Friday, December 28, 2012

Books I've Read in My Life

Recently Locus released the results of their all century polls for the 20th and 21st centuries. It is an excellent list of books and I'm going to reproduce it here with the books I've read from the list bolded. Out of the 140 books I've read 116 of them. Lemme know which ones I've missed and should circle back towards.


20th Century Sci-Fi Novel (41 of 50)
1 Herbert, Frank : Dune (1965)
2 Card, Orson Scott : Ender's Game (1985)
3 Asimov, Isaac : The Foundation Trilogy (1953)
4 Simmons, Dan : Hyperion (1989)
5 Le Guin, Ursula K. : The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
6 Adams, Douglas : The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
7 Orwell, George : Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
8 Gibson, William : Neuromancer (1984)
9 Bester, Alfred : The Stars My Destination (1957)
10 Bradbury, Ray : Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
11 Heinlein, Robert A. : Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
12 Heinlein, Robert A. : The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966)
13 Haldeman, Joe : The Forever War (1974)
14 Clarke, Arthur C. : Childhood's End (1953)
15 Niven, Larry : Ringworld (1970)
16 Le Guin, Ursula K. : The Dispossessed (1974)
17 Bradbury, Ray : The Martian Chronicles (1950)
18 Stephenson, Neal : Snow Crash (1992)
19 Miller, Walter M. , Jr. : A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)
20 Pohl, Frederik : Gateway (1977)
21 Heinlein, Robert A. : Starship Troopers (1959)
22 Dick, Philip K. : The Man in the High Castle (1962)
23 Zelazny, Roger : Lord of Light (1967)
24 Wolfe, Gene : The Book of the New Sun (1983)
25 Lem, Stanislaw : Solaris (1970)
26 Dick, Philip K. : Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
27 Vinge, Vernor : A Fire Upon The Deep (1992)
28 Clarke, Arthur C. : Rendezvous with Rama (1973)
29 Huxley, Aldous : Brave New World (1932)
30 Clarke, Arthur C. : 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
31 Vonnegut, Kurt : Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
32 Strugatsky, Arkady & Boris : Roadside Picnic (1972)
33 Card, Orson Scott : Speaker for the Dead (1986)
34 Brunner, John : Stand on Zanzibar (1968)
35 Robinson, Kim Stanley : Red Mars (1992)
36 Niven, Larry (& Pournelle, Jerry) : The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
37 Willis, Connie : Doomsday Book (1992)
38 Atwood, Margaret : The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
39 Sturgeon, Theodore : More Than Human (1953)
40 Simak, Clifford D. : City (1952)
41 Brin, David : Startide Rising (1983)
42 Asimov, Isaac : Foundation (1950)
43 Farmer, Philip Jose : To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971)
44 Dick, Philip K. : Ubik (1969)
45 Vonnegut, Kurt : Cat's Cradle (1963)
46 Vinge, Vernor : A Deepness in the Sky (1999)
47 Simak, Clifford D. : Way Station (1963)
48 Wyndham, John : The Day of the Triffids (1951)
49* Keyes, Daniel : Flowers for Algernon (1966)
49* Delany, Samuel R. : Dhalgren (1975)

20th Century Fantasy Novel (35 of 50)

1 Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Lord of the Rings (1955)
2 Martin, George R. R. : A Game of Thrones (1996)
3 Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Hobbit (1937)
4 Le Guin, Ursula K. : A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
5 Zelazny, Roger : Nine Princes in Amber (1970)
6 Lewis, C. S. : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
7 Mieville, China : Perdido Street Station (2000)
8 Gaiman/Pratchett : Good Omens (1990)
9 Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
10 Crowley, John : Little, Big (1981)
11 Adams, Richard : Watership Down (1972)
12 Goldman, William : The Princess Bride (1973)
13 Martin, George R. R. : A Storm of Swords (2000)
14 Beagle, Peter S. : The Last Unicorn (1968)
15 White, T. H. : The Once and Future King (1958)
16 Kay, Guy Gavriel : Tigana (1990)
17 Gaiman, Neil : Neverwhere (1996)
18 Wolfe, Gene : The Book of the New Sun (1983)
19 Vance, Jack : The Dying Earth (1950)
20 Bulgakov, Mikhail : The Master and Margarita (1967)
21 Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
22 Tolkien, J. R. R. : The Silmarillion (1977)
23 Leiber, Fritz : The Swords of Lankhmar (1968)
24 Jordan, Robert : The Eye of the World (1990)
25 Donaldson, Stephen R. : Lord Foul's Bane (1977)
26 Bradbury, Ray : Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962)
27 Peake, Mervyn : Gormenghast (1950)
28 Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
29 Powers, Tim : The Anubis Gates (1983)
30 Martin, George R. R. : A Clash of Kings (1998)
31 Bradley, Marion Zimmer : The Mists of Avalon (1983)
32 Hobb, Robin : Assassin's Apprentice (1995)
33 Pratchett, Terry : The Colour of Magic (1983)
34 Holdstock, Robert : Mythago Wood (1984)
35 King, Stephen : The Stand (1978)
36* L'Engle, Madeleine : A Wrinkle in Time (1962)
36* Pratchett, Terry : Small Gods (1992)
38 Howard, Robert E. : Conan the Barbarian (1950)
39 Ende, Michael : The Neverending Story (1983)
40 Peake, Mervyn : Titus Groan (1946)
41 McCaffrey, Anne : Dragonflight (1968)
42 Orwell : George : Animal Farm (1945)
43 Feist, Raymond E. : Magician (1982)
44 Silverberg, Robert : Lord Valentine's Castle (1980)
45 Lovecraft, H. P. : At the Mountains of Madness (1936)
46 Swanwick, Michael : The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993)
47 King, Stephen : The Shining (1977)
48 Garcia Marquez, Gabriel : One Hundred Years of Solitude (1970)
49 Saint-Exupery, Antoine de : The Little Prince (1943)
50 Hughart, Barry : Bridge of Birds (1984)

21st Century Sci-Fi Novel (14 of 20)

1 Scalzi, John : Old Man's War (2005)
2 Stephenson, Neal : Anathem (2008)
3 Bacigalupi, Paolo : The Windup Girl (2009)
4 Wilson, Robert Charles : Spin (2005)
5 Watts, Peter : Blindsight (2006)
6 Morgan, Richard : Altered Carbon (2002)
7 Collins, Suzanne : The Hunger Games (2008)
8 Gibson, William : Pattern Recognition (2003)
9 Mieville, China : The City & the City (2009)
10 Stross, Charles : Accelerando (2005)
11 Mitchell, David : Cloud Atlas (2004)
12 McDonald, Ian : River of Gods (2004)
13 McCarthy, Cormac The Road (2006)
14 Harrison, M. John : Light (2002)
15* Willis, Connie : Black Out/All Clear (2010)
15* Chabon, Michael : The Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007)
17* Simmons, Dan : Ilium (2003)
17* Niffenegger, Audrey : The Time Traveler's Wife (2003)
19* Doctorow, Cory : Little Brother (2008
19* Ishiguro, Kazuo : Never Let Me Go (2005)


21st Century Fantasy Novel (16 of 20)
1 Gaiman, Neil : American Gods (2001)
2 Clarke, Susanna : Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004)
3 Rothfuss, Patrick : The Name of the Wind (2007)
4 Mieville, China : The Scar (2002)
5 Martin, George R. R. : A Feast for Crows (2005)
6 Rowling, J. K. : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
7 Bujold, Lois McMaster : The Curse of Chalion (2001)
8 Mieville, China : The City & the City (2009)
9 Fforde, Jasper : The Eyre Affair (2001)
10* Bujold, Lois McMaster : Paladin of Souls (2003)
10* Pratchett, Terry : Night Watch (2002)
12 Gaiman, Neil : Coraline (2002)
13* Wolfe, Gene : The Wizard Knight (2004)
13* Abercrombie, Joe : The Blade Itself (2006)
15 Pratchett, Terry : Going Postal (2004)
16* Gaiman, Neil : The Graveyard Book (2008)
16* Lynch, Scott : The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006)
18 Jemisin, N. K. : The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)
19 Le Guin, Ursula K. : Lavinia (2008)
20 Sanderson, Brandon : Mistborn (2006)




2 comments:

Matthew Fabb said...

Thanks for pointing out this list, it looks really solid. I've read majority of the 20th century and seem to be quite spotty on the 21st, but will definitely use this list to read to at least look up the ones that I haven't read.

Out of the ones you haven't read, I would definitely strongly recommend William Gibson's Pattern Recognition.

Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land is also quite the classic, although it very much feels like a 1960's sci-fi book compared to some of the more timeless sci-fi books on the list.

Simon MacDonald said...

@Matthew Fabb

Upon further review I have read Pattern Recognition. I was getting it confused with Zero History which I haven't read yet but is in my to read queue. Actually Stranger in a Strange Land is sitting in my queue of 77 books that I've yet to read.

As for 21st century books, there are a lot of good ones in those two lists. One book that I think they left off and probably because it is relatively new is Ready Player One.