"Below is a Science Fiction Book Club list most significant SF novels between 1953-2006. The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love."

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien* (I re-read this once a year for about 8 years in a row)
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. (not sure why I never finished it, but there you go)
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish (snore)
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 (I've never have been able to find this to read it)
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey (depressingly juvenile on a recent re-read, but totally kick-ass when I was a kid)
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (didn't hate, but sure is frustrating)
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 (my favorite was Queen of the Damned)
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 (like the Bester, I've never have been able to find this to read it)
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 (how could ANYONE finish this?)
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson*
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester* (wow. Just wow)
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

Read: 34 (didn't care for 2)
Started: 3
Didn't read: 13

Of the ones I've finished and didn't dislike, I own all but Deathbird Stories, Lord of Light, On the Beach, and Slaughterhouse 5.

Dragonrider left a bad taste in my mouth for a couple of reasons, first that it's juvenile literature and just isn't written that well, and second, I'm old enough now to know it and I'm unable to lose myself in the story because of it. Curse you, Laurie Porter, for raising my consciousness! So I set out to redeem myself, and read some Good Stuff. Here's the list:

• Main Street, Sinclair Lewis. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it.
• Impossible Things, Connie Willis. I've always loved short SF stories, and all of these are great.
• A Wonder Book, Nathaniel Hawthorne. This one held up.
• Bulletproof Web Design, Dan Cederholm. Very nice, simple stuff. I've already used the chapter on fluid layouts to update the site for Healthcare Staffing.
• The Once and Future King, T. H. White. Still good, but honestly too depressing to finish. I quit right before Lance and Jenny are caught by Mordred.
• DOM Scripting, Jeremy Keith. Still working thorough this one, as I'm using it as put-me-to-sleep bedtime reading. A little more basic that I hoped, but I can't wait to play with some of the code, and it's the basic Javascript tutorial/reference that I've been looking for.
• Snow Crash, Neil Stephenson. This is probably my third time through this book in the last 12 months - so sue me. It's still a rip-roaring read, and very fast - I read about half of it while waiting for Chance's recent doctor visit, and come on, you can't expect me to put it down there, right? This still has one of the better endings in a Stephenson book.
• A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge. Like Snow Crash, I picked this one up on the way out the door just to have something to read. So that means I have to finish it. This is only my second time through this one, anyway, and I'm looking forward to it.

Ginger was reading House of Sand and Fog, and really loved it until she got to the end. She says I shouldn't bother reading it, and I'm inclined to go along with it. My life these days, I don't need more downers¹. So next up on the list is probably The Last Girls by Lee Smith - in case you didn't figure it out, both of these are for Ginger's book club.

¹ That's probably why I didn't like the Dark Tower books this time around. I was sick a lot over Christmas break, and read a ton. I hadn't re-read the last 3 DT books since they came out in 2004, so I started with Wizard and Glass (skimming just to pick up the plot lines that come back), and then absolutely ripping through Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower. And OMG, what a freaking downer those books are! After that I had to re-read Connie Willis's Doomsday Book (for about the eighth time) - DB has a sense of hope and redemption that just isn't there in DT.

I read both of Madeline L'Engle's books growing up: A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door. The latter deals with the simultaneous discoveries of a mysterious cosmic scream that makes stars disappear, and a similar scream from dying cell structures in the body of one of the main characters. While L'Engle is a little too overtly romantic for my taste, the idea that part of her story comes true 30 years after publication has got to be one of the most amazing rewards a science fiction writer could hope for.

This is Bujold's fourth Best Novel Hugo, and that puts her in heady company. Only Robert Heinlein, with five, has won more. Don't get me wrong, Bujold is one of my favorite authors. But I think that WSFS members may be selling themselves short.

Or perhaps it's that I just don't read the dreck I used to. I'm a pretty discerning reader (otherwise known as "boring"). I know what I like, and I like what I know. Probably it's because I don't go to the library much anymore. I did hit the jackpot this summer with Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain, but I picked it up with hesitation. My last experience with KSR was the Mars trilogy, and I found it tedious, plodding, and ultimately unfinishable. Forty Signs was none of these, and either I'm a better reader, or Robinson's a better writer. Given that two-thirds of the Mars trilogy won Hugos, I know where my money is , and I'm looking forward to the next installments of the trilogy.

Oh, and Forty Signs of Rain has Hugo written all over it.

Noreascon also has a list of all the nominees in each category, complete with links (if there are any). All the short fiction is available online (w00t!).

Upcoming book notes:
* King's The Dark Tower (volume 7 of the eponymous series) will be published on September 21.
* Stephenson's The System of the World, Volume 3 of The Baroque Cycle, may have slipped its publication date. Supposedly it will be published in November, but Amazon doesn't list a date (and I think they used to).

* A nit about the Harper Collings site for The Curse of Chalion: There are bullets under the book's description saying "Hugo Winner" and "Nebula Winner". While Ms. Bujold has won multiple Hugos and Nebulas, this is the first non-Vorkosigan-mileau story to win her either. The implication is that the book won both; a sneaky bit of marketing by misdirection.

So, web wanderer, gaze in awe at the size of my library! Books I have are in bold; books I've read are in italics.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (shouldn't this count as 3?)
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (likewise this?)
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
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
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

If I were anything like the hip and smart CSS expert I see in the mirror, I'd do something with that image a la Eric's Complex Spiral Demo. But I'm not, so likely I won't. Still, a guy can dream, can't he? Those of you sniggering in the back about setting the ol' limbo bar pretty high can bite my shiny metal ass.

Thanks to Mimi Smartypants, who's now part of my blogroll, for the link.

In other news, the office is a tomb, except for those playing Unreal Tournament. I have now been instructed to find a Transformers Unicron (sp?), or face the Christmas Morn consequences. Do you think it means anything when Amazon Toys R Us doesn't know what Unicron means? Here's the plan: Toys R Us at Akers Mill, KayBee Toys at Cumberland, Toys R Us at Towne Center, KayBee Toys at Towne Center. Wish me luck, I'm going in!

Update: found it at Target in Roswell. This is where Chance had seen it (up front), but when Ginger called they said they didn't see any in the toy department. Based on this critical choice of phrasing, and the fact that I was only 5 minutes away anyway, I assumed that the guy in the toy section was in fact hunkered down behind the Bratz and Flavas boxes, praying that no one will actually ask him to do anything, and didn't know about the teaser section up front. Not only was I right (well, I don't actually know about the hunkering part), the WalMart Zorro Happy Face Price Cutter™ had lowered the price from a usurious $60 to a mere outrageous $45. Christmas is saved!

BTW, does anyone know how to format Wiki-style tables to center the headers? Or to otherwise justify cell contents?

Update, September 7, 2004: I got tired of the table looking like crap, especially since the default style sheet didn't handle it. Now it's just one per line, with books I own like this and books I've read like this.

2003: Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer
2002: American Gods, Neil Gaiman
2001: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J. K. Rowling
2000: A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge¹
1999: To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
1998: Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman
1997: Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
1996: The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
1995: Mirror Dance, Lois McMaster Bujold
1994: Green Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
1993: Doomsday Book, Connie Willis⁵
1993: A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge¹
1992: Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold
1991: The Vor Game, Lois McMaster Bujold
1990: Hyperion, Dan Simmons
1989: Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh
1988: The Uplift War, David Brin
1987: Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
1986: Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
1985: Neuromancer, William Gibson
1984: Startide Rising, David Brin
1983: Foundation's Edge, Isaac Asimov
1982: Downbelow Station, C. J. Cherryh
1981: The Snow Queen, Joan D. Vinge³
1980: The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke¹
1979: Dreamsnake, Vonda McIntyre
1978: Gateway, Frederik Pohl
1977: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm³
1976: The Forever War, Joe Haldeman²
1975: The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
1974: Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
1973: The Gods Themselves, Isaac Asimov
1972: To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip José Farmer
1971: Ringworld, Larry Niven
1970: The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin⁴
1969: Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
1968: Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
1967: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
1966: Dune, Frank Herbert
1966: ... And Call Me Conrad, Roger Zelazny
1965: The Wanderer, Fritz Leiber
1964: Way Station, Clifford D. Simak
1963: The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
1962: Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
1961: A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller
1960: Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
1959: A Case of Conscience, James Blish
1956: Double Star, Robert A. Heinlein
1955: They'd Rather Be Right, Mark Clifton and Frank Riley
1953: The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
1951: Farmer in the Sky, Robert A. Heinlein
1946: The Mule, Isaac Asimov

¹ A great used bookstore in Calgary

² Christmas, 2003

³ Birthday, 2004

⁴ Barnes & Noble discount rack

⁵ We're on about the 4th copy of this book. We loan it out and never get it back

Anyhoo, I also got Stephenson's Quicksilver and King's Dark Tower V, Wolves of the Calla in hardback. Exciting not only because I've been waiting for them, but because the next two volumes in each series have firm publication dates! Scheduled bliss!

As part of my new Hugo Library collection initiative, I also got Vernor Vinge's A Deepness In The Sky (2000 winner) and Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (1976 winner).

Since it never rains but pours, last night we also got the new Newsweek with a LOTR:ROTK cover story and my new F&SF. I was running around like a kid in a candy store, thumbing through one, picking up another, reading flyleaves and back covers, and generally trying not to salivate. Note that I'm not even considering finishing Clancy's Red Rabbit that I picked up in the Calgary airport in a desparate bid to ward off boredom (O'Brian's The Far Side of the World would have been a better choice; fortunately, Delta showed The Hulk on the way back from Salt Lake).

Sometimes, life is good.