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I've been reading since the 1st Grade. I distinctly
remember reading back to my Mom a Popeye book she read to me. Since then,
I've gobbled up books like pills. It's rare to see me without either a
book in my hand, my pocket, in a nearby drawer, or somewhere within reach.
At lunch, I like to walk with a book to and from wherever I'm
eating. I enjoyed Belle's book-reading scenes in Beauty and the Beast
very much, and have a little PVC figure of her with her nose in a book.
Fortunately, Margie likes to read, too, and our reading lists are fairly
compatible.
One of the first things we did as a project when we moved into our house was
build bookshelves. Lots of bookshelves. We keep building bookshelves
...
Reading for me is an escape. If I learn something, or feel something,
or gain a new viewpoint from what I read, great. If I'm only entertained
and transported -- well, that's just fine, too. I will read well-written
mind candy any day, over profundities that make me work too hard (I work plenty
hard most hours of the day, thankyouverymuch). That may be a sad truth,
but there it is.
Some day I'll build links from here to interesting home pages for them.
Until then, you'll have to search them out on your own.
Science Fiction and Fantasy
I scoured the local public library for SF when I was a kid, so I still have a
fondness for the classic authors, most of whom got their start in the 1930s
onward:
 | Robert Heinlein: I find Heinlein infinitely
re-readable. I've grown to appreciate the stuff he did later in life,
as well as is early juveniles. If there's just one author whose books
I could bring with me to a desert island, it would probably be
his. |
| Andre Norton: She set the tone for what I consider to be the
classic SF universe, and did some good fantasy as well. I haven't
enjoyed her more recent works, but I keep going back to her older ones. |
| Poul Anderson: Not as well known as some others, but lots of
good stuff here. His Operation: Chaos is a classic in the genre
of "parallel world where everything is like ours except magic is
commonplace." |
| Alan Nourse: He's not written much, but his juveniles with
their medical bent are good fun. |
| Isaac Asimov: Little need be said about the one of the great
founders of modern sf. His non-fiction is pretty good, too. |
| J.R.R. Tolkien: Tolkien, more than anyone else, brought
mythmaking into the modern world, and set the tone for fantasy for the past
sixty years. I seriously believe his works will survive for centuries
and beyond. |
The "new wave" of SF in the 60s-80s largely left me cold.
There were a few exceptions from that period, though:
| Roger Zelazny: Maybe it's because I've done so much gaming
in the Amber universe, but Zelazny was a great writer. His
non-Amber stuff (e.g., Lord of Light) is good, too. His work is
a mixture of imagination, psychodelica, and myth. He was a profound
influence on a lot of the writers in the next section, and justifiably
so. I had the privilege of seeing him read from A Night in Lonesome
October at the San Diego ComicCon a few years before he died. Neat
guy. |
I was tickled, though, to see "genre fiction" become so popular in
the late 80s and 90s. I mean, once upon a time, SF books were tucked into
one narrow bookshelf at B. Daltons, and were nearly impossible to find at a
grocery store or news stand. Now they're on best sellers lists and can be
readily found almost anywhere. Wow.
More contemporary writers I enjoy:
| Steven Brust: Best known for his Vlad Taltos assassin
fantasies, and the related Khaavren homages to Dumas. I've had a
harder time getting into his other writings, but these are regular re-reads
for me. |
| Laurell K. Hamilton: Best known, so far, for her Anita
Blake series. Every time I think she's painted herself into a
corner, one-upping the angst and horror of the preceding book, she manages
to pull off another sequel. |
| Spider Robinson: The Calahan series rocks. His
other stuff ain't half bad, either. |
| Mercedes Lackey: I've preferred her contemporary fantasy work
(the Diana Tregarde series, the SERRAted Edge stuff) to her
other fiction, but she's a good read. |
| David Weber: Space Opera in the grand tradition, particularly
(though not exclusively) his Honor Harrington series. Don't let
the early rough writing turn you off. |
| Elizabeth Moon: More space opera, more or less. Good
stuff. |
| Chris Bunch & Alan Cole: I've not been thrilled with
their more recent, individual output, but their Sten series is a
marvelous examination of liberty, duty, and the dangers of benevolent
despotism. |
| Peter David: I'm not much into the "licensed
materials" sort of books. PAD is one exception. He's probably
best-known for his Star Trek and Babylon 5 original writing, but he's also
branched out into fine original works of his own. I'll basically buy
anything of his that I happen to see, without hesitation. |
Mystery
I'm more fond of particular authors in this area than in the genre as a
whole. Don't know why that is, exactly.
| Robert Parker: I'm inclined to agree that his Spenser
series is coasting -- but it's like putting on a comfortable
coat. |
| Erle Stanley Gardner: If all you know of Perry Mason
are aging-star-strewn TV movies, you've missed some ripping good
reads. Lawyer fiction at it's best, with an attorney who bends the
rules outrageously but manages to come up on the side of the angels every
time. |
| Ellis Peters: The Brother Cadfael series manages to
combine history, mystery, and religion in a wonderful brew. Derek
Jacobi did a wonderful job in the various TV adaptations, but the books are
something even more special. |
| Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe is marvelous. 'Nuff said. |
Other Stuff
Like I said above, reading, for me, is entertainment. If it makes me
think, it better keep me transported, too. As a result, I read far fewer
"real" or non-fiction books than I think I should (or than that I
would probably enjoy).
| C.S. Lewis: While Lewis' Narnia fantasies are
charmingly profound Christian allegories, his apologetics and essays on
Christianity are marvelous. A review of my quotations list, WIST,
shows you what I think of him. |
| C.S. Forrester: Horatio Hornblower. The A&E movies were
mediocre, compared to the Gregory Peck classic. But the books are
best, and a must for anyone who enjoys military fiction of any sort. |
I'm sure there are others (and others who have different first initials, too), but
I hope that will do for now.
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