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Books Read 2006
This year, I have been mostly reading:
The Code Book, Simon Singh (1999)
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow (2003)
Go, Dork, Go! Dork Tower #VIII, John Kovalic (2005) [Comics]
Fly By Night, Frances Hardinge (2005)
Deep Future, Eric Brown (1990-2000)
Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood (1939)
Mr Norris Changes Trains, Christopher Isherwood (1935)
The Fluorescent Light Glistens Off Your Head: Dilbert #25, Scott Adams (2005)
Not Before Sundown, Johanna Sinisalo (2000)
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
Thriving on Vague Objectives: Dilbert #26, Scott Adams (2005)
Evil Water, Ian Watson (1984-87)
The Great Explosion, Eric Frank Russell (1962)
Learning The World, Ken MacLeod (2005)
Mortal Love, Elizabeth Hand (2004)
Brontomek!, Michael Coney (1976)
The Embedding, Ian Watson (1973)
The King’s Last Song, Geoff Ryman (2006)
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
The Time-Hoppers, Robert Silverberg (1967)
New York Nights, Eric Brown (2000)
The Separation, Christopher Priest (2002)
Linguistics – A Very Short Introduction, P.H. Matthews (2003)
Jorge Luis Borges, The Book of Imaginary Beings (1957/67/69)
Passage, Connie Willis (2001)
Deathhunter, Ian Watson (1981)
The Language Instinct, Stephen Pinker (1994)
The Fate of The Artist, Eddie Campbell (2006)
The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow (2006)
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany (1967)
Last Call, Tim Powers (1992)
Pulp Idol, ed. SFX (2006)
The Cricklewood Diet, Alan Coren (1982)
Coalescent, Stephen Baxter (2003)
Dead Air, Iain Banks (2002)
The Ganymede Takeover, Philip K. Dick and Ray Nelson (1967)
Thud!, Terry Pratchett (2005)
Now Wait For Last Year, Philip K. Dick (1975)
Snake Agent, Liz Williams (2005)
Varjak Paw, SF Said (2003)
The Outlaw Varjak Paw, SF Said (2005)
Now We Are Sick, ed. Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones (1991, 1994, 2005)
A Year In The Linear City, Paul Di Filippo (2002)
How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Daniel H. Wilson (2005)
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (2005)
Do The Creepy Thing, Graham Joyce (2006)
Keeping It Real, Justina Robson (2006)
The Company of Glory, Edgar Pangborn (1975)
Nova Swing, M. John Harrison (2006)
A total of 49 books, a stack 98.6cm high. So I have met neither my target of 100 books, my followup target of 50 books, or my alternative target of my own height in books (unless I sit on the floor). But these are all fairly meaningless in the great scheme of things. Next year will probably be another fairly light one, at least till June.
I have reshelved some of the fiction - I have
656 read books
787 unread books
(not counting biographies, reference books, science, military and space history, comics, books I've lent out, books I can't find but are in a box somewhere, and anything else I can't be bothered to count).
So I don't need to buy any more books for 10-15 years...
Having refreshed my memory, I can say that my long term favourite authors are Alasdair Gray, Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Kim Newman, Philip K. Dick, Ian Watson, Ian MacDonald, Jack Womack, Paul Di Filippo and John Sladek, with Iain Banks, Stephen Baxter, Lois McMaster Bujold and Paul McAuley holding a solid position.
There are several more who might consolidate my current high opinion of them - I was sad to see some of my past favourites who have rather drifted away, or of whom my taste has changed. And a load more on the unread pile - if you think I'm missing anyone important from the list, that's where they probably are!
And there were several "read" books I had no recollection of, other than that they were shelved with the rest of the "read"s. Is this just me? Does everyone else remember a good deal of the plot and characters of every book they've ever read? It seems such a shame, when the author has gone to the trouble of writing the book, and I've gone to the trouble of reading it, not to remember it.
The Code Book, Simon Singh (1999)
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow (2003)
Go, Dork, Go! Dork Tower #VIII, John Kovalic (2005) [Comics]
Fly By Night, Frances Hardinge (2005)
Deep Future, Eric Brown (1990-2000)
Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood (1939)
Mr Norris Changes Trains, Christopher Isherwood (1935)
The Fluorescent Light Glistens Off Your Head: Dilbert #25, Scott Adams (2005)
Not Before Sundown, Johanna Sinisalo (2000)
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
Thriving on Vague Objectives: Dilbert #26, Scott Adams (2005)
Evil Water, Ian Watson (1984-87)
The Great Explosion, Eric Frank Russell (1962)
Learning The World, Ken MacLeod (2005)
Mortal Love, Elizabeth Hand (2004)
Brontomek!, Michael Coney (1976)
The Embedding, Ian Watson (1973)
The King’s Last Song, Geoff Ryman (2006)
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
The Time-Hoppers, Robert Silverberg (1967)
New York Nights, Eric Brown (2000)
The Separation, Christopher Priest (2002)
Linguistics – A Very Short Introduction, P.H. Matthews (2003)
Jorge Luis Borges, The Book of Imaginary Beings (1957/67/69)
Passage, Connie Willis (2001)
Deathhunter, Ian Watson (1981)
The Language Instinct, Stephen Pinker (1994)
The Fate of The Artist, Eddie Campbell (2006)
The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow (2006)
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany (1967)
Last Call, Tim Powers (1992)
Pulp Idol, ed. SFX (2006)
The Cricklewood Diet, Alan Coren (1982)
Coalescent, Stephen Baxter (2003)
Dead Air, Iain Banks (2002)
The Ganymede Takeover, Philip K. Dick and Ray Nelson (1967)
Thud!, Terry Pratchett (2005)
Now Wait For Last Year, Philip K. Dick (1975)
Snake Agent, Liz Williams (2005)
Varjak Paw, SF Said (2003)
The Outlaw Varjak Paw, SF Said (2005)
Now We Are Sick, ed. Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones (1991, 1994, 2005)
A Year In The Linear City, Paul Di Filippo (2002)
How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Daniel H. Wilson (2005)
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (2005)
Do The Creepy Thing, Graham Joyce (2006)
Keeping It Real, Justina Robson (2006)
The Company of Glory, Edgar Pangborn (1975)
Nova Swing, M. John Harrison (2006)
A total of 49 books, a stack 98.6cm high. So I have met neither my target of 100 books, my followup target of 50 books, or my alternative target of my own height in books (unless I sit on the floor). But these are all fairly meaningless in the great scheme of things. Next year will probably be another fairly light one, at least till June.
I have reshelved some of the fiction - I have
656 read books
787 unread books
(not counting biographies, reference books, science, military and space history, comics, books I've lent out, books I can't find but are in a box somewhere, and anything else I can't be bothered to count).
So I don't need to buy any more books for 10-15 years...
Having refreshed my memory, I can say that my long term favourite authors are Alasdair Gray, Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman, Kim Newman, Philip K. Dick, Ian Watson, Ian MacDonald, Jack Womack, Paul Di Filippo and John Sladek, with Iain Banks, Stephen Baxter, Lois McMaster Bujold and Paul McAuley holding a solid position.
There are several more who might consolidate my current high opinion of them - I was sad to see some of my past favourites who have rather drifted away, or of whom my taste has changed. And a load more on the unread pile - if you think I'm missing anyone important from the list, that's where they probably are!
And there were several "read" books I had no recollection of, other than that they were shelved with the rest of the "read"s. Is this just me? Does everyone else remember a good deal of the plot and characters of every book they've ever read? It seems such a shame, when the author has gone to the trouble of writing the book, and I've gone to the trouble of reading it, not to remember it.
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Oh, and those 2006 books that aren't available in the US yet (esp. by Ryman)? I plan to schedule fifteen minutes of jealousy later this week, when I should be feeling less crap and able to give the effort the attention it deserves.
Like all your Authors but ALISTER GREY