A New Reading List

 Back from the dead! (Kind of.)

I'm reviving this blog to keep track of my thoughts on a new reading list. This is not based on the Great Books of the Western World. Having spent years among the great thinkers of the past, I'm going to read about the future. (Again, kind of.)

I'm going to work my way through this list, based on an NPR poll of it's listeners and readers. They asked for recommendations of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy books and tabulated the top 100. It's a strong list and I'm excited to work through it. 

Stats! (Which will almost certainly only interest me!) As of today, September 13, 2021, I have read 49 of the 100 books selected. I own 63 of them, so I'll have to find the other 37 while I'm reading. In most cases, I think this will be easy enough to do. The list was published in 2011 and the most recent book is from 2010. Used bookstores will be very helpful. 

So what's the plan?

• Ten books per year. Each one will be given a month to do. The two months off are yet to be determined. The first one will start in October of this year.
• The ten books will be selected at random each year. In theory, this will give a good mix to the reading, instead of all one genre or classic status.  
• No more than one book per author per year. There are a few authors with three or four books on the list. When I'm making random selections, if one of their books comes up, I'll declare the others off limits. If they are left towards the end, I'll make sure that at least is one is chosen in each of the remaining years to make it all work out. 
• Several series are on the list. In those cases, I'll tackle the first book of the series and see what I think. The mere thought of a ten book story makes me shudder, but maybe I'll get over that and plunge through. It's certainly possible that I'll become interested enough in the royal family of Book One and the rebel quest for the Coveted Item. 

• I'm reading this in conjunction with a Facebook group, which is located here. If you've stumbled across this and are interested in joining in, please do.
• I'll seek out "guides" for books and series that I'm not familiar with. This will be helpful in order to let people know what to expect from a book/series and how much they should invest in it. For instance, I know that Neal Stephenson's 'Anathem' is a great book, but I can confidently say that if you're not interested after 200 pages, don't bother with the other 800. 

So what's on the list for the first year? Some pretty good stuff:

Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Time Machine by H G Wells

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Dune by Frank Herbert

I'll post some thing about the author and whatnot that are, again, almost certainly only interesting to me. But there you have it. If you are reading this and feel at all interested, please do join in. The more the merrier!