frank Herbert - I read half of it, but it really annoyed me. I can't clearly remember why, but I think it's because everyone was having such literate, complex though processes even when desperate and emotional.
7. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
8. Earthsea series, Ursula le Guin - I was given the first book as a reader in free reading time in my first year at grammar school. I loved the first trilogy, but really, really disliked Tehanu. Incidentally, my first memory of
bunn was of her reading Tehanu on a bus trip to London, and me talking to her about Earthsea as a result.9. Neuromancer, William Gibson
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham - Can't remember when I read the book, but probably c. 1992, since I think it was Pellinor's copy that I read. The TV series terrified me at a formative age.
12. A Book of the New Sun series, Gene Wolfe - I started reading this on a train journey from Soton to Plymouth a few years ago, and really couldn't get into it.
13. Discworld series, Terry Pratchett - I read about a dozen, and did initially enjoy them, but then got a bit tired of them.
14. Sandman series, Neil Gaiman - I've read the first one, which Pellinor got me for my birthday a few years ago. Graphic novels aren't really my thing, though.
15. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - I remember watching the TV series round about the time of my O-levels, and I think I read all the books just after that.
16. Dragonriders of Pern series, Anne McAffery
17. Interview with the Vampire series, Anne Rice
18. The Shining, Stephen King
19. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula le Guin - I really ought to read this.
skordh lent it to me some years ago, but I was going through a non-fiction reading phase, so didn't get through it - even though I did like what I saw - and I felt guilty about keeping it so long, so gave it back.20. The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny
21. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
22. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
23. Ringworld, Larry Niven
24. Elric of Melnibone series, Michael Moorcock
25. The Dying Earth series, Jack Vance
26. Lyonesse series, Jack Vance
27. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson - I did actually enjoy this series, although I really shouldn't have, given that I do normally need a sympathetic hero that I can fall in love with. I read the second trilogy, too, but haven't read the new ones.
28. A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin - Love, love, love! Though if he delays too much longer before the next book, that love will start trickling away, I suspect.
29. The Worm Ourobouros, E.R. Eddison
30. Conan series, Robert E. Howard
31. Lankhmar series, Fritz Leiber
32. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
33. The Time Machine, H.G. Wells - Read aged 16, or so. Can't remember much about my reaction.
34. The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells - Ditto
35. The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells - Ditto - although even now I still feel a little frisson of doom and recognition when I see names such as Weybridge and Chertsey.
36. Eon, Greg Bear
37. Book of the First Law series, Joe Abercrombie - I did actually start this a few months ago, but got distracted by some non-fiction. It's on my "to read" list once I'm in a fiction mood again.
38. Miss Marple stories, Agatha Christie
39. Hercule Poirot stories, Agatha Christie
40. Lord Peter Wimsey stories, Dorothy L. Sayers - I read about half a dozen a couple of years ago.
41. The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett - I can't actually remember if I've read this, but I was really into films of this type when I was about 16, and I know that I did go on to read quite a few of the associated books.
42. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
43. Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I think I've read them all. I've got an uncomfortably large compilation volume. This was back when I was 17, or so, though.
44. Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft - All I know is what I read a few months ago, when role-playing it. I did read The Mountains of Madness, after falling asleep during the radio play.
45. Inspector Wexford stories, Ruth Rendell
46. Adam Dalgliesh stories, P.D. James
47. Philip Marlowe stories, Raymond Chandler - As with The Maltese Falcon - I might have read some of them, but can't remember.
48. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
49. The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
50. The Fourth Protocol, Frederick Forsyth
51. Smiley series, John le Carre
52. Gentleman Bastard series, Scott Lynch - Liked the first, but ran out of steam during the second.
53. The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson - I stuck it to about volume 3 or 4, but it was annoying me too much by then. It was too impersonal for me - a tale of races, not individuals.
54. Watchmen series, Alan Moore
55. Maus, Art Spiegelman
56. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Miller
57. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
58. Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling - I read em, and enjoyed em... but will argue to anyone who cares to listen that DWJ was doing much the same before JKR came along, and was doing it better. (In my opinion, of course.)
59. Chrestomanci series, Diana Wynne-Jones - Read everything by her, and loved almost all of them. The Lives of Christopher Chant was my first, read in c. 1995, when off work with a cold, and eagerly reading my way through the entire children's library.
0. Ryhope Wood series, Robert Holdstock - I started one of them, but found it rather tiresome.
61. Wilt series, Tom Sharpe
62. Riftwar Cycle, Raymond E. Feist
63. Temeraire series, Naomi Novik - I read the first, and felt nothing against it, but nothing sufficiently positive to want to read the second.
64. Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis - I read The Lion, the Witch... and Prince Caspian aged 7 or 8, and totally failed to spot the allegorical message. I picked up the others at some point over the next few years.
65. His Dark Materials series, Phillip Pullman - I read the first one as soon as it came out, after two other children's librarians had started to read it, and had reported, "I think it's probably good, but I just can't get into it. Does anyone want to do a second opinion?" I couldn't put it down. I was at a children's librarians' conference when the second book came out, and almost everyone there bought a copy in great glee.
66. Dragonlance series, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
67. Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer - I did skim the first one when it came into the library as a brand new book, way before any hype and craze. I didn't much like it.
68. The Night's Dawn trilogy, Peter F. Hamilton
69. Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer - I read the first one, and thought it had elements that I liked, but I found too much of it childish - farting dwarves, etc. Of course, it's a children's book, so I don't for one moment say that it shouldn't have elements like this.
70. Honor Harrington series, David Weber
71. Hannibal Lecter series, Thomas Harris
72. The Dark Tower series, Stephen King - Read the first 3 just before the 4th came out, then read and loved the fourth. My interest had waned by the time the final books came out, but I did read them through to the end. Didn't like the end one little bit.
73. It, Stephen King
74. The Rats series, James Herbert
75. Dirk Gently series, Douglas Adams
76. Jeeves and Wooster stories, P.G. Wodehouse - I can't remember if I've read them all, but have definitely read some. This would have been back when I was 18, or so. I did so much reading them.
77. The da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
78. The Culture Series, Iain M. Banks
79. The Duncton series, William Horwood
80. The Illuminatus! trilogy, Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
81. The Aberystwyth series, Malcom Pryce
82. Morse stories, Colin Dexter - I read all the books that were then current in 1993, when I was working in a certain library in Oxford that required me to do nothing much but sit at a desk and read.
83. Navajo Tribal Police stories, Tony Hillerman
84. The Ipcress File, Len Deighton
85. Enigma, Robert Harris
86. Fatherland, Robert Harris
87. The Constant Gardener, John le Carre
88. The House of Cards trilogy, Michael Dobbs
89. The Dark is Rising saga, Susan Cooper - I was a contrary child when it came to book recommendations, so when a teacher told me when I was 10 that I'd love this series, I dug in my heels and refused to read it. When I finally did read it, aged 18, I was so cross that I'd deprived myself of it at the correct age. I got rather obsessed with it for a while. My five-in-one volume is inscribed to me from my parents, "for triumphing over the darkness of Mods."
90. Psychotechnic League and Polesotechnic League series, Poul Anderson
91. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
92. Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy, Timothy Zahn - Honestly can't remember. I did read quite a few Star Wars novels, though, back in 1999, when I was going through a Star Wars enthusiasm in the lead-up to episode 1. I only saw Star Wars for the first time ever in 1998.
93. Ender's Game series, Orson Scott Card
94. Gormenghast series, Meryvn Peake
95. Miles Vorkosigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold
96. The Once and Future King, T.H. White - Read it and loved it, but I can't remember when this was. Pre-Oxford, I think.
97. Fighting Fantasy books, Ian Livingston & Steve Jackson - I played through one or two when I was about 14 or 15, and desperate to play D&D, but lacking any real-life friends who wanted to play so geeky a thing.
98. The Stainless Steel Rat series, Harry Harrison
99. The Lensman series, E.E. 'Doc' Smith
100. The Cadfael stories, Ellis Peters - I read all the ones that Pellinor possessed in 1993, which was quite a lot of them. Then I lost interest, since I got used to her formula and could always guess whodunnit right from the start.
