NPR book meme
Because it's almost midnight and I'm going to Vividcon tomorrow, so why not?!
Via pretty much everyone it seems like - the NPR Top 100 Sci Fi Books meme: strong the ones you've read, emphasis the ones you intend to read, underline series/books you've read part of, and strike the ones you never intend to read.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien - Look don't even start with me. I know, okay? I KNOW. THEY ARE ON MY LIST. I just...I started The Hobbit in seventh grade and got totally bored, and so then I read Stranger In A Strange Land instead and became the hugest Robert Heinlein fan in my school and well into college. I feel like this says a lot about me as a person.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert - At one time I had all of these on loan from a friend. There are a lot of these books. And they're big and heavy. It's just really unlikely I'll ever read them.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin - I think you all know my feelings about this series. ♥
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov - Read during my "CONSUME ALL THE SCIFI" phase from 7th-10th grade. I got into David Brin and Asimov and Bradbury and all the hard classics, which is interesting because now I am MUCH more a fantasy novel fan. But at one point, this was my life.
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman - I actually only read this last year, I think!
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman - I've heard such good things about the book, and the movie has been a favorite of mine since I was little.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan - I got four books into this series and couldn't take it anymore. Loved the first book, liked the second book, disliked the third book, hated the fourth book and stopped halfway through the fifth book. I had purchased through book 7, but I couldn't do it.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson - I started this once, but since I only got like two pages into it, I'm not counting that.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein - Guys, I have A WHOLE LOT OF FEELINGS about Robert Heinlein. This book was my gateway into his works (of which I have read, um, all of them). He has a complicated philosophy (complicated in terms of there are good and terrible things about it) and my relationship with his philosophy is equally complicated, but to this day he's still my favorite scifi author and a huge part of my teenage years.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke - For reasons unknown to me now, Clarke is pretty much the only major scifi author I never got into, and I don't really plan on starting now.
26. The Stand, by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson - That sound you heard was brynnmck defriending me for not having read this yet.
28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut - I LOVE this book.
30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman - Back when I had my first dalliance with comics thanks to Witchblade (I still have the original run comics!), I got one of the Sandman trades because I'd heard so many good things about it. I don't remember which one it was or even what happened, but I do recall enjoying it. Now that I'm even more comics knowledgeable, I think I'd enjoy it even more.
31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams - Favorite book of all time forever and ever. It's a journey, it's a story, it's about stories and community and family and bravery and fear and loss and finding your home. I never want to hear a bad word about this book, so if you hate it, PLEASE DON'T TELL ME.
32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein - I like this book, but never as much as the rest of Heinlein's fandom seemed to.
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein - I'm pleased to see so much Heinlein on here, honestly.
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keys - SO SAD OMG.
39. The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings - Eddings and Donaldson were my first two fantasy series authors that I read. I loved them both, although don't get me started on Thomas Covenant, the character, because I will GO OFF let me tell you. (Also: FOAMFOLLOWER REPRESENT.) Anyway, I actually much prefer Eddings' Sparhawk series, but I liked this one a lot, too. I know Eddings gets a ton of crap in the fantasy field. I guess it helps that I never read LOTR in this case; it let me takes these books on their own merits.
42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley - I have had these in my to read pile forever, but I'm still hopeful!
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin - I've never read any LeGuin.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien - Oh hell no.
47. The Once and Future King, by T.H. White - I read this whole series and actually found it fabulous and fun! I was in my teens, but I adored it.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons - Hah. Okay, so AHH read Hyperion first and pushed it into my hands to read and I just COULD NOT get into it until about 2/3 of the way through the book when I finally started enjoying it but to this day when I think about it all I can remember is what a SLOG it was, but AHH loved it so much I wanted to finish it. This book. God.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks - Amazing book. Just amazing, and I'm not a huge zombie fan.
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle - On my bookshelf right now!
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett - I have read most Pratchett, actually. My first Gaiman book was in fact his co-written Good Omens with TP. Is that book not on this list, seriously? How the HELL is Good Omens not on this list?! I CALL SHENANIGANS.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson - I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET ME STARTED. Thomas Covenant, WHAT IS YOUR LIFE YOU WHINY, RAPEY PRICK? Ugh. UGH. How Donaldson managed to get me to read an ENTIRE SERIES about a character I ACTUALLY LOATHE speaks to his story-telling and secondary characters. And my perverse attraction to interacting with things I hate sometimes. (Also for an, IMO, better (though still VERY PROBLEMATIC) Donaldson series, I would recommend his Gap series before this one.)
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword of Truth, by Terry Goodkind - Honestly, not a Goodkind fan ATALL.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy - I never liked this book as much as everyone else. The stylistic writing bothered me, the story was depressing with, IMO, no redemptive value or lessons to impart other than "everything sucks," and I found I had an almost impossible time connecting to any of the characters anyway. IDK. I'm contrary.
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson - I'm pretty sure the dog dies, so no. Not reading this.
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger - I'm still not recovered from that ending.
71. The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore - Ahahaha omg these made the list? I AM DYING. I'm sorry, I LOVE the Drizzt series but it's just so...I would not put it on a list like this, is all. Wow. This takes me back to my high school days, I tell you what. And how very much I hated Catti-brie. I KNOW. BUT SHE WAS SUCH A MARY SUE AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. Also I still call Drizzt's sword 'Twinkie.'
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey - I read the first one but never got beyond that.
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock - AHH read this series. On his recommendation, I chose not to.
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury - Ugh, love this book so much.
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson - I just saw these books on my shelf the other day and though "I should read those!"
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony - Yeah I read it. All of it. I would totally have picked the Incarnations of Immortality series instead, which had a HUGE IMPACT on me as a teenager. Also the series with the girl and the horse that I don't think he ever finished? Man I have not thought about those books in ages. Huh.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Series that deserves honorable mention on my own personal list: Esther Friesner's Gnome Man's Land series which just...ugh. I have A LOT OF FEELINGS about that series and I wish it were easier to find because I would make everyone ever read it. My own writing was influence HEAVILY by Friesner.
I know there are others; I'll have to check out my shelves when I get BACK FROM VIVIDCON OMGWTF I AM GOING TO BE ON A PLANE IN EIGHT HOURS I NEED TO GO TO BED.
(But first I have to register my dismay at no Madelein L'Engle on the list. SHENANIGANS.)
This entry was cross-posted at my Dreamwidth account. Please comment here or there. (
comments at DW)
Via pretty much everyone it seems like - the NPR Top 100 Sci Fi Books meme: strong the ones you've read, emphasis the ones you intend to read, underline series/books you've read part of, and strike the ones you never intend to read.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien - Look don't even start with me. I know, okay? I KNOW. THEY ARE ON MY LIST. I just...I started The Hobbit in seventh grade and got totally bored, and so then I read Stranger In A Strange Land instead and became the hugest Robert Heinlein fan in my school and well into college. I feel like this says a lot about me as a person.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert - At one time I had all of these on loan from a friend. There are a lot of these books. And they're big and heavy. It's just really unlikely I'll ever read them.
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin - I think you all know my feelings about this series. ♥
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov - Read during my "CONSUME ALL THE SCIFI" phase from 7th-10th grade. I got into David Brin and Asimov and Bradbury and all the hard classics, which is interesting because now I am MUCH more a fantasy novel fan. But at one point, this was my life.
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman - I actually only read this last year, I think!
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman - I've heard such good things about the book, and the movie has been a favorite of mine since I was little.
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan - I got four books into this series and couldn't take it anymore. Loved the first book, liked the second book, disliked the third book, hated the fourth book and stopped halfway through the fifth book. I had purchased through book 7, but I couldn't do it.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson - I started this once, but since I only got like two pages into it, I'm not counting that.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein - Guys, I have A WHOLE LOT OF FEELINGS about Robert Heinlein. This book was my gateway into his works (of which I have read, um, all of them). He has a complicated philosophy (complicated in terms of there are good and terrible things about it) and my relationship with his philosophy is equally complicated, but to this day he's still my favorite scifi author and a huge part of my teenage years.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
24. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke - For reasons unknown to me now, Clarke is pretty much the only major scifi author I never got into, and I don't really plan on starting now.
26. The Stand, by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson - That sound you heard was brynnmck defriending me for not having read this yet.
28. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
29. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut - I LOVE this book.
30. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman - Back when I had my first dalliance with comics thanks to Witchblade (I still have the original run comics!), I got one of the Sandman trades because I'd heard so many good things about it. I don't remember which one it was or even what happened, but I do recall enjoying it. Now that I'm even more comics knowledgeable, I think I'd enjoy it even more.
31. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams - Favorite book of all time forever and ever. It's a journey, it's a story, it's about stories and community and family and bravery and fear and loss and finding your home. I never want to hear a bad word about this book, so if you hate it, PLEASE DON'T TELL ME.
32. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein - I like this book, but never as much as the rest of Heinlein's fandom seemed to.
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein - I'm pleased to see so much Heinlein on here, honestly.
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keys - SO SAD OMG.
39. The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings - Eddings and Donaldson were my first two fantasy series authors that I read. I loved them both, although don't get me started on Thomas Covenant, the character, because I will GO OFF let me tell you. (Also: FOAMFOLLOWER REPRESENT.) Anyway, I actually much prefer Eddings' Sparhawk series, but I liked this one a lot, too. I know Eddings gets a ton of crap in the fantasy field. I guess it helps that I never read LOTR in this case; it let me takes these books on their own merits.
42. The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley - I have had these in my to read pile forever, but I'm still hopeful!
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin - I've never read any LeGuin.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien - Oh hell no.
47. The Once and Future King, by T.H. White - I read this whole series and actually found it fabulous and fun! I was in my teens, but I adored it.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons - Hah. Okay, so AHH read Hyperion first and pushed it into my hands to read and I just COULD NOT get into it until about 2/3 of the way through the book when I finally started enjoying it but to this day when I think about it all I can remember is what a SLOG it was, but AHH loved it so much I wanted to finish it. This book. God.
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks - Amazing book. Just amazing, and I'm not a huge zombie fan.
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle - On my bookshelf right now!
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett - I have read most Pratchett, actually. My first Gaiman book was in fact his co-written Good Omens with TP. Is that book not on this list, seriously? How the HELL is Good Omens not on this list?! I CALL SHENANIGANS.
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson - I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET ME STARTED. Thomas Covenant, WHAT IS YOUR LIFE YOU WHINY, RAPEY PRICK? Ugh. UGH. How Donaldson managed to get me to read an ENTIRE SERIES about a character I ACTUALLY LOATHE speaks to his story-telling and secondary characters. And my perverse attraction to interacting with things I hate sometimes. (Also for an, IMO, better (though still VERY PROBLEMATIC) Donaldson series, I would recommend his Gap series before this one.)
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword of Truth, by Terry Goodkind - Honestly, not a Goodkind fan ATALL.
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy - I never liked this book as much as everyone else. The stylistic writing bothered me, the story was depressing with, IMO, no redemptive value or lessons to impart other than "everything sucks," and I found I had an almost impossible time connecting to any of the characters anyway. IDK. I'm contrary.
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson - I'm pretty sure the dog dies, so no. Not reading this.
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger - I'm still not recovered from that ending.
71. The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore - Ahahaha omg these made the list? I AM DYING. I'm sorry, I LOVE the Drizzt series but it's just so...I would not put it on a list like this, is all. Wow. This takes me back to my high school days, I tell you what. And how very much I hated Catti-brie. I KNOW. BUT SHE WAS SUCH A MARY SUE AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. Also I still call Drizzt's sword 'Twinkie.'
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey - I read the first one but never got beyond that.
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock - AHH read this series. On his recommendation, I chose not to.
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury - Ugh, love this book so much.
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson - I just saw these books on my shelf the other day and though "I should read those!"
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony - Yeah I read it. All of it. I would totally have picked the Incarnations of Immortality series instead, which had a HUGE IMPACT on me as a teenager. Also the series with the girl and the horse that I don't think he ever finished? Man I have not thought about those books in ages. Huh.
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Series that deserves honorable mention on my own personal list: Esther Friesner's Gnome Man's Land series which just...ugh. I have A LOT OF FEELINGS about that series and I wish it were easier to find because I would make everyone ever read it. My own writing was influence HEAVILY by Friesner.
I know there are others; I'll have to check out my shelves when I get BACK FROM VIVIDCON OMGWTF I AM GOING TO BE ON A PLANE IN EIGHT HOURS I NEED TO GO TO BED.
(But first I have to register my dismay at no Madelein L'Engle on the list. SHENANIGANS.)
This entry was cross-posted at my Dreamwidth account. Please comment here or there. (
comments at DW)