Cannot Resist Book Meme
Via schumers,
The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
Here are books that I think about, years after reading, and know I will read again. I couldn't think of 15 off the top of my head, but some of the ones I did think of are series in which I cannot distinguish one book from another, which brings it to more than fifteen if you count them all. Whoops.
Cyteen (and its continuation, Regenesis) by C. J. Cherryh came first to mind because I was pondering it just yesterday. I've been slowly going through the Cherryh canon for years now, and these include the strongest example of one of my favorite scifi themes: what it means to be human and to make choices. Also, the characters and their relationships are quite fascinating.
The Princess and the Goblins by George MacDonald was one of the early novels read to me. My dad, who lived in Germany during my childhood, mailed me cassette recordings of himself reading aloud, and I listened to them over and over again. I never had a paper copy of the book, but I have reread it several times on Project Gutenberg. Even as an adult, it is quite charming.
Diaspora by Greg Egan is one that I only read more recently, but I have thought about it so much since then that it belongs on this list. Mainly the ending, and Yatima and Paolo's choices when faced with infinity.
With Distress, Greg Egan gets a second book on my list. One of the first books I read that dealt explicitly with the question of the defining humanity.
Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman was my favorite book for a long time and I frequently recall the jokes and tropes.
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany is an exploration of the beauty and terror of magic. Everything a fairy tale should be.
The Borrowers by Mary Norton is another childhood book (and series) that I remember fondly and am often reminded of when I lose small things.
Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian got me reading outside of the SF&F shelves. Also has some lovely characterization and turns of phrase.
The Chronicles of Amber series may not be Zelazny's best work, but it is his most iconic. Great swashbuckling adventure, and for a while I pulled from it when I needed to come up with names on the fly (hence, 'Benedict').
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is on this list because I still make towel jokes.
I only recently read Factotum, a young adult fantasy novel by D. M. Cornish, but, man, I am so in love with this world and characters. I have been thinking about Lady Europe and her exploits quite a lot.
The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
Here are books that I think about, years after reading, and know I will read again. I couldn't think of 15 off the top of my head, but some of the ones I did think of are series in which I cannot distinguish one book from another, which brings it to more than fifteen if you count them all. Whoops.
Cyteen (and its continuation, Regenesis) by C. J. Cherryh came first to mind because I was pondering it just yesterday. I've been slowly going through the Cherryh canon for years now, and these include the strongest example of one of my favorite scifi themes: what it means to be human and to make choices. Also, the characters and their relationships are quite fascinating.
The Princess and the Goblins by George MacDonald was one of the early novels read to me. My dad, who lived in Germany during my childhood, mailed me cassette recordings of himself reading aloud, and I listened to them over and over again. I never had a paper copy of the book, but I have reread it several times on Project Gutenberg. Even as an adult, it is quite charming.
Diaspora by Greg Egan is one that I only read more recently, but I have thought about it so much since then that it belongs on this list. Mainly the ending, and Yatima and Paolo's choices when faced with infinity.
With Distress, Greg Egan gets a second book on my list. One of the first books I read that dealt explicitly with the question of the defining humanity.
Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman was my favorite book for a long time and I frequently recall the jokes and tropes.
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany is an exploration of the beauty and terror of magic. Everything a fairy tale should be.
The Borrowers by Mary Norton is another childhood book (and series) that I remember fondly and am often reminded of when I lose small things.
Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian got me reading outside of the SF&F shelves. Also has some lovely characterization and turns of phrase.
The Chronicles of Amber series may not be Zelazny's best work, but it is his most iconic. Great swashbuckling adventure, and for a while I pulled from it when I needed to come up with names on the fly (hence, 'Benedict').
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is on this list because I still make towel jokes.
I only recently read Factotum, a young adult fantasy novel by D. M. Cornish, but, man, I am so in love with this world and characters. I have been thinking about Lady Europe and her exploits quite a lot.